Car Lists

Our Holiday Wish List

Last updated: Nov 25, 2019 at 4:38PM
Published on: Dec 29, 2013 by zwaller

With the exception of last weekend (when Mother Nature decided the first day of winter should be celebrated in flip flops and T-shirts), this year’s holiday season has been a pretty ordinary one: Malls have been packed, colorful lights strung all over, and kids have been hard at work clearing landing strips for a certain jolly old man and his team of reindeer from the North Pole (before the heat melted all the snow, that is).

Just a few weeks ago, we talked about all the cars we couldn’t wait to see in 2014. But what about the cars we can get right now? While 2014’s cars certainly seem amazing, there are many, many cars already out that we’d love to find in our driveways. After much deliberation, we came up with a list of the 10 cars we’d like Santa to put on his sleigh and leave in Harvard Square for us.

10 Best Cars to Tackle Winter

Last updated: Nov 25, 2019 at 4:29PM
Published on: Nov 29, 2013 by zwaller

As we saw this past week, snow and ice can be quite a drag when you need to get somewhere—especially when half the country does at the same time. With Winter Storm Boreas hitting just in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush, we got to thinking about just which cars we’d prefer to take out in extreme winter conditions. Some of them are practical, some are sensible, and others are downright nuts—but they’re all cars we’d love to be in when the white stuff starts falling.

Big Family, Big Cars, Big Prices

Last updated: Nov 25, 2019 at 4:25PM
Published on: Nov 15, 2013 by tgriffith

You’ve seen the stickers on the back of Suburbans everywhere. You know the ones, the little caricatures of each family member happily bouncing soccer balls or petting a puppy.

There’s usually a mom, a dad, 4 kids or more and two pets. Presumably they are all in the vehicle at the same time, and I’d almost guarantee they aren’t nearly as happy as their sticker-selves represent.

A lot of crying and yelling happens in the back of those Suburbans, I’m just sayin’.

For large families in need of a 7+-passenger vehicle, the choices are surprisingly ample. Expensive, but ample.

The Best Beach Cars Under $10,000

Last updated: Nov 25, 2019 at 11:29AM
Published on: Jun 7, 2013 by zwaller

This past weekend, temperatures in the Boston area topped the 90-degree mark for the first time this year, sending the CarGurus team and thousands of other Bostonians to the area’s many beaches to cool off. While many were stuck searching for parking at the most popular beaches, others were able to simply pull up to the beach, let some air out of the tires, slip their car into 4-wheel drive and find a prime spot right next to the surf—with no one else in sight.

This is the going to the beach that I grew up with and one of the primary reasons that I still have a 4WD pickup. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of changing from pavement to sand. You pull up to the beach, make the change into 4WD, and you’re off. Instead of hearing the tires whining against the pavement, you get the gentle sound of them pushing through the sand, with no more pedestrians and bicyclists to watch out for, just shorebirds, sunbathers and fishermen.

Most Fun 2014 Cars You Can Get with a Manual

Last updated: Sep 27, 2019 at 2:23PM
Published on: May 3, 2013 by zwaller

Shifter

I remember the first time I drove a car, I was 13, and I spent hours stalling my dad’s 1984 Toyota Pickup. Over and over we drove around in that circle, my dad refusing to give up on me until I could finally master the art of the manual transmission.

Many of us probably have a similar story (okay, most were probably more gifted and were able to learn how to work the clutch in a matter of minutes, not hours), one of trying and failing until that glorious moment when you get enough (but not too much) gas to the engine and take off for that first time in first gear. It’s a story of pain and struggle, but at the same time it intensely bonded you to the person who taught you an essential life skill, and it ended with sheer joy at the point when you finally mastered the stick shift. Sadly, this experience may not be a common one for much longer.

A right of passage for many a teenager, learning how to drive stick is gradually becoming less and less common, as more and more automakers choose to discontinue production of vehicles with manual transmissions. Just this week, we received the heart-wrenching news that Porsche would no longer produce the 911 Turbo with a manual gearbox. This follows in the footsteps of Ferrari and McLaren, who dropped manual transmissions altogether in recent years, along with Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini, who have already nixed the necessity on their superstars, the SLS AMG and Aventador. If European makers of supercars can no longer produce fun-to-drive cars with stick shifts, who will?

Car Lists

Footer