I found another article on AOL autos that gives in their opinion the best deals for buying a new car this month.  If you are interested, read the full article and see why they pick each vehicle. I thought I would just give you a list of the cars in each category and then you can read further if need be.

Compact Cars -   Mazda3 (Editor’s Pick,) Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Chevy Cobalt

Midsize Crossovers - Mazda CX-7, Hyundai Santa Fe, Ford Edge, Chevy Equinox

Midsize Cars - Mazda6, Chevy Malibu, VW Passat, Mitsubishi Galant

Fullsize Cars - Chevy Impala, Ford Taurus, Cadillac CTS, Kia Amanti

Pickups - GMC Canyon, Toyota Tundra, Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado

Lots of Mazdas, and several vehicles that were on the top 10 searched vehicles. Interesting.

So, I guess you can take this information for what it’s worth, but I found the top 10 searched vehicles on AOL autos, and thought I would share them with you.  I know this information is just 1 site and you can probably find a completely different top 10 on another site (well maybe not an entirely different top 10,)  but I still think it’s interesting to see what vehicles people like and are interested in at least interested enough to search them.  So here they are (in no particular order:)

Ford Taurus                                             Honda Accord

Chevy Camaro                                         Honda Civic

Chevy Equinox                                        Toyota Corolla

Kia Soul                                                   Toyota Camry

Smart Car                                                Dodge Challenger

I’m not surprised with several of these searches, but a few (Dodge Challenger?) are interesting choices for me. 

Do you own a dirty vehicle?  One that has low gas mileage and gives off high tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions?  Well with all the talk about green vehicles and high gas mileage, we still have many vehicles on the lots with problems, I guess you could say.  Chrysler is the worst automaker for dirty vehicles with 6 (Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen, Dodge Ram 1500, and Dodge Dakota) last year and 5 this year.  Just another problem for Chrysler. They can’t seem to do anything right these days.

Here are the top 5 dirtiest vehicles driven in the U.S. these days: (I wouldn’t be too proud to be on this list or driving one of these vehicles for that matter!)

Jeep Grand Cherokee

BMW M5

BMW M6 (Sedan and Convertible)

Chevrolet Trailblazer

Mercedes-Benz CL600

Tough go for these vehicles. Maybe they will figure out what is wrong and correct it sooner rather than later, though the Cherokee has been on the top of this list for quite some time.  Oops.

Here’s something you probably never thought about. The new hybrid electric cars are not only cutting down on air pollution but also noise pollution. That’s good right?  Well, it is, but then there is another problem.   Silent electric cars are some what of a problem for the blind.  Congress is considering federal regulations for electric cars.  I can see their point. Yes, the driver of a vehicle should take responsibility and not hit somebody, but that doesn’t always happen, and a blind pedestrian has no chance if there can’t hear the vehicle.  So, Fisker and other automakers as well as toying with different ideas to decide how to have the electric cars alittle noiser.   Fisker will emit a sound from speakers that are in the bumpers.  BMW was thinking of allowing the customer to choose their own sound for their vehicle.  Some are thinking maybe a ringtone that you could manually push on your steering wheel. Whichever way the automaker chooses, it sounds like electric cars will be getting louder.  I guess a quiet car cannot completely happen after all.

www.instylecars.com

Do you have a job or hobby that requires a roomy van?  Do you have an Econoline van and are sick of it, looking for something alittle less bulky?  Well, the new 2010 Ford Transit Connect van is probably something to check out.    Oh my gosh, I just totally sounded like a saleman….sorry!  Anyways, the Transit Connect has some pretty cool features for those that need some cargo space, but don’t want the big van.  It fits in a Toyota Corolla sized parking space (that’s cool, right!), and has 135 cubit feet of cargo space and 1600-pound payload capacity.  Ford has found a way to use its space efficiently without the true van characteristics. 

Also, the Transit Connect gets 22 miles per gallon in the city and 25 on the highway, and the price starts at $20,780 and runs to about $25,000.  You can’t get a traditional van for that price.  It has a 136-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with a four-speed automatic transmission.  There are two front bucket seats and then the rest of the vehicle is for storagethough there is a second row of seating for you if you wish to use it.)  The Transit got a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. 

I guess I need to share the shortcomings with you too.  The quality of the interior materials poor, because they were chosen for low cost and to have a high resistance to dirt and scratches rather than comfort. I don’t see this as a big problem for most.  Also, the mechanism to fold the second-row seating is balky and not easy to do.  Also, the bluetooth connection needs some work and fails to stay connected alot, at least according to Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press who test drove this vehicle.

I definitely think that you can look past the shortcomings and see the positives for the Ford Transit Connect.  I would and actually think I will be considering getting myself one for centercaps.net!