Chronicling the Ever-Changing Automotive Industry
The NHTSA has been looking into the many complaints it has received about the airbags on 2005-2006 Ford F-150 pickup trucks, 77 of which have led to injuries. It turns out that a wire in the steering wheel can cause the airbag located there to go off, which can easily cause injuries. More details after the jump.
Continue reading ’2005-2006 Ford F-150 Recalled over Airbag Issue’
Red light and speed cameras are almost universally hated by drivers in our country, and some fight their tickets in court. If you live in Baltimore, MD and have gotten a red light camera ticket lately, you may have a good shot of beating it in court.
Continue reading ‘Oops! Baltimore, MD Sends out Erroneous Red-light Tickets’
Starting about 15 years ago, some vehicles began shipping with Distance To Empty (DTE) computers on-board. These DTE computers take a few variables into account and give the driver a running update of how many miles he or she may drive before they run out of fuel. Now that I’ve owned a few vehicles which feature these displays, I have come to realize that there are two ways manufacturers calculate DTE: Optimist, and Pessimist (my own names for them). Read on for the explanation of each and which one I think is better.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Distance to Empty? (w/Poll)’
For most, cleaning the snow off of their car before driving is automatic. For others, there’s a reminder after the jump. Each year, plenty of accidents are caused by snow and ice flying off of cars and landing on other cars, or scaring other drivers into swerving, sometimes into oncoming traffic. While the video after the jump isn’t a car, it shows an extreme result of snow not being removed from a vehicle. PS: I don’t condone videotaping while driving, but am glad this footage was caught.
Continue reading ‘PSA: Clean snow off of your car before driving (w/video)’
With the first month of 2011 done with, a lot of eyes are on the automotive sector of our economy. New-car sales figures are used by some as a bellwether of the national economy. If consumers are spending money on new cars, it means they are happy and secure in their jobs, have some sort of savings, and are willing to spend some of their precious income. When times are rougher, people obviously will forgo buying a new car until their situation improves.
Continue reading ‘January 2011 Sales Figures and Analysis’
2011 Chevrolet Volt
Now that both the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are in consumers’ hands, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the subject of Electric Vehicles, or EVs.
The biggest question posed to me has been, “John, which one is better?” This question is best answered with some context, so continue reading to see how I respond, and my answers to other EV-related questions.
If you have a car question you’d like answered, click here to contact me.
Continue reading ‘Q&A: Chevrolet Volt vs. Nissan Leaf’
Recent Comments
Robert commented on Comparison Test: 2011 GMC Sierra vs Ford F-150
Correct. The last ~ 12" of frame rail is c-channel, where the bumper attaches. I drive an '08 [more]
Robert commented on Comparison Test: 2011 GMC Sierra vs Ford F-150
Ooops... should have also wrote... "Thanks for the comparison!". Sorry 'bout that. [more]
Robert commented on Comparison Test: 2011 GMC Sierra vs Ford F-150
"On the GM side of the fence, their Sierra 1500 has C-channels". The GM 1500 trucks have had fully boxed frames [more]
David Batzek commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
My 99 just started rusting over last fee months (to were it was noticeable). Now today the skid plate [more]
Keren Cathey commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
Is there anyway for us, as consumers, to influence a recall on these vehicles? I also have a 99 Grand [more]