Edmunds.com found out just how expensive. And the truck was parked when the collision occurred
By Gary S. Vasilash
Although you’re likely to find a friend, neighbor, relative or even yourself who has a car-repair horror story, it is unlikely to top the one that the folks at Edmunds.com have with their Telsa Cybertruck.
According to the resource for auto information and available inventory, in July 2024 it bought a Cybertruck Foundation Series for $101,985.
The truck would undergo the Edmunds One-Year Road Test program.
But five months in, last December, the Cybertruck was involved in an accident.
The massive vehicle was parked. A compact sedan crashed into the driver’s side rear wheel and bumper so hard that it broke part of the rear axle.
Edmunds found that it needed to use a Tesla certified body shop in the LA area, where the outlet is based.
Turns out there were just two in a 50-mile radius of LA.
Here comes the tricky part.
One of the shops was in Huntington Beach. It had a one-month waiting lists. Then it indicated there would be six more months before the vehicle could be worked on.
Realize this would mean the vehicle would be towed to the shop, assessed, then towed to somewhere it would collect dust for six months before being towed back.
The second shop in Ontario, California, told Edmunds there was a one-month wait, but that after the inspection was made, it would get to work right away.
An appointment was made. And then delayed by another month.
Still, they took the truck in and after a thorough inspection that cost $1,128, got the repair estimate:
$57,879.89
The single biggest charge would be $9,149 for the rear suspension. The cost for the bed was close, at $8,762.79.
Because the value of the truck at the time were it not in the state it was would be $86,160, it was considered a total loss.
So Edmunds simply sold it to the online auction site Copart.
And got $8,000.
The price of repairs that was on the estimate for the Cybertruck is a few grand under what it would cost to buy a new 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat.
It is down in Q1 by a big number. A very big number.
By Gary S. Vasilash
Although there are plenty of headlines about Tesla sales dropping 37.2% in Europe during the first quarter of 2025 compared to Q1 2024, it is actually a bit worse than that.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which reports the numbers, has two charts for new car registrations by manufacturer.
One is for the European Union.
One is for the European Union, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), and the United Kingdom.
The 37.2% drop is for the EU + EFTA + UK market.
While that combined market is bigger than the EU alone, the EU market alone had EV sales of 412,997 EVs in Q1 and the EFTA and the UK added only 160,503.
Obviously that EFTA + UK number can change the overall percentage.
But the trend in the EU itself is the one that is the more important.
The EU-only chart shows that Q1 2025 Tesla sales are down 45% compared with Q1 2024.
While there may be excuses about changeovers and Q1 not being great for sales, and it is true that there are negative numbers for several OEMs in the EU—for example, Stellantis -14%, Toyota -4.8%, Hyundai Group -7.2%, Mercedes -6.2%–but no OEM is off as much as Tesla.
Not All Red Ink
What’s more (truly more) is that the ACEA finds that Volkswagen Group for Q1-Q1 is +4.8%, Renault Group +9.5%, and BMW Group +0.4%.
Of all the countries in Europe—including the EFTA and the UK—the single biggest market in Germany. Where Tesla has a plant. And where Elon Musk became involved in politics.
Germany’s Robust EV Sales
During the first quarter of 2025 sales of battery electric vehicles in Germany were up 38.9% compared with Q1 2024.
There were 112,968 EVs sold in Germany in Q1. It is the dominant factor in all of the numbers.
While it is probably impossible to know precisely why Tesla sales were down 45% in the EU in a period when EV sales were up 38.9%, it isn’t hard to imagine why.
Although you have likely not seen the vehicle in person yet, it is likely to become something that you see a lot of. And Cadillac has now announced a performance variant
By Gary S. Vasilash
In the compact luxury EV crossover segment Cadillac has an exceedingly fine entry in its Optiq. (One problem it may have, however, is the name: might some people not find its pronunciation troubling and so as not to embarrass themselves, go to the Audi store that’s next door and ask about the Q4, instead?)
2025 Cadillac Optiq: a stylish compact crossover. (Photos: Cadillac)
The vehicle has a powertrain that provides 300 hp and an EPA estimated range of 302 miles.
It has an interior with an innovative freshness that undoubtedly will help skew Cadillac’s mature ownership numbers far lower.
And with the second row up it provides 26 cubic feet of cargo capacity—57 with it down—so there is actually more than a modicum of utility provided, an important consideration for one’s daily existence with a vehicle.
Right out of the box there were 1,716 Optiqs sold in the first quarter—502 more than the Cadillac CT4, so that’s saying something (although it is a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, as the CT4 is a sedan with an internal combustion engine).
The interior is fashion-forward. Yes, it has a big screen (33-inches, diagonal) but the color and materials are much more impressive.
Undoubtedly planning to juice that number, today Cadillac announced there will be a 2026 Optiq-V series vehicle.
Details are, well, non-existent (beyond “Cadillac engineers delivered a unique package prioritizing precision, dynamic suspension and tight steering,” which is pretty much marketing-speak).
One thing that is likely the case is that the 2026 Optiq-V will have a non-trivial bump in its starting MSRP (according to Cadillac.com, the starting price for a 2025 Optiq is $52,895), not only because of what the Cadillac engineers have done, but because the Optiq is produced at a GM plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
An accessible vehicle that happens to be a car. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
The Ford Model T was in production from 1908 to 1927. During that time there was an array of variants. Touring cars and coupes. Four doors. Two doors. No doors. Sedans and convertibles and wagons.
In all, an impressive >15 million were sold.
The Volkswagen Beetle is another car that had an impressive run. Between 1938 and 2019 there were some 22 million Bugs of various types sold on a global basis.
But those cars pale in comparison to the Toyota Corolla.
The Corollas was introduced in 1966. Since then, more than 50 million have been sold globally.
Yes, add all the Model Ts and Beetles and it is still considerably less than the Corolla.
Last year in the U.S. there were 232,908 Corollas sold.
If you take the F-Series out of the picture, there was no Ford brand model that came close in terms of 2024 sales. There was the Explorer at 194,094, but that’s 17% fewer than the Corolla.
And it is a similar situation at GM. Again, absent the pickups, the best-selling model in 2024 was the Chevy Equinox, at 207,730 vehicles. Closer, but no cigar.
(If we want to go down the SUV road: there were 475,193 Toyota RAV4s sold in the U.S. in 2024. . . .)
So far, the Corolla continues to perform:
Through Q1 2025 there have been 55,456 sold.
The Explorer is inching closer at 47,314 and the Equinox exceeds it with 71,002, but again, both of those vehicles are SUVs, so that would bring us to the RAV4’s Q1 sales of 115,402.
If you combine the Explorer and Equinox sales, that’s 118,316, or 2,914 more than the RAV4, to put things into some sort of perspective.
Chevy, Ford and Toyota are all, essentially, bread-and-butter brands. They’re making vehicles for most of us.
But what is surprising, given the Corolla’s clear consistently large sales—globally and in the U.S. market—is that you can’t buy a car from Chevy and the only car that Ford has in its lineup is the Mustang. That’s not exactly a mainstream model. (And to put its sales into perspective: in 2024 there were 44,003 Mustangs sold, which means that in the first quarter of ‘25 Ford moved more Explorers than Mustangs in all of ’24.)
(Another thing to be noted about Toyota and cars: last year in the U.S. it sold 309,876 Camrys. It has sold 70,308 through Q1 of ’25. Yes, a lot of cars.)
The thing about the Corolla is that like the aforementioned Model T and Beetle, it is primarily an accessible vehicle.
About the FX
The vehicle driven here, the FX, is based on the Corolla SE grade, but has been amped up a bit for a sportier look.
Corolla FX: Accessible style. (Images: Toyota)
Achieving that look includes a sizeable spoiler, satin-black 18-inch alloy wheels with black lug nuts, and a blacked-out roof.
Powering the car is a 169-hp four-cylinder engine. There are three drive modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. This car isn’t going to win any races. But hundreds of thousands of people who have bought Corollas over the past few years likely don’t even know where a racetrack is located, and probably don’t have any points on their licenses for speeding.
On the inside things are, as they might say, “jazzed-up” a bit with the use of orange stitching on the seats and trim.
There is a 10.5-inch infotainment screen. Where there are knobs for HVAC settings, curiously no volume or tuning knobs for the audio system. You adjust the volume either with a steering wheel button or a diminutive rocker button just below the screen, which is a bit tricky to use unless you’re sitting at a light.
It’s got the goods on the inside. (But if only one of those knobs on the IP was Volume for the audio.)
Affordability
One of the reasons—in addition to the reliability, durability and quality Toyota vehicles are known for—people buy Corollas is because they’re affordable.
The MSRP prices range from $22,325 for an LE to $28,190 for a Hybrid XLE. (These numbers are pre-Liberation Day, so who knows what anything will cost going forward.)
This FX Edition has a starting MSRP of $26,500. Throw in a few options ranging from a blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alter to an LED trunk light, adding $1,644, put in the handling fee of $1,135, and it is out the door for under $30,000: $29,279.
And there aren’t a whole lot of other cars you can say that about—unless, of course, you’re talking about Corollas, and then there are a whole lot of them.
In Addition
A couple other things to know about the Corolla.
One is that it is based on the Toyota TNGA-C platform, which doesn’t mean much in and of itself. What is important to know is that it is a global platform. Which means that it is being used as the basis of vehicles all around the world. Consequently, because of economies of scale it can be engineered and built with more robustness than a platform with a more limited scale—well, that limited-scale platform can certainly be produced with desired characteristics but it will be a whole lot more costly.
The point about the platform is that it is solid, not tinny.
Second, the Corolla driven here was built. . .in Huntsville, Alabama, at the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant. Yes, a compact car built in the U.S.
Because of the seemingly obligatory nature of being a luxury brand and having a racing team of some sort—in this case, Genesis Magma Racing participating in the 2025 European Le Mans Series with an objective to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2026 and the IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA) in 2027—the company has developed a LMDh endurance prototype hypercar that is intended to be the precursor to a bona fide vehicle that will run in the WEC and IMSA events in the future.
Of the vehicle, which was designed at Genesis Design Europe, Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis Chief Creative Officer, said, “The GMR-001 Hypercar, like every race car, is a sculpture designed by the constraints of efficiency and performance – combined with the design DNA of Genesis – the brand with the Two Lines.”
The two lines mentioned are the lighting signatures, both front and rear.
Genesis gets creative with color. (Image: Genesis)
While there was particular attention paid to making the vehicle as aerodynamic as possible, there are a couple of interesting non-aero design elements worth noting:
The paint. The primary color is “Magna orange.” The color starts bright at the front of the vehicle then becomes darker as it moves toward the rear. There it is deep red. This is to indicate both the engine (i.e., red hot) as well as sound: The Doppler effect. That is, the sound is a higher pitch when the object—like a race car with a twin-turbo V8—approaches you and then becomes lower as it moves away. So brighter to darker, higher to lower.
The use of Korean Hangeul lettering spelling “Magna” integrated into the design 마그마.
In both cases, it is indicative of the attention to detail that you can find in vehicles at your local Genesis dealership—vehicles that aren’t going to compete in any race series, but which do have the Two Line lighting.
When you need something big but still want to have efficiency. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
For good reason the folks at Volvo are chuffed with the EX90.
That’s the company’s flagship, seven-passenger SUV. The one that’s all electric.
But the vehicle in question here has a slight modification of the alphanumeric designation: XC90.
It is the company’s flagship, seven-passenger SUV. That features a gasoline engine.
In this case it is a 310-hp, 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine.
But also in this case, that engine is supplemented by an AC electric motor.
A hybrid powertrain.
And as a result, the output is a maximum 455 hp.
When I had the XC90 a colleague, who races—and I mean at places like Sebring, not up and down Woodward or Telegraph–, said, “Oh, you’ve got the quick one.”
Think on that a moment.
Here’s a vehicle that is 195 inches long, 76.1 inches wide, 69.7 inches high.
A vehicle that has three rows.
A vehicle that provides, with the second and third rows folded, 85.7 cubic feet of cargo capacity.
And my colleague described it as “quick.”
No, he wasn’t suggesting that this is something he’s going to take to the track.
But he was pointing out that for something of its size, something that is largely meant to be about getting from here to there and Costco in between, it really moves well.
Three rows, hybrid power and overall competence: XC90 T8 PHEV (Images: Volvo)
The Distance
As mentioned, this is a hybrid. But it is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
Which means that on the driver’s side front quarter panel there is what seems to be a fuel door—but that’s on the passenger’s side rear quarter panel.
The one on the front is the socket to charge the vehicle. A Level 2 charger will get it filled in about five hours.
The point of a plug-in hybrid versus, well, a hybrid, is that there is a comparatively extended all-electric range.
The XC90 PHEV provides up to 32 miles running on electricity alone.
However, the estimated combined fuel—as in gasoline—economy is 27 mpg.
So given that there is an 18.8-gallon tank, if you were to want to leave yourself a margin of 0.8 gallons, you could drive for 486 miles.
In other words, no worry.
The Difference
One of the things that one might say is that there are plenty of three-row SUVs out there, even luxury hybrids (BMW, Lexus, Land Rover, Lincoln. . .).
So how does one decide?
I think all else being relatively equal, one of the places the XC90 is really an achiever is in the interior execution.
While other brands all have seats that move this, that and the other way, all you have to do is open the door and look at the driver’s seat of the XC90 and you know that this is purposeful Scandinavian design.
If you’re driving 32 miles or 486 miles, you’re in the seat. It might as well be a superb one.
Honda knows more than a little something about internal combustion engines that are smooth, quiet and low-emissions. These are used for new generators.
By Gary S. Vasilash
When power goes out—or you need power in places where a plug isn’t readily available—some companies are suggesting that the solution is using one’s vehicle to power whatever.
This, of course, is an electric or a hybrid vehicle.
Which is a reasonable idea. Except in cases where someone might actually need to go somewhere in that vehicle. That would result in no power.
So an alternative is a gas generator.
However, there are a couple of issues related to these.
One is that they can be rather noisy.
Another, for those living in California, is that emissions regulations can make gas generators unobtainable.
You could buy an electric pickup truck and use it when your power goes out, or you could simply buy one of these and get whatever vehicle you want–and can afford. (Image: Honda)
Honda Power Sports & Products has cleverly engineered two generators that meet both U.S. EPA Phase 3 emissions standards and California Air Resources Board (CARB) Tier 4 compliance requirements.
Consequently, those in California can go to a local retailer and pickup the Honda EU33200i Super Quiet Series and/or the EU7000is Super Quiet Series.
The names indicate the noise attenuation.
The first-named produces 3,200 watts of power and the latter 7,000 watts.
During the development of the 11th-generation Ford F-150 (2004-2008) J Mays was the vice president of Design at Ford.
One of the briefs that the design team had was to improve the interior design of the truck.
During a presentation at the Ford design facility in Dearborn Mays pointed out that while the exterior sheet metal gets people in a vehicle—they go to the showroom, see it, and if they like it get into it—but the interior design keeps them there.
If you think about it, vehicle interiors are far more important than exteriors.
Yes, it may be that seeing whatever in your driveway puts a smile on your face whenever you go out to get into it.
But that lasts a few moments and when you are in the vehicle there are a whole lot of moments spent behind the wheel.
According to autoinsurance.com the average time spent driving to work in 2024 was 26 minutes. So that would be a roundtrip time of 52 minutes. Five days a week, then that’s more than four hours.
Yes, the interior environment in a vehicle matters. A lot.
The Vehicle Then & Now
Which brings me to the Hyundai Kona.
I am a fan of the exterior of the first-generation (model years 2018-2023) Hyundai Kona. It added significant amounts of style to the small SUV category, a category that was (and pretty much continues to be) dominated by designs that are readily forgotten.
Kona then–first generation. (Photos: Hyundai)
The exterior design is sporty. And at least in terms of cargo capacity, it is reasonably utile: 19.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the second row up and 45.8 cubic feet with the seat down.
But that was then and this is now.
Kona now–second generation.
The second-generation Kona was launched in model year 2024. Driven here is 2025.
And the exterior sheet metal is in my estimation less sporty and more, well, manhwa (i.e., the Korean term for “manga”).
Lots of Room
But the utility quotient is way up, with cargo capacity being 25.5 cubic feet behind the second row and 63.7 cubic feet with the seatback folded.
Similarly, the passenger volume is way up: it is 94.1 cubic feet (w/o sunroof) for the first-generation Kona; it is 101.2 cubic feet for gen two.
Lots of Tech
And the interior of the second-generation Kona is a nice place to be because it is exceedingly well done.
I just took a quick drive to the store in the Kona. While waiting behind a few cars to make a left turn, when the car ahead of the Kona moved and I didn’t immediately react, a “bing” and a message on the gauge screen pointed out that the car had moved way.
When I got home it pointed out that I should look in the rear seat as I had opened the rear door to put in groceries.
While that rear-seat notification is now common (according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which organized voluntary commitments among its members in 2019 for rear-seat reminder systems, as of November 2024 there were 263 models available with the tech), the Leading Vehicle Departure Alert is rare.
And there’s Blind Spot View Monitor. Flick the turn signal to either direction and there is an appropriate live camera image of that side of the vehicle shown in the gauge cluster. While this is available only in the Limited trim, the Limited AWD driven here has an MSRP of $33,400.
“Smaht. Very Smaht.”
And for that you get a vehicle with that, remote smart parking assist (“Smaht Pahk” as the 2020 TV commercial with John Krasinski, Rachel Dratch and Chris Evans put it), a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, another 12.3-inch navigation screen, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated leather covered steering wheel (and on the subject of leather: the seating surfaces are H-Tex, a faux leather which is convincing), a proximity keyfob with pushbutton start (keep the key in your pocket or purse: the door unlocks and you can start the vehicle), and an overall look of clean, contemporary design on the inside of the vehicle.
The vehicle is powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that produces 190 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. It is stickered at 24 mpg city, 20 mpg highway and 26 mpg combined, which is pretty much what I got while driving it.
Thoughtful
One of the striking things about the Kona is that it has what I consider a “deliberate design.”
Sure, all vehicles have a design brief and to the extent that’s executed, their designs are deliberate.
But it seems there is a considerably stronger level of consideration applied here, both inside and out.
What’s more, the technology that are part of the package tends to be the sort of things that other OEMs put in vehicles that are much higher in price.
This is Marek Reichman, Aston Martin Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer comments. What is he talking about?
“Bowmore ARC-54 continues the cutting edge, technology-based collaboration between two exceptional brands that are steeped in heritage and tradition. It embodies the innovative thinking that we apply to Valkyrie and Valhalla, our mid-engined sports cars.”
If you guessed the Bowmore ARC-54 is a car, you’re wrong.
It is something that probably shouldn’t be associated with cars, or at least not used with cars.
It is a limited-edition whisky (130 decanters total) distilled by Bowmore, a distillery that’s been in operation since 1779.
Don’t drink while driving. (Image: Aston Martin)
This whisky—aged in 2nd Fill European Oak Sherry Butt and 3rd Fill American Oak Hogshead; 61.8% European Oak aged spirit and 38.2% American Oak aged spirit, the two parts are united for 15 months—is 54 years old.
Dr. Calum Fraser, Bowmore Chief Blender, said:
“A Bowmore as exquisite and complex as this 54-year-old is testament to the skills of our distillery team, but also the very embodiment of what can be achieved simply by slowing down, standing still and letting things unfold as they are destined to. This rare creation truly demonstrates just how Bowmore ages exceptionally over time, with unmatched precision and clarity. As guardians of this spirit, we strive to harness the power of the past in every drop that we create – whilst constantly reimagining Bowmore for the next generation that will experience our whiskies.”
The “slowing down” is somewhat ironic in that Aston Martin is about going fast.
Incidentally: in 1968 Aston Martin produced the DBS.
James Bond drove one in the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Unfortunately, that was a George Lazenby Bond.
Yes, it is built to take it. But how many are going to take it to places where that matters?
By Gary S. Vasilash
One of the consequences of the COVID pandemic, when people didn’t get on airplanes and go places and pretty much avoided people to the extent the could, was the “overlanding” phenomenon. The point of this was to climb into one’s vehicle and drive someplace where the odds of encountering other people up close was minimal at most. And if you did encounter them, you were outside, which meant wind was your friend, blowing the stuff away.
This gave the rise to more people buying vehicles that could take them places where their conventional SUVs wouldn’t take them because their SUVs were based on platforms that also underpinned cars, so they were insufficiently robust.
Solid Base
The Lexus LX 700h (as well as the other LX variants in the lineup) is based on the global Toyota GA-F platform. It has frame. It isn’t a unibody like those aforementioned SUVs.
The GA-F platform is also used for the Toyota Land Cruiser 300, Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma, and 4Runner.
Those vehicles—especially the Tacoma and 4Runner—are often used in driving situations where even trails are left behind. And they take it.
Off-Road Enablers
So the LX has some fundamental bona fides when it comes to the ability to drive on surfaces that aren’t leading to the valet stand at the country club.
It has some 8.07 inches of ground clearance, an approach angle of 23 degrees and a departure angle of 21 degrees.
There are front and rear locking differentials.
There are Active Height Control and Adaptive Variable Suspension. Multi-Terrain Select (four modes when driving in four low (Auto, Sand, Mud, Rock) and five modes in four high (Deep Snow in addition to the others). There are Crawl Control—which is essentially like Cruise Control but when in four low—and Turn Assist, which facilitates a reduction in the turning circle of the vehicle when Crawl Control is on (though the driver does the turning).
There is a clever Multi-Terrain Monitor, that uses four cameras, the images from which are stitched together so that there is an image on the 12.3-inch display in the center console that allows the driver to “see” beneath the front of the vehicle, which is very handy when traversing terrain that is tough.
The vehicle rides on 33-inch tires and 18-inch wheels.
Hybrid Setup
The “h” in the nomenclature of the vehicle signifies that it is a hybrid.
There the powertrain uses a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 supplemented by motors so the system output is a stalwart 459 hp and 583 lb-ft of torque.
One of the benefits of the hybrid system for those doing overlanding (in addition to the stickered 19 mpg city/22 mpg highway/20 mpg combined) is that when Multi-Terrain Select is engaged the vehicle can be powered by the electric motors alone, sans engine, for more precise control of speed.
The nickel-metal hydride battery is packaged in a waterproof container that allows water fording of up to 27.5 inches.
What’s more, in the event that there is something awry with the hybrid system, the LX, unlike other Lexus hybrids, features an alternator and starter so the V6 can be operated on its own.
And they even addressed the Shore hardness of the foam used for the seats for the Overtrail, making it easier on the occupants when traversing trying terrain.
All of which is to say it is engineered to be considerably capable.
Design Cues
Arguably the exterior design of the vehicle was executed during the pandemic, taking into account the seeking of vehicles that have a stout appearance.
A special color, Earth, was developed for the Overtrail.
On the interior there are either Black or Stone Brown leather trim and Black open-pore wood accents.
All of that said. . .in this execution, the LX 700h Overtrail doesn’t seem like a Lexus.
There is something about the brand, with its vehicles generally combining luxury, technology and style. In this case it seems to be more about the mechanical from a technical point of view. The luxury is overwhelmed (sure the materials are first-rate on the inside) by what I found to be oppressive darkness.
The style of the exterior seems too much like a truck and the style of the interior seems somewhat pedestrian.
On the one hand, this is probably a means by which Lexus can garner a few more global customers for something with off-road credentials.
But on the other, Toyota has things like the Land Cruiser which is meant for those circumstances.
Sometimes extensions aren’t a good idea, but as they have the makings on hand, it probably won’t matter much, either way.
Lexus LX 700h Overtrail: You can play in the dirt with it. But would you? (Image: Lexus)
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