News Opinion (Page 86)

Genesis has a new sports sedan we feel bests the BMW 3 Series in every way. Does that matter in this segment anymore since the Model 3 arrived?

Toyota seems to be honing in on the all-wheel-drive segment lately. With the introduction of the AWD-e option for Prius in 2019, now Camry and Avalon are following. Here is what Toyota could be up to.

We dig into owner-reported data to determine which midsized used car is the best used car purchase bet, the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, or the Hyundai Sonata.

Here is a dealership disaster story and a love story. One was a Honda dealer the other a Lexus dealer. Post your better story in our comments below and guess which brand was which in our story.

We recently tested the Hyundai Elantra and came away with three specific things that the sedan offers that you cannot get in any Honda Civic.

Tesla's Model 3 promotion takes on a new form. This time it's dudes with Go Pros.

Wondering what the best snow tires are for your Nissan Altima? Here is the answer.

Toyota does a great job of taking care of its customers. Even though they are relentless about it, sometimes cars, like the Prius, get sold before a recall can be performed. The second one surprised me.

If you are looking for the best winter snow tires for the Nissan Rogue or CX-5 crossovers, these are the ones owners rate highest.

Subaru miscalculated by not bringing a new 2019 Forester Onyx Edition XT. Ascent, Outback and Legacy get the 2.4L turbo, why not Forester?

EDIT 5/27/19- Fiat Chrysler submits formal merger proposals to both boards of directors of FCA and Renault in a 50/50 acquisition. Both companies want to consolidate. The fact is that they really can benefit from each other, so as long as it isn’t about another LeCar econobox or Alliance compact!

Off to the Electric Chair! Unlike other legacy car companies with their so called 5 and 10 year plans toward electrification, this is how I know VW Group is pretty damn serious about meaning what it says about an electric future. Its lead luxury brand Audi plans on electrifying or eliminating some of its iconic signature vehicles way sooner, and in doing so, it’ll send a shakeup message to the luxury car market that electric cars are now the new marque to be judged.

A recent gesture tells you why Jeep drivers are special. They take pride in being different, in a great way! Hundreds turned out to honor a brave, young man.

Something is going viral like canine parvo across the internet, and it’s becoming a fascinating watch. You’ll see scores of Tesla owners actually playing hide and seek with their new Tesla Model 3s with the latest upgraded hard and software, in lots and garages. The scary but endearing part of the process is when their cars “sniff” them out to reunite. Welcome to an unexpected turn in the Driverless Car Revolution: it’s now about Astro, not Rosie!

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: It hasn’t been a week since the Tesla Y unveil at the Design Studio and the Tesla Fan Base and media alike are now speculating what the already iconic pickup truck will shape out to be. So over Model Y and it’s ho hum, the excitement energy is already now building for Model U.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: The Eve of the Ides of March like the Model Y unveil at the Tesla Design Studio came like the new car itself and went like any other event without much fanfare. Both are no frills or gimmicks, the most practical you can get in a car and an event, neither didn’t take much money to make, and in the car’s case it has the potential to outsell it’s siblings combined.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: I continue the miniseries of stories of “Life after Leaf” in this beginning of the post-hybrid age when we are now getting over PHEVs and short range BEVs like Nissan Leaf, and taking a more serious look at new BEVs now that they’re more car and charging choices, better battery ranges, and cheaper prices. One option coming soon is a BEV CUV that’ll compete with the Hyundai/Kia SUV electrics. Here’s the unveiling of the smaller Model Y.

The Subaru Adrenaline Concept SUV hits the Geneva Motor Show. Subaru needs to build this new Adrenaline Adventure hot hatch. Would you buy it if they bring it?

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: This is an ongoing mini-series of reports themed “life after Leaf,” where I take a look at what happens when you turn in the keys of a firsthand used BEV like Nissan Leaf after a brand new lease or purchase, to wonder what happens to the car thereafter. There’s such a plentiful amount of them that many will not see a long life, but in this report we take a look at why it makes sense to still buy a cheap used all electric car.

Sometime next year BMW will be introducing their first real non-compliant full production all electric car. It won’t look as funky as i3 does. It’ll actually look like a real normal car. And it’ll be based off the 4 series. So with my BMW in the shop AGAIN, and the dealer giving me a 430 coupe as a loaner, I decided to take this opportunity to give you a dynamic of what to expect from a 4 series electric by looking at the gas one and my car, a 3 Series, first.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: I hope this is about as mad as the mad doctor can be, signing a pact with the almost-devil of the car industry right before industrial birth of start up production. I guess he’ll be the industrial obstetrician. I hope the car baby ain’t no Rosemary’s. Dr. Scaringe is looking to make a deal with a devil who has more money than God. Jeff Besos of Amazon is in with this. What a strange three way this could be. I cringe: gee Doctor: will it be good for you too?

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: Extreme weather driving has taken a toll on electric vehicle ranges as we watch BEV owners struggle to stay charged through the winter, their Tesla Model 3 door handles thaw, while the rest watch and learn from their triumphs, trials, and mistakes. I like to say “less is more,” but when it comes to extreme weather driving and batteries, more is more, tiny is workable, keep it plugged in if its 20° F or less, keep it cool over 95° F, and be prepared with options regardless.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: I wonder if the people who are caught red handed being “distracted while AutoPilot” realize how lucky they are they got away with their crime. Unlike the people who I last wrote about who face the wrath of the NTSB and the courts for their tort who proclaim “my Tesla did it, not me,” “driving distracted while AutoPilot” is a crime of reckless endangerment, and most are getting away with it without realizing it.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: One of the worse things a driver can do in a late model car engaged in an accident is to fib or outright lie. You see, whether you realize it, their car may help you, but your car is going to make it really easy to tell your side of the story, with data and soon even images, sooner than later, and regardless of what kind of shape the car is in, and whether for your benefit or not. Your car always telling the truth, is one thing! Getting on the same page with you, is another.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: It’s not looking too good in the public relations arena for Cadillac and GM when the national, now world conversation nows turns toward questioning the existence of luxury car brands after the Cadillac XT6-Gate GM Debacle. Aston Martin’s CEO weighed in with the XT6-Gate to establish six ultra brands, and none of the ones below it like Cadillac will surpass them. But let’s be clear: XT6-Gate is an American problem, not a European one.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: GM President Mark Reuss’ recent announcement of putting Cadillac as the lead brand against Tesla helped everything else but Cadillac. Cadillac just put their third gas CUV into their portfolio right after this announcement! A real all electric car company doesn’t do that! To be taken seriously by anyone you have to be reliable and believable, and that means having honesty, and to be honest, starting with yourself, you have to believe in yourself. Who’s fooling who?

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: Until recently no one in the car industry ever had an experience of what it was like to end production of a car product due to obsolescence, they and other peer brands have produced since its invention in the mid-nineteenth century. Shutting down gas while ramping up electric is a double money losing proposition into the tens to hundreds of billions. Only the wealthiest and most powerful car companies on earth can survive this conversion process, and I look into how this is so.

ANALYSIS AND OPINION: There have been incidents across the country lately that have become more noticeable and reportable to both news agencies and the police. “Coal Rolling” and “ICE-ing” are suppose to be acts of protest against emissions policies but they are really nothing more than acts of cowardliness by ignoramuses. Empower rather than arm yourself by doing these ten things to stop these shameful people.

VW is about to unleash into the BEV wild a really cool mobile charger station that will top the cherry on the ice cream of negating the excuses for range anxiety and city BEV ownership: a mobile power bank that can top off as many as 15 BEVs in as little as 17 minutes. It can be rolled around in a parking lot during events, your boss can have one in the office garage, and it makes a great power source during rolling brown and black outs.

OPINION AND ANALYSIS: Nobody is taking these Russians seriously about the specs and their one year warranty to their recently proposed Russian Mustang BEV, but I tell you one thing: at least they got a spec sheet. They got renders. They got ideas. They even got a warranty for a car they haven’t built yet. They’re eager for publicity and/or to build. I say, where’s the people who invented the damn car to begin with? Do they even know what electricity is beyond a cigarette plug in the dash?