That headline takes the author back to his 1990s sex ed classes, but we’re not talking about that today. No, sir. Wholesome, family content here.
Actually, wholesome families play a large role in the proliferation of the unique vehicular phenomenon we’ll be discussing in this QOTD. Families, retirees, and perhaps even you. (Read More…)
Reflecting on the numerous sedans which passed away at the end of the 2019 model year, we recently asked you to pick the best all-round offerings in sizes small, medium, and large. In each size grouping, we excluded premium and luxury offerings, and each time someone complained that the list lacked premium offerings.
It’s 2020 now, and as always at TTAC we aim to please: Today we select the best sedans from premium and luxury marques. Small cars are up first.
This time of year is rife with year-end lists and compilations ranging from music-inspired topics to the insidious Instagram Top Nine. It’s a great tradition, one I look forward to every year.
You know precisely what our topic is: cars. We’ll throw it out to you, dear reader — what was 2019’s biggest surprise in the automotive industry? As you’d expect, we have a few ideas to start off the proverbial tip jar.
Your author, now the proud owner of a set of sure-grip Michelin floor mats, once pined for something even more elaborate on Christmas morning. The object of his affection? A rusty RWD Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan once owned by his grandfather.
Sadly, that slate-grey Olds did not find its way under the tree on that long-ago Christmas morning, back when the Spice Girls were topping the charts and Keanu Reeves was still in the first phase of his career. For others, however, and maybe even for some TTAC readers, Santa delivered in a big way. (Read More…)
As the calendar flips into 2020, various and sundry beancounters have begun bleating that we’re all spending way too much money on cars. The folks at AAA remarked earlier this year that the average annual cost of vehicle ownership amounts to $9,282, or $773.50 a month. That’s the highest cost associated with such since they began tracking expenses in 1950.
Santa is just around the corner (no, really — go look) so TTAC is here with a fictional present: assuming there is a monthly bank error in your favor of $773.50, what would you go out and buy today?
Tim Cain’s Thursday rundown of observations and conclusions about the automotive industry spanned the gamut, and yours truly couldn’t agree more with his view that extended cab pickups boast the most pleasing profile in the segment. Few things look odder to these eyes than a full-size crew cab with a 5.5-foot bed.
He’s bang-on about the Acura RDX, too.
Unlike that 30- or 40-something friend whose politics remain frozen in time from their first semester of college, the passage of years normally brings about an evolution of views. Things change — allegiances, likes, dislikes, and even guilty pleasures. Discoveries abound that alter how we think. Each calendar year brings about at least a few realizations about society, the world around us, and how we interact with it, and the same goes for something like the auto industry.
With 2019 nearly at an end, what have you learned this past year? (Read More…)
Many sedans are due to fade away at the end of this year, replaced via a cadre of crossovers (as preferred by Middle America). To that end, we began a trio of sedan-focused QOTDs last week. First up were the compact and subcompact sedans, where your author awarded the Mazda 3 a class win.
This week, we’re talking midsizers. The choices are fewer in number than you might think.
Yesterday, the awe-inspiringly tall Matthew Guy asked about examples of daily drivers that achieved stratospheric odometer readings, which immediately catapulted this writer back to the middle of the previous decade — a better era for most things, save vehicle design.
Back then, your author’s beloved Camry Coupe was still running like a dream at 261,000 miles. Nary a drop of oil lost between changes. Repairs? Nonexistent. Bliss can truly exist outside of heaven. It was a happy coincidence that Guy’s post occured on the same morning that Murilee showed us an indestructible five-cylinder Benz diesel; truly a paragon of longevity.
Yet for every high-mileage champion, there’s a vehicle that gives up well before its time — wheezing to a stop before the finish line is in sight. Perhaps you’ve owned one? (Read More…)
238,900 miles. That’s the distance between here and the lunar satellite that controls our tides and has an American flag stuck in its side. It’s also a number that’s rapidly spinning up on the odometer of your author’s paid-off 2012 Dodge Charger.
Today’s QOTD is simple: what’s the highest mileage you’ve ever accumulated on a vehicle?
Cadillac may be embarking on a nail-biting journey with its electrification plan, but its naming strategy could prove considerably less rocky. Or not. Announced Thursday in Detroit, the premium brand’s evolution to emissions-free status will coincide with a return of actual model names for new vehicles — a move many Cadillac watchers have long hoped for.
Yes, the alphabet soup that comprised all but one member of the Caddy clan will fall by the wayside, replaced by real words. Names that mean something, that stimulate emotion. Ford thought it necessary. Can you guess what we’re going to ask today? (Read More…)
In keeping with this month’s theme of “winter is coming” (perhaps it’s already arrived where you live), denizens of the sun belt with their blemish-free highways will have to put up with another question that hardly applies to their lifestyle.
We’ve asked you in the recent past about winter rubber, and even implored you to share the contents of your trunk, but today we’re going to discuss aspect ratio. With winter comes potholes, and it continues to amaze this writer the number of people who choose style over steelies, forgoing the wheel-protecting cushion afforded by a taller tire. (Read More…)
As 2019 draws to a close, the future of the sedan has never looked dimmer. A number of sedans die with the current model year, with the majority of funerals happening at American brands. For now, let’s pick out some bright spots in our sedan offerings before the herd is thinned considerably in 2020.
Up first this week are the small sedans.
Night Court was ranked No. 21 on the Nielsen ratings and Nike execs were contemplating what eventually became the “Bo Knows” campaign when Chrysler’s Ultradrive automatic entered production in Indiana.
Boasting four speeds and a protective limp-home feature soon to be the butt of jokes, Ultradrive was Chrysler’s go-to FWD tranny for many a year. As you read yesterday, the original four-speed version will end production in 2020. Yet memories linger… perhaps even yours. (Read More…)
We don’t know about the rest of you lot, but the vast majority of us who toil at this august publication reside well within the snow belt. Starting around this time of year, shovelling, bundling up, and generally cursing at cold weather is a daily occurrence for most of the masthead.
Modern cars are virtually maintenance-free these days — save for vital fluids, of course — especially compared to the Bad Old Days when one had to gap plugs and set points in order to get to church on time. Despite this, are there any particular ways in which you prepare your car for winter?
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