I don't see how you can do one without the other. Any competent executive should agree.

Of course, we do have brands out there that for no good reason have a good image and mediocre (at least at their price point) cars.

OTOH, I think the stated attitude is MUCH improved over their previous desires to be the #1 selling…

Don't just drive the car around the block once and sign the paperwork – spend time with the car you're about to purchase and try to learn what it'll be like to live with every day. Play with all the functions, pair your phone, take it on some rough roads, and above all, be thorough.

Obvious CGI is obvious.

Go ahead and don't believe - but it happened.

What caused the seizure? Oil the consistency of tar.

It wasn't my engine - but apparently no oil had been added, at least in memory. There were no signs of leaks, either. I couldn't tell you how much oil was in it when I got it, though, because it was darn near 50-60% sludge at that point.

OTOH, my Camry benefits from the rolling oil change you describe - enough leaks…

Lesson: If you can't avoid the accident completely, steer into it - the 5 gets very good marks for the standard overlap test... Dang near bought one myself in 2010.

Skip 10 oil changes? I laugh at your pessimism!

Seriously - I once got the opportunity to "rebuild" a 4.6L out of a Crown Vic. The engine had well approaching 300k on the odometer, and had seized up after not having had an oil change in almost 200k.

I've seen nothing but rumors on the discontinuation of the 5. No actual reports from Mazda. I highly doubt that the 5 will be killed off entirely - they sell a good number worldwide. The question will be whether the US continues to get it. I think the answer there lies in what changes Mazda makes to it in some…

Terrible wagon form. That's why this thing's cargo volume actually lands somewhere between a Ford Fusion and a 1st generation Mazda6 wagon for cargo volume. It isn't a wagon at all - its a hatchback.

To call this monstrous thing a wagon when it has less than 70% of the cargo volume of the old Ford Focus wagon is an…

I'd agree with the Matrix being bad - because it didn't do anything well, IMO - you could have taken the Corolla and gone two ways - a proper wagon, or a proper hatchback. But its too small to be a proper wagon, and as a hatchback? Well, it got significantly worse mpg than the Corolla, had lousy visibility, and was…

I think their management must be fully Americanized then - spend $10 billion to "save" $500 million!

FCA likely would never have happened had it not been for the DaimlerChrysler fiasco.

When Diamler "merged" with Chrysler, Chrysler was the most profitable mainstream car company in the world on a per-vehicle sold basis. Daimler gave Chrysler very little in terms of investment, but rather used Chrysler's profits to…

Yes, all businesses should move to Texas, where many can experience higher taxes than they'd see in most other states.

Interestingly, two family members had the generation of Corolla right before this and proved that they were, in fact, destructible. Amazingly short lifespans from those two cars and both suffered electrical issues.

I think you could stick a W32 engine under that hood...

I prefer a good old fashioned underbody wash that you can get in many car wash locations - that way you're certain to be using clean water and you don't have to worry about variable ground clearances or sensitive electronics...

yeah, I look at these and wonder how you could possibly make something so long with so little legroom inside (ok, its not that the legroom is that chintzy, but come on - what is that, 10 feet of hood and another 8 of trunk?

And best of all, its 0-60 time in reverse was almost identical to its 0-60 time going forward...

According to the news, it was a dump truck driver driving down the road with his bed up. Big mistake the driver made, and he paid for it dearly....