Q. I'm thinking about buying an electric car, but only as a second vehicle to drive around town, doing errands. Should I wait for the upcoming electric Tesla Model 3 car? -- E.H. (via Internet)
 
A. You may have a long wait, judging by advance orders for the Tesla Model 3, and you may not get the $7,500 tax break on the car. Why not take a look at the following electric cars now on the market that are a lot less costly than the Model 3: Chevy Spark EV, Fiat 500e, Kia Soul EV, Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. Also, the Chevy electric Bolt (not to be confused with the Volt) looks like it might be less costly than the Tesla Model 3 and is due out at about the same time as that Tesla..



Q. How many cars are sold and how many are leased? -- D.M. (via Internet)

 A. Just about one in three new cars driven off dealer lots are leased.



Q. I'm looking for a pickup truck that's not a Ford, Chevy or Ram in either 3/4 ton or 1/2 ton size, but one that sort of falls between those trucks in size. -- A.W. (via Internet)

A. Take a look at Nissan's brand new Titan XD. It comes as a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton pickup like the popular Chevy, Ford and Ram, but fits between full-size and heavy-duty trucks. It's said to have the ride comfort of a 1/2 ton and a lot of the capability of a 3/4 ton pickup, especially with its available Cummins V-8 turbodiesel. The new Titan SD is quite a bit better than its predecessor because Nissan has become more serious about the hot pickup market.  

Q. What's one of your your favorite cars? -- E.H. (via Internet)

A. One of my favorite cars at the moment is the new Bentley GT, which is big and posh, but does 0-60 m.p.h. in 3.8 seconds and can hit 206 m.p.h. It's the fastest car Bentley ever built and has a twin-turbo W12 engine with 633 horsepower



Q. Are some Japanese cars becoming collector's items,  say, old Pontiac GTOs or Corvettes?  -- J.C. (via Internet)

Q. Yes,they are. In fact, I predicted years ago this would happen in one of my Chicago Sun-Times auto columns. For instance,the popular 1970 Datsun 240Z has a "high sale" rating of $52,250 and the 1968-72 rotary engine Mazda Cosmo II has a high sale rating of $121,000, according to the Sports Car Market magazine's price guide. When new, many Mazda dealers had a hard time almost giving a Cosmo II away. It was just too different than cars most Americans were used to.




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