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Consumer Reports Cars Blog

• Garmin Nuvi 880 – Voice recognition that works
  A good travel companion understands the fine art of conversation, balancing listening and speaking, and intuitively avoiding interruptions. Just as important is accepting comfortable silence and being tolerant of broad musical tastes. The best co-pilots have a keen knack for navigation and an encyclopedic knowledge of travel information. Garmin has recently launched a portable navigator that meets that job description, and it never needs to stretch its legs. The Garmin Nuvi 880 is a premium, full-featured portable navigation device (PND) with an impressive voice-recognition system. It has a wide vocabulary, enabling the driver to enter destinations and cycle through menus without touching the screen. And it does so in multiple languages. Other devices we have tested with voice recognition still required using the touchscreen to accomplish common tasks and they tended to interrupt conversations like an impatient child. The Nuvi 880 requires the user to press a remote button before issuing a spoken command, such as entering an address or jumping right to the latest traffic or weather report. On screen, the device indicates with a green dialog balloon when it is ready to listen and it signals with red when the user needs to listen. The learning curve is brief, thanks to onscreen text (such as on menu buttons) being recognized for verbal commands, as well as a logical list of shortcut commands. What I found in living with it, and through doing the video embedded here, is that pacing is key. Just speak clearly and it will recognize most instructions on the first try. Breaking words into syllables, or logical pieces, helped get through a rare stumbling block, as demonstrated in the video. As this technology (hopefully) works its way down to more affordable devices, I’d love to see a future, premium model include the ability to learn the user’s voice, like computer-based dictation software. Over time, such a device would improve recognition. With the ability to have more than one user, the PND could also save preferred settings, such as address book, home, and photos, for each. All told, the Garmin Nuvi 880 represents the state of the art. The Nuvi 880 will join our GPS ratings next week along with eight other recently tested units when we make a comprehensive update that includes changes to how the ratings are scored and displayed to better represent the factors that matter most to users. Read our complete First Look at the Garmin Nuvi 880. —Jeff Bartlett For more information on portable GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.
• Vespa LX150 scooter – A fair-weather friend
  About a month ago we promised to get our hands on some scooters for evaluation. We’ve just added a couple of Vespas to our test fleet, a 50cc LX50 and a 150cc LX150. The LX50 model cost us $3,299, the LX150 $4,399. After some buzzing around (“Vespa” means wasp in Italian) in the immediate vicinity, it became clear that most of us prefer the 150. Though the 50cc model doesn’t require a motorcycle license, it’s limited to only 30 mph and feels sluggish. In order to ride legally and confidently on highways, you’d need a 250cc scooter. The other day I ferried the LX150 home on a trailer so I could ride it in more urban and suburban settings than the rural roads around our test track. I immediately felt very trendy. Spurred on by record high gas prices, the Vespa has become a fashion statement in my neck of the woods in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Mind you, I’m not a two-wheeler novice: I used to own a Triumph motorcycle. It took a bit of a mindset adjustment to ride the Vespa, but I’m happy to announce that my ego remained intact. Luckily, everything else also remained intact despite a few nerve-racking moments in rush-hour traffic and a sudden booming thunderstorm. Riding in the rain is very stressful and fatiguing due to the reduced grip, impaired visibility, and the already oblivious motorists around you. The 150, with just 12 hp on tap, had no problem keeping up with traffic in the range of 15 and 45 mph. There’s enough oomph for clearing an intersection without feeling overly vulnerable, and for quick spurts to escape from a potentially hazardous situation. Climbing mild grades is also quite effortless, at least when riding solo. The CVT automatic works well and the muted engine noise is unobjectionable. The manufacturer claims 72 mpg “under lab conditions.” We haven’t been able to confirm that yet, but stay tuned. We’ve reached a top speed of about 65 mph on a long straight, but the scooter’s natural habitat is the neighborhood, not the interstate. The brakes, activated by two levers on the handlebar, work well and are easy to modulate. From a motorcyclist’s perspective, you’d think that with the Vespa’s small wheels and the floor board, it might scrape the pavement in corners. Actually, there’s ample clearance, and the Vespa feels quite agile and responsive. With just a gentle lean, you round any corner. Low-speed maneuvering in tight quarters is very easy. The ride is firm yet compliant, and very well controlled when traversing dips, swells, and undulations. Notably, there is very little vibration felt through the seat, handlebar, and floor. The beige suede seat on our LX150 looks sharp and got several compliments from bystanders. Plus, it dispels rain drops easily. Unfortunately, birds like it, too. I loved the ability to store my full-face helmet under the seat. However, I missed not having a side-kick for quick stops, even though the center stand was easy enough to...
• Car leasing - End of an era?
  Desperate to cut their recent 10-figure quarterly losses, several companies announced this week that they are abandoning or partially withdrawing from the leasing market. Chrysler announced on July 29th that it was bailing out of leasing altogether. The same day, Ford told some dealers it would raise the prices on truck and SUV leases, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. And BMW announced it would tighten terms on its leases, which account for 60 percent of the company’s sales in the U.S., according to Bloomberg. Lease contracts depend on forecasting the trade-in (aka residual) values of vehicles at the end of the lease term. And high gas prices have accelerated the depreciation on larger models in a way lessors could not have forecasted just a few years ago. Also, some models have had incentives packaged into their financing plan, known as subventing, artificially inflating residual values. As a result, many vehicles coming off lease are worth much less than the residual value resulting in massive losses for finance companies such as GMAC and Ford Motor Credit. Chrysler notes that its dealers will still be able to offer leasing through other financial institutions. However, on the same day, JPMorgan Chase announced it would also no longer offer leases on any Chrysler models, according to the Detroit Free Press. These changes do not affect current lessees, and Chrysler says it will provide loyalty incentives to those customers who purchase a new Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicle. So, what does this mean? For many customers, leasing has been a means to get lower payments and afford larger, more premium vehicles than they could otherwise. Lease payments cover only the predicted amount of depreciation on a car for the duration of the lease, plus a finance charge. Consumers will have fewer finance options going forward. While leases will still exist in some form, they may not be as readily available or marketed with the incentives that have been common. As a result, it will be more difficult for car shoppers to extend their reach to more expensive vehicles. This creates the temptation to take on loan terms of six or seven years to afford payments on a dream car. This shifts the depreciation risk from the automaker to the consumer. Today, 60-month loans are common, stretching longer than many warranties. Pushing loan terms out further increases the likelihood customers will want to trade-in before the loan is paid, and add the debt from one car into the next, essentially leaving them paying off two cars. They also risk that if the car is stolen or destroyed, their insurance payment won’t cover the amount they still owe. Off-lease cars have also been a valued source for used car shoppers. Off-lease models are typically in excellent condition and are usually run through a detailed inspection process. The best part? A three-year-old vehicle has already taken its greatest depreciation hit. But with fewer leases, the cars that reach used-car lots will likely become older and arguably...
• Personal picks: Small SUVs, part 2
  Continuing our staff's personal insights into the August-issue small SUVs test group. (Read: Personal Picks: Small SUVs, part 1.) Gabe Shenhar: I really like the new turbocharged Subaru Forester 2.5XT Limited. The car marks a big step forward over the original Forester, which is not something that can be said for every redesign these days. The new Forester provides effortless acceleration, a great ride, lots of room, a quiet cabin and lots of agility. As soon as I brought it home for the first time, I showed it to my wife and made sure it fit in the garage. It would really make a nice family vehicle for us, with enough rear seat room for two growing boys—which