1965 Buick Lesabre 2dr Ht on 2040-cars

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Audi tops Consumer Reports' brand rankings while Tesla leads domestics at eighth

Tesla supplanted General Motors' Buick division as the top-ranked US automaker in Consumer Reports annual brand rankings, though the electric-vehicle maker finished eighth among global automakers. Buick had finished atop CR's domestic car-brand list for three years before Tesla leapfrogged it. Scores were calculated from a combination of performance, owner satisfaction, and reliability. CR noted that Buick scored big on reliability but not so high on performance, while Tesla appeared to present the opposite case. Volkswagen's Audi division repeated as the best overall brand for the second straight year, beating out VW's Porsche unit, BMW, Toyota's Lexus division, and Subaru. Kia and Mazda followed those brands, while Honda finished ninth, between Tesla and Buick. Consumer Reports took results from 31 brands. Reliability issues related to the Toyota Tacoma helped drop that Japanese automaker out of the top 10. Take a look at CR's results for its Annual Brand Report Card here. That Tesla, Audi, and Porsche placed so high is topical, given some of the issues plaguing those automakers. Audi, Porsche, and their parent VW have been coping with the effects of the diesel-emissions scandal that broke back in 2015. The scandal has cost Europe's largest automaker billions of dollars, and forced VW to put a stop-sale on diesel-powered cars in the US in late 2015. And while the Tesla Model S improved from the "worse-than-average" label CR gave it in its 2015 Annual Auto Reliability Survey, the problematic falcon-wing doors on the Tesla Model X SUV pulled that model's reliability scores lower last year. Additionally, the Model X's climate-control system and door locks have also caused issues. Toyota and Lexus finished atop CR's reliability rankings last year. Related Video:

10 of 18 midsize SUVs earn 'good' IIHS side impact safety rating

It's not terribly surprising that midsize SUVs earned better safety ratings than small SUVs in the latest side-impact tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Just how much better they scored, on the other hand, certainly raises an eyebrow. Ten out of 18 midsize SUVs earned the highest rating of 'good' in the stringent new test, altered for vehicles starting with the 2020 model year with a heavier barrier (4,200 pounds) that moves at a higher speed (37 miles per hour) and is fitted with a hard honeycomb frontal structure. By way of contrast, just one out of of 20 small SUVs earned a 'good' score.  SUVs that receiving 'good' scores were the Ford Explorer, Infiniti QX60, Lincoln Aviator, Mazda CX-9, Nissan Pathfinder, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, Volkswagen Atlas, Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and Volkswagen ID.4. For EV fans, it's worth noting the ID.4 was the only electric vehicle included in the test. The Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse scraped away with 'acceptable' ratings while the Honda Passport, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Wrangler 4-door, Kia Telluride and Nissan Murano were deemed merely 'marginal' in the tough new test. Only two models — the Mazda CX-9 and Volkswagen ID.4 — earned a "Good" rating in every test category.  Interestingly, the Jeep Wrangler would have scored a 'good' rating if it were equipped with side airbags for the rear seating positions. It would likely be an engineering challenge to equip its removable top and/or doors with airbags, but the lack of that safety feature allowed the head of the rear passenger dummy to hit the vertical support of the top. Otherwise, the Wrangler scored good ratings across the board. The new Ford Bronco, which makes more allowances for side-impact safety, has not yet been tested.  The popular Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride SUVs stand out in the test with 'poor' ratings for driver pelvis injuries. The Nissan Murano, a vehicle last redesigned for the 2015 model year, was the only vehicle tested that received a 'poor' rating for its structure and safety cage. Videos of the tests of 12 of these 18 SUVs can be found on the IIHS' YouTube page. Related video: Green Buick Chevrolet Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jeep Kia Mazda Nissan Subaru Toyota Volkswagen Safety Crossover SUV IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Buick Century attracts 15,000 bees searching for new hive

By most accounts, the fifth-generation Buick Century isn't considered a desirable place to live. For a swarm of 15,000 bees, however, the lure of the front-drive A-body proved irresistible, much to the chagrin of the car's Las Cruces, N.M. owner. The unidentified man had gone shopping in an Albertson's grocery store, returned to his car, placed his purchases in the car, and began driving away. Then he noticed that something was, according to the New York Times, "amiss." The Buick owner called 911, which dispatched the Las Cruces Fire Department to the scene. Luckily, one firefighter and paramedic in the brigade, Jesse Johnson, is a hobbyist beekeeper. Though he was off duty at the time, Johnson sprung into action and arrived at the Buick with equipment to transfer the bees safely, including an empty hive box, a beekeeper's outfit and lemongrass oil, which mimics the scent of the queen. Johnson told the Times that bee colonies will often split in springtime, with a swarm following a queen to search for a new home. Apparently, the partially open window of a 1982-96 Buick Century looked like an inviting, perhaps temporary, location as the bees relocated. Johnson removed 3.5 pounds' worth of bees in a span of less than a half hour. He is rehabitating the bees at his home, where he maintains other hives. “IÂ’ll do anything to keep people from killing the bees,” Johnson told the Times. He also explained that when bees swarm like this, they are typically pretty docile. Amazingly, the Buick owner was only in the store for 10 minutes, the paper reports. Johnson believes the bees came from a nearby neighborhood. Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident. One Albertson's security guard was stung, according to the Las Cruces Fire Department, and another firefighter was stung on the lip. For the record, the Las Cruces Fire Department says they don't routinely handle bees. It was just fortunate that Johnson was around. It's not clear if the bees would have flocked to a similar era Chevy Celebrity or Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. Related Video: