Consumer Reports does a lot of things differently (like not accepting advertising, buying the cars they test). And one of them is creating a separate list of Top Picks from American car companies.
Well, this year's list is out now...and it's a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, Chevy/GMC/Cadillac list. Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep are nowhere to be found. For that matter, Buick is MIA.
Interestingly, the editors couldn't recommend an American vehicle in the "family hauler" category.
One day after disclosing that Rhonda Smith sold the car (today's clarification from NHTSA: traded it to a Toyota dealer) after what she called a "near-death" experience and that a family has put 27,000 trouble-free miles on the vehicle since then (something that no one mentioned during Tuesday's hearing), the NHTSA has written that family a check and taken possession (pardon the pun) of the vehicle. They plan to test it.
The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform accused Toyota on Friday of withholding relevant documents when fighting lawsuits filed by crash victims.
That's right. Not "demanded Toyota replace it under the Lemon Law".
Not "parked it and sued Toyota for its replacement cost".
We need to know just how that went down, I think. Trade it in and let the dealer work out the ethics? Craigslist? eBay? A close friend or neighbor?
And Rhonda? She needs to head right back to Capitol Hill, sit down in front of that committee, under oath, and give a word-by-word description of just how that transaction went down.
I mean, what do you say? "3,000 miles, creampuff, only tried to kill me once"?
"It's to die for?"
"Once you drive it, you'll never stop?"
Did she show them the CarFax?
Rhonda Smith's testimony is that she really believed she was going to die in that car. The fact that she would then sell it to another human being (even a dealer trade assumes it will end up being driven by someone again) raises questions about whether her testimony was, in fact, true.
As does the fact that the new owners have put 27,000 miles on the ES350 trouble-free.
And where was this fact in Tuesday's hearing? Nowhere. Not mentioned by a single member of the committee, by Toyota Motor Sales USA president Jim Lentz and certainly not by Rhonda Smith.
In this week's Memo From Michael, I make the argument that we don't know enough about what's causing the Toyota incidents to accuse dead or injured drivers of incompetence.
Mrs. Smith is alive and wasn't hurt. The sale of the vehicle opens questions about her actions on the road that day, and the veracity of her testimony Tuesday.
Desperate for money, city, county and state governments around the country are looking hard at anything that throws off cash with little or preferably no effort and manpower.
Which brings us to photo radar. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would like to change the law in his state that currently bans speed cameras (red-light cameras are legal in the Golden State), which he says could generate $338 million.
It's hard to remember now, but Hummer was white-hot when it first hit showrooms in the early '00s. Its peak sales year was 2006, when 71,524 of them found homes, largely in suburbia. The economy in general and gas prices in particular slammed the brakes on...with only 9,046 sold last year.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirms it raided the offices of three Toyota suppliers as part of an anti-trust investigation. Toyota itself says it wasn't contacted by authorities. Full details from the Los Angeles Times:
Toyota president Akio Toyoda told Congress today he takes full responsibility for the recall of millions of his company's cars, but that he would tell President Obama "Toyota cars are safe".
LaHood at times appeared to be in the hot seat to a greater degree than Toyoda, as members of the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee probed to determine whether the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is doing its job and whether the U.S. government's ownership stake in General Motors might affect equal treatment of automakers under its watch.
The Lede, The New York Times News Blog, will be providing live blogging and MSNBC live video streaming of Toyota president Akio Toyoda's testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as well as other testimony and discussion Wednesday.
Also testifying today, United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who told the committee the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has found no evidence of electronics issues and believes floor mats and sticky pedals pose the greatest threat.
There was an emotional moment as Lentz mentioned that he had lost his brother in an automobile accident 26 years ago. His voice breaking, he told lawmakers "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of what these families go through."
It's report card day at Consumer Reports...Hyundai and Ford are happy. Toyota? A mixed bag. But the Prius keeps its Recommended status. Read the results here.
Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert says a short-circuit can cause the cars to accelerate suddenly and not leave a trace in the car's fault codes.
This, of course, is a big fat hairy deal...and Toyota should know it. If the grand jury doesn't like what it reads, the end result can be criminal charges.
A bit more recently, Toyota says it got a voluntary request from the Los Angeles office of the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday (February 19) for related documents, including the company's disclosure policies.
Be careful what you put in writing. Dad probably told you that. But according to a report in this morning's Los Angeles Times, Toyota Motor Company execs put together a presentation in July, 2009 that talks about how the company saved $100 million by negotiating with the U.S. Government to limit a recall linked to sudden acceleration claims..from all vehicles possibly involved to 55,000 floor mats.
The Times also reports Toyota realized cost savings for delaying the implementation of a federal safety rule, stalling or mitigating safety regulations, and avoiding a government probe of a vehicle Toyota had issued a buyback program on.
TDI is VW's clean diesel engine. And as much as we love it in the Jetta sedan, it's a revelation in the new platform Golf.
It's the usual diesel attributes...tons of torque, excellent long-term prospects (diesels last longer) and killer mileage (the EPA says 30 city, 41 highway).
And, in the Golf, VW moves to make TDI and "premium" synonymous. The base priceof $22,590 is $5,100 higher than the gasoline Golf...but the standard equipment level gets bumped up. As with the gasoline version, VW found only a few options left to put on it (Navigation, Sunroof, Cold Weather Package and Bluetooth connectivity)...running the bottom line with destination charge up to $26,514.
Ouch?
Yeah.
But do as I do...skip the $1,750 nav system...your cell phone or a portable GPS can do the job. Passing on that automatically kills the $199 charge for Bluetooth connectivity (get an earpiece). Though my wife disagrees, I've always thought sunroofs were overrated, a distraction and an unnecessary weakening of the car's structure, so blow that off and save $1,000. And the cold weather package? Heated seats and washer nozzles are nice...but you've done without them and been just fine, right? $225 falls off the sticker.
Now, with destination charge, the price is $23,640. And that's a great value for what you get.
The Golf TDI replaces the Jetta TDI on both the TireKicker Top 20 Cars (so far) and slots in just above it on the TireKicker Top 20 Fuel Savers. But the next-gen Jetta TDI is sure to bring its "A" game. We'll be waiting.
The same House committee (Oversight and Government Reform) before which Toyota President Akio Toyoda will testify next week about the automaker's gas pedal recall has subpoenaed records in the possession of former Toyota American National Managing Counsel Dimitrios Biller.
In a very brief statement released Friday morning, Japan time, Toyoda said he "looks forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people."
Full press release (remember, we said "brief") here.
The Detroit News reports that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration will announce a formal investigation into complaints about steering in the Toyota Corolla Thursday.
As we reported Wednesday, Toyota is considering a recall of the 2009 and 2010 models, which use electrical rather than mechanical steering...converting the steering wheel from an implement which is directly linked to and physically turns the front wheels into a control device that sends electrical impulses to a computer, which then tells the wheels which way to turn, how much and how quickly.
More than 160 Corolla drivers have complained to the feds, many claiming the cars veered sharply and suddenly at speeds above 40 miles per hour. At least 10 injuries have been alleged.
If there is a recall, it would be a big one. The Corolla is not only Toyota's best-seller, but the #1 selling car in the world. 296,000 were sold in the United States alone in 2009.
The Detroit News says the NHTSA reached its decision to announce the investigation this afternoon. More as it happens.
Toyota says it's considering recalling its best selling model (and the world's), the Corolla. Consumer complaints about cars veering off track have grown since Toyota switched from mechanical to electrical steering (which changes the steering wheel from a direct connection to the wheels and makes it an input device which a computer then decodes and acts upon) in the Corolla.
How bad is that electrical steering? Coincidentally, I'm just finishing a week in a 2010 Corolla. And while it's really...really numb (think 1970s Detroit power steering...zero road feel)...I never felt it trying to go off course. Look for a full review soon.
Meantime, at a news conference overnight in Japan, company president Akio Toyoda says the automaker will comply with the NHTSA's investigation into whether the company acted quickly enough to address problems with gas pedals, and announced that all future models will include a brake-override system, which kills power to the engine when both the accelerator and brake are pressed at the same time.
Toyoda had been expected to appear before Congress on February 24. But last night, he called that a "misunderstanding in the press" and said that Toyota North America's chief, Yoshimi Inaba, will be the one in the hot seat.
No, I'm not kidding. The past four years of the Chevy Equinox couldn't have been blander (quick..can you really picture one?). It was dead on arrival and buried by every new small SUV or crossover that came along since.
But this....if they'd had 535 of these to put in the Capitol parking lot a year ago, Congress would have passed a GM bailout bill so fast it would have made your head swim. There would have been no bankruptcy.
Yes...it's that good. So good, in fact, that I'd cross-shop it against the Mazda CX-7. And if you've read that review, you know that's saying something.
Pick the Chevy over the Mazda and you give up the sporting feel, but you gain room and a more commanding view of the road, thanks to the more traditional architecture of the Equinox.
Base price? $23,360...with most of the same standard equipment as the Mazda. The rest (apart from a sunroof) is made up for in options that, on our tester, only ran the bottom line up to $24,600. And here's what you get to sit in:
Not two years ago, I would have bet you that GM couldn't pull off an interior like that in this class and price of vehicle. Then, I'd have won.
And speaking of winning, the Equinox actually takes the CX-7 on fuel economy...thanks to a six-speed automatic paired with a just-right four....the EPA says 22 city/30 highway.
This is a vehicle that deserves your attention and consideration. And the new GM needs to make everything they do from here on out as good as this.
UPDATE: Just finished a week in the top-of-the-line LTZ model. Base price jumps to $28,045, but with so much standard equipment (power liftgate, 17" aluminum wheels, rearview camera embedded in the mirror, leather, automatic climate control, a Pioneer premium audio system) that GM was able to ship this one to us option-free. So with destination charges, the tab ends up at $28,790....$4,190 more than the lightly equipped base model above.
And the EPA has revised its estimates upward...it's now 22 city/32 highway. In my mix of city street and freeway driving, I saw 25.
Federal regulators now say at least 34 people have died in accidents invoving Toyota vehicles where unintended acceleration is a suspected cause. That's 13 more people than the feds had said a month ago.
This time it's voluntary. Toyota says 8,000 of its 2010 Tacoma 4X4 pickups contain a front drive shaft component that could contain cracks, causing the front drive shaft to separate, resulting in a loss of control.
Exercise caution for the next 30 days...Toyota says affected owners will be notified by mail....in mid-March.
That's when the current-generation Lexus LX 570 hit the showroom floors as a 2008 model. When bigger was better, when more was more. When an SUV dripping in all the luxury and tech the Toyota gang could muster, with a base price of more than $70,000 and an EPA mileage estimate that wouldn't challenge your ability to count too far into double-digits was no big deal...at least not for the intended clientele.
It was the days of "go big or go home"...and Lexus went big. For those whose investment accounts can still justify it, the LX 570 is very impressive. Even approaching it with the new realities firmly in mind, it takes about 10 minutes of driving to begin marvelling at just how right they got this one...how nice it is to drive...how capable....how much you want one.
For 2010, the changes are minimal...a USB connection for your portable music player, and the next-gen hard-drive, voice-activated nav system are the big items. And they both work very nicely.
Base price this year is $76,405...and that comes with a list of standard features that, if I were to transcribe it, would probably have Blogger instituting a charge-by-the word policy in an hour or so. Go here to read it on Lexus' dime.
With that kind of standard content, options should be at a minimum...and I guess they are...but that doesn't mean that they're cheap. Six options (climate control seats, the Luxury Package with upgraded wood, leather and the Pre-Crash system, a Mark Levinson Audio System, Lexus Link, front and side monitoring system with Intuitive Park Assist and a Rear Seat Entertainment System) added another $12,000 and change to the bottom line...pushing it to within a few hundred dollars of 90 large.
And then there's the EPA estimate...12 city/18 highway.
The pool of potential buyers for this vehicle isn't what it was...but there's definitely still a market...and Lexus' moves of optimism pre-recession have actually positioned the LX570 as a real contender, not a wanna-be, in competition with Range Rover. Over time, and as the economy improves, they may end up looking very wise.
35 years ago, Volkswagen revolutionized the concept of the small car with the original Golf (sold here for many years as the Rabbit). The basic shape and proportions are still recognizable, but the changes have been evolutionary, and it's easy to write off each generation as not having changed that much from the one before.
Big mistake.
It's impossible to overstate the refinements the 2010 Golf brings to the game....the leap forward it represents from last year's model, and how much better it is than virtually everything in its size and price class.
The first impression of change comes when you sit behind the wheel. VW has upped its game for the Golf's interior. Even in basic black rather than the contrasting tones shown above, it's a nicer place to do business...switchgear now more elegant, yet still purposeful and feeling built to last.
The 2.5 liter, 5-cylinder, 170 horsepower engine more than gets the job done, and returns an EPA estimated 23 miles per gallon city, 30 highway.
Our tester's base price was $17,490 and it had only three options (none of which I'd order): A 6-speed automatic transmission ($1,100), a power sunroof ($1,000) and a Cold Weather Package consisting of heated seats and washer nozzles ($225). Bottom line, with $750 destination charge, is $20,565. But passing on those options and taking it straight would get the price down to $18,240.
Yes, you can get less expensive compact sedans from the U.S., Japan and especially Korea. But drive the Golf first and I'm betting you'll be justifying the additional outlay.
Honda says driver's-side airbags in many of its 2001 and 2002 Honda and Acura vehicles could deploy with too much force, resulting in injury or death.
Tough guys will say "Hey, I can take a punch"...but that's not what Honda's talking about here. The force involved could shatter the inflator casing and send metal fragments flying through the airbag cushion material and into...well, you and your passengers.
Same basic principle as a grenade.
Honda says it's aware of a total of 14 incidents, with one fatality.
This is phase three of this recall. It began sixteen months ago with 4,000 cars, had 436,000 added to it in July 2009 and today 378,758 cars join the list.
Even when working properly, airbags are, as now-retired (damn!) Car and Driver Editor at Large Patrick Bedard once noted, the only safety device in our history that comes with a label warning that you could be killed using it properly. A decade ago, he wrote a series of columns about them before finally giving up. Here's the one that's been preserved online. If you have both children and a car with airbags, please...please read it.
Attitude is not an attribute one has associated with Buick for more than 20 years...since the hot Grand National models.
But Buick has decided to get in your face with its message about the new LaCrosse...with billboards and TV ads calling it "Something else for Lexus to relentlessly pursue."
Really?
Is this the view that ES 350 drivers will be seeing, choking on some good old Detroit (well, close, our tester was built in Kansas City) dust?
The fact that we're even entertaining that question says something, doesn't it?
Clearly, the exterior design of the LaCrosse leaves no doubt that they consider Lexus the target. And at first glance, so does the interior.
Where it falls down is the touch test. Everything's a grade slimmer...not as substantial when your fingers glide across it. Make no mistake: It's a quantum leap beyond the Fisher-Price plastics GM was using in the bad old days, but there's a way to go before we get into blindfolded taste tests with Lexus.
So what's the Buick got going for it? Well, style certainly...it's a beautiful-looking car. And there's content. Our tester had a 255 horsepower V6 with a six-speed automatic transmission...and in the CXL trim level, so much standard equipment that there were only two options...an upgrade to a 384-watt, 11 speaker Harmon-Kardon sound system, and chrome plated instead of straight alloy wheels (18 inchers, just as they come standard on the CXL).
The ES has more power...272 horses...the same number of gears...and gets better mileage than the Buick (19 city/27 highway to 17/26 for the LaCrosse).
A rout? No. Because the LaCrosse gets close in all the categories....and costs less. A lot less. $29,645 base is almost 5 grand below the starting price for the ES 350...and optioned out as our two testers were, the bottom-line price difference is just shy of $10,000...the Buick at $31,695 and the ES at $41,340.
So, as most things have the past year and a half, it comes down to price. If you've got the money and are willing to spend it for the extra quality of materials in the Lexus, it's still a great buy. If you've got other uses for the extra $10K and won't miss what you don't have, the Buick makes the strongest case for itself that any product wearing that nameplate has in decades.
(Disclosure: My full-time job is with an ABC television affiliate not affected by the story below. If the target had been CBS, NBC, FOX or any other network, group or individual station, this post would still be here, just with different network or station call letters)
What's especially troubling is that Southeast Toyota gives its reason as "excessive stories on the Toyota issues".
Note that they didn't say inaccurate, biased, false, or misleading stories. Just that there were too many of them.
At a time when transparency and openness are the only road out of this mess for Toyota, that's exactly the wrong approach. Hopefully Toyota Motor Sales (Toyota's North American sales and distribution arm) is already explaining to Southeast Toyota, which says its dealers sell 20 percent of all Toyotas sold in the U.S., that this is the least helpful thing they could do.
If we're all headed for compact cars (um...Mr. President, a follow-up question?), then this is the way to go.
Early and/or thorough TireKicker readers will remember I gave the last-gen Mazda 3 a glowing review in one of the first TireKicker posts. Every word still applies, but the 2010 Mazda 3 is a game-changer.
I get the same feeling from the new 3 that I got when I got behind the wheel of my 1984 Honda Civic...and I wasn't alone then. Jean Lindamood of Car and Driver (now Jean Jennings of Automobile) ended her review thusly:
"Damn, she's a fine one. Our orders are in."
It inspired me to take a test drive that led to a 14-year ownership of said Civic.
Well, I sat right down in the driver's seat of the new Mazda 3 4-door Sport and felt the same way. While Honda's gone too techno for its own good, the 2010 Mazda 3 keeps it simple and direct...everything is where it should be, falls easily to hand, performs its function and never...never...distracts the driver from...well, driving.
And yes, there's driving to be done in the 3. It almost feels like the Mazda engineers passed on the Corolla, Civic and Sentra and rustled up an old BMW 2002 tii to benchmark for handling and sheer fun to drive.
The incredibly low price of $18,740 gets you a 2.5 liter DOHC 16-valve four, a six-speed manual, dynamic stability control, traction control and and independent front and rear suspension.
17-inch alloy wheels come standard with the sport, as do supportive and comfortable cloth seats, an AM/FM/CD/WMA/MP3 audio system, bluetooth, air, power locks and windows and a bunch more.
The tester had Sirius Satellite Radio and the Moonroof/Bose package...which ups the audio ante to a 242 watt Bose Centerpoint 10-speaker audio system and an in-dash 6-CD changer...and a moonroof.
Total price, including destination charges; $21,235.
EPA estimates: 21 city/29 highway.
I would absolutely buy one if I were in the market. If you are, you owe yourself at least a test drive.
If there's a feeling I hate as much as any other, it's being too late. Getting to the party after all the fun's been had.
When I was a kid, a big Ford, optioned properly, was a cool grownup's car (think red Galaxie 500 XL hardtop or convertible with knock-offs and a big V8...or better yet, just look at the picture above).
By the time I got my license (a mere decade later), big Fords were grandma's cars. In fact, the only person I knew who owned one was my friend Sara's grandma.
And from there, they devolved into service animals. If you've hailed a cab or been pulled over by the police in the last 25 years, odds are it was a big Ford Crown Victoria.
So what, you ask? Well, the Crown Vic is on its way out. Available only as a fleet vehicle now, it'll be unavailable, period in a year or less. And it's here that paths of opportunity cross.
Ford's been trying to rehabilitate the Taurus nameplate since Alan Mullaly took over a few years ago and ordered the well-built, competent but bland Five Hundred rebadged as a Taurus. Here's the chance. Make the Taurus a little bigger and a lot better, and there's a vehicle worthy of being considered Ford's flagship.
Fully cognizant of what happened to the last guy who said this out loud: Mission Acccomplished.
The 2010 Taurus is a surprise and a delight. Big, roomy, powerful, carefully assembled of higher quality materials than the Blue Oval has been known for in quite some time. Yes, Virginia, this is a Ford interior:
The tester I drove for a week was the top-of-the line SEL model (base price $27,170)...with a 3.5 liter V6 and six-speed automatic transmission. Loaded with the rapid spec package that includes SYNC, reverse sensors, ambient lighting and 19 inch wheels as well as a separate leather package, the sticker stopped at $31,890.
The EPA says 18 city/28 highway.
The only downer I could find is the agressively angled headrests...which hit me exactly at a point where I had to tilt my head down slightly in order to drive. If I were shorter or taller (I'm six feet even), it probably wouldn't be a problem, but still.
The Taurus is a triumph for Ford...the first truly relevant family sedan that company's made since the first Taurus in 1986...and the first desirable big grownup's car since...well, probably the '63.
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deli
