Archive for June, 2008
Monday, June 30th, 2008
There's a story in the Mississippi Clarion Ledger about dealerships upgrading their repair centers. They are doing this to improve customer service and satisfaction but also to boost their profits. The article states "But with new car sales plummeting - the average dealer lost money on new cars in 2006 ...
Posted in Repairs | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Matt Spector, at ABC News, has a look at the new trend of car rental firms offering customers bigger vehicles than they wanted because of the high demand for compacts. Matt says "There was a time when most rental car customers would have welcomed an upgrade to a midsize or ...
Posted in Gas Issues | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Today's NY Times has a thorough look at gas prices and behavior. The op-ed section is all about "High gas prices have had some obvious immediate effects on Americans: Hummer sales are down, commuting by public transit is up, airlines are charging for nonessentials, like baggage. But if $4 gas ...
Posted in Gas Issues, Green | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Sue Stock has an article on people buying used cars to save on gas in today's Raleigh News & Observer. She writes " Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has droves of people searching for cars that get good gas mileage. They're haunting used car lots, posting "Wanted" ads online, and keeping a vigilant ...
Posted in Dealerships, Gas Issues, Sales | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Neil Swidey has an opinion article in today's Boston Globe about children and parents who don't use seat belts or booster seats. Massachusetts has introduced a new, tougher, law for how long booster seats must be used but Neil wonders if the law will do much to save more children ...
Posted in Accidents, Safety | No Comments »
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
Dawn Ross has started a new blog, to complement her website, that is about pet safety. Dawn said ""I want a community of pet owners to participate in not only pet auto safety, but other pet issues. I also want pet owners to share their pets and pet training tips, ...
Posted in Safety | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Good news for those of you who would like more European-designed vehicles in the U.S. Fiat recently announced plans to re-introduce Alfa Romeo and Fiat branded vehicles in North America beginning next year, after abandoning the U.S. market in 1983.
Read more about Fiat's plans in BusinessWeek, Detroit Free Press or ...
Posted in Design, Sales | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Consumer Reports released its latest Auto Pulse Survey and it revealed "77% of consumers said the root of high gas prices lies with the government's failure to implement an effective energy policy. That compares with 75% of drivers who blamed oil companies, 70% who said foreign oil producers were at ...
Posted in Gas Issues | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Ronald Wiley, a US Navy physician deployed to Afghanistan, has a serious but funny post on driving in Afghanistan. He writes about the two different approaches US Armed Forces take to driving and than discusses what driving conditions are like in Kabul.
He starts his post with "Last week I completed ...
Posted in Accidents, Safety | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Eric Peters, at the National Motorists Association's blog, has a post on plans to install in-car breathalyzer on all new vehicles in 2012 or thereabouts. Eric writes " If you’re not a convicted drunk driver, should you still be required to have an in-car breathalyzer fitted (at your expense, ‘natch) ...
Posted in Safety | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Researchers at Umea University in Sweden have released a dissertation that concluded women are three times more likely than men to suffer a severe neck injury in a rear-end collision. Some of the conclusions of the study were:
"For both women and men, the findings show that the driver’s seat entails ...
Posted in Design, Safety | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Jacqueline Mitchell has a informative piece in Forbes on the improvement of auto interiors. It is a Top 10 list and begins " Today's car owners, from the sports car driver to the soccer mom, want features and functions that make life easier--and they want them designed with a stylish ...
Posted in Design, Lists | Comments Off
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Petrina Gentile has a list today of the Top 10 cars women can drive to attract men. She writes " Single and sick of online dating or yet another dreadful setup? Don't know where to turn next? Girls, don't discount your car — it's a great way to attract attention ...
Posted in Lists | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Alice Thorson has a review of Chakaia Booker's latest exhibition, RubberMade. Ms Thorson writes "These days she gets her tires from multiple sources, including auto body shops, salvage yards and dumps. She slices them apart and then puts them together into abstract compositions suggestive of figures, totems, masks, body parts ...
Posted in Design, Green | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Not On The Guest List has a funny post on her blog about Anne Hathaway and her having similar problems while driving, they can't concentrate long enough. She writes " But anyway, I now find Anne to be even more of a girl I can relate to because she’s recently confessed ...
Posted in Accidents | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
The Insurance Information Institute recently sent out a press release, in response to the Midwest floods, reminding drivers they may be covered for more than they think. It is a good reminder for all insured drivers, not just those affected by the floods, that we should have a look at ...
Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
This past Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held a day long hearing on the safety hazards of silent hybrid vehicles. Organizations for the blind claim they can't hear the vehicles approaching and are in danger of being hit. Bicyclists and children are also at risk, the organizations say.
In ...
Posted in Green, Safety | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Read about the heroic Quebec father who died saving his children from a runaway car while his family were watching a parade from a hilltop.
Posted in Accidents, Safety | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Edmunds has released a study that shows hybrids are not the best value if you are looking to buy a new vehicle solely to reduce costs. The Edmunds study is very thorough, it looks at more than sticker price and fuel efficiency figures, and the top three cheapest vehicles to ...
Posted in Pricing, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Researchers at the University of Colorado recently released the results of a study that found there was a link between road rage and people who have bumper stickers on their vehicles. Consumer Affairs writes "Colorado researchers say their study found that motorists with personalized items on a vehicle are more ...
Posted in Is There A Lesson Here?, Safety | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
John Day has an in-depth post about a recent "J.D. Power surveyed more than 19,000 U.S. consumers in April to gauge their level of interest in 20 emerging automotive technologies before and after specifying average market prices." The study found that interest in safety features was falling in comparison to ...
Posted in Gadgets, Pricing, Safety | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
The California Department Of Insurance has begun a public awareness campaign to get drivers to be on the alert for staged auto collisions. Steve Poizner said "Insurance fraud is like a $500 tax on every man, woman and child in California, and auto insurance fraud is a major part of ...
Posted in Accidents, Insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
An interesting story from India today. Women entrepreneurs have just begun to build an automotive industrial estate in a village with a focus on training youth, particularly rural girls. Read more about female business leaders and auto park.
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Volvo has announced a new program that helps a cancer charity and gives Volvo owners a discount on service costs. The press release states "Is there any better cup of lemonade to buy than one that works to find a cure for pediatric cancer? The world's first virtual lemonade stand ...
Posted in Advertising, Incentives, Repairs | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Chrysler will unveil its new UConnect Web option , which will turn a vehicle into a WiFi hotspot, tomorrow. The automaker has plans to introduce the service on all of its '09 models.
Ken Bensinger has an article today that looks at both sides of the issue of turning cars into ...
Posted in Gadgets, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Christine Tierney has an excellent column today that looks at the rising demand for small cars and how safe they are compared to vehicles in other categories.
Christine's article starts "As soaring gas prices push consumers to consider buying smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, questions about whether small cars offer enough ...
Posted in Safety | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
A horrible story today about three women who were arrested "after leading police on an alleged drunken car chase through city streets with a 4-year-old boy strapped in the back seat." Read more about the story in today's Toronto Star.
Posted in Accidents, Is There A Lesson Here? | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
The Times Of India has an editorial today titled Women Of Today and begins " Even a cursory glance through a newspaper in the past week or so would reveal wildly contradictory - or just plain wild - claims about the nature of women." It goes on to look ...
Posted in Is There A Lesson Here? | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Dogmama has an interesting post, which leads to a discussion, about the problems they had with the remote key for their 2008 Pilot. Her husband lost the key and then there were issues with the small dealership they took the vehicle to for repairs. Read more about her travails with ...
Posted in Dealerships, Repairs | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel has an interesting slide show that looks at the Top 9 vehicles women buy more than men. The top two cars are Volkswagens, the Tiguan and Beetle. Have a look at the slide show for women's favorite cars here.
Posted in Sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
We wrote about the RepairPal website 10 days ago and its unique service that many people will want to use. Therese Poletti has an interesting article today on RepairPal, she writes " Take the $150 billion car repair business. Auto mechanics are a bit like lawyers. They speak words the ...
Posted in Repairs | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
J.D. Power released a hybrid survey today and it found "Seventy-two percent of recent car buyers said they're definitely or probably interested in getting a hybrid for their next vehicle, up from 58 percent of consumers in 2005. But once the average $5,000 price differential for a hybrid was revealed, ...
Posted in Gadgets, Green, Sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Martha White has an article in today's NY Times outlining the variety of ways car rental firms have increased fees to improve profits.
Martha starts " While a lot of attention has been paid in recent weeks to the fees that struggling airlines are adding to ticket prices, car rental companies ...
Posted in Gadgets, Gas Issues, Pricing | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
The IRS announced on Monday that it had taken the unusual step of increasing the standard mileage-rate deduction for business related driving for the second time this year. The IRS said the new rate would be 58.4 cents a mile, up 8 cents a mile from the beginning of the ...
Posted in Gas Issues | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Opel, General Motors' European division, has developed a program known as The Opel Eye that is an in-vehicle camera which performs two functions. The Traffic Sign Recognition function reads speed limit and other traffic signs and displays them on the dashboard. The second function is a lane departure system that ...
Posted in Gadgets, Safety | No Comments »
