Are you the semi-proud owner of a 2001-2002 Mazda Tribute? Good for you. Bad for your brake master cylinder. Some Tributes from these model years could leak brake fluid. This fluid could possibly come into contact with some wiring, potentially causing a fire.

Brake fluid leaking. Fires. Not good stuff.

Mazda is sending out notices to affected owners now. A Mazda spokesperson has actually recommended that you leave your Tribute parked until it’s fixed – parked away from your home. That’s right, Mazda is actually recommending that you park your Tribute outside, so the potential fire doesn’t potentially burn down your house. That’s more than a bit disturbing.

From the NHTSA bulletin:

UNTIL THE REPAIR HAS BEEN PERFORMED, VEHICLE OWNERS SHOULD PARK THEIR VEHICLES OUTSIDE.

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The Pathfinder is going soft for the 2013 model year – it will be a crossover. Instead of truck underpinnings, it will be built on a car frame. While that may give the Pathfinder name less credibility, it’s the right decision for Nissan.

But what about the Xterra? Rumors of its demise have been floating around for a few years. After all, sales are down, and the market for rugged, off-road capable body on frame SUV’s is a mere shadow of its former self. Should Nissan scrap the Xterra altogether, or just make it a unibody poseur?

Neither.

Nissan engineers have told Car & Driver that the Xterra will live on as a body on frame vehicle. That’s actually the first time I’ve heard even a hint of a new generation of Xterra. Good to see that Nissan isn’t going to put yet another crossover on the market. Crossovers have their place (and they’re certainly the right choice for most people haulers,) but vehicles like the Xterra need to be built on top of a truck frame, period.

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I have never before been wowed by a midsize volume production sedan. Never.

Until now.

The all new Aston Marton, sorry, 2013 Ford Fusion. The Aston inspired grille and sleek front end make this car. That’s not to say that the rest of the car isn’t good, because it most certainly is. Front front to back, side to side, top to bottom, the 2013 Fusion is gorgeous. Not “gorgeous for a family sedan” – gorgeous, period. This is a great, great looking car.

2013 Ford Fusion Gallery

Looks aren’t everything, of course. What’s under the hood matters, especially in a car that Ford hopes to sell a ton of. So, how does the new Fusion stack up? Well, there are more choices than ever. What there isn’t, though, is an option with more than four cylinders. The V6 is gone, and I don’t think you’ll miss it. Here are the powertrain options:

The base engine is boring – it’s the only holdover from 2012. The two turbo engines are EcoBoosts, of course, and both are interesting in their own way. The 1.6 liter should get some pretty great fuel economy numbers that are more typical of a compact car than a midsize.

The hybrid, wow. Fucking wow. The EPA doesn’t have final numbers yet, but Ford is expected 47 MPG city and 44 MPG highway. Are you kidding me? Assuming it’s not priced outrageously, this could put a serious damper on Prius sales. Why deal with the ugly Prius styling when you can drive a gorgeous Fusion Hybrid and get nearly the same fuel economy?

2013 Ford Fusion Energi

This car is in a class all by itself. It’s based on the Fusion Hybrid, but adds a much larger battery pack, and the ability to plug in for a full charge. There aren’t a lot of details on this model – size of the battery, electric driving range, etc etc… but it’s also going to debut nearly a year after the other Fusion models. That said, I’m really looking forward to this. Please understand – this car will be expensive, but if Ford can get great numbers out of it while keeping the price somewhat reasonable… the Volt should be scared.

Final Notes
I didn’t even touch on the interior, which is as nice as anything in its class. I don’t think this next statement is even the slightest bit hyperbolic: Every midsize sedan on the market should be scared of the 2013 Fusion. This car looks amazing, both in terms of looks and specs. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of one.

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And just like that, Nissan has unveiled the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. Officially this is a concept… but let’s be honest folks – there’s nothing conceptual about this. The production 2013 Pathfinder will be 99% like this “concept.” What’s it all about, you ask? Well, let’s take a look.

For starters, they’re going back to a unibody design. The current generation Pathfinder went body-on-frame, but it was unibody before that (And body on frame before that.) Since approximately zero percent of Pathfinder buyers take their pricey SUV’s off-road, it makes sense to go back to a unibody design. It will be significantly lighter, it will have a smoother ride, and it will get better gas mileage.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder Gallery

There are still three rows of seats, for a total seating capacity of seven. That said, only very tiny people should ever venture to the third row – it doesn’t look much bigger than the current model.

As for the looks? Well, it’s not ugly, so there is that. It’s much “softer” than the current style, almost Murano-like, without going to that extreme. It looks good, but not particularly unique or interesting. There’s really only so much you can do with a midsize CUV to make it stand out.

I don’t know where the Murano fits into Nissan’s lineup once this Pathfinder is introduced.

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Do you have too much money? Not sure what to spend it on? Do you hate trees and want to finally get rid of the bastards once and for all? If so, Toyota has great news for you.

Meet the 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser. This isn’t a full-on overhaul, so you won’t find the latest and greatest green technology here. No sir, this is a full-sized, dinosaur gulping big-honkin SUV, and it’s not ashamed about it. Under the hood is the familiar 381 horsepower 5.7 liter V8, hooked up to a six speed automatic transmission.

Since nothing changed from a powertrain standpoint, what’s the big deal? Well, there really isn’t a big deal. There are LED daytime running lights, which is cool I guess. There’s some more chrome trim. And, um, the fenders are bigger. So there’s that.

Anyway, if you’re looking to part with $70k or so, and just can’t wait to stick it to those damn trees, here’s your chance.

2013 Toyota Land Cruiser Gallery

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Maybe you heard Chrysler drop the bomb that the 2013 Dodge Dart will get a combined 40 MPG rating? Don’t worry, they’re full of crap. Autoblog explains why.

The short version is that Chrysler is basing this outlandish claim on the bloated CAFE numbers. Numbers which have no bearing on the real world performance, which is why you won’t find them on window stickers anywhere. C’mon Chrysler, you’re better than this.

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I found this one on Motor Trend:

The funky-looking Hyundai Veloster has an unusual name to help sear it into consumers’ memories. It’s also left quite an impression on the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, winning a Good Design Award.

Just to be clear, this is the Hyundai Veloster we’re talking about. Different? Sure. Fuel efficient? Yep, still with you. Good design? You lost me.

There’s just nothing good about the design of the Veloster. Sorry.

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TTAC takes the shiny new fuel-sipping SKYACTIV 2012 Mazda3 for a very tough spin, and comes away with this:

It’s nice to have a company like Mazda around, and I’m happy to report that their SKYACTIV technologies seem to indicate that they’ll be able to compete on both fronts: not only as the enthusiast choice, but also as a manufacturer of economically efficient daily drivers. This new Mazda3 is certainly a car I’ll be recommending next time somebody asks.

Brendan also managed to average 33mpg while driving it like a madman – impressive, considering that’s not far off from the EPA estimated 40 MPG for those who baby it.

The Mazda 3 has long been one of my favorite compact cars. It’s reasonably priced, reasonably good looking, and handles pretty doggone well. The one area where it always fell short was fuel economy – it simply couldn’t compete. SKYACTIVE changes that, of course, and adds more power at the same time. Why can’t everyone do something similar?

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Kia is joining the electric car game, at least in Korea. Kia will build 2500 of the all-electric Ray EV for the Korean government. As of now, there aren’t any plans to sell the Ray EV to the public. My guess would be that this is a test run to get their feet wet. Using the government as a guinea pig is a much safer bet than using the general public.

The Ray is a small boxy type vehicle – similar to the Soul or Nissan Cube. Here are some quick specs:

• 86 mile driving range
• 16.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
• 50 kW electric motor
• 0-62 MPH in 15.9 seconds1
• 123 lb-ft of torque
• Fast charge in 25 minutes

Nothing ground breaking here. As planned, the Ray would not work in the United States. However, I see now reason why it couldn’t work elsewhere, giving Kia some experience with electric vehicles. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that Kia learns quickly.

Kia Ray EV Gallery

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Body on frame (truck based) SUV’s are nearly dead. Most of the BOF holdouts are just plain old. They’re products of a different market, a different world. They’re waiting to be reimagined as a unibody.

That’s certainly the case with the Nissan Pathfinder. Fortunately the wait is almost over. The 2013 Pathfinder will be a unibody / crossover / CUV design. It will ride on the same platform that underpins the 2013 Infiniti JX. This platform, called simply D by Nissan, also lives under the Murano and Maxima.

Looking at that list, it’s clear that the D platform is FWD / AWD — not quite what you’d expect for a vehicle named Pathfinder. Of course, Pathfinder drives venture off—road no more than Explorer customers do.

The unibody platform will mean a lighter, more fuel efficient, better riding and better handling Pathfinder. It’s a new world out there, and this is the type of people mover people are buying.

As for the teaser image that Nissan has released, it’s purposely vague. The one thing that is clear, though, is that the 2013 Pathfinder looks absolutely nothing like the outgoing model.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. 2013 Nissan Pathfinder Teaser is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.