Automotive News, Car Reviews, and Podcast
Every 2026 minivan compared head-to-head. Toyota Sienna, Kia Carnival, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Pacifica specs, pricing, fuel economy, and our verdict.
Read moreStellantis brought six brands to the 2026 New York Auto Show, including the refreshed Pacifica, Charger SIXPACK, Durango Hellcat Jailbreak, and America250 editions.
Read moreRay Elliott is a veteran tow truck driver in the San Francisco Bay Area who also publishes the website idiotsontheinterstate.com. In addition to his vast expertise helping motorists, he posts commentaries and videos that ideally define his online platform’s name. Elliott has twice been a guest on The Weekly Driver Podcast and the subject of a column I wrote several months ago for the San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times. He knows the industry from a unique perspective. It’s when vehicles aren’t running properly after breakdowns or involvement in accidents. For the past several years, I’ve written end-of-the-year articles, selecting the top vehicle of the year. To view the list, visit: 2019 Best Cars and Trucks. Elliott disagrees with
Read moreEvery vintage car collector has great stories to share about their vehicles. Andy Harris recently added to trend as a guest on The Weekly Driver Podcast. Harris lives and works in Sacramento, California. He’s owned United Attorneys’ Services for many years, and he shares two of the same pastimes as the podcasts’ co-hosts. Harris is a veteran long-distance runner and a vintage car collector. Harris is our guest on Episode #19 of our weekly video conversations about all things in the automotive industry. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Harris the particulars of the four vastly different cars he owns. How about a 1959 Crown Imperial? Or consider Harris’ 1973 Citroen SM or his 1991 Mazda Miata. And
Read moreAndy Harris lives and works in Sacramento, California. He’s owned United Attorneys’ Services for many years, and he shares two of the same pastimes as the co-hosts of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Harris is a veteran long-distance runner and he’s a vintage car collector. Harris is our guest on Episode #91 of our weekly conversations about all things in the automotive industry. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Harris the particulars of the four vastly different cars he owns. How about a 1959 Crown Imperial? Or consider Harris’ 1973 Citroen SM or his 1991 Mazda Miata. And for a daily driver, how about Harris’choice of a 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth? While all of his cars attract attention, the
Read moreOh My God. Never buy a Chrysler product. My reasoning? It’s a dangerous product that not only thinks for you, but also will endanger your life and damage the interior for something as simple as a flat tire. This, in my opinion, is one of the best examples of piss-poor engineering. Why? My first example was when I encountered one of these vans last winter. It was two weeks old, still with dealer plates, and it had overheated. It did start and run, but the windows were frosted over because of the cold morning. To see where I was going, I lowered the driver’s window to stick my head out. When I lifted my butt off of the driver’s seat,
Read moreThe Chrysler Pacifica is uniquely positioned. The manufacturer had difficulty deciding on its name and then placed the Pacifica in a one-vehicle segment. It’s the only electric van available. Introduced at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show, the Chrysler van’s sixth-generation debuted as the 2017 Pacifica. It was formerly the name of the manufacturer’s crossover SUV. It’s also the new designation for the former Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan in North American and the discontinued Chrysler/Lancia Voyager in European markets. The Pacifica is further unique since it’s offered with another first — a nine-speed automatic transmission. A continuously electrically variable transmission (EVT) is offered on the hybrid version. As a hybrid, the Pacifica is offered in Touring Plus, Touring
Read morePodcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:05 — 31.7MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreThirty-two years ago, Karen Saylor’s parents drove into a downtown Sacramento, California, car dealership and drove away in a new 1986 turbocharged Chrysler Lebaron convertible. Like the legacies of many family cars, Karen Saylor fondly recalls going shopping with mother with the Lebaron’s convertible top down. She remembers trips to the Monterey Peninsula when mother and daughter had their hair blowing in the wind. A neighbor in East Sacramento, Saylor is our guest on episode #27 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. She recalls a lot about how much cars meant to her parents and to her husband with whom she owned several Ford Thunderbirds.
Read morePacifica isn’t a new automotive nameplate. Chrysler first used it on a concept vehicle 1999. The Chrysler SUV/wagon discontinued in 2008 after four years of production was also called the Pacifica. But the name has returned again with the debut of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It’s the replacement for the royal-sounding and now-defunct Town & Country. Key Takeaways Replaces the Town & Country with a genuine Odyssey rival: Chrysler’s revived Pacifica nameplate enters the minivan segment as a credible challenger to the long-dominant Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. 287-hp V6 and 9-speed automatic: The 3.6-liter V6 produces 287 horsepower paired with a ZF 9-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive. 0-60 in 7.4 seconds is competitive for the segment. Stow
Read moreOne day after Volkswagen was slapped with a multi-billion dollar fine for its emissions scandal involving 11 million vehicles, Fiat Chrysler has been accused of the same wrongdoing in its Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA said Fiat Chrysler used software the allowed about 104,000 of its 3.0-liter diesel vehicles made from 2014 to 2016 to cheat on the test. The Dodge Ram pickup was the third best-selling vehicle in the United States in 2016. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was the country’s 19th best-selling vehicle. Janet McCabe, head of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said “no immediate actions are necessary” for owners of the vehicles targeted. She assured owners
Read moreSeveral types of Jeep sport utility vehicles as well as a Dodge Durango model totaling 570,000 units from 2011 and 2012 have been recalled for fire risks in two campaigns linked to problems with vanity mirror wiring and a low-pressure hose. The two brands’ problems are another dubious occurrence for Fiat Chrysler. Earlier this month, the manufacturer agreed to pay another $70 million in fines for failing to report vehicle crash deaths and injuries since 2003. The recall includes: 477,000 2011-2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation in May to determine if vehicles serviced in a prior related recall were at risk for fires. Fiat Chrysler said
Read moreIn the aftermath of two security researchers hacking into the wireless system of a Jeep, Chrysler has announced the recall of 1.4 million vehicles in the United States dating to 2013 models. The vehicles recalled may be affected by a hackable software vulnerability in Chrysler’s Uconnect dashboard computers. The vulnerability was first demonstrated earlier in July when Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek wirelessly hacked and assume control over dashboard functions, steering, transmission and brakes. The recall doesn’t require Chrysler owners to bring their cars, trucks and SUVs to a dealer. Instead, they’ll be sent a USB drive with a software update they can install through the port on their vehicle’s dashboard. Chrysler says it’s also taken steps to block the
Read moreIf you own a Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler 200, Dodge Ram or one of several other Chrysler vehicles made in the last three years and something goes seriously wrong while you’re driving, you could have been hacked — remotely. The problem? Hackers can control the vehicles over the Internet and cut the brakes, shut down the engine, drive the car off the road or short the electric system. The issue can only occur in Chrysler products equipped with Uconnect, a wireless system that connects the vehicles on the Sprint cellphone network. The flaw was discovered by researchers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek. The duo first demonstrated the hack to Wired Magazine by remotely hijacking a Jeep Cherokee driven by a news
Read moreThe 2015 Chrysler 200 marks the inauguration of the midsize sedan’s second generation. Introduced in late 2010 as a replacement for the much-maligned Sebring, the Chrysler 200 was named via a keen marketing idea as the smaller and younger sibling of the Chrysler 300. While the new model features a host of new features, 2015 also marks the demise of the previous generation’s convertible option. Like the Sebring, the Chrysler 200 Convertible has now been relegated to used car lots and in leftover fleet purchases for rental agencies. The Weekly Driver Test Drive The 2015 Chrysler 200 was my second straight weekly driver sedan test vehicle. And like the Kia K900 I drove on a 900-mile roundtrip trek to Los
Read moreWith nearly 907,000 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep SUVs recalls announced October 16, a dubious record has been set with more than 52 million vehicles recalled to date this year. The latest recall involves with faulty alternators and heated power mirror wiring that can short and cause fires. The recalls push the total number of recalls so far this year 544, short of the 684 mark set in 2008. The largest of the new recalls covers nearly 470,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees, Chrysler 300s, and Dodge Chargers, Challengers and Durangos from the 2011 through 2014 model years. The alternators can fail, causing the 3.6-liter V6 engines to stall unexpectedly. The problem also can cause the electrical system to fail, as well as
Read moreHave big old plush station wagons come back in a different form? The 2014 Chrysler Town & Country is reminiscent of large old upscale station wagons—those with loads of room and decent road manners. After all, this minivan is heavy and big like those old wagons, with a 121.2-inch wheelbase and length of 202.8 inches. The front-drive Town & Country is an uptown version of the lower-cost Dodge Grand Caravan, which lacks the Chrysler version’s upscale nature. Heck, anybody can get a Dodge, but a Chrysler is still a Chrysler—although Chrysler lacks the prestige it began losing in the 1960s. The Town & Country debuted in 1989, billed as the “first luxury minivan.” (The first “upscale” minivan would have been
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