Toyota's ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi is based out of LA, and I don't see them moving away from them anytime soon, so I doubt it will have any effect in that regard. Toyota marketing has relatively little to do with the nitty-gritty of filming commercials.

Yeah, this was my first thought, but, considering that I have family that works for a rival carmaker, I've got experience with that happening. Usually quality defects are red-flagged prior to full assembly, and even if vehicles are shipped with them, the manufacturer would generally inform them of the reason of the…

Curious if this is linked to the Cobalt ignition issue, or something else. Also interesting that it has to do with the 1.4T engine, considering that it's been in production for quite some time now and should have most issues worked out.

Audi is a sponsor of the US Ski Team though...

You know the GP-strecke has been around for 30 years, right?

It will do just as well as the CTS wagon. That is to say, rave reviews from the automotive press like Jalopnik, followed by marginal sales because all those people on the internet drooling over wagons don't actually want to put their money where their mouth is or don't have the money to do so, with the exception of a…

Interesting, no Compuware logos. Are they not sponsoring the team anymore?

Nissan Qashqai

Oh wow! Hope you weren't badly hurt in that...

I have not had to deal with much in the way of extreme weather. I live in Indiana, and the winters here aren't too bad, plus my tires are not very aggressively treaded for performance. I mention that we all use all-seasons right now, but when my dad was in South Dakota, he'd always have winter tires, and chains when…

Don't be this guy. Clear your entire windshield people, not just a teeny spot so you can see "just enough"!

I think all-seasons are fine in a lot of cases, for example all my family's cars (Toyota Camrys) have all-seasons and they've been fine. A good set of all-seasons will be OK for the average driver. That said, even within that category not all all-seasons are made equally, with some trading wet/snow performance for dry…

I'd argue that driving on summer tires in winter not only makes you a hazard to yourself but also to other drivers around you.

Drive on the wrong tires. Winter tires aren't just for snowy climes where it regularly goes sub-zero. The fact is, summer tires are like hockey pucks below about 40 degrees F. All-seasons are acceptable for a lot of people, but even then, a dedicated winter tire will still outperform it, and ultra high-performance all…

Reports have it that Santa was a big customer.

But VS, it's a Corolla, so we gotta hate. All the cool kids are doing it.

Interestingly, it's almost become a role-reversal now. With Europe's stagnating car sales and strict Euro V emissions standards, Subaru has decided that the WRX/STi will only be sold in Japan and North America, because it's not worth the expense of certifying it for Europe. Funny how those things work out.

"Well, when Chrysler was coming out of bankruptcy, they signed a deal with my father's company. As things got better, we wanted full control of Chrysler. But the UAW wouldn't budge. So my father went to the UAW boss, and made him an offer for $4 billion. But the UAW boss wouldn't budge. So the next day, my father went…

Curious how many other airlines have similar policies...

Car and Driver already compared the ST and GTI, and the GTI won. IIRC, all the euro mags have been raving about it too (it's already available over there).