2014 Ram 2500 Slt on 2040-cars

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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.

2019 Ram 3500 Regular Cab Big Horn Review | No B.S., just lots of truck

While luxury trucks of all sizes from all makes are growing in popularity, they are particularly prevalent in the heavy-duty segment, where they tow toys worth far more than the truck itself. Want proof? The volume-selling GMC Sierra HD is actually its most expensive version: the Denali, slathered with leather and chock full of convenience features. But the person who buys this 2019 Ram 3500 4x4 Big Horn Regular Cab would say they don't care about any of that crap. This is a dedicated tool for towing and especially hauling — even more dedicated than the Ram 2500 HD that was also overhauled for 2019. It has a regular cab with a three-person bench and no back seat. It has the longest bed available at 8 feet with the heftiest payload. Packing a standard 6.4-liter 410-horsepower Hemi V8, it can tow as much as 17,490 pounds. The 3500 is also the only Ram pickup that doesn't have a coil spring rear suspension. The five-link setup with coils in the 1500 and 2500 are abundantly strong for their respective segments, while providing superior ride and handling to boot, but when you enter 3500 territory, the old-fashioned leaf spring is still required (an auto-leveling rear air suspension that still utilizes the leaf springs is optional, but our truck was not so-equipped). Remember this when you're choosing between 2500 and 3500 trucks, because if you don't need the 3500's extra capability (more on that later), you're going to be suffering when the bed isn't loaded or the tongue isn't attached to something humongous. The ride is quite simply appalling, crashing over bumps and launching you from your seat into the shoulder belt. The 2500's is far superior. But of course, anyone who has ever driven a "1-ton" pickup would find such a comment charming. "No kidding," they'd likely say, "tell us something we don't know." Well, it probably wouldn't be that the ride settled down substantially when I loaded it with a relatively paltry amount of weight. The 500 pounds of mulch I dropped into the bed was quite obviously a light lift for a truck with a 4,660-pound payload, but I can't dump river rock into every truck I test. I also didn't have a 17,000-pound something around to tow. I hereby apologize. Yet, the point of this heaviest-duty regular-cab pickup was still made. If you owned a number of different vehicles or needed something to keep on a ranch for working purposes only, this is exactly the type of truck to keep on hand.

Ram launches perfectly predictable ads [UPDATE]

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated these commercials were Super Bowl ads. This is not the case, and the text has been corrected to reflect that they are not, in fact, Super Bowl ads. Ram has released some new commercials, and they're pretty boring. They're not bad by any means, it's just that they're exactly what you'd expect from a truck commercial. The two 30-second spots deal with the themes of doing truck things and being a strong, community-focused American. The first of the two shows Rams performing such kind-hearted duties as pulling a fallen tree off a road, or towing a church to its pastoral new home. In the background, the narrator repeats words tied to strength, courage, assistance, and longevity. To paraphrase Mr. Spock, this Ram will be strong, live long, and help your community prosper. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The second spot shifts more to the community-focused and family-minded theme. Clearly, it's meant to show that the tough guy in the Ram has a soft side. But don't worry, he can still pound through snow with his mega-sized plow, which is perfect for making sure people can go ice-skating in the middle of nowhere. While they're adequate ads that deliver a pretty clear message, they cover the same ground most other truck commercials have. They're just generic truck commercials we'll forget about an hour after they've aired. Here's hoping other automakers step up their game. Related Video: