2010 in Review: Worst Discontinued Car/2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser

By John LeBlanc The PT Cruiser was like a Mexican cockroach: you couldn’t kill the thing. On sale since the 2000 model year, how the compact wagon managed to survive four owners (Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, and Fiat) with such poor build quality, wobbly handling, and a generally low-rent driving experience has always been a mystery […]

2010 in Review: Best Discontinued Car/2010 Volkswagen Passat Wagon 2.0T

By John LeBlanc The canceling of the current-generation, German-made Passat sedan and wagon in lieu of a new U.S.-made Volkswagen midsize sedan coming in 2011 (and more than likely a platform-sharing crossover) sets off two alarm bells for yours truly: first, expect the same low-cost over refinement strategy as in the new 2011 Jetta for […]

Road Test: 2010 Toyota Yaris Hatchback RS

[svgallery name=”2010_Toyota_Yaris_RS”] Yaris cries “Uncle!” Toyota’s subcompact quickly losing ground in competitive class By John LeBlanc In a subcompact segment that’s already crowded and is set to get even more so in the near future, Toyota’s 2010 Yaris is starting to feel its age. This year alone will see more sophisticated rivals like the new […]

The Crank: Why Honda’s hybrids are the right cars, but at the wrong time

[svgallery name=”2011_Honda_CRZ_hirez”] By John LeBlanc Here’s one thing you need to know about the car industry: nothing happens too quickly.Unlike a Nike or Apple, car companies can’t whip off all-new designs and products almost seasonally. It takes years to research, develop, and build new cars. So its natural that sometimes a vehicle is released that […]

2010’s Top SUVs/CUVs under $50k

By John LeBlanc Every year, the Toronto Star‘s Wheels section asks its contributors to scratch together a shortlist of what they think are the top new cars—as in what’s available in showrooms, not just “new” for 2011—in various segments. Here are my picks for the Top SUVs/CUVs under $50k:

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