Shopping for a New Car

[Kingspoint]

One funny thing I found comparing domestic and imports used to be the placement of drink holders. Subaru was terrible at it ten years ago- mine for instance opens up so that the cup is in the way of the radio and climate controls. American cars had a leg up because their engineers understood that we need to have drinks with us all the time. Installing drink holders was a no-brainer for them, but for imports it was always an add on. That's all changed now, of course. I think the Honda Odyssey has 37 drink holders.

I know. It's the dumbest thing Subaru ever did. Let's just say Subaru has always been several years behind the "trends" when it comes to comfort and convenience. With them, it's always been about safety, preventing accidents before they happen, and getting in, through, and out of rough terrains.

They have always had the worst stereo systems in the industry, except for their 30th Anniversary Special Outback, but there weren't too many of those.

[RichRed]

One funny thing I found comparing domestic and imports used to be the placement of drink holders. Subaru was terrible at it ten years ago- mine for instance opens up so that the cup is in the way of the radio and climate controls. American cars had a leg up because their engineers understood that we need to have drinks with us all the time. Installing drink holders was a no-brainer for them, but for imports it was always an add on. That's all changed now, of course. I think the Honda Odyssey has 37 drink holders.

Ha, so true. My 2001 Infiniti has drink holders situated in such a way that the engineers HAD to be thinking, "I defy you to put anything larger than a thimble in here." Plus, I think they're made of Play-Doh and fortified with Elmer's Glue.