zeitgeist57

I've currently got my hands full with the RV and various house/family items, but my son and I are always talking about a "fun car" option in the next year or so. I've had good luck in the wintertime looking at CL/FBM for cheap beaters when everyone is hibernating and their bitchy women want the project out of the garage so their Escape with "Live, Laff, Lubb" sticker can come in from the snow. Thought it would be a fun distraction from politics/COVAIDS to figure out decent platform options to look out for! +STICK!!! +RWD. +No/minimal rust. +sunroof/targa top. +at least 225hp. +A/C would be awesome. Avoiding FWD, and AWD for cost/complexity (My Volvo S60 Turbo AWD was a good platform but servicing an inop AWD system was costly and not as big of a handling benefit aside from rt.555). Would be nice to have more than 2 seats for kiddos.This would be 99% street/highway driven, with the idea that an occasional trackday/rt.555 run would be a blast. Infiniti G35/Nissan 350Z - they are very cheap now for what you get, but at this price point they've been ragged out by driftbois. Mustang - great cheap RWD platform, but I've never really liked driving one in curves unless the suspension is massively updated. Camaro/Trans-Am - I'd almost choose this over Mustang but 3rd/4th gens are unnecessarily long. Great aftermarket support like the Mustang. Porsche 944? - man, the older 80s/90s German stuff is very outdated with what has come out in the last 15-20 years. Plus, very expensive for 150ish HP. Boxster - early ones are now in the $7-10k range all-day...still pricey to maintain but seems like they've bottomed out in price and likely will be a great platform in the future. Corvette C4 - had one, but similar to Zee Germans above, 90s tech is pretty old school compared to what C5's offer for a few grand more. Is it worth it to move up to C5? Classic cars (like Corvair, muscle cars, Beetles, etc) - seems like you get simplicity but you have to spend lots of $$$ to get comparative modern-day performance/amenities out of them. Curious to hear peoples' thoughts, from experience and their own searches.

Good call. Changed the title.

I just rescheduled a happy hour get-together with a friend...he is just coming back into the office after being home for "breakthrough COVID". He, his wife, and his parents who came to visit a couple of weeks ago all contracted COVID despite everyone already having the vaccine. I'm going to find out what happened when we meet next week, but maybe - just maybe - having been vaxxed helped diminish the impact of COVID on their bodies, as vaccines have done for humans over the last 100+ years. My greatly oversimplified stance on COVID is: since we now have to live with it forever, we should get vaccines.

*affect. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/affect-vs-effect/ Carry on.

You mama so fat, Thanos had to snap his fingers twice.

Waiting on Panduh to come ripping Biden for the jobs report...

You’ll find beaters in the wintertime.

I have to say I do. I'm curious. Will let others comment. I respect from both of your reactions that you didn't bring it up on YT. Probably "safer" to comment on CR than social media platforms.

Working with car dealers, everything mentioned above is in-line with the rise in used car pricing....and it's not coming down anytime soon on mainstream cars with a lot of demand. Sure, if you find an old truck, beat-up Jeep, or ragged-out stick-shift beater there are still deals to be had, but for 95% of the auto-buying public looking for a 3-7yo used SUV with a warranty, it's going to be a fight with other buyers. The one thing I heard a couple weeks ago that also reinforces used car inventory/pricing is 90% of lease contracts are being bought out. So for 9 out of every 10 lease turn-ins coming off contract, the people driving them are just buying for various reasons: can't find a car they want, the balloon payment is CHEAPER than buying a used vehicle off the lot, etc... This means there's a whole lot of off-lease vehicles that dealers relied on for their used lots - and wholesalers looked for at auction - that aren't showing up because people are keeping their rides.

I wanted to take the time to give some props to Austin and Kerry for videoing their HRPT 2021 (mis)adventures. I've caught a few of Austin's videos before but between Vice Grip Garage and Lucore, I got a great taste of HRPT as I've never gone myself. Now it's definitely something I'd consider for my son and I to do. I watched all 5 days on my personal computer at my home office while working, and Kerry provided great, optimistic insight and Austin/Kerry seemed to have great banter. It was entertaining to watch and I'm glad they video'ed...as I would NOT want to be in that un-A/C'd AMC AMX in 114* heat! Props to you guys for a great adventure to watch! I hope CR gives these guys a look, if you haven't watched Austin's Lucore YT channel in the past. Appreciate bringing us along for the trip!

Who is cool with the way Biden is handling this shit? I just posted, even John Oliver is ripping Biden…

I was shocked at some of the FB graphics depicting how much equipment we've left in Afghanistan. $80B+ holy shit. I'd target everything left behind with drone strikes. If you don't want to be collateral damage, stay away from that former U.S Humvee or Blackhawk.

Man, they get the Stinger right and then KIA kills it. Gorgeous car.

I'm rooting for Biden, but he's got a bunch of headwinds to deal with. 41% popularity and dropping fast: - Inflation, increased taxes through budget/law passage. - Continued COVID fallout. - Afghanistan d i s a s t e r. - Hurricane taking direct aim for Louisiana, squarely where COVID problems are currently the worst in the country. - Employment/Eviction/Economic issues. He has hardly any friends in D.C. anymore. I do feel he's pushing a needed agenda, but everyone is getting pissed off. Fiscal conservatives, hairy liberals, young, old, pro-military, defund-the-police, blacks, whites....I cannot think of any groups that can be happy with what he's doing as a whole. Bleeding-heart humanitarians can't back his laissez-faire attitude about bearing responsibility for the withdrawal. Trump wouldn't have done any better - Pompeo made a deal with the Taliban to leave in May 2021 - but it's tough seeing how things can keep getting worse, even with STONKS at an all-time-high. Afghanistan/COVID alone cannot be solved overnight. EDIT: "Warheads on Foreheads".....imma use that in conversations now.

The 4Runner is undoubtedly stout, but the GX is even moreso, but with more room and a Land-Cruiser-like comfort. My two friends that have them swear by them. One has over 200k miles and still rides very well.

Gaddamn. Rocky, props to you. I do like the Hawaiian look for trucks but when it’s Carolina-style jacked-up it’s too far. With a factory-sized exhaust, I have to complement the look while also being somewhat restrained. Well done. Tim, impressive as always.

“Reputational Risk”, gentlemen….

1) Lexus GX 2) 4Runner

Congrats on the new car and good job grabbing one before KIA kills the Stinger. I’ve heard they are awesome performance dailies. And thanks for your experience with the new Mustangs. I’m with Doc I think the current gen looks fantastic (especially over the Camaro) but know the MT-82 is a very weak spot.

My wife and I use VRBO for our properties, but most of them are 7 or 14-day minimums per association rules. I know Naples, FL tried to pass a city ordinance banning AirBnB but how in the hell do you enforce it?!?

Actually, I’ve seen some pretty good cars listed on Craigslist…a comeback there.

+1. https://nypost.com/2021/08/17/taliban-kill-woman-not-wearing-burqa-after-vowing-to-honor-womens-rights/ It's difficult for me to reconcile many liberal views ascribe to when we give so much of our business interests away to China....and then complain about human rights when scenes like this play out everywhere else in the world. We CERTAINLY have our own ongoing social issues in the USA, but this is ridiculous. Through COVID, I've adopted a new BAU model: "Control What You Can Control". This shit is out of hand.

You're fine, Doc! Thanks for the kudos regardless. I appreciate your passion in supporting and participating in these Rallies, and reporting back to us! Thank YOU!