This is a new interesting car.  It is built like a Honda Accord, looks a lot like a Honda Accord, but the Honda Accord Crosstour has nearly twice the cargo space and is a little higher off the ground.  What’s it’s not is a crossover vehicle. There is no third row seating, the cargo space cannot compete, and it’s not as versatile as a crossover.  Nonetheless, Honda and many others that have reviewed it feel as though people are going to like this car. The  Crosstour fits between the Honda CR-V and the Honda Pilot.  Everything about it rides feels like the Accord. It rides like it.  What a better marketing deal for Honda?  The Accord is known for reliability, quality, etc. Why not build a new car very similar, call it something different, and have people already feel comfortable with it because it’s just like an Accord.

Each Crosstour has a 3.5-liter i-VTEC, 271 horsepower V6 engine.  It costs between $27,800-$31,900.  The gas mileage isn’t great at 18 mpg city and 27 mpg highway or 17/25 if you get the all-wheel drive.  There is 51.3 cubic feet of cargo space with the back seats down, and 26 cubic feet with the back seats in place.

Now, it’s not the most attractive looking vehicle. Not as nice looking as the Accord, but the crossovers are not gorgeous either.  If you can get beyond the look (though it’s not awful by any stretch, just not the nicest looking car,) might be worth checking out.

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The Honda 3R-C concept that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show is very different and quite bizarre looking if you ask me.  Let’s just start by saying it has three wheels. That’s weird in itself.  This is an electric vehicle with only 1 person (preferably a small one to fit in this little car.)  Supposedly it’s very safe. Doesn’t it look it????  The closer I look to the pictures of the Honda 3R-C, the crazier I think it is. I wonder what it will cost. There is a clear canopy on top to protect the driver from the bodywork and doors. By the way, why do you need more than 1 door?  It looks like it can’t possibly be comfortable for anyone.  I don’t know, I guess Hondahas done something write with this car, because people are talking about it. Good marketing strategy.  I just wonder if anyone will buy it, though there will be someone or two out there that will want the Honda 3R-C of their own. Good news for your guys that do…..I doubt they will be sold out, and there will be no competition from Centercaps.net for this beauty!

Wanna win $1 million???  Well, just figure out a cause and solution to the acceleration problem with Toyota vehicles.  It’s as simple as that.  Edmunds.com is launching a competition open to the public.  You don’t need to be a mechanic to enter. Just get to the cause and then explain it to them, and you are all set and $1 million richer.  Well seriously the details are still being worked out but that’s the jist of the competition. This could seriously help Toyota, since they really can’t figure out how to fix this problem themselves!

The new Ford Focus wagon will begin production later this year, and will be sold in Europe. The U.S. will probably not be getting any of these wagons. The interest in wagons here in the U.S. is not very strong, which is probably smart on Ford’s part. It might be a waste of money.

Surprisingly, the sales of Toyotas have not been as bad as you would have thought.  According to Kelley Blue Book, Toyota’s car values are down about 2 to 3 percent and won’t go below 10 percent.  There were steep drops in January right after the recalls were announced, but there haven’t been anymore drops and the prices are staying pretty resilient right now.  Good news for Toyota, now hopefully someone can win the edmunds.com competition and fix all of Toyotas problems!

Vehicles are much safer now. Five-star crash test ratings are extremely common, but of course there are ways that cars could be even safer. CNN reports that Mercedes-Benz has come up with a concept car the Mercedes-Benz ESF that is supposedly the safest car that could become a norm in the near future.  The ESF has several ideas of how cars can be safer.

The first idea is a “braking bag” under the car.  There are sensors under the car and when the sensors detect that a crash is about to happen, the bag inflates which pushes a metal plate down onto the road to slow the car and help reduce impact.  Sounds good to me.

Another safety idea is an air bag inside the a metal beam in the car door.  If there is side impact, the air bag will inflate pushing the beam outward to help take the impact.  Another good thought.

Lights that will use infrared night vision to detect people or animals in the road and then shine lights directly on them to try to prevent a crash/accident. Good idea but seems like a stretch.

During a side impact, the outside seat bolster will push the driver or passenger inward, away from the door.  The last future safety idea that is a part of the Mercedes-Benz ESF is the belt bag.  These are air bags within the seat belts that will help prevent injuries. Ford Motor Co. will be using the belt bag is all of their 2011 Ford Explorer and Mercedes-Benz expects that it will have the belt bags on its cars within 5 years.

Isn’t it amazing the technology that just keeps improving for vehicles?  It’s crazy. Every time you buy a car, there will be some big technological improvement within a year, and to have safety technology improved is great!

Aftermarket wheels are always a huge hit for vehicle gurus.  People love them.  There is a downside though.  Now that the technology in vehicles is so much better, it’s hard to just buy new, bigger wheels without causing your tire pressure system to go crazy.   I read an article where someone bought 19 inch wheels and tires, but then needed to buy 17 inch wheels to put snow tires on.  The cost of all of those wheels and tires is just the beginning of his problems.  Now, the tire pressure monitoring system cannot recognize all of these different tires.  So, now he has to buy new tire sensors for these tires.  It’s at least $50 a sensor. In some cases, you may want to be aftermarket sensors, because they will be cheaper.  So, now your tire upgrade is probably approaching $800-$1000. Yikes. This is where you really have to think about making changes to your vehicles.  The technology hurts you.  Everything costs more and you can’t not buy the new sensors. Low tire pressure can majorly screw up your car as well as be unsafe. Check into these things before you spend the money to buy the aftermarket wheels then you can enjoy your aftermarket wheels and tires!!!

Manual (stick shifts) transmissions are dying out.  Seriously dying out.  According to Ward’s Communications, 22.4% of cars sold in the U.S. in 1985 were manual transmissions, but in 2007 that number dropped to 7.7%.  Recently, aolautos.com checked their inventory of cars that are for sale and of the 4,391,747 vehicles only 241,560 or 5.5% came with a manual transmission.

Here’s some reasons for the shift (no pun intended) in the transmissions.  Years ago, manual transmissions had much better fuel economy.  Now automatic transmissions are much better gas wise, so it pretty even for fuel economy.  Also, stop and go traffic means more work for the driver of a manual transmission.  May be a pain especially if people are trying to talk on their cell phones, use their navigation systems, or text.  Also, because there are less manual transmissions around, teens are not learning to drive manual transmissions in driving school.  Therefore, these teens aren’t interested in buying manuals.  It’s a chain reaction, and if you ask me a sad one. My first car was a manual transmission.  I’d hate to see them go, as I’m sure others will as well.

John Brown is an editor of roadabletimes.com, which is a website for database of flying cars.  He predicts that flying cars will not longer be a fantasy but actually a reality within the next 5 years…”a practical everyday flying car.”  When you think about this it seems ridiculous to me. We are trying to get electric cars and hybrids to become everyday use in the next 5 years, let alone flying cars.  Well I saw pictures and little descriptions of these 6 flying cars on msnbc.com that have slight potential to become more than a concept, and some of definitely more believable that there is a chance than others.

First instance, there is one that is called a Skycar and it is like a dune-buggy car that has a huge propeller on the rear and then a parasail for when you want to fly.  This Skycar actually made a successful trip from London to Timbuktu, Mali recently.  The car goes from 0 to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds, that’s good!  It also can drive a top speed of 140 mph.  When it flies, it can go 100 mph at top speed and if the engines were to fail midflight (hopefully not!) you can glide to safety with the parasail.  Skycars are on sale for about $80,000 and will be on sale starting later this year.  The Skycar seems like a pretty legit flying car, but where will you fly it?  I don’t know if doesn’t seem that practical to me.  I guess maybe I’d need more information.  If our society is having a hard time considering hybrids and electric cars, will people really buy these flying cars?  Especially for that price?  We’ll see.

Jerry Flint of Forbes.com has “stuck his neck out” and said that the Nissan Leaf will be “more likely be a sales failure than a sales success.”  Actually if you read the article, Flint really doesn’t have anything really good to say about this car that will be made in the U.S. starting in 2012.  I think he has a point in some of his complaints, but not all of them. First of all, one of his complaints is that the all-electric Nissan Leaf has a top speed of 90 mph.  What’s the problem?  Seriously, who needs to go any faster than 90?  When you are running from the cops????  I don’t think that should or will deter people from buying the Leaf.   

Next complaint, the range of the Leaf. Supposedly it will be able to go 100 miles before needing a recharge, but Flint seems to think that cold weather will reduce that, which could be true. This complaint to me is legit. I would hate to constantly be thinking about where I was to ensure that I can get to a charging station or home before my car dies.  That’s a big inconvenience to me, so I agree with you Flint. 

Price could be a concern as well.  Supposedly, the price of the Nissan Leaf will be around $27,000 but it could be much more when all is said and done, though you will probably get a nice tax credit for buying this eco-friendly vehicle. 

Charging is also a potential problem. It takes approximately 8 hours to fully charge the car.  It’s not a problem if you drive to and from work and then charge it at night at home. The problem is if you are out or travelling. There will be charging stations built, but for right now the majority of the stations will be on the West Coast, so if you don’t live there, it may be hard to find a station. That’s a problem. 

Flint said that “for real car buyers, the Nissan Leaf may be a decade or two ahead of its time. That may be true. I guess we will have to wait and see. Some Nissan Leafs will be sold in the U.S. later today and Hertz car rental will start renting cars in the U.S. early next year. Time will tell.      

This may be a very ignorant thing to say and maybe I don’t live in the right area for sports cars, but where are all of them?  I was just checking out autoblog.com, and the half of the blogs/articles talk about sports cars.  I’ll just give you a few examples….The revised Gumpert Apollo is coming to the Geneva Motor Show, “Black Ruby” Rolls-Royce coupe up for sale, 8 special Lotus Evoras sports cars will be auctioned off to raise money for Haiti.

I know that sports cars are fast and have a unique look, but these cars are really expensive.  Obviously people buy these cars because they are being built, but winter (I know, no one drives these sports cars in the winter,)  spring, summer, or fall, I never see sports cars, let alone these really fancy sports cars that cost a fortune.  Where are these cars?  California, Florida, showroom floors, in people’s garages?  Is that where I need to look?  I guess probably.  I wonder how many sports cars are sold in this economy.  I would love to see these sports cars!  Maybe someday.

I’m not privileged enough to have a car with the keyless cars, but there are 155 models this year that are offering an option of the keyless cars.  There were only 41 models with this available in 2006.  So in case you don’t know, the keyless cars work like this. You have to have a fob in your pocket or purse and as you approach the car your car doors will unlock and then you push a button to start your car and off you go.  Sounds easy and awesome, right?  i think so.

Well of course there are the skeptics and the problems with the keyless cars as their is with all new technology.  Not major problems or complaints, and probably in time their kinks will be ironed out.  One complaint by customers is that they are not sure what to do to turn off the car in an emergency.  Some models have your hold down the button, others must press the button 2-3 times.  There is no consistency with these keyless cars. Safety groups are trying to get Congress to have federal regulations put on these cars so that all of the procedures are the same.  This would make it easier for people, especially if these keyless cars become the norm.  That way if people were borrowing a car or renting a car, they would know exactly how the fob/car works without a key.  I love the idea of keyless cars and expect that this technology will become the norm before we know it.  Then I’ll be cool like the keyless car customers are.  Maybe not too, but I’ll try.