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Farmer moves illegally parked car with tractor

Bad parking in London can get you a ticket or the boot, but bad parking in the West Country is treated in a more direct manner. One motorist learned this fact in early May when a video published by The Daily Mail showing a farmer moving a car with his tractor went viral. Lianne Dunn and Ally Boxall were out for a drive near Marksbury when they came upon a strange sight. Coming at them down the narrow country lane was a tractor with a red Mazda6 perched on its front-end loader attachment. One of the women pulled out her cell phone and filmed the odd scene while the other backed into a convenient driveway to let the tractor past. As the tractor trundled by with its load, they asked the young man guiding the driver what was going on. "They parked in this chap's drive," he said in his broad, West Country burr. "He asked us to move the car, nobody claimed it." When asked where the pair were taking the car, the unnamed farmer replied, "We're going to put it up on the main road. It's the police's problem then." The two women, obviously entertained by the spectacle, exchange a few more words with the young farmer before they finally drive off. "This is the best!" one of the women says as on the video. "Never piss a farmer off!" News Source: The Daily Mail, The Western Gazette Humor Weird Car News Mazda Nissan Driving Diesel Vehicles Sedan parking tractor farmer

Miata is always the answer, but not always the best one

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a surprisingly versatile car. Not only is it hilariously fun on back roads and closed courses, it can also be a decent daily driver thanks to its solid gas mileage and usable trunk. But, it doesn't excel in every driving situation. Specifically long trips at high speeds, and those involving canine companions. This weekend, I did a roughly 500-mile round trip to my parents' home in Indiana to pick up my recently adopted dog. The trip was 90-percent highways, and I heard every single mile. Our MX-5 Miata Club has the minimally insulated top also found on the base level trim, and at highway speeds the wind and road noise fills the cabin with a loud, steady roar. This likely won't be a problem for fans of white noise, and it can be overcome by the stereo. However, over a few hundred miles, it starts to get old. The suspension, while superb for carving corners, also gets tiresome. On rough Rust Belt highways, it would become a bit overwhelmed, and the whole car would shiver and shake. On the plus side, nothing squeaked, rattled, or fell off in these instances. There are a few other quirks that show up on long trips. The small pedal box and floor-mounted throttle means that there isn't a particularly comfortable place to rest your right foot when the cruise control is set. Neither the door nor the center console have much padding either, so leaning your knees against them for long periods of time isn't advisable. The good news is that the seat itself was surprisingly comfortable, and never once was I feeling any back pain. Plus, when not using the cruise control, the seating position is great, allowing me to stretch out and relax. When I picked up my four-legged compatriot (a 7-year-old mix of unknown breeds named Ruby, pictured above), things became a tad tight. Standing up, she thoroughly filled the passenger compartment. For reference, she's a little over 50 pounds and stands a little more than 2 feet tall. Much bigger dogs, like my family's coonhound and German shepherd mix, won't really fit. This also made her prone to nearly face-planting on the dashboard anytime the car slowed down. She eventually figured out that simply curling up on the seat bottom was the best choice, and then slept for most of the trip. So it worked out, but I think I may have found the limit of a Miata's dog capacity. Would any of this make me want a Miata less? Certainly not. That is if I had a second car.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.