1956 Chevrolet 210 Station Wagon on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Outrageous Thor24 semi truck to appear in the new season of 'Jay Leno's Garage'

Wednesday is Jay Leno's birthday, and CNBC used the occasion to announce the upcoming season of Jay Leno's Garage. In a new teaser video, Leno is seen with a stacked list of guests, some new, some repeats, as well as a wild gamut of vehicles, including the absolutely insane 24-cylinder, 3,424-horsepower Thor24.  The outrageous semi build, which sold at auction in Saudi Arabia earlier this year for a whopping $12 million (or $1 million per supercharger) will join the likes of the Tesla Cybertruck and a recliner on wheels on the upcoming season of Jay's series.  Thor24 View 24 Photos The formula for Jay Leno's Garage is simple, successful, and not changing anytime soon. He brings out a bunch of famous people, some of which are real enthusiasts, others who have more casual driving backgrounds, and they experience a vehicle together. In the short clip released by CNBC, Leno is accompanied by Elon Musk (again), Danny Trejo, Bill Burr, Tim Allen, Jon Hamm, Brad Garrett, Jeff Dunham, Kelly Clarkson, Matt LeBlanc, Blake Shelton, Norm MacDonald, Edd China, and Jon Lovitz.           View this post on Instagram                   Thank you for sharing your dream with us. Happy Birthday, Jay! Love always, your @cnbcprime Family. A post shared by Jay Leno's Garage (@jaylenosgarage) on Apr 28, 2020 at 8:27am PDT The people, however, are merely social lubricants to spotlight the real stars of the show, the cars. This season will include the Tesla Cybertruck, the record-breaking Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, a 1965 Buick Riviera, a naked cat car, an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, a Porsche Taycan, a modern Ford GT, a Chevrolet Corvette C8 hard-top convertible, amphicars, a snail car, a beetle car, a couch car, and the 24-cylinder, 12-supercharger, 3,424-horsepower Thor24 semi. Just to name a few. As usual, there will be racing, stunts, spinouts, smoke from both tires and engines, and lots of silly dad jokes. Season 5 of Jay Leno's Garage debuts on CNBC on May 20 at 10 p.m. ET. Related Video: Celebrities Green TV/Movies Aston Martin Bugatti Chevrolet Tesla Special and Limited Editions Jay Leno Jay Lenos Garage

Toyota tops Kelley Blue Book's Resale Value Awards

Kelley Blue Book announced its annual Best Resale Value Award winners, and we weren't too surprised to see the list dominated by Japanese automakers - mainly Toyota and Honda. KBB hands out the awards based on the projected residual value of mostly all 2013 model year vehicles, and Toyota skated home with a number of awards including 10 of the 22 overall categories and having five of its products in the top 10 for models with best resale value. KBB's Best Resale Value Awards were announced in the same week as the ALG Residual Value Awards, and there were many similarities between both lists, especially when it came to Toyota.
To come up with its winners, KBB measures depreciation over the first five years of ownership, and looks for the cars it expects to hold its value the best after this time; on average, the report says the 2013 model year vehicles will lose 61.8 percent of its value in five years. Of the 22 categories, 15 slots were filled by Toyota, Honda and Nissan products, while the Camaro and Porsche (Cayenne and Panamera) each took home a pair of awards. If Toyota has anything to be upset about in this list of cars, it's that categories for Hybrid/Alternative Energy Car and Electric Vehicle went to the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Volt, respectively.
The overall top 10 models for the best resale value in 2013 are, in alphabetical order: