Automotive Blog & Updates in Birmingham, AL

Central Alabama gets around 70 to 80 thunderstorm days per year, per the National Weather Service Birmingham office. Those storms aren't a weather footnote. They're the operating environment for your commute on I-20 and I-59, and they're exactly the conditions the 2026 Dodge Durango's safety systems are designed to work in.

The plan is simple. Hit Vulcan Park on Red Mountain for the elevated skyline shot, then drop into Railroad Park downtown for the golden-hour reflection off the lake. What makes or breaks the day isn't the camera. It's the vehicle.

The 2026 Jeep Wrangler puts up 12.9 inches of ground clearance (with the Xtreme 35 package on a Rubicon), 34 inches of water-fording capability, and a 100:1 crawl ratio. Those numbers earn their keep on the red-clay two-tracks and creek-bottom approaches east of Leeds toward the Shoal Creek District of Talladega National Forest. What they won't tell you is how the wheelbase feels on a tight switchback, or whether the four-door Unlimited's 116.5-inch footprint clears that washed-out approach before it bottoms out. 

Fall in Birmingham runs on a specific rhythm for families in Mountain Brook. The heat breaks, the kids land a free Saturday, and somebody's suddenly checking how long it takes to reach Cheaha State Park or whether Oak Mountain still has trail access through October. Both answers are yes. The harder question is whether your vehicle can carry the full package. Three rows of real people, two days of real gear, and a winding state highway that climbs to Alabama's highest point.

They share the Jeep badge and the same trail-capable DNA, but drive them back to back on US-280 and the gap shows up right away, because the Compass is a compact SUV built around a 173.4-inch body and a 200-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, while the Grand Cherokee runs longer and carries far more engine. The Grand Cherokee stretches to 193.5 inches and, for 2026, arrives with a brand-new 2.0-liter Hurricane 4 Turbo as the standard engine on most trims, pushing 324 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. 

The Dodge Hornet is gone from production. We'll lead with that plainly. Dodge confirmed the discontinuation in January 2026, and no 2025 replacement is coming. What that means for a Birmingham commuter right now is simple enough. Remaining 2025 Hornets are sitting on dealer lots across the country, and two questions actually matter. Does the car fit your commute, and which of the two very different powertrains fits you?

Fall in Trussville is full of transitions. School routines snap back into place, Hewitt-Trussville High School athletics kick into full swing, and I-59 southbound gets very honest about your departure time every weekday morning. If you're weighing whether the Chrysler Pacifica belongs in your driveway, this checklist walks you through the exact situations where it earns its keep and the one genuine trade-off you should factor in before you decide.

The single most useful feature for a fall run to Oak Mountain is one that's easy to overlook at the showroom, a properly sealed hardtop with real cabin heat. The 2026 Jeep Wrangler earns its Trail Rated badge year-round, but when the temperature on Double Oak Mountain drops into the 40s and wet leaves coat the descent off the West Ridge loop, a few specific features pull far more weight than others.

With a minivan, the value question isn't really about the sticker. What matters is whether the features do real work on a real Saturday. Birmingham's fall festival calendar (the Alabama State Fair at Birmingham Race Course, the Harvest Festival at Oak Mountain State Park, the Birmingham Artwalk, and a dozen more running from September through November) puts family vehicles through a specific kind of test, and a generic feature list won't tell you much about that.

Yes, the 2026 Jeep Gladiator's 5-foot steel bed will carry everything you need for a Birmingham tailgate, and your full spread fits. The one number to know before you start loading is 44.8 inches. Plan around it, and the Gladiator turns into one of the better tailgate haulers you can park at Legion Field or Protective Stadium.