Most Liked Automotive Blogs (377)

Before I had a drivers license, I fell in love with the Mini. Made in England by various manufacturers in the 1960's, there were several different styles and models. I recall names like Austin Mini, Morris Mini and the Mini Cooper S.

Weekend activities in Miami always had something interesting and when a parent volunteered to drive kids to see car races... there were more kids than room in the car and usually the older kids got first choice to go. On my first trip to see a race, they had the mini-class and a handful of Mini Coopers were on the track. Small, low and fast. If you have seen any British spy movies, a mini was usually the getaway car of choice!

I wanted a Mimi and every weekend I'd scan the Sunday newspaper looking for a used one. Typically, they were already sold before I could get there to make an offer.

One problem with Mini's were emission controls... they didn't have any!
Imported to America prior to regulations, the older cars were exempt from having add-on devices to pass the pollution standards of the newer vehicles. As far as I know, no new Minis were coming to America. If you had the money and connections, you could import a used one under the 'grey market' and get around some of those regulations.

As a touring musician, I was 'star-struck' when I traveled to Canada and saw Minis everywhere. By then, emission control standards were getting difficult so It wasn't practical to bring one to America. Life changed for me and I purchased a Honda. :-(

One of the amazing things about Minis is their engineering. Up until that time, car engines were inline... the cylinders were arranged front-to-back. When you revved the motor, the car often shook sideways from the torque. The Mini engine was transversely mounted (as in sideways) so the torque pulled forward and the side tilting was eliminated.

Mini production halted more than a generation ago and only in the last decade did BMW bring a redesigned Mini to market. While it shares the name and some visuals, we all know it's not the same car.

My car is in the repair shop this week and the rental company offered me a Mini. It's the Countryman, a longer hatchback model. While I've only put 20 miles on the car Wednesday, I've got 3 outside appointments today and expect to have the car for the weekend.

What do I think so far?
Solid, quiet interior, lots of gadgets. All wheel drive so I wasn't able to screech tires on the takeoff!



My immediate dislike are the small rearview mirrors. Fashion over function. I consider them a safety liability as the view is limited. Also, the short doors make getting in and out a time consuming squeeze.

It's been a week and I've lots more to do.
The car has more than 1,000 miles on it... not new now. Synthetic oil is standard and rated for 10,000 miles between changes. I'll get my first oil change next week and most likely change every 5,000 miles.

Four more years, four more years...
I caught pieces of both conventions and while I turned down the sound on Trump, I did read some of his captions. I lost count of the partly true or completely untrue statements. What I think doesn't count. It's what happens on election day... or in the case of mail-in, what the tally of the votes are.

Saturday and I'm headed to the showroom. Not my favorite duty but I'm up this weekend.

More reading on the car manual as time permits, I'm part-way through some switches and buttons. There's a switch for sport mode and the speedometer changes color to red. I need to verify if I can change the mode when the car is moving.

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.




Link here:

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FC Cincinnati Store

This is real, not a joke;



I can see this leading to - "Honest honey, it wasn't me. I paid extra for that option."



What's next various puking sounds ? Different whistles for the construction worker crowd ?

Unfortunately, that new car smell comes with payments.
My previous car died and I had to make a quick decision or pay for extended rental.
While everyone said buy something 2-3 years old, I know I'd have have repairs right around the corner. Tires, brakes, battery come up at that interval.
Should there be unseen issues, shocks, struts, transmission, a/c would be on the list.

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!

Yeah, I know the first thing that pops in your head when you hear that phrase: Once you go black. Summer in South Florida can be brutal. Over the years, I had one white car and usually the others were silver. The one I bought a year ago is a dark graphite color. Depending on the lighting metallic charcoal. In the middle of the day, it's as good as black because you cannot touch the exterior without burning your hands. Mazda didn't offer silver in my model. They did have white and that would have been my second choice, but the feature package (for what they had in inventory) was a step down and didn't have leather seats. I would have to wait 6 weeks to order one and the dealer made the right price for the one I bought.

A friend has a black Honda and it gets so burning hot you can grill steaks on the hood!

I'm already shopping for a new car and thinking of returning to Toyota. Last year, they had a wait as long as 4 to 6 months for cars, depending on the model and were taking non-refundable deposits to order one.

Things are returning to normal and deliveries of dealer orders are arriving weekly.

Do I need a new car? No
But the 2024 Prius is their 4th generation hybrid and I've seen a few videos about it being Toyota's best mechanics and technology they offer. The Prius was always designed as a hybrid, unlike a Camry or RAV4 where they added the hybrid features to and existing model. This information came from a few YouTube videos where mechanics who often post new car reviews all had the same opinion about the Prius.

My finger is on the trigger... doing research and comparisons.
It's a 2-liter engine and I'm currently enjoying the power of a 2.5-liter engine that has a longer wheelbase to ride like a larger car. I won't know if the ride of the Prius can compare without a test drive.
Silver being my preference... I'm thinking white could be the best choice.

Many years ago, I was able to purchase rear window louvers for my cars. Some were factory louvers installed by the dealers and some were after market add-ons.
I cannot find them now and I'm not sure who they disappeared.

One YouTube video has a different explanation why they are no longer available, but I didn't agree with that one and I'm thinking maybe they were a hazard if incorrectly installed, so insurance companies banned them.

The ones I had were anodized black aluminum with safety clips for removal and cleaning the glass. I recall there was an 'inside the car variety' sold in auto parts stores... They're gone too!

Summer in South Florida is brutal and the hottest my car has registered this month was 113 degrees F. so, I'm looking to buy some louvers.

For now, there are stick on window shades made from perforated plastic that is white facing out and black facing in. It restricts vision so I'm debating to use them or not.

I checked Amazon and a few car places and the only loivers I found were old inventory for some American sports cars that were never sold. Unless I could get dimensions or actually test fit to see if they work for my car, I'm reluctant to buy something that's non-refundable.

My quest for a rear louver goes on...

News in Texas where someone accidentally locked their keys in the car with a baby inside.
A group of guys are pounding on the WINDSHIELD, then sending a woman in to pull the baby through the smashed windshield.

What's wrong with this scenario?
Windshields are made from laminated glass to resist smashing.
One smack to the driver or passenger window shatters it into a few hundred pieces where they can safely reach inside, UNLOCK the door and get the baby out!