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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Government/Legal If you believe the Johnston family, owners of Wildcat Mitsubishi in Tucson and Ideal Automotive in Sierra Vista, Arizona, they have a little communication and paperwork problem. If you believe the soldiers at the Army base in Fort Huachuca, the Better Business Bureau, the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, the Arizona Transportation Department, the police department, and at least one civilian customer, the Johnstons have a much larger number of far more serious problems. The Army base has banned personnel from patronizing the dealerships, alleging its soldiers have been abused. Soldier James Tuman traded in an SUV and a motorcycle and got financing from Ideal Automotive to buy a used car. When he tried to return the car because of mechanical issues, the Johnston's wouldn't give him his money back, instead saying he could buy another car on the lot. When he threatened to complain, they said they'd declare the car repossessed...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Safety Click above to view video of the 2008 smart fortwo crash test Each year, it seems as if more and more new models are able to ace both the IIHS' and the government's crash-test ratings. In fact, according to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, 97-percent of all new cars available today earn the highest four or five-star ratings from NHTSA. These all-too-similar ratings makes it rather difficult for consumers to make a choice based solely on passenger safety, so the Fed's have decided to take another stab at the current rating system, which was introduced way back in 1979. Though still based on a five-star ranking, the revised 2010 ratings will include additional front-end tests and a new side-impact test meant to mimic the impact of a vehicle that collides with a tree or pole. Also new for the '10 model year is an overall rating meant to make comparisons easier between competing vehicles. More changes are possible for...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Green As of January 1, 2009, all vehicles sold in California will be required to display a window sticker that rates the "environmental performance" of the new car or truck. Initiated by the California EPA Air Resources Board (CARB), the label is designed to "...arm consumers with the information they need to choose a vehicle that saves gas, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps fight smog all at once." Each vehicle will receive two different scores. The first will be a "Global Warming Score" based on greenhouse gas emissions from operating the vehicle and fuel production. The second score will be a "Smog Score" that is determined by the smog-forming emissions from operating the vehicle. The scale, based on a 1-10 rating, allows consumers to see how their vehicle fares when compared to other vehicles in the class. Like the new governmental crash test data now displayed on new car windows, the disclosure...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Safety While rollover resistance is improving , current vehicle roof strength regulations date back nearly 35 years. With that in mind, Congress will be taking a careful look at federal regulators as they work on upgrading the standards early next month before they unveil a final regulation at the end of July. Current standards require a vehicle under 6,000 pounds to withstand a force of 1.5 times the vehicle weight without crushing and striking the head of a belted average-size adult male. In August 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed toughening that standard to 2.5 times the vehicle weight (and adding it should cover all vehicles under 10,000 pounds). Safety advocates, however, have argued that the standard should be 3 to 3.5 times the vehicle weight. According to the NHTSA, increasing the crush resistance to 3 times the vehicle weight would cost automakers at least $1.1 billion more that it would to meet...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal After protests by California auto dealers, the head of California's Air Resources Board (CARB) said she is willing to discuss modifying one aspect of the state's stringent emission regulations. Mary Nichols, CARB Chairwoman, told reporters at an SAE Government/Industry meeting that she is open to "regional" standards for tailpipe emissions, rather than the current standards that create state-by-state standards. As it stands now, automakers need to cut tailpipe emissions 30 percent by 2016, per regulations established by California in 2002. With 13 states adopting those same requirements and more in the process, a patchwork of regulations is emerging nationwide. Automakers, and auto dealers, have argued that such a trend could force some brands to stop selling vehicles altogether in places like California, because it's too cost prohibitive to build different versions of the same car to meet a multitude of standards. Some also...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , BMW , Mercedes Benz , Porsche , Driving Under proposed new fuel economy rules set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), automakers with powerful short-wheelbase models are going to feel some pain. The agency is considering a plan to create two sliding scales of efficiency for cars and trucks of different sizes. Automakers will be assigned fuel economy standards based on the "footprint" ( short wheelbase = small footprint ) of their vehicles, and the number of vehicles they sell. Companies like Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, independent luxury brands with high-performance models, will be hit the hardest. Interestingly enough, Toyota, Chrysler, and General Motors, big players with diverse model lineups, won't feel as much pressure. Conforming to the tough new proposed rules may be very expensive. As a result, some industry executives expect some automakers, such as Porsche, just to...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Auction Action , Government/Legal , BMW Ken Tanisaka's battle to get his M3 sedan from BMW of Lincoln, Nebraska is not over, despite encouraging words posted by Ken himself on Monday. While the embattled eBay winner had reported that he would be sold the brand new M3 sedan for his winning bid of $60,000, there were "special conditions" that had yet to be discussed. Having spoken with the dealership now, as well as retained his own attorney who specializes in internet law, Ken has revealed what the conditions are. First, the dealership asked that the car could not be sold for a number of years. How that has anything to do with the dealership, other than them not wanting Ken to profit from their mistake, is beyond us. Ken's lawyer got this condition removed, thankfully. The second condition is that Ken would be asked to help defuse the internet firestorm that began after he posted on M3post.com about this situation...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Trends , Government/Legal , Driving In a sign that the high cost of gasoline has finally struck a central nerve, car shoppers today are reportedly more concerned about fuel economy than they are about the brand of vehicle when shopping for a new car. In addition, consumers want more government control over fuel economy. This startling news, and a reversal of consumer trends two years ago , is the result of a new AAA survey which studied consumers' attitudes towards fuel prices. It appears that consumers were getting used to the cyclic fluctuations of gas prices. Prices shot up based on market conditions, supply and demand, and season increases. However, they always seemed to drop back to more palatable levels... at least they used to. Today, according to leading economists, consumers are finally catching-on to the idea that $4 a gallon gas might be the norm. This reality-check of fuel costs will lead to downsizing, and a focus on vehicle efficiency. Have we...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal Bill Gates's adventure in importing his Porsche 959 brought increased media attention to the world of grey market automotive imports. It even prompted the creation of the "show or display" exemption for vehicles of extremely low production combined with historical or technological significance. The 1999 amendment opened the door for many fine vehicular examples to make their way into the United States, but at the same time, it has caused even greater confusion about the laws of automotive importation. If you're thinking about filling empty space in your garage with a Peugeot 308 or an S15 Nissan Silvia, it's best to do a lot of research first. Luckily, the folks at Motive Magazine have put together an article outlining the possible legal means of obtaining a foreign vehicle. It explains the process in simple terms, not confusing government syntax. Follow the jump to read more and be sure to contribute comments on your own...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Canada While Canadians are hopping mad over the inequitable price of cars in their home state compared to the U.S., people in Afghanistan are happy to pick up our northern neighbor's leftovers. Apparently, the first cars to arrive in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban were from Canada, so now Volkswagens, Fords and Toyotas are all considered Canadian cars to the Afghan residents of Kabul. These Canadian automotive exports are so famous in the former Taliban stronghold that driving a "Canadian" Honda Accord or Ford Taurus is a status symbol. Canada isn't exporting its high-priced new cars to the front lines of the war on terror, but rather its not-so-gently-used vehicles that have been in an accident or sat on the dealer lot too long. We wonder if the Afghans will give Canada credit for starting Rock & Roll and inventing the Salad Shooter next. Besides the many vehicles Canada knowingly ships to the Middle-East, the...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , BMW , Mercedes Benz Due to a slumping greenback, the Canadian Loonie and the U.S. dollar are worth roughly the same amount , but the price of most new cars in Canada haven't made the adjustment . Two leasing companies are suing the Canadian government, BMW Canada Inc., Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. and Mercedes-Benz USA LLC for a cool billion dollars, but not because of the uncompetitive pricing in the United Province. The leasing companies have filed suit because strict import rules are preventing the companies from buying cars in the U.S. and selling them in Canada. The many fees, procedures and restrictions allegedly resulted in a 20-30% increase in the sale of more expensive Canuk cars. One example is a $350 admissibility charge to import a Bimmer, and a far more ridiculous $500 fee will be levied for bringing over a BMW that has received a recall repair in the States. The leasing companies allege the all those fees and fines enable BMW and...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Hatchbacks , UK There are places in England where you need to pay for a parking permit to park on the street. English cities, however, are often not the most spacious places, so city boards are coming up with ways to encourage people to buy cars that take up less space. The city of Norwich, England, wants its residents to buy little hatchbacks, and is helping them decide to do that by charging them more money for a permit to park a longer car. Permit prices will be divided into three categories -- lower, middle, and higher -- and the length of your car will decide how much you pay. The largest category, for which the price of a permit has jumped 90-percent, includes obvious barges like the Toyota Landcruiser and Rolls-Royce Phantom. But it also includes the Toyota Prius and Audi A4. The Ford Focus 5-door scrapes into the middle band, but the longer Focus 4-door gets the land yacht pricing of the higher band. If you live in Norwich...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Coupes , Government/Legal , Dodge One of our readers pointed us to this page over at Dodge's website that contradicted our earlier post about the 2008 Challenger SRT-8's pricing, which was originally announced at $37,995 (including the $675 destination charge). We realize that inflation is a cruel mistress, but a bump in the sticker to $40,095 left us scratching our heads. A few emails back and forth between the people at Chrysler revealed that the SRT-8 was slapped with a $2100 gas-guzzler penalty that accounted for the discrepancy in price. Not a real surprise considering the 425 hp 6.1-liter HEMI V8. As a comparison, however, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 gets a $1300 consumption penalty , even with 75 more horses under the hood. A quick search over at fueleconomy.gov revealed that if Challenger SRT-8 owners are penalized $2100, that means that they'll also only be getting between 18.5 and 19.5 mpg in the combined cycle. We doubt that'll be a...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Chrysler When the Canadian Loonie reached parity with the U.S. dollar a few weeks ago, consumers north of the border began to fully grasp how much more they are paying for automobiles nearly identical to those sold in the U.S. The Loonie has increased in value further since then, and the price disparity is now even more pronounced. Porsche was the first automaker to respond by lowering the retail prices of its entire lineup in Canada , but more mainstream automakers have been hesitant to change the MSRP on their vehicles. The solution appears to be increasing incentives on cars sold in Canada, which Chrysler recently announced it would do for all the cars and trucks it sells in Canada. Canadian consumers could be paying anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars more for vehicles sold in their country versus the U.S., so Chrysler is jacking up incentives and cash rebates or slashing finance rates to make up for the difference...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal A few days ago we posted on the price discrepancy between identical vehicles sold in the U.S. and Canada. The discrepancy was always there, but became apparent when the value of the Canadian Loonie reached parity...
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