Audi has brought back the A2 name, but the new car takes a very different route from the lightweight aluminum hatchback that disappeared more than two decades ago. The A2 e-tron is now a compact elect
The old battery has been replaced, the engine starts with renewed enthusiasm and the dashboard clock has been corrected. Then the driver’s window develops amnesia. It still moves when the swi
The rear defroster has been running for several minutes. Most of the glass is clear, traffic behind the car has returned to recognizable shapes, yet one narrow stripe of fog remains stretched across t
The engine is off. The dashboard has gone dark. The key is out, or the start button has been pressed for what felt like a sufficiently final time. Still, the radio keeps playing. Then the dr
Walk past a parked car after dark and the cabin can seem completely asleep, apart from one tiny red light pulsing on the dashboard. Blink. Pause. Blink again. Since red dashboard lights usua
On a cold morning, the rear window begins clearing as expected. Most of the condensation disappears, but one neat horizontal stripe refuses to move. That stripe is useful evidence. The window has p
The window glides upward, touches the top of the frame and immediately retreats several inches. Try it again and the same thing happens. Up, nearly closed, then back down. It has the comic timing of a
Automatic stop-start has a peculiar talent for irritating drivers both when it works and when it does not. At one traffic light, the engine shuts down the moment the car stops. At the next, it keep
Used-car listings make everything sound cleaner than it really is. The trim is right there. The features are listed. The price looks more or less in line with the other cars you have been watching
I was eighteen the first time I heard someone brag that their Toyota cracked 300,000 miles. It sounded like folklore: the Loch Ness Camry. Two decades and six very different cars later, I’ve