When Ford Motor Company approached me about a campaign tied to young adults buying their first car, I turned it into an interview with Greg Cerise, Ford Credit sales and marketing manager. here’s what we talked about… Q: College kids affording new cars? Is that even possible? Yes, it’s possible. It’s important to put as much research and effort into financing as you put into choosing a vehicle. There are ways to start building a…Read More
I seem to be doing a lot with Ford Motor Company recently. First it was the terrific 2016 Platinum Adventure Tour through Yellowstone National Park, and yesterday it was a tech demo for the Front Range Bloggers group on Facebook that I run. The demonstration was part of Ford’s Smart Mobility Tour where the company highlights some of its amazing smart assist tech that’s making cars smarter and safer (even as we drivers are getting dumber,…Read More
I was already heading up to Montana when Ford asked if I’d like to be part of the Platinum Adventure Tour campaign that the company is using to roll out the 2016 Ford Explorer’s new Platinum edition. The leg I’d be driving would be Big Sky, Montana to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a modest 200 miles or so, but through some of the most beautiful parts of the United States: Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National…Read More
It’s been a busy weekend, but I made sure to find time to pop by the headquarters of robotics startup and tinker headquarters SparkFun in Niwot, Colorado for the seventh annual Autonomous Vehicle Competition, or AVC. The main attraction is a competition open to the public to create autonomous model cars that can successfully navigate the company’s parking lot and make it to the finish line. This is nowhere near as easy as it sounds…Read More
When you think of renting a car, you probably think of finding something inexpensive, an economy car from the lowest price rental company listed on Travelocity or Expedia. I do that too if I’m heading into town on a business trip and seek to minimize expenses. That’s all good. But it turns out that a lot of rental companies have pretty, sleek, sexy cars available for rent on a daily basis for not much more…Read More
After having a fun week driving the 2016 Mazda CX-5, the car agency dropped off a 2016 Kia Sorento and I have to say that from the first moment I opened the driver’s door, I was impressed. The Sorento in this configuration — SXL AWD — is one of the most luxurious SUV’s I’ve ever sat in, with its plush leather seats, beautiful interior color scheme and big, bright, eminently capable touch screen navigation and…Read More
I’ve spent the last week behind the wheel of a beautiful red 2016 Mazda CX-5 as part of a loaner program and have really enjoyed driving this smaller crossover SUV that competes directly with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 (even the name is similar). I usually drive a larger SUV, the Toyota Highlander, so that’s of course the vehicle that I use for comparisons. It’s probably not entirely fair as the Highlander is about $20k more…Read More
Kudos and props to the team at Mitsubishi for loaning me one of their newest SUVs, the 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander, a 4-door sport utility vehicle. The one I got to drive for a week here in Colorado priced out at $29,645 according to the Monroney, and featured a fuel efficient 2.4L 4-cylinder engine and split third row seats. It also had the optional “SE” package ($2600) that added a sunroof, leather seats, roof fails, power driver…Read More
Toyota kindly invited me to a test drive event featuring its 2015 cars, for which they rented space at the beautiful Coors Field baseball park. Separately, I’ve shared some photos from the behind-the-scenes tour of Coors Field, but I also want to write about the cars themselves. I have driven almost exclusively Toyota cars since I was an undergrad, including a Prius, a Tercel, a Supra convertible, a Sienna and my current car, a Toyota Highlander…Read More
I should start right out by saying that I’m not a fan of non-stop always-on Internet access. Sometimes ya just gotta take a breather from the Web, skip the latest email update and take some time off from those favorite websites or Internet-enabled games. If nothing else, it’s essential for your mental health. At the same time, there are also times when you are far away from a Starbucks, public library or other Internet hotspot…Read More
As my 17yo A- gets closer and closer to the driving test — she’s less than two weeks away from when she can go in and get that glorious license that will let her drive solo! — we realize that while she’s done a ton of driving, she hasn’t really had any practice parallel parking. I tend to take this particular skill for granted because my Dad taught me eons ago and I’ve parallel parked…Read More
As part of our great spring Southern California holiday, the kind folk at Ford Motor Company arranged for us to have an extended evaluation drive of a shiny new 2014 Ford Escape, enough time to really put the car through its paces. While we had the vehicle we drove all around Orange County (southern Los Angeles), along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway, in heavy traffic (of course) and down to San Diego for some extended…Read More
Here in Colorado we have a very specific task that’s required when the weather finally transitions away from the icy grasp of King Winter and into Spring, with all its chaos and unpredictability: take off the snow tires. Some cars just seem to have less traction than others, so it’s common for Coloradoans to have studded snow tires on their vehicles. While they offer considerably better bad weather (read “ice”) traction, they’re expensive and not…Read More
I just realized this morning as I looked around my garage and counted one fancy car seat and two car booster seats that I don’t need them any more. My little one, K-, turned 8 last week (I even hosted a party for her pals at the local bowling alley. Solo. Yikes!) and the Colorado law for children needing to be in a booster seat states that “under 8” is the criterion. So we’re done….Read More
Thanks to the fine folk at Chevrolet, my recent road trip from Boulder, Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico ended up as a chance for me to have an extended test drive of the popular Chevy Cruze, a cute little four door compact. The trip itself was about 800 miles: 320 miles, Boulder to Taos, NM. An overnight at the cool Dobson House “earthship”, then a pleasant 70 miles to Santa Fe, NM, where my…Read More