If you can wait a year, it looks like the GR Corolla will come over. Time will tell if it inherits all the awesome bits (notably chassis and platform) that made the GR Yaris as beloved by all but the WRC bred drivetrain and AWD systems look like they'll be carried over.
It'll be on the boy racer end of things, but if they manage to carryover 90% of the magic that is the GR Yaris, it'll still be rather spectacular. I'd call it a Golf R competitor.
It also increases ground clearance by 0.5 inch over the outgoing WRX.
I don't care how they spin it, that's going the wrong way for a performance car. Half an inch doesn't sound like much but in regards to ground clearance it's actually quite a lot.
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If you can wait a year, it looks like the GR Corolla will come over. Time will tell if it inherits all the awesome bits (notably chassis and platform) that made the GR Yaris as beloved by all but the WRC bred drivetrain and AWD systems look like they'll be carried over.
It'll be on the boy racer end of things, but if they manage to carryover 90% of the magic that is the GR Yaris, it'll still be rather spectacular. I'd call it a Golf R competitor.
There's 100% zero rush on this. It's a big nothing, really. I just like to pre-plan what my next car is going to be and right now I'm lost, which is just an unusual position for me. Like, if my car was written off tomorrow I don't know what I'd buy. Never had that before.
If you can wait a bit, it looks like the new Acura Integra will be a 4-door liftback and will offer a manual. It may offer most of what you're looking for, in probably a bit more of a grown up package than what you get with the Civic Type R.
Acura is a perfectly positioned brand for my needs in a lot of ways. Less prestigious than BMW, Audi, Mercedes. Sometimes you don't want to pull up at a customer's place in an ostentatious car. Acura is good from that viewpoint and of course make solid cars.
Sounds like you're in the same position I was just in Sliver. I wasn't sure what to get and was looking at many of the same vehicles you mentioned.
- I had a 2018 Golf R that I loved, but I ruled the new one out as the dash is completely digital - I didn't want to be messing with touchscreens to change the heat or radio while driving so it was out.
- New Lexus IS500 sounded great (although RWD) but when I went and checked out the IS models in person I found I really didn't like them, and the interior seemed dated, with an odd fit for me so it was out.
- The new TLX Type S sounds pretty good, it's AWD and has decent power. I wasn't able to check one out in person, and my wife hated the look. I still think it might have been the better option than the M3 as it's still decent performance and a pretty good price for a performance sedan.
- Also looked at Jeeps (no 392 yet), the new Defender (didn't like it in person), and the refreshed Lexus GX (too similar to my Landcruiser). Decided I wanted a car as I have a Landcruiser, so most of the SUV's were out at that point.
The M3 is great in every way except for the price. It's AWD, 4 doors so it has room inside to take a few people, and it's crazy fast for a sedan. That new Integra sounds interesting though, maybe I'll try that out in a year or two - or even an EV once there are more options there.
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Well, if I decide to say fata it and go with automatic, it does open up a huge world of options I'll have to start considering.
Honestly, step one is checking out the MK8 Golf R, I think. It actually looks super fun to drive, as you'd expect. Given that it's available in manual, I'd really be remiss to not at least check it out. I certainly don't mind a digital instrument cluster, so really it's just the infotainment I'd be annoyed with. At least with the "R" button on the steering wheel you can get to your drive modes instantly (dial or hard button would obviously be better).
There doesn't seem to be a perfect car from where I'm standing, so I'm compromising on something. My biggest (only?) compromise in my current car is the automatic transmission. Maybe a digital infotainment is a compromise I'm willing to make to have a more engaging daily experience with the stick shift on an R. I'll have to see in a month or two when I can get behind the wheel.
As for exterior looks, literally every single person says it looks good in person. I think the rear 3/4 view is the best looking Golf ever.
This video makes it look fun to drive and the VW rep says it's great, so there's that.
Yeah, I did like the thought of the manual G70, although apparently it wasn't that great of a gearbox. I could have lived with it, I'm sure. Talk about a great car to lease, too, with questionable resale value.
I had a 6-speed Mini Cooper S that I sold last summer. It was funnish, but ultimately just not good enough. Would plow a corner prematurely so I couldn't push it like I felt like I should be able to. A little slower than I wanted. Lazy throttle (I did end up fixing that with some gizmo I installed between the gas pedal and the ECU). I don't know, it was fun for a bit, but I got tired of it really fast.
Not an accountant, but this is my understanding.
I have a main corporation that pays my holding company that, in turn, pays me personally.
Everything is taxed as it moves down the line.
So say I make $100 in the main corp. Then to get it out, I have to pay my holding company, where say I'm taxed like 15% or something. Then I have to get it from the holding corp to me personally, where I pay, say, 22%. So that $100 goes to $85, then down to $66.30 before I can spend it personally. Now I'm buying a car with 35% less buying power to do it personally versus through the corp.
Same goes for registration, insurance, maintenance, winter tires, etc. It's a big savings to do it through the corp.
The other thing is you don't want your main corp really turning a profit (or much of one). You have to get the money out of the corp before year end, or that is taxed, too, in addition to your holding company and then you personally.
Can my company justify a vehicle lease or is it a grey area? This wouldn't be grey. I have offsite meetings pretty much daily and would use the company vehicle. It's not one of those gaming-the-systems things. It's a totally legitimate-by-any-measure write-off that would raise no red flags.
Another bonus for me is I would sell my CLS. That I do own personally and outright, so then it frees up the cash I have in that for other things and I no longer pay for insurance, maintenance, etc. with after-tax dollars on that vehicle.
I’d document every single time you drive it. If you ever get caught up in an audit, the CRA is ruthless with personal use.
My dad had a full on cargo van for work. Panel van, no carpet, no rear seats, ladder rack etc. For 6 years between him and his accountant they wrote off what they thought was acceptable expenses for a vehicle very clearly a work vehicle.
A few years of disputed auditing, the CRA determined he didn’t document his use well enough, accused him of using the van to perform personal duties like going to grocery store and driving his children around (yes, in a two seated cargo van) and my dad ultimately was hit with $26k in tax owing. He exhausted all his options and couldn’t afford a lawyer to fight the case, including clear indications of either CRA ‘incompetence’ (like sending required notifications to the prior addresses AFTER having correspondence with his current address on file). Ultimately it cost him his business, access to credit and future earnings.
And this wasn’t some guy driving a flash sports car paid through a company. He was self employed and used this van every day for legitimate work. I’m sure his accountant was under qualified, but the details continue to dumbfound me.
I don’t trust those ####ers, at all. And I would be very, very careful when considering personal use of a business expense.
__________________
No, no…I’m not sloppy, or lazy. This is a sign of the boredom.
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I’d document every single time you drive it. If you ever get caught up in an audit, the CRA is ruthless with personal use.
My dad had a full on cargo van for work. Panel van, no carpet, no rear seats, ladder rack etc. For 6 years between him and his accountant they wrote off what they thought was acceptable expenses for a vehicle very clearly a work vehicle.
A few years of disputed auditing, the CRA determined he didn’t document his use well enough, accused him of using the van to perform personal duties like going to grocery store and driving his children around (yes, in a two seated cargo van) and my dad ultimately was hit with $26k in tax owing. He exhausted all his options and couldn’t afford a lawyer to fight the case, including clear indications of either CRA ‘incompetence’ (like sending required notifications to the prior addresses AFTER having correspondence with his current address on file). Ultimately it cost him his business, access to credit and future earnings.
And this wasn’t some guy driving a flash sports car paid through a company. He was self employed and used this van every day for legitimate work. I’m sure his accountant was under qualified, but the details continue to dumbfound me.
I don’t trust those ####ers, at all. And I would be very, very careful when considering personal use of a business expense.
JFC are you joking around with me? That's nucking futs. Yeah, I'll get way more clarification on this from my accountant as there is no way in hell I want to deal with any of that to save a few dollars. Thanks.
$26k couldn't have all come from the vehicle, though, I don't think. I mean, clearly he'd have some very legitimate mileage he could have written off. I just priced out a lease on a Ford Transit cargo van...I upgraded to medium roof height and long cargo area. In 2021 dollars, a four-year lease was $38,272. To over write-off $26k some years ago on a cargo van seems like excessive writing off?
IDK, though, I will definitely not go into this as casually as I was thinking about it. It was actually just my year-end in September so over the next few weeks I'll be talking a lot with my accountant and will get his input.
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Yep. And keep in mind, this is a total operation cost thing. A fully outfitted panel van, fuel, tires, brakes etc, that #### adds up over several hundred thousand Km.
And my dad isn’t a rocket scientist by any means, but if there’s one person I trust when it comes to right and wrong, it’s him. It literally almost killed him, and we never did have a big financial cushion growing up as it was. ####ing ####s.
__________________
No, no…I’m not sloppy, or lazy. This is a sign of the boredom.
I have a main corporation that pays my holding company that, in turn, pays me personally.
Everything is taxed as it moves down the line.
So say I make $100 in the main corp. Then to get it out, I have to pay my holding company, where say I'm taxed like 15% or something. Then I have to get it from the holding corp to me personally, where I pay, say, 22%. So that $100 goes to $85, then down to $66.30 before I can spend it personally. Now I'm buying a car with 35% less buying power to do it personally versus through the corp.
Same goes for registration, insurance, maintenance, winter tires, etc. It's a big savings to do it through the corp.
The other thing is you don't want your main corp really turning a profit (or much of one). You have to get the money out of the corp before year end, or that is taxed, too, in addition to your holding company and then you personally.
Can my company justify a vehicle lease or is it a grey area? This wouldn't be grey. I have offsite meetings pretty much daily and would use the company vehicle. It's not one of those gaming-the-systems things. It's a totally legitimate-by-any-measure write-off that would raise no red flags.
Another bonus for me is I would sell my CLS. That I do own personally and outright, so then it frees up the cash I have in that for other things and I no longer pay for insurance, maintenance, etc. with after-tax dollars on that vehicle.
Anyway, I probably fataed up some of how that works and maybe Locke or somebody will chime in, but that's the logic I'm going off of here.
I'm pretty sure if Locke reads this he won't chime in because he'll be too busy having an aneurysm.
Quote:
What would be the best is a B9 S4 Avant manual. Now that's a year-round fun car.
Unfortunately, such a beast is wholly mythical.
... Although even if it weren't I'd probably still want to stick with the B7 generation; the naturally aspirated V8 is one of the best sounding cars I've ever been in and was a big reason why I wanted it despite it being a bit of a time bomb, and continue to want another one of the non-time-bomb, R8-equivalent variety.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Well, if I decide to say fata it and go with automatic, it does open up a huge world of options I'll have to start considering.
Honestly, step one is checking out the MK8 Golf R, I think. It actually looks super fun to drive, as you'd expect. Given that it's available in manual, I'd really be remiss to not at least check it out. I certainly don't mind a digital instrument cluster, so really it's just the infotainment I'd be annoyed with. At least with the "R" button on the steering wheel you can get to your drive modes instantly (dial or hard button would obviously be better).
There doesn't seem to be a perfect car from where I'm standing, so I'm compromising on something. My biggest (only?) compromise in my current car is the automatic transmission. Maybe a digital infotainment is a compromise I'm willing to make to have a more engaging daily experience with the stick shift on an R. I'll have to see in a month or two when I can get behind the wheel.
As for exterior looks, literally every single person says it looks good in person. I think the rear 3/4 view is the best looking Golf ever.
This video makes it look fun to drive and the VW rep says it's great, so there's that.
????
Drive mode button? Mine's dusty.
ALWAYS RACE, BECAUSE RACECAR.
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We still kept our 2018 Golf R in the family, so much fun in the winter with winter tires and the manual tranny. I still think it's one of my favorite cars, even though my wife thinks I'm crazy because it's "like a go cart". Exactly why it's awesome!
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How good does this new Wrangler look? Maybe a little Land Rover-ish but I look forward to seeing them shuttle kids around with nary a speck of dirt on them.
