Steven Helmer Publications

Six months ago, I helped my oldest daughter buy her first car. She's still in college and doesn't have a lot of money and had even less credit so, despite my apprehension, we ended up buying her a used 2016 Chevy Cruze. A little background. My history with used cars is long and full of disappointment. My very first car, an 80s Ford Escort that had severe deer damage was the lone exception. Everything from that point forward, not so much. The Dodge Aries I owned right after had the gas tank rust off. The Ford Mustang I had in college had a long list of issues, the wrong head gasket, a bad fuel pump, a carburetor that would stick shut to name a few. I had a Pontiac that had the paint come off it in flakes, a PT Cruiser that would stall out at random for unknown reasons, a Chevy Sebring that had the front tire break off it, a Mitsubishi that blew out a transmission and another (2017) Cruze that, after I bought out my lease, began to burn out oxygen sensors on a regular basis. We c...

  About a year ago, after a series of mechanical issues made me decide to get a different car, I took out a lease on a 2024 Chevy Trax. Now that I've had nearly 12 months to test it out, driving to the store and as far as the Mississippi Gulf Coast , I think I can accurately give my opinion of this vehicle. I'll start with the positives of this car. One of the main things is I am very impressed with the gas mileage. The car, at least in appearance, is larger than the Chevy Cruze I replaced it with but gets just as many miles to the gallon. Part of the reason for this is the three-cylinder engine, which I was admittedly skeptical about, but doesn't seem to have any impact as far as horsepower is concerned. No issues at all getting it up to 70 mph. Unlike the Cruze, this car does have quite a bit of leg room in it, enough for my daughters (15 and 20) to sit in the back seat without complaining about being cramped. The cargo space is a bit lacking, at least compared to what I ...

I've now had my 2017 Cruze for a couple weeks and have had an opportunity to drive it both in town (normal errands) as well as take it on a couple road trips with the family. As a result, I now have enough of a feel for the car to feel comfortable writing my first review of it. Overall, I have to say I'm still happy with my decision to go with this automobile. I originally was looking for something a little bit bigger but, because of budget limitations, this was pretty much the only size sedan I could afford. However, as I've been driving it, I am discovering the car is exceeding my expectations. One of the things that has really impressed me about this car is the way it has given us more space than what we had with my 2014 Cruze. The cars themselves really aren't any different in size. But, the newer version seems to have made better use of the space. My wife and daughters, for example, think it has more leg room than the other car did. This actually surprised m...

I started the car up yesterday afternoon and this message popped up on the radio. I know GM had good intentions when they added features like this. But, it seemed to be worded kind of harshly, especially since the car was still in park at the time.

There is still some debate as to what color it is. The dealer says blue, my wife says purple and I think it looks silver. I think it really depends on the lighting and angle, which is cool because it means paint is somewhat unique. I ended up going with the 2017 Chevy Cruz because it was the one that fit my budget best. Leg room wise, it seems to have a little more than the 2014 version, though that may just be my imagination (if it does, it isn't much more leg room). But, it definitely has a bigger trunk (a must for the girls' skating/dance competitions and Costco runs) and is supposed to get better gas mileage. I have to wait a day or so for the satellite radio to activate on it, which is a bit of a nuisance (we don't have many traditional radio stations to choose from), especially since CD players are apparently no longer standard. And, I'm sure my daughters won't like the fact there isn't a built-in cup holder in the back seat (I think I still have on...