Automotive Trends

Room and Range

     If your personal version of suburban bliss includes substantially more than the American average of 1.8 children then the 5-passenger Mercedes ML just isn’t going to cut it. You’ll need the 7-passenger capability of that German Suburban known as the GL. And if every fuel stop along the family vacation route turns into a 45-minute chicken nugget munching, souvenir buying, potty break free-for-all then Mercedes’ latest diesel engine and its 550-mile range is the choice most likely to maintain your sanity. Luckily, there is just such a combination, and the Mercedes GL350 BlueTEC offers the room and range needed to be the perfect family hauler. Read more…

      It looked as though Mother Nature was about to give us the shaft. The 2011 Thumb Area Soybean Festival started with a “bang”  of thunder at 7:30 in the morning. But before our spirits could get too soden, the downpour ceased, the clouds cleared, and we had another beautiful day in Brown City, Mi drooling at all the classic metal (even a Travco Motor home) rolling through town. Click through for our gallery of the cars that made an appearance at the show! Read more…

      We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sun was shining, the air was warm and the cars were streaming in! Thank you to all who participated in this year’s June car show at Faith Missionary Church in Flushing, Michigan. Hope to see you again in September! Click through for our extensive gallery. Read more…

      In this week’s episode of the Automotive Trends’ Garage your faithful editors have a go in two cars designed for fuel economy as well as hauling the family around, the Toyota Prius and the Kia Optima.

Nissan Manages to Offer up an Unconventionally Styled Conventional Crossover

      A few years back I found myself earning a living after answering a job posting at a local car rental agency with the unglamorous description of ‘Lot Attendant’.  As the lowly lot attendant I found myself vacuuming and washing battered and abused rental cars, completing vehicle inspections of those poor cars, towing them to and from remote locations using a tired F-150 of indeterminate vintage with an auto dolly and shuttling customers to and from dealerships while their cars were in service. It was the dealership customers that seemed to be the most interesting, as they often shared a story of their once-loved purchase. The most amazing stories reliably came from our Nissan Murano customers. It seemed that this early entry in the crossover craze was also one of the first larger vehicles to offer a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in the US. So problematic was the transmission that one customer posted a “for sale” sign of his Murano in our office hoping to offload the vehicle onto one of our customers dulled by a sense of mediocrity after turning in their rental Chevy Classic. On more than one occasion I witnessed a problematic Murano in the service department with entire engine and transmission removed as the mechanics searched for a solution. It should come as no surprise, then, that I wasn’t expecting much when an all-wheel-drive 2011 Murano SL showed up in the Automotive Trends garage. Would this vehicle’s unloved CVT and bizarre styling draw further criticism, or, like the Mazda CX-7 we drove last year, surprise by exceeding expectations? Read more…

      We have a 2011 Kia Optima in the fleet this week. We also managed a day’s reprieve from the rain. So with plenty of battery power in the camera Executive Editor Dye set out for the track to have a go in the Optima and bring you the details on why you shouldn’t be overlooking the sporty family sedan from South Korea. Read more…

      It is a bitter cold spring day in Michigan, perfect I guess for taking a 2011 Toyota Prius out for a spin. While I’m fascinated by what the Prius is capable of I question the cost in terms of driving appeal. Click above to have a look. Read more…

      The boys have spring fever but somehow managed to get a 2011 BMW 335i Coupe out for a little bit of track time. Catch up with them as they discuss the 2011 New York Auto Show and throw a quartet of new cars at Gernand’s Design Wall before driving down the middle of the road in a Nissan Murano.

      When the Acura RDX was introduced in 2006, it was designed to be one of the sportiest luxury crossovers on the market — a smaller, more affordable version of the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5. Today, though, the market is flooded with crossovers that claim to be sporty, many of which are exceptionally good cars. Even brands like Mazda and Hyundai are becoming better competition for entry-level luxury brands like Acura. Read more…

      Let’s get one thing out of the way. If you want the best minivan for sale today, you want a Honda Odyssey. But what if you’re looking for the best value? That’s where things get complicated, and Dodge has made the decision more difficult with an improved Grand Caravan for 2011. Read more…