Cars 101: The Do’s and Don’ts of Servicing
Posted: July 18, 2012 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: advice, Cars 101, Do's and Don'ts, Liars, Maintenance, Mind over motor, problems, Repair, Service, Tips, Wasting Time Leave a comment »
Recently, I had to take a car in to get serviced, and learned a few hard, fast lessons on how to go about dealing with service desks and waiting for something for too long. There are plenty of ways to deal with having a car serviced at the dealer, and plenty of ways still to do it wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
Seconhand Saint: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8/9 (2003-2007)
Posted: February 21, 2012 Filed under: Secondhand Saints, SHOWCASE | Tags: 2.0, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 350, 35R, 400, 450, 4G63, 5, 500, 6, 600, 700, 8, 800, 9, 900, advice, all, awhp, bargain, boost, Buying, cam, Car, consumer, controller, Drive, Evo, evolution, GSR, guide, hand, High, Intercooler, IX, Lancer, manual, Mind, Mitsubishi, MIVEC, motor, MR, Over, owned, Performance, Pre, Rally, recaro, RS, saint, seats, second, secondhand, speed, T67, turbo, Used, VIII, wheel, whp Leave a comment »
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
These days the Evo is one of the most respected cars on the road. In stock form it is one of the ultimate rally bred, point-to-point missiles money can buy, and Evos that are modified easily have the potential to give Ferrari owner something to worry about. Yet despite their hardcore performance they are also just normal Japanese sedans on the surface, making an Evo one of the best overall daily drivers out there. Obviously all of this makes these things quite a hot commodity on the secondhand market, so lets look at the details. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: Volvo S60 R
Posted: February 3, 2012 Filed under: TEST DRIVEN, Used Gems | Tags: 2.5, 300hp, 5, advice, all, AWD, consumer, Drive, Inline, L., manual, Mind, motor, Over, owned, Pre, R, review, S60, Sedan, stick, Swedish, Test, turbo, Used, V70, Volvo, wheel Leave a comment »
Volvo S60 R
The first time I heard about the Volvo S60/V70 R was at their factory in Gothenburg, Sweden back in 2003. My family and I were there on a European delivery trip to pick up my Mom’s new Volvo S80 Executive. The Volvo representative showed us this beautiful turquoise V70 R with a stunning oxblood interior and informed us of its impressive details. I remember being thrilled to hear that Volvo was going to be making a legitimate performance car that would take on Audi and BMW. So, in 2011 with Mind Over Motor up and rolling, I decided it was time to go try out an S60 R and see what it was like from behind the wheel. Read the rest of this entry »
Cars 101: “Certified Pre-Owned”
Posted: January 5, 2012 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: advice, Buying, Careful, Cars, Cars 101, Certified, Dirtbag, Fix, Mind over motor, Pre-Owned, Sale, Selling, Shady, Used Leave a comment »
We got a cah for every-body! Note: These are the guys you don't go to.
When I was a little kid, there were two different ways to buy a car. One would either buy new, or buy used. For the most part, the path of buying used was a spread of options, ranging from buying a used car at a new car dealership for a price that would often be too high for the market, buying from a shady dealer in an even shadier area (Big Paulie’s Used Car Barn! Everyone is approved! No credit? No problem! Right in Newark’s West Ward!), or buying from a private seller (which would often prove to be either the very best or very worst option, depending on the seller or the car). Now though, as has been the case for at least the past ten years, the “Certified Pre-Owned” programs are everywhere. So, what exactly are they? Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: 2012 VW Beetle Turbo vs 2012 VW GTI
Posted: December 23, 2011 Filed under: Cheap Fun!, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 2.0T, 200, 2012, 210, advice, Beetle, Comparison, consumer, DCT, difference, Drive, DSG, fun, German, GTI, handling, Hatch, Hot, hp, manual, Mind, motor, Over, practical, Retro, review, Sport, Test, turbo, Volkswagen, vs, VW 4 Comments »
Beetle Turbo vs GTI
I first saw the new VW Beetle up close at the New York International Autoshow this past year. I was very excited to see that the new version had become more of a sporting machine and less of a decorated flowerpot. On the surface the Beetle is on the same chassis as the Golf, and the one I was interested in, the Beetle Turbo, basically has the same mechanics as the famed GTI. This made me wonder how similar they really were to each other because I know VW would not want to steal sales from themselves. I decided to go try them both out back to back and compare. Read the rest of this entry »
