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A question about the possible inspiration for a newer car’s design
John Paul, AAA Northeast's Car Doctor, answers a question from a reader wondering if a recent Hyundai’s design was inspired by a 1958 Packard.
Q. An observation and a question about car styling. I saw a 2025 Hyundai Sonata, and it reminded me of the 1958 Packard Hawk’s front grille. Do you think the designer saw the1958 Hawk at a car show?
A. Designers take inspiration from many places. I remember talking to, at the time Ford’s head of design, J Mays, and he told me he would walk around Target and get inspiration for design and color in the housewares section. Another designer told me he was struggling with a fender shape and found the exact curve in a vintage Electrolux vacuum cleaner. So could a Hyundai designer see a design in a Packard? It is certainly possible. There is an expression “that everything old is new again.”
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Q. I own a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas with 65,000 miles. Recently the air conditioning on the two driver side vents started blowing warm air after 15-20 minutes of driving. The passenger side was cold and worked perfectly. The dealership was not able to locate the problem. Any suggestions?
A. The dealer should be the best source of repair since they have the best technical information. Looking at the theory and operation of the system there are left and right air motor/doors. It is possible the left motor has failed or is getting a poor command. The other issue – and I have not seen this in Volkswagens but was common in Honda vehicles – was if the system was low on refrigerant the passenger side vent would blow warm air. So, it gets down to the basics – drive the car until it malfunctions, take a reading of pressures, and look for fault codes and manually operate the blend doors with a scan tool. The issue may be a faulty door motor, but testing needs to be performed.
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Q. I am looking for a new car. I have owned two Hyundai Tucson SUVs over the last decade or so. But I am looking for something a little smaller. I will be 75 next year and do not expect to do any heavy driving. But I do go kayaking and bicycling in the summer, so I need something to haul the equipment. I am looking primarily at the Subaru Crosstrek, Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30, and Buick Encore GX in that order. I would appreciate your thoughts on these or any other suggestions you can make.
A. I would also look in the same order you have listed. I would add the Kia Soul to the mix. Although the Kia Soul lacks all-wheel drive that the Subaru has, it is roomy, rides well, and has good and not overcomplicated tech and safety features.
Q. Upon leaving my house today, I saw my neighbor come home and after I arrived back home, I happened to notice the car still running. It is quiet, so I noticed the dashboard. It is a VW Jetta, so besides the lost gas, is there anything else that could have potentially happened, or damage done? The car was running for about three hours and only gets driven about once per week.
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A. Today’s cars can run for a very long time without any damage, providing they are well maintained. Still, if this were my Jetta, I would have the oil changed. Heat and unburned fuel can cause oil to break down. Fresh oil and a check of fluids are all that is necessary. The good news is some new cars will limit engine run time to an hour if the computer senses the driver has left the vehicle. Recently I have noticed in some new cars, if you get out of the car with the engine running it shuts off in about an hour.
Q. My grandson purchased a 2013 Volkswagen Passat 2.5 liter 5-cylinder engine with 57,000 miles. It is a beautiful car, except that it overheats when driven above 60 mph. Local driving is fine. We brought it to a very reliable local shop which replaced the thermostat, flushed the cooling system (that was extremely dirty), performed a block check, and checked the cooling fan operation, which worked as designed. Any suggestions to resolve this issue? Possibly replace the radiator?
A. As I was reading your email, the first item that came to mind was a leaking cylinder head gasket. Driving on the highway with a leaking head gasket can cause the cooling system to get bound up with air and overheat. Since the system was checked for internal leaks, the next step would be the radiator. Since the coolant was badly contaminated, it is possible the radiator is partially clogged. A non-contact thermometer or thermal imaging camera can easily find cold spots in the radiator. On a higher mileage engine I would suspect the water pump, but with low mileage that is unlikely. Based on your description I would replace the radiator. As a general rule the 2.5 liter 5-cylinder engine is usually quite robust and with proper care can last 200,000 to 300,000 miles.
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John Paul is AAA Northeast’s Car Doctor. He has over 40 years of experience in the automotive business and is an ASE-certified master technician. E-mail your Car Doctor question to [email protected]. Listen to the Car Doctor podcast at johnfpaul.podbean.com.
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