Live Q&As

You are right. It is neither a Mercedes-Benz, nor a BMW, nor a Cadullac, nor a Lincoln. But it is a darned good Hyundai, which is more than good enough, offered  with lots of standard amenities, good safety and quality, largely thanks to a Korean asembly worker pay scale that is substantially below what is offered in the United States.

No. But e should have answers on what exactly VW is doing, and not doing, and how it plans to do it, from the upcoming Paris Auto Show. Warren attending.

Good morning,

Cash for clunkers had a small effect on the price of cars now. The bigger problem came when Japan had an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown and they couldn't produce cars.

Just when Japan's automobile industry was getting on its feet  Thailand stopped production. Thailand is where a lot of cars are built as well.

Had we had the cars from cash to clunkers we would have been a little better off, but Congress, in all its wisdom, decided to take post 1983 cars off the road instead of pre-1983 like I advocated.

If you want an Audi A4, I don't think you'll be happy with the Ford Fusion, which, in my humble opinion, still ranks a step or two below Audi in overall quality, especially in interior treatment. But if you want a great car for the money, replete with amenities available at Audi only for a higher price, then it makes perfectly good sense to buy a Ford Fusion, which is a very good bargain in comparison with Audi, whose pricing also is affected by unfavorable (for the U.S.) overseas currency exchange rates.

I just drove the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe and loved it. If you can find a 2013 drive it before you buy.

Have you looked at the 2013 Audi allroad? It's a beautiful station wagon and I love the drive.It's also great for dogs, especially as they age.

Another is the 2013 Acura RDX, great redesign.

http://www.drivingthenation.com/?p=4323

I made this post up for my washingtonpost.com chatters. We get so many people trying to stay within their budget and yet find a decent car.

Hyundai Accent would be my choice of the two, but you also have the Kia Soul, Mazda2, a couple of Fords. Look at the article, drive them all, let me know.

Also, make sure you know your FICO score before you buy if you're getting credit. Your FICO score tells the financier how good your credit rating is and it determines your interest rate.

I am well, thank you, and offer you warm greetings from tNorthern Virginia. I'd buy the Volt and not worry much about mid-Atlantic winter weather. If it is too snowy to drive a Volt (largely because of snow depth and Volt ground clearance, which is about 4.5 inches) there is too much snow to drive most cars. Nearly all of the Volt protototypes and production models I've driven have been in winter, including one Detroit winter drive. The  Volt performed well in all inclement weather settings.

You can put one or two plastic-bodied kayaks atop a Subaru Outback. I'd strongly recommend against doing more than that. The roof rails can support a total of 100 pounds, perhaps a teeny tad more. But the bottom line is that you DON'T want to put too much weight on those rails, or on any other rooftop rails, for that matter.

I don't know. Check at www.dot.nhtsa.gov for an estimate.

I know you say only 2012, but the 2013 Honda CRV is sooo much nicer than the 2012, you should at least take a look at it.

Both Honda and Toyota are trying to make up for lost sales so they should be willing to deal a little, but the incentives I've seen are not out of whack with all the other manufacturers. Chrysler had big incentive on old brands, and Volkswagen had the biggest increase in incentives.

http://www.drivingthenation.com/?p=5393 is the average price of a vehicle and their incentives.

But you might be able to get a good deal on financing which doesn't show up in incentives. Financing incentives are worth their weight in gold.

I would go with the 2012 CRV, but take a look at the 2013.

You can put three children in the back seat of an Allroad, asssuming you aren't using three child-safety seats. But "comfort," in this regard, is a matter of perception. With three children in the back of an Audi All-road, there is NO demilitarized zone. That can make for a noisy ride for parents.

Warren here. I'll check on those models in Paris. Kia's problems with the Rondo was that the Rondo was an appearance and performance flop when the company first brought the Rondo to the U.S. five or so years ago. Kia and the Rondo have improved substantially sense then. We'll see.

I remember when I was in a car accident and ended up in the hospital. I was upset because I had totaled my car. It was the first time I saw my Father cry when he said, "I can replace metal, I can't replace you."

There is a time when you are putting your safety at risk. Your mechanic has told you so.

If you read this chat regularly you know I tell people to drive their car till it dies. I mean the car should die, not you.

Your car is dying. Go through the grief process, trade it in, buy another car.

If you can wait, wait. Check federal and state DOT operations for possible tax incentives.

Yes. In the Brown household, by February, we hope, we will replace our pain--in--@@##@#@!!, when it comes to repair and maintenance costs, Mini Cooper, with a fully loaded Chevrolet Spark with Techno Pink body paint. Seriously.

Oh yes, BMW, MINI, even Rolls-Royce (another company owned by BMW) knows how Warren feels. :) 

We not only tell the manufacturer's our thougts on vehicles, we tell your thoughts on vehicles.

And, they actually appreciate the feedback. Look at the response on the Subaru roof racks.

Background. Our affair with the Mini Cooper is the difference between infatuation and marriage. MaryAnne and I have been married 43 years. We've been through a lot, good and bad, stupid and smart, in that time. We've come through it all with a better understanding, deeper appreciation of, and deeper love and respect for one another.

Not so our hot infatuation with the Mini Cooper. Our first warning should have been the difficulty we had in replacing tires on the thing. But the repair and service bills kept coming, each one dampening any affection we've had for the car. Familiarity, in this case, has yielded immense contempt. We're dumping it for a Spark.

Perhaps you didn't see this answer I just posted. If it still doesn't answer your question email me at lou at carlist.com

I pinged someone from Subaru to help with the question.

The crossbars on Outbacks are integrated into the side-rails and swing out when needed for larger loads. This is to reduce wind noise and improve fuel efficiency when they are not in use. It’s something that is only found on Subaru Outbacks. Until the 2013 the crossbars were fixed in terms of their location. For the 2013 Subaru has modified the system to allow the rear crossbar to be moved rearward approximately 10 inches to allow for longer items to be carried on the roof. They did this because they got feedback from customers like you. :)

There are two different types of emissions; one from burning gasoline, one from rusting fuel lines, etc.

In my opinion (I have to remember to put that :)

If you had destroyed the older pre-1983 cars you would have destroyed cars that were rusting and created a new buyer base. Instead Congress destroyed cars that weren't rusting (as quickly) only to have to use energy and supplies so that people who would likely be buying a newer car in the near future would buy it sooner.

It was a boondoggle.

Consider it done.  With Audi bringing back their allroad (which is based on the A5, not A4) it signals the start of the station wagon reemergence.