A seat belt can work perfectly all week, then refuse to move on the one morning when the car happens to be parked nose-down on a steep driveway. Pull gently and nothing happens. Give it a firmer tu
The roof rack looked harmless in the driveway. At 30 mph, it was still harmless. Somewhere around 50, however, the car developed a whistle sharp enough to make every passenger start inspecting the win
The car drifts gently toward the shoulder, and suspicion immediately falls on the alignment. That is understandable. A car should travel where it is pointed, and anything that seems to tug at the s
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
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 was a time when changing the temperature in a car took half a second. You reached down, turned a knob, and somehow civilization survived. Now, in some cars, the same job feels like openin
BMW and reliability have had a weird relationship for a long time. There was a stretch where people talked about older BMWs like they were carved out of granite. The straight-sixes had a reputa
Plug-in hybrids always sound like the sensible answer when you first hear the pitch. You get some electric driving for the short stuff. You still have a gas engine for road trips. No full commi
There is a moment in every car deal when the buyer thinks the hard part is over. The price is agreed. The handshake happened. Maybe there is even that tiny rush of victory, the one that comes
Everybody blames winter when a car battery dies. The freezing morning. The weak crank. The sad little clicking noise that instantly ruins your day before coffee. People act like cold weather pe