You’ve probably heard about “paying it forward” and of course, we all know about paying it back. But what about paying it down? Debt, I mean. Sit in traffic and look around. Probably no more than 20 or 30 percent of the cars around you are paid-for. People routinely buy more car than they...
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Moore’s law applies to cars, too. Ok, the pace of change is not quite as rapid – but it has upticked tremendously over the past 20 years. Even more so over the past five years. For example, most 2012 transmissions (manual or automatic) have at least six speeds now – and seven and eight-speed...
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When buying a new car, it’s usually smart to let the salesman do the talking. Whatever you do, never tell him: * That you really like the car - Ideally, let him think you need to be convinced. But whatever happens, don’t gush about the car. If you do, it’s like revealing your hand...
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There is probably a rule against what I am about to do. As a guy who makes his living writing articles about cars – and reviewing new cars – I surely flirt with nacht und nebel for revealing the following: * There aren’t any shitty cars anymore - At least, not like there used...
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Chrysler is throwing two of its slow-sellers in the woods – the Dodge Caliber and its over-reachingly named cousin, the Dodge Nitro. Will they be missed? Not by Chrysler. Or Chrysler’s new owner, Fiat – which knows a stinker when it smells one. The Caliber never hit the target and last year was particularly...
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I recently did a column about the burbling war between the Safety Nazis and the Mileage Mussolinis (see here). Well, here’s the first casualty: Your safety. Because your next new car probably won’t come with even a mini-spare – let alone an actual full-size spare tire. The latter has been MIA from all-but-large-luxury cars...
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Satellite radio – that is, SirusXM satellite radio – was supposed to be revolutionary, an end-run around the heavily censored, mostly commercials dreck of terrestrial FM and AM radio. Well, they did ok on the first score. Satellite radio is more free and open in the sense that things can be said openly that...
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Back in the mid-’90s, Lincoln was riding high. Ford’s primo brand was actually outselling GM’s Cadillac division, which at the time was purveyor of stolid starter caskets to the AARP crowd. It was Lincoln that birthed the idea of taking a big SUV from the lower-key Ford line, chroming everything that wasn’t plastic and...
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There will be no bailout for Saab – and so, no bailout for Saab owners. Sweden’s other automaker, formerly an appendage of GM, recently filed for bankruptcy liquidation – not reorganization. It no longer builds cars and no longer intends to build cars. There will be no 2013 Saabs – no more new Saabs,...
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Heather Peters (no relation to this writer) is hopping mad at Honda. She says her ’06 hybrid Civic’s actual mileage more than just varied: About 30 MPG vs. the EPA (and Honda) advertised 50 MPG. So she’s going after Honda in court – small claims court – for $10,000. Which is the maximum payday...
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