Archive for March, 2010

Toyota’s President Akio Toyoda says Japan still holds final say on Recalls

Toyota Chief - Akio Toyoda

Tokyo is handing more authority to the U.S. bosses is a big theme of Toyota Motor Corp's plan to overhaul operations and prevent a repeat of quality crisis now plaguing the car maker.

President Akio Toyoda says when is comes to recalls the final say still rests in Japan.

Toyoda, grandson of the automakers founder, has been under increasing pressure to show more leadership as the world's largest car company try to handle the recall of about 8.5 million vehicles world wide.

How to fix a scratch on a car

How to fix a scratch on your car

No matter what at some point you will discover a scratch on your car. It may have happened when you parked in a busy parking lot at the grocery store or when something scarped across your car. The scratch are never pretty. The good news is that many of them can be fixed.

smart Car gets a new Philadelphia area dealership

smart fortwo car

smart USA Disributor, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Automotive group announced a new dealership for the smart car in the greater Philadelphia, PA area.  The Faulkner Organization will manage the dealership which can be found at 4437 E. Street Road in Trevose, PA and found on the web at www.smartcentertrevose.com.

The smart fortwo can be found in 5 trim levels and prices range from $11,990 to $20,990.

How to change spark plugs?

Spark Plugs

Spark plugs in your car's engine can often be easy enough to replace by yourself.  If the spark plugs are covered with black soot your car engine is running rich. When the engine is running lean the spark plugs are white and clean.

You can replace older spark plugs with new platinum-tipped or multi-ground plugs. Multi-ground plugs cost more than regular spark plugs but they last much longer.

What happens when a car gets flooded?

Flooded Car

Obviously this is not something you see everyday, not even every other day. But occasionally due to Mother Nature's torrential down pours or floods - or other circumstances - your car gets wet. And not just from the outside but also from the inside, it gets flooded. How bad is it? What can be done? Will the car still start? are certainly questions that come instantly into mind.

What is E85 Fuel?

E85 Ethanol based fuel

E85 fuel is 85% ethanol fuel. The remaining 15% is gasoline. E85 is environmentally friendlier fuel burning cleaner than regular gasoline and it has high performance characteristics. E85 is a renewable fuel source that helps reduce greenhouse gases and pollution. You may have heard the term corn fuel as in United States ethanol is commonly produced from corn.

2011 Ford Police Interceptor to replace Crown Victoria

2011 Ford Police Interceptor with 365 HP

Ford unveiled its replacement for the police popular Crown Victoria, the 2011 Ford Police Interceptor.  The Police Interceptor will come with a turbo charged V-6 that generates up to 365 horsepower and will achieve up to 25% better fuel economy.  The vehicle will come with a 6 speed automatic transmission, all wheel drive and heavy duty brakes.

GM would like a bigger piece of the police vehicle market and is using its 355 horsepower Chevy Caprice PPV as an alternative to the Ford dominated market.

How often should you rotate your car tires?

Tire to be rotated

You have probably heard that it is important to have your tires periodically rotated. The tire rotation is important to extend the life of your tires and for safety. Tires don't always, hardly ever, wear evenly. Typically the front tires on a front wheel drive car wear faster than the rear tires, and in a rear-wheel drive car, the rear tires wear faster. The load on the car and even the road conditions, how many right or left turns you take etc. all effect how the tires of your car wear. By rotating the tires periodically you will ensure a much more even wear and extend the life of the tires.

Toyota expanding Tundra recall to all 2000-2003 vehicles

2001 Toyota Tundra - subject to recall

Toyota is expanding its recall of the 2000 through 2003 Toyota Tundra pickup trucks to include vehicles in all 50 US states.  In late 2009, Toyota announced the recall to fix the part of the truck's frame that could be corroded and could lead to either the spare tire, fuel tank and/or brake lines to break free of the truck.

Originally the recall was limited to vehicles located in 20 cold weather states.

Toyota has stated that owners of the affected vehicles would be notified beginning in mid March.

BMW Sees a “Definite” Upturn in Most Markets – sales up 14% in February

2010 BMW 328i Convertible

German luxury car maker BMW AG sees a "definite" uptuirn in almost all car markets after it's automobile and motorcycle sales increased 14 percent in February, and it sold 16 percent more Mini Cooper's compared to the same month last year.

"In key sales markets such as the United States, the automobile sector is showing encouraging signs of gradual recovery" the company said on Tuesday.

BMW's rival Audi said on Tuesday it delivered the bulk of earnings to parent company Volkswagen AG's group results in 2009.  Audi also predicts better earnings in 2010.

How to replace your car’s burned-out headlight

Old Style Headlight

If you discover a burned out headlight in your car, you don't have to rush the car to a mechanic as fixing a burned-out headlight is fairly easy to replace.

First you will have to find out what kind of headlight your car has. You may need to replace the whole headlight or is some cars what needs to be replaced is the halogen bulb inside the headlight. You can check your owner's manual for the information.

Go to an auto parts store to get the necessary headlight for your car.

U.S. will get compact Lexus Hybrid – CT200

Lexus CT200 Hybrid

After long insisting that a compact car was not in the Lexus U.S. product plans, Toyota officials announced last week that the CT 200h Hybrid hatchback will be sold in the United States by early next year.

The Tokyo auto show in October a concept version was unveiled, but Toyota Motor Corp. Executives said then that such a vehicle would not come to America any time soon. At the time. Lexus executives in the United States said they were pleading with Japan to bring the vehicle to the United States.

Toyota adds Avalon & RAV4 to Repair Program For “Oil Hose Leaks”

Toyota RAV4 - subject to oil hose repair

On March first Toyota Motor Corp., Said it will expand their repair program for leaking oil hoses to 217,000 more late model Avalon sedans and RAV4's.

The repair program is not a safety related recall and includes 2007, 2008 and 2009 model years, Toyota said today in a e-mailed statement. The repairs started last year on more than 716,000 Toyota  Avalon's, Camry's, RAV4's and Lexus Es350 and RX350 Toyota said.

The repair is related to the rubber portion of an oil supply hose that may degrade over time, producing an abnormal engine noise and the oil pressure light to come on, Toyota said.

General Motors reinstating more than 580 rejected dealerships

GM Dealership Sign

General Motors is preparing to reinstate most of the rejected dealerships that applied for arbitration, sources familiar with the matter said.

General Motors will restore more than 580 of the 1,600 dealerships that filled for arbitration to get their franchises back.

GM plans to contact the affected dealers via letter as soon as next week. GM is close to finishing the process of selecting dealerships to reinstate outside of arbitration, one source said.

The remaining dealerships GM intends to wind down before November, will not be contacted and GM will attemp to settle or arbitrate with them.

Toyota Recall Update – No evidence of electronic throttle failure in repaired cars

March 5th Toyota Motor Corp. said a partial review of complaints of unintended acceleration after vehicles were repaired had found no evidence of electronic throttle system failing on fixed vehicles.

Toyota recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S. due to loose floor mats that can jam the accelerator and will not spring back as designed, Toyota said this week it has fixed more than 1 million vehicles.

Toyota Floor Mat - Gas Pedal recall

U.S. regulators said they are reviewing more than 60 complaints that the fixes made, had not solved the problem.

Cracked Windshield – repair or replace?

Most of us have had this happen - a rock hits the windshield and cracks it. Is this something than demands a completely new replacement windshield? Possibly. Small cracks can be fixed and it is typically less expensive than replacing the windshield. The small, round, bulls-eye holes left on your windshield are the easiest to repair. Windshield repair kits are sold online and you can find them at auto parts stores. Using the repair kits may come handy in small or tiny cracks and it won't take long either following the directions on the kit.

2011 Ford Mustang to get 30 MPG (with 305 horsepower!)

2011 Ford Mustang to get 30 MPG

Ford Motor Co. is looking to take back the top spot for sports car sales, will tout the improved fuel economy of the Mustang in a marketing campaign to correspond with the release of the 2011 model this spring.

Ford said that the new 3.7 liter V6 Mustang would achieve 305 Horse Power and 30 miles per gallon in highway driving.

Both ratings are a notch above General Motors Co. 2010 Camaro, which out sold the Mustang and all other sports cars for nine consecutive months.

How to put air into car tires

Tire Pressure Gauge

This should be easy right? Just put in some air into the car tires. Yes, it's pretty simple and it doesn't take long. It cannot be emphasized enough how keeping your car tires evenly inflated will extend the the life of the tires, fuel efficiency and reduce other wear and tear. However checking your tire pressure is often ignored.

How do you put air into the car tires?
When you go to a gas station you will see an air pump machine, often next to the vacuum cleaners, that will do the job, with your help that is.

Toyota to offer 0% financing

Toyota Yaris - eligible for 0% financing

In an effort to jump start new sales after the rash of bad publicity over recent recalls, Toyota is rolling out a nationwide zero percent interest promotion for up to 60 months.  Toyota models that will be eligible for the 0% financing include the Camry, Rav4, Yaris, Avalon, Corolla, Matrix & Highlander.  Combined, these vehicles represent approximately 80% of all US sales.

Alternatively, Toyota will also be offering attractive lease options - for example a Corolla can be had for as low as $179 per month in some regions of the country.

General Motors Recalling 1.3 million Vehicles – Chevy’s and Pontiacs

Recalled Chevrolet Cobalt

GM is recalling 1.3 million compact cars in North America due to a power steering problem that has been linked to 14 crashes and one injury.

U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation on January 27th into approximately 905,000 Cobalt models in the U.S. after 1,100 complaints were received due to the power steering.

The recall covers the following models

Chevrolet Cobalt 2005-2010

Pontiac G5 2007-2010

Pontiac Pursuit 2005-2006 (sold in Canada)

Pontiac G4 2005-2006 (sold in Mexico)