smart
Mercedes Streeter
smart
Staff Writer at Jalopnik, learning pilot and does bus stuff. Smart Fortwo (x4), Honda Beat, Suzuki Every, VW Touareg V10, Passat TDI, Jetta TDI, Audi TT, Buell Lightning, Triumph Tiger, Genuine Stella

Alternatively (if you’re a little crazy), buying a known flood-damaged car can be a cheap way to get an awesome ride for pennies. Read more

I’m not sure it’s a security issue as much as it is about someone “hacking” their way into cheaper airfare. I mean, the passenger went through screening to board their original flight and disembarked into another secure area. And when a passenger misses their flight, they put a standby passenger in the seat and away Read more

Cops don’t prosecute people, that’s the job for the prosecutor and the courts... Read more

Yeah, that marketing was some neat stuff. For those not aware, it was revealed that NASA did not design the submersible, only consulted with OceanGate on materials and manufacturing processes. Read more

FlightAware backs up the claim. 8,000 feet in two minutes, or 4,000 feet per minute, still a pretty sharp drop! Read more

The first game I got for the Xbox 360 was TDU. I put tens of thousands of miles on my virtual car collection in that game. I loved it all from the houses and the car dealerships to the fact that each car had an odometer. I wore those virtual road trips with pride. The servers were pretty cool, too, and I remember Read more

I have one! How does the turbo four compare to the outgoing VR6? The power figures are similar, but that VR6 had some character. Read more

Easy! This thing has a salvage title and the builder owned a body shop. I’m willing to bet that the total cost to buy and build the thing was a fraction of what an iQ cost back then. Even Smarts weren’t really cheap 11 years ago. Read more

It’s likely that this landing was the only option. Delta says the pilots executed a missed approach then began investigating the cause of the issue. Sometimes, you can’t fix problems like these in the air, so you just have to put it down as gently as possible. Read more

A number of cars and motorcycles come with a basic tool kit so you could perform some basic maintenance or perhaps a couple of roadside repairs. Well, at least they did. A lot of cars don’t even come with spare tires anymore, let alone the tools to change a tire... Read more

So far as I can tell, Honda never advertised the Element’s interior as being hose-washable, just “the waterproof seat fabric and wipe-down floor make for super-quick and easy cleanups.” That’s from the 2003 Element’s brochure. I’ve scoured Honda’s press releases and brochures looking to see if Honda itself created Read more

Honestly, when I came out, I didn’t even know “cisgender” was a term. If the medical/mental health communities suddenly decided that it wasn’t a necessary term, I wouldn’t lose any sleep. Read more

I’ve never met a single ally (a real ally, that is) who has been offended by being called cisgender, which... *checks notes* ...means you identify as the gender you were born as. Oh, so offensive! Judging by his own Twitter, this Esses figure is a troll at best, transphobic at worst. So of course he’s going to make a Read more

I’ve never wanted $19,500 more in my life. I don't care if the seller wants to show me his white van full of 10mm sockets, NP! Read more

Seems to me to be one of those cars that seems like a good idea in concept, but terrible when you think about it. Indeed, some in Japan see left hand drive cars as status symbols, so maybe that’s what Chrysler was thinking. Read more

I mean, technically, we’ve had hybrids for a century! Diesel-electric locomotives use a massive diesel engine to provide power to traction motors. Chevy tried to emulate that with the Volt, though as I understand it, the Volt’s engine can couple to the wheels in some situations. Read more

Replacing body parts on a car is entirely legal. As long as the proper forms are filled out and emissions pass.
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Something my wife told me when I thought about buying a probably illegal car: If you crash and the lawyer on the other side knows a thing or two about cars, you can almost guarantee there will be an argument made about the car’s importation status. Read more