The Bottom Line: The Toyota Corolla is a line of compact cars manufactured by Toyota. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best selling car worldwide by 1974, and has been one of the best selling cars in the world since then. With more than 45 million Corollas sold around the globe, in over 54 years of production, the Toyota Corolla is the best selling car in history.

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2021 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE

The Bottom Line: Hyundai Motor Company was founded in 1967. Along with its 33% owned subsidiary of Kia Motors, and its 100% owned luxury subsidiary Genesis Motors, they together comprise the Hyundai Motor Group. They have learned a thing or two in their 53 years of manufacturing, and today they are the third largest car company in the world.

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2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited

The Bottom Line: Lately automotive consumers have shifted their preferences from buying and leasing 4 door sedans, to crossovers, SUV's and pickup trucks. That trend has been going on for over 5 years, and the crossover, SUV and pickup truck market is now over 50% of US sales, and going higher each year. As the sedan market continues to shrink all the car companies have to be very competitive to make a 4 door car sale today.

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2020 Volkswagen Passat 2.0T SEL

The Bottom Line: If you are in the market for a compact car your choices have dwindled. The Big 3, GM, Ford and the Chrysler Group, have all stopped building and selling everyday cars. Muscle cars and large sedans are still available, but the small and compact mid sized American cars are all gone now. They have been replaced with SUV's, crossovers and pickup trucks. If you want a small or compact car you need to look to Japan, Korea or Germany for your next ride.

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2020 Kia Forte GT

The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Review: It’s remarkable that Volkswagen’s engineers spent years creating an all-new design for the 2019 Jetta, but my brain most loudly registers one crude thought after driving it. “There’s a red stripe around the wheel!”
Yes, the freshly designed Jetta looks more svelte with coupe-like arches. It has a completely new interior that is built around the lightweight-but-solid MQB architecture, making it feel better than I can ever recall a Jetta feeling from the driver’s seat. It’s taller, wider and longer than before.

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2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

The 2019 Mazda3 Sedan Review: If I made a checklist of what every car company should do to boost their sedan sales at a time of crossover-vehicle mania, it would look something like this: “Give it a gorgeous cabin covered in soft-touch materials. Install a smartphone interface that’s incredibly easy to use. Pen it a sexy body. And to woo those crossover buyers, make it get noticeably better gas mileage than a similar sized CUV, plus offer it with all-wheel drive.”

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2019 Mazda3 Sedan

The 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE Review: Toyota hasn’t offered a hatchback version of the Corolla since the 1990s, but that’s changing this year. With the oh-so-creative name of Corolla Hatchback, this new 2019 model is smaller, sportier, different and much more interesting than the Corolla sedan that sells in mind-blowing numbers every year. People who buy the Corolla sedan, and there are whole lot of you out there,  do so for straightforward reasons: practicality, low ownership costs and an almost supernatural reputation for reliability. If you want cheap, dependable transportation, buying a Corolla sedan and driving it until the wheels rust off is your default choice.

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2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE

The 2018 Mazda6 Review: At a time when most manufacturers are pouring their development money into electric cars and endless iterations of crossover vehicles, Mazda still sees room to push the limits of what a four-door sedan can be. Need proof? Take a drive in the heavily updated 2018 Mazda6. This mid-size car was already one of my favorites thanks to the many things it does well: fuel efficiency, styling, cabin design and, above all else, driving dynamics that make it feel more like a pricey European sports sedan than an affordable family runabout. Now it’s moving into two territories where family cars, especially ones at this price, rarely tread.

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2018 Mazda6

The 2018 Hyundai Elantra SEL Review: In a relatively short period of time, the Hyundai Elantra has risen from a cheaply built, economy car, to one of the most refined in its competitive class. In fact, if you drive it back-to-back with its American and Japanese rivals, it’s hard to find any of the glaring shortfalls that were so obvious in its ancestors. The materials and design feel surprisingly nice for its low price, starting at $16,950, and its driving feel is perfectly pleasant.

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2018 Hyundai Elantra SEL

The 2018 Toyota Corolla XSE Review:  Toyota says the Corolla is one of the most popular cars on Planet Earth, selling around 1.5 million copies in more than 150 countries each year. That begs a question. Why? From a driver’s standpoint, it’s hard to see what would make it such a hot seller considering it’s never been known for the 3 classic car-magazine bullet points, horsepower, handling and sex appeal.

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2018 Toyota Corolla XSE

The 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid Review:  The Niro is Kia’s green warrior. A hybrid Niro preceded the plug-in, and an all-electric version just debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January (it’s about a year away). There is no gasoline-only Niro. The Niro is blessed with appealing, nicely balanced lines and proportions, without any extreme styling excesses. It wears Kia’s now familiar tiger mouth grille with the pinch in the middle and it looks good from every angle.

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2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid

The 2018 Hyundai Sonata Limited Review: Understanding the 2018 Hyundai Sonata requires a short history lesson. At the start of this decade, Hyundai began selling its sixth-generation Sonata that turned out to be a huge hit in the United States. That 2011 model was the first Sonata I’d characterize as a good car, compared to its ancestors that worked their way up the descriptor ladder from “truly awful” to “good for the money.” Here was a Sonata that, as I recall, was the first Korean car I’d ever driven that felt better than the strongest Japanese and American products in its segment.

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2018 Hyundai Sonata Limited

The 2018 Mazda3 Four-Door Grand Touring Review: A few car companies are doing something that would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago: dropping small cars from their lineup. It started with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles deciding to kill off the Chrysler 200 sedan, a car that wasn’t all that bad by the end of its life. I liked a lot of things about it, but FCA decided to pull the plug and stop investing in small cars completely. There’s more money to be made in trucks and SUVs, so that’s where they’re focusing instead.

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2018 Mazda3 Four-Door Grand Touring

The 2018 Toyota Camry XSE Review:  When Toyota started its top-to-bottom redesign of America’s most popular car, the Camry, the goal could be summed up with one word: emotion. That’s a dramatic change for a vehicle long known for being automotive vanilla. Its decades-long reputation is built on reliability and practicality more than style and feel, so the decision to inject some excitement into the Camry, even a little bit, is a big deal.

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2018 Toyota Camry XSE

The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf Review: In the wake of the Diesel emissions scandal, VW is emphasizing its electric car goals, but so far, its only all-electric car is the e-Golf. I enjoyed a week with a handsome White Silver example. With the sound and vibration of an engine removed, tire noise, wind, and EV functions come to the fore, so the engineers worked hard to make the e-Golf extremely quiet inside. They also installed a tone that’s emitted at low speeds to warn pedestrians that the silent cruiser is close.

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2017 Volkswagen e-Golf

The 2017 Kia Optima PHEV Review: Plug-in Hybrids address two concerns. First, they help reduce carbon emissions by limiting gas consumption. With an 18-mile commute each way and a charger at work, I drove my Snow White Pearl test car to the office and back all week, burning exactly zero gasoline, thanks to the Optima’s 27 miles of all-electric range. The second concern is limited ability to take long trips. But with the Optima PHEV, if I suddenly decide to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles on the weekend, I can, without stopping to refuel. The total gas plus electric range is more than 600 miles!

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2017 Kia Optima PHEV

The 2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring Review: Driving on the country roads that zigzag around plots of farmland in rural East Texas, one thing is clear about the new Mazda CX-5. It still carries some sports-car DNA. That’s long been the chief selling point for the CX-5, a family-friendly vehicle that has reasonable space for baby seats in back, yet still feels light, nimble and enjoyable when you flick the steering wheel and zoom by cow pastures. It’s perfect for drivers who need practicality, but also want a hint of the MX-5 Miata’s smile-making personality.

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2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring

The 2017 Kia Forte Review: Despite all the excitement over crossovers these days, many people still want a reasonably sized, economical sedan, that’s big enough to have road presence and safety, but doesn’t break the bank either. The Kia Forte offers a rich mix of features for day-to-day living, plus has five-star government safety ratings and affordability.

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2017 Kia Forte

The 2017 Toyota Camry Hybrid Review: The midsize Toyota Camry sedan has enjoyed the top spot in car sales in the U.S. for the last 14 years. Now in its 35th year and seventh generation, it remains a hit. What folks may not know is that Toyota sells lots of other hybrids besides the Prius. There’s an Avalon, Highlander and RAV4 Hybrid offered, and even a Camry model. While it’s not as fuel efficient as the Prius, the Camry Hybrid still is significantly more green than the gasoline-only models.

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2017 Toyota Camry

The 2017 Volvo S90 Review: Today, most people no longer associate Volvo with boxy cars and safety. Yes, they did look like shoeboxes from the late 1960s through the 1990s, and you wanted to be in one if a crash occurred, as they invented shoulder belts. But in the 21st century, Volvos look much sleeker and more appealing today. Now with Chinese ownership, and the resultant inflow of investment cash, the brand enjoys a product renaissance. Following in the footsteps of the award-winning XC crossover comes the lovely new S90 flagship sedan.
Run your eyes over the exterior. The flanks present forthright styling that captures some of the old edginess, but framing a sensuous midsection. The concave grille wears a waterfall of matte silver bars and the traditional ironmark, surrounded by a chrome ring.

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2017 Volvo S90

The 2017 Hyundai Elantra Eco Review: Even with low gas prices and SUVs aplenty, some people just want to drive a good compact sedan. Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and others have mastered the art off providing these over the years with the Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3, respectively. Hyundai’s Elantra is a good way to do it, too. And today, the “compact” sedan has grown to more like a midsize inside.

2017 Hyundai Elantra Eco

The 2017 Mazda CX-3 Review: The 2017 CX-3 is Mazda’s entry-level car, it’s a cute UTE. Sitting below the Mazda3 wagon and the popular CX-5 crossover, it offers a fun little runabout with lots of practicality and efficiency, at a low price. With loads of competition now, it flaunts its Mazdaness to compete.

2017 Mazda CX-3

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Review: If you want to peek inside an alternate universe to see what everyone would be driving if gas prices weren’t so cheap right now, take a look at this car: the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. It’s OPEC’s worst nightmare. This is the car that could see America go through an oil embargo relatively unscathed, assuming Toyota could ramp up production in time. Why is it so special? Because it makes gasoline completely unnecessary for around-town trips and is very inexpensive for long ones.

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2017 Toyota Prius Prime

The 2017 Kia Cadenza Limited Review: The first thing I noticed about this car was its window-sticker price of $45,290, a number I still struggle to wrap my mind around on a Kia. Then I drove it and realized this might be the nicest $45,000 car I’ve ever been in, making it feel like a steal. There are plenty of strong choices for premium sedans in this price class, starting around $32,000, but few of them can reach the lofty level of my loaded-up 2017 Cadenza tester. It came with everything I’d expect from a $60,000 luxury car, sans the snob appeal.

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2017 Kia Cadenza

The 2017 Toyota Corolla XSE Review: Forty-three million. Think about that.
It’s the number of Corollas Toyota has sold since it began production in late 1966, making this the best-selling automotive nameplate in the history of the world. That’s selling an average of around 100 Corollas per hour, 24 hours a day, nonstop for 50 years.
If you parked 43 million Corollas end to end, that’s enough to circle the equator five times. It could stretch halfway to the moon.

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2017 Toyota Corolla XSE

The 2016 VW Jetta Review: The compact Jetta has been a big seller for VW in the U.S. because it delivers some of what you get in a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW at a bargain price. A big change for 2016 is the new 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder engine, which replaces the 2.0-liter non-turbo in the lower level models. This gives the car 15 percent better highway fuel economy, while still providing plenty of pep, with 150 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque.

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2016 VW Jetta

The 2017 Acura RDX AWD Review: Acura, Honda’s upscale brand, arrived in the late 1980s with a big sedan, the Legacy, and a compact sporty sedan/coupe the Integra. Today, the nameplate fields a wider range of vehicles, including the RDX crossover. The RDX is the smaller of the two Acura crossovers, under the MDX. With significant upgrades for 2016, the 2017 version carries over with little change. As usual, there’s a well-equipped model, and then lots of ways to upgrade it.

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2017 Acura RDX AWD

The 2016 Kia Optima SX Turbo Review: Perhaps no car sums up the status of Korean vehicles like this one, the new-for-2016 Kia Optima. My perception of this car will always be clouded by what it used to be more than a decade ago: a sedan for people who either couldn’t afford better or didn’t know better. In my mind, the Optima of yesteryear was a last-resort car akin to the awful Daewoo Leganza, that my wife drove until it fell apart all too soon after it left the factory.

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2016 Kia Optima SX

The 2016 Chevrolet Volt Review: The all-new Chevrolet Volt may be the best solution today for moving to greener driving to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. It’s an electric vehicle (EV) without the drawbacks.

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2016 Chevrolet Volt

The 2016 Chevrolet Impala Review: There are some folks who still want a full-size, American made sedan, and the Chevrolet Impala is a bona fide classic. Now in the third year of this latest iteration, it’s picked up endorsements as a great family car from Kelley Blue Book and U.S. News and World Report.

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2016 Chevy Impala

The 2016 Nissan Maxima Review: When Nissan began selling Datsun’s in the United States in the mid 1960s, the cars were tiny sedans and pickup trucks. In the 1970s, Datsun expanded. It wasn’t until 1981 though, that the first Maxima arrived, offering a real step up from basic transportation.
With a modest 2.4-liter inline six from the 240 Z sports car making all of 145 horsepower, the early Maximas weren’t barn burners, but they developed into midsized sedans that Nissan marketed as “The 4-door Sports Car,” the poor man’s BMW.

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2016 Nissan Maxima

The 2015 Nissan Versa Note Review: Normally, I drive my test cars back and forth to work and around town, but my Red Brick 2015 Versa Note test car took me from the San Francisco Bay Area to San Juan Capistrano, below Los Angeles, and back. It was a surprisingly pleasant ride, and never let me down.

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2015 Nissan Versa Note

The 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid Review: The Toyota Camry, introduced in 1983, has developed into America’s favorite midsize car. So, when Toyota’s management updates it every several years, they are generally cautious. The 2015 Camry, though, is probably the most adventurous one ever.

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2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid

The 2015 Volvo S60 Review: Volvo is a Swedish brand, now owned by a Chinese corporation, whose origins go back 100 years, to when the company was founded as a subsidiary of a ball bearing manufacturer. The official founding date, however, is April 14, 1927, when Volvo built its first car in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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2015 Volvo S60

The 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Review: The Volkswagen Golf has been sold around the world for 40 years. A mainstream model in Europe, it is less central to VW’s model mix in the U.S. However, with a major redesign for 2015 comes Volkswagen’s first all-electric car, the e-Golf, and it was worth the wait.

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2015 Volkswagen e-Golf

The 2015 Subaru Legacy Review: Subaru has staked its reputation on all-wheel-drive cars. Every Subaru for sale these days sends traction to all four wheels. That’s why these cars are so popular in places like Colorado and Vermont, where there’s lots of snow and mountainous terrain, and the Pacific Northwest, where the roads are always wet from rainfall.

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2015 Subaru Legacy

The 2014 Ford Fiesta SE Review: It may seem weird to draw comparisons between economy cars and hyper-expensive supercars, but it’s hard not to see some exotic influence in the new-for-2014 Ford Fiesta. For one thing, its new nose borrows heavily from Aston Martin, which gives it the same hint of British exclusivity that makes the bigger Fusion such a pretty car to look at.

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2014 Ford Fiesta SE

The 2014 Chevrolet Impala Review: The Chevrolet Impala debuted in 1958 as the top model of the full-size BelAir car line, in coupe and convertible form. Flash forward to 1965. The Impala, likely the most beautiful version ever, sold more than a million units. It still stands as a record for a single model. In the 1990s the Impala became less important as midsize sedans, such as the Oldsmobile Cutlass, took over as the mainstream favorites. After a brief hiatus, the Impala reappeared in a 2000 model, but as an anonymous midsize front-wheel-drive sedan. With GM’s post-bankruptcy rebirth, the corporation has finally delivered the first new Impala in a long time worthy of the name Impala.

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2014 Chevrolet Impala

The 2015 Chrysler 200 Review: It’s hard to overstate how much this car, the all-new 200, means for the Chrysler brand. Not only does it have to replace the old memories of rental-car mediocrity that so many drivers experienced in the old Chrysler Sebring, but it also has to prove that FIAT-based cars can be fully tailored to the American market. And, make no mistake, the Chrysler 200 is trying its best to turn an Italian car into something that feels more American.

2015 Chrysler 200

The 2014 Nissan Altima Review: It takes a lot for a four-door car to stand out in today’s world, but the new-generation Nissan Altima seems to have found the right recipe. At a time when the sedan market has never been more competitive, with brilliant products available this year from America, Japan, Korea and Europe, the Altima’s sales are growing faster than any other car in its class so far this year. Why all the interest? Three things: polish, fun and comfort.

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2014 Nissan Altima

The 2014 Nissan Versa Note Review: The 2014 Versa is Nissan's lowest-priced car. Assembled in Mexico, it leads the pack of entry transportation modules, and it's no surprise. For 2013, Nissan brought in a brand-new Versa sedan. It was nice enough, but not that exciting. The ’14 Versa Note is something different, though. Called simply the Note in the other places it's sold, it's a five-door hatchback, a very useful configuration, and looks different from the sedan. It has the kind of eye-catching look that you'd find on, say, a Mazda3, with plenty of motion and character. My test car, in a bright, unpretentious Metallic Blue, seemed happy to be a car.

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2014 Nissan Versa

The 2014 Fiat 500L Review: This is a car that can't be judged by the pictures. If you haven't seen it in person, you might assume the Fiat 500L is an ever-so-slightly larger version of the Fiat 500, the cute, lovable Italian car that's one of the smallest vehicles on the road. But that one letter makes a huge difference.

2014 FIAT 500L

The 2014 Dodge Avenger Review: If you’re someone who appreciates the golden age of domestic sedans, those big, comfortable, heavy-feeling cars with a uniquely American sense of style, this one ought to pique your interest. It’s the Dodge Avenger, and it’s part of a disappearing breed of domestic family cars that actually feel American.

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2014 Dodge Avenger

The 2014 Chevrolet Malibu Review: Long before the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry, the Chevrolet Malibu was a major midsize pioneer. It debuted a half century ago as the top level of the midsize Chevrolet Chevelle. Now in its 8th generation, the Malibu is striving for market share in its hotly contested and popular market segment.

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2014 Chevy Malibu

The 2014 Volkswagen Passat Review: The Passat is Volkswagen’s midsize sedan. While earlier versions were imported, the latest one was designed especially for Americans and is built here in the US. It has lots of room and a long list of features we expect from the other midsize cars, such as the Chevy Malibu, Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata. The Passat is meant to compete, but also provide something special.

2014 Volkswagen Passat

The 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium Review: Picking a car is a bit like shopping for sandwich bread. Every choice can do the job, but the tiny differences between them can make you love one type and hate another, for reasons that are sometimes difficult to explain. Picking a mid-size sedan, often called the automotive equivalent of white bread, makes it even tougher.

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2013 Ford Fusion Titanium

The 2013 Nissan Sentra SL Review: Nissan made two bold moves when redesigning the 2013 Sentra. First, it did a particularly good job on the tried-and-true plan for freshening compact cars: make it bigger, smoother, quieter, nicer and prettier looking. The new generation Sentra does all that, which makes it a dramatically better car than the rather forgettable 2012 model.

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2013 Nissan Sentra

The 2013 Dodge Dart Review: In the early 1960s, American car companies decided to take on a rising tide of imports. The Big 3 introduced the Chevy Corvair from GM, the Falcon from Ford and the Plymouth Valiant from Chrysler. In 1963, the Dodge division got the new Dart, based on the Valiant platform. The Dart became Dodge’s first successful compact car, and was sold through 1975, when it was replaced by the Dodge Aspen. Now with the new 2013 Dart, Dodge has a nice credible mid size compact sedan. Why use the old name? Apparently it tested very well in consumer research with both folks old enough to remember the old Dart fondly and with young millennials, and that means fresh new buyers.

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2013 Dodge Dart

The 2013 Nissan Altima Review: Lots of people want to carry five people in comfort, with decent trunk space and enough maneuverability to park without trauma. If they don't crave a trendy crossover or a workhorse SUV, and aren't seeking a super-economical commuter mobile, what better than a midsize Nissan Altima?

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2013 Nissan Altima

The 2012 Chrysler 300C Review: The Chrysler 300 has been good for Chrysler, was renewed back in 2011, and it has helped return some prestige to the brand. The 300 series goes all the way back to the 1950's, when the potent Hemi V8 engines were part of the explosion of power and fins that defines that age for us today.

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2012 Chrysler 300

The 2012 Nissan Maxima Review:  Nissan likes to tout the Maxima as a "four-door sports car." While that may be a stretch seeing how the Maxima is a front-wheel-drive sedan with a continuously variable transmission
(CVT), two mortal sins in the sports car Bible, it does have the kind of power and handling that make it stand out from its peers. In fact, the Maxima is unusual because it doesn't come from a luxury brand.

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2012 Nissan Maxima

The 2013 Buick Verano Review: Buick built its reputation on big, smooth, quiet cars. There are plenty of people who buy luxury cars, especially the entry-level luxury cars that Buick specializes in, who don't want their car to feel like something that Grandma would drive. That's why the Buick Verano exists.

2013 Buick Verano

The 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Limited Review: If you've ever driven the rock-hard, super-fast version of the Subaru Impreza, you know it's a car with great bones. In this hopped-up trim, the Impreza WRX is one of the most thrilling cars you can buy with four doors, and that includes much more expensive offerings like the BMW M3. The WRX is raw, exciting and total proof that this car's architecture is designed to withstand the brutal demands of a performance car.

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2012 Subaru Impreza

The 2012 Chevrolet Volt Review:  The Chevrolet Volt is unique in the world of hybrid and electric vehicles. It is powered by an electric motor all the time, unlike a hybrid, in which the gasoline engine powers the car part of the time. Its on-board gas engine is used only to charge the battery when the car runs out of electricity; the engine itself never powers the wheels directly.
This gas engine’s presence is meant to remove "range anxiety," a malady suffered by owners of all-electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf. The Leaf can go up to 90 miles on a charge, but when you're out of juice, you're stranded.

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2012 Chevy Volt

The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT Review: You know Chevrolet has come a long way when its cars are outshining competitors from Japan, even after their new models are launched. That's exactly what Chevy is doing with the Cruze, a compact car that looks and feels like an upscale midsize vehicle.

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2012 Chevy Cruze

The 2012 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited Review:  The Subaru Legacy can be summed up in one word: solid. Rarely do four-door family cars feel as well built as this one, with its standard all-wheel drive and chassis that seems more German than Japanese. It's one of those special cars that feels like it's built from a single block of steel

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2012 Subaru Legacy

The 2012 Ford Focus Review: The Ford Focus was a nice step forward when it debuted in 2000 here in the U.S. It was based on a European design, and although it was built in North America, it was taut and fun to drive. But despite some restyling, it was never the real European model, and as time went on, the folks across the pond got a better car, while we settled for a restyled version of the old one. Well, that's over.

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2012 Ford Focus

The 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Review:  If you want to buy the fastest four-door car in the world, where do you look? You might think of something Italian, like a four-door Ferrari or the Maserati Quattroporte. Germany is another obvious place to consider, with the Porsche Panamera, BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz AMG models generating lots of headlines. But you'd be wrong. The fastest production sedan in the world is actually made here in America, and it's called the Cadillac CTS-V.

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2012 Cadillac CTS V

The 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid Review: In building its first hybrid car, Infiniti has figured out how to solve a big problem. Hybrids are usually too slow and too expensive. The added weight and complexity of its fancy drive train means buying a hybrid vehicle comes at a cost, both in terms of performance and money. But not this one ….

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2012 Infiniti M Hybrid

The 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S Review: Nissan sells Sentra sedans like Baskin Robbins sells ice cream. No matter what flavor you're in the mood for, they'll probably have it. Most people probably think of the vanilla Sentra first. It's a straightforward four-door car, basically a smaller, slower version of the Altima, and that's good enough for many drivers, but not exactly exciting. But that's just the start. Read on ….

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2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S

The 2011 Chrysler 200 Review: During the last Super Bowl, Chrysler received a lot of attention for its bold "Born of Fire" ad for the Chrysler 200. It featured stark Detroit photography and rapper Eminem, with a gritty narrator telling the tale of a tough, hardworking city. It later won an Emmy, and five awards at the Cannes Lions 58th International Festival of Creativity. All this for a car that used to be known as the Chrysler Sebring, and which was considered barely mediocre in the midsize car market.

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2011 Chrysler 200

The 2011 Nissan LEAF Review: The Nissan LEAF is the first completely normal, mass market, all-electric vehicle. It’s dramatically styled outside, pleasant to drive and ride in and equipped with all the accoutrements you require, satellite radio, USB, climate control, power accessories, navigation and more. The LEAF looks like a regular car, but it’s especially rounded and organic. There’s generous rear set legroom, and with those seats folded, an upright bass will fit, thanks to a convenient hatchback. So you’ll be in fine shape for monthly runs to Costco or visits to Home Depot for weekend projects.

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2011 Nissan LEAF

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt Review: After driving the Chevy Volt for a couple of hours last year, I came away with one overriding impression: it's an engineering masterpiece. In case you haven't heard about it yet, the Volt is an electric car that can drive up to 40 miles before it needs to be charged. But, unlike other electric cars, the Volt also has a gasoline engine that can keep you going after the battery power runs out.

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2011 Chevy Volt

The 2011 Nissan Versa Review: Some cars come along in the test cycle that seem to do everything right, without glamour, fanfare or pretension. The Nissan Versa is one of them. For its fifth year, the 2011 model returns with a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback, in three levels.

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2011 Nissan Versa

2011 Nissan Altima 2.5 S Review: If you're looking for a four-door car that feels sharp and precise, this is the one for you. It's the 2011 Nissan Altima, and while it doesn't receive any changes this year, it does retain that nimble, edgy feel that gives it such a playful personality

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2011 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

2011 Chevy Cruze Review: Cruze is what Chevrolet calls its newest compact car, and it makes sense that they're starting with a totally different name. That's because the Cruze breaks ranks with the small Chevy cars that have preceded it, most of which are easily forgettable, and competes directly with the Japanese stalwarts that have been eating away at American-brand car sales for decades. How so?

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2011 Chevy Cruze

Chrysler 300C Hemi Review: Even in the era of crossovers, SUVs and minivans, there's something to be said for the good ol' American family car. The market for big, full-size four-door cars has all but disappeared as drivers have turned to bigger, boxier, heavier vehicles to replace them. The barge-like sedans that floated down America's highways in the 1960s and '70s are replaced today by nimble, Japanese-style sedans and taller, tougher-looking vehicles.

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2010 Chrysler 300C Hemi

Subaru Legacy Review: If you're looking for a German car, you're probably thinking about buying a Volkswagen, BMW, Audi or Mercedes. But have you ever considered a Subaru? Subaru’s aren't made in Germany, obviously, and I'm not aware of any legitimate German connection. They're about as German as a Chicken McNugget.

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2010 Subaru Legacy

Chevy Malibu Review: General Motors is about to try something gutsy. According to Marketing Daily, GM is gearing up to do experiments in two markets where it allows, and even encourages, shoppers to drive competing brands. Why such confidence now? because GM is building cars like the new Chevy Malibu.

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2010 Chevy Malibu

Lincoln MKS and MKZ Review: What is a Lincoln? Henry Leland, who had worked closely with Ford very early on, and later founded Cadillac, founded the brand, named for the 16th president, in 1917. Lincoln originally built luxury vehicles, but ran into financial trouble, and Ford acquired them in 1922.

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2010 Lincoln MKS and MKZ

Suzuki Kizashi Review:  The new Suzuki Kizashi, yes, Kizashi, is at least as good as the all-star Toyota Corollas and Honda Civics it competes with, so let's get that out of the way right now. It's a true, world-class car.

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2010 Suzuki Kizashi

Ford Fusion Review:  There’s been plenty of good news for Ford Motor Company despite the horrible auto market. The company managed to avoid bankruptcy and the government bailout money, and now has some great cars to sell. The 2010 Fusion is one of them.

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2010 Ford Fusion

Ford Taurus Review: At Ford the blocky, old-fashioned rear-wheel-drive behemoths, such as the LTD, were hopelessly out of date. Enter the original “jelly bean” Taurus, which debuted on Christmas Day 1985, and it was a blockbuster for Ford, literally.

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2010 Ford Taurus

Mercury Milan Hybrid Review: Many years ago, I would accompany my (first) wife to her pottery studio, where she not only threw new pots but also worked on earlier ones that had partially dried. It was this crucial trimming procedure that made them into finished art. Such is the case of Mercury’s popular Milan midsize sedan, which has been significantly upgraded for the 2010 model year.

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2010 Mercury Milan

Kia Forte SX Review: Normally when you're shopping for a low-priced car you have two choices. Option one is getting a car that has plenty of standard features, but drives like a clunker. It may have power windows and a gazillion-watt stereo, but what does that matter when it has a suspension from a skateboard and an engine from a blender?  Option two is getting a car that feels nice, but comes with zero features. It might have a refined drivetrain and silent cabin, but you'll have to pay extra for the carpeting, and pretty much everything else.

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2010 Kia Forte SX

Mazda3s Sport Automatic Review:  If there's one word to sum up the new 2010 Mazda3, it's refinement. This new generation of Mazda's compact car is still sporty, tossable, light feeling, just everything you'd expect from the Zoom Zoom brand, but there's something more sophisticated about the latest rendition that's hard to pin down.  Is it the slimmer styling, the softer ride, the upscale cabin? Perhaps it's all of those things.

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2010 Mazda3

Nissan Maxima Review: Nissan’s flagship has been a fun car to drive for its entire life. It may not have been the most exciting sedan to look at sometimes, but its healthy, happy V6 pulled it along vigorously. With a seventh generation for 2009, the company has dumped conservatism and gone for the gold.

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2009 Nissan Maxima

Nissan Sentra Review: The Sentra used to be Nissan's smallest and cheapest car. In recent years it's grown bigger and become more cushy, leaving room at the bottom of Nissan's lineup for the new Versa.

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2009 Nissan Sentra

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Review: It's hard to believe modern diesel cars aren't more popular. That's probably because they have a reputation for being stinky, dirty and noisy. Back in the 1980s they used to sound like machine guns, smell like gas stations and belch smoke like locomotives in an old Western film. Today's newest diesels are nothing like that.

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2009 VW Jetta TDI

Mazda6 Review: About 30 seconds after my Sangria Red Mazda6 test car entered winding, two-lane Crow Canyon Road, I remembered why people buy Mazdas. The five-passenger family sedan handled like a bigger version of the legendary Miata sports car.

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2009 Mazda6

Car Review: For the many car shoppers who have no need for a lumbering SUV, desire for a sporty two-seat sports car, or budget for upscale luxury, the obvious choice is a nice, mid sized sedan.

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2009 Nissan Altima

Car Review: Hyundai's mid-size Sonata sedan gets a thorough refreshing for 2009 as it faces new and improved competition. A tweaked body matches the car's overall driving refinement, which is especially impressive for the money. It starts under $20,000.

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2009 Hyundai Sonata

Family Car Review: Mercury is a hallowed name in the American automotive universe. The brand still occupies its original role between an everyday Ford and a luxury Lincoln. However, that space has narrowed as lesser Lincolns and fancier Fords crowd the brand out. Sales have been less than spectacular in recent years too.

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2008 Mercury Sable

Family Car Review: I recently had the good fortune to spend several days in San Diego on vacation with my family. My trusty ride was a Lightning Red 2008 Subaru Impreza, and it was the perfect car for the job.

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2008 Subaru Impreza

Hatchback Review: Four-dollar-a-gallon gas no longer shocks people, but is still a big concern. And every day we hear more about the threat of global warming. The Mazda3 is well suited to this new world as we know it today.

2008 Mazda3 5 Door

Family Sedan Review: Volvo’s flagship sedan, the S80, got redone for the 2007 model year, but it took until now to get a date with one, a beautiful 2008 model. It was worth the wait.

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2008 Volvo S80 T6

Car Review: At some point in the 1990s, entry-level luxury cars didn't just have to be luxurious they also had to be "sporty." I'm not sure why this happened. Perhaps it's because people who write about cars, folks like me, tend to prefer fast, nimble cars instead of big, plodding ones, so the car makers figured they could get better reviews if they started copying fast cars.

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2008 Lincoln MKZ

Car Review:  There was a time, not too long ago, when American cars were designed with Jet-Puffed suspensions designed by sadists. The cars, with very few exceptions, would bounce along on a cushion of creme, which was great for comfort, but unfortunately came with the side effect of making them handle like the Lincoln Memorial.

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2008 Nissan Altima

HYBRID CAR REVIEW: Chevrolet’s Malibu has impressed auto writers, and apparently, the public too. It is one of the best looking new cars around, quality appears high, and prices are still relatively reasonable. A hybrid model should make things even better, shouldn’t it?

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2008 Chevy Malibu Hybrid

CAR REVIEW: Some car buyers are seeking good, reliable transportation. The problem is that if you opt to go basic, you can end up feeling like you’re stuck in the generic aisle at Pak N Save. The answer could be the surprising Nissan Versa.

2008 Nissan Versa

New Car Review: The Taurus, once the shining gem in Ford’s crown, was quietly put out to pasture a couple of years ago. Ford brought in the Five Hundred in its place.

New Car Review: The Taurus, once the shining gem in Ford’s crown, was quietly put out to pasture a couple of years ago. Ford brought in the Five Hundred in its place.

2008 Ford Taurus

Car Review: The two-tone interior in the new 2008 Chevy Malibu LTZ looks like it would be perfectly fitting in a Lexus, with excellent build quality and nice feeling materials. Only it’s better, in more ways than one.

2008 Chevy Malibu LZT

Car Review: Ever heard of a "sleeper", a car that looks ordinary but drives really fast? This is the opposite, the quick-looking Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, which comes with the wild styling but makes do with the ordinary Lancer's 152 horsepower engine.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS

Hybrid Review: If you want to enjoy the benefits of a hybrid’s great mileage, now there’s a better way to do it - buy the new fourth-generation 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid.

2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid

San Francisco: Every time Hyundai introduces a replacement for a model, it ups the ante significantly. This time, the trusty Elantra gets breathed on, and the result is remarkable.

2007 Hyundai Elantra

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San Francisco: Every brand needs a flagship, a leader, the vehicle that represents what the company stands for. Since 1981, that has been the Maxima’s job at Nissan. For 2007, this iconic ride gets significant tweaks to make it even more appealing.

2007 Nissan Maxima

San Francisco: The Accord is Honda’s mid sized sedan and coupe that does everything well and some things wonderfully. It is well built and reliable. It has been their best selling vehicle year after year and manages to clean up in the awards department - even from the automotive buff books, which are run by folks who crave Ferraris and Corvettes.

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2007 Honda Accord

San Francisco: It would seem to be the meeting of two great ideas, the quintessential Japanese midsize sedan with the popular hybrid power system. The Honda Accord Hybrid, however, disappoints, and it’s not because of the quality, it’s superb, as always. But the car simply doesn’t save much fuel.

2006 Honda Accord Hybrid

San Francisco: The Saturn project is 20 years old now. In the mid 1980’s, GM proudly unveiled a plan to build an economical small sedan that would rival the Japanese in quality and economy, while being designed and built right here in the good, old U.S.A. Early models lacked refinement, but sold well, and the brand took off.

2007 Saturn Aura

San Francisco: I spent a week with the all-new Lexus IS350. The IS sedan is the baby sport Lexus aimed squarely at a certain German automaker’s North American entry level vehicle.

2006 Lexus IS350

San Francisco: This affordable luxury sedan, the Zephyr, is helping Lincoln shed its stodgy image as a brand for limousine companies and AARP members. It's been a long time since Lincoln has made a great car.

2006 Lincoln Zephyr

San Francisco: It's been an incredible two decades for Hyundai in America. From the cheap, humble Excel econobox to the wide range of high quality offerings today, the people at Hyundai have toiled ceaselessly to improve their product. Now, the new flagship Azera goes after the luxury carmakers with its typically long feature list and affordable price.

2006 Hyundai Azera

San Francisco: Volkswagen has been hurting lately, and it's not because their cars aren't good. Until this model year, they were just old. The last Passat debuted in 1997 as a 1998 model, so it was overdue for a redo. And that's what VW has done, and brilliantly I would say.

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2006 Volkswagen Passat

San Francisco: Honda was the first manufacturer to introduce a car with a hybrid engine technology to the American market, with the tiny Insight in 1999. Honda has been building efficient automobiles for decades, so making a hybrid version of the Civic seems like a great idea.

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2006 Honda Civic Hybrid

San Francisco: An athletic, feline body makes the Mazda 6 sedan look sporty without being outrageously styled. Its precise, balanced, sports-car-like handling makes it drive even sportier than its body suggests.

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2006 Mazda 6

San Francisco: While many of today's cars look like they were inspired in one way or another by designers smoking a joint, the A4 actually has an elegant, intelligent, sophisticated look, and it looks marvelous.

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2006 Audi A4

San Francisco: Clean, fresh styling on the 2006 Mercury Milan is similar to the Ford Fusion but not totally identical. It's a classy looking car, with Mercury's signature grille drawing attention to its distinctive front end. Aluminum-look trim and a two-tone cabin make the Milan feel like a low-priced Jaguar on the inside. It's a quiet, comfortable cabin that's great for long commutes.

2006 Mercury Milan

San Francisco: Distinctive styling sets the 2006 Ford Fusion apart from its dull competitors. This all-new family car is finally a legitimate competitor to the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, unlike the aging Taurus it's replacing.

2006 Ford Fusion

San Francisco:  For what seems like forever, Honda has sold a huge fleet of Accords to American buyers. Whatever the company puts in the dough, this model bakes up to an almost boringly routine success story year after year.

2006 Honda Accord

San Francisco:  Mazda is becoming the company that gives you cars you can’t find anywhere else. The brand has offered the sporty Miata roadster for 15 years, and now sells the unique four-door RX-8 sports car. Mazda is also home to the new junior-sized Mazda5 minivan. But just as importantly, Mazda sells the intriguing midsize Mazda6. You can get it not only as a four-door sedan, but also as a wagon and as a five-door hatchback. No other midsize car offers such a range.

2005 Mazda6 Five Door

San Francisco:  Something truly remarkable, even awe-inspiring, is happening at Hyundai. In 20 years in the American market, the Korean company has gone from a provider of marginal quality econoboxes to a producer of a range of appealing models, including a large, handsome, powerful sedan known as the Sonata.

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2006 Hyundai Sonata

San Francisco:  Many of the bits and pieces in the 2006 A3's cabin are the same ones found in much more expensive Audi models like the TT and A8. Materials and build quality are second to none at this price. It feels like I'm in heaven - if heaven could possibly feel this good.

2006 Audi A3

San Francisco:  The 2006 Volkswagen Jetta, introduced as a mid-2005 model, is all new. It is no longer just a VW Golf with a trunk. Styling is more conventional than previous Jettas.  Read – it looks like several of its competitors from Asia.

2006 VW Jetta

San Francisco:  In the last ten years or so, change has been constantly reforming the world around us. So it’s a good thing we got a chance to drive Buick’s all-new 2005 LaCrosse, the car replacing the Century and Regal.

2005 Buick LaCrosse

San Francisco:  After about 30 years the Mercury Montego is back. Just as it was all those years ago the Montego is a redressed Ford Five Hundred. The Montego does not replace anything in the Mercury line up; it’s a new 2005 model addition. Dimensionally it is very close to the old Mercury Sable, but in just about every other way it is light years advanced.

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2005 Mercury Montego

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2005 Honda Accord Hybrid

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2005 Volvo S40

San Francisco: I had high expectations when I stepped inside the new 2005 Ford Five Hundred, especially after seeing the hot GT and the sexy new Mustang. They prove Ford still knows how to make cars sizzle. Thankfully, Ford gave the Five Hundred's interior proper styling. It comes with a long list of standard equipment at a low price, offering what Ford calls "guilt-free luxury."

2005 Ford Five Hundred

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But don't despair. The new, very-much-improved 2000 Neon is here, and the last Plymouth perfectly represents the entry-level brand in its final days. And don't worry about buying an "orphan." Neon’s will still be sold by Dodge dealers for years to come, and the same Chrysler dealership that sold you your Neon will still be around to service the car.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Mitsubishi just might just have too much riding on its new Galant.Mitsubishi’s very future as a car company in North America may hinge on how well the Galant sells.The pundits will give you all kinds of reasons for Mitsubishi’s failure to find success on a par with Honda or Toyota. Maybe it’s because way back in the beginning, they sold their product under the Dodge and Plymouth nameplates.