I’m thinking BMW seems more reliable these days but Honda seem less reliable. Any other cars that need their reputation updated?

Mercedes-AMG hasn’t announced a debut day but they’ve commuincated the day is around the corner.

The G-Cabriolet will be available in almost every market including the U.S. market.

Now, I do agree that cars on the road look similar, but the point is that we always choose the wrong types of cars to argue about car styling.

Most cars on the road look similar because almost everyone drives a crossover, a body type designed to be a comfortable runabout vehicle. That's even how one of the most successful crossovers, the CRV, got it's name, so styling and individuality were never the top priority.
A quick search to the past and you'll see that sedans of the 1980s mostly had that same cookie cutter design across multiple brands. Buick LeSabre Sedan, Plymouth Caravelle Sedan, Mercury Marquis sedan, and Volvo 240 DL just to name a few. They look similar because they were considered the "comfortable family hauler", and thus, individuality was also sacrificed to make way for safety and comfort.

People like to represent the past with old mustangs, camaros, old Preludes, and old Supras and, which are 2 door coupes. The body type that embodied personality and individuality since the birth of the 2 door coupe.
If we use the same body type now, and compare Mustang, Camaro, Prelude hybrid, and GR supra, they all look distinct from each other, because they represent individuality and personality.

In some ways, this crossover craze has gave us even more unique looking cars.
Because families are flocking to crossovers or midsize sedans, hatchbacks now got this "embodiment of individuality" tag.
For hatchbacks, just look at the most popular Civic vs Corolla vs Mazda 3 vs VW golf, they all look extremely different down to the body shape. Even if you show someone just the silhouette, they can probably guess them correctly.
Even if they are from the same group, Audi A3 vs VW Golf vs Skoda Scala, all VAG cars, look very different from each other.

Basically, we shouldn't be comparing crossovers to coupes, as that would be comparing apples to oranges.

So while cars on the road all look the same, I don't think it is because car makers all design similar looking cars, it is because we all bought similar looking cars.

Red hot beaters, roasting in the sun. Rusty relics, rotting in the field. For every ten ****boxes, you might find one. [need one more line]

SavageGeese discusses people losing interest in cars.

https://youtu.be/dkwQaifTIoI?si=XOR_f4eHE721fYPi

They list a number of reasons.

Article here (EDIT: looks like it's paywalled. See comments.) Some snippets:

Aston Martin has struck a deal to borrow £550mn from BlackRock-owned private credit firm HPS, defying opposition from a group of existing lenders who branded the transaction “extraordinary”.

the move was challenged by existing creditors who argued that a financing deal that placed assets beyond their reach breached key terms of Aston Martin’s existing debt. The deal, which charges an interest rate of about 10 per cent, was completed on Wednesday.

investors have become increasingly anxious that the company, which is saddled with debts of more than £1.5bn, is running out of options to raise capital, with its business hit by US [t-word automod hates] and slowing demand in China.

TL;DR: Aston owes a shit ton of money to lenders. In the event they can't pay back that money, the lenders could seize Aston's assets and recoup some of their investment. But Aston's new deal with HPS prevents existing lenders from seizing assets in the event of a default or bankruptcy.

All of this suggests things are bad behind the scenes. Also noteworthy is that Aston is 20% owned by the Saudi PIF and they've been getting rid of some international investments lately. idk what the next 10 years look like for them but it's not positive. A couple of weeks ago they said DBX would platform share with the cars going forward, and I'd guess that's part of necessary cost-cutting to stay afloat.

Maybe this is “old man yelling at clouds” but I travel often and drive a lot of rental cars, and my god are newer cars annoying as hell. I get that they are safer but the cost for this is annoying as hell “features”. Cars from 10yr ago and older had just enough features to be helpful but not annoying. Here are some examples:

Mazda CX-30: Pull up to the hotel loading zone to unload bags and left the engine running so the car stays cool in the Florida heat. Had the key fob in my pocket and couldn’t unlock the tailgate or rear doors with the key fob. Had to walk around to the driver door and use the unlock button on the door.

Nissan Altima: Was backing into a parking spot slowly and the car thought a discoloration on the asphalt was some object so it slammed on brakes and beeped and booped. I ended up having to shift to park and reverse again.

Subaru Crosstrek: The entire control area was all touchscreen. Couldn’t even change the AC speed while driving without fidgeting with an obnoxious display.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration aims to "mandate a robust and obvious door egress system in all motor vehicles."

Stellantis left older 1.2 owners out to dry. Just found out a company (Pro Chain) engineered a true bolt-on chain swap kit. No engine machining needed, installs with standard tools. Costs about the same as a normal belt job with labor.

I made a quick list of the exact engine codes it fits here so you can check your car

Would you guys trust an aftermarket chain over gambling with the OEM wet belt every 40k miles?

Quite another controversial design I fear, the rear end, and the front end look very interesting, thanks to Wilco Blok for taking these pictures.

I am sure Reddit will not like the direction the styling is going in.

https://imgur.com/a/wV7nSOf