Mike Hagerty Cars

3 weeks ago | mikehagertycars.com | Mike Hagerty

Regular readers may remember that I reviewed a 2024 BMW X5 M Competition just a little over a year ago. So what's new? Not much. But be honest. If you wrote about cars for (part of) a living, and BMW offered you a second week in a high-powered sport sedan that does a convincing imitation of a family SUV, would you say no? Didn't think so. That's a 4.4-liter twin-turbo 32-valve V8.

3 weeks ago | mikehagertycars.com | Mike Hagerty

The last time I reviewed the Hyundai IONIQ 5, almost two years ago, it was a Korean car. And that was posing a problem because specific domestic content and point of assembly rules on electric vehicles had kicked in, affecting the IONIQ 5's ability to qualify for $7,500 EV tax credits. For 2025, the IONIQ 5 is now an American-built car, coming from a plant in Ellabell, Georgia, about 30 miles east of Savannah.

4 weeks ago | mikehagertycars.com | Mike Hagerty

About that headline. There's a mural in the center of the Amador County, California town of Ione (eye-OWN), population 5,141. It reads:BETWEEN THE MEAT & THE MONEYThe story goes that there was a butcher shop on one side of the street and a bank on the other way back when (the town's roots go all the way back to the 1848 California Gold Rush). I've had that mural in the back of my mind for years---thinking it would be a good photo backdrop for the next really big pickup truck I wound up reviewing.

1 month ago | mikehagertycars.com | Mike Hagerty

One of the things automotive journalists will do is take shots at the automakers for trying to fill every possible gap in a product lineup. "Is there really room for a new vehicle between [vehicle a] and [vehicle b]?", we'll ask. For example, if you had asked me if there was enough room between the Toyota Highlander and the Toyota Sequoia to squeeze in another model, I'd have said no. I'd have been wrong.

1 month ago | mikehagertycars.com | Mike Hagerty

Back in February, I wrote a pretty tough review of the 2025 Kia K4 GT-Line. The facts I cited stand, and the review stands. But I'll say this: I wish I had driven this K4 GT-Line instead of that K4 GT-Line first. That K4 GT-Line was the 2.0-liter non-turbo four-cylinder with 147 horsepower. This K4 GT-Line is the 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder with 190 horsepower.