Car Culture
OnStar Ends First Police Chase
Posted: Oct. 21, 2009 10:10:48 a.m.
That little OnStar button on the rearview mirror of your General Motors car can do a lot of things. This week, the system was used to end a high-speed chase for the first time.
The AP reports, "Police in California say General Motors' OnStar communications system stopped a dangerous high-speed chase and helped them capture a carjacking suspect by disabling a stolen sport utility vehicle." The Chevy Tahoe was stolen by a carjacker, who used a sawed-off shotgun to threaten ...
Study: Car Buyers Still Downsizing
Posted: Oct. 15, 2009 10:10:21 a.m.
It's been more than a year since gas prices soared above the $4 per gallon mark and fell back to earth, but Americans are still trading their way out of their large cars. A pair of new studies show that this trend has taken hold particularly among those who drive luxury cars.
Autoblog reports, "According to a new study...fewer premium buyers are moving up and more buyers are actually moving down." As recently as 2006, according to a ...
What Color Is Your Car? It May Depend on Where You Live
Posted: Oct. 15, 2009 10:10:53 a.m.
Silver may be the most popular car color in America, but it's not necessarily common where you live. According to data released by Ford Motor Company, Americans tend to buy cars that look like their neighbors' cars - so much so that cities seem to have favorite hues.
ABC News reports, "In warm places such as Phoenix and Dallas, most drivers prefer white cars. In colder cities like Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Detroit, red is the color of choice." New Yorkers ...
Hyundai Scares The Japanese
Posted: Oct. 05, 2009 10:10:23 a.m.
A little-known company comes to the U.S. market out of Asia, building affordable, fuel-efficient cars with a reputation for low quality. Over time, it corrects the quality problems, crafts appealing new designs, and gains market share. Its sales grow during a recession when most of its competitors are hurting.
Toyota? No. Honda? No. But they know this script well.
The AP reports, "Hyundai Motor Co. - not the up-and-coming Chinese, nor the leaner meaner Americans - is the automaker that has ...
Silver Is Most Popular Car Color, Yet Again
Posted: Oct. 02, 2009 10:10:28 a.m.
Please, do us all a favor, and buy a blue car. Or red. Perhaps black, or green, or even pink if you must....just not another silver car.
Autoblog reports, "Silver just won't give up its nine-year choke hold as the most popular color choice for cars and trucks, both in the United States and abroad. In fact, the silver and gray category actually picked up an additional five percent on the rest of the field with a market ...
Survey: U.S. Truck Owners Prefer Pickups To Sex
Posted: Sep. 25, 2009 10:09:35 a.m.
"In a survey of U.S. truck drivers," PickupTrucks.com found "that 40 percent buy only domestic nameplates, 37 percent have a nickname for their pickup truck and only 41 percent think sex is more important than their truck."
You read that right. Given the choice between giving up their truck, and giving up sex, about four out of ten would be most concerned with payload and towing capacity.
Jalopnik notes, "They're not entirely truck-centric. A majority of them ...
Bad Ideas From The Frankfurt Auto Show
Posted: Sep. 17, 2009 10:09:33 a.m.
The automotive industry is gathered in Frankfurt, Germany this week, showing off its most exciting new ideas - and a few of its worst. Alongside the heartbreakingly beautiful Aston Martin Rapide, the absurdly powerful and emissions-free Audi e-Tron and the practical, affordable Ford C-Max, for instance, we have such gems as a $900,000 ride for Darth Vader, the rebirth of communism's worst car, and a car that looks like a fetus.
The headline at Jalopnik captures the Brabus E ...
Honda Struggles With Negative Reactions to Crosstour
Posted: Sep. 04, 2009 10:09:16 a.m.
The results of a reader poll published at Autoblog tell the story: 3.4 percent of respondents think the Honda Accord Crosstour is a good-looking car. An astounding 80.7 percent, on the other hand, voted for the option "Kill it With Fire!!!"
Honda is struggling with the overwhelmingly negative reaction to its upcoming Crosstour Crossover. Essentially a tall wagon version of the Accord sedan, the Crosstour is an important vehicle for Honda. Toyota has had success with its similar ...
The Ten Most Stolen Cars
Posted: Aug. 25, 2009 11:08:52 a.m.
It may look old enough to qualify for a Cash for Clunkers deal, but you still need to lock the Grand Caravan. Thieves are after those things.
MSNBC reports, "A car is stolen every 26 seconds in the United States, costing the American public nearly $7.6 billion each year. And if the National Insurance Crime Bureau's list of the most frequently stolen cars of 2008 is any indication, auto theft can happen to anyone." After all, "the most ...
Free Pizza For Camaro Owners!
Posted: Aug. 25, 2009 11:08:58 a.m.
Sure, lots of guys miss their first car.
Plenty of us romanticize an old pile of Detroit steel that, if our memories were more honest, did zero-to-sixty in four tries and left us stranded on a lot of cold mornings. But John Schnatter has all of us beat, forever.
He combed the country looking for his first love for years. And now that he's found it, he wants us to share in his joy.
At least, he wants fellow ...
