7 Problems That Can Leave You Stranded

1. Dead battery This is often the culprit when your engine won’t start. All batteries weaken over time. In addition, infrequent use, a lot of short trips, or multiple accessories being used when the headlights are on can leave the battery undercharged. If you forget to turn off a light or you listen to the […]


Worst Roads in America

Dreaded, dreadful, deadly. Which states and roads do truck drivers, traffic reporters, and other experts complain about? 1. I-55 in Louisiana “The second you cross the Mississippi state line into Louisiana heading south, it’s like driving on a washboard. You can close your eyes and know. I had a cup full of soda one day, […]


Things Your Mechanic Won’t Tell You

1. “You might be in the wrong garage.” There are many choices as to where consumers can take their car when it’s in need of maintenance or repair. Those include going to the car dealer, a department or chain-store franchise, or an independent mechanic at a service station. Where you should go depends on what […]


Features that should be in every car

The technological innovations just keep on coming: Electronic stability control, a life-saving innovation, is now making its way into cheaper and cheaper cars. You can now save your relationship thanks to dual climate controls. Of course, not every innovation is a winner. Anybody for a fake convertible top? What would we like to see in […]


Do you know what this symbol means?

Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle. Do you understand what it means now? If you guessed a low tire-pressure warning, you are right. If you didn’t recognize the symbol, that’s also understandable because […]


Highest-Quality Cars Of 2010

Porsche is having a bang-up year. Last week it earned the highest rating of any carmaker in J.D. Power and Associates’ Initial Quality Survey–and that’s the fourth time they’ve done so in five years. Earlier this spring Porsche also won top honors in JD Power’s prestigious vehicle dependability study. But that doesn’t mean the Stuttgart, […]


Confessions of a parking valet

It can be nerve-wracking handing your car keys to a total stranger at a valet station. You don’t know if they’re responsible drivers, what their definition of “gentle” is, or often where your car is headed. If all parking valets were trustworthy, there wouldn’t be a need for the “valet key” that prevents one from […]