Author Archives: Mark Maynard, Creative Syndicate

When Nissan was designing its first full-sized pickup in the late 1990s, it knew that whatever it came up with could not be one millimeter less in capacity, ability or […]

The Scion brand had just crossed into its teen years when parent company Toyota announced in February that the brand would be disbanded by August and the cars rebranded for […]

The 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has the smallest life-cycle carbon footprint of any model year 2016 SUV, according to a study by the Automotive Science Group, based in Santa Rosa. […]

Buick has at long last thrown caution to the wind and added a convertible to its lineup. And it is a good, four-seat ragtop. The 2016 Cascada (properly pronounced Kas-KAH-da) […]

Compact sedans are emerging as a bimodal chess piece. These once-cheap and cheerful sedans were the econoboxes of the brand, but to get something nice meant moving up and paying […]

The 2016 Hyundai Sonata is a heaping helping of comfort food in the midsize sedan segment. It has contemporary styling without trying to draw attention as a trendsetter — though […]

The best thing about the new Toyota Tacoma is its chassis. There is high-strength steel in the frame for rigidity and ultra-high-strength steel adds strength to the body shell. And […]

I always liked the classy sophistication of Infiniti’s EX crossover, which was more of a glorified wagon. It was a little small in the back-seat area for mainstream acceptance, but […]

Chevrolet lit a fire under its 2016 Spark and made it a pretty cool little car. While it is an economy car, it is not a penalty box. With access […]

There is a lot riding on the redesigned 2016 Volvo XC90. It’s not just a completely redone SUV; it represents everything new about this Swedish carmaker that is reestablishing itself […]