Most Commented Automotive Blogs (377)

Should women be allowed to back up into your home topless drinking Kombucha?

these videos fascinate me

i watch these videos of silly cats. i wonder, why isn't my cat silly? he's just a dude. pretty mellow until...........
until i get up. unfunny cat jumps and parks before my every step. he knows i love him and will avoid at all costs to keep from stepping on this adorable, fuzzy, devil's spawn. a busted clavicle and ribs, all to avoid stepping on this furry terror.
i need a ranch house with no stairs.
don't get me started on the basement incident... omg...on Christmas eve...

I bought a car last month and the salesman sent an email to welcome me to their family. The dealer did the same. I'm also 'in the family' of the car manufacturer and getting requests to join the family of the satellite radio service.
Part of 'being family' is some of them want me to install apps to my phone and divulge (more) personal information so that they have instant access to me and my communication devices.
I've been listening to the satellite radio introductory broadcasts knowing they are free only for a few months. They know I'm listening and I received an email from them to confirm it's really me. I'm sure requests for more information will follow and I'm sure to ignore them.
Every time I start my car there's a disclosure statement. I've got stickers on the header explaining my information is being transmitted to a remote source. Under the dash is a wireless phone charger and I'm reminded (on the screen) that my phone is not connected to the car. Thanks, but no thanks. I have no intentions of installing apps and connecting my phone to the car.
Time permitting, I'll have to get back to reading the owner's manual. Maybe there is a chapter on becoming an orphan without any family!

Japan's Toyota -- is currently the world's largest automaker. Toyota and Volkswagen vie for that title each year -- each taking the crown from the other -- as the market moves.GM -- America's largest automaker -- is about half Toyota's size --thanks to its 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring.

Actually -- Toyota is a major car manufacturer in the U.S. In 2016 about 81% of the cars it sold in the U.S. came off American assembly lines.

Toyota was among the first to introduce gas/electric hybrid cars with the Prius twenty years ago. The company hasn't been afraid to change the car game.

All of this is to point out that Toyota understands both the car market and the infrastructure that supports the car market. Probably understands better than any other manufacturer on the planet.

Toyota hasn't grown through acquisitions as Volkswagen has, and it hasn't undergone bankruptcy and bailout as GM has. Toyota has grown by building reliable cars and trucks for decades.

When Toyota offers an opinion on the car market it's probably worth listening to.

This week Toyota reiterated -- The world is not yet ready to support a fully electric auto fleet.

Toyota's Robert Wimmer (head of energy & environmental research) said this week in testimony before the U.S. Senate, "If we are to make dramatic progress in electrification it will require overcoming tremendous challenges - challenges including : refuelling infrastructure/battery availability /consumer acceptance / and affordability.

Wimmer’s remarks come on the heels of GM's announcement that it will phase out all gas internal combustion engines (ICE) by 2035.

Tellingly, both Toyota and Honda have so far declined to make any such promises. Honda is the world's largest engine manufacturer (when you include : boats / motorcycles / lawnmowers / etc) Honda competes with Briggs & Stratton in those markets amid increased electrification of [traditionally gas powered] lawnmowers / weed trimmers /etc.

While manufacturers have announced ambitious goals just 2% of the world's cars are electric at this point.

Buyers continue to choose ICE over electric because of: price /range / infrastructure /affordability / etc. Only a small percentage of people would choose an electric car unless forced to buy.

There are 289.5 million cars just on U.S. roads as of 2021. About 98 percent of them are gas-powered.

Toyota's RAV4 took the top spot for purchases in the 2019 U.S market -- Honda's CR-V is second and GM's top seller (Equinox) comes in at #4 behind the Nissan Rogue. GM only has one entry in the U.S.top 15. Toyota and Honda dominate - each with a handful in the top 15.

Toyota warns: the US electrical grid and infrastructure simply aren't there to support the electrification of the private car fleet.

A 2017 U.S. government study found we would need about 8,500 strategically-placed charging stations to support a fleet of just 7 million electric cars. That's about six times the current number of electric cars.

But no one should be talking about supporting just 7 million cars. We should be talking about powering about 300 million within the next 20 years if all manufacturers follow GM and stop making ICE cars.

We are going to need a bigger energy boat to deal with connecting all those cars to the power grids - a WHOLE LOT bigger boat But instead of building a bigger boat we may be shrinking our boat. Power outages in California and Texas have exposed issues with power supplies even at current usage levels.

Increasing usage of wind and solar, -- both of which prove unreliable -- has driven some coal and natural gas generators offline.

Continued in first comment.

I'm seeing a lot of talk about them.


I'm about 3,000 miles in.


I'm curious who else here has actual seat time?

Tag.} First of a fleet of automotive Mcblogment s.

There is a 99% chance your car will be fine.
But we rockamend you get this new oil that will reduce mileage & void the manufacturer warranty.

When you buy a vehicle at a dealer, they often issue a temporary tag until they can get the permanent tag issued. For years, I've heard people reference this as a 'paper tag'
The paper tag is usually good for 2-3 weeks giving enough time for the dealership to process the official tag or sticker to validate the new or existing tag.
Today, I found there is an official name for the paper tag... it's called a DRIVE-OUT TAG.

In the news, a man and woman in Memphis, Tennessee were arrested for creating fake drive-out tags. Police found 236 of them!

Memphis Police Department found printers, tags, plastic laminator machine, a rifle, handgun, bag of marijuana, digital scales.

Each were charged with 236 counts of forging evidence of title assignments.
Among that, a list of other charges ranging to drug paraphernalia and possession of a weapon.

The Shelby County Fugitive Task Force passed the tip to the Memphis Police Department who made the search and arrests.

Fraudulent drive-out tags...

Yeah, they're called frits. The perimeter of a car windshield (windscreen if you are in England) has a series of graduated dots that transition into solid black. The graphic pattern is enamel that is baked to the glass and used as a primer to hold the windshield to the adhesive that secures it to the frame of the car.
Primer is part of the function as the graduated pattern hides the glue line of the adhesive making a nice aesthetic finishing touch.

Last year I had a cracked windshield (probably from a stone on the highway) and the insurance company offered me an aftermarket windshield that was readily available, or an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) from Toyota that would take a few days to get. Since the crack wasn't through the glass safety laminate and I had time, I opted for the OEM glass and the frits were the same.