A Girl's Guide to Cars

2 days ago | agirlsguidetocars.com | Mercedes Lilienthal

Not long ago I began to prepare to drive the TransAmerica Trail, a 7,100-mile off-road trail that spans the U.S. without a paved road in sight. I’m not doing this alone; my husband, Andy, and I are driving a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness, provided by Subaru of America, from the East Coast to the West Coast. No, we are not crazy. We’ll be following dirt trails, driving challenging remote sections of the trail and crossing mountain passes.

5 days ago | agirlsguidetocars.com | Kristen Brown

In late 2017, Toyota revealed the 2018 C-HR SUV at the Geneva Auto Show. It had been on the market in Europe for a year by that time, and it was doing well—after all, it was a compact and affordable SUV with a chic, modern look, so it would do well in America, right? Wrong. It was discontinued just four years later, largely because Corolla Cross and Corolla Cross Hybrid’s sales essentially shoved the little fledgling from the nest.

6 days ago | agirlsguidetocars.com | Kim Smith

If you’re like me, you’d be more than happy to get some work done in a place with free WiFi, gorgeous greenery, soft music, books, and a spot to grab some coffee. However, if there are cool cars on display, that typically translates to salesmen who would go for the jugular the second they see interest in your eyes. Not at a Rivian Space. There, the company offers everything I just mentioned, without the pressure to buy a car.

1 week ago | agirlsguidetocars.com | Kristen Brown

Subaru and Toyota didn’t try that hard to hide the fact that the Solterra and bZ4X were rebadged versions of the same car. The interior design was identical, there were only minor changes to the exterior between the two companies, and the pricing was nearly identical, too. Subaru adapted its own AWD system for the Solterra, but otherwise, it was a Toyota.

1 week ago | agirlsguidetocars.com | Kristen Brown

Those who know me can acknowledge that before kids, I absolutely despised minivans. I had a visceral, strong aversion to them. I categorized them as soulless, hideous, unnecessarily gargantuan wastes of precious road space. I’m sure someone close to me can probably quote me saying something akin to, “I’d rather light myself on fire than be caught driving a minivan.”And then I tested a Kia Carnival, a Toyota Sienna, and a Honda Odyssey with my two car-seat-bound toddlers.