Gas Station Night Club, Carolina Squat Trucks And A TikToker's Dilemma In This Week's News Roundup

Auto loan debt is at an all time high. While some of the blame for that can be put on things like stubbornly high interest rates and ever increasing car prices, some folks just never learned the kind of financial skills required to make a smart car-buying decision. Take TikToker Blaisey Arnold, who recently revealed she had to get rid of one of her dream cars because of a wild auto loan that left her paying $50,000 in interest. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

South Carolina officially banned the so-called “Carolina Squat” last year in an attempt to put an end to the dangerous practice of lifting the front end of a truck while leaving the rear at least mostly stock. For the first six months of the ban, though, lawmakers decided to be gracious and only give out warnings. Next month that six-month grace period is up, meaning owners who continue to drive illegally modified trucks will begin getting actual tickets. - Collin Woodard Read More

Tesla laid off at least 10 percent of its workforce earlier this month, and in typical Tesla fashion, the Texas-based automaker made sure the layoffs were done in an organized fashion with plenty of communication and a clearly defined strategy. Just kidding. The layoffs were so poorly executed that security was forced to scan employees’ badges at the door to figure out who had been laid off. And, apparently, that included a guy who had taken to sleeping in his car and showering at the factory so he could work longer hours. - Collin Woodard Read More

A door ding is a pretty minor mishap that can happen to the best of us. Usually, it’s a pretty simple fix that involves maybe polishing out the panel, adding some new cladding or, if it’s really bad, replacing the door. For one Fisker Ocean owner, however, a simple door ding cost them their entire car. - Owen Bellwood Read More

Atlanta is a pretty wild place. It’s big on cars, so much so that city officials have considered some pretty harsh penalties if you’re caught doing something dumb like speeding or street racing. But the city is so car centered that a rapper opened a club and sports bar at a local gas station. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

There’s rarely ever data to back up the preconceived notions we all hold about how cars look, like how we’ve all been led to believe that police pull over red cars more often than others. However, the data paints an interesting picture when it does exist. Research shows that cars produced by foreign manufacturers get ticketed in the United States more than domestic vehicles. Numbers may never lie, but they don’t tell the whole story. - Ryan Erik King Read More

Miami Grand Prix officials were none too pleased when they found out Donald Trump was attempting to use a suite at the Formula 1 race for a high-dollar fundraiser for his presidential campaign. They actually sent a cease and desist letter on April 26 to the former president’s allies. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

Waymo’s lovable and ungovernable driverless taxis aren’t playing by the rules again in San Francisco. Bystanders spotted a robotaxi driving down the wrong side of a city street. The robotaxi company claims its vehicle was avoiding a pack of unicyclists. While we can all agree that hitting a person should be avoided at all costs, deciding to drive on the opposite side of the road is just as dangerous. - Ryan Erik King Read More

Tesla announced Tuesday that it will lay off everyone who works on both the new vehicle and Supercharger teams. At this point, no one has any idea what CEO Elon Musk was thinking or what’s going to happen going forward. Including other automakers that recently switched to NACS. Maybe Musk is just looking to get out of the charging game? If that’s the case, then it must be a recent development because, as Politico reports, Tesla is also the single biggest benefactor of federal EV charging grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. - Collin Woodard Read More

Tom Walkinshaw Racing is back, and to celebrate, TWR has, of course, revealed a restomodded, racing-inspired Jaguar XJS coupe that it calls the Supercat. Considering Walkinshaw’s history of racing Jaguars, is that really a surprise? That said, the TWR team didn’t just throw some wide fenders and a body kit on a hot-rodded XJS, though. No, they brought in Khyzyl Saleem as the lead designer and noted British car enthusiast Magnus Walker as a design consultant. - Collin Woodard Read More