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
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 can leave a collision with a crushed bumper, broken lights and a hood folded into an expensive-looking shape, yet every airbag remains neatly hidden. From outside, that makes little sense. Th
Opening a car’s hood is oddly ceremonial. First comes the lever beneath the dashboard, usually hidden low enough to require an undignified search around the driver’s footwell. The hood
The emergency jack in a car’s trunk rarely inspires confidence. It is narrow, awkward and usually accompanied by a handle that looks as though it escaped from flat-pack furniture. Then ther
Few things make a car owner question reality quite like finding every window open in the morning. The doors are still locked. Nothing appears to be missing. There is no broken glass, no damaged wea
The car has been washed, rinsed, and dried. From a few steps away, the paint looks spotless. Run a hand across the hood, however, and the surface tells a different story. Instead of feeling slick, it
For most of the year, the liftgate rises with one push and waits politely while the shopping is unloaded. Then the first properly cold morning arrives. The hatch opens halfway, pauses as though rec
A car left in the afternoon sun does not need long to turn into a small greenhouse. The steering wheel becomes unpleasant to touch, the seats feel freshly ironed and the dashboard claims it is 104 deg
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