As a former Hyundai Parts Technician in the great land of Canada, they are far and away the worst brand I ever worked for. They attempted constantly to deny warranty claims for the simplest of reasons, constantly were attempting to charge back claims to the dealership for the most asinine reasons, and had some of the…

You’re not correct on that, I’m actually on my last day as parts manager at a Canadian Mazda dealer in Alberta.. and we’ve sold one CX-5 Diesel, and the second one we got allocated is sitting out front looking like a snowbank because there’s been very little interest in it. The 2.5 Turbo CX-5 however.. we sell LOTS of…

Somebody needs to slip Mazda USA a note with Gale Banks’s phone number on it, and let him go wild on a handful of these things for SEMA or *insert reasons*.. I’d be excited to have a 20-25 mpg diesel that is a Porsche Cayenne S/BMW X5M killer.

I took a look on BFG’s site, and it appears that you cannot get it P rated. And honestly, LT’s aren’t that bad of a suck on a small truck.. I have the Grabber AT/X in LT sizing on my girlfriend’s B4000 and my 2003 Ranger Edge 2wd was all Baja style on 31" LT KOs.. They actually did pretty good at speed and held up to…

The Ranger/B4000 is still really light in the rear even with ballast weight in the box. It needs winter tires and liberal use of 4x4 to get anywhere on icy roads or all it wants to do is big drifts and lots of one tire fire wheelspin. Cheaped out a bit and put on Firestone Winterforce 2's.. but they’ve worked pretty…

I’ve got them on both my vehicles, and I’ve got General Grabber AT/X’s on my girlfriend’s 2007 Mazda B4000 (same thing as a Ranger). I drive a lot of yellow clay-capped gravel roads in the summer, and this is where the KO2's shine as they self evacuate really well for an all-terrain (My previous Nokian Vativa A/T’s…

It’s a hell of list to conquer, but don’t focus on the fit and finish. Worry about all the things that make it run, drive, move, and go off road. That way you can actually daily drive it while you slowly restore it (same as my 2004 SIlverado Z71 project).

I can give way more info if you want, but my 14 or so years in…

Crack pipe, only because I know every sales manager there and technician has taken this thing out for a rip, and beat the hell out of it.

I’ve worked in dealerships for far too long, and I know how exotics get passed around between the staff before they hit the lot. 

This already is my favorite Jalopnik article of the year. As an owner of several early 2000s vehicles, I strongly believe in reduce, reuse, recycle.. and having older vehicles has been great to me for the ease of maintenance, availability of parts at the junkyard, and generally not giving a shit when they get damaged.…

I think repairing instead of replacing is going to end up being a very hot topic very very soon for many people due to terrible economic situations all over the world. I know myself, my newest vehicle is a 2008.. and now that it and my 2004 Chev Silverado are well paid off.. I’m doing all I can to keep them on the…

I can get behind this. I’m about to leave my dealership job for a new job in the corporate side of a major auto parts store chain. In 11 plus years of dealership life, I have seen some things. However a customer writing profanities about the dealer i worked on the bathroom wall was probably the best, especially…

NP just because you cannot find these in Canada for that price without a serious case of the rust monster. 

if this thing doesn’t look like it rolled out of Mad Max (to carry Lord Humongous to negotiate the surrender of a refinery no less) when it’s done, then you have failed us all. 

my only advise for anyone buying a 2nd gen Nissan Xterra, as an owner of one, is to either get a rare-ish 6 speed manual like me.. or get an automatic.. but be well informed about the dreaded tranmission cooler failures and what to look for.

Also budget for suspension upgrades, as the rear leaf springs like to snap…

any Nissan purchased with a CVT transmission is an exercise in self-loathing and hatred. 

Jalopnik should do an article on the cost of replacing ANY of the new LED Headlamp/Taillamp assemblies on newer vehicles. I’ve worked for Mazda (n0w), Nissan (former), and Infiniti (former). Between all three of those brands I’ve seen replacement prices starting at about $1000 a side for the headlamps and $300 plus…

See and I would kill to see F1 move to a “historic” type series. Kill all driving aids, pure manual gearboxes only (nothing SMG), and mandate a very very simple “spec” ECU for them all to use. Then open up the engineering rules to whatever type of engine you want to bring (ala the Subaru F1 Engine, V10s, V12's,…

Can we just change the chorus of this to “The Big 3 killed AMC?”

Also, stellar music choices by all of you lately on Jalopnik!

Good to know, as I hope to eventually be in the market for a vintage AMG Mercedes Benz. Maybe a C32 AMG, maybe a 500E.. depends on my successes in the workplace over the next couple years. 

I wish I could see both on a double bill in Canada someday.. Deftones and HUM!