I’ve had my Toyota Highlander Hybrid for almost nine years and while it’s been a great car, the creaks and groans were my clue that it was time to start thinking about replacing it. With 130,000 miles on the odometer it’s been a really good vehicle with almost zero problems. Really, the only issue I had was having the driver’s door window explode (outward, fortunately) and require an actual replacement door by the time they…Read More
My vehicle certainly doesn’t look any different to the other cars in the parking lot, but I have a secret weapon hooked up to my onboard diagnostic interface port, a CarLock car tracker and alert system. I reviewed it a while back if you haven’t seen my video: The Carlock is doubly great if you have a teen in the house too because it lets you keep track of the location of your vehicle at…Read More
There are some cars I get to test drive that are beautiful. They sit in my driveway, ready for the first drive, and you can almost hear the purr of the engine as it sits, poised, ready to leap at the slightest touch of the gas pedal. That’s definitely how I felt when I looked at the Atomic Silver 2017 Lexus IS350 when Lexus dropped it off for my week’s driving experience. Until I tried to…Read More
While it’s a pleasure to drive cars in the $50K-$75K range, the reality is that most people can’t afford a vehicle at that price, whether they’re paying outright or financing the vehicle. Heck, with a $5,000 down payment and three year loan, a $75,000 car will hit you for about $2000/mo in payments. And that’s without insurance. Fortunately there are a lot of options in the $15K-$25K range from just about every major manufacturer. Continuing…Read More
Most vehicles have fairly subtle updates year over year so that a 2013 and a 2014 model might be difficult to differentiate unless you’re a car expert. Over long periods of time there are big changes, but even then, they are often more subtle improvements in technology and engine than major design changes. Which is why it’s always interesting as a car reviewer to have a chance to drive your own car, just a few years…Read More
I wasn’t much of a car guy in high school, but I did go through a muscle car phase when I had a four-door Chevy with airshocks so I could raise up the back and get that sleek, forward leaning look. It had a 327, a decent size engine, and though I never rolled up my sleeves, there was definitely a whiff of hot rod when I got into the car to head out to…Read More
The sport utility vehicle category is full of SUVs from companies trying to appeal to people who want a big, safe vehicle and likely are never going to need four-wheel drive, let alone drive in rough off-road conditions. But just about every SUV on the market has AWD or is a 4×4 with optional drive configurations for mud, rocky terrain and more. So the real differences between many of the vehicles in the SUV class ends…Read More
With a different vehicle every week, it’s easy as a car writer to become a bit of a snob about vehicles, expecting plush leather seats, big engines and excellent handling in those winding mountain roads. Just like any other market segment, however, there are a wide range of car buyers who have very different needs and interests. A single guy who just landed his first good paying job is looking for a very different vehicle…Read More
Most car reviews seem to involve mid-range to higher end vehicles, since it’s quite reasonable for car companies to seek the best possible experience for writers. It’s not unusual to have a $50K-$60K or even more expensive vehicle for a week as an automotive journalist, a chance to really run a state-of-the-art car or truck through its paces. There are certainly a lot of really nice luxury vehicles on the road too, from compact SUVs…Read More
We’re not Detroit and we’re not Los Angeles, but Denver has a pretty vibrant car community and accounts for quite a bit of national vehicle sales. We skew towards all-wheel drive 4x4s, trucks and SUVs, but those are national trends too, as people want to feel safer in their vehicles. According to the Wall Street Journal, three of the top five selling vehicles are pickup trucks, actually: The Ford F-Series, Dodge RAM and Chevrolet Silverado,…Read More
It’s rare that I get into a car and immediately think that I should doff a chauffeur’s cap, but that’s exactly how I felt the first time I slipped behind the wheel of the big, luxurious 2017 Lexus GX460 SUV. It’s the kind of vehicle that secret service types drive celebrities around in and it was a struggle to get my teen daughter to sit up front with me, she so enjoyed the screens, separate…Read More
Driving a different car each week, it’s easy to fall into a state of ennui. At some level most cars are the same, and certainly within a specific class of vehicles, it’s hard to really get too excited about yet another SUV or yet another small 4-door sedan. Except there are cars that redefine their class and offer a design or technological experience that makes the stand out, even to a slightly jaded automotive writer…Read More
I had a chance to drive a brand new 2017 Lexus NX300h hybrid SUV and while I was expecting a terrific experience, it was more frustrating than I had any reason to expect. After all, I’ve owned a Toyota hybrid SUV — a Highlander Hybrid — for many years and the Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota so it should be like my vehicle, but better and newer, right? Certainly, it’s a beautiful vehicle…Read More
Test driving lots of cars is really fun, even as I admit candidly that I’m not a “car guy”. I don’t read the car magazines, don’t travel to the big national car shows in Detroit, Chicago or Los Angeles, and can’t even tell you the bore ratio or torque rating of my own vehicle. Heck, I’m driving an SUV that’s almost 10 years old and turned over 100,000 miles quite a while ago. But I grew…Read More
I’m not much of an off-road driver, but there are plenty of rough dirt roads in my neighborhood and when the weather isn’t cooperative, there can be ice and even slick snow on the roads. Two wheel drive works okay but knowing how to come out of a skid is helpful, whether you have antilock brakes or not (it’s about steering too). But a 4×4? Now we’re talking: as long as one wheel has some…Read More
