With seating for seven, this edition of the Quest also featured a lower step-in height and improved fuel economy
Looking for a decent used minivan? I am and one of the models I’ve had a look at is the Nissan Quest, 2011 edition. This is the fourth generation of Nissan’s people-carrier. The previous generation was, by the company’s admission, a bit of a disappointment. So they went back to the drawing board and redid…
In every respect, the 2020 Aviator is truly a luxury vehicle. Ford hasn’t missed much when it comes to pampering its occupants
Much like General Motors with its Cadillac division, Ford has decided to funnel a substantial portion of its resources into its flagship Lincoln line. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a kind of renaissance from this previously low-key marque. Lincoln has six models in its lineup, four of which are SUVs. Clearly, the powers…
Designed for work, not play, the Forestry Service models weren’t built in large numbers. There might be a dozen of them left
During the 1950s and early ’60s, before anyone had heard of Honda, Nissan, Toyota or Hyundai, the bestselling import brand in Canada was Austin. Models like the Devon, Somerset, Cambridge, Westminster and, eventually, Mini, dominated the small-car market. Like a lot of other Canadian families, we usually had an Austin of one type or another…
Two SUVs – one ultra-modern and one a throwback – will be available to consumers in the coming year
Car manufacturers would start to roll out their new models right about now under normal circumstances, getting the word out to journalists about what they’re doing in the upcoming year. Traditionally, new car introductions, press briefings, test drives and interviews with the brass would be the preferred method of spreading the word. But with COVID-19,…
Buying used: Definitely not a conventional sedan but not quite a fully-fledged SUV either
According to Consumer Reports, the average life expectancy of a new vehicle these days is around eight years or 250,000 km. Some can even go 15 years and up to 500,000 km, if properly maintained. With that in mind: the 2010 Toyota Venza. Available with front or all-wheel drive, the Venza was introduced to the…
Fussy controls and bad ergonomics take away from an attractive car that should just be a pleasure to drive
Sometimes it seems car manufacturers are rolling backwards when it comes to usability and driver friendliness. Despite – or maybe because of – things like touch screen controls, continuously variable transmissions (CVT), driver-vehicle interface, climate control, etc., etc., some cars are nowhere as driveable as they used to be. No argument, automobiles are more sophisticated…
The 2010 version offers plenty of refinements and is, in general, a pleasure to drive
Ten years on, let’s look at Lexus’s first self-parking car: the 2010 LS 460. Available in two wheelbase sizes, with optional all-wheel-drive, it featured two versions of Lexus’s 4.6-litre V8 engine, and the transmission was an eight-speed automatic with manual shift mode. Whatever you chose, you were getting one of the smoothest and most usable…
Things have definitely changed in the car industry over the past decade. Especially with domestic manufacturers. What was known as The Big Three – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – pretty much owned the car industry in North America right up to the early 1980s and had an iron grip on most buyers’ affections. But that…
It has a kind of muscularity about it, but not clumsy or overdone, and features a visual presence few others can match
Here’s another in my series of ones that got away – cars that I’ve encountered over the years and wish I’d kept. But in this case, I couldn’t have afforded it in the first place. When it was introduced in 2010, the Porsche Panamera was priced in the $120,000 neighbourhood – before taxes. Hard to…
This sport cute may be a little shy on power but it’s a pleasure to drive as an urban runabout
For the first time in a long while, I went to a social event last week. Just a few people getting together to play a little music and socially un-distance for a while. It was all COVID-19-proof, of course, and a good time was had by all. But what struck me as I pulled up…
Usually car manufacturers are falling over themselves at this time of year, introducing new models, debuting industry updates, unveiling new technology, providing new vehicle test drives and so on. It’s also traditionally when auto scribes start attending various new car launches and industry events, and filing update stories. But with COVID-19, social distancing and all…
As you would expect from any Toyota, the 2020 RAV4 Hybrid is very driver-accessible and immensely driveable
Hybrid engineering, once thought to be bridge technology, is stronger than ever. Sometimes it seems every other vehicle on the road is a hybrid of some kind. And this includes SUVS – virtually all the major carmakers have something on offer. Volvo XC90, Mitsubishi Outlander, Hyundai Kona, Ford Escape, Subaru Crosstrek and others are available…
Just because you ride a bike, that doesn’t put you on the side of the angels or make you better than the rest of us
In Vancouver, my hometown, city council is using the COVID-19 pandemic to fulfil a long-held fantasy: the elimination of cars and the end of vehicle traffic throughout the city. While the rest of us are coping with one of the worst economic crisis in Canadian history and bungling along with reduced public transit and dwindling…
This car is all about practicality and common sense. Toyota is on top of its game when it comes to hybrid technology
Toyoto Prius is the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle – by a long shot. This is the hybrid against which all others are judged. Its hybrid drive system is used by Toyota and Lexus throughout their lineups, as well as used under licence by other manufacturers worldwide. Well over six million Toyota Prius units have gone…
Show up at a Harley gathering with your Yamaha or Kawasaki and you can definitely expect the cold shoulder
As a lifetime rider who has ridden just about every kind of motorcycle ever made, and spent more time than he probably should at bars and various watering holes, I’ve narrowed bikers down to two main groups: Harley-lovers and Harley-haters. Harley-Davidson riders tend to travel in packs and gather at the same places like clockwork.…