I think the Titan (and Frontier) can be a good value, especially used, because everybody either forgets they exist or lumps them in with Nissan’s problematic vehicles.

They may not compete with the Big 3 on options and features and sheer variety of configurations but they’re basically solid trucks that will do basic truck stuff just fine.

The biggest problem is there just aren’t as many of them floating around the marketplace so finding one the way you want one configured isn’t as easy as with a F150, Silverado/Sierra or Ram.

A lot of the same applies to the Tundra but it benefits (deservedly) from Toyota’s sterling reputation (rusted out frames, notwithstanding) and is subject to the Toyota tax making it less of a bargain.

Watch Wes Work on YouTube. Solo shop owner in the middle of nowhere Illinois talks through the whole diagnostic and repair process. Also, there’s something horrifically fascinating about rust eaten midwestern vehicles.

Wheeler Dealers is still my favorite car show on regular TV. Whether it’s Edd, Ant or Elvis, they still do a pretty good job of showing what is done and explaining how technical bits work and while Mike’s antics may be increasing silly and played up for TV drama, he still shows how to get bits and pieces refurbished, refinished and rebuilt or source used replacements.

Me driving by myself: Wow, I can’t believe how rattle free this car is for 27 years old!

Me with a passenger in the car: Oh my god, I’m literally inside a maraca. WTF!?

Yep, the biggest issue with automatic transmissions of any number of gears is the shift logic.

What people want and expect the gas pedal and transmission to do are at odds with what the powertrain engineers have to program the thing to do to game the fuel economy tests.

Some of the best shifting transmissions I’ve experienced were 4 and 6 speeds, some of the worst I’ve experienced were 4 and 6 speeds. We’ve got an 8 speed in my wife’s car and it is ok but could be great if it had a sport mode - I’ve driven other 8 speeds that fought you at every turn.

There’s no reason a 10 speed can’t be good too but the logic of shift logic that says upshift as quickly and highly as you can and hold the highest gear you can for as long as you can and ignore requests to downshift for as long as possible get in the way of enjoyable driving and as long as fuel economy (and emissions) are the biggest factor in transmission shift programs, that’s they way it will remain.

On the other hand, I think 10 speeds is well into diminishing returns in practical use in normal cars. 4 gears with well chosen spacing, well chosen torque converter looseness and a lockup TC clutch can provide a perfectly adequate driving experience (if not ideal for economy) and 6 or 8 should really be more than enough when we’ve got engines with fat, wide and flat torque curves thanks to optimized airflow, fuel injection, VVT, direct injection, etc. We really needed these multigear transmissions back when engines had narrow torque and HP peaks and it was hard work staying in them.