Pull a seat belt slowly and it follows without complaint. Lean forward to adjust the radio and it gives you room. Tug it sharply, and the belt becomes rigid before moving another inch. Nothing el
The key fob worked perfectly that morning. A few hours later, it has apparently decided that opening the car is no longer part of its job. The unlock button does nothing. The door handle ignores
They run around the edge of almost every modern windshield: a solid black border that gradually breaks into smaller and smaller dots before disappearing into clear glass. Most drivers have stared t
A dead battery is annoying in any parking space. It becomes considerably more awkward when the car is nose-first inside a garage and the tow truck needs it in Neutral. The brake pedal feels normal.
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
Picture a gray car on a gray highway just after sunset. From the front, everything looks normal. Its white daytime running lights are glowing, the dashboard is lit, and the driver has no reason to sus
There are dashboard lights that can wait until the weekend. A low washer-fluid warning, for instance, is hardly a reason to abandon a grocery run. The red oil-can symbol is not one of those lights.
It is a cold morning. The windshield is cloudy, the cabin feels like a refrigerator, and the defrost button has just been pressed with all the optimism available before coffee. Then the A/C light come
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
Here is a mildly alarming experiment: open the trunk of your car and lift the floor. There may be a spare tire under there. There may also be a little black compressor, a bottle of sealant, and a