The NHTSA is working to make sure you don’t stick three people on the VW ID.Buzz’s third row.
While no one enjoys dealing with a safety recall, automakers usually find themselves in the same boat as to the reason why they’d have to stage a new recall campaign. Maybe vehicles lose motive power while driving, maybe they catch fire under certain circumstances or maybe the airbags don’t deploy properly in a crash. Of course, those are all serious issues that should be promptly addressed, but the reason for Volkswagen’s latest recall is an odd one, to be sure. The company is recalling nearly 6,000 examples of its new electric ID.Buzz because the third-row seats are too wide.
That’s not a misinterpretation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s findings, either. Although the ID.Buzz has two third-row seats with two headrests and two seatbelts, federal safety regulators note the seating surface width of the bench is too wide to meet U.S. motor vehicle laws. The seats should have three “designated seating positions”, says the NHTSA, for how wide the bench is. As such, the seat is also out of compliance because it doesn’t have enough seatbelts to restrain three people, if someone were to actually sit between the two proper seats. In the event of an accident, that third, unbelted occupant could suffer serious injury or death, hence the recall.
Volkswagen first began investigating the issue in February, after it learned of the issue from a supplier. It spent the next month discussing the problem with that supplier and conducted Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) testing through an external testing institute, which confirmed the noncompliance (unironically) on April 1. The issue made it to the automaker’s Public Safety Committee two weeks later, on April 16.
What’s the fix?
Fortunately, it seems no one has rolled the dice by sticking a third passenger in the back row, then getting in a crash, as no field claims citing the NHTSA’s safety concerns have been made. Nevertheless, Volkswagen still has to do something to bring the ID.Buzz into compliance, so it needed to come up with a fix. And it found one: Fix unpadded trim parts to artificially limit the seating surface width to adhere to federal regulations. Definitely a strange remedy, but then again that’s a solution that VW can retrofit rather than, you know, completely redesigning the third row.
Dealers are already aware of the issue, as of April 25. Volkswagen, for its part will take a few weeks to actually notify owners, as it plans to send out mailers on June 20. From there, it will ask owners to bring their ID.Buzz in for the trim retrofit. The automaker won’t be reimbursing owners because all the affected vehicles are still within warranty…and it’s not like a typical owner would pay out-of-pocket to fix a problem that, to them, doesn’t exist.
The scope of the recall — 5,637 ID.Buzz vans in all — suggests that all ID.Buzz owners will be notified to fix the problem, eventually. Though it says the trim component hasn’t worked its way into production yet, Volkswagen will likely incorporate this fix into the assembly process for its U.S.-market ID.Buzzes moving forward.
The same driver as Ford’s first run with the Mustang GTD just posted a quicker time on the Nürburgring.
Back in August, the insane $300,000-plus Ford Mustang GTD became the first American car to break the 7-minute barrier around the Nürburgring Nordscheife. However, it wasn’t a perfect run, as weather hampered the potential for improvement on Multimatic Motorsports driver Dirk Müller’s 6:57.685 run. Ford proclaimed it would return and it would throw down an even quicker time on the notorious 12.9-mile circuit, and now it’s done just that.
In fact, the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD’s redemption run posted a time of 6:52.072 — 5.5 seconds faster than last time.
This latest run bumps the Mustang GTD ahead of the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 with the Manthey Performance Kit (6:55.737), though it is still behind the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (6:49.328), as well as the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (6:48.047) and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS with the Manthey Performance Kit, which currently holds the production sports car lead with a time of 6:43.300.
Since August, Ford says its made a host of tweaks to the GTD’s setup in pursuit of that better lap time. It revised the chassis tuning for even more torsional rigidity, updated suspension hardware and tuning for more predictable handling, revised the ABS and traction control’s behavior and made powertrain calibration updates. All that work came after a second-by-second review of the August 2024 lap to make the new Mustang GTD as fast as it possibly can be, and achieve the ‘Ring’s fourth-fastest time in the production sports car class.
Beyond bragging rights, Ford’s latest time is good marketing for the upcoming Mustang GTD as it actually enters production for customers. That should kick off in the coming weeks (the automaker is still claiming a Spring 2025 rollout), though it obviously hasn’t gotten any less expensive in the past nine months. When the first examples do make it off the line, Ford is charging prospective customers at least $300,000 a pop for the privilege of owning one. Mind you, that’s still significantly cheaper than the now-departed (and also Multimatic-built) Ford GT.
The 2026 Toyota Camry doesn’t bring any radical changes, but the Nightshade edition is making a comeback.
Toyota’s midsize Camry sedan continues to be insanely popular, even as SUVs (like the RAV4) now dominate our highways and byways. The automaker revamped the model into a more aggressive-looking, all-hybrid affair for 2025, and now the ninth-generation version is seeing a few changes as it rolls into the 2026 model year. The headline addition to the lineup is the Nightshade edition, a blacked-out trim that Toyota offers on pretty much every vehicle it makes these days. And yes, that included the old Camry, as well.
If you remember the last Camry Nightshade, then you already have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. Black 19-inch five-spoke wheels are a prominent feature of this trim, as are blacked-out mirror caps, door handles, shark fin antenna, lower rear diffuser and rear spoiler. Toyota says the darker, sportier look “enhances the undeniable Camry vibe,” if you think such a thing exists. I mean, there’s “Big Altima Energy“, so why not steep yourself in that Camry life?
The 2026 Toyota Camry Nightshade joins the existing LE, XLE, SE and XSE grades (slotting in above the SE), and is available in Ice Cap, Supersonic Red (shown here) or Midnight Black Metallic. Naturally, you’d want to go with black for the most murdered out look, but whichever color you choose, you’ll still be able to spec out the Nightshade with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
While Toyota claims up to 51 mpg if you get the base LE, the Nightshade will knock that down to about 47 mpg with FWD, or 46 mpg with AWD. Both versions pair a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine to electric motors, but the output differs between 225 hp for the FWD Camry models, and 232 hp (by way of a third, rear-mounted electric motor) for the AWD versions.
Beyond the Nightshade, all other 2026 Toyota Camry grades remain the same as before. A new Dark Cosmos exterior color is available on SE, XLE and XSE trims.
Toyota hasn’t announced full pricing for the 2026 Camry lineup just yet, including the Nightshade. That said, the Camry is built in Georgetown, Kentucky, so its U.S.-made status means pricing hopefully won’t change too much from the current 2025 range. Right now, the Camry starts at $29,835 for the base LE, rising to $36,960 for the top-spec XSE. The Nightshade, for its part, should fall right in the middle — about $33,000 to $34,000.
2026 Toyota Camry models will actually hit dealership lots this summer.
Virtually every small crossover as its “off-road” version, and that now includes the Honda CR-V.
Adventure, Rock Creek, Wilderness, XRT — we’re practically tripping over ruggedized versions of compact SUVs, and so it continues with the 2026 Honda CR-V. The whole lineup gets some choice updates for its mid-cycle refresh (this current generation first debuted for the 2023 model year), but the headline addition is the CR-V TrailSport.
Honda’s decision to jump into the fray with the latest CR-V expands its TrailSport offerings beyond the brand-new Passport, arguably its most off-road-focused model, as well as the Pilot and the Ridgeline. The 2026 CR-V TrailSport doesn’t bring quite the same level of capability as its larger Passport sibling, though the automaker did bring special touches to make this trim competitive against the rivals I mentioned above, with a special touch all its own.
The 2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport brings in Continental CrossContact ATR all-terrains, special 18-inch alloy wheels with recessed valve stems, gloss black trim, and orange TrailSport accents for the badging and seat stitching. The TrailSport also gets the same Ash Green Metallic paint option that initially debuted on the Passport earlier this year. Up front, Honda brought in a touch of silver trim on the lower fascia which carries through to the rear bumper, while you can kit it out even further through the automaker’s accessory catalog with items like a roof basket, generator and so on (though you can also get that stuff for any other CR-V trim).
The CR-V TrailSport’s ace? It’s (only) available as a a hybrid.
Honda based this new TrailSport model on the CR-V Hybrid, and that’s the only way you can get it. To that end, you get a setup with a combined output of 204 horsepower, same as the other trims. At 8.2 inches, the TrailSport also has the same amount of ground clearance as the other models, give or take a nominal difference from the slightly beefier rubber. Honda’s Real-Time AWD with Intelligent Control system also remains broadly the same as other hybrid trims, though Honda’s engineers did update the CR-V’s traction control and braking systems to be more aggressive at using the brakes to shift power to the wheels with grip at speeds under 9 mph.
TL;DR version? The 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport is a hybrid-only option that is functionally similar to other all-wheel drive Hybrid models, except for the tires and the unique styling tweaks.
Honda slots the CR-V TrailSport in between the Sport Hybrid and Sport-L Hybrid models, with those special aesthetic touches and a higher feature set than the base Sport Hybrid. You still get cloth seats, but you also get a power liftgate (which used to only be available on the top-end Sport Touring). You also get a 10.2-inch fully digital instrument cluster from the Sport-L and Sport Touring models. The TrailSport gets a more potent 320-watt, 8-speaker sound system (again, like the Sport-L), while you also get embroidered headrests, branded all-weather floor mats and amber-hued ambient lighting.
What else is happening with the 2026 Honda CR-V?
While the TrailSport is the headline act, Honda also tweaked some elements of the remaining CR-V lineup. A larger 9-inch touchscreen is now standard across the board (instead of the old 7-inch unit), and you also get a wireless smartphone charger, even on the base LX. Entry-level models still get a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine kicking out 190 horsepower to either the front wheels or all four wheels through a CVT, so nothing’s changed there.
The 10.2-inch digital cluster is now more widely available, as it’s the default on the EX-L gas model, as well as the Sport-L, TrailSport and Sport Touring Hybrids. Speaking of the Sport Touring, the top-end trim gets Google built-in apps and an Individual drive mode (in addition to the typical Econ, Normal, Sport and Snow modes).
Honda did not yet announce pricing for the 2026 CR-V lineup, including the TrailSport. Right now, the 2025 models start around $31,495 for the base LX, rising to between $36,045 and $42,495 for the Hybrid trims. I’d expect the whole range to get at least a small price bump, while the TrailSport may land somewhere around the $40,000 mark.
A new executive order reportedly aims to lower tariff burdens on automakers.
Over the past month, automakers across the industry have scrambled to draw up an effective strategy to address the Trump administration’s 25% import duty on all vehicles brought into the United States. There’s been another issue in it, though, as there are also tariffs on parts used to produce new vehicles — even if those vehicles are assembled in America — as well as on raw materials including steel and aluminum, which are crucial to automotive manufacturing. Now, President Trump he will sign a new executive order that aims to lessen the blow on automakers producing vehicles domestically, the White House told reporters Tuesday.
Before today’s announcement, automakers noted Monday that they expected some sort of relief to materialize, ahead of Trump’s planned trip to Michigan to mark the first 100 days of his second administration. Global markets have largely been in a volatile state over the past several weeks, as it’s been broadly unclear how different countries and goods will be targeted, and to what extent, from week-to-week.
To address some of that volatility, administration officials told the media (as reported by Reuters) that automakers would not have to pay additional levies in paying the existing 25% tariff on imported vehicles. In other words, a company bringing in a new car wouldn’t have to pay that 25% duty, plus a duty on imported parts, plus a duty on any imported steel or aluminum used in manufacturing the final product. This new policy is retroactive, meaning the U.S. would reimburse so-called “double tariffs” that have already been paid out.
“This deal is a major victory for the President’s trade policy,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, “by rewarding companies who manufacture domestically, while providing runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment to invest in America and expand their domestic manufacturing.”
As of Tuesday morning, April 29, this new order has not gone into effect, and additional details on how the revisions will be rolled out, how the government would go about reimbursing companies (and in what time frame), and what impact they might have on new vehicle prices as a result remain unclear. Nevertheless, business leaders such as General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Ford CEO Jim Farley praised the forthcoming policy shift. Barra, for her part, said: “We believe the President’s leadership is helping level the playing field for companies like GM and allowing us to invest even more in the U.S. economy.”
The current situation among major automakers does call for a stronger sense of stability. At the same time Barra made her comments toward this updated tariff framework, GM CFO Paul Jacobson said the company “no longer has confidence in its 2025 guidance issued in January”, because of the unstable market conditions. Their former outlook assumed a growth year on 2024 wherein such rapid-fire economic policy changes wouldn’t upend the broader economy. That hasn’t been the case, so the company’s former financial outlook is effectively out the window.
The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette lineup may see some significant updates, while its color palette is also changing.
It’s been more than half a decade since the C8 Chevy Corvette made its debut, and this year is a huge leap forward with the high-performance ZR1 launching this summer. If you’ve been following the lore since the automaker first launched its mid-engined slice of Americana, there should be an even more powerful variant coming in the Corvette ‘Zora’ (more on the history of its namesake here). We’ll know more on that soon enough, but the company did announce a few of the minor changes coming for the 2026 model year — the year we’ll see the C8’s mid-cycle refresh — including two new colors in the available exterior palette.
For the most part, automakers tend to skew conservative with their color choices. After all, that’s what people largely go for…white, black, gray and silver are the four most popular hues, for better or worse. To that end, we do have one of those options with the 2026 Chevy Corvette: Blade Silver Metallic.
It replaces Sea Wolf Gray, appropriately enough, and it definitely does make the Corvette (and particularly the ZR1) look thoroughly sleek and modern. It’s a cool color for people who want to turn heads but still look like they made the grown up decision when buying their six-figure sports car.
What really caught our eye, and is the reason I’m really bringing up Chevy’s color announcement, is the far more vibrant and festive Roswell Green Metallic. Of course, what does “Roswell” bring to mind? It’s an alien hue to the Corvette lineup, and definitely shouts “look at me” even more than the Corvette’s existing color palette does. I typically draw attention to Stellantis’ tendency to release loud colors into its various models — Jeep just revived Mojito, for example — but I don’t think I’m courting any controversy in saying the color shown in the featured photo above looks awesome (at least to me).
Sadly, what GM giveth with one hand it taketh away with the other, in that 2025 will be the last year for Rapid Blue, though the darker Riptide Blue should still be an option, along with other bright options like Torch Red, Sebring Orange and Competition Yellow.
Along with the ZR1’s arrival, spy shots show GM is making a major interior update to the 2026 Chevy Corvette C8 lineup, as well. In doing so, it’s eliminating the “wall” of buttons between the front seats, to which the reaction has been…well, let’s say “mixed” since the C8’s 2019 launch. Based on what’s been spotted in the wild so far, GM’s pulling a similar move to its other recent updates, giving the Corvette a larger infotainment screen and baking some of the functionality into the display, while putting others on a more conventional switch bank below that screen. The Corvette also appears to be getting a supplemental screen to the left of the gauge cluster (similar to Cadillac’s setup), again offloading some of the functions over there, instead of down the center console.
So, in addition to the new colors, the 2026 Corvette lineup should be a more ergonomically satisfying experience, further enhancing its status as the more user-friendly (as well as budget-friendly) option against other exotic supercars on the market. We’ll have to see how the changes actually shake out when we can drive the updated Corvette.
In the meantime, you can actually get some early C8 Corvettes for an absolute bargain if you’re in the market. Some examples with reasonable mileages are available for around $55,000, as Tommy shows in a recent update below:
Nissan is already in a rocky position, and it’s reportedly boosting U.S. production to avoid tariffs devastating its bottom line.
Even with its precarious financial situation, Nissan still has remarkably popular cars in the United States, with its Rogue SUV consistently among the three best-selling crossovers in the country. Now, the automaker is reportedly planning to boost manufacturing at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant for the compact Rogue by 56%, as it (like several other companies) leverage strategies to mitigate the impact of 25% automotive tariffs enacted by the Trump administration a month ago.
“Nissan now plans to capitalize on current geopolitics to stem the hemorrhaging at its two Southeast U.S. factories amid a sales slump in recent years.”
Nissan was planning to shift some of the production capacity for the next-generation Rogue to its Kyushu, Japan facility to curtail manufacturing costs. However, it’s scrapping that plan in favor of utilizing space on the line in Smyrna, Tennessee. Instead of eliminating a second shift, the company reportedly aims to maintain that second shift, while ramping up production in June. The company initially cut back on output from Smyrna as well as its Canton, Mississippi plant — dropping combined production at both plants by 13% to 525,583 vehicles last year — as oversupply of core models cut into Nissan’s fiscal performance.
Smyrna, for its part, is able to produce up to 640,000 vehicles annually. As it cut one shift last year, however, production fell to about 314,500 vehicles. “We have big facilities, big capacities, and today we don’t have max capacity,” Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier told CNBC in a recent interview.
In addition to boosting U.S. production, Nissan also shaved some money off the MSRPs for the Rogue and Pathfinder as news of the tariffs originally circulated. The automaker is also reportedly planning to bring more popular features down-market into the entry-level trims, where the Rogue can potentially make a stronger case as a value leader, while some of its rivals could see significant price hikes. In order to better compete against mainstays like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, Nissan is bringing a plug-in hybrid Rogue to market next year, while we can expect a completely new generation for 2027.
There have been a ton of comments about the new Slate pickup truck automaker, and I’m here to answer a few.
Q: (Via: YouTube and AskNathan@TFL.com): A few summarized questions about Slate
Dear Nathan,
For years I have scratched my graying temples and pondered, “Why don’t automakers design vehicles with dent resistant, molded-in-color thermoplastic or composite body panels?”. Then Slate did their reveal last night and it triggered me.
So Nathan, why doesn’t my Ford Maverick (or a hundred other cars) have them?
Thanks
— Scott from Asheville
and…
Why do you believe Slate will not be vaporware like Canoo or other fly by night companies that over promise and under deliver? You seem sure they are real.
— Anonymous
and – one more…
Already went from $25,000 to $27,000 in five minutes! It will probably cost $35,000 when it comes out in five years!
— Alex OAD
A: Thanks for the questions. I’ll answer each one.
First, thanks for your longtime patronage Scott.
If you remember Saturn and the Smart Fortwo – they were known for its all-thermoplastic body panels. Older Toyota Sienna minivans used some of these panels too. Oh, and the Pontiac Fiero did as well, but (I believe) all of these vehicles used slightly different compounds. The SLATE setup is a bit different, as they are going for simplicity, and removing a very expensive process from their assembly – painting. Additionally, those flat panels appear to be stampings that are not as complicated as some.
Being the owner of a few Saturns in the past, I can attest that the panels are a cool idea – provided that you’re okay with gaps that noticeably expand and contract. It’s most noticeable when you are mixing steel and plastic panels on the same vehicle, as they react to heat differently. I think Slate has a grip on this phenomena as its design doesn’t seem to have the need for super tight seams. That’s just my opinion.
I want to include something: having the ability to convert a pickup truck into a five-person SUV, wagon, safari vehicle – or whatever, is cool on its own. Adding the cool factor of using these materials, along with steel construction (like roll-bars) adds to the cool factor. I can’t wait to see how the accessories are made and delivered. I wonder if they will use 3D printing to expedite deliveries, and/or lower the overhead.
The big question is long term durability. Some thermoplastic panels have been known to become brittle after being exposed to certain climatic conditions. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight plays a role as well. Additionally, some say that these panels are not as recyclable as steel or aluminum.
In my opinion: I think this is a cool idea, I’m sure it’s been improved over the years, and I’m glad to see it come back.
— N
I don’t think Slate is “vaporware”
You’re right – there are plenty of fly-by-night automakers that will have a hard time making it. We’ve seen firsthand some of these well-funded organizations start off with a few driving samples, look production-ready; only to fail a year later. Canoo is a fine example, and there will be others.
The thing about Slate is the funding, expertise and simply the level of beta-testing vehicles out there makes me think, “yeah, this one looks like the real deal.” That doesn’t mean they won’t struggle, or have a hard time living up to their late 2026 production date. After being in this trade for well over two decades, I think my judgement has just enough logic attached to see what is possible. Cutting through the BS of smoke and mirrors, I think that they have a solid enough foundation to build something special.
Jumping from $25,000 to $27,000?
If you watched the video, you’ll hear me state that the pricing is expected to be around $25,000 before tax credits and incentives. Then, by the end of the video, I am corrected by my friend Motoman that it’s actually $27,000, before incentives and whatnot. Initially, they were aiming for that $25,000-zone, but I was unaware that they had to bump it a bit based on recent increases on components, logistics and tariffs.
As for going even higher, I think they know that they need to keep their promises, or their first product will suffer public scorn. Additionally, they will still make tons of dough on the over 100 accessories offered. There are no packages, so you order each component you want, which works for both the consumer and the automaker. In time, we’ll see if they keep it far enough below $30,000 to call it a “bargain.”
— N
The last question comes from a fan who needs a small, affordable, used minivan that fits in his garage.
Q: (Via: NathanAdlen@Twitter/X) Need to find a minivan that fits in my garage and is super cheap!
Need a super cheap, used minivan. My daughter is going to have twins and she already has a kid. Now that she’s living with her parents again, she needs to ditch her old Civic and drive something that can hold more stuff and kids. We are cash poor but we have okay credit and there are a few minivans I was considering that should last a few years. Then I remembered that my garage is very small and I need space for my wife’s car.
Is there smaller minivans that still hold a lot of stuff? I have the 06 Civic trade in and $10,000 credit to finance something.
Sincerely,
— Herald 52
A: I might have an idea or two for you.
I don’t know about the area you’re in, but I’ve seen excellent, low-mile examples of the Mazda 5 minivan here and there. They run from $7,000 to about $13,000 depending on the year and mileage. Additionally, some of them were available with manual transmissions. They are basically Mazda 3s with seating for six.
I highly recommend these vans as I owned one for five years. My wife drove it (beating it mercilessly) and we put on over 150K before it had its first big issue: the AC died. It was solid, efficient and handled well. Our kids were comfortable, as long as we were creative where we put strollers, wagons and whatnot. It’s small, so cargo space is a bit of a compromise.
Another super cheap (but, hard to find) alternative is the Kia Rondo wagon. They were built back in 2008, and were available with either a four-cylinder or a V6. Despite the size, they had seating for up to seven. I’ve only driven the four-cylinder, and it was pretty slow, but it was very utilitarian. It has conventional doors, so they don’t slide like the Mazda 5, but it is a small vehicle. I’ve seen clean, low(ish) mileage examples for sale for less than $6,000 in California.
While TFL hasn't reviewed too many Subarus in the past few years, I just seized the opportunity to buy a bargain of a WRX for my next long-term daily driver.
