A pleasantly appointed family car can be had for about $25K. US car sales broke an all-time record in 2015 and will likely fall just short of that number this year. With more than 17 million new car shoppers making purchases each year, the market is ripe for the taking. … Read more
Drop the top in this handsome little British people mover. The Mini Cooper now includes a convertible, available in standard, S, and John Cooper Works editions. The standard model is powered by a 1.5-liter, turbocharged three-cylinder engine; the “S” gets BMW’s 2.0-liter, twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinders and the top-end model garners … Read more
Less bling, more substance for the grandest of all Cadillacs. The Cadillac Escalade is as large as the notoriety that precedes it. This full-sized SUV was launched in 1999, following the Lincoln Navigator to the market by one year. But it is the Cadillac model, not the Lincoln, which has … Read more
Muscular, luxury SUV brings performance to the compact range. When was the last time you found a crossover utility vehicle exciting? Crickets. Yeah, I thought so. To be fair, there are some fun crossovers out there, but typically you’ll have to opt for the high-end performance edition and all-wheel drive … Read more
A modest price premium makes hybrid ownership a solid value proposition. The Toyota RAV4 is a popular compact SUV in its own right and one of the first models in the segment, having launched in 1996. Now in its fourth generation, the RAV4 has long lacked a hybrid variant, until … Read more
Ford’s three-row midsize crossover delivers off-road capabilities. Ford’s strength in utility vehicles is evident as nearly every model it offers is a hit. Even the quirky Ford Flex has an audience, people who prefer a more wagon-like experience and are not put off by its polarizing visage. And then there … Read more
Four utility vehicles drive the Lincoln brand, including the all-new MKX. If the standout feature for an SUV is its nifty massaging capabilities, what does that tell you about the rest of the vehicle? Maybe not as much as you think, especially if your week-long obsession was with the 22-way … Read more
Pillow-soft comfort meets hybrid efficiency. Hybrid electric vehicles are a tough sell. But especially so when gasoline prices are low. Manufacturers such as Toyota have invested billions of dollars in the technology and aren’t about to walk away. At some point fuel prices are likely to rebound, raising demand … Read more
Behind the wheel of Toyota’s largest pickup truck. How do you like your pickup truck — small, medium or large? Small pickup trucks are no longer sold in the US, having morphed into midsize trucks beginning about two decades ago. With the Ford Ranger’s retirement in 2011, consumers were left … Read more
Lexus doubles its “F” performance line by bringing those trappings to the GS midsize sedan. The Lexus GS is a midsize luxury sedan and prior to this year no performance variant was offered. But two things were changed for 2016: a turbocharged four-cylinder 200t model was introduced and a high-performance … Read more