Daily coverage of the world of cars.

Admin

We all want a good value when buying a used car. Who doesn’t love picking up a five-year-old low-mileage car for sixty percent less than what the car cost fresh?

Getting a fine used car deal is the holy grail of car shopping for many value-oriented shoppers. My best practice was scoring an almost half-price deal on a used car that had been sitting on a dealer’s lot for a long time. It was a base model and had a 5-speed manual. No one desired the car, the dealer dreamed it gone, and I made a half-price suggest, which was accepted.

That was a little over five years ago. Today’s best bargains are a little different. In fact, they’re electrical. Proceed reading >>>

How Much Do You Love Kia’s Design Right Now?

My disdain for their logo aside, Kia’s design has evolved into one of the most head-turning and appealing shapes on the road today.

How many times per day does a Kia make you do a double-take? There’s the strong and sporty stance of the upcoming Stinger, the grand K900, the stout and strong Sorento, and just about anything else wearing that oval travesty of a Kia logo.

I can’t think of another affordable automaker with looks as consistently good as Kia’s. In fact, I would place it right up there with Audi in terms of design, which makes sense considering the company’s lead designer made a name for himself with the German automaker before being wooed by the South Koreans.

And if Kia’s design wasn’t good enough already, another jaw-dropping concept is on the horizon. Will it go into production? Proceed reading >>>

Which of These two thousand eighteen Cars Would You Call “Sexy”?

Which two thousand eighteen car would you call “sexy,” the Toyota Camry or the Audi A5 Sportback?

The English language includes many words that mean different things to different people. Just last week we published Test Drive Reviews of two very different two thousand eighteen cars that have each been called “sexy”: the debuting Audi A5 Sportback and the re-designed Toyota Camry. We think both cars have significant strengths, but we also think they’re different enough that Audi and Toyota must have very different definitions of that word. And because we want to know which automaker understands car shoppers better, we wonder which car you, dear readers, would be more likely to call “sexy.” Proceed reading >>>

Volkswagen Caters to Modern-Day Hippies with ID Hum

It’s ultimately happening.

Some sixty years after the Volkswagen Microbus became a symbol of peace, love, and happiness in the United States, a fresh version will land on dealer floors aimed at the modern, and somewhat affluent, hippie.

The ID Hum has been a concept floating around the blog-o-sphere for at least six months, and now VW has confirmed that it will indeed go into production. However, it won’t happen until after a smaller electrified compact car, simply called the ID, goes on sale by 2020. Proceed reading >>>

Chevy Blazer: The Legend (Sort of) Comebacks

We all know that the Ford Bronco is coming back, very likely as the rugged off-roader that we all hoped it would be. That’s certainly good news for the xxx Bronco fanbase but a little off-putting to the people who choose their off-roaders to wear a bow tie.

Chevy’s Bronco-buster, the Blazer, leisurely morphed into the TrailBlazer and then the Traverse, which rendered it mostly worthless on the trails where the Blazer once roamed.

Last week, news began circulating that the Blazer would comeback for 2019. Arousing, right?

Not so much. Get ready to find out what frustration feels like, Blazer fans. Proceed reading >>>

Which FCA Brand Does China Want Most?

Last week we brought you news that FCA, the company born out of the Fiat/Chrysler merger, may be sold to a Chinese automaker.

That would turn the once-iconic American Chrysler brand into a wholly foreign-owned corporation while providing a Chinese automaker entry into the coveted American car market.

This is a sale that could actually happen, but it may affect only one brand, leaving the rest of the FCA stable with a questionable future. Which brand looks most appealing to the Chinese? Proceed reading >>>

Hey, Where’s the Spare?

Have you ever had one of those mornings that can only mean a superb afternoon is on the way?

You know the type of morning: You get out of bed a little late, which makes you leave for work a few minutes late, but as you’re backing out of the driveway, you notice a plane tire, so you transfer your stuff into your spouse’s car and take that one, only to spill an entire cup of coffee on your lap, because the cupholders in that car aren’t deep enough. (Maybe there’s something to that fresh Washington law disallowing coffee while driving.)

Just when you think you’ve made it through and have clear sailing to work, the road ahead is closed due to construction, and you have to take a time-consuming detour.

Later, when it’s ultimately time to switch the vapid, you detect that there’s no spare and no jack. Proceed reading >>>

Autonomous Car Progress: Approaching Level Five

BMW iNext rendering

I thought adaptive cruise control was the coolest thing ever. Simply set the cruise to seventy miles per hour, and the car does the rest, even slowing down to match traffic when speeds drop.

I very first experienced adaptive cruise control in 2014, and now, just three years later, we have automakers talking about “level Five” autonomy.

What is level Five? It means a car can control itself in all situations and doesn’t need a driver for anything. We’re not there yet, but some powerful and influential automakers are on the path to making it happen. Before level five cars arrive, lower priced cars will receive levels of autonomy that make my adaptive cruise look like technology straight out of 1999. Proceed reading >>>

Mazda’s Fresh Gas Engine Runs Like a Diesel

Related movie: