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Blog
The Most Commonly Stolen Car Parts (and How to Protect Them)
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Having your car stolen is a traumatic experience—and a depressingly common one. Although car thefts nationwide are trending downward, there were still more than 850,000 vehicles stolen in 2024. If you’ve ever woken up to find your car missing from its spot (and I have!) you know it’s not fun.…
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Top Picks for Infant Car Seats in 2025
Consumer Reports has tested more than 130 popular car seats, from Chicco to UppaBaby, assessing them for ease of use, crash protection, and vehicle fit. “We purchase every test sample at retail, just like consumers would,” says Michael Bloch, who tests car seats at Consumer Reports. “All testing is conducted by certified child passenger safety technicians.” Three infant car seats…
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Best New Car Deals for Memorial Day Weekend and Beyond
The dozen deals highlighted here are currently available until June 2. Each model has rebates, is available for below $50,000, and has the potential for 4 percent or more off the sticker price with negotiation. You’re likely to see ads for other models, but their deals may not be as attractive or they may have come up short in Consumer…
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Best Car Tires of 2025
We test them at our track in Connecticut for wet and dry braking and handling, ride comfort and quietness, and resistance to hydroplaning (when water gets between the tire and the pavement). We perform our snow-traction tests at our Auto Test Center and in northern Michigan. Ice-braking evaluations are performed at a skating rink. We also commission outside labs to…
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Used Car and Certified Pre-Owned CPO Warranties
Ford’s Blue Advantage CPO program includes three levels of coverage: • Gold Certified is for vehicles no more than 6 years old with no more than 80,000 miles. It adds a one-year/12,000-mile limited warranty from the date of purchase and a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty from the original service date. Because new Ford vehicles come with a transferable five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty, it’s essentially…
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Anyone Could Forget a Kid in a Hot Car, Research Shows
Diamond says the problem involves two parts of a person’s working memory: prospective and semantic. Prospective memory helps us remember to do something in the future, while semantic memory allows drivers to make the trip from work to home on autopilot, where they arrive without remembering clear details of how they got there. Prospective and semantic memories work together to…
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Hot Car Fatalities Are a Year-Round Threat to Children and Pets
CR’s testing shows it doesn’t take scorching temps for hot cars to pose safety risks Heatstroke is the leading cause of death in vehicles (excluding crashes) for those 14 and younger. By Emily A. Thomas, PhD Heatstroke can be a four-season threat in some parts of the country. About 39 children die each year from vehicular heatstroke, according to Kids…
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What the Dashboard Warning Lights Mean in Your Car
What it means: When a tire that’s getting power from the engine loses grip, the traction control system (TCS) activates and this light flashes. This usually happens because the car has detected that one wheel is spinning significantly faster than the others, so it limits power and uses the brakes to maintain grip. This improves overall traction and prevents dangerous…
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A Record Player for Your Car? Meet the Highway Hi-Fi
Summary Forget radio, in the 1960s-70s, people relied on physical media like 8-tracks and cassette tapes. The Highway Hi-Fi allowed you to play vinyl records in your car, but the quality wasn’t great. Chrysler’s exclusive option provided limited appeal due to the intricate integration and high cost. Listening to your own music in your car rather than the radio was…
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Safety 1st Car Seat Recall: Choking Hazard on Headrest
The company will send a replacement headrest pad assembly kit to affected owners, but in the meantime, you can still use your Safety 1st Grow and Go all-in-one car seat until the replacement kit arrives, the company says. Just be sure to keep an eye on the foam headrest pad and check that your child isn’t able to pick off…
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