RideLust

The 2011 Acura RL. Image: Honda

To be fair, 2011 isn’t quite over yet, so declaring five cars the worst sellers of the year prior to December 31 means opening yourself up to criticism and ridicule if a particular model bounces back. That said, it’s a fair bet that these five cars, picked by MSNBC as the worst sales performers among mainstream automobiles, won’t be rising out of the sales basement. Most are dated designs, and some soldier on simply because a manufacturer has paid for the tooling and can’t afford a new replacement model. Others are quirky for the sake of being quirky, which is never a good thing. At least Saabs were quirky for the sake of being innovative. Read More…

Image: Yuri Long

If, for some unknown reason, you really want to get into a car accident, the best place in the country to live is Washington, DC. In DC, your chance of having an accident goes up by 107 percent compared to the national average, which probably explains why so many law firms call DC home. Read More…

Image: Pat Hawks

From 1974 though 1987, 55 miles per hour was the national speed limit. In the early days, the limit almost made sense, since those were the dark times between our first and second gas crisises. Back then, most cars on the road weren’t getting 30 miles per gallon, so restricting speed in the name of fuel savings became the logical thing to do. Somewhere along the line, groups embraced the 55 mile per hour speed limit since it was “safer” than the old 70 mile per hour limit. When the double-nickel fell in 1987, those opposed to raising the national speed limit predicted carnage, death and highways flowing red with blood. Read More…

Image: Clarita Natoli

The 55 mile per hour speed limit is long buried in our past, alongside other great ideas like prohibition and the metric system. Today’s drivers can legally motor along at speeds ranging from 65 to 80 miles per hour, but sadly Montana has done away with “reasonable and prudent, “ since that was far too open to interpretation. Still, a posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour generally means you can get away with nearly 80 in most locations, but don’t blame us when you get written for 76 in a 70. Read More…

The 2012 Hyundai Accent sedan and 5 door. Image: Hyundai

We get along fine with the staff at Kelley Blue Book, and I’ll even cop to using there pricing models on a regular basis over the past 20 years or so. They’re bona-fide industry insiders, and when they publish a list it generally has good information on it. Their latest effort, which shows the top five used and top five new cars for back to school, has us scratching our heads, wonder just what the KBB staff learned to cook in their organic chem classes. Read More…

The National Insurance Crime Bureau keeps tab on things like car theft by state without regard to a vehicles insured status. That’s significant, because it looks at ALL car thefts, not just those that were reported to an insurance company. Each year, the NICB publishes a list of the most stolen vehicles in the United States, and the top 10 may come as a surprise.

There aren’t any exotics or luxury cars on the list, and the most valuable car in the top 10 probably doesn’t crack the $10,000 barrier. These aren’t cars stolen to order by gangs who specialize in shipping containers of hot cars to South America; instead, they’re cars that get snatched because they’re easy to steal, or have parts common to a wide range of other vehicles. Read More…

Image: Shino

Let’s face it: if you drive with your significant other in the car, sooner or later you’re going to piss each other off. Maybe it’s the whole enclosed-space thing, or the men are from Mars and women aren’t thing, but in any case, you can plan on an argument sooner or later.

A recent study from the UK documented the most common causes of in-car arguments for couples, and although the data reflects British drivers, I’d say it applies to drivers on this side of the pond as well. In fact, I don’t think I’d even change the order of the list, which just goes to show that the Americans and British are more alike than we think (except for the British driving on the wrong side of the road, that is). Read More…

If you’ve ever owned a convertible, you understand their appeal. In good weather, it’s hard to beat the feeling of the wind in your hair as the sun plays through the branches of the trees overhead. Drive along the coast, and you can smell the sea air; sometimes, you can even taste the salt. At night, few things rival a top-down bast up your favorite road, with nothing but a sky full of stars overhead. Read More…

Buying American used to be the only reasonable choice when purchasing a new car. Back in the 1950s, 1960s and even early 1970s, foreign car dealerships were few and far between, and most cars built elsewhere had spotty reputations for safety and durability. To generalize, British cars all suffered from electrical maladies, Japanese cars rusted through just as the warranty expired, Italian cars were only reliable until you need to be somewhere at a specific time and German cars were for the rich. Except Volkswagen, which was for hippies and college students. None of them fared well in collisions with big old American Iron, which typically had a 2x or 3x weight advantage. Read More…

These two things are more alike than you realize...

I’ve been married for a long time, and yes, it’s to the same woman. In my case that’s a good thing, since she puts up with all my bad habits and we seem to get along just fine. I’ve also been driving cars for a long time, which makes me something of an expert on both cars and relationships. I won’t call myself an expert on women, because the most important rule you can learn as a guy is that particle physics is far more understandable than women. Try to picture rebuilding a six speed gearbox blindfolded, with your toes, while shocked at random intervals by a cattle prod, and that should give you an idea of the average woman’s complexity. Read More…