2002 Lexus Sc 430 Lexus 2 Door Convertible on 2040-cars

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Here are this year's top 5 automaker April Fools’ jokes

April 1 is the wonderful day when PR departments really push themselves to top the zany jokes they came up with the previous year. And it's not just fast-food chains competing with each other, or breweries announcing they have released stuff like a fermented herring flavored beer: carmakers' media teams rarely miss out on the opportunity to play a little joke on their audience. Here are a few of our favorites from this year:1) Porsche Porsche announced that it's launching a Mission E tractor, styled to resemble its 1950s tractor models. "With a power output in excess of 700hp, the Mission E Tractor will be the fastest accelerating agricultural vehicle in the world, enabling farmers to harvest crops in record time with the added environmental benefits of zero emissions at source and significantly reduced operating noise."2) Lexus Lexus actually jumped the gun, telling us on March 28 that it's combining cars and drivers using DNA matching. The kicker was that with DNA-matched cars, owners would be able to start their Lexuses by licking the steering wheel.3) McLaren Automotive McLaren said it's boosting efficiency by quite eccentric measures, such as measuring the technology center's lake and floor tiles daily, and by synchronizing the staff's tea breaks.4) BMW Motorrad BMW's motorcycle arm is solving parts availability issues in remote locations by offering a 3D printer mounted permanently on the bike's rack: If you need to replace a broken-off gear lever, you can just print one. "The new system will mean that even very rarely required parts not generally stocked by BMW Motorrad sales partners can be supplied on a just-in-time basis." BMW even went to the lengths of announcing that the "BMW Motorrad iPart 3D Mobile Printer" was tested on the Antarctic, by erecting a tent whose poles were produced onsite.5) Honda Last but not least, Honda UK purportedly cut the roof off a new CR-V, calling it the CR-V Roadster. Tellingly, no convertible top was even offered for the concept, "making it a no-top rather than a drop-top. This innovative design makes it a vehicle purely for sunnier climates and therefore completely useless for the two-day British summer which traditionally occurs in May."Related Video: Featured Gallery Top 5 April Fools 2018 Image Credit: Porsche Green Humor Weird Car News BMW Honda Lexus McLaren Porsche bmw motorrad mclaren automotive

Autotrader picks best cars for 2015's college grads

Summer is here and the school season is winding to a close. That means millions of students will be graduating college and (hopefully) entering the workforce. For many, that will mean buying a new car suited to the new stage in life into which they will now be embarking. That can be a bewildering choice, especially for someone who's never bought a car before. Fortunately, Autotrader has come up with a short list of recommended cars – new and used – which it recommends to the graduating class of 2015. Among the site's top choices are some compelling crossovers and hatchbacks, including the Buick Encore, Chevy Trax, and Jeep Renegade, as well as the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa Note, Mazda3 and Fiat 500. Can't stretch to buying new, or don't see the point? Autotrader has also identified the Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and even the Lexus IS as smart buys in the certified pre-owned category. "Any time someone goes through a major life change, such as graduating college, they need to determine if their current ride makes sense for their lifestyle, from both a financial and functional perspective," says Autotrader editor Brian Moody. "For example, while that hand-me-down SUV from your parents was nice when you turned 16, you may want to opt for a safer, more fuel-efficient car as you transition into the working world." Autotrader Names 10 Best Cars for Recent College Graduates ATLANTA, May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- For many, graduating college is a milestone like no other – it represents a new chapter, a proud accomplishment and, fortunately or unfortunately, financial independence. Luckily for graduates who are in the market for a new car to suit their post-college lifestyle, Autotrader's expert editors say now is a great time to make a purchase, as dealerships are flush with affordable models that are fun, fuel-efficient and thoughtfully designed. Autotrader Logo "Any time someone goes through a major life change, such as graduating college, they need to determine if their current ride makes sense for their lifestyle, from both a financial and functional perspective," said Brian Moody, site editor for Autotrader.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.