CAR ADVICE

The iconic Toyota FJ Cruiser is still on sale in South Africa and the Philippines – more than five years after it left Australian and US showrooms, and after its 15-year run in the Middle East is just now coming to an end. Still want to buy a brand-new Toyota FJ Cruiser? It’s possible, but you will need to move to South Africa or the Philippines. Proving that even retro-LandCruisers can outlast modern rivals, Toyota has kept the FJ Cruiser in production in Japan more than five years after it left Australian and US showrooms. Now the Toyota FJ Cruiser has reached the end of the line in the Middle East after a 15-year run, with the company commemorating the model with a special ‘Final Edition’ (pictured). The FJ Cruiser went into production for left-hand drive markets in 2006 as a tribute to Toyota’s early FJ-series LandCruiser from the 1970s. Despite the old-school appearance, it shared its chassis and mechanical components with the then-new Toyota LandCruiser Prado . Ri...

To celebrate the ‘Race That Stops a Nation’, here are the stories behind some of our favourite car logos featuring horses. Horses, an ancient symbol of power and independence. A symbol of nobility, endurance, triumph. A totem of strength and of courage. Above all, horses represent freedom, providing the ability to move unfettered. Humans began domesticating horses over 6000 years ago, putting the large mammal to work. We used them to till the soil, we used them in battle and to haul cargo. Most of all, we used horses as transport, the beasts of burden carrying us over vast distances with endurance and stamina. Horses and transportation have been intrinsically linked for millennia. Whether carrying people on their backs or hauling carts and wagons filled with cargo, horses have long done the heavy lifting for humans. The advent of the automobile in the late 19th century changed transportation forever, the humble yet effective horse and cart making way for the motor car which ...

Five-star safety scores for some of Australia’s most popular new cars are due to expire at the end of this year. Now tradies and fleets are scrambling to secure vehicles before 1 January 2023, to avoid being banned from worksites. Tradies and fleet buyers are in a race against time to take delivery of popular new cars such as the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Prado and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport – amid production slowdowns and shipping bottlenecks – because these vehicles are among more than a dozen models due to lose their five-star safety scores at the end of this year. Five-star safety ratings have been mandated by fleet operators, mining companies – and businesses big and small – for the better part of a decade due to stricter occupational heath and safety guidelines. However, the independent crash safety watchdog – the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) – has introduced six-year expiry dates on five-star scores so consumers have a better chance to co...

Despite stock shortages, car makers haven’t pumped the brakes on their new car launch plans. Here’s everything confirmed for launch in Australia in 2022 and beyond. Just 18 months ago, the light seemed to be at the end of the tunnel for the Australian new car market, with regular record sales months suggesting the worst of COVID-19’s impacts had now passed. However, 2021 proved otherwise, with a global semiconductor shortage turning the industry on its head – extending wait times on most new cars by months – compounded by a fresh round of lockdowns. Regardless of whether buyers could get behind the wheel, manufacturers still launched a range of brand-new models, with the headline acts spanning everything from the hotly-anticipated Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, to the new Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Volkswagen Golf and Mitsubishi Outlander. In 2022, there’s no shortage of new metal on the horizon – led by the new Ford Ranger mid-year, and accompanied by a trio of new Nissa...