General Chat

As those of you who’ve seen “The best car songs… ever!” know, we at CarGurus are music fans as well as car fans. And while Michael Jackson got awfully strange and maybe a little criminal toward the end of his life, I love some of his music, and I think it’s a shame he so clearly never learned how to truly grow up despite – or perhaps because of – his absolutely massive success.

Maybe Jackson’s desire to live his whole life as a child explains why his car collection consisted mostly of vehicles that allowed him to bask in over-the-top luxury in the rear while someone else drove. Auto Trader UK assembled a slide show featuring some of Jackson’s cars in an article on a planned-but-canceled auction of Jackson items in February, including a 1999 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph limousine for which Jackson designed the interior himself, using lots of 24-karat gold.

Sadly, that limousine and a 1997 Neoplan Touring Coach (which doesn’t appear until near the end of the slide show) are the only really interesting vehicles in the bunch, and they are interesting mostly because they’re so over-the-top gaudy and gold (including the fixtures on the bidet in the tour-bus’s bathroom). No Ferraris or rare muscle cars, no hot rods, not even a well-preserved classic from the year of his birth – Jackson had the money, at least in the ’80s, to assemble a fleet of cool cars that would rival Jay Leno’s. But no, he built a 2,700-acre amusement park instead.

Based on the segment from Jackson’s film “Moonwalker” called “Smooth Criminal,” though, he did at least appreciate the futuristic looks of the Lancia Stratos – he morphs into a 1970 prototype version to escape Mr. Big and his cronies in the video. Of course, Michael probably didn’t handle the driving for that scene, and maybe one of his collaborators selected that car to feature. According to Wikipedia, that car now sits in a private showroom for Bertone, who did the exterior styling, in Italy. But surely Michael could have found – and afforded – one of the other 500 or so versions of the Stratus. Why didn’t he?

I guess the King of Pop and I don’t have too much in common. I wear two gloves at a time, I’ve never had and don’t want a pet monkey, I wouldn’t hang my child out a hotel window, and I don’t moonwalk at all well. But if I had enough money to start assembling a collection of cars, you can bet I’d have some beautiful Italian cars, some American muscle, and I’d drive those babies myself.

Thanks for sharing your enormous talent with the world, Michael, and may you find more peace in the afterlife than you did in this world.

If you had enough money to buy any single car on the planet to begin your car collection – we’re not looking for daily drivers here – which car would you select, and why?

-hollerin

So take a guess: Are drivers who own foreign cars or domestic cars happier with their purchase?

It’s no big surprise to hear that a recent poll found that 77 percent of foreign-car owners are happy with them, versus 69 percent for domestic-car owners. 

Another interesting stat: 

Sixty-one percent of foreign-car owners plan to stick with their brand when it comes time to buy or lease a new car. Only 54 percent of domestic-car owners will stick with their brand. In other words, nearly half the people who own a domestic brand won’t buy that brand again. That’s a pretty dang telling statement. 

What the poll doesn’t give us are breakdowns by brand. I have to wonder if companies in bankruptcy (or entering bankruptcy) have skewed those numbers. Maybe 80 percent of Ford owners would buy another Ford, but only 5 percent of Chrysler owners would buy another Chrysler. 

I also have to wonder if the poll took into account where cars are built. Does the Ford Fusion count as a foreign car since it’s built in Mexico? Is the Toyota Tundra domestic because it’s built in America?

These days, the only thing that makes a company foreign or domestic is the location of its board room. And consumers really don’t care much about that.

Do you care whether your car was built in the U.S. or another country? Why?

-tgriffith

Happy Memorial Day! Today is the day we celebrate the unofficial arrival of summer, and for many of us that means camping! But what are the very best cars to take on your camping trip? After considering everything from your full-size 4×4 truck to your run-of-the-mill Subaru, I’ve narrowed it down to two of the very best vehicles to take on your next trip.

Honda Element

If your camping trips keep you within state park systems or only slightly off the beaten path, the Element could be the perfect all-in-one vehicle. With available AWD, a removable skylight with shade screen (to keep the bugs out) and ample space to lay a mattress in back, this little SUV could be all you need for a quick weekend away.

Land Rover LR3

This is is the SUV that will take you anywhere. Oh sure, you can drive into the state park and look as rugged as any of the thousands of other people there. But if you want to get somewhere where you can guarantee there won’t be another human for miles, the LR3 is the way to go. Plus, you can get a really cool tent that attaches right to the tailgate area. Awesome!

What car or truck will you take camping this summer? Any advice for other campers?

-tgriffith