The Crank: Is it deja vu all over again for crossborder new car buyers?

By John LeBlanc

As the Canadian dollar soars towards parity with the American greenback, is it deja vu all over again for new car buyers? Two-and-a-half years ago in the fall of 2007, the Canadian dollar reached an all-time high, peaking at $1.10 U.S. retailers were caught off guard. The disparity between Canadian and U.S. new car prices was dramatic, with some high-end cars ending up thousands of dollars cheaper south of the border. Canadians reacted strongly, importing a record of over 240,000 new U.S.-market cars in 2008. Read more

The Crank: Is Toyota finally getting it “right”?

By John LeBlanc

Another week, another rash of bad news for Toyota, eh? Last Tuesday, the Japanese automaker was suffering from one of America’s most well respected consumers’ group warning not to buy one of the company’s Lexus 2010 GX 460 SUVs because of a tendency to get a little loose in the corners. Okay if you’re Burt Reynolds, circa 1978. Not so good if you’re avoiding an accident on the way to your kids’ violin lessons. Read more

Comparo: 2010 Kia Forte SX/Mazda3 GT/Toyota Corolla XRS

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A Trio of Semi-Poorman’s Sports Sedans

Sporty editions of three popular compact four-doors vie for your enthusiast dollars

By John LeBlanc

New car buyers like compact sedans because they can carry a family of four comfortably, and are cheap-to-buy and cheap-to-run. But what if you are looking for a bit of driving fun from behind the steering wheel of your practical ride? As it happens, Kia, Mazda and Toyota all have new fun-to-drive versions of their compact five-passenger, front-drive sedasn for 2010: Forte, Mazda3 and Corolla. Which one, though, offers the best combination of refinement and driving fun from the driver’s seat? Read more

The Crank: U.S. magazine issues “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” on 2010 Lexus GX 460

By John LeBlanc

For the first time since the 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited SUV, the U.S. based Consumer Reports magazine has deemed a new car a “safety risk”: the 2010 GX 460. The Lexus SUV’s electronic stability control program failed to keep the vehicle in line during a severe handling maneuver, allowing it to slide almost completely sideways, said Douglas Love, CR spokesman,“In real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death.” Read more

Road Test: 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL 550 4MATIC

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The Gentlemen’s Express

Mercedes’ big—and rare—full-size coupé carries on a vanishing auto genre

By John LeBlanc

As a two-door, hardtop version of the relatively more ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz S Class full-size luxury sedan, the CL coupe is a rare bird. Mercedes only sells a few every year. Teutonic rivals BMW and Audi don’t have anything like it. In fact, the big ‘Benz’s only real competition comes from the Bentley Continental GT, which is nearly twice as expensive. Yet with two different V8s and a pair of V12s, Mercedes-Benz Canada certainly offers a lot of big coupé choice. Read more

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