"... the telltale creak of plastic-pushing-on-plastic in the center console are painful screams of cheapness. Overall, it is not GM’s best effort." So you're telling me... the same braniacs who replaced a beautiful, storied crest and badge with a meaningless B&W icon that looks like a Transformer badge, the same geniuses who don't realize their golden goose is a gigantic low-MPG truck/station wagon, the same brain trust that probably liked the Cimarron -- they did not do, as good a job as they should have done, for their first foray into EV market? I am shocked... that you thought they were actually going to try this time. For God's sake, they re-badged an Avalanche! I'm surprised they didn't slap a V-8-6-4 sticker on the front fender. Standard of Chevy, maybe... ... View more

We sold a car to Carvana -sight unseen, they just wanted pictures and it needed to be running- for more than Carmax or dealership would give us, and probably within a few hundred bucks what we could get selling privately. Sell to Carvana? I'd highly recommend. Buy from them? Noooooo way. Who knows if they replaced the brakes, tires, battery, filters, all things that it probably needed in the next 5-10K miles. What we DID find out, and (I think it was WSJ) see on their website is that they sell the low monthly payment- and hope the buyer doesn't notice (A) it's for a 72-84 month loan (on a USED car!!!) but (B) the buyer needs to put down a big deposit, (C) interest rates are crazy high (some over 20%) and finally (D) Carvana has a huge army of repo men, something like 1,000+. That alone should tell you something, and that might be why people are avoiding buying from there. ... View more

I think your fellow Hagerty columnist Jack Baruth nailed it here: Avoidable Contact #93: What if you held a mandatory EV party and nobody came? https://www.hagerty.com/media/category/opinion/avoidable-contact/ ... View more

According to the EPA (a.k.a. the government that gets $#!* wrong all the time) the Taycan's range is only 200 miles, but real-world use shows it's actually 300+ (https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/electric-car-range-and-consumption-epa-vs-edmunds.html). Just another reason to ignore the same government that told us lies about the Wuhan flu, WMD in Iraq, global warming, the southern border, ethanol in our gas, Jeffrey Epstein, and men getting pregnant... ... View more

Jack, I hear you -- I feel the same way about my '09 E320, my Weis Panzer. Almost 160K, although I know plenty of people will say that just means an MB diesel is broken in. Not a lot of options, a lovely stand-up hood ornament, gobs of torque -- and the feeling it'll cruise another 200K as long as I take care of the maintenance. I know the new ones are faster, safer, more luxurious-- but will any last for 300K, especially with a gazillion electric doo-dads that won't last much longer than a smartphone, but will be 10x as expensive to repair or replace??? Probably not, considering you see 20 W126s still on the road for every 1 W140. ... View more

While the hyper-accelleration arms race is interesting, it is the hyper-electronics that may prevent any of these from becoming a classic. An iPhone 4, or 6, was TheBestThingEver... until it wasn't (and that was usually 12 or 18 months; 36 or 48 months later, it was a useless paperweight not worth trading in). An old black desk phone from 1982 will still do exactly what it was built to do, no additional cost incurred. Will any 25 year old EV be able to claim that in the year 2047, or will a 1985 Benz 300 Turbo diesel with 300K on the odometer be more reliable than a 2022 EV with 100K? Simplicity has its virtues... ... View more

The styling is unique, but fear in the same way an '03 or '08 Cadillac CTS was unique -- so different it stood out, but dated before the next generation hits the showroom floors. The Germans are pretty good about keeping their cars somewhat conservative, Radioactive Beaver BMWs aside. Will they be rock solid reliable like the LS, or old W124s? Probably not. Will they still be desirable in 20-25 years, like certain German sedans? Ehhhh... I have no doubt they are really good cars; are they great? ... View more

And with Fertilizer shortages expected, the commodities futures market is already showing many of the big farms are planning on growing less corn (which need a lot of Fertilizer) and more soybeans (which need a lot less). So once again gov't creates a problem, invents a "solution" that sounds good for that 24 hour newscycle, but turns out to create MORE problems... which, of course, will make gov't idiots think they need to invent MORE problem-causing solutions. And this is why Americans have no trust or faith in gov't. And to avoid the problem they're creating for classic car owners, we get to spend more of our own money. Brilliant. LGB! ... View more

Well, it was a thing back then, similar to "fake chrome" nowadays. TONS of cars today, including $100K Escalades, M-B S560s, most Lexus and Acura models and many, many more, have plastic trim with a shiny mirror finish that... well, it 'looks' like chrome... but isn't "CHROME". And for pretty much the same reasons, cars back then had fake wood. ... View more

Great article, great writing (and I speak as someone who also gets paid to write). The legacy car mags might have nice pics and videos, but you can tell they're mostly just regurgitating press packets from manufacturers, but this type of writing -creative, playful, insightful, honest- is why I find myself spending more time on Hagerty and less with MT, C&D, R&T, PM, etc. The instant thrill of EVs from 0 is fun, but my guess is that manufacturers will be forced to trade that thrill for practicality -- they all GOFAST!!! but the first manufacturer to address the very real concern of range anxiety and trade F-18-off-the-flight-deck-accelleration for a smaller motor that 'sips' 400-500+ miles from a single charge (and in a sub-$30K car or SUV) will show most people are happy with anything around 6-7 seconds for everyday driving. If you REALLY feel a need for speed, you'll go to an amusement park and hop in a roller coaster. And most people seem to forget, it's often more fun to go fast in a slow car, than slow in a fast car. A 30 year old Golf will be more rewarding than a Tesla S 100 Plaidicrous, or whatever it's called this week. ... View more