By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We’ve got a friend who once was a BMW addict. He broke his addiction after three straight BMW purchases over 10 years, not because he tired of BMW, but because his driving needs changed. For several years after his last Bimmer, he spoke of BMW in hushed, reverent tones. BMW was the standard by which he measured all motorized objects.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

It came as no surprise to us when we saw that the Hyundai Elantra won the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 award for highest initial quality in the compact car segment. Elantra owners, who were surveyed by J.D. Power, reported fewer problems with their vehicles than any other in the segment.

What does this mean? It means Elantra owners were more satisfied with their cars in the first weeks of ownership than owners of such vaunted and valued nameplates as Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Ford Focus.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Hyundai has a reputation for mimicking the best of the competition. The South Korean auto company has unabashedly over the years purloined the best designs of competitor’s cars and incorporated them into its products.

It has done such a good copycat job over the past couple of decades that some of its newest entries are now leapfrogging the competition and have become better in many respects than comparable models from Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Chevrolet.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Hyundai’s new foray into the luxury car market is eerily reminiscent of the Japanese — and specifically Toyota’s — entry into BMW and Mercedes territory more than 20 years ago.

Toyota, builder of small, fuel-efficient bargain-basement cars in the ’70s and ’80s, announced a new luxury nameplate in 1987 to the snickers of European and American manufacturers.

Well, as we all know today, the joke was on BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Cadillac and Lincoln.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

As sales dwindle and the brand looks for a new owner, the “right size” Hummer H3 sport utility vehicle is still an award winner.

In 2008 the H3 captured Four Wheeler magazine’s “Four Wheeler of the Year” award, Truck Trend magazine’s “Best in Class” honors, and Intellichoice’s “Best Overall Value of the Year” in the intermediate utility segment.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

When the cover was pulled off the next-generation Honda Pilot at the Detroit
Auto Show last January, you could almost hear a big “ho-hum” from the assembled journalists as they stifled a collective yawn.

Revealed was a revised version of the Pilot with its typically SUV-like boxy stance.

Journalists obviously, at least to us, were looking for a variant of the new swoopy aerodynamic crossover design popularized by Mazda and other manufacturers in recent years.

By Ted Biederman and Jim Meachen

After spending about 60 miles and a couple hours behind the wheel of a 2009 Honda Fit on the Saw Mill River Parkway and other vistas north of New York City, we were itching for a head-to-head comparison with a few competitive cars.

Honda was ready to oblige.

Honda not only supplied several vehicles made by Toyota, Nissan and others at a driving event, but had a couple of 2008 Fits on hand for comparison with the all-new 2009 edition.

By Ted Biederman and Jim Meachen

Ford says its truck team had a clear vision when developing the 2009 F-150 — redesign America’s best-selling pickup truck inside and out to “give customers unrivaled capability, unprecedented choice and a host of smart, game-changing features.”

A day spent at Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds at Romeo, Mich., showed us that Ford has generally succeeded and in many instances exceeded, at least our expectations.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Let’s give Ford some well-deserved credit. It has built a practical people mover that looks like nothing else sold in America. In no way does it resemble a minivan, which has grown out of favor with many families, and it’s far removed from the newly popular curvaceous crossover design that sacrifices form over function.

Its interior volume approaches minivan size, but unlike a minivan it is capable of towing up to 4,500 pounds. And it comes in an all-wheel drive format for all-weather peace of mind.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

If we had an old trophy we would take it out of the attic, dust it off, re-engrave it and hand it to Dodge for best SUV crossover interior design.

It seems the Dodge boys have hit all the right notes when designing the inside space of the all-new mid-sized 2009 Dodge Journey.