Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
"> the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. This week, our hosts discuss driving the Rolls-Royce Spectre and single- and dual-motor versions of the Polestar 2. We talk about the latest news with UAW strike, along with what's going on with Unifor workers in Canada. We discuss the latest news about the future of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, huge savings on the Jeep Gladiator, as well as what went into creating the latest version of the Batmobile. Finally, a listener is looking for a fun used sedan as a daily driver in this week's Spend My Money segment.Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
"> the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. This week, our hosts discuss driving the Rolls-Royce Spectre and single- and dual-motor versions of the Polestar 2. We talk about the latest news with UAW strike, along with what's going on with Unifor workers in Canada. We discuss the latest news about the future of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, huge savings on the Jeep Gladiator, as well as what went into creating the latest version of the Batmobile. Finally, a listener is looking for a fun used sedan as a daily driver in this week's Spend My Money segment.Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
">In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. This week, our hosts discuss driving the Rolls-Royce Spectre and single- and dual-motor versions of the Polestar 2. We talk about the latest news with UAW strike, along with what's going on with Unifor workers in Canada. We discuss the latest news about the future of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, huge savings on the Jeep Gladiator, as well as what went into creating the latest version of the Batmobile. Finally, a listener is looking for a fun used sedan as a daily driver in this week's Spend My Money segment.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
Transcript[MUSIC PLAYING]
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to the Autoblog Podcast. I'm Greg Migliore. We've got a great show for you this week. But first, I think we've got to acknowledge this is a big one, this is a milestone. This is episode number 800. So with that, I'm going to bring in the longest serving, longest tenured Autoblog editor, Jeremy Korzeniewski, who's probably been on a lot of these. Welcome aboard.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Howdy, howdy. You know, I remember when I was here when Autoblog first started their podcast back in, gosh, it was I want to say 2007 or 2008, something like that. I remember when, you know, several cycles of editors ago, back when we used AOL Instant Messenger as our communication platform amongst ourselves, I remember someone bringing it up like, hey, there's this new thing called podcasts. They're becoming popular because Apple has added a button to the iPhone. And this is probably like iPhone 3 or something, I don't know. But yeah, like, the idea came up, hey, we could do a podcast. So yeah, 800 episodes later, I guess it was a good idea.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I mean, we do about one per week roughly. We take some time off occasionally, like, around the holidays and the summer. So I mean, it's been a while since we did episode 700, 600, of course. And it'll be a while till we hit 900. So, you know, 700 is a milestone. But hey, we're churning them out. You know, they're fun. And we're glad everybody listens.
So if you have any comments, things we can make the podcast better, we would love to hear from you. That's podcast@autoblog.com. You can also get into the Mailbag. And if you want us to Spend Your Money, that's a great way for us to do it.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Because we love spending other people's money. It's one of our favorite pastimes. Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: We have a good one today too.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Sorry. I cut you off and you were about to plug the email we should make sure the email out there.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's podcast@autoblog.com. podcast@autoblog.com. I think we're good.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Singular. We only have one podcast. Singular podcast@autoblog.com.
GREG MIGLIORE: And we only have one autoblog.com. I've opened a bottle of Pellegrino for the occasion. That might sound kind of bougie. But it's actually, I got this huge case of them at Costco next to like the dog food.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I love Pellegrino.
GREG MIGLIORE: You can save some money there doing that way, it's a good way to cleanse the palate.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You know, while we're talking about what we've got in front of us, I actually do have a bottle of Grand Traverse Distillery American single malt whiskey. Well, it's sitting here I'm not actually drinking it right now because, you know, these are work hours. But it's sitting here from my wife and I did a little bit of a tasting the other day. And my work desk happens to be in an area where we also gather together at night and watch like, you know, TV, shows.
We're currently watching the last season of Alone right now. Currently drinking coffee. But guess if the podcast goes really poorly, I've got the bottle of single malt whiskey here to commiserate with.
GREG MIGLIORE: That sounds pretty good. That sounds-- I imagine that's fairly smooth.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It's not bad. Yeah, there's two-- I mean, we're podcasting, you know, we can go off a little bit here. There's two distilleries up in the Traverse City area. One is Grand Traverse Distillery. And the other one I think is just Traverse City Distilling Company or something like that. Both of them have some pretty good-- pretty good whiskeys that are worth your time, if you ever.
Oh, you know what? There is a third one up there. There is a third one up there. I cannot remember the name of it. But I do know that the first location that they opened was actually over in Central Lake, not in Traverse. But there is one in actual Traverse now. So there's three. Anyway, I digress. I guess we should talk about cars, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Next time in TC, I'll have to swing by one.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Let's talk some cars. For episode 800, I have Rolls-Royce Spectre review. It's good to go up, I think, in the next few weeks on the site. Just kind of coincidence, it was time to talk about it. I could have just as easily been in like a Toyota Camry. But hey, that's kind of fitting, right? Let's see. And you've been driving the Polestar 2, the refreshed version. That's a big deal car.
I'm pretty interested to drive that one. I've liked it when I've driven it previously. I imagine that's going to be a good one too.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. A little preview. It doesn't look that different from the outside. There's a couple little changes. But under the skin, it's vastly different. So good things to talk about.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. Sounds good. All right, then we will-- of course, we'll spend your money. But before we do that, we've got some news. We'll talk a little bit about the UAW strike. Joe Biden, the President, showed up at the picket line. There's also a deal in Canada. That's Unifor. That's what the union is called north of the border. We're going to talk about some other things. Some major discounts on the Jeep Gladiator.
And it may be the end of the G-Class as we know it. Question mark. Dot-dot-dot. We'll see. Maybe some other things we'll try to get to. But we will spend your money. So with that, let's talk about this Rolls-Royce Spectre. I drove this about a week ago. We were based out of this sort of historic estate in north of Detroit. It's called Meadowbrook. It's where the widow of auto baron John Dodge lived. Matilda Dodge Wilson, I believe, is her name.
So it's very-- it looks like a Hogwarts kind of thing. Great place to go. You know, drink some coffee, hear about the Spectre, then go drive one. One of the, I think, more, excuse me, memorable cars I've driven. And I'm not just saying it because it's a Rolls-Royce. It was certainly expensive. But the interior was gorgeous. And you would sort of expect that with a Rolls-Royce. But I really like the outside too. It was really a swanky looking grand tour. Just the long hood, the grille, the wheels. I drove one that was like a tuxedo kind of combination.
So it was black and white. Really enjoyed it. It was-- of course, this is all electric. I think I buried the lead here. So that definitely, this is the start, if you will, of I think Rolls-Royce's transition to being electric. It'll get you to 60 in 4.2 seconds. They could go faster. But they've definitely wanted to try to tune it to feel like a Rolls-Royce, which means it's like an easygoing powerful engine, not something that's going to rip your head off. So I think, if you're like a Rolls-Royce owner, you know, if you're in the luxury market, to me this is one of the most compelling Rolls-Royces I've tested. And I've tested a few of them.
I think the other part of this is some people might say, well, it's electric. OK. How do I feel about that? It's the question we ask for like every car. You know, the Mustang. Oh, it's electric. You know, people have these like, you know, sort of like existential questions like, what does this mean? I think this is better. And I think it's also-- to me, this feels more like a Rolls-Royce than the Cullinan did. When I drove the Cullinan, I was like this is cool, it's awesome. You've got the starry night sky. It's enormous. It's great for someone to relax in, you know, because, you know, most Rolls are being-- you're being driven in, if you will.
But this is sort of like, I'll try to bring this together. This is kind of like the Rolls-Royce maybe for the enthusiast. You know, I think it was a lot of fun to drive. It was a beautiful interior. It was really quite something.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: That's interesting you mentioned the Rolls-Royce for enthusiasts. I think, you know, enthusiasts means different things to different people. Like, is it the Rolls-Royce for Rolls-Royce enthusiasts, do you think? Or the Rolls-Royce for car enthusiasts? Like, or either?
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a good question. I would say it's for car enthusiasts. And I say that because, you know, for one thing, it's a coupe, right? It's not a big SUV or a sedan. And I think it frankly could bring in some new buyers, perhaps younger buyers who frankly don't want to be driven, you know, I think. I mean, let's be real here. We're talking about a Rolls-Royce.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So the subset, the buyer market, you know, we're talking about like NFL wide receivers or like, you know, quarterbacks, you know, Travis Kelce that he's going to drive Taylor Swift around in or something, you know? It's like--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Wow. Man, you're expanding our podcast reach by that, aren't you?
GREG MIGLIORE: Telling you, you got to be--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You're going after the sports guys, the pop music people.
GREG MIGLIORE: If a Rolls-Royce could do an electric car, we Could talk about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You know what, you mentioned NFL stars driving the Rolls-Royces, there was-- I checked Twitter this morning, I check it every day, just to see what's going on in car news world. And there was-- I don't know-- I don't-- honestly, I'm killing this story. I don't remember if it was an NFL guy or I want to say maybe it was an NBA player, but he went viral on social media for uploading the amount of money. It was like 150 bucks or something it cost to fill up his Rolls-Royce. And he was like, oh, my gosh, when did gas get so expensive, you know?
I don't know if he was kind of being tongue in cheek about it because he's driving a Rolls-Royce. You know, you can't drive a $0.5 million car and then complain about $150 fill up, right? But, you know, I think probably the irony wasn't lost on him. But yeah, that kind of blew up on social media today. I mean, and here's the other thing, the idea of electric Rolls-Royce. You know, there's multiple reasons why someone might choose to go electric over gasoline. One of them seems super obvious, you do it for-- you know, you believe that climate change is which, you know, most of us believe that climate change is a real thing.
And, you know, most of us believe that scientists are telling us that human activity has a lot to do with the climate change. You don't have to believe that. You know, you can listen to this podcast and be an automotive enthusiast regardless of what you believe. But a lot of people choose to buy an electric vehicle due to, you know, they feel like they're having too big of an impact on their environment. That's not the only reason to choose an electric car. Electric cars are fast, quiet, smooth, and those three adjectives perfectly describe what you want out of a Rolls-Royce, right? Fast quiet, smooth, luxurious feeling, you know, vehicle.
If you're spending that kind of-- that kind of money and you're looking for, you know, the style, the panache of a Rolls-Royce, do you really care what it's powered by? Like I mean, maybe you do. Maybe you want the one that is, you know, got a V12 engine because you're like, hey, burn the gas. But maybe you're just like, you know, this is a sweet car, I like this. And you don't like-- what it's powered by is kind of superfluous to the-- like the experience of owning and driving a Rolls-Royce. I don't know.
GREG MIGLIORE: Honestly, that was my initial take. Like, I went into it thinking, you know, very much, being very mindful about the electric propulsion side of it. But, you know, after driving it around a little bit, I was just like, you know, like, I personally would like the electric powertrain and see that as a benefit. I could see some people would be neutral or maybe against it. But once you drive the car, you're just like this is great, you know? Who cares what's powering it. I mean, it's a very romantic car too to, like, really dive into it. Suicide doors, chrome everywhere, real wood, real leather. I have this weird habit of driving barefoot.
So I think I was wearing like, you know, slip off shoes. Like, I just was like, maybe this is TMI, but my feet were just sinking into the carpet. It was just very Rolls-Royce.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: All of you automotive enthusiasts, if you're hearing that, feel free to assume that Greg does that just so he can heel and toe to the best of his ability without the sole of his shoes getting in the way. That's how I like to think of it.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a performance thing. I mean, it really is, right?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You got to lose weight, right? You know, everywhere that you can.
GREG MIGLIORE: There you go. Yeah. No, I agree.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I remember, the first time I drove a Rolls-Royce, I just remember thinking, if I ever become super wealthy, like wealthy enough that I don't care what a car costs, you know, we get these kinds of questions all the time like, oh, you test drive cars for a living all the time. Oh, what's your favorite car? What's-- you know, those are impossible questions.
But, you know, if I were to somehow know luck into the kind of money that you could legitimately consider a Rolls-Royce as a vehicle without it hurting your pocketbook, I absolutely would buy one. You know, there's a few Bentleys that I've driven that I'm like, OK, yeah, this is equally as posh as a Rolls-Royce. But there's something about that grille that like, you know, you walk out to your car, and you look at it, and you see that grille, you see the Spirit of Ecstasy pops up out of the grille area in front of the hood, and you get inside it and you see the RR. Like, it's just a special-- it's a special vehicle. And it really--
Like, there's very few cars that you get in nowadays and you're like. Not very few, I shouldn't put it that way. There's very few cars over $100,000 that you pop into and you say, like, oh, wow, this is worth it. I see what I'm getting for my money here. And you get that out of a Rolls.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: And the fact of the matter is-- you know, before we move on from the Spectre. The fact of the matter is every car company is going to have to electrify their fleet. They're going to get-- you know, regardless of what you believe about the climate, regardless of your political leanings. No matter what, it's the eventual end result years and years and years from now is that electrification is going to be the common. That's going to be like the standard.
There might be, you know, outliers here and there. But Rolls-Royce is going to have to electrify their fleet just as much as every other car company is going to have to. They have to this. The fact that it's still a Rolls-Royce, it still has that, as you said, Greg, a romantic feeling that it still feels special shows that maybe it doesn't matter as much as a lot of us, like, tend to think. You know, maybe the car companies can capture the soul of what they've been doing for a really long time, regardless of what's powering it.
I mean, maybe that's a stupid way or a naive way of thinking about how the future might be. But, you know, maybe that's a step in the right direction that Rolls-Royce can come out with a car that is totally Rolls-Royce regardless of what it's powered by.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. All right. So a couple final thoughts here. The two tone paint. You don't have to get two tone paint but it is a calling card of Rolls-Royce that dates all the way back to the 1920s. It really became sort of common and a bit of like a signature element in the '30s. Sort of during that coach building era when, you know, the car company might build your chassis, you might get the engine from somewhere else, and then a coach builder would finish the job, if you will.
So again, the two tone paint, gorgeous. 260 miles of range. I think we said that. But I think it's worth saying again. So no real range anxiety. Rolls-Royce owners on average own like seven cars. So it's not a sort of situation where, you know, you're going to have, like, not be able to have like a charger or something in your house. You're going to have your own infrastructure. That's for sure. So, you know, I think it-- it definitely is-- it brings a lot to the electric conversation. It brings a lot to sort of the sporting conversation because it's fun to drive, I think. Yeah. I mean, it's just-- this one had the starry night sky, which I think was kind of cool.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It sounds gimmicky, but it's super cool in real life.
GREG MIGLIORE: It really is. It's one of those features that, again, sounds like it's not going to work, but it really is cool. And I guess we can finish with this quote from Charles Royce who presciently observed, in 1900, that the electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There's no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. And this is from a press release, I'm working that into my story. That dude knew what he was talking about. There's some like interesting Roller quotes, you know?
Yeah TE Lawrence said, it's better than rubies. I'm paraphrasing there. But I mean, if you're talking about calling your shot, Chuck Royce, he knew what he was talking about.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yep. 100 years ago knew what he was-- knew what he was talking about.
GREG MIGLIORE: 123, but speaking of that, let's talk about a car company that's like three years old, a little older than that maybe. That's Polestar.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Closer to 3 than 123.
GREG MIGLIORE: Exactly. You you've driven the two, both the rear wheel and the all wheel drive versions. I drove one in the fall of, I think it was, '21. And I smashed my phone on it, maybe it was '22, because of the weird center console. And I'm just-- I don't care about my phone. So I haven't really bothered to replace it in the ensuing, like, two years. But I really like the car. So I'm curious, you know, tell me about this new one.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: So the center console is still there. And that's meaningful to talk about because electric cars typically, you know, when you've got a bespoke platform that you create an electric car out of, you don't need to have a tunnel. You know, some people have the misconception that the tunnel and the floor of a car is there for some sort of strength purpose.
Some people just have no idea and don't give it any sort of thought at all. It's there because, traditionally, in years past, rear wheel drive cars had a transmission and a drive shaft that connected the front engine to the rear wheels. So anything that had, you know, rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive had to have what they refer to as a transmission tunnel.
Electric cars don't typically need that. The Polestar model 2 has one because, you know, I said Polestar model 2. That's Tesla speak. It's not a model 2 it's just Polestar 2. I digress. It has it because the platform that it was originally built upon was designed for multiple powertrain options, including gasoline powered vehicles that have a traditional transmission tunnel.
Polestar does promise that their future cars that are built atop a platform designed from the very front-- very start to be electrified as opposed to gasoline powered will not have a transmission tunnel. There's the story of that. Most buyers, that's probably not going to be their biggest concern about the car. It's really good. There's a lot that I like about the Polestar 2.
And I'm speaking as the owner of a Tesla Model 3. I currently own one, a 2023. It's I've only had it for six, seven months now. There's a lot of reasons why I would recommend a Polestar 2 over a Tesla Model 3. The biggest one is that the interior of the Polestar feels much more like a traditional car than the Tesla does. And that's a big potential selling point for what I have to assume is a pretty large number of buyers. I greatly prefer the Polestar interior to the Tesla interior.
Where the Polestar falls a little bit short when compared directly to the market segment leader is besides the transmission tunnel that it technically doesn't need. It is more expensive, not as quick, and doesn't go as far on a charge. Those are pretty meaningful stats to be behind on. The Tesla, in all guises, is a couple tenths quicker than the Polestar when you go model the model. And it costs a significant amount less even without considering the tax credit. And model for model, the Tesla goes further on a charge it's just more efficient overall.
Assuming that you are cross shopping, you're going to have to make a tough pick, which one you're going to spend your hard earned dollars for. Disregarding its competition and looking at it in a vacuum, it's stupendous. I love driving the Polestar. Oddly enough, the cheapest version, which is rear wheel drive for 2024 actually would be my pick over the all-wheel drive performance model for multiple reasons.
One, the rear wheel drive version, the chassis dynamics are just slightly better. You can think of this. And this is common in the automotive world. The fewer things you have attached to your front wheels, the better the steering feels. And in the all wheel drive vehicle, it's got a motor up front. It's got half shafts. It's got constant velocity joints. There's a lot of extra material up at the front of the car that you just disregard if you've got the rear wheel drive version.
So the steering feels predictably better. Also, when you're talking about the performance of the vehicle, the 0 to 60 time on the all-wheel drive version is significantly quicker. All wheel drive traction helps, an additional electric motor helps, and extra power. In transition terms, like, from corner to corner, there's not that much in it. You know, there's a small difference. But that directly from 0 to 10 mile an hour benefit that the all wheel drive version has, it doesn't have in the real world on a twisty road.
And the final reason why I would choose the base model, rear wheel drive, over the more expensive all wheel drive version is range. There's two components to this part of the decision making process. One, the rear wheel drive version is lighter and has better efficiency because it's only a single motor, and therefore, is going to go longer on a charge. Number two, it has a more advanced higher capacity battery, same number of cells. It occupies the same amount of space.
But their newer cells from CATL instead of the older Polestar 2s that used LG cells. So every cell has slightly more capacity. You add it all up. And it makes a meaningful difference on the total capacity of the battery pack. So contrary to what you may think, I believe that if you're not drag racing, the standard Polestar model 2, not model 2. The standard Polestar 2 is the one to buy. You save yourself a little bit of money. You have a more entertaining car to drive. And it goes longer per charge.
So that's kind of the Polestar 2 for 2024 in a nutshell. You should know that the 2023 model is very different, even though it doesn't look it on the outside. Underneath, they all use the lower capacity LG cells and the lower base model was front wheel drive. And it only had something right around 200 horsepower. So it felt a little sluggish. Like, power wise it was more like a Chevy Bolt than a Tesla Model 3 before.
Now it's more like the Tesla, like the driving experience, rear wheel drive, significantly more power than the previous Polestar 2. Outside, the only way you're going to tell them apart at a glance is the front end. The old Polestar 2 had kind of a faux grille. You could see slats that look like it's sucking air, even though it wasn't necessary.
The new one, they filled that area in. And it now holds all the camera and radar modules right at the front of the vehicle. You can still see the outline of where the grille would be, but it's filled in now. That's the only outward, you know, evidence that there's a switch over from 2023 to 2024. Underneath it all though, it's a very different car and significantly improved over previous versions.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. I'm curious, I went to a-- I've done some Polestar things in the area recently. I had lunch, geez, I guess it was actually in the summer with the Polestar PR guy. And one of the things they are sort of trying to do is get a little bit more of the word out about who they are and what they're doing. When I drove it, I thought it was fun to drive. I liked the minimalist elements to it.
I think when people kind of realized that you were driving this like sort of small batch Swedish EV, people liked it even more because the other side of it is kind of nondescript, if you will.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's definitely like if you know, you know kind of car. I mean, how do you feel about that. You're a Tesla owner. Like, is this car, do you think it's too dull for you, if you will? Do you think, like, because I don't know, I think it looks good. But it is definitely a Q shift.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, for sure. You know, I think, you have to draw a line between minimalism, which I think is the word that you mentioned. And, you know, minimalism versus simplicity. They mean similar things. But they're slightly different. I think, Tesla is the more minimalist by definition. You know, the single screen in the center. Very little trim. You just kind of like, oh, here's your interior. It's got all the things you need. And, you know, look how techie it is with this big huge screen in the center.
Where the Polestar is, it's traditionally Scandinavian, I would say. And if you-- if you know what Scandinavian design generally represents, it is minimalism but more like everything you need and nothing you don't presented to you in a really stylish manner. And that's how I would describe the Polestar 2's interior. It's got two screens, one of them a digital cluster directly in front of the driver. The other one a, actually, oddly enough, smaller cluster in the center than the one directly in front of you.
I talked to some of Polestar's designers and engineers while I was-- while I was there driving 2. Future Polestars are going to keep the two cluster arrangement for now at least. It's one of their differentiators between Polestar and competitors like Tesla where that screen directly in front of the driver is going to get smaller. But it's still going to give you, at a glance, looking at the road, the bare minimum of what you need, your speed, your distance, your range, you know, those kinds of things.
Whereas Tesla's gone all in on the center screen and nothing else. And interestingly, some people may not know that Polestar started out as a sub-brand of Volvo. A lot of people listening to this podcast do know that. But in case you didn't, they're closely related. They're owned by the same company, Geely out of China. Volvos might drop that, in fact, will drop that screen directly in front of the driver.
The information that I was given from Polestar is that their car still has that. And they intend to keep it around, you know, befitting what they consider themselves as a premium offering. So that's a big difference right there. If you go to our website and you search for Polestar, you'll see that there's 3, 4, 5, 6, and I think even 7 that have been announced Polestar models starting with the 2. The 1 was actually a plug-in hybrid, which is like super awesome. Like, almost like a plug-in hybrid muscle car, like a Swedish Mustang kind of is how think of it.
The 2 is what we're talking about. The 3 is going to be the next model that comes out, obviously, 4, 5, 6, and then there's going to be a very high end electric Roadster that it wouldn't surprise me if they got out their Roadster before Tesla ever got Roadster V2 out into the public. But yeah, so I guess that was a very roundabout way of answering your question, Greg. As a Tesla owner, I consider the Polestar-- honestly, I consider it to be a more luxurious product than the Tesla.
I think of Tesla as a very techie car. I think of Polestar as a more Scandinavian car, like-- like traditional-- kind of traditional Scandinavian luxury. So is it too minimalist? Is it too simplistic? I don't think so. That remains to be seen how they deal with-- with their designs as they progress through the rest of their model line. But the 2 versus the Model 3, I would say that the Polestar 2, I think, it should cost more than the Tesla. It does. But I feel like it backs up its additional cost with greater and better design.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. That's an interesting take. All right, any other final thoughts on the Polestar?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. Last one I'll say is there is a performance edition version that you can get that has high end Ohlins, which is another Scandinavian company that specializes in suspension. It's a fully adjustable setup. Honestly, I think it comes too stiff from the factory. I don't think anyone who's buying a Polestar 2 is going to be taking it to Laguna Seca and run it on the-- you know, run it on the infield track and is going to need the kind of rebound damping that they've got programmed into it.
But if you do get that option package and you agree with me that it's just a little too stiff for your liking, take it to the dealer, it's fully adjustable. It's not something you're probably going to do at home. It's a manual adjustment, not something automatic. Take it to your dealer at least once a year, they'll make adjustments for you. And even for a minimal cost after that, if you want, they'll make adjustments.
So if you do end up with a performance version that has those high-end dampers, you're probably going to want to clip them down a little bit in the firmness scale.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a very interesting service. You don't get that really anywhere else. That is kind of like a wannabe Gearhead when it comes to, like, cars. Like I love cars, but I don't really know how to do anything to them. But that's kind of cool. It's almost like an Easter Egg. You don't get that, like, ever.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You really don't. Yeah. Like the only time that-- you know, because I also ride motorcycles, a lot of motorcycles have manually adjustable damper settings. And I'm used to making, like, clicks on my forks-- or mountain bikes too, you know, you click the forks here and there, you make some some preload adjustments on your rear spring. The high end Polestars have that. But it's not something that you're going to, you know-- you're not going to take the car half apart to to be wrenching on these remote reservoir shocks and stuff. You got to take it to the dealer.
But it's something that, if you're not used to two wheels, you're probably not used to the idea of like, hey, I'm going to-- I'm going to make some suspension adjustments on my car today.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice. All right. So that is the Polestar 2. Let's move along to the new section. Busy week. Lots of stuff. We'll try to run through it. Big news, obviously, is the UAW strike continues. We're well into the second week of it. I know you wrote the story on Tuesday when President Biden visited the picket lines at Willow Run. I think that's very symbolic on many levels.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: For sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know, the site that was the arsenal of democracy, if you will. It was a little bit of a head fake too. I noticed coming in-- you know, because we considered trying to get somebody out there to cover it, and everybody thought it would be the Wayne factory where the Ford Bronco was assembled because we knew it was coming to Michigan. There was only one assembly plant that was on strike because, again, it's a targeted strike. And I was watching CNN. And of course combing Twitter and everything, trying to figure out like what, if anything, we should do.
And CNN was broadcasting from the front of the factory in Wayne. And then they're like Biden's in the Willow Run, which is up the road in Ypsilanti. And it's a different factory. It's a GM factory. So a little inside baseball there, but it was definitely kept closely under wraps. You know, it's interesting. It's a historic moment to have a sitting US President on the picket line. You know, he said he is definitely in-- you know, unabashed, you know, pro-union president. And he's also-- I think it's interesting to note that, like, despite that he was here for a day and then President Trump, we're recording this on Wednesday, former President Trump is scheduled to land and appear at another type of rally, I guess, later this evening.
So by the time you listen to this podcast, that will probably have happened. It's interesting is neither the current President or the former President, obviously, has any authority over the negotiation. So I think that's kind of an interesting little subplot. But it's definitely a, I think, you know, it's a masterful move on the part of the UAW to engage an ally like that. You know, definitely as far as like the court of public opinion, I read somewhere yesterday that two-thirds or three-quarters of the public generally agrees with what the union is saying. Like, at a general level.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: In general terms, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. And again, we won't dive too deep into any of, like, you know, the offers, the counter offers, all of that because everything's changing. That's the other thing is by the time you listen to this on Friday, Saturday, they could have a deal. But I think it's definitely a historic moment, that's for sure.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: For sure. Yeah. Continuing negotiations, it's an interesting thing. You're absolutely right, a sitting President has never visited a picketing line. It's just, you know, something that exists-- nothing exists outside of politics these days, right? You know, like, you know, labor relations, it was a political touchstone, so to speak, in prior years. But, you know, these days, in the current political climate, it's not terribly surprising to me that Biden chose to visit the striking workers.
What he had to say was interesting too. He only spoke for like a minute and a half, something like a minute and a half into a bullhorn before kind of sitting on the front lines with some of the picketing workers and you UAW President Shawn Fain took the bullhorn and spoke for several minutes after that before thanking Biden for coming out. And that was interesting in and of itself. The UAW has not officially endorsed anyone for the 2024 presidential elections.
But we're not a political website. But most political pundits would assume that they're probably going to endorse Biden eventually. Other unions have already done so. And unions in the past have endorsed Biden and Democratic presidents in general. But that's interesting that, you know, Biden is coming out or Biden came out already. Trump is coming out to speak to-- to other striking autoworkers today.
So it's clearly a hot button topic across the United States landscape that even if you don't have anything to do with the UAW, with autoworkers, you don't live in the Midwest, you don't have anything to do with you know Michigan, you know, Detroit area at all, it is like part of the zeitgeist, right? Everybody is aware of what's happening right now with the union because, you know, presidents and ex-presidents are visiting. So it's something that we kind of have to talk about because it's like ground breaking, fresh stuff that's happening.
But it's also crazy to think that, like, this is going on right now, like this striking workers who are giving, you know, their list of what they want and the sitting President comes and tells them, you know, he said something to the effect of stick it out, you get what you deserve. Very interesting language coming, you know, from political channels which is essentially negotiations between the private sector and its workers. So really interesting times we're living in, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I mean, it's definitely historic. I couldn't find any previous president that had done this. I kind of thought maybe Teddy Roosevelt might have done it back in like the trust busting days, 120 years ago, you know, back when Charles Royce was talking about EVs. Doesn't appear to have happened. So we'll just-- you know, I guess we'll wait and see. I mean, certainly, there's a lot of political capital to be made simply because, you know, it's one of the most significant things going on in the economy, and in, frankly, the world right now.
And then another note real quick. Unifor, that's the Canadian, Union has a deal with Ford. Check out the story. It's on our website. That came together pretty quickly.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Super quick when you compare like what's happening in the United States, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. It came together very quick. And they've moved on to-- from Ford to General Motors. So yeah.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I think we should mention really briefly that even though-- you know, even though the unions are completely separate, they cross an entire country, you know, boundary, a country line from the United States to Canada, they're dealing with the same corporate entities. You know, Unifor made a deal with Ford, the same Ford that the UAW is currently bargaining with. And from what I've heard and what we've reported ourselves, Ford has made what the UAW is calling a substantive offer.
So, you know, the UAW has kind of backed off Ford a little bit on their additional striking plants, whereas they have not done that with General Motors and Stellantis. So interesting-- a couple interesting points, if this comes up around the water cooler or if you're talking to your families, Ford seems to be leading the negotiations in both the United States and Canada. There's a deal in Canada already struck with Ford. There's no deal in the United States. But Ford seems to be leading-- you know, leading the charge, so to speak, in getting a United States deal passed.
You also should know that the deals with the Canadian auto workers are completely separate from the deals with the American workers in the UAW. They tend to get, like, similar pay, similar treatment. But the negotiations, the contracts are 100% completely separate.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. One of the big differences too is the health care situation. You know, in Canada, obviously, the government covers the health care. And, you know, the United States, it tends to be more privately based. So that, you know, especially in these, you know, specifically with the auto workers contracts, that's been a big difference between, I think, the two relationships over the years.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Absolutely. And that's a solid point to make.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right. So come back to Autoblog. We're going to cover this until it's over with. You know, again, everything seems to be changing by the day. So, you know, but hey you work the weekends Jeremy, so maybe something will happen over the weekend, right?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Totally. Yeah, I'm expecting it at this point.
GREG MIGLIORE: Indeed. Indeed. Let's talk about the Mercedes G-Class. We'll move on to the rest of the news section. A little more product in here. The headline on our story, I think this is kind of a good way to lead in, is that this could be the end of it as we know it. And then, you know, we're looking at the updated G-Class, which will be electrified. And that's coming up next year.
We've got some sort of spy photos of them, the prototype, which looks like a G-Class. So nothing too scary there. But we could be looking at a very different powertrain setup for the Gelandewagen, which has been one of the most old school vehicles on the market for a really long time.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: What do you-- It's been a while since I've driven a G-Class. And it's always so much fun. I think, for a while, it sort of had the monster off-road category to itself.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Not so much capability. But as far as price and power. And then Bronco showed up and Jeep's like, well, wait a minute, we got-- one, we got to keep up with Ford, so that means we got to refresh this thing more than once a decade. Wrangler, I'm talking about. And also, how can we do that different? Boom! Suddenly, let's have a Wrangler 392, you know? Suddenly you've got Wranglers that are, like, you know, approaching at least in the neighborhood of six figures. So, you know, all that's to say the Mercedes's G-Class has some company in many ways now.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. Yeah, totally. You hit the nail right on the head there. Like, I think, when you're looking at ultra expensive off-road vehicles, off-road vehicles that crest $100,000, traditionally, you've been thinking of the Mercedes G-Class. You know, that's the one. It wasn't that long ago when, you know, it was hard to push a Wrangler over $50,000. You throw every option that Jeep offers at the thing and you're like, oh, you really want to spend $50,000 on a Wrangler?
Nowadays any run of the mill Wrangler is probably going to be $50,000.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. You get one with a lot of the off-road features, a leather interior, power seats, and, you know, et cetera, et cetera, and you're looking at a $70,000 Wrangler. And just this year, for 2024, Jeep came out with the X trim, which is Rubicon X. And on the truck version, the Gladiator. There's also Mojave X. But in the Wrangler terms, it's Rubicon X, which is basically all the luxury stuff that you get from like a Sahara and all of the off-road stuff that you get from the Rubicon. And suddenly, we're looking at, you know, Wranglers that still have four cylinder engines and, you know, in the 80s. And if you want a 392, yeah, you're looking at 90s. And let's not throw Jeep out without mentioning Ford.
Ford is the same way with the Bronco. You option up a Bronco with all the luxury stuff, you're in the 70s. And the Bronco Raptor is a $95,000 vehicle. So suddenly, $100,000 off-roaders don't seem that crazy. And enter the G-Class which is sat alone in that category for the last two decades since they started importing them here in the mid 2000s. Interesting to me that the original first generation of the G-Class lasted from-- I don't even know when it was-- what was it first, like, in the-- like, I don't know, early 1980s.
I don't know for sure when it was originally, maybe even '70s, I'd have to look it up when it was originally designed. I cover the US market enough that I know that.
GREG MIGLIORE: '79.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: '79. There you go. So I know, in the US, it didn't come until the late 2000, officially. There were imports before that. But officially, it came in the late 2000. And it lasted until, what, 2019 in its same original shape. And then from 2019 to 2023 or 2024, they had this updated version, which is on its completely different chassis design, finally got rid of the old recirculating ball steering and went to, you know, a modern rack and pinion. Increased the efficiency ever so slightly.
And here it is, 2024, 2025 model year. And we're saying, hey, the next class is right around the corner. And I think what that tells you is the $100,000 off-road category has gone from a very small part of the segment to suddenly we got to keep up. We got to keep this going. You know, like, we're leaving a lot of money on the table if we're not keeping this product updated. So that's interesting in and of itself. Also, the fact that the next G-Class, it's going to ride on a similar platform to what they have today. But it's going to be offered with multiple powertrain options.
And for the first time, there'll be an electric electrified version, which will have some sort of Q in its name, EQG, I would imagine, is what it'll officially be called. They'll probably be multiple versions of the EQ just like there are-- or the GQ just like there are with the regular G. But yeah, it's super interesting that this change is happening so rapidly, when it sat so stagnant for so long.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's definitely a segment that competition has made the whole-- you know, rising tide has lifted all boats. You know, I think you're seeing, you know, the products are getting more compelling, more interesting across the field. And Mercedes is not immune to that. That's for sure.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. Yeah. And what are they going to cost you that's interesting.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a good one.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: What is an electric G-Class going to start at? 200? 250? You know, it's going to be a lot. These things are going to be very, very expensive. But then you look at, you know, GMC came out with the GMC Hummer, an electrified off-roader that, you know, is kind of like-- and I think, it's completely different because GMC is using that, like, as a traditional halo where if they sell, you know, 25 of them a year or 50 of them a year, they're like, hey, whatever.
You know, they really need to save those batteries for higher profit margin, bigger number of vehicles. But yeah, I mean, there's a market for it clearly. And you go outside of the OEMs, you look at Hennessey, you look at AED, you look at all these other-- these companies that are taking traditional hardcore off-road vehicles and luxe-ing them up and they're selling for, you know, 200, 250, even more than that, you know? It started with the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and now it's Broncos and Land Cruisers and Land Rovers and all of that. You know, like, there's a big appetite in the United States for high end, luxurious off-road, quote-unquote, vehicles that'll never go off road.
But yeah, so not surprising to see the G-Class go down that route. A little bit surprising to me that it happened as quickly as it did. And I think it really speaks to the shifting marketplace for high-end vehicles here in the States.
GREG MIGLIORE: So that's a good transition to Gladiator discounts.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know, speaking of off road and sort of objects of off road desire, if you will, I think these are very cool. But sales are down a bit this year. And depending on where you live, you can get a pretty good deal on this. You know, there is some, like, overall incentives, if you-- if you will, out there. But I wouldn't say they're stacking up on dealer lots. But when you blend what some dealers are offering along with just like the manufacturer, like, discount, you're looking at 20 grand off, some of them. Now you got to live in the right place. You got to search for it, if you will. But I mean, that's a pretty screaming deal if you've ever thought about going with a Gladiator.
You know, I tend to always think-- I just drove a Wrangler. And I tend to think I'd always go Wrangler just because it's more practical. You know, an SUV footprint versus a pickup footprint, for my personal use. But yeah, I think that's kind of interesting in this time of, chip shortages, strikes, you know, inflation that you actually could get a very desirable product for a fairly significant discount.
And, you know, we'll see, given the fact that, you know, one of the factories that is being struck by the UAW is the Wrangler and Gladiator factory in Toledo. So that, frankly, is going to ease some of the inventory just by the fact they're not building any. And they haven't for a week, almost two.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: There's a part of me that wants to tell all of our listeners. And this is not official Autoblog advice. But there's a part of me that wants to tell our listeners that if you want a really good price on a Gladiator, you probably should get yourself down to a dealer sooner rather than later for two reasons. One, Greg just mentioned that there's a strike going on. And the Toledo plant that builds Wranglers and Gladiators is on strike right now. So there's no Wranglers or Gladiators filling out of-- you know, filling out of the plant and going to dealerships right now.
So the inventory is going to dwindle. Two, part of the reason why these discounts probably started in the first place is that the 2024 edition is right around the corner. I think order books may have even opened on it. You know, obviously there's those deliveries are going to be slowed by the strike that we just mentioned. But the 2024 edition has some meaningful upgrades that make it more desirable than the 2023.
One of them we touched on earlier is the addition of the ex models which a lot of the good action on Gladiators is happening at the high end. The Rubicons and the Mojaves aren't seeing some of the big huge dealer added discounts that the Sport, Sport S, and Willys models are seeing. So, you know, I think that's part of it, that the 2024 is right around the corner and some people, you know, it's already been announced. You know, it's not like people are like taking a wait and see attitude. They know what's coming.
There's a good number of people that are just going to bide their time and wait for the 2024, maybe even let one model year pass and get the 2025. It has a much classier interior, some additional options. And Jeep has already said that, you know, some of those killer unique selling points that the Gladiator has not had, that the Wrangler has are coming to the Gladiator, the biggest one being the 4xe drivetrain. Greg, you reported that after you had a discussion with some of the Jeep people.
So there's a good chance that people are holding out, waiting for the next gen model. Inventory is going to dwindle. If you want a deal on a Jeep Gladiator, I feel like, you know, this is just me talking off the top of my head. But I feel like now is the time probably to get it if you want it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I think, you know, you make a good point. You know, that the 2024 is going to be here sooner rather than later. There will be a 4xe variant coming by 2025. That's what I believe it was Jim Morrison mentioned that, you know, the brand is going to be going all electric. So-- you know, or in some form, if you will. So, you know, it's coming, if you will. It's going to be here. So, you know, perhaps people, you know, they're-- I don't know. I think it's interesting though because the 20-- the outgoing model is still a very good thing. You know, I think, in some ways, we--
So you're a Jeep fan, you knew the Wrangler was getting these things. OK, that's cool. But were you that plugged in that, hey, like, OK, we know the Wrangler is going to get this, so is the Gladiator Ergo. I'm going to wait. I mean, I guess--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I knew it would get the interior. Like, there's--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: There's very little-- there's no benefit to Jeep having different interiors on the vehicles that are built in the same plant. Like, I assumed that that would come. I didn't necessarily count on the 4xe coming simply because the sales numbers are significantly lower. And, you know, there's going to be a cap on the number of batteries that Stellantis/Jeep is able to procure and build into vehicles.
And right now, the Wrangler 4xe is the best selling plug-in vehicle in the United States, plug-in hybrid. And honestly, it's not even close to the next vehicle. So not surprising that the 4xe is coming to the Gladiator. But I also didn't necessarily-- I wouldn't have bet on it either for that reason. While we're on this topic though, I think it's also fair to point out, like, you shouldn't take this report as if the Gladiator is tanking, like Jeep just can't move them. That's not the case.
So looking at some sales numbers here, and this is alluded to, in the story that we wrote, more-- Jeep is selling more gladiators than Ford is selling Rangers or GMC is selling Canyons. The Ranger is an interesting one there because it is its own vehicle. However, there also-- you've got the next version of that coming out. So again, the inventory might be down, buyers might be holding. It's only 100 units behind the Ridgeline, which is a standalone vehicle, 6,000 units behind-- less than 6,000 behind the Chevy Colorado, and less than 7 behind the Nissan Frontier.
Obviously, the Toyota Tacoma is head and shoulders in sales better than any other midsize truck. In fact, it's better than the Toyota Tundra full size truck which is kind of an anomaly in the marketplace. It's not like Jeep can't sell Gladiators. It's more that they've got a bunch that they've already built that are sitting on lots right now that they need to get rid of.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. That's a really good point. And I mean, frankly, the point of this is just to illustrate, hey, if you maybe don't care about the upgrades, and some people don't. When I was car shopping five, six years ago, I was like, no, I want like the outgoing model here because I don't care that much about the new one. And it's going to be fine. So--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I would tell people-- I would tell people go out and buy a '23 right now, you know?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no question.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Unless what you want is the 4xe in which case you should wait. But if you're going to get the standard V6 engine, I would go out and save the $10,000 that they're offering on the hood right now.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. For that kind of money, this isn't like 2 or 3, like, to your point, 10 grand.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: The changes aren't that dramatic that you've got to wait for the '24. And like I said, caveat, unless you're waiting for the 4xe, which is worth waiting for. But if you're going to get the V6, you know, you're still getting a good Uconnect system. Here's the things that you're missing, power seats that the new one's going to have, and a slightly smaller center screen, and no trail finding app.
Like, when you really break it down, those are the things, like, how important is that worth $10,000? That $10,000 discount is not going to be there forever. So if you're in the market, now would be the time to cash in.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so let's round out our new segment here with the new Batmobile. First look, first reveal. This is the car that we're seeing kind of behind the scenes video of it for the latest Batman movie. There's nothing to really dissect here other than, I think, this is one of the cooler Batmobiles we've seen in quite some time. This is the writer of our story called it a mashup between a Mustang and a Camaro. OK, sure. I can see that.
But it does look awesome. I think I like the fact that it's kind of like-- I don't know. It's kind of-- it looks like a muscle car is what I would look like. I don't know. It's almost like, you know, maybe if there had been a fifth muscle car in the '70s, you know, beyond Ford Mustang, you know, Camaro, you had the Barracuda, and the Challenger, and then there was AMC. So I guess maybe like a sixth one. This could have been it because that's kind of how it looks like the inspiration of it. To me, I like this. It's super high on my list.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You're not forgetting Firebird, are you?
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, I was forgetting Firebird. OK, so this is like the sixth or seventh one, I guess. I don't know. Mercury Cougar, forgot about that.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Mercury Cougar. Oh, yeah, see.
GREG MIGLIORE: Dude, I don't know.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Oh, boy.
GREG MIGLIORE: So if this were a startup up manufacturer in 1968, I could see somebody doing a thing like this. And I like that. So it's one of the cooler Batmobiles I've seen in quite some time.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It is cool. Now I think we should point out, this is, you know, the Robert Pattinson The Batman movie is, you know, where we saw this concept introduced, this like kind of '60s era muscle car Batmobile. And it's-- like, there was a segment of the comic book loving internet mob that was really irritated by this Batmobile. I think what you have to remember is that, you know, because-- and you have to say, you know, Batmobile tradition, if you go-- if you go way back to you know the show with Adam West, that was a Batmobile that was based on a Lincoln.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. That was a cool one too.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. Super cool, V8 engine, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But then the animated series had like super crazy, like, art deco Batmans-- Batmobiles. And then the 1989 Tim Burton, Michael Keaton Batman had one of my favorite Batmobiles of all time. And it kind of just kept going down that art deco path until Christian Bale's Batman came with, you know, kind of more like an off-road-y one and then there was the Tumbler. And then, you know, like--
So I don't think there's any reason to be purist about, you know, comic book stuff. Like, you know, like your favorite Batmobile still exists in the Batman timeline somewhere, in the Batman universe, multiverse if you will. This one is another cool one. It looks a little dirt tracky to me. Not so much glass in it that's going to break. Big V8 engine, off-road-y suspension, off-road tires. What are these, like, 33, 35 inch tires that you typically see on a Bronco or a Wrangler or something?
I think it's cool. And, you know, I hope that they-- I don't know. I don't follow Batman close enough to know if they've already greenlit a sequel to The Batman. But if they do, and I hope they do, then I hope that it's got another Batmobile that goes around down a similar path.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Sounds good. It's a cool car. Pretty cool. Let's spend some money. All right. Let's see, so it is Mike Wright's Spend My Money. I'm looking for a fast four door sedan for use as a daily. Love it. Currently looking at used options. The budget, 45 grand. He's ready to escape SUV land.
Coming out of a 2017 Macan S. It's a nice vehicle. Want to step up in performance, and I'm ready for something different. Sedan must be well built with no squeaks and rattles. I'm OK with an older one. I only plan to keep the car two to three years. And then my need for four doors goes away, and I'll get a sports car. I'm 6'2", and I like my space.
The Macan is almost too small. 30 minute highway commute and also take multi state road trips a few times a year. City and surrounding area is a grid of straight roads with only a few corners. Smiles per gallon are more important than miles per gallon. I like this guy.
Yeah. I don't think I've ever heard it quite said that way. I probably should have but that's a pretty good little tagline. So here's the choices Jeremy. Play maintenance roulette with a crazy fun old E63 or M5. Get a slightly used E53 or S6, or some other Macan beating hidden gem. Thanks in advance, says Mike. There's a lot of different ways you could peel back this onion.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: There sure are.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know what, I'm just going to go because this is my initial impulse. So I think sometimes it's good just to, like--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Go with your gut.
GREG MIGLIORE: Go right-- go right down the middle. Throw the four seamer. I would do the crazy fun old E63 or M5. Here's why. It's only a two or three year car. You're going to have a lot of fun with it. The maintenance probably won't be that bad, knock on wood, so he says. And to me, those cars are more characterful than, you know, what are you suggesting look at, E53 or an S6 or something like a slightly used but kind of basically new German car. So that's what I would do. What would you do, Jeremy?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I like-- I like where you're thinking there. If I were to go in older and play maintenance roulette like he says, if I were going to do that, I'd go all the way to-- I don't even remember, is it E60? Is that what it is with the V10 engine, the M5?
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, geez. Yeah. That's a gutsy play. I don't remember the nomenclature, but yeah. If you're going to go big, there you go.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Go big. Yeah. If you do that and the V10 is awesome. I've driven these cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Same. Yeah, I agree.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: 500 horsepower. If you do it, for 25 or 30 grand, you can get one with reasonable miles and you can get one with a manual transmission, I repeat manual transmission, not the seven speed SMG that they came-- that they came initially with. You want a manual.
So there's that. I also like to be a little bit deep dive-y when it comes to these things. So I'm going to throw out some things that may not have been brought up or considered. And I'll go them-- I'll go down them in the order of likelihood that you'll actually consider it. OK, Chevy SS.
GREG MIGLIORE: Thought about that. Thought about that.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It's a sedan. It's fast. It's sporty, V8, very-- you know, this is an Australian muscle car. And they're really good to drive. And it's way under budget. You'll come in way under budget, $30,000, $35,000 for a nice one. Your choice of manual or automatic, choose wisely. Next, this is also not an official recommendation but something that maybe you want to, like, throw in there, 2014 to 2019 Jaguar XJR. Over 500 horsepower from a supercharged 5 liter V8 engine. Stunning British good looks, in my personal opinion. Stunning British leather interior. Very good to drive.
Maintenance, potentially problematic, but also again well under budget. Next, 2016-ish Audi RS7. Now Mike specifically said sedan, the RS7 is technically a hatchback. But, you know, you want that RS trim, you might have to be willing to go to the RS7 instead of the RS6 that you actually will not be able to find. Great car. Brilliant, beautiful, great to drive.
I'll run down the rest of my list. These are getting more like real suggestions. Lexus GSF. You can find a 2016, maybe 2017 Lexus GSF in your price range with reasonable miles. It's not the fastest car that we're talking about. But it's one of the most characterful cars that we're talking about. Lexus V8 engine is a screamer, revs to the moon, and is a really entertaining vehicle. Alpina B7, it's bigger than some of the other sedans we're talking about, bigger than the M5.
Obviously, it's built on the 7 Series. But it's a twin turbocharged V8 engine, very powerful, something like 600 horsepower. The BMW M760 xDrive also would fall into that same category. That's a V12 engine. Also, all wheel drive and an absolutely beautiful stupendous car that you can find in your budget. Know that maintenance on it is going to be a big problem. So those are my list of things maybe you haven't considered.
If you go the M5 route, you're not going to-- you know, you're not going to regret it. All the M5s are excellent driver's cars. I've driven them all. Every one of them is faster than the one before them but slightly less interesting from behind the wheel. So, you know, you got to make some hard choices there. I really like the Alpina. It's different than a regular BMW. You're not going to see them all over the place. It's something like 600 horsepower from a twin turbo V8 engine.
And when I did a search, I was finding them in the $30,000, $35,000 range. That leaves you some good money left over for regular maintenance issues. But if I were buying myself, I honestly think I would choose the Lexus GSF. it's just--
GREG MIGLIORE: Wow. OK.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It's just such a fun enthusiast car to drive. It's naturally aspirated, relatively middling displacement V8 engine, revs to the moon. It just feels like an old school sports sedan it's supposed to feel like. And that'll be my official recommendation. But if, like, Greg, you decide to go the M5 path, which I would not begrudge that at all, maybe consider going back several generations, get that V10, store some money aside for, you know, oil, line replacement, things that those things you tend to need. And have fun revving it to 8,000 RPM.
GREG MIGLIORE: Wow. That is an impressive list. You did your homework. I just spoke like from the gut. And you're like, this is a nuanced list with a lot of options. And then you totally, like, flip the field of what were the different one on there, the Lexus. So that's awesome.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. You know, when people give me a price point and tell me something, and they're like-- or something I didn't think about, I'm like, oh, well, let's see what you didn't think about.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK, there you go.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I like it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Jaguar XFR is one that I left out. Your Jaguar XJ comment made me think of it XFR is a bit smaller, but that's a fun car. I really enjoyed that back in the day. And the SS is one, I thought, but I just didn't say it. So kudos to you, I guess. I don't know. But that'd be a fun one. Again, that one, I think, might get squeaky and rattly. But hey, again, this is two to three years, enjoy it, you know, and then go get your sports car.
I think, if you get an Alpina, those have, I think, such an interesting, like, unique quality, you may end up sticking with the car if you like It for like five years.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You know what's not going to get squeaky and rattly, Greg?
GREG MIGLIORE: What's that?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Alexis.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Build quality. That's a car that is going to feel like a new car longer than most of the rest of these ones will. And not likely to have big maintenance and repair costs either.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a strong closing argument. That's a good walk off. All right, well, hey, that's all the time we have. That is episode 800. If you enjoy the show, and we hope you do, please send us your Spend My Moneys at podcast@autoblog.com and give us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, hey, wherever you get the show. Be safe out there. And we'll see you next week.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Bye, everybody.
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