by Chris Chase By the mid-2000s, the crossover utility vehicle craze was well underway. Models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 were selling in big numbers to buyers who wanted a car-like driving feel in a rugged-looking vehicle with AWD traction. Those three models helped shape today’s crossover-centric marketplace. Fifteen years ago,
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2019 Toyota Highlander Review
2019 Toyota Highlander review – by Chris Chase – 3.9/5 Toyota’s fourth-generation Highlander crossover arrives in January 2020, following its 2019 debut at the New York auto show. Therefore, by the time you read this review of the third-generation Highlander — a 2019 model — it’ll officially be last year’s car. However, Toyota’s tendency toward
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Exotic Names for Ordinary Cars
by Chris Chase It strikes us that naming a car must be one of the most interesting jobs in the auto industry. That’s not to say it’s easy, though. Ideally, a car’s name should evoke some desirable image that its maker wants to project. There are also more mundane concerns, like the risk of copyright
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Compact Used 4x4s
by Chris Chase The auto industry has seen many four-wheel drive, or 4×4, SUVs come and go. These off-road-ready vehicles were more common in the 1980s, when they were frequently positioned as extensions of pickup truck models. Those early SUVs proved popular for weather-tight cargo areas. However, by the 1990s, automakers began to realize many
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2020 Lexus UX 250h Test Drive
by Chris Chase 3.8/5 stars The Lexus UX is a subcompact crossover made by Toyota’s luxury brand. Introduced for the 2019 model year, it’s the least-expensive Lexus model, and the only one with a price that dips under $40,000. Based on the same underpinnings as the Toyota C-HR, the UX boasts flashier styling and nicer
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2020 Honda Clarity Review
by Chris Chase 4.0/5 stars Introduced in 2018, the Clarity is Honda’s first standalone plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model. It’s the third member of Honda’s current electrified-vehicle lineup, which also includes the Accord and Insight hybrids. The Clarity borrows its name from a low-volume Honda hydrogen fuel cell car never sold in Canada. Conceptually, it succeeds
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Used European Luxury Hatchbacks
by Chris Chase At the beginning of the 2010s, luxury carmakers were moving away from station wagons as the market for upscale utility vehicles grew. However, not wanting to alienate buyers who appreciate a wagon’s practicality and car-like driving feel, German brands, in particular, began introducing mid-size hatchback models to replace them. In this used-vehicle
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2020 BMW M340i – Impressions & Review
by Chris Chase – 4.5/5 stars The BMW 3 Series has a well-established reputation as one of the best driving sedans in the marketplace, which brand purists might say has been tarnished by recent generations aimed at a wider range of luxury car buyers. A seventh-generation 3 Series arrived last year as the four-cylinder 330i
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Affordable Used Coupes
by Chris Chase The compact-car mainstream consists of mainly four-door sedans or hatchbacks. However, a few automakers have toyed with coupe models to appeal to drivers who feel that a two-door car looks sportier, regardless of what’s under the hood. Honda is the only carmaker that has produced a small coupe for any significant period
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Used Boxy Compacts
by Chris Chase While the 2000s was not an especially memorable decade for the auto industry, it did introduce a handful of short-lived vehicle segments we wish had stuck around. Among them is this set of practical but weird-looking vehicles: The Scion xB, Nissan Cube, Kia Soul, and Honda Element. The Scion, Nissan, and Kia
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