One of the greatest parts about being a car enthusiast is that everyone is different. Sure, there are a bunch of people into Ford Mustangs and whatever new supercar McLaren launches in a given week, but people can love anything. I love the Smart Fortwo enough to own five of them! But there are some cars you might feel embarrassed for loving. Or, maybe there’s a feature that just gets your heart pumping. These are automotive guilty pleasures and tell me, what’s yours?
Since beginning a career writing about cars, motorcycles, RVs, and so on, I’ve come to a conclusion that I didn’t think I’d arrive at. Ready for it? Crossovers aren’t as bad as they’re made out to be. Sure, the vast majority of them are forgettable appliances but guess what, the majority of car buyers aren’t looking for low-slung manual wagons. They just want something that gets decent fuel economy, is easy to get in and out of, and has enough room for their kids and groceries. Boom, the crossover does that perfectly.
Being ok with crossovers is not my guilty pleasure. Instead, there’s one crossover out there that I would spend real money on. It’s a crossover that my colleagues Matt and Jason have no idea why I like so much. That crossover is the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. Yes, the crossover that’s a member of the hated “coupe crossover” trend.
In theory, this is a crossover that I should hate. Volkswagen realized few people actually used the Volkswagen Touareg as the super SUV that it was, so it was killed off in our market and replaced with the soft Atlas. The Atlas is a fine vehicle, but is for the most part forgettable. Can you remember when was the last time you’ve seen one? Or does it blend into the surroundings that well?
I will attempt to defend myself here. When I tested one at the end of 2021, I was pleased by the crossover’s comfort, quiet cabin, and tech. Sure, VW wasn’t doing anything special in there, but it felt like a comfortable daily driver. Not too exciting, but practical. What I liked most about my tester was the VR6 engine under the hood, which has since been removed from the Atlas lineup. It also handled reasonably well for a big crossover.
As for the roof? I don’t need three rows of seats, so I’d take the coupé-ish fastback-ish roof of the Cross Sport. Matt wonders if I’ve been driving cheap, crappy cars for so long that the idea of owning a Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport seems appealing to me. I’m sure some of that is there, but I don’t view other crossovers with such fondness. Maybe it’s that VR6 engine, because while I like the updated interior of the 2024 Atlas, I’d rather go a year older and get the cooler engine.
I’m not sure why I like a forgettable crossover so much, but I would totally throw down money at an Atlas Cross Sport. Honestly, an Atlas Cross Sport wouldn’t even be in my top ten new cars to buy, but it is on my list. Maybe I’d put A/Ts on it and a lift.
So, how about you? What’s your automotive guilty pleasure?
My room temperature one is that I like Minis. I know they’re unreliable, overpriced stacks of BMW leftovers but I don’t care. They’re so cheerful, and we need as much of that as we can get in today’s automotive landscape.
My spicy one is I agree with Mercedes. Crossovers can be great…and the sooner enthusiasts start thinking of the majority of them as lifted hatchbacks the better, because that’s all a lot of them are. And you know what? I like the form factor of
my Kona N more than the GTI I had. It’s easier to get in and out of, load stuff in, and the extra little bit of height gives me a little more visibility.
It also gives me the confidence to take it places I’d never take the GTI…because the combination of being lower and having a bunch of German, plastic engine components made gravel road drives in it it a bit of a nail biter.
*Reliably unreliable, though – which is important 😉
When I was a dirt-poor grad student I had an abject POS as my daily. I used to look forward to car rentals as every single rental car would have been far better than my abject POS. The excitement of being in something newer, comfy-er, and more reliable was palpable.
Now that I’m no longer a dirt-poor grad student I have a decent car at home. I still look forward to trying out rentals, especially in the EU and their not-available-in-US offerings.
Back when I was a student in a similar situation, I too loved rentals b/c it was my chance to dive a Mustang.
It seemed so cool to me that one could rent a pony car, and I always felt like Steve McQueen driving around in one.
But then once I actually got my own, it drove me nuts every time I’d hear “great news, we’re upgrading you to a Mustang!” Argh…I’d beg to instead get whatever I’d reserved, since I had a Mustang that was both a manual and a V8, so why would I want to drive a rental-spec one now?! But still have fond memories of them from when that was the best I could usually do.
I am slightly concerned that on many holidays the rental pick up has been the most exciting part for me.
Yesss I love having a rental car in Europe. So tiny! So fuel efficient!
I too love rentals, because it means getting to try out cars that I’d otherwise never even consider driving. Usually they’re disappointing, but every once there’s a pleasant surprise – like a last-generation Impala LTZ that was far better than I’d have expected, a Chrysler 300 that was all kind of redneck fun, or the Opel Astra TwinTop that was a last minute replacement for the Clio diesel that I had booked.
Even the disappointing ones can be fun. I learned that even with its 1.3 l diesel screaming near redline, an Opel Meriva could still touch 40 mpg while cruising at 145 kph on the Autoroute.
Truly comfortable cars.
There aren’t many left now that even Lexus tunes their suspensions to compete with BMW and firm leather seems to be in vogue everywhere.
If you could buy a Genesis G90 with the “sink 8 inches deep” leather seats from a 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood, it would probably be my favorite car in the world. I wouldn’t give the tiniest fraction of a shit about its ring time or slalom speed.
This is a market niche just begging to be met with an inexpensive long-range EV with a small battery pack and a focus on aero streamlining. Just thing of how quiet it would be at speed. Once someone sat in such a thing, they probably wouldn’t give a crap what it looked like or how fast it was.
I don’t know if that one’s a guilty pleasure, but I agree. I checked out a Lexus RX not that long ago and was disappointed that they aren’t what I remembered them to be. (I also didn’t like the electronic door handles and a few other things, but comfort used to be the Lexus thing.)
I see it as guilty in the context of this website/enthusiasm in general, where modifying your car to improve handling at the expense of comfort is considered cool, but the opposite (if it were even possible) wouldn’t be.
I think it’s a shame that pretty much every vehicle built in a premium segment is evaluated first and foremost on its “fun to drive” merits, which tends to mean handling prowess.
Yeah, I guess that makes sense.
And, yeah, it’s too bad everyone’s competing on the same things (0-60, tight handling, etc.) and not differentiating themselves as the comfort brand, the engagement brand, etc. The luxobarge is well and truly dead.
I’m planning to airbag my low slung manual wagon specifically for the improvement of comfort with no regard to “handling”. I fully support you buying a G90, then having some vintage “grandma’s couch” seats installed in the thing.
I want two things from my DD, beyond general reliability. Enjoyable aesthetics and doesn’t exhaust me on my rather long commute. Lowering the car 3 inches gave me the first, but doing it with shite coilovers didn’t meet the second. So I want it to remain 3 inches lower, but at least improve somewhat on the second.
We need more luxobarges. Preferably with V8s. It’s a shame Stellantis kind of let the 300 die on the vine, because with a few updates it would be killer. Maybe we can hope the new Charger platform gives us a new 300, but I’m not holding my breath.
Have you sat in a G90? Genuinely curious as I haven’t been in the new one, but my dad had the previous G80 and those seats were unbelievably good. And the leather was better/softer than the Maybachs I was shilling at the time. I’d hope they haven’t gone backwards, especially as the rest of the G90 is god-tier comfort from what I’ve read. Even my Stinger had better/more comfortable seats than the Panamera (I guess that’s not a huge surprise, but it would be to some.) The Koreans seem to be really, really good at comfort.
I have not been in the new one.
I really liked the interior of the first one and reviews seemed to highlight its comfort/soft suspension.
Damnit, I was just thinking to myself the other day “when did cars get so damn stiff”. I was thinking about suspension, but I guess it includes the seats and everything.
Especially with the state of the roads up here in the salt belt. Damnit, now I feel validated which will lead to me lecturing my poor wife about it and how it’s not just me becoming an old man.
The Chevy SSR. I know it’s not good at much of anything. But it’s a hardtop convertible and also a pickup (not a good pickup, of course). And I am a sucker for a hardtop convertible and like a pickup that isn’t lifted.
I change my answer. You’re right. I love that stupid thing.
That thing passes the crap event horizon and comes out the other side into awesome universe. No need to feel guilty.
Mechanical linkages instead of hydraulic and or electric ones.
Oh yeah. The sounds are so wonderfully visceral…it’s like a real life version of what Hollywood tells us driving is like.
Owning an Austin Healey Sprite, mechanical linkages are amazing. Everything is so much more visceral.
I’m with you on the Atlas – and other big ol’ crossovers. I’m overly tall and I can’t get mad at anything that gives me enough headroom and legroom, even if/when it lacks personality.
I like the PT Cruiser if it has a stick.
Jags and Land Rovers, for a period of time I didn’t own either and honestly I was less happy.
I feel you. I currently own a 1996 Jaguar XJ12 and a 2015 Land Rover LR4. I love them both. And I’m considering a third: a 2010 Jaguar XKR Cabriolet. Because why not?
I have a 2007 XKR coupe in BRG, and holy shit do I love driving it. The 2010 has the same AJ133 as the LR4 so you already know about the timing chain guides.
I’d most definitely own another 1980 Ford Fiesta. I have issues, but that Kent motor is a sweet little power plant and the little phone booth it pulled around was a pretty remarkable packaging exercise for the late 70s.
A classic “slow car fast” situation.
To me, it’s not even a guilty pleasure, it’s a straight-up pleasure. I really miss the era of small, tossable cars that weren’t about performance, but about being simply fun to drive. Going the grocery store could be engaging.
Contrast that to where we’re heading these days, where your car can click off fast hot laps at the track, but it’s doing most of the work, so you end up being basically along for a horizontal rollercoaster ride.
Hellcats.
I prefer my vehicles to be some combination of efficient, well-built, reliable, repairable, inexpensive to purchase/operate/maintain, and able to last for 3+ decades.
Hellcats contradict all of that. But in exchange for sacrificing the aforementioned parameters, you get a vehicle that can be delightfully chaotic to operate and able to get you into a lot of trouble very, very quickly, AND as an added bonus, Dodge is more than willing to sell them to every sub-400 FICO-score applicant with a sub-90 IQ that walks in wanting one at 10%+ interest. What’s not to like about that? The more, the merrier. Maybe I’ll be able to snag one for cheap in the coming years.
You will. They’re already in the 40s/50s. If gas prices shoot up again they’ll be in the 30s. In fact…the next time there’s a gas crisis of any sort all those V8 LX platform cars are going to be cheap, especially since there’s a new Charger coming out. I might pounce on a manual RT or Scat Pack when that happens and keep it as a backroad cruiser.
I’m a sucker for what we Southerners lovingly call a “pawpaw truck” – a plain-jane pickup no newer than approximately 1994, usually 2WD, sometimes a stripped work truck, but other times a loaded “cowboy Cadillac,” and in pristine shape. As in, the truck that Pawpaw (Grandpa) bought new for “work” after the kids grew up and left, that not much work was done with.
I saw one lately nearby that made me fall in love: an early 80s GMC Sierra Grande long bed in two-tone brown over gold, with a beige velour interior. A quiet, smooth little 305, power everything, and probably an air conditioner that would let you hang meat in the cab. Five grand. Perfect for parking outside the Waffle House on Saturday mornings when you go to solve all the world’s problems over coffee with the other old men.
I recently bought a vehicle very much in line with this, a full size SUV rather than a truck, but it makes me fell the same when I drive it.
That pretty much describes my ideal pickup truck… The kind which, sadly, doesn’t seem to be built any longer in the age of the bro-dozer.
Have you ever seen a square body pickup from the ’70s or ’80s at a stoplight next to a modern day Silverado or F150? The older truck, a full size truck by the way, looks like a toy. And those are not small trucks.
I love seeing underglow, although I do not feel guilty about this whatsoever.
It was a sad casualty of the death of the 2000s tuner style, most of which is not missed. Underglow was cool though.
you better check in on the lifted truck scene. Underglow, wheel well glow, rim glow, its all pretty alive in that part of the industry.
Hell, I underglowed my semi truck. Alive and well in the trucking scene
Damn! Is that in that category of “technically illegal but you’re not gonna get pulled over just for that”?
That’s part of my hesitation to get anything like that, myself. (Plus Pennsylvania salt, but I digress.)
Nope. 100% legal. If you use amber, they can’t say nothing. All you are doing is increasing the trucks visibility. Now other colors…
Not to yuck your yum (because believe me, I’d like underglow myself) I’m seeing 9 states where any underglow is completely illegal, even amber (including PA).
Mine is mounted under the doors and sleeper, above the steps and tanks. Loophole. It is even using the same wiring as my aux clearance lights. On the front, the underglow comes from clearance lights on the bumper. It’s an old game the DOT and truckers play. And I only travel AZ, NM, TX, and OK. Those states are pretty lenient, and since I am agriculture, they don’t wanna mess with me too hard.
That’s awesome.
Was just curious, thank you!
I do love seeing some semis lit up like a Christmas tree at night with the running lights on the trailer every foot or so, rather than just 3 along the entire length
I love seeing this too! I don’t know why. It’s always a “what the fuck am I looking at?” moment until you get close enough, and then they seem downright festive.
The number and style of LED kits readily available makes me sad that it’s not more common. My bikes are all lit up like it’s already 2077 (car to follow).
The Toyota Mrs. aka Missis. I went to test drive a 350Z I was planning on purchasing and didn’t really like anywhere near as much as I expected to. Right next door was a Toyota dealership so I decided to try it out. Despite being one of the uglier cars in the early 2000’s, I fell in love with it as soon as I started driving it. I’ve driven Miatas, FD RX7’s, S2000’s, and several sporty cars but this was something special. Then I put the top up and realized there is no way for me to change lanes on the interstate as the side window starts about 6″ in front of my face so sadly it wasn’t for me. If I lived in California though…
I’m into MGBs. I want another one. I watch CL and BaT just about everyday looking for one. I sure wish I’d had the chance to get one years ago, but life got in the way. Now prices are too much for a good one, if you can find a good one.
I guess mine is the 7th gen Toyota Celica, the last one. I never owned one – I passed on it for my first new car because the Scion tC made more sense. But there was a lot I loved about them, and I love seeing them on the road. I rarely find anyone shares that opinion at all haha. I’ve had my eyes peeled for one as a beater for years. They’re getting pretty rare, and of course manual even more so.
As my screen name suggests Ford Aerostar. I currently have my eye on a cherry 88′ with a 5 speed #holygrail
There used to be a pretty good twitter that offered them for $300. aerostars4sale I think, hard to tell since I don’t have an account and the site seems to defy all attempts to view it otherwise
I like things that are super dorky. I really want a Honda Helix.
Do it! 😀 They’re such great scoots!
Yes! Honda scooters from the 80s/early 90s in general are so cool!
Watching a Cars&Coffee Mustang leave an event. Better than a Nascar wreck every time.
Dodge Ram Classic Tradesman, the one with black bumpers. I don’t need a truck, I don’t have the space for a truck, I don’t even particularly like driving trucks. But if I suddenly had a pile of cash I don’t know if I could stop myself from buying one of these and driving around in a seed company hat.
Residual farmer in me I suppose.
I bought a 2023 Atlas Cross Sport with the 4 cylinder turbo and you know what? I like it a lot. It’s faster than the VR6, was cheaper, is lighter, handles better (not a huge reason to buy) and gets better mileage. I also have a GTI and a Touareg V8, but this is my commuter and I routinely get 27 mpg and have really no complaints.
Large pick up trucks. F150’s, Tundras, and even Diesel 3/4 ton trucks. Do I need one? Not really. Do I want one? Yes.
Why? Because, like many, I am not sold on what I actually use a vehicle for, but what I could use a vehicle for. Do I need 10k lbs + of towing capacity, locking rear diffs, and 100000 hp/torque? No, but someday I could.
Also, I adore the Ford Flex.
Solid front axle vehicles, namely Jeeps of course.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ll never take it over rocks and into mud holes. It’s my DD that serves as a “summer fun” vehicle and also something that’ll reliably transport the family in the winter. Even though it doesn’t make a difference, I like how easy the suspension components are to service and that the steering gear is dead simple. Given the hellish moonscape that is our Midwest road system, I’m grateful for a robust BoF vehicle that won’t break in potholes…just my fillings.
The older I get the more I appreciate simple things, live axles and beam axles.
The Chevy SSR, I love it dearly. I will not apologize, nor will I change.
My brother!! Or sister!! Or whatever!
We gather in love foe the SSR.
I love Miatas, this one is just “what if Miata but Chevy Truck boomer bait?” And unlike the Cybertruck, they don’t look like anything else on the road but in a fun, relaxed kind of way, rather than a tryhard aggressive sort of way.
Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukons, Escalades. I’m not a “big car” kinda guy – my 4Runners are the biggest things I’ve ever owned, and I’m also not a GM guy, but I’ll be damned if I don’t love a giant GM SUV.
A LBZ-swapped 3/4 ton quadrasteer Suburban would be about perfect in my eyes.
I do this in GTA. In real life I like taking the smallest (running) vehicle feasible, but in GTA I’ll put $100k into the Esplanade or whatever it is and just roll.
Related, I seriously considered 4Runners for a couple months because of how much I love the Cavalry Blue, but I don’t feel guilty about that.
I’ll start with the caveat that I think “rolling coal” is stupid but I love the sounds and smells of a tweaked diesel.
Oh and turbo spool noises/blowoff valves.. yeah they sound dumb a lot of the time, that’s what makes them fun!
They can be tuned to not roll coal and still develop sweet power. We have several pre emissions 379 petes at work. Barely a puff of smoke even when you hammer on them, all those sweet sounds
Exactly why I added that caveat.. the coal rolling gave a lot of people a bad impression of diesel tuning but done right it can be pretty epic.
Bingo. We have an old smoker running around Cali that still hasn’t been caught, and out pulls all those new junkers out there