Housekeeping

Housekeeping: We (Finally) Have a Bridgestone Blizzak Winner

We announced a giveaway earlier today, and while we're on the subject, we have a winner in our earlier Bridgestone Blizzak giveaway.

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TTAC Giveaway: Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner

We're giving things away again. This time it's a six-pack of Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner, and more.

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Housekeeping: We Have A Quaker State Winner

We gave away some Quaker State oil and swag last month -- and we have a winner!

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Housekeeping: Our Resident Datsun Man Moves On

Hey all, I just wanted to post a quick note of thanks and fare thee well to our favorite Datsun/Nissan Z aficionado -- Chris Tonn.

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Housekeeping: Happy President's Day

Hey y'all, we're off Monday.

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TTAC Giveaway: Quaker State Oil (and Swag)

Hey there! We know a lot of you are car enthusiasts who keep up to date on your oil changes. Well, for those of you like to maintain your rides, we’re going to help you out with a giveaway of some Quaker State products.

And some swag, too.

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Housekeeping: A Reminder About Used Car of the Day

I keep seeing comments -- and not just from one particular individual -- that suggest that not everyone fully understands the Used Car of the Day format, its purpose, and how I select the cars I do.

So let's do some learning.

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Housekeeping: Happy MLK Day

Hi y'all. We're off Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Housekeeping: The TTAC Podcast Returns!

Hey there! Remember the podcast we did until early last year? It was put on hiatus for a variety of reasons we'll keep in house -- and now, it's back!

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Housekeeping: Happy New Year!

Time rolls on. One year ends, another begins. And so on and so forth.

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Housekeeping: Happy Holidays

We're in the heart of the holiday season, so we're ducking out early and taking off until Tuesday.

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TTAC Giveaway: Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Tires

Win a set of Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires!

It's time for a TTAC Giveaway! Once again, we're giving away some winter tires! You can snag a set by entering below.

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Housekeeping: Happy Thanksgiving!

As per usual, we're taking off for the long holiday weekend.

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Housekeeping: TTAC Takes Off for Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day in the U.S. and it's a company holiday for us, so we are off.

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Housekeeping: Once Again, Please Play Nice

It's come to my attention that once again, the comments section is becoming less friendly than it should be.

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Housekeeping: TTAC Takes Off For Indigenous Peoples' Day 2023

Hi there! Just a note to let you know we won't be posting Monday, as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day here in the United States and Canada.

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Housekeeping: Happy Labo(u)r Day 2023

It's the unofficial end of summer (see rant below) so we're off on Monday.

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Housekeeping: Announcing Our Meguiar's Winners!

Way back in May, we announced a giveaway for Meguiar's car-care products. We now have the winners!

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Housekeeping: Happy Juneteenth

We're off Monday to celebrate Juneteenth.

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Housekeeping: Memorial Day, 2023 Edition

As per usual when faced with a holiday weekend, we are going to be off.

I don't like to say we're "celebrating" Memorial Day, so much as we are honoring those who died serving our country.

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Housekeeping: We Have a Winner for the ThinkWare Dash Cam!

We have a winner from last month's ThinkWare Dash Cam contest.

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Housekeeping: Happy President's and Family Day!

It's a holiday Monday on both sides of the border. It's President's Day down here in the land of NASCAR and football that only has one 50-yard line. Meanwhile, the hockey-loving, syrup-guzzling folks on the other side are celebrating Family/Heritage day.

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Hey Audi F1 Fans, Check This Out!

Hi there, folks. We're working on another initiative with our corporate parents/partners to promote our forums. In this case, it's all about Audi and F1.

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Housekeeping: Martin Luther King Day

Hey there B and B. Just checking in here to let you know we are off on Monday to celebrate/recognize Martin Luther King Day.

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Love Classic JDM Cars? Read This!

As you might know, our corporate parents and partners run a whole bunch of forums. One that might interest you if you like Japanese Domestic Cars (JDM) is Classic JDM forum.

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Housekeeping: Keep It Civil, People

Hey there Best and Brightest! How are you doing? Feeling good on a Monday? That's good. Well, grab a cup of coffee and sit down. We need to talk.

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Housekeeping: Merry New Year!

It's the last working day of the year, and we're going to shut down early so we can par-taaaay.

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Housekeeping: Announcing Our Noco Jump Box Giveaway Winner

A few months ago, we announced a giveaway for a NOCO Boost Plus GB40 1000 Amp 12-Volt UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter Box.

We can now happily announce the winner.

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Housekeeping: Happy Holidays

As per usual, we're going to head into the Christmas holiday by taking some time off.

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Housekeeping: Happy Thanksgiving!

It's American Thanksgiving! So we are outta here!

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Housekeeping: More, More, More!

Hey there! We start this week with some TTAC news.

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Housekeeping: We're Off Monday

Monday is Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day, and we're going to be off.

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Housekeeping: Tech Q&A Remains Paused

Hi gang. Our tech columnist is still dealing with the family emergency that sidelined him last week.

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Housekeeping: Tech Q and A Will Return Next Week

Our tech Q and A columnist is dealing with a family emergency, so the column will return next week.

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Housekeeping: Happy Labo(u)r Day 2022


It's Labor Day in the U.S. on Monday, and also Labour Day in Canada on Monday, so in advance of the three-day weekend we're gonna shut 'er down a bit early.

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Housekeeping: We Want Your Feedback


Hey there! As you know, TTAC looks a bit different than it did last week. And operates a bit differently, as well.


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Housekeeping: TTAC Gets Game-Changing Design Language

When you log in to this grand old site next week, it will look different. For the first time in … well, a long time.

I know, you’ve heard talk of a redesign before. I’ve even seen mockups! But for a variety of reasons, things never moved past the planning stage.

Now, however, our corporate parents are leveraging a partnership and TTAC will be getting fresh new duds.

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Housekeeping: Happy Fourth of July

Once again, it’s time to, and I quote The Simpsons: “Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.”

So that means we’re off on the Fourth of July.

But wait, there’s more!

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Housekeeping: We're Off Monday to Honor Juneteenth

Our corporate overlords have declared Juneteenth a holiday, and so it be declared that we, too, will be taking the day off.

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Housekeeping: Announcing the Bridgestone Summer Tire Giveaway Winner

We here at TTAC are happy to announce that we have a winner from the Bridgestone summer tire giveaway we ran at the end of April.

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Housekeeping: Happy Memorial Day

As per usual when a holiday approaches, TTAC will be taking some time off.

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Housekeeping: Announcing the Winner of the Lithium Auto Care Contest

We ran a giveaway of Lithium Auto Care products recently and now, we have a winner.

And the winner is…

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Housekeeping: Happy President's and Family Day

Today is President’s Day in America and Family Day in Canada, and so we, and our corporate masters, are taking the day off.

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Housekeeping: Happy MLK Day

It’s Martin Luther King Day, and it’s a holiday for American employees working for our corporate overlords, so we’re going to take the day and take a nice little break.

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Housekeeping: We Have a Winner!

We’re pleased to announce the winner of our Bridgestone Winter Tire Giveaway.

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Housekeeping: Check Your Spam Folder

You guys remember that winter-tire giveaway we ran last month? Yeah? Well, one of you won — and have not replied to several emails informing you that’s the case.

I suspect the email went to spam.

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Housekeeping: TTAC Takes A Christmas Break

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so it’s gonna be a long, relaxing weekend for those of us in the blog mines.

This means we will be knocking off early today.

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Housekeeping: Happy Labo(u)r Day

It’s Labo(u)r Day on both sides of the border on Monday, so us hard-working bloggers/writers/editors are taking it easy peasy until Tuesday.

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Housekeeping: Sign Up for Our Newsletter

You may have noticed a bit of text at the end of our posts lately asking you to sign up for our newsletter.

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Housekeeping: Happy Fourth of July!

It’s about time to celebrate America’s independence.

Which means fireworks, booze (don’t drink and drive), and barbecues.

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Housekeeping: There Are Gonna Be Some Changes Around Here

Hi there. Your friendly Managing Editor here. I am checking in with you out there in B and B land to give you a quick update on what’s going on over here on this side of the computer/phone/tablet screen, over here in TTAC country.

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Housekeeping: Memorial Day is Here Again

Monday marks Memorial Day in America, and therefore, TTAC is taking a break.

Yes, like many of you, we will be off Monday.

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Housekeeping: TTAC Changes Name, Now Truth About Current

Following in the footsteps of those hilarious Germans, we’re going to be changing our name to better reflect a changing automotive landscape as it shifts to electrification.

From now on, we’re The Truth About Current.

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Housekeeping: We Take a Day Off to Celebrate POTUS

No, not the current POTUS. Or the previous one, or the one before that, or the one before that…

We’re taking Monday off to celebrate two long-dead presidents who shaped American history. Thanks to a revised holiday schedule from our corporate masters in … Toronto.

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Housekeeping: In Which TTAC Observes MLK Day

Hey gang, the boss here.

Thanks to a directive from our corporate masters, we’re off on Monday.

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Housekeeping: Merry New Year

I don’t have much to say — you already know we’re on a light schedule until Monday. So I will keep this short.

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Housekeeping: Merry Happy Holidays, 2020 Edition

The hellfire of a year that 2020 has been is almost over, and while 2021 likely won’t be a picnic — especially at first, as we wait for the pandemic to abate as vaccines are rolled out — I don’t think too many people are going to miss this year.

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Housekeeping: Happy Turkey Day in the States

Yeah, it’s that time of year again. Except this year, it won’t be normal.

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Housekeeping: Welcome the New News Contributor

It’s taken a bit longer than planned, but we have our newest news contributor all settled in and raring to go. Please Welcome Jason Sakurai to our little, weird corner of the car Internet. He’ll be our next newshound, stepping into the role Steph Willems vacated.

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Housekeeping: How the Press Loan System Works

When I got hired on at TTAC, I checked with our news team about what we were expected to disclose when it came to considerations from automakers. Steph told me that unlike with some other outlets, there was no need to disclose how the press-car system works, since y’all knew the deal.

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  • Bd2 Lexus is just a higher trim package Toyota. ^^
  • Tassos ONLY consider CIvics or Corollas, in their segment. NO DAMNED Hyundais, Kias, Nissans or esp Mitsus. Not even a Pretend-BMW Mazda. They may look cute but they SUCK.I always recommend Corollas to friends of mine who are not auto enthusiasts, even tho I never owed one, and owned a Civic Hatch 5 speed 1992 for 25 years. MANY follow my advice and are VERY happy. ALmost all are women.friends who believe they are auto enthusiasts would not listen to me anyway, and would never buy a Toyota. They are damned fools, on both counts.
  • Tassos since Oct 2016 I drive a 2007 E320 Bluetec and since April 2017 also a 2008 E320 Bluetec.Now I am in my summer palace deep in the Eurozone until end October and drive the 2008.Changing the considerable oils (10 quarts synthetic) twice cost me 80 and 70 euros. Same changes in the US on the 2007 cost me $219 at the dealers and $120 at Firestone.Changing the air filter cost 30 Euros, with labor, and there are two such filters (engine and cabin), and changing the fuel filter only 50 euros, while in the US they asked for... $400. You can safely bet I declined and told them what to do with their gold-plated filter. And when I changed it in Europe, I looked at the old one and it was clean as a whistle.A set of Continentals tires, installed etc, 300 EurosI can't remember anything else for the 2008. For the 2007, a brand new set of manual rec'd tires at Discount Tire with free rotations for life used up the $500 allowance the dealer gave me when I bought it (tires only had 5000 miles left on them then)So, as you can see, I spent less than even if I owned a Lexus instead, and probably less than all these poor devils here that brag about their alleged low cost Datsun-Mitsus and Hyundai-Kias.And that's THETRUTHABOUTCARS. My Cars,
  • NJRide These are the Q1 Luxury division salesAudi 44,226Acura 30,373BMW 84,475Genesis 14,777Mercedes 66,000Lexus 78,471Infiniti 13,904Volvo 30,000*Tesla (maybe not luxury but relevant): 125,000?Lincoln 24,894Cadillac 35,451So Cadillac is now stuck as a second-tier player with names like Volvo. Even German 3rd wheel Audi is outselling them. Where to gain sales?Surprisingly a decline of Tesla could boost Cadillac EVs. Tesla sort of is now in the old Buick-Mercury upper middle of the market. If lets say the market stays the same, but another 15-20% leave Tesla I could see some going for a Caddy EV or hybrid, but is the division ready to meet them?In terms of the mainstream luxury brands, Lexus is probably a better benchmark than BMW. Lexus is basically doing a modern interpretation of what Cadillac/upscale Olds/Buick used to completely dominate. But Lexus' only downfall is the lack of emotion, something Cadillac at least used to be good at. The Escalade still has far more styling and brand ID than most of Lexus. So match Lexus' quality but out-do them on comfort and styling. Yes a lot of Lexus buyers may be Toyota or import loyal but there are a lot who are former GM buyers who would "come home" for a better product.In fact, that by and large is the Big 3's problem. In the 80s and 90s they would try to win back "import intenders" and this at least slowed the market share erosion. I feel like around 2000 they gave this up and resorted to a ton of gimmicks before the bankruptcies. So they have dropped from 66% to 37% of the market in a quarter century. Sure they have scaled down their presence and for the last 14 years preserved profit. But in the largest, most prosperous market in the world they are not leading. I mean who would think the Koreans could take almost 10% of the market? But they did because they built and structured products people wanted. (I also think the excess reliance on overseas assembly by the Big 3 hurts them vs more import brands building in US). But the domestics should really be at 60% of their home market and the fact that they are not speaks volumes. Cadillac should not be losing 2-1 to Lexus and BMW.
  • Tassos Not my favorite Eldorados. Too much cowbell (fins), the gauges look poor for such an expensive car, the interior has too many shiny bits but does not scream "flagship luxury", and the white on red leather or whatever is rather loud for this car, while it might work in a Corvette. But do not despair, a couple more years and the exterior designs (at least) will sober up, the cowbells will be more discreet and the long, low and wide 60s designs are not far away. If only the interiors would be fit for the price point, and especially a few acres of real wood that also looked real.