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At the beginning of the year, in the sports world, the New England Patriots were deemed cheaters with quarterback Tom Brady allegedly throwing underinflated balls in a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. Two weeks later the Super Bowl closed with perhaps the worst call in the history of the game by the losing Seahawks. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk, was made a hero by some marriage traditionalists by refusing to do her job in issuing same-sex marriages licenses and was sent to jail for it. Lots of people got sick eating at Chipotle from an E.coli outbreak in July. In September, it was Pope-apalooza as Pope Francis, whom the right wing cannot stand, visited Philadelphia. Also in September, NASA declared that water once flowed on Mars. Donald Trump emerged as the Republican frontrunner in presidential politics as a hapless Jeb Bush and other establishment candidates failed to gain traction. The more Trump appealed to the lowest common denominator, the higher his ratings went. In November, there were terror attacks by ISIS in France, followed by an attack by a radicalized murderous couple in San Bernardino, California, which shook the feeling of security on our own soil. The year ended with a new Star Wars movie and Bill Cosby booked into jail on charges of sexual assault. A few other notable people and things from 2015, provided with a minimum of comment: Cecile the Lion, Caitlyn Jenner, Ashley Madison hacking, pharma douche Martin Shkreli, Back to the Future II predictions, spontaneously combustible hoverboards, and man buns. Prominent passings included blues musician B.B. King, baseball player Yogi Berra, actor Leonard Nimoy, and on the last day of the year, singer Natalie Cole. Some of the favorite topics on the C&G boards were the Camaro and Mustang rivalry, Cadillac’s declining sales numbers, and the wisdom of going to fully aluminum bodies for Ford pick-ups. Self-driving cars were mocked and extolled, Electric cars were mocked and extolled. There was a large influx of new members from the Motor Trend boards, and they breathed new life into the forums. The board platform was mostly stable this year, with just some obligatory server issues in September. And now, here’s the 14th Annual Edition of Cheers and Jeers for the best and worst of C&G and the automotive industry from the past year: Jeers to Volkswagen for the Worst Corporate Malfeasance for their “Clean Diesel” debacle. While nobody was killed by VW’s surreptitiously polluting diesels, as compared to unrecalled vehicles with known defects, Dieselgate showed the casual contempt the company has for its customers. It will be a long time before they will be able to redeem themselves. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85606-vw-news-epa-alleges-volkswagen-used-software-on-diesel-vehicles-to-skirt-clean-air-rules Cheers to Tesla for the Most Awesomest Performance Sedan in their Model S P90D with Ludicrous Mode. While Elon Musk has his detractors, and some resent the amount of government funding that Tesla has taken advantage of, there’s little denying that their vehicles are technological tour-de-forces or that their performance can rival supercars, with Motor Trend reporting a 0 to 60 mph time of 2.6 seconds and a quarter mile in 10.9 seconds for the Model S in Ludicrous Mode. There was a lot of news out of Tesla this year, with the introduction of their new Model X crossover with falcon wing doors, attempt to break into the Michigan market with company-owned stores, breaking the Consumer Reports rating scale with a theoretical score of 103, and being dropped as a recommended buy by CR due to reliability concerns, though 97% of the owners would definitely rebuy the vehicle. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85352-tesla-announces-updates-to-the-model-s-including-ludicrous-acceleration-mode Cheers to the Best Post by hyperv6 in bringing some measured thought into the discussion of the rising cost of the 2016 Camaro. An excerpt: “To be honest we pay a lot but we are getting cars today that can not compare to anything in the past content and quality wise. The Camaro here in question could take to a track and in street form out run many race cars from the pony era. Lets face it too that V6 here would out run most model Camaros from the 60's also out stopping and turning too.” http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85511-trim-levels-pricing-configurator-for-16-camaro-revealed/?p=768496 Honorable Mention to Drew Dowdell in describing the underwhelming FWD Mercedes-Benz compacts: “the name I coined for the CLA and GLA are Mercedes-Pretendz” http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84736-cadillac-confirms-335hp432-lb-ft-20l-plug-in-hybrid-for-ct6/page-2 Cheers to Lincoln for the Best Naming Move in giving their upcoming sedan a real name, the storied Continental, instead of a jumbled mix of letters and numbers. Alas, the Mk plus random letter nomenclature appears to be sticking around for the other vehicles besides the iconic Navigator. How is MkX better than Aviator? In other naming news, Cadillac dumps the name of its best-selling SRX for XT5, and Mercedes rechristened ML and GLK to GLE and GLC, the latter of which was last used by Mazda 30 years ago on the “Great Little Car” econobox in the lineage of the Mazda3. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84760-lincoln-news-under-consideration-lincoln-may-return-to-actual-names Jeers to Lexus for the Worst Styling. Lexus has taken their “L-finesse” to ghastly new extremes in their latest creased and folded vehicles, with the almost universally hated spindle grille becoming even more prominent. Moltar calls the look “angry robot” in describing the new RX350. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84640-new-york-auto-show-2016-lexus-rx-comments Dishonorable Mention to the contorted new Toyota Prius. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85565-toyota-news-revealed-2016-toyota-prius Cheers to GM for their continued weight loss in their new vehicles for better performance, handling, and economy. For instance for Chevy, the new Camaro, Cruz, Volt, and Malibu have each lost between 200 and 300 pounds despite being vastly improved. Cheers to Chevrolet for having the Best Mid-Size Pickup, in the Colorado. The updated Toyota Tacoma was not able to meet the standard set by the Colorado The new Duramax diesel makes that Colorado that much more compelling, and the sales numbers show the strength of having competitive product. Jeers to Acura for being the Most Irrelevant Brand. Their only vehicle worth considering is the MDX, and the new lackluster TLX was a lost opportunity. The forthcoming $155,000 NSX weighing 3,800 pounds probably won’t do much for them. Finally, Cheers to all the staff and members of C&G. The strength of C&G is the quality of the members, and the new members have certainly been high quality. Suaviloquent, oldshurst442, and others, including even Wings4Life, have added tremendously to the site. Cheers to William Maley for his road test reviews, which are really coming on their own. Cheers to all! Hope everybody has a safe and healthy Happy New Year!

I bought myself a 2006 ION 3 sedan a year ago for $5,500 plus tax and license, and it had 52,000 miles on it. This car replaced my Prelude as the daily driver/beater, and I have put 8,000 miles on it (I still have my Silverado and IS300). I was actually searching for an ION because they are cheap and I like the plastic body panels. Some days I feel like a Sentra would have been a more substantial and less crude car, but for the most part, I like it and it's been trouble-free other than the driver's door window stopped going down (window actuators seem to be a common problem). Mileage isn't great overall, around 25 mpg, and acceleration is leisurely unless it's punched.

It looks like a mess in the pictures. I'll see it in person on Friday at the LA Auto Show and see if my opinion changes.

That appears to be the current Genesis logo used in other markets. It looks a little too much like Bentley's logo. This appears to be the right move given the number of Genesis owners who replace the Hyundai H logo with the Genesis logo.

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I like the Fit a lot except for the dorky styling. It feels big inside. Haven't seen the new Spark up close, but I think it has potential. Not a fan of the other cars, though I would consider a Fiat 500e for a city car.

It's no beauty, but at least it's not staggeringly ugly like the new Maxima. The rear looks a little forced. It's a cautious update, befitting the segment.

Would be better without the retro bodywork.

Bring back something along the lines of the Prelude or Integra, which were sporty, practical, and affordable. Not some niche vehicle like the NSX.

I drove a new GTI because of the all the rave reviews. I did not care for the car because of the DSG transmission, and neither mode made the car pleasing to drive. The stick is probably the way to go.

It's a little busy looking up front, but it's an improvement in that it no longer looks like an old Ford SuperDuty. New taillights should help bring some distinction from the Silverado.

I'd be more interested in seeing a hybrid IS, but Toyota has said they will not do one in the U.S. The IS has had essentially the same engines since model year 2006. Your would think they would have had updates by now.

The weight loss is great, but also the 2 inch increase in rear legroom, which addresses one of the bigger deficiencies in the current car. Overall, a very nice effort.

I saw a Fisker on the freeway yesterday. When I saw the car up close and inside at the LA Auto Show a few years ago, I was not impressed. It seemed to have a kit car build quality about it.

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Nice to see old faces show up here once in a while. Congrats on the new non-mainstream car purchase. I've never driven a smart, but I know they are not the fastest things around. I do like the concept a lot, and the electric version intrigues me.

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Bank rates probably are not going to go up much in the next couple of years. If you have any debts with a higher interest rate, definitely pay those off first. If you have the possibility of having a large purchase in the next couple of years and it makes sense to have cash on hand, such as a down payment for a house or wedding expenses, go ahead and save up for those. But if the money is just going to sit in the bank and get 1% interest, you might as well pay off the car.

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Sales of the ugly Camry are down 10% for the month, but are still slightly higher year to date.

I still have my Note II as my personal phone. My work S4 is about to be upgraded to an S5. I plan to replace my Note II with a Note 5 later this year if it has an SD card slot and removable battery, two things that the S6 lost.

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