9 and 3

The annual J.D. Power vehicle dependability study came out last week, which is essentially a recognition of quality that automakers often tout (or avoid mentioning altogether) based on the placing of their results. Cars, trucks, and SUVs are placed in categories and subcategories based on size and utility, and winners are recognized on the results of the previous three years of customer reports for each.  It's something I came to pay attention to since the early 90's when I noticed that a certain company, Lexus, became a repeat winner year after year, and would include it in so many of their advertisements.  (Remember this ?) Even though we didn't own a Lexus back then, I was a Toyota fan, and somehow this gave me glee. Yep, I was a bit strange now that I think of it.... Cars nowadays are generally put together in much better fashion than they were 20 or 30 years ago, regardless of brand or country of origin, and things like expensive or catastrophic breakdowns early ...

Long time no post, I know! Hope 2018 has started off well for everyone. After the last few months of watching what's been unveiled by manufacturers for the coming year, there were several things that stood out to me. Industry-changing trends are underway that seem likely to have staying power and are shaking things up. And they won't just affect the coming year. Starting with: Tesla's Model 3: After much fanfare for the last two years, 2018 is when the “revolution” in affordable and desirable electric transport is supposed to seriously take hold. Obviously the widespread debut of the Model 3 to the hundreds of thousands of customers who plunked down their $1000 deposit is going to be watched closely. Though it technically started rolling off the assembly lines late in 2017, by this summer production is expected to be ramping up with many of the reservation orders to be delivered en mass. The reviews are starting to trickle in, and there are a lot of unique features ...