Lexus made its bones – and piles of money – by beating Mercedes-Benz and other Euro status brands at their own game. The top-of-the-line LS series sedan, for example, could be bought loaded with everything for about the same price as a not-quite-top-of-the-line Benz E-Class. And it held its value better, too. Now comes...
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Will plug-in hybrids save us from $3 per gallon fill-ups – or at least, ease the pain a little? The hype about these vehicles – which differ from the current crop of gas-electric hybrids in that they can run on pure battery power for longer and, when their batteries run down, can draw power...
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It didn’t have had three deuces and a four-speed – or a 389. Instead, it had state-of-art technology, including an available twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC V-6, viscous-coupled all-wheel-drive system, four-wheel-steering and an “active” aerodynamic wing on the trunklid. But the end result was much the same: A car that knew how to get you...
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Competition is good – but not always necessarily for the seller. When Nissan introduced the Maxima way back in 1981, the idea of a “four door sports car” – as the car would soon be styled in TV and print ads – was a new idea. Or at least, not a common one. The...
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The Dodge Challenger, Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang are great performance cars, but they aren’t muscle cars. That species is extinct – and there’s no bringing them back. Muscle cars were born at a unique moment in American history when technology had developed to the point that enormously powerful engines were becoming available but...
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Christmas is only hours away now. Maybe Santa will leave one or two of the following things under the tree… * Lower gas prices - Unleaded regular is creeping back up to $3 per gallon and in many areas of the country is already higher than that. Given the flood of Fed funny money,...
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It may not be necessary to change your vehicle’s oil and filter as often as you once did. Recommended service intervals have been increasing over the past few years from as often as once every 3-4 months and 3,000 miles to as infrequently as once every 5,000 (or even 10,000 miles), depending on the...
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What’s a Clover? It’s a person who needs some help behind the wheel – but doesn’t realize it. To put a finer point on it, a Clover is a person who thinks you’re the one who needs the help. Take this test to see whether you’re a Clover: * Do you routinely find yourself...
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One of the first things I do after I buy a vehicle is buy a small spiral-bound notebook (spiral-bound because a pen or pencil fits nicely in the binding.) On the cover I write the make/model/year of the vehicle. In the notebook will go information about all service and maintenance work done to the...
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I’ve had people criticize my criticism of “speeding” tickets. They say I’m encouraging or at least defending wrongful, dangerous activity. But I’d like to ask them a question. If “speeding” is indeed such a thing – not just illegal, but genuinely anti-social in the way that, say, kicking a dog or stealing something or...
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