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2014 Honda Odyssey sucks it up for our editor

When we heard that the 2014 Honda Odyssey would be getting the world's first in-car vacuum, we had to check this thing out for ourselves. Called HondaVAC, this tidy little sucker was co-developed with Shop-Vac, and it's actually pretty neat. It comes standard on Odyssey's top-trim Touring Elite model and can be fitted with a wide range of attachments all housed in the cargo area. Honda notes that the vacuum hose is long enough to reach surfaces in every part of the Odyssey's cabin, and that it will even run for a full eight minutes after the vehicle is turned off.
Good thing, then, that Honda chose to show off the new 2014 Odyssey here at the New York Auto Show, as Autoblog west coast editor Michael Harley clumsily managed to spill some snacks all over the cargo area (we tried to convince him to give himself a hickey, but he declined on grounds that his wife might not let him attend any more auto shows). Take a look at the video below to see just how well the new minivan cleans up.

Honda motorcycles most stolen, just like Honda autos

It comes as no surprise that Honda's Civic and Accord are the most stolen cars in America, but as it turns out, thieves like the company's motorcycles the most too, according to a study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Out of the 46,061 two-wheelers stolen in 2012, 9,082 of them were Hondas. While that's bad news for Honda motorcycle owners, at least motorcycle theft went down slightly from 2011, which had 46,667 reported thefts. Motorcycle theft recoveries, on the other hand, were just 39 percent.
Yamaha is up next in the theft rankings (7,517), then Suzuki (7,017). The numbers drop a bit for fourth and fifth place, Kawasaki (4,839) and Harley-Davidson (3,755). These five brands are far and away the most stolen motorcycles: sixth place, apparently held by scooter, dirtbike and ATV maker Taotao, dropped to 914 theft reports.
California had the most reported thefts (6,082), followed by Florida (4,110), Texas (3,400), North Carolina (2,574) and Indiana (2,334). By city, New York City had the most reported thefts (903), followed by Las Vegas (757), San Diego (633), Indianapolis (584) and Miami (535.

Ford tumbles to second worst in Consumer Reports reliability survey, list dominated by Japanese [w/video]

It's no secret that MyFord Touch has had its share of problems since being introduced, but the most recent reliability survey from Consumer Reports shows just how much this infotainment system has affected Ford. Just two years ago, the automaker was in the top 10 for the institute's reliability rankings, but since then, it has tumbled to the second-lowest rung just above dead-last Jaguar. In addition to MyFord Touch, CR also attributes a handful of new products that have had issues right out of the gate.
Compiled from 1.2 million subscriber surveys, this year's auto reliability survey heavily favors Japanese automakers, with eight of the 10 spots hailing from Japan. Toyota brands grabbed the top three spots (Scion, Toyota and Lexus - in that order) with Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura filling the next four spots. The only non-Asian automaker cracking the top 10 was Audi at number eight.
Audi climbed a total of 18 spots from last year, and Cadillac and GMC round out this year's top gainers breaking into the top 15. Helping Cadillac's upward movement, the CTS Coupe was named the most reliable domestic car. Lincoln, Volvo and Chrysler join Ford on this year's biggest loser list.