Too Much Junk in the Trunk (and Everywhere Else)

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 in Editorials | 1 comment

Ben writes: Hey Bark, I have a brother with a mechanically-healthy 2001 Toyota Camry LE four-cylinder automatic. I’m estimating it has about 180,000 miles now. He uses that car everyday — extensively on the job, and for visits to family members out of state. Mileage is piling up fast. He does have the car regularly maintained — mechanically — through a local...

High-Low, High-Low, It’s Off To Work You Go

Posted on Sep 5, 2020 in Editorials | 1 comment

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of editing Daniel Ho’s theories on crossovers as reflections of the zeitgeist. In his thoughtfully-written piece, Daniel argues that crossovers are chimeras, reflecting a social trend towards generalized products that combine social signaling attributes from multiple socio-economic categories. The crossover, therefore, is...

I Bought a Scion Once

Posted on Jun 24, 2020 in Editorials | 1 comment

“Sir, I don’t think you understand how our pricing model works.” It was the winter of 2004, and a sad-sack of a salesman sat at the desk across from Mrs. Bark and me at a morbidly depressing Toyota-Scion dealership near Dayton, Ohio. My dear wife was the less-than-proud owner of a 2001 Hyundai Elantra that had been the very first car she’d ever purchased new....

The Internet Pricing Bait and Switch

Posted on May 25, 2020 in Editorials | 1 comment

The Internet brings transparency to the car buying process and allows us to search the whole country for our favorite car. While shopping for a WRX a few months ago, I got quotes from dealers as far as 1,500 miles away. I ended up skipping the local dealers and travelling to a dealer 80 miles away in order to get the best price. Leaving your immediate...

Zing in Your Thing

Posted on Feb 12, 2020 in Editorials | 1 comment

I had another opportunity to visit United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka last week and, naturally, I brought along my camera for another visit to the “Lemon Lot.” While my last visit noted the many people haulers for sale and focused on a pair of cheerful Toyota Fun Cargoes, this time, my attention was drawn to sportier fare. First on the list is a 1992...

Inside Stories From the War Between Automakers And Dealers Over Exports

Posted on Jan 16, 2020 in Editorials | 2 comments

There’s not a more uncomfortable phone call for a car dealership’s finance manager to make then asking a customer to come back to have their finance or lease contract rewritten. This is typically caused by sales managers — the people most despised by finance departments — who spot deliver a vehicle based on their wrong guess about the rate or term a lender...

Vapor Lock and the Hot R32?

Posted on Dec 2, 2019 in Editorials | 2 comments

Nick writes: I bought a used 2008 Volkswagen Golf R32 with 48,000 miles in January 2010 (5,000 only in the U.S., 3.2-liter NA V6). Every summer since then I’ve had issues as the weather warms up. Basically, it starts to act up when driving at around 85+ miles-per-hour or so, and it gets even worse if I’m stuck in any kind of stop-and-go traffic. The only sure...

Two Doors Good, Four Doors Better

Posted on Oct 23, 2019 in Editorials | 2 comments

Dear Bark, I, like you, am a committed family man with two small children. Both of them are in car seats. I currently drive a 2007 Acura TL, but I miss the small cars of my youth. I dream of getting a Miata like I used to have years ago, but I don’t know if I will get enough utility from it to make it worth the expense. I was also considering an S2000 or an...

High-Low and Crossovers to Go

Posted on Sep 14, 2019 in Editorials | 1 comment

(Welcome Daniel Ho — a.k.a. “Waftable Torque” — who’s here to school you proles on the true appeal of the crossover/cute-ute/abominable mom-van. — JB) There has seldom been a topic that riles automotive journalists and commentators up as much as crossovers. They inhabit categories that are successfully profitable and growing. Non-existent 20 years ago, they...

What to Do with $300/Month?

Posted on Jul 23, 2019 in Editorials | 2 comments

Every once in awhile, somebody writes in to Ask Bark with a question that makes me check my own bank account to see if I can afford my own recommendation. Today is one of those times. Sit back and relax while you read about our friend’s quest for a more powerful grocery-getter, and then see if you share in my envy. Ben writes: I am currently leasing a 2014...

1982 AMC Eagle Station Wagon

Posted on May 25, 2019 in Editorials | 2 comments

I live in Colorado, where the AMC Eagle sold as well in the 1980s as the Subaru Outback does now, and so I see the all-wheel-drive versions of the American Motors Concord and Spirit everywhere here. This means they show up in Denver-area self-service wrecking yards like clockwork, and I photograph them when they do (and I walk right by most air-cooled Beetles,...

A Craigslist Escort (Replacement)?

Posted on Apr 12, 2019 in Editorials | 1 comment

Jon writes: Hello Bark, It will soon be time to replace my wife’s car: a ’94 Ford Escort wagon. We’re considering spending somewhere between $4,000 and $10,000 on its replacement. We have no kids and, thanks to a little snip-snip, we will continue to have no kids. Fuel economy isn’t a big issue as we both work from home. However, we live in rural Iowa, so...