#CarReviews

Shopping for a car is hard, even for those who live and breathe automobiles. Those of you reading these pages on the day of publication are the ones I’m talking about - you have a compulsion to consume media about your favorite four-wheel contraptions and discuss said contraptions down in the comments. Most of you have opinions on brands and models and often have experience with them to back up those opinions. 

Imagine, however, being someone who simply needs a car, but doesn’t really give a damn about cars. How do those people figure out what to buy? Those folks, if they’re reading these pages, have stumbled here via a search engine months down the line. These buyers have a monstrous task ahead of them, winnowing and sorting all sorts of data and opinions into a buying decision. 

How does a brand like Alfa Romeo target either of these buyers? Most of the enthusiasts in my first paragraph have opinions on a sports sedan like the 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia you see before you based either upon a historical impression of an automaker that left these shores before the O.J. Simpson trial was decided, or perhaps a few of you have sampled the current incarnation. The other buyer, without automotive enthusiasm whatsoever, likely knows little to nothing of the marque or model at all. How is a car like this going to manifest its way into either of these buyer’s garages, especially in an era where we can actually foresee the end of gasoline-powered vehicles?

How do you make your citified large crossover seem a bit more rugged to appeal to consumers who either spend their weekends playing outdoors or those who plan to play outdoors but never actually do? You play a little dress-up.

The 2023 Nissan Rogue is one of the top contenders for misnamed vehicles.

Think about it. A rogue is daring and dashing and goes against the grain. Rogues stand out. But the Nissan Rogue blends in.

It can be a challenge for me to truly appreciate a high-end vehicle. Having been brought up with the typical Midwestern virtues of thrift and modesty, embracing conspicuous consumption with any sort of gusto doesn’t exactly come naturally. Outside a few wealthy suburban enclaves, much of this region traditionally has valued restraint, and the only acceptable response when questioned about buying a luxury good is to reply that you got it on sale.

Perhaps that’s why Oldsmobile was so successful around here. It gave drivers a taste of luxury without flaunting it.

Times have changed. New media has made the display of wealth - real or imagined - not just acceptable, but basically required. Fake it until you make it, and dodge the calls from the collection agency. So that old-school ethic of consumptive conservatism needs reevaluation for the modern era. I must consider six-figure motor vehicles as a legitimate part of our world. And thus, the 2023 Lexus LX 600 you see before you today. From the outside, it looks as if it should be like any other large SUV, with three rows of seating and plenty of hauling capacity. But step inside, and the story changes. 

I’ve had, for whatever reason, a consistently unfavorable view of Toyota’s Corolla for quite some time.

Not an anti-Corolla bias, mind you. I kept an open mind every time I drove one. And every time I did, I felt let down. And that was before I compared the car to its rivals, such as the usually solid Honda Civic or the ever-improving Hyundai Elantra.

Subaru has given its popular Crosstrek crossover its most significant update in quite some time. The little SUV has been changed front, back, and sideways. But the change that grabbed all the headlines involved the expansion of the Wilderness lineup, which now includes the Crosstrek.

No one, but no one, needs a 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series.

Sure, some folks can make a reasonable argument for needing a large SUV for towing or hauling people and stuff. Far fewer people who drive these things need them rather than want them, but there is a use case.

Not for the V.

What if I told you there exists a small luxury sedan with Swedish roots and an uncanny ability to go about its business with unfussy silence?

Well, there’s at least one of those on the market – the 2023 Polestar 2 Dual Motor. If your idea of luxury is no fuss, no muss, no noise, you’ve found your huckleberry.

In its current guise since 2016, the ninth-gen Chevrolet Malibu is no spring chicken; the rumor is an all-new model will arrive in 2025. And after three days and some 700 miles behind the wheel of a 2023 example, your author has a few observations and a strong overall opinion on the very last domestic midsize sedan in production. Let’s hop in and journey east, through the Appalachian Plateau.

The 2024 Hyundai Kona is launching now – dealers should be receiving units as you read this – and Hyundai has some challenges to overcome as it gets the new Kona to market.

At first, I didn’t like the 2023 Cadillac CT4 V-Series Blackwing. I found it a little too stiff riding and I wasn’t sure the chassis was as well sorted as it should be.

Then I found the space to open it up. Whoo boy.

My initial take faded away as I realized that this is a car that needs to be allowed to play.

In a bit of serendipitous timing, we saw earlier this week that a lot of 2023 Toyota Supra buyers are opting for the manual.

Having tested one earlier this year, I can see why.

Last week I wrote about a BMW 3-Series that reminded me of Bimmers of the past, at least in terms of being fun to drive. I also pointed out that it was a relative bargain.

The 2023 Cadillac CT4 heard that and said “hold my beer.”

We love to salivate over sports cars around here. But sometimes, an automobile is truly unpretentious and does the basics well without any fluff.

That can be a very good thing – just ask us about the 2023 Volkswagen Jetta.

For decades, enthusiasts have known the M badge from BMW. M stands for motorsport, and indeed it was once a separate division within the company that produced both cars for racing and hot street cars. But the M badge had two meanings - and, for much of the lineup, still does. Here’s the decoder ring.