Cars
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Blog
How Do Hybrid Cars Work?
Hybrid vehicles offer fuel savings and environmental benefits—and they’re better than ever By Keith Barry With Alex Knizek and Gabe Shenhar If you’re looking to save money on gas but don’t want a fully electric vehicle, a hybrid might be the right choice for you. Hybrids don’t need to be plugged in and they can be filled up at any…
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How Long Does It Take to Charge These Popular Electric Cars?
These are the fastest-charging EVs you can buy right now—and a few of the slowest A Porsche Taycan at an Electrify America DC fast charging station. By Keith Barry You probably know that electric vehicles take longer to “fill up” than gas-powered cars, but how long you have to wait depends on the car—and it can vary widely. Even at…
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Volkswagen Recalls More Cars to Fix Faulty Takata Airbags
The recalled models: 2006-2007 Volkswagen Passat sedans, 2007 Volkswagen Passat wagons, 2012-2014 Volkswagen Passat sedans, and 2017-2019 Volkswagen Beetle coupes and convertibles The automaker says it’s not aware of any warranty or field claims relating to this problem. The faulty airbags are made by Takata, the now-defunct company responsible for an ongoing recall campaign that the National Highway Traffic Safety…
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Talking Cars 457: Driving the 2025 Mini Cooper S
Main theme: We put together an extra-special panel to discuss our new 2025 Mini Cooper S, including a British-born test engineer and a former Mini warranty administrator, both of whom now work at CR’s Auto Test Center. Do we miss the manual transmission? Can the convoluted infotainment system understand a British accent? Find out on this episode of “Talking Cars.”…
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Should You Top Off Your Car’s Gas Tank?
Adding more fuel after the gas pump clicks off can damage the charcoal canister by saturating it with fuel and cause the check-engine light to illuminate. If the ORVR is damaged, it won’t adequately capture those harmful vapors. The system typically lasts the lifetime of a car, but topping off could lead to an avoidable repair that could cost hundreds…
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Talking Cars 456: Driving the Chevrolet Traverse
Main theme: In this podcast episode, we give our first driving impressions of the redesigned 2024 Chevrolet Traverse, which we recently purchased for CR’s auto test program. The outgoing Traverse fared well in our testing, owing to its ability to do most things well without any glaring faults. While the new Traverse isn’t drastically changed from the previous model, it…
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Does the Start/Stop Function Really Improve Your Car’s Fuel Economy?
Not all systems are the same. Most vehicles use a single absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery for all of the vehicle’s 12-volt electrical systems. An AGM battery is designed to discharge more slowly so the battery will have a longer lifespan than more traditional lead-acid car batteries. Some automotive manufacturers, such as BMW, Jeep, and Mercedes-Benz offer models often referred…
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Consumer Reports’ Most Popular New Cars and SUVs
Be aware that Overall Scores change over time as new information, such as reliability or crash-test data, becomes available. The model pages always reflect our latest vehicle ratings. The vehicles are listed in order of popularity, with the most researched model at the top. All come standard with automatic emergency braking (AEB), AEB that works at highway speeds, blind spot warning…
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Beware a Flood of Flooded Cars
Water damage can be hard to detect, but Consumer Reports says you should look for some telltale signs. Inspect the carpets to see whether they show signs of having been waterlogged. They include the carpets smelling musty or having caked-on mud. Brand-new carpets in an older vehicle may be another red flag. Check the seat-mounting screws to see whether there’s any evidence…
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Best Hybrid Cars for Under $35,000
Below, we present the best hybrid cars we’ve tested, ranked in order of their Overall Score, factoring in road-test performance, owner satisfaction, predicted reliability, and safety. Be aware that Overall Scores change over time as new information, such as reliability data, becomes available. The model pages always reflect our latest ratings. Each one comes standard with automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, AEB…
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