Posted by Doug DeMuro in It Exists
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I never knew about this. In fact, I still wouldn’t know about this if not for Christian Hepler, a vigilant reader from the Gaithersburg, Maryland, area who, like me, clearly spends way too much time on eBay.
The “this” I am referring to is a stick-shift Jeep Grand Cherokee. For those of you who also didn’t know about this, and therefore think it’s some sort of bizarre transmission swap, I can assure you this is not the case. Apparently Jeep really did offer a manual transmission on the first few Grand Cherokee models, including a full complement of three pedals, a tachometer, and a gear...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in BOOKS!, Housekeeping
on | 66 comments
Well, not really. I wrote two books. And they’re not really books, but rather e-Books. In other words: they’re electronic.
For those of you who haven’t gotten around to purchasing an expensive electronic device that allows you to read formerly non-electronic things, don’t worry. You can read e-Books on your PC or your Mac computer, or on your smartphone or iPad through the free Kindle app or on the iTunes Bookstore. Therefore, you have no excuse for not purchasing the books, unless of course you think they’re too expensive.
To that I say: these books are three dollars. What the hell can you...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 10 comments
The Lexus GX460 is the ugliest car on sale today. There, I said it. I said it so you didn’t have to. You were thinking it, of course. But you were afraid to say it, largely because you were worried that an angry Lexus GX460 would come after you and use its enormous front grille to gnaw on your family.
Now, before I go any further, I’d just like to say that I generally try to avoid discussing automotive styling. This is because automotive styling is highly subjective, which means that talking about it can really piss people off. For example: a lot of people really like the original Oldsmobile...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Come to America
on | 9 comments
Well, folks, I have returned after a two-week hibernation. This was an excellent, relaxing, stress-free period during which my Range Rover only broke down once. I consider it a banner holiday season.
Today’s topic is one of my less common features, which I dubbed “come to America.” Initially I created this solely to discuss how much I want an Audi RS2, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon, so now I’ll expand it to other cars. And one of those cars is the Mercedes A-Class.
To be clear, the A-Class I want is the first-generation model – the one shaped like a...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 8 comments
It’s been more than a week, which means the time has come to announce the winners of my ‘Help Me Choose a Car’ Twitter contest. To refresh your memory, the categories were:
1) Worst suggestion.
2) I’d buy it if I could find it.
3) Biggest surprise.
The first category was hard, because everyone found a LOT of really bad suggestions (some of which were unintentional). But the winner of the prized Hummer bedsheets is Noah Wheeler, who found a great eBay listing for one of the worst cars in existence, the 1983 Zimmer Golden Spirit. Interestingly, our runner-up, Wilson Elias, would’ve been the...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 9 comments
As many of you know, the V Wagon is gone, which means it’s time to start the search for another car to write about. Feel free to make suggestions here, or over at the Jalopnik thread on the same topic.
I’ve also decided to create a contest on Twitter for people who would rather come up with some more… interesting suggestions (You can find me here). Here are the rules:
The contest ends Sunday, December 14, at 11 a.m. my time. As you can see from the photo below, there are three categories and – for the lucky winners – three distinct, incredibly valuable, highly sought-after prizes.
The...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 2 comments
Well, folks, I’ve done it. I’ve sold my CTS-V Wagon. At least, I think I’ve sold it. What’s actually happened is that I’ve spent the last week on the phone with the buyer’s bank, who has insisted on verifying every single portion of this transaction, including my date of birth, my home address, the hypothetical name I would give a dog if I had one, the total number of little hairs on my right leg, etc.
I find this highly unusual considering the buyer and I have the same bank, a fact I’ve brought up with them repeatedly. But they’re undeterred. They will probably call before I...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder
on | 6 comments
Although the Golf R has only been out of production for a year or two, I decided to include it here for one simple reason: everyone has already forgotten about it.
The reason for that is also simple: it was ridiculously expensive. In fact, the 2013 Golf R started at $35,000 with shipping for the 2-door, or $36,000 for the 4-door — and that’s before options. And I’m talking about options you might want, such as a sunroof.
So the Golf R was rather pricey as a new car, which led most people to remove it from their shopping lists. But here’s the thing: it’s starting to be a great deal as a...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 7 comments
It’s time for my first installment of Doug DeMuro: Safety Crusader, where I highlight all the pressing safety issues affecting you, a modern parent whose toddler spends each day discovering new and exciting ways to put himself in grave danger.
I haven’t always been interested in safety. In fact, just a few short years ago, I owned a Lotus Elise, which is among the most dangerous cars manufactured in the modern era. Many people are surprised to discover how unsafe the Elise is, considering it shares its orange color with safety devices like the traffic cone. What they’re forgetting is that it...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in It Exists
on | 6 comments
People often ask me about fuel efficient SUVs. “Doug,” people will say, “What about fuel efficient SUVs?” These people aren’t very specific.
The truth is there aren’t that many fuel efficient SUVs, and I’m not entirely sure why. Yes, there are a few hybrids – but with the Escape Hybrid long gone, the cheapest one, Toyota’s Highlander Hybrid, starts above $40,000. That’s about where diesel SUVs start, too.
But that wasn’t always the case.
Behold, the diesel-powered Jeep Liberty, known as the Jeep Liberty CRD. It was sold in the United States from 2005 to 2006, which means at...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 10 comments
The Los Angeles Auto Show is over, and I think I speak for everyone in the business when I say that I already miss it. I know I speak for Big Three staffers, who will now fly home to frigid Detroit, return to their frigid desks, and presumably spend the frigid Thanksgiving holiday searching for job openings in Southern California.
Of course, the LA Auto Show isn’t really over. Only the press days have passed, which means the show is now filled with normal residents of Los Angeles, people just like you and me except occasionally they see minor celebrities at the airport.
The auto show world...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in It Exists
on | 14 comments
When you think of two-door SUVs, what comes to mind? That ungainly 2-door Ford Explorer they sold for a decade? The Isuzu Amigo? The Jeep Wrangler?
Well, how about the two-door Land Rover Freelander?
That’s right. Everyone forgets about it, but the two-door Freelander very much existed – even in the United States. It was one of many failed two-door SUVs, a group that also includes the Toyota RAV4, Kia Sportage, Isuzu VehiCROSS, and dozens upon dozens of others.
The interesting thing was the Freelander Convertible was kind of neat-looking. It had a rear-mounted spare, you could take off the...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Minutiae of the Minute
on | 8 comments
I haven’t done a good minutiae post in a while, which I believe we all can agree is a bad thing. And by “we all,” of course I mean me and the four or five people who care about this sort of thing.
Today’s topic is the tail lights on the 2007-2009 Toyota Camry. You know these tail lights well, because you’ve been stuck behind them, for hours on end, going the speed limit in the left lane of your major local interstate highways.
Toyota had three different powertrains for this Camry: a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder, a 268-hp V6, and a 4-cylinder hybrid. Interestingly, it also had two tail light...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature
on | 2 comments
When you have a Cadillac CTS-V Wagon, you want to do things with it. Wash it, for example. Or explain why you bought it to your Audi-driving neighbors, whose only experience with Cadillac came when they took away grandma’s keys and sold her DeVille to CarMax. But you wouldn’t want to drive it. Oh, no. That would require a) seeing out of it, which is impossible; and b) fueling it, which is a real chore, since I am convinced the entire fuel tank consists of one single repurposed 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola.
However, I recently laughed in the face of these petty challenges when I decided to take...
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder
on | 9 comments
I was sitting here, brainstorming ideas for my “GM Bad Idea” segment, when it struck me: occasionally GM has a good idea. They’re few and far between, but they do occasionally happen, and the Saturn Astra is one of them.
For those of you who don’t remember the Astra, let me refresh your memory. It all goes back to the 1990s, when Saturn’s entire car lineup consisted of the S-Series, a compact front-driver offered as a coupe, a sedan, or a wagon. Eventually, the S-Series was redesigned, and then turned into the Ion, which lost some of the high-quality charm found on the earlier models.
It...