Chronicling the Ever-Changing Automotive Industry
In a recent contest, Kelly Blue Book (KBB) challenged its readers to come up with the best car review, and the results are in. The winner is Clark Olson Media for the review of his 2000 Toyota Corolla. Runners up include Joel Moss Levinson and his 2001 Volkswagen Passat and Patrick Latimer with his 2004 Subaru Forester. Click past the jump to see the videos.
Continue reading ‘KBB Awards for Best Reader Car Review’
Recently, Hyundai had a door latch problem with their 2011 Sonata. Now, Subaru is recalling over 1,500 2010 Tribecas for their door latches. The difference is, in the Subaru recall, rolling down the window can cause the door latch to let go and the door to open. I’d file this recall under “safety” for sure. From the NHTSA’s report, it appears that some door latch cables were installing incorrectly in the front doors of the Tribeca, which lets them get tangled with a lowering window.
by John Suit
Source: NHTSA
Since 2006, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests each car model for sale in the United States in several crash scenarios. They run them into walls, barriers, other cars, poles, all the major accident types. Speeds range from 5 mph to 40 mph, and all of the results are analyzed and finally tallied. The vehicles which earn “good” ratings in each of the 4 tests are added to the “Top Safety Picks” list for that model year. This year, the IIHS added a “roof stability” test, which pushes a metal plate at a constant speed into one half of the roof of a vehicle. How well the car sustains this crushing force determines its score.
With this new test, recent winners such as Toyota, BMW and Mazda were left out in the cold. Chrysler modified its seats and head rests in order to garner better crash ratings for its vehicles, as did GM to get its Malibu on the list. Read on after the list to see how each manufacturer did.
Continue reading ‘The Safest Cars in America: IIHS Top Safety Picks for 2010′
