Most Viewed Automotive Blogs (377)

A toe truck was in the lane of a highway and someone didn't see it. When their car rolled on the ramp, it flipped about 20 feet into the air... not 120 feet as reported.

Video in the link:

Mike is running for office. His new campaign ad talks about an energy plan to lower costs and by 2040 will make America the leading energy producer in the world. I like it and I'm with Mike on this plan.
Just like Mike, I want to be able to pull up to a pump, without paying, remove the nozzle and be able to put gas in my car and not have to squeeze the handle!

Awesome plan Mike...

Story link:


X (Twitter) link:


Energy plan:

I've been putting off car maintenance for a long time. With a shopping list of things that needed to be done, I arranged car rental and the mechanic got me his corporate rate. That allowed me to get an SUV for the same price as a compact. This worked out great as the larger vehicle saved me another trip to Miami to bring up computers, TV, clothing and some household items in our never-ending relocation project.

I selected a 2019 Mazda CX-5 that has an MSRP of $35,000 with all the options.
While they state 26-28mpg combined, I was getting around 20 miles per gallon.
Keyless entry and push start ignition seems to be standard for all new cars. The CX-5 has an electric tailgate that only locks when the key fob is more than 40 feet away. The bad part is you could be inside a restaurant and the car hatch just outside is unlocked. The doors are locked but the hatch isn't! We checked it a few times to to be sure.

Lane assist. Since the steering is electronic, you can feel the steering stiffen and resist if you change lanes without signalling. It attempts to pull you back into the lane. If you drift in your lane, it will give a visual warning on the console and if you're on the highway it will beep with a visual warning. The same thing happens if you start to change lanes and the sensors detect cars coming up from behind in adjacent lanes. You can feel the steering wheel, hear and see the alert.

The steering, brakes, transmission control are 'by wire' and electro-mechanically or fully electronic and not solely connected mechanically.

Although smaller in size to other SUV's this was more car than I would want for anything long term, but nice to experience for a few days. Softer ride than I'm accustomed to, but I disliked the hard leather seat. Fully controllable electric with lumbar support, I was unable to find comfort with that.

In November, the price of gasoline (around here) was around $3.15 per gallon and dropped to $2.85 before Thanksgiving. After, it went up to $3.10 for a few days and it's back below $3.
Since some directly blame the president when the price goes up, they should also thank him when it drops... Thank you president Biden. You've done a fine job!

I'm cleaning up bookmarks and came across a story about an electric car with airplane capabilities. The story said it's 14 years in the making and going through it's next series of tests. In July, the FAA determined it was safe for flight testing.

Expected to retail for $170,000 when it hits the market and the reserve list is up to 1,600. A deposit of $2,000 is due within 45 days after the first vehicle takes flight.

I've seen lots of 'Popular Mechanics' reviews of flying cars... dating back to when I was a kid. I'm skeptical as I cannot recall any makers who have viable aircraft for sale.

Always reading the comments, I found some interesting details, like requiring a pilots license, insurance for both a car and airplane, needing expensive safety avionics not mentioned in the story, only able to fly in or out of FAA certified airports, only certified A&P mechanics are allowed to work on the vehicle. Not one comment I read had anything positive to say about the Switchblade.

Big on hype, bigger on B.S.

Since you can only take off and land from an airport, the dream of flying out of snarled traffic isn't going to happen.
Maybe the prototype will get used in the next Mad Max movie!


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Flashback to the winter of 1970 and I was in a band performing at a nightclub in Daytona Beach. The gig was a week long and the management provided us a small apartment to stay at.
It was a two story building, living quarters on top and a business on the ground floor.
We were told it once was funeral home. The owner and his family occupied the apartment above.
Inside the kitchen hall was a small door in the wall that had a shelf connected by a chain that could be raised or lowered between the 2 floors. Commonly called a dumbwaiter, the access was blocked off since the apartment was no longer connected to the business below. Possibly the intent was the send food from the kitchen down and not used as a trash chute.
The business below us was a tire store and the aroma of tires leaked into the ductwork via the access door. It was a really unusual smell. Something I haven't forgotten, especially connected with a musical career at the time. As a high mileage car owner, I'm buying or getting tires serviced every few months and when I smell tires, I remember the first experience from the tire store/funeral parlor.
Yesterday, was no different. The weather in the 60's and I'm out running errands. On my list was to get my car serviced and one tire patched that had a slow leak from a nail.
Always in a hurry, I neglected tire rotation (possibly a few times) and the service adviser mention the 2 rear tires were good but the 2 front tires were down to the the wear indicators... one of those tires had a nail too close to the edge and unable to be patched.
time for new tires... I decided on 4 and not 2 as the rear tires had developed and oscillation that I recognize from previous experience. they work, but have some road noise. They still have some life to them... and no nails, so I packed them in the hatchback and will schlep them to Miami today. I'll decide if I want to keep them or give to my neighbor as his car uses the same size tire.

Expecting my car to be filled with the smell of tires, I'll head out with the windows down enjoying a Florida winter with temperatures in the 60's

Hello friends,
No India made product can be compared to a product from Japan, U.K. USA, Switzerland, because of its quality of functionality, usefulness and long lasting qualities. Raw materials used in a foreign product are better, technology used is better and functionality world class.Indian product is like a beggar, beginning a begging culture of recolonization, appreciation and looks.
A foreign product looks beautiful, works flawlessly and lasts a lifetime. To top the list is the marketability of the product, it is done by ads. in TVs, hoardings and free gifting to its users.
A mess has been created in the automobile market, especially in Electric Vehicles (EV), giving a tough competition to US based Tesla Electric vehicles in terms of price. Some Indian companies like Tata has come out with an electric vehicle priced below 10 lakhs rupees.But Tata is wrong as well as right. In India, price is everything in life. It may be a loaf of bread or an expensive Diamond from a Jeweler. Tata has to think on another point and that is manufacturing. A foreign car is better manufactured than an Indian car.You cannot compare a Fiat car with a German Mercerize Benz.
So watch out for the foreign products in Indian market.
Manohar Bhatia.

Take (literally) for example, the Ford F-Series truck. While it's one of the top selling vehicles in America, it's also the most stolen vehicle in America. Ford must have made a really good 2006 model as reports were 38,938 of them were stolen in 2019.
13 year old trucks made the top of the list and second on the list were the 2000 Honda Civic at 33,220 last year. Stealing a 19 year old car?

I'm thinking they are disappearing to be stripped for parts.




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Gas prices in Florida have been fluctuating 5 +/- cents as a normal. They went down toward the end of June and shot up 21 cents on the first of July.
That could be the most significant change I've seen in a while. If I recall correctly, it was after a hurricane where flooding knocked out some refineries along the Gulf coast and gas prices jumped.
Depending on the neighborhood, we are around $2.75 to $3.00 a gallon.

Like it or not, electric cars are here to stay. Every major manufacturer has at least one EV in their lineup. Do they sell? Yeah... kinda. Price incentives and options change all the time. More charging stations are being built and there is less fearmongering as there was a few years ago.
My memory says the same group of people who complained about 5G cellular technology are the ones who complained about electric vehicles. Battery fires, landfills of dead EV batteries and negative issues were regurgitated over and over.

I haven't personally witnessed an EV battery fire. I'm sure it's a spectacular explosion with zero time to escape. I have seen car fires of the gasoline version... That's a monthly event on highways. There was one in a residential community near me that scorched the tall trees along the roadway. It's been more than a year and the void in tree growth is still apparent.

I know a few people who are driving EV's and have no complaints about them.

A few weeks ago, I attended a swap meet for model aviation and one guy had a table with old lithium-polymer rechargeable batteries he was selling for a fraction of the price for new ones. As these batteries age, they become less efficient and gasses form inside the sealed jacket and they begin to swell, making it obvious the battery life has been shortened. I asked what he would do if they don't sell and he told me they would be dropped off at the recycling center.
Prior to this, we were told to drain the power to zero and leave the old batteries in a bucket of salt water as it will neutralize the volatile metals when exposed to air where they can be disposed of like normal garbage... probably in a landfill somewhere.
The guy told me advances have been made to reclaim the precious metals these batteries contain and the technology is improving all the time.

I did an internet search and found that EV batteries are being reprocessed and not ending up in landfills as originally feared.

Batteries that were originally mined and manufactured in China get recycled in America, the new batteries are now considered to be made in America. The plus side of that equation is we didn't have to strip mine land in America to make these products.