Kelsey Mays, senior consumer affairs and vehicle evaluations editor for Cars.com, knows what it means for the industry and consumers when a vehicle is made in America. It means a lot. According to research from Cars.com in its recently released 2020 American-Made Index (AMI), 70 percent of shoppers consider a car’s U.S. economic impact a significant or deciding factor in their vehicle purchase. Mays is our guest this week on Episode #139 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Mays the 15th AMI and how during the COVID-19 pandemic it has further impacted Americans’
There’s a new leader among cheap trucks. Goodbye, Nissan Frontier. Hello, Chevrolet Colorado. After years of holding the honor of being the least expensive pickup, the Frontier has been rebooted with more standard equipment. The result: The Colorado extended-cab for 2020 costs $22,495 (including its destination fee) as assumed the cheapest truck honors The Frontier for 2020 costs about $7,500 this year than it did in 2019. The new Chevrolet Colorado has a lot to offer for its rock-bottom price. Its base trim features a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine with 200 horsepower and six-speed automatic transmission. Chevrolet Colorado gets mixed reviews
Considering buying a new pick-up truck? Beware. Just like new cars, the average price of a new pickup truck in the United States has increased. It’s now around $50,000, according to automotive analytics businesses like Edmunds and JD Power. With its calculations, the average price of a new pick-up truck in 2019, according to Edmunds.com was $49,543; JD Power determined the average 2019 new truck price was $51,700. Not all manufacturers’ 2020 models have been unveiled, but the average price is expected to further increase. Regardless of the source, the new pick-up truck average cost is the highest in history.
Taking your potential new used car to a reputable auto repair shop is the best thing you can do. Have it thoroughly inspected by a professional before you buy it. I’ve found paying for an hour of time is generally sufficient to identify everything wrong with the vehicle. If taking the vehicle to a mechanic is not an option, here are some tips to help keep you from buying a lemon. Buy an ODB Scanner/Reader You don’t need to spend a lot, as they’ll all do what you need here. A Bluetooth OBD reader and the TORQ app for your
Where you live and what kind of vehicle you drive has a lot to do with how much your car insurance is going to cost. carinsurance.com has all the data. It’s crunched the numbers and determined the cheapest cars to insure in every state and the cheapest state in which to insure vehicles. Penny Gusner, a Consumer Analyst for the website, is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Gusner talks with co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia about the cheapest cars to insure in every state and how the results were determined. She details how cars
Julie Blackley is a favorite guest on The Weekly Driver Podcast. She’s an analyst for iseecars.com, the Boston-based online automotive search engine and research website. Blackley is a whirlwind of automotive industry statistics, and she’s the first guest who’s joined us three times. During this episode, Bruce Aldrich and I discuss with Julie how certain exterior car colors are more likely to result in significant savings for used car shoppers according to a recent study the company conducted. The automotive research firm analyzed more than 4.1 million vehicles to determine which car colors were more likely to provide deals, defined
Cheap new vehicles aren’t a new phenomenon in certain countries. But so far it’s only been wishful thinking for a few niche manufacturers in the United States — until now. Kaiyun Motors will soon arrive. It will soon introduce the Pickman, an all-electric pickup in the U.S. It has a base price of $8,950. The price was listed mistakingly listed previously at $5,700, but it was for a non-street legal version of the truck not available in the U.S. The Pickman has a 5.5 horsepower engine and a top speed of 35 miles per hour. It’s classified as a low-speed
Oh 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,
Some 2019 car models haven’t arrived in dealerships, yet many 2020 new cars and trucks are on the near horizon. More sport utility vehicles, an electric version of a luxury sedan and an enduring compact sedan have been announced. Here’s a look at three 2020 vehicles set for release soon and a list of others with new editions or with multiple upgrades. Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 — The manufacturer’s first full-electric vehicle, the EQC is a crossover and another addition to the ever-increasing popularity of SUVs. The EQC, positioned between the GLC-Class and GLC-Class SUVs, features two electric motors, one for
Celebrity interaction, more test-drive availability, increased mobility solutions, custom cars and a host of world vehicle debuts are set for the LA Auto Show. The annual 10-day extravaganza of all things automotive will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. And there will be something for everyone, whether you’re an avid car enthusiast or a first-time visitor to the more than 100-year-old show. Consider a few highlights: * Amazon Gaming Lounge: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are bringing high-jinks and hot laps to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in The Grand Tour Game, an episodic racing game based on
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:58 — 49.4MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreThe LA Auto Show began more 100 years ago and it’s always changed with trends in the automotive industry — pick-up trucks to alternative fuel vehicles. This year’s show, scheduled Nov. 29-Dec. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will be no different. More than 60 vehicles are confirmed to make their North American or global debuts. Lefteris “Lefty” Tsironis, the show’s marketing and communications director, is our guest on episode #59 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Tsironis takes co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James
Much like the unusual circumstance of new vehicles debuting throughout the calendar year, the global auto show circuit begins at the end of the year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The show, preceded since 2016 by press and trade days and a connected car expo, AutoMobility LA, doesn’t bill itself by age. It’s had several hiatus years. But since its debut in 1907 when 99 vehicles were showcased on a skating rink, the LA Auto Show has become a go-to event for automakers to unveil new models and concept vehicles. The tradition will continue this year, beginning Nov. 26
Consumer Reports has long been recognized for its reliability to compile and present objective information. So who’s better than the service-oriented publication to provide lists of the most reliable and least reliable automakers? The publication’s annual reliability survey analyzed data in 17 areas from more than 500,000 vehicles. The areas for potential problems included interior wear-and-tear, transmission repairs and squeaky brakes. The annual list usually has surprises and this year is no exception. Volvo was the least reliable career in this year tabulations. The reason: The Swedish-made, Chinese-owned manufactured dropped six places from last year and had an average reliability
Four years into its first generation, the 2019 Mazda CX-3 is upgraded from last year’s model. It’s a good thing since the subcompact-crossover sport utility vehicle competition continues to intensify. More support and comfort are now in the seats and leather upholstery is an option. Noise, harshness and vibrations are improved via an adjusted, smoother-running 2.0-liter engine. Equally subtle changes include: The anti-fog lights and B and C pillars get black trim; the front spoiler now has silver trim. The taillights and grille have also been revised, with the latter now featuring four horizontal bands, three less than previous editions.
With the sport utility vehicle continuing to attract more buyers, manufacturers continue to find new ways to market the versatile vehicles. Welcome the latest newcomer to the SUV sub-species, the 2018 Toyota C-HR. Categorized as subcompact crossover, the hyphenated letters in the Toyota C-HR name stand for Compact High Rider, Cross Hatch Run-(about) or Coupé High Rider. The names make about as much sense as the term subcompact crossover. The category is also odd because competition for the C-HR includes vehicles equally hard to categorize: the Fiat 500X, Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, Mazda CX-3 and Mini Countryman. Except for the
One is 25 years old this year; others are still in their infancies. But for one reason or another, 15 cars including the iconic Dodge Viper, will cease production with their 2017 models. The powerhouse Viper, with is boisterous V-10, has always attracted muscle car aficionados. Other cars and their driver tend to get out of its way. The Viper was costly and it didn’t fare well with changes in its corporate ownership. But it did help Chrysler change its boxy, boring image and now it’s gone, a quarter-century old, the oldest vehicle on the soon-to-be deceased list. The Weekly
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