Cars Blog

Sitting in traffic isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive. A new report from the Texas Transportation Institute, via CBS Moneywatch, finds commuters during peak timess in 12 American cities spent an average of more than $1,000 worth of time and gas idling in traffic in 2009. TTI’s annual Urban Mobility Report measures the cost of delays

If you’ve ever wished you could be sleeping or watching a movie instead of driving your car, Volvo may one day have a new product for you: the first ever operational road train. CNET’s Car Tech blog has a breakdown of how the technology would work: Volvo has successfully demonstrated a vehicle road-train system that

Nearly two years after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, life is still tough for car buyers with bad credit. According to a report by CNW Research, lending to car buyers with a credit score below 640 dropped from $51.37 billion in 2007 to just $8.99 billion last year. For those keeping score at home, that’s

A lot of recent car shows, including the recent Detroit auto show, have showcased automakers’ push to bring practical, fully electric cars to market. With one new all-electric vehicle already for sale from Nissan and with others on the way from Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes and Fiat in 2011 and 2012, I thought it

If the Joneses are broke, do car buyers still try to keep up with them? There was an interesting story on NPR this week about how luxury cars are making a comeback at the Detroit Auto Show: Sales are also increasing for other luxury carmakers. For the past three years, the auto market was so

If you’re noticing more ads for hot auto lease deals lately, you’re not imagining things. Like Jason Vorhees, auto leasing keeps dying and coming back so many times it’s getting hard to keep track. Ward’s Auto has an interesting article this month on a renewed leasing push by automakers: Leasing took a hit in 2008

Americans love their new cars, but nothing promotes personal frugality quite like a terrifying recession. That’s why it’s no surprise that Americans are increasingly willing to consider a late-model used car for their next auto. As part of Consumer Reports’ annual Car Brand Perception Study, the magazine surveyed respondents about their feelings on used cars

These days, trucks are known more for their hauling capacity and power than their fuel economy, but that may be about to change. A recent article by the Automotive News finds automakers rushing to get their truck divisions on track to meet rising federal fuel economy standards for autos: Automakers must reach an average fleet

Lost amid the congratulatory back-slapping going on in Congress over the productive lame duck session was the failure of a key auto safety overhaul bill. The bill, known as the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010, was crafted in response to the findings of a Congressional investigation into Toyota’s unintended acceleration problems earlier this year

Last week the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its list of the 2011 models that earned top marks in its safety tests. In all, the IIHS named 66 vehicles Top Safety Picks, including 40 cars, 25 SUVs and a minivan. That number is up considerably from last year’s list, which was smaller than usual