Archive for the ‘2009’ Category

If you drive a late-model rear-wheel-drive Chrysler or Dodge car—a 2010 Dodge Challenger, for instance—you'll want to take note of this one.

Chrysler has issued a recall of select 2009 and 2010 model-year rear-wheel-drive vehicles for a problem that might lead to the front wheels falling off. Apparently, some of these models left the Brampton, Ontario factory without a front spindle nut—a part that, to put it bluntly, keeps other parts in the front-wheel area from coming undone.

"While driving, a tire and wheel separation could occur increasing the risk of a crash," says National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects...

Think that the design of the Volkswagen New Beetle is more hideous than iconic?

Apparently you're not alone. Business Week has posted its "Fifty Ugliest Cars of the Past 50 Years," including a number of models present and past, and the New Beetle is just one of the newer and still-produced models on the list. Others include the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Honda Element, Hummer H2, Jeep Compass, Nissan Cube, and Toyota Prius.

They're particularly tough on the Escalade, sounding more like SUV-haters than design critics: "The perfect car design if fuel, practicality, maneuverability, and class mean nothing...

Last year the Toyota RAV4 got a little bit of a facelift, with a refreshed front and rear appearance, a stronger and more refined base 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, and an upgraded feature set.

But it was a little surprising—as it had been when the RAV4 was last fully redesigned for 2006—that Toyota didn't address the RAV4's most controversial feature: It kept the spare tire hanging off the side-hinged tailgate.

In Europe and some Asian markets, the RAV4 has for several years already been offered with no spare mounted in back, so it was a little mysterious as to why Toyota stuck with this arrangement here—a rugged cue that hints at...