luxury trucks, suvs, crossovers and the death of the sedan

if the sedan dies, will that mean the death of ILX?

ILX was killed last month

Years ago a musician friend had a Volkswagen Squareback from the early 70s and in it's own way, it was the ideal ur-crossover for someone who needed to carry stuff but not 500kg of it. It also had a front trunk (I HATE the word "frunk") which gave it a surprising amount of cargo space.

https://www.ambassadorautomobileco.com/imagetag/53/11/l/Used-1968-Volkswagen-Squareback.jpg

I used to obsess over this Mustang station wagon one-off/concept from 1966. Boomers that give me "that's not a Must..." shit when I tell them that I have a Mach-E on order usually stfu when I show them this. It's a great design that should have been built.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/amv-prod-cad-assets/images/media/51/ford-mustang-wagon-inline-7-photo-562256-s-original.jpg

Oh wow, I had to look up Mach-E. I saw one outside my grocery store a month or two ago and thought somebody was being cheeky by slapping a Mustang horsie emblem on their electric.

xp I haven't seen that Mustang study before, ET. I'd call that a shooting brake, but maybe the the tweed and shotguns imagery doesn't work for a Ford. I really like that body style.

I would consider purchasing a well used but well loved ILX vehicle, at the right price

as a driver of an outback and a forester the main difference is that the outback is longer than the forester which means its easier to transport ikea billy bookshelves home in the outback

good way to remember this is it's "out" in the "back"

and the forester is made for moving wood in the form of bookshelves

lOad
Up
The
Bookshelves
After
Cashier at
iKea

the difference between the Honda Fit and other competing subcompacts is that it is Fit to serve all your driving needs

the honda fit is the result of a least squares regression on a plot of "cool vs car attributes"

lol

I use a zippy little Mazda 3 hatchback, it does fine holding a full drumkit, three or four guitars, assorted amps and whatnot. It has a roof rack for Ikea trips and each year's Christmas tree.

Volkswagen Squareback from the early 70s

my mom had one of these when i was a kid that she used as her delivery vehicle when she worked for the post office. she delivered mail to rural areas, and rural carriers had to use their own vehicles, as opposed to the USPS vehicles.

guy who delivers my mail has a rav4 but its some ridiculous limited edition in electric blue, really funny car to get a special one of

the ultimate small zippy car is prob the bmw 2 series, audi 3s are nice too and a lil more practical, volkswagen golf too basically same car as the audi tho, i would like to have the audi s3 i believe

my mom has had vw golfs for the past two decades (she no longer is a mail carrier) ... she loves to zip

when i once tried to 'relationship up,' i ended up driving my bf's s3 around and it felt like a beast (much larger, more powerful) than the economy yaris i was used to driving. but somehow less space for hauling stuff.

i don't think i could ever have an audi, because one of my regular "words or phrases that get stuck in my head to the tune of ..." is

douchebag in an audi
i know
i know
it's serious

whenever i see the four hoops i reflexively think 'douchebag' tbr

and my ex was a douchebag. i don't see any need for additional data points here.

my "stupid annoying coworker" is also an audi owner, though he is only sometimes a douchebag, but when he is a total douchebag, you better believe i sing to myself "douchebag in an audi, i know, i know, it's serious"

ive owned a couple audis, if you like nice cars you kinda just have to roll with the douche affiliation

out of he german lux badges id prob be most embarrassed to drive a benz, id do it tho if the right one came into my life

A lot of "small SUVs" just look like sedans on stilts to me

yeah theyre just tall cars

BMW way douchier than an Audi.

Drove an Audi A3 hatchback on vacation a few years ago. Perfect car, but they don’t sell them in the US.

yeah i wish they still had those here, they even look a lil more like a small station wagon than a typical hatch which is p sweet

We own a Mini Cooper S, which is fun to drive but has the worst ride ever (stiff suspension plus low to the ground plus run-flats).

idk i feel like benzes have more street cred than audis -- i mean, janis had a song about a benz, and there are rappers that rap about benz ownership -- audi doesn't have that; kinda feel like BMW is a bit more retro ... like Audi is as douchey now as BMW's were in the 80s

roughly how i break it down

bmw: the drivers car
benz: the luxury car
audi: the competent car

obvs theres a lot of crossover and if you get a huge bmw suv its not going to drive differently than the other guys but on the other hand bmw does still make a lil rwd manual coupe thats just going to be more fun than the equivalent audi, you get a benz and itll have like 20 ways you can adjust the seats and a really over the top interior etc, audi generally will be a lil more minimal germanic no nonsense experience that just feels quality and well made but not specifically fun or opulent

xxp - the mini countryman wagons are super cute

my parents drive Audis and it's very fitting as a middle-class suburbanite boomer car. a "nice" car but not too flashy. comfortable, reliable.

benz g wagon is the car that most signals douche to me currently

volvo is the ultimate plausible deniability luxury car

saab was even more so rip

benz g wagon is the car that most signals douche to me currently

― 《Myst1kOblivi0n》 (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, March 8, 2022 11:49 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

id go with the ford raptor

Truck balls
H3
Those are the worst, in that order

lexus is just for old people now, acura and infinity are basically dead, then theres the new kid on the block genesis which is getting rave reviews, american luxury badges cadillac linclon seem to mostly sell just one huge suv, and then theres electric cars which are most luxury cars obvs tesla but new ones popping up every day lucid looks pretty amazing, same for rivian

benz g wagon is the car that most signals douche to me currently

― 《Myst1kOblivi0n》 (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, March 8, 2022 11:49 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

really sad it costs a million dollars cause its an amazing car, sick boxy design, its not that big, and its one of the most capable off roaders out there which is ironic cause no one is taking their 130k truck offroad, they should find a way to make a stripped down version call it something else idk

raptor is also sick vehicle lol

saab was even more so rip

We don't wanna hear your Saab story

ayye lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZdMbdWX0IA

raptor is also sick vehicle lol

― lag∞n, Tuesday, March 8, 2022 11:58 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes i want one lol

tacoma trd imho

those were so cool in the early 00s.

Living in a super-hilly northeast town I do now get the appeal of AWD, and our second car is a Honda CR-V. It's v comfortable but not particularly fun to drive, slightly awkward handling (but probably not moreso than any other similar sized vehicle), and turbocharged engine + continuously variable transmission make for strange acceleration feel/sound. Definitely practical, maximized cargo space etc. It seems like the majority of families in our town own either a CR-V, Subaru outback/forrester/crosstrek, a Mazda CX-5 or a Toyota RAV-4.

The CX-5 is surprisingly elegant looking. RAV-4 looks childish. Subarus are orky but in an 80s volvo station wagon sort of way that doesn't bother me.

Honestly people are being mean about that but i love it

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Tuesday, October 8, 2024 8:23 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

BTW, I actually do too, I was posting it as an appreciation. I think it's fun and slightly ridiculous in a good way. A good absurd thing to do with too much money.

til about the mercedes benz minivan

https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/1oib4p8/1_of_108_500_hp_v8_minivan_with_over_300k_miles/

a sprinter costs far less

kids will love riding in the windowless cargo hold of a sprinter van