Amen. Been thinking the same thing.
What is that principle called... -- when something starts out amazing, with amazing people and friends, helping each other, productivity and efficiency are high. Then suddenly the doors open, and all the bottom-feeder mainstream follower types get involved and spread their cancerous negativity, hubris, pride, FOMO, and one-up-manship. Kind of like an awesome startup...until the HR department is hired.
It's really infecting so many other places besides here. Perhaps the increase in social media and masses getting access to keyboards? IDK.
Well said. There are still some thinkers amongst us here! :withstupid: :cheers:
That attitude chased me out of Austin, out of my "cool" cars I had before the 4Runner (which, even though it's supposedly such a POS is my favorite car I've ever owned), out of any place I start to notice it. I'm not "alternative" in any way, but the follower/FOMO/one-up-manship mentality is the worst. I like helpfulness, kindness, quirks, and things that just
work as intended.
It's funny, I was visiting my folks in Texas last week and drove my dad's Porsche SUV. Used to love driving that thing, but after getting used to the 4Runner, it felt kinda flimsy and ostentatious. I owned a 1984 911 that had that same "hewn from steel" feeling as the 4Runner. I'm sure today's Civics are faster than that old thing was, but I'm also sure that EcoBoostDenaliRaptorRAMs are faster than our POS 4Runners. But they don't feel or look as good after dozens--nay, hundreds--of thousands of miles of abuse, they aren't as intuitive, and they play the mainstream game with huge makeovers too often, which means your model is outdated as soon as your neighbor buys his.
I was marginally annoyed with Toyota after the teaser, because I just bought a 2018 Pro a couple of months ago. I'm not a sheeple or a badge whore, I just got sick of trips to the off-road shop, trips to the alignment rack, and long days/nights in the driveway instead of on the river or in the mountains. I miss wrenching a lot, but I wanted a daily driver that didn't need any. And I stand by that choice, 2019 updates and POS badge whore overpriced paintjob and all. I'm a huge 4Runner fan, and continue to reply to people on the Tacoma forum who ask my honest opinion about the difference between the two. (Spoiler alert: the 3.5L V6 and 6-speed auto are AWFUL).