The rise and fall of chrome taillights

2004 Lexus IS

Taillights and their plastic casing has traditionally been red, which enticed teenagers and tuning enthusiasts in the 90s to convert the taillights of cheap cars (Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Nissan Sentra, etc.) from red to chrome. However, earlier this decade, a short-lived trend emerged where automakers incorporated the chrome taillights as stock. I don't see many examples anymore...the fad did not hold. I particularly never understood why Lexus used chrome taillights on the last-gen IS (above), but it must not have been popular because the current model uses red taillights. The demographic Lexus was going after for the IS was entry-luxury / above-average income, but the taillights suggested a teenager demographic; there was a clear disconnect. Click through for some more examples.

10 boring cars: neither attractive nor ugly

Acura RL / RLX

When Acura released images of the new RLX, I was disappointed. I think the swoopy character line on the sides is homely, and the rest of car is undifferentiated from a lot of the other midsize luxury cars on the market. The RLX made me think of some other cars that are neither good looking or unattractive, but rather boring. Click through for 10 examples.

2012 Nissan Quest: I just don't get it...

Nissan Quest

Much to my dismay, the rental company was out of full-sized cars and gave me a minivan (horrifying, I know). A Chrysler Town & Country, Honda Odyssey, or Toyota Sienna would have been passable, but instead I was given a Nissan Quest. I'm completely baffled by this car, and cannot understand what Nissan was going for in their design. Click through for my thoughts.

Is the 2013 Nissan Altima attractive enough to compete?

2013 Nissan Altima

The Nissan Altima has always been third fiddle to the perennial favorites in the segment, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The Altima is perfect for someone who wants a reliable, safe family car, but wants a little more sportiness and personality than the bland Camry or Accord. However, when Nissan unveiled the new 2013 Altima at the New York Auto Show, I was, frankly, disappointed. With new beautiful designs from Ford, Hyundai, and Kia, why would anyone looking for "sportiness" and "pizzazz" go with this Altima? Click through for my reasoning...

Update: The Kia Sportage lives up to expectations

Kia Sportage

This week I rented a Kia Sportage from Enterprise, and am happy to report that the high expectations I laid out in my post from a few months ago were met! Furthermore, the Kia was overall better than the Nissan Rogue I recently reviewed. Click through for a quick update.

Review: What is so roguish about the Nissan Rogue?

Nissan Rogue

I recently drove the Nissan Rogue through Avis and was surprisingly underwhelmed. I was bored by the car's bland exterior styling, bargain basement interior styling, and lawn-mower-sounding engine. This crossover is named "Qashqai" in the rest of the world, which would probably confuse buyers in the US, so it's a good thing Nissan renamed the car "Rogue". However, the name Rogue suggests "maverick", or "different", but instead of seeing a new twist on the small crossover, I saw just another scoop of vanilla. Click through for my review.

Why does Suzuki still sell cars in the US?

Suzuki Equator

I like to think that I keep up with the car industry, but I had NO idea Suzuki sold the Equator pickup...let alone the fact that they have been selling the truck since 2009! I have never EVER seen one on the road. This lazy excuse of a Nissan Frontier rebadge is exactly why Suzuki has had trouble gaining traction in the US in the last 20 years. Most of Suzuki's cars have been sourced from other automakers, notably through its partnership with GM/Daewoo. Unless it changes its strategy, I give the Suzuki US brand another 5-10 years before going the way of Isuzu -- that is, extinct. Click through to read why...

Volvo S40 review...an interesting, yet odd car

A few months ago, Volvo announced that the S40 sedan and V50 wagon will soon be discontinued. After I had a chance to flog a Zipcar S40 this weekend, I understand why...sort of. The S40 has a number of lovable quirks, but I don't think it ever found its place amongst the sea of other entry luxury sedans. Click through to see my impressions.

Ugly door handles can RUIN a car

BMW Z4

Door handles, while small and seemingly unnoticeable, are a crucial part of car design. In my opinion, European-style handles (think Mercedes) are most attractive, and have made their way onto most cars by now. However, quite a few car designs have been harmed by ugly door handles, like this BMW Z4. This awkward looking coupe/convertible could've been slightly improved with the handles seen on any other car in BMW's lineup. Click through to see some more examples:

Top 10 ugliest SUVs of all time

Pontiac Aztek

SUVs are a relatively modern phenomenon, rising in popularity in the mid-90s and losing steam in the late-00s when gas prices rose. In this short amount of time, we've gotten some great designs (which I will save for a subsequent post) and some scary designs. I want to spend time discussing the latter. I've ranked the top 10 ugliest SUVs, in order of bad to worst. Click through to see:

Cars for people who have lots of money, but don't want to show it off

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Ever see a mansion with a car in the driveway that appears to be several tax brackets lower? While some millionaires want to buy a Ferrari, others want to remain in a cloak of anonymity. In many wealthy circles (I can only speculate!) it is a faux pas to drive a flashy car. There are several cars that well-to-doers often buy that allow them to drive comfortably, but without the extra flash. Click through to see the list.

My take on the Honda CR-V...past, present, and future

Honda CR-V Concept

If you read any popular car news blogs, you've probably already come across this picture "leaked" by Honda (probably on purpose) a couple days ago. This is the only picture released so far, so we haven't seen the taillights or interior. In a nutshell, I think this "concept" - which, by the way, will probably be ~95% identical to the eventual showroom model - is a huge improvement over the outgoing model, but the grille bothers me. Click through to read my impressions.

I love Zipcar...and the Audi A3

Audi A3 Zipcar

Fun fact about me - I live in the city and do not actually own a car. Instead, I am a faithful Zipcar subscriber, which allows me to drive about 15 different cars whenever I want. Zipcar pays for gas, cleans the cars on regular basis, and repairs the cars as necessary. Each car has its own parking space in a secure area. In many ways, Zipcar allows for more fun, less hassle, and significantly fewer costs than owning a car in the city. I know I sound like a Zipcar commercial, but it's true!

You may have seen a few Zipcars on the road - they are not the typical bland cars you'll find at Hertz or Avis (such as Toyota Corollas, Dodge Avengers, and Chevy Impalas). Instead, among the cars you will find are the BMW 3-Series, Volvo S40, Mini Cooper Convertible, VW Golf, and my personal favorite, the Audi A3.

I love everything about the A3, and I feel that the little sport-hatch doesn't get the attention it deserves. Recently I drove the A3 on a long trip involving a good mix of highway and twisty mountain roads; click through to see my impressions.

Three reasons why I would not buy a 2011 Infiniti

As I go through the current Infiniti lineup, my grievances really boil down to 3 categories:

1) The weird "podium-style" dashboard
2) The fact that each car has a near-identical Nissan counterpart, either as a US or JDM model
3) Disappointing exterior styling compared to competition

I can't comment on the ride, acceleration, braking, etc., as I have not driven any of Infiniti's current cars, but that is not the point of this post. From reading popular auto mags, most reviewers draw the same conclusion anyway: Infinitis produce decent performance, but are either on par with or slightly worse than European competitors. When was the last time you saw an Infiniti win a car comparo? I can't even remember.

Click through to see my explanation.

Japanese cars even a non-JDM-enthusiast can appreciate

As you can probably tell so far, I am not a huge Japanese car enthusiast. I don't hate Japanese cars, but for a variety of reasons, European cars excite me more. IMHO, European cars are more elegantly designed and appeal more to the senses than Japanese cars. Yes, Toyotas and Hondas will certainly be more reliable and perhaps technologically sound than their German and Italian counterparts, but Camrys and Accords do not excite car enthusiasts as much as Passats and S40s - plain and simple.

That being said, there are a handful of Japanese cars that do excite me. I'm limiting the list to vehicles under $100k, and sold some time within the last 25 years (1986-2011). I'm also leaving out some of the obvious ones like the Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Evo, Mazda Miata, because they are too overexposed. I'd much rather write about some of the unlikely favorites. Click through to see which ones made the cut:

Pointless red plastic

I passed the '11 Accord on the way from work yesterday and I realized Honda added unattractive red taillight extensions on the trunk itself. I think they are for reflective safety purposes, but they just don't look good. I wanted to point out some other examples of excessive red glass in recent history: