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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Mercedes-AMG E 53 and BMW 2 Series | Autoblog Podcast #734

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore and Senior Editor, Consumer, Jeremy Korzeniewski kick things off with a discussion of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and the future of the brand. The Mercedes-AMG E-Class is next up, followed by the BMW 2 Series Coupe.  Next, Senior West Coast Editor James Riswick reports from the ground at the first drive of the latest Honda HR-V. Our hosts revisit the week's news, including automakers requesting a lift of the EV federal tax credit cap, Chevy giving us a peek at its electric Blazer, and Ford recalling millions of vehicles, including about half of all the Mustang Mach-E EVs it has sold. Finally, our guys dig through the mailbag to help a reader decide whether to purchase a Ford Focus ST or another hot hatch. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #734 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving Rolls-Royce Cullinan Mercedes-AMG E 53 BMW 2 Series Coupe Dispatch from the 2023 Honda HR-V first drive event GM, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis CEOs want EV tax credit cap lifted 2024 Chevy Blazer EV partly revealed, details coming in July Ford recalls Mustang Mach-E, includes stop-sale order Ford recalls 3 million other vehicles Spend my money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video:

Autoblog Podcast #404

Episode #404 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Chris Paukert and Brandon Turkus talk about the BMW i8 and i3, this week's SEMA show, the looming Ferrari spin-off and the passing of Tom Magliozzi, longtime co-host of NPR's Car Talk. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #404: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics: BMW i8 and i3 SEMA Ferrari to be spun off Tom Magliozzi of Car Talk passes away In The Autoblog Garage: 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic 2015 Ford Mustang GT Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:54:34 Rundown: Intro & Garage - 00:00 BMW i8 and i3 - 36:18 SEMA - 01:00:53 Ferrari IPO - 01:12:44 Tom Magliozzi - 01:21:12 Q&A - 01:32:45 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Auto News Celebrities Earnings/Financials Podcasts SEMA Show BMW Ferrari Ford Mercedes-Benz SEMA 2014 mercedes gla45 amg