The usual explanation sounds perfectly logical. When a car slows down, its weight moves toward the front. The front tires carry more load, so the front brakes provide more of the stopping force. That
The Subaru BRAT had a cargo bed, a tailgate and the general proportions of a very small pickup truck. American versions also arrived with two plastic seats bolted into the bed, facing backward and exp
A new car is allowed a few small imperfections. The protective plastic may still be clinging to the touchscreen. The tires may feel slightly noisy before they settle in. The cabin may smell like an in
A car battery does not need to be completely dead to leave the car behaving as though it is. Sometimes the battery is charged and perfectly willing to work, but the electricity cannot get past the
Finding a hole in the exhaust usually leads to one conclusion: the muffler is rusting away and the bank account is about to become involved. That conclusion is often correct. Exhaust systems live a
A cold engine starts, and a pale cloud rolls out of the exhaust. The sight is particularly dramatic on a winter morning, when the plume hangs behind the car as though the engine has chosen a new caree
Fresh motor oil is reassuring stuff. It pours from the bottle in a clear amber stream, looking clean enough to belong in a kitchen rather than an engine. A few hundred miles later, the dipstick can
There was a time when checking automatic transmission fluid involved a dipstick, a rag, and five minutes under the hood. Now the dipstick has vanished. The filler may be buried beneath the car, the fl
A used car with gleaming paint, freshly shampooed carpets, and half a dozen pine-scented air fresheners may look beautifully prepared for sale. Or it may be trying much too hard. Flood-damaged
There are certain car problems people take seriously the second they hear about them. Brakes. Tires. Battery. Engine. Anything expensive gets respect immediately. Even people who ignore mainten