This gen is the last and is from the era when GM had a stake in Suzuki. It rode on the same platform as the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent and Saturn Vue and was very nearly a badge job of those, just stretched slightly to accommodate a 3rd row.
So both outlets recently tested small, under $30,000 cars. Car & Driver's comparison test came out first, on May 15th. It was an interesting comparison but some said it was all over the place because some of the cars didn't exactly lineup with each other. In it, they tested the Kia K4 GT-Line hatch, Honda Civic Sport Hybrid hatch, Toyota Corolla FX hatch (which is a given because the FX is only available as a hatch), VW Jetta SEL, Nissan Sentra SL, and the Subaru Impreza RS (which is also only available as a hatch).
If you're a regular reader of C&D, you know how this comparison went down. The Civic Hybrid took the crown, with them giving it high marks for its fuel economy, speed and road manners though they knocked it for not having enough content and its transmission.
The Jetta surprisingly took second, the Corolla 3rd, the K4 4th, the Impreza 5th and the Sentra last.
Motor Trend's comparison test wasn't as big. They only had 3 cars for their test: the K4 LXS - which also happens to be their long term test vehicle -, the Honda Civic Sport sedan, and the Nissan Sentra SR. Like Car & Driver, the Sentra finished last here as well. And from what I've seen online, the problem lies with the fact that it's basically just a reskin of the previous generation: new duds, old bones. It seriously needs a better engine. Surprisingly the Civic finished second with Motor Trend. Unlike Car & Driver, Motor Trend wasn't wooed by the Civic's on road manners. Instead, it got knocked for value, with Motor Trend saying:
"...you give up a lot, spend a fair amount up front, and get less than you do elsewhere in the segment with the Civic. For us, at under $30,000, the Civic’s technology is too dated, cost cutting too extreme, and its spartan features set prevents us crowning it the new compact king."
The K4 finished first, mainly because you get a lot of value for the money and that apparently it's a "compelling overall package." I think I would have to agree with Motor Trend's test. Car & Driver has favored Honda for years. Not saying they have a bias but if an Accord or Civic is in a comparison, it's usually a given it'll take the crown with Car & Driver. They also have tendency to view mainstream cars through the lens of an enthusiast, and it sometimes skewers their testing results. So from what I've seen with these tests and from what people have said online, the Civic, K4 and Jetta seem to be the best go tos for a sold cheap car. The Corolla is small, the Impreza is forgettable (though it does offer all-wheel drive) and the Sentra is only impressive on the surface.
It sucks that this performance is more known from the meme from TikTok. Because it really is one of the best vocal performances you'll ever see. That falsetto is elite.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-05-13/why-la-condo-sales-have-slumped-to-20-year-low
Probably because this price cooling has only taken prices from expensive to slightly less so. They're saying median prices have been "around $700,000 for a two-bedroom condominium" for the last two years. A 5% drop on a price like that isn't shit. Throw in horrible mortgage rates and equally horrible HOA fees and no one can afford it. So now condo sales are at a 20 year low:
The number of condo units sold in the first two months slid to a more than 20-year low, according to figures from real estate data firm Attom. The median price of a condo fell nearly 5% in February compared with a year earlier, the property information provider said.
Cooling condo sales may be an early sign of broader weakness in the market.
Stubbornly high home-loan rates, a decline in the construction of new units, and economic angst are all keeping people and property developers from doing more deals, said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC.
“When the housing market softens, and it has, condos usually go softer faster than single-family homes,” he said. “People prefer single-family houses to condos.”
The median price of a Los Angeles County condo fell 4.5% in February, compared with a year earlier. The median price of a single-family home fell 1.6%.
Median rents in L.A. recently fell to a four-year low, a small sign of hope for tenants who felt like it was only a matter of time before they were priced out of the city.
Condos, like other properties, shot up in value earlier in the pandemic but have been moving sideways in L.A. for the last two years, with the median price meandering around $700,000 for a two-bedroom condominium.
“The market is experiencing more of a pricing plateau than a major correction,” said Rob Barber, chief executive of Attom."
The Times pointed out that San Diego is the excpeption, and from being there recently it would seem that's the case. They're building a ton out there:
"San Diego is a rare example of a nearby metropolis that has been able to convince more builders to build more.
The city is more welcoming to developers, industry insiders say, with fewer regulations and fees, better planning and less rent control.
In the last quarter of 2025, the number of new apartments under construction in San Diego County rose 10% from three years earlier, CoStar data show. New apartment construction in Los Angeles County tumbled 33% over the same period, hitting an 11-year low in the three months through December. San Diego is expanding its apartment pool at nearly twice the rate of L.A. and other major city clusters in the state."
But none of it is affordable. Go look at Zillow. Anything with more than 2 bedrooms is over $600k.
Sharing this like this because of the paywall at the Daily Bulletin.
So protestors were outside of Canyon Hills Junior High on May 8th. The reason? The Chino Valley Unified School District through it was a good idea to invite Turning Point USA to hold a rally at the school. Apparently, the right wing group is on a countrywide tour titled "History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour" for the country's 250th anniversary, and it's doing this on behalf of the Department of Education and what's being described as "other organizations". Those other organizations? Among them, The Prager University Foundation - a problematic right wing organization that has been used to spread misinformation to children in schools - and the Heritage Foundation.
Parents say that this whole thing was organized because the school board is conservative, something Chino Valley school board President Sonja Shaw - who looks as if she's one surgery away from Mar-a-Lago face - denies. And her denial tells you everything you need to know about what's going on:
“...something’s gone wrong in this country when celebrating America’s 250th birthday becomes controversial.”
“‘History Rocks’ is a national educational program connected to the U.S. Department of Education focused on our founding documents and the American Revolution,” Shaw said. “It is an honor for our district to be the one stop in California selected to allow students to participate in such a meaningful celebration.”
Luckily parent's don't want their children exposed to this crap, as the Daily Bulletin explained:
"According to the “Trail to Independence” tour’s website, the event involves visits to schools in all 50 states by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and other education leaders in the American 250 Civics Education Coalition “to recognize excellence in civics education and promote a shared understanding of the principles that shaped the founding and history of our nation.”
Parents also criticized Shaw for using this whole ordeal for brownie points. See, Shaw is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in the June 2nd election. So if you live in the area or see her name on the ballot, do not vote for her! She's feigning ignorance about the real reason this is all going on. Remember, the last few years, Chino School District has leaned right, from banning the flying of any flags that aren't the US, state or miliary flags to approving a rule that would notify parents if the school or district suspects a student is trans.
In a Wednesday, May 6, email to parents, Canyon Hills Principal David Ries described “History Rocks!” as “interactive, meaningful and fun.”
Lauren Dans, a former Canyon Hills student and teacher, posted a TikTok video criticizing the event. She said Canyon Hills teachers were not told about it until Monday, May 4.
Parents are upset, “saying their students are staying home, and students still don’t know about it, but those that do are saying they don’t want to attend,” Dans said in the video. “Parents are contacting Canyon Hills school administrators about it.”
On Friday, many parents were seen bringing their children out of classes before the first rally.
Canyon Hills parent Namya Greene said she didn’t allow her son to attend classes Friday after he mentioned the rally would be coming. She was concerned that Turning Point officials might appear at the event and did not appreciate parents being told at the last minute.
“It concerns me because the (organizers) stand for certain things that should not be in junior high schools,” Greene said. “People who are adults should be making those choices about those politics, the history … I want to know what they’re going to say. Why is it so secretive?”
Greene also worried about safety, “because we know who is associated (with Turning Point USA), and what happened to him.”
The protests were peaceful, parents said. It was not known how many students attended the assemblies or classes."
It's basically the same situation but a bit worse.
So I've recently started rewatching Enterprise. I forgot how good it was. I also forgot how much of it I don't remember. And recently one episode was basically a parallel of Voyager’s Tuvix. A brief recap for those who don’t remember (spoilers) - In the Enterprise episode Simlitude, Tripp gets badly injured after trying to push the ship’s engines to maintain Warp 5 smoothly ; an explosion in engineering sends him flying and as a result he gets put into a coma. Dr. Phlox tells Captain Archer that not much can be done and that they should prepare for the worst. That is until Phlox presents a plan that’s ethically wild: among his many creatures in Sickbay, is an organism that, when given the DNA of a species, can create an identical genetic clone. The downside? The clone only lives for 15 days. Phlox says that they can do this and harvest the clone’s neural tissue for Tripp so that he can survive.
Archer gives the go-ahead, and Phlox proceeds to inject the organism with Tripps DNA. A couple of days later, there’s a baby Tripp on board. Within a few days, he looks to be about 10-12 years old. As he gets older, they soon realize that the clone also has Tripp’s memories. But you can see the ethical dilemma. They eventually harvest the neural tissue for Tripp and the clone dies, but you get the idea. It was an ethical mess.
There’s parallels here with Voyager and the whole Tuvix debacle. And honestly, the Tripp clone situation is way worse and almost highlights a double standard when it comes to how much flax Janeway gets for her handling of the situation. Think about it: Tuvix was a literal transporter accident. A sentient being yes, but still an accident. Janeway gets called a “murderer” (in some circles) for “sacrificing” Tuvix” - against their will - to bring back Tuvok and Neelix, two people who a lot of people forget didn’t have a choice in the matter had Janeway gone and kept Tuvix around. But the situation on Enterprise was much worse.
Archer basically gave the go ahead to create a clone for the sole purpose of tissue harvesting. What’s worse is that it seems that the stress from trying to find the Xindi threat in the Expanse made him have this attitude of not giving a fuck. For instance, the Tripp clone eventually has feelings of wanting to live - just as Tuvix did - and discovers that there’s an enzyme that could potentially let him live normally. Even though the chance is slim, he wants to take it and confronts Archer about this. Archer disagrees, saying that Phlox says that there’s almost no chance the enzyme would work; the Tripp clone counters, saying that his life is at stake. But Archer basically says the cost is too high as it would take another day to synthesize the enzyme and by that time, it would be too late to harvest the neural tissue from him to save Tripp and he would die. Archer says he can’t let that happen, that he needs to complete the mission and that he needs Tripp.
Archer then gets dark, which to me shows his mental state. The Tripp clone asks him if he’ll have him dragged down to Sickbay at gunpoint, to which Archer says that if he really has all of Tripp’s memories, he should know the answer to that. Archer then says he’ll take “whatever steps necessary” to save Tripp to which the clone says “even if that means killing me” to which Archer basically says yes. The clone calls Archer’s bluff, saying he’s not a murderer to which Archer says “don’t make me one.” It was probably the darkest I had ever seen Archer. Eventually the Tripp clone comes around and accepts his fate. But to me the whole situation just highlights the double standard regarding the similar situations on Enterprise and Voyager. Yes, Enterprise was in a unique situation, but it’s still strange to me how often Janeway gets called out over Tuvix while Archer doesn’t get called out for this Tripp clone debacle.
So he posted this to Facebook on 5/5:
The City recently welcomed Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Stewart Knox and Deputy Secretary of Communications Crystal Young to Moreno Valley.
We toured the Karma Automotive Innovation and Customization Center right here in Moreno Valley, where luxury electric vehicles are designed and built. It was a great opportunity to showcase the cutting-edge work happening in our city and highlight the strong partnerships we’ve built to grow the EV manufacturing sector and attract new industries to our region. Diversifying our local economy has been a top priority, to ensure we attract industries that create high paying careers right here in our community.
We also visited our City Yard to highlight ongoing infrastructure investments and our electric vehicle fleet, the largest municipal EV fleet in the region.
Thank you to Secretary Knox and Deputy Secretary Young for taking the time to see firsthand the progress we’re making in Moreno Valley. I look forward to continuing our partnership to expand economic opportunity, strengthen our workforce, and bring more investment and jobs to our community.
Aside from him not being a very good mayor, it's amazing to see him host state officials and then cherry pick things to make it seem as if this city is progressing in a way that's favorable. For one, touring Karma Automotive isn't as big of a brag as you think it would be. It's a boutique automaker who makes $100,000+ electric cars that no one buys. They sold 146 cars last year. Secondly bragging about the city's electric fleet where there's tons of other issues that the money spent on that electric vehicle fleet could have been used for is also a miss. He's delusional, not a very good mayor and is pretty arrogant in person; he comes across as trying to make himself way more important than he actually is. I hope he gets voted out but with people not largely caring about down ballot races and people voting on familiarity more than anything, he'll likely stay in office.
About to pull the trigger on a '23 Elantra N. So I've been shopping around for insurance and dear god, insurance is high. I got quotes from nearly every major insurance carrier and what they're wanting for monthly is a car payment itself. I'm in Southern California, 37 M, no accidents, one ticket in the last 3 years (not speeding). Here's what I've been quoted so far for full coverage with comprehensive and collision:
Even my current insurance, which is with Geico, wasn't cheap. They're wanting $322.50/month. Surprisingly the cheapest I found was Progressive who only wants $179/month. But they seen to have a pretty strict approval and quote process that I've never seen at any other insurance company, requiring things like proof of address, verification of garaging address (where they ask for things like W2s and current homeowners or renters insurance polices) and pics of the car. I guess that's the downside of their cheap rate.
But anyway, what do you guys pay in insurance? I'm assuming it's high everywhere unless you live in the south or somewhere in the midwest.
