Shift an automatic car into Drive, release the brake and it begins moving without a touch of the accelerator. The movement is usually gentle. Just enough to edge forward in traffic, ease into a par
Cruise control feels wonderfully precise on a flat highway. Set it to 65 mph and the speedometer settles into place, leaving the car to handle the small adjustments that a human ankle normally makes.
The old-fashioned car antenna made no attempt to hide what it was. It was a long metal whip sticking proudly out of a fender, ready to catch radio stations, snag a car-wash brush or disappear overnigh
There are plenty of things inside a trunk that nobody pays much attention to. A jack that has never left its plastic tray. A spare wheel that may or may not contain air. A collection of reusable shopp
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
There is nothing behind the car. No wall, no shopping cart, no decorative boulder placed by a landscape designer with a grudge. Still, the moment Reverse is selected, the parking sensors erupt. The
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
The seller has polished the paint, vacuumed the carpets and arranged the service receipts in a folder that looks reassuringly thick. The engine starts without complaint. No warning lights remain on af
A parked car should understand the concept of being parked. The engine is off. The keys are inside the house. The garage has been quiet for hours. Then something beneath the car begins to hu
The tire-pressure warning light is not one of the dashboard’s more mysterious creations. It looks like a sagging tire with an exclamation mark inside, which is a fairly direct way of saying, &ld