Auto News & New car review

VOLKSWAGEN’S Czech-based value brand Skoda hopes that its new Roomster’s distinctive and modern design, class-leading packaging, high safety credentials and German engineering will help lure buyers to, as well as change perceptions of, the Eastern European car-maker. Read the rest of this entry »

Acura rolled out the 2009 RL at the Chicago Auto Show, so the appearance of the Honda version of the car, badged Legend, isn’t the most searingly-hot news. What is frightfully obvious when you set eyes on the Legend is that the Honda version looks about a billion times better without the shield-style grille that afflicts the Acura in the most tacked-on fashion. Equally puzzling – and not a recent development – is why Honda trashed the established and respected Legend name for the anonymous and innocuous RL for Acura’s top-tier sedan. Read the rest of this entry »

As the youngest of three brothers, I’m used to hand-me-downs. Hand-me down toys, hand-me-down clothes, and yes, even hand-me-down cars. Perhaps this explains when a vehicle arrives in the Autoblog Garage with over 8,000 journalist-driven miles on its odometer (as most do), I don’t mind. Though the scars of past judgments are often plain to see, we’re happy enough to be reviewing these vehicles at all. Read the rest of this entry »

It has only been two years since Peugeot introduced the 207, and already the French automaker has produced over 1 million examples of the new car. The car hit the market in April 2006 with the three- and five-door hatchbacks, and has since rolled out in convertible, wagon and several sport models. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota is recalling 90,000 2008 model year Highlander and Highlander Hybrid crossovers due to a seatbelt in the third row which may not secure a rear-facing child seat properly during an accident. Read the rest of this entry »

My plan: drive the metallic blue BMW 128i Convertible down to San Diego. I could’ve clichéd down the coast, stopping off in Yorba Linda to do donuts in the parking lot of the Nixon Library. That’s what a sensible person would do. But the true masochist always chooses the route less traveled. So, straight from the heart of Hollywood, I loaded up the Bimmer’s minuscule trunk, saddled my semi-potent Deutsche-steed and set off through the seriously Lynchian Inland Empire. Unseasonably hot, 97-degree late-April weather be damned. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hyundai Azera, the Korean automaker’s premium sedan, is now entering its third season, and the accolades are still rolling in. For the second year in a row, Azera scored a first-place finish in the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, and in its Strategic Vision Total Quality Award. That’s after landing a second-place (but still ahead of the Toyota Avalon) in Power’s 2006 Initial Quality Study. Read the rest of this entry »