Meet TireKicker's Most Expensive Pickup Truck (So Far): The 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Double Cab SLT

The 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 HD.

An odd thing about living in Arizona that is also probably quite common in places like Texas, Montana and Wyoming:  Heavy Duty pickup trucks are used like passenger cars.  People take them to the mall, to the grocery store.  You will even occasionally see them at a nice restaurant or cultural event, causing no small amount of fear and trepidation for the valet parking people.

These are really trucks that are made for things a normal full-size half-ton pickup cannot accomplish, such as towing very large house or horse trailers.  They are really not meant for urban commuting.  Yet, people do.

How The 2014 Toyota Sienna Wins On Swagger and Capability, But Loses At The Pump

Okay, it's four years old, but it's still pretty darn funny.  And creative.  And a surprising number of people are still only seeing it for the first time.  Toyota tried to infuse a sort of humorous cool into the hopelessly unhip idea of "we need a minivan" with this music video for the then-new Sienna.

The 2014 Toyota Sienna Limited.

They were rollin' in the HOV in an SE, but we recently had a top-of-the line Limited AWD, yo (I promise, no more of that)...and where you might expect anything four years into its product cycle to be feeling a bit less than fresh, the Sienna struck me as still being on top of its game.

Now, that may be because it and the Honda Odyssey have pretty much taken the minivan as far as it can go.  They are, as noted in the Odyssey review we posted recently, the two dominant minivans, and as the Phoenix bureau noted recently, the dark horse Nissan Quest has a lot going for it, too.

Why I'd Buy The 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid

The 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid.

The Phoenix bureau has already sung the praises of the 2014 Toyota Avalon.  But perhaps too softly.  Mind you, it got the basic tune right.  Having had experience at the wheel of great fullsize American sedans (my earliest experiences at the wheel were in my mom's 1970 Mercury Monterey Custom Coupe with a 429, and my Bishop Union High School Driver's Ed car was a 1972 Pontiac Catalina with a 455), the new Avalon does indeed feel like the best of that long-gone breed, with modern attributes baked in.

Ask yourself:  What were those cars just brilliant at?  Answer...long-distance highway cruising.  So when Easter weekend coincided with Navigator's dad's birthday, with 14-year-old daughter in tow, an Avalon was a natural choice for the run from Sacramento to Ukiah and back. Even better, ours was the Avalon Hybrid, EPA-rated at 40 mpg city/39 highway. We could ace the 340-mile roundtrip and still have gas in the tank.

Well, we could...if we weren't us.

What The 2014 Volkswagen Eos Has That Other Retractable Hardtops Don't

The 2014 Volkswagen Eos Sport.

Volkswagen calls the 2014 Eos "The only hardtop convertible with a built-in sunroof". And that's true.  With all other retractable hardtops, which includes the Chrysler 200, Lexus IS 350C, the Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT and the BMW Z4, you can either look at the sky above by putting the top down, or not, by leaving it up.

The Eos has a sunroof built into the retractable hardtop, giving you a third option: A little sun, without having to take the top all the way down.  On its own, it is somewhere between a great feature and a cute gimmick, and it is also a very subtle reminder of Volkswagen's role in popularizing sunroofs, dating all the way back to 1950s Beetles with a canvas sunroof that rolled back to let the sun shine in.

In A Perfect World, The 2014 Audi A6 2.0t quattro Tiptronic Would Be In Your Garage

The 2014 Audi A6.

The difficult part in reviewing the 2014 Audi A6 is not to gush.  This is a car that is so clearly engineered and designed, not built and styled.  Every detail on the A6, and most Audis for that matter, has been clearly thought out.

The One Feature That Makes The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite Worth Every Penny

The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite.

"Cheap minivan" has become something of an oxymoron.  You're talking more than $25,000 to start for the base model of anything other than a Dodge Grand Caravan, a long-in-the-tooth design that can be had for the bargain-basement price of $20,595.

$28,825 (plus destination and handling) is what it takes to even say hello to the lowest of the five Honda Odyssey trim levels, the LX.  Leaping to the other end of the spectrum and getting a minivan with all the bells and whistles...the new-millenium equivalent of a loaded Country Squire...that's more. A lot more.

The base price of the 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite is...

How Much Is An Extra 12 MPG City Worth To You? The 2014 Lexus RX 450h

The 2014 Lexus RX 450h.

The basic Lexus RX crossover design has remained fairly constant for 16 years, but last year brought a freshening that gives all RX models the signature Lexus spindle grille, a new bumper and headlamp design, LED daytime running lights, updated tail lamps and four new colors (Silver Lining Metallic, Claret Mica, Deep Sea Mica and Fire Agate Pearl).

What Makes The 2014 Acura RDX A Driver's Crossover

The 2014 Acura RDX.

As we told you recently, the 2014 Acura MDX is a solid contender for your large luxury crossover dollars.  But what if you want something a bit less large...a bit more involving behind the wheel?  Say, 17 fewer horsepower in a 150-pounds lighter package...tilting the fun ratio in your favor.

Well, that would be the 2014 Acura RDX.  It's most of what makes the MDX good (high quality materials and construction, high feature count) in a smaller, more maneuverable, sportier and significantly less expensive package.

How Many People Know About The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid?

The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

A little over a year ago, Michael wrote a review of the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid. In it, he pointed out that the key to the Toyota Prius' dominance of the hybrid market was as much about it being instantly identifiable as a "green" car as it was its fuel economy.  He noted that hybrids that look like their gasoline-powered equivalents do not sell as well.