As summer approaches, the staff has been busy putting miles on more than 40 vehicles in various stages of testing. While many models have been chronicled in recent Just In blogs, we wanted to share some odds and ends from our recent experiences:

Our Fiat 500 has over 2,600 miles on it in five weeks. That's impressive, given the practical limitations of such a small car. So far, we've had two bugs: the odometer has been flashing and some trim fell off on the passenger side overhead grab handle. We're scheduling a visit to the dealer to get these things fixed.

We've been enjoying driving our Ford Focuses. The cars feel solid and substantial. But we're getting annoyed with the automatic transmission. The Focus doesn't use a traditional automatic; it has an automated manual transmission like the Volkswagen DSG. The Ford transmission isn't smooth at low speeds, often feeling like it's going to stall the engine. Our Focus SE sedan is also shedding some exterior window trim and interior trim surrounding the drivers' window.

It's not just inexpensive cars with trim-fall-off-itis. It's way too easy to pull the front passenger door grab handle on our Lexus CT 200h loose.

Winter-ravaged roads have been taking a toll on some of our test cars' low-profile tires. Within a week we've had to replace a sidewall-gashed tire on our BMW 750Li and our just-arrived Chrysler 300C.

Spring and summer weather also brings towing season. I used our Dodge Durango V8 to tow my Argosy (a vintage, painted Airstream trailer) for some beachfront camping. The Durango tows nicely, handling the trailer well.

While precious few of our staff's car enthusiasts would like to drive a full-size pickup truck daily, they are mighty nice to have around the test fleet. Our two 2011 Ford F-150s have seen lots of use for spring yard clean-up and towing. I used our Ford F-150 EcoBoost (we also own a 5.0-liter model) with a car trailer to pick up a new-to-me 1995 Mazda Miata M-Edition from a few states away. The EcoBoost towed the light load effortlessly and the quiet, decent-riding, roomy truck was a pleasant road trip companion.

As testing continues, further insights and adventures will follow. We'll share the highlights here in the blog and post the formal road tests on the model pages when completed.