2011 Dodge Caliber, Private First Owner, Well Maintained, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Toyota, Lexus dominate KBB's Best Resale Value Awards

Toyota and Lexus stormed the 2014 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value Awards, winning a combined 18 categories including best brand and best luxury brand. This marks the third year in a row that both automakers have won the Brand and Luxury Brand resale value awards. In all, Toyota won 11 categories and Lexus won seven.
Honda made a good showing, as well, winning two segments (Accord Plug-In Hybrid and Civic Si) and putting one car on the top-10 Best Resale Value list (CR-V). Chevrolet did even better, winning two segments (with the V6 Camaro and the Corvette) and placing three cars on the top-10-overall list (again, the Camaro and Corvette, plus the Silverado 1500).
The other winners came from Jeep, Dodge, Infiniti, Subaru and Audi. To give you a clearer picture of the Toyota and Lexus domination, their 18 mentions represents more than half of the 34 awards (including the top-10-overall list).

7 major automakers to build open EV charging network

A new joint venture established by BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis will build a new North American electric vehicle charging network on a scale designed to compete with Tesla's industry-benchmark Supercharger network. The 30,000-plus planned new chargers will accommodate both Tesla's almost-standard North American Charging System (NACS) and existing automakers' Combined Charging System (CCS) options, effectively guaranteeing compatibility with the vast majority of current and upcoming electric models — whether they're from one of the involved automakers or not.  "With the generational investments in public charging being implemented on the Federal and State level, the joint venture will leverage public and private funds to accelerate the installation of high-powered charging for customers. The new charging stations will be accessible to all battery-powered electric vehicles from any automaker using Combined Charging System (CCS) or North American Charging Standard (NACS) and are expected to meet or exceed the spirit and requirements of the U.S. National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program." Critically, the automakers involved will have a say in how the charging tech is implemented, guaranteeing that the hardware will play nicely with each automaker's in-house charging systems. Hyundai and Kia, for example, were hesitant to jump on board the Tesla NACS bandwagon earlier this year over concerns that the Supercharger network is insufficient for powering the two automakers' 800-volt charging systems; similar tech is used by Volkswagen and Porsche.  In addition to providing much-needed capacity and high-output charging for America's growing fleet of electric cars and trucks, the new network will integrate seamlessly with each automaker's in-app and in-vehicle features, rather than forcing customers to use third-party tools and payment systems, as is the case with some existing public charging infrastructure.  "The functions and services of the network will allow for seamless integration with participating automakersÂ’ in-vehicle and in-app experiences, including reservations, intelligent route planning and navigation, payment applications, transparent energy management and more. In addition, the network will leverage Plug & Charge technology to further enhance the customer experience," the announcement said.

Dominic Toretto's 'Fast and Furious' Lego Dodge Charger lives its life a quarter mile at a time

Fan of the "Fast and Furious" franchise and Lego kits? You're in luck. The brick-builder announced that it is now taking pre-orders for a new kit dedicated to the 1970 Dodge Charger widebody driven by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) in the car heist film series.  The release of the latest installment in the "F&F" franchise may have been delayed until next year, but for better or worse, a lot of merchandising that was in the works to cross-promote the new film is still in the pipeline.  The approximately 1,100-piece Technic-line kit can be posed both on four wheels and in a wheelie stance thanks to a flip-down prop stand (which itself looks a bit like a misplaced wheelie bar). The kit includes details such as a trunk-mounted dual-bottle nitrous kit, a detailed roll cage, and other nods to the long-running movie car.  "With 1,077 pieces, this cool building set provides a fun challenge for kids who love toy model cars. Inspired by the original 1970s Dodge Charger R/T, this faithful replica is packed with realistic details," Lego's product page says. The kit features several moving parts, too, including the wheels, suspension, supercharger induction system and steering. It measures more than a foot long (15") and even comes with authentic California replica plates.  Those who want a kit will be able to pre-order it from the Lego website, with shipments starting on April 27. Those who want to roll the dice on retail availability will be able to shop for it in local stores the same day, provided those stores are open, of course.  Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Building The Fate Of The Furious Cars | Autoblog