The Statesman reports that former GM CEO Roger Smith (of "Roger and Me" fame) and former Charlie's Angel Farrah Fawcett (no longer major) have both pleaded with a federal judge to go easy when sentencing convicted Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt. The 83-year-old CEO of Coastal Corp has already cut a deal with the feds over bribery charges (i.e. embargo running) relating to the United Nations' Oil for Food program. Three weeks into his trial, Wyatt agreed to spend 18 to 24 months in the hoosegow and fork over $11m in ill-gotten gains. His supporters are worried that U.S. District Judge Denny Chin may set aside the deal and whack Wyatt with some more alone time (as is his right). GM's former big cheese vouched for Wyatt's moral fiber. "I know of no way to better measure a man's character and traits than to hunt together," Smith wrote in a letter to Chin. "Oscar ranks as number one in the character traits that really count — integrity, responsibility, loyalty and dependability." I guess three out of four ain't bad.

Money, like energy, is never lost. As the U.S. new car market heads down a hidey hole– chased by high gas prices, a cooling housing market and a sluggish economy– the used car business is booming. That’s because Ditech’s right: people are smart. OK, well, they’re not stupid enough to repeat expensive mistakes. In the last five years or so, tens of millions of American got burned by buying a new car. They’re mad as Hell and they’re not buying new anymore.  

Driving my new 2004 Audi with the family on a vacation to Sanibel Island, the check engine light (CEL) illuminated. We were 125 miles from home. In the past, an engine warning light would trigger panic, confusion and nameless dread. (Owners’ manuals are no help; they simply tell afflicted drivers to take the car to an official dealer.) All I could do was find, phone and visit a local dealer (if they were open) or limp home, knowing that every mile might be making an unknown situation worse. These days, I have an alternative: the OBD-II Actron 9135 scanner.

How did Stevie Wonder go from "You Haven't Done Nothin'" to "I Just Called to Say I Love You?" The easy answer is money (they don't call it "selling out" for nothing). But I wonder. I wonder if Wonder woke-up one day and found the anger that informed his masterful mid-career music had disappeared. The birth of his first daughter– immortalized in the song "Isn't she lovely?"– signaled the empty-calorie crooning to follow. Maybe he just mellowed-out. But I can't help but, uh, cogitate what kind of music Wonder might have unleashed upon the world if he'd kept his edge. Of course, that sort of whatifitude can really bum a guy out. How many of the heroes of our youth descended into mediocrity? How many ended-up lost in a drug-addled haze? How many stayed on stage too long, making the faithful wince at their lost powers? Anyway, it seems TTAC is gaining a bit of financial traction; that's an honest-to-God Ford ad on the home page. I just want to mark the occasion by assuring you that success won't change TTAC. As long as I'm at the helm, we'll keep living just enough, just enough for the city. 

The Pagani Zonda F Clubsport has been unseated as the king of The Nürburgring. The former production car record-holder was beaten by a modified BMW M3 CSL that lapped the 12.9 mile Nordschleif in 7 minutes 22.8 seconds. The Bimmer bested the zoftic Zonda by a full five seconds, in spite of weighing 400 pounds more and giving up 70 horsepower to the German-Italian hybrid. If you're interested in owning the corner-carving record-holder,  Autobackstage reports it's for sale on bid2aid.com. Getting it into the country past customs and the EPA is your problem.

Another image from photochopper extraordinaire Andrei Avarvarii: the next Audi A6. Ingolstadt's due to release the mid-size model around the end of the decade. The new car continues the usual A6 features like six side windows and relatively short deck, along with Audi's now trademark gaping maw grille. The new A6 will be a bit more angular than the current model, incorporating styling cues from the new A4 and A5 models, with a touch of R8 in the headlights. In Europe, a range of diesel and petrol engines will motorvate the Audi. There's no official word on which powerplants Audi will offer its American clientele. Expect to see similar but sleeker styling on the soon-to-follow A7 "four-door coupe."  

 [For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here.]

Unlike the vast majority of their American counterparts, auto scribes scribbling in The Land of Hope and Glory are not shy about coming forward when they test a car that sucks. As American fans of Jeremy Clarkson will tell you, built-in ethnocentrism only makes things worse (better?). In this case, Mr. Clarkson's colleague at The Times, Andrew Frankel, rises to the rhetorical challenge of ripping Chrysler's new Grand Voyager (in Euro-spec diesel trim) a new one. First the good news: "Not only has it been renamed the Grand Voyager, it is also longer than a Mercedes S-class. And provided you don’t make the mistake of driving it anywhere, it’s really rather wonderful." After chronicling the toys lurking within Mr. Nardelli's Wonder Emporium, Frankel gets the party started. "If I tell you the engine is a close relative of that used by London taxis, you’ll perhaps see where the problems start. Chrysler won’t release any performance figures for this car and, frankly, nor would I… That’s not the only problem. The engine is clattery and unrefined, even at the modest speeds at which the Grand Voyager can be persuaded to cruise. And while Chrysler’s engineers seem pleased with the new suspension they designed for the car, its handling is vague and ponderous… Yes, the Grand Voyager can swallow all the people and possessions you could possibly want to throw through its electrically sliding doors. The only problem is that once they’re in, you’re not going to want to take them anywhere." Ow.

My name is Chris. I’m a car review addict. I spend an inordinate amount of my time and energy reading car reviews. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of online and print dealers dedicated to the not-so-obscure art of describing an automobile. With such a superabundance of automotive editorial, why do I have such a hard time reconciling professional reviews with my own test driving experience? Are car reviewers— TTAC’s included—blinded by bias?

This is not the first time we've heard this story BUT… WSAV.com warns Prius-driving metro-area Atlantans that their gas – electric vehicle may fail the local emissions test. It seems that the Prius' gas engine shuts down during the idling portion of the testing cycle, causing the test to abort. Since new cars are exempt from emission testing for the first three years of operation, the issue is just now coming to light. The state's manager for the testing program says it's a software glitch; they hope to have the problem fixed by next year. In the meantime, there's a ten-step procedure to work around the problem (first you have to acknowledge you have a problem…). Of course, the success of the alternative procedure depends on Clarence and Jim-Bob at Bubba's Bait Shop and Fillin' Station decipherin' the procedure needed fer testin' them funny-lookin' furrin' cars. [Frank's a son of the South– Ed.]

Hot on the heels of TTAC's Ten Worst Automobiles award, Forbes has released their fourth annual "Automotive Turkeys" list. Their selection process is much more boring scientific than TTAC's reader nomination/voting method. Forbes bases their selection on such factors as NHTSA recalls, reliability ratings from Consumer Reports, depreciation and crash-test ratings. Like TTAC's Ten Worst, Forbes' is heavy with Chrysler products– althought the Ten Worst-winning Jeep Compass is conspicuous by its absence (the donor Dodge Caliber made it, though). Unlike TTAC's Ten Worst, the automakers had formal responses to Forbes' list, reacting "with surprise and some resistance to being included." Here's their take on 2007's ten worst, in numerical order.

1. Chrysler Sebring*
2. Dodge Nitro*
3. Jeep Liberty
4. Dodge Caliber**
5. Dodge Magnum
6. Ford Crown Victoria
7. Chevy Aveo*
8. Nissan Quest
9. Hyundai Entourage
10. Grand Prix**

*TTAC Ten Worst Winner
**TTAC Ten Worst Finalist

The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland resident Earl Arnette flew to Pittsburgh in April to buy a new GMC Acadia. Despite the fact that the CUV lacked the rims he coveted (and paid for), Earl drove his baby home. Soon thereafter, the power liftgate wouldn't lift, the adjustable seat belts wouldn't adjust and the remote start wouldn't start. Before Arnette could make it to the dealer, he had a head-on with a firetruck. His airbags didn't deploy (even though there had been a recall in February for faulty airbag sensors). After the heavily-damaged vehicle sat at a dealership for two months, Arnette discovered the holdup: the dealer couldn't get parts. Two months after that, the Acadia was finally fixed. Ish. The liftgate and remote start still didn't work. And then the GPS system died. Unwilling to accept an offer to cover his rental car fee, Arnette wrote a letter to GM CEO Rick Wagoner listing his full demands, and contacted the Maryland attorney general's office. Oops. "Arnette's letter to the AG triggered an automatic redirect of his complaint to GM's legal department and all contact with Arnette ceased, GM spokesman Randy Fox said. Should he decide to drop his 'legal action' with the attorney general's office, GM's executive customer assistance center would try again to work out an amicable solution with Arnette." Reporter Dan Thanh Dang summed up our feelings. "Why risk bad word-of-mouth on a product that is getting rave reviews? One would think GM could have tried a little harder to accommodate a consumer who wanted the Acadia so badly he traveled 200-plus miles to buy it."

As it currently stands, automakers selling fewer than 10k cars in the U.S. hold a "get out of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards" free card. As Automotive News [AN, sub] reports, the German automaker that sold 32,447 vehicles stateside last year is busy lobbying the feds to raise the exemption's limit to 64k cars. If Porsche's new, full-time lobbyist "convinces" legislators to widen the loophole, the Sultans of Stuttgart will instantly add $4.6m to their annual U.S. bottom line (the amount of CAFE fines they paid last year), protect their current model line-up (obviating the need to try to sell higher mileage vehicles), protect their current model line's power output (same again) and lower their technology costs (needed to meet the new higher standards). When asked about the move in consideration of the fact that "small" Porsche is about to take over mighty VW, Spokesman Tony Fouladpour simply issued the above headline. The rest of the industry isn't quite so taciturn. "Barbara Nocera, director of government and public affairs for Mazda North American Operations, warned that the redefinition would enable new entrants — such as automakers from China and India — to get a foothold in the United States." The Porsche loophole would also help Land Rover and Jaguar, immediately and dramatically increasing their value to potential buyers.  

A press release from the lemon law firm Kimmel and Silverman claims that the sliding doors fitted to the 2005 and 2006 model year Chevrolet Uplander, Saturn Relay, Buick Terraza and Pontiac Montana are prone to popping open at speeds above 45mph. Attorney Bob Silverman says GM service managers blame the problem on dirt and debris fouling the soon-to-be-extinct minivans' door sensors. Luckily for Silverman (and not so lucky for his clients), "there are plenty of consumers who are returning to the dealer time and time again, only to hear that the service manager can't diagnose and/or fix the problem." Silverman claims his company has handled over 100 sliding door cases in the past two years, scoring full or partial refunds for his clients. Although the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has received more than two dozen complaints, no safety recall is planned. Meanwhile, Silverman has some sage advice for afflicted owners: "Make sure that each time you pick up your vehicle, you receive a repair invoice which clearly outlines your complaints and the repairs. Once you have three or more repair invoices for this problem, look into your rights under your State Lemon Law and/or the Federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act."

According to a study by Monash University Accident Research Centre, silver vehicles are 10 percent more likely to crash than their white counterparts. While black vehicles are even more hazardous to one’s vehicular health– accident rates are 12 percent higher than white cars'– the Aussie researchers are particularly keen to diss silver. One-third of new vehicles sold Down Under sport this hazardous hue. Dr. Stuart Newstead attributes the bent silver fenders to the color’s low contrast, particularly in fading light and cloudy conditions. Newstead recommends using headlights or daytime running lights to improve visibility. Better still, buy a white car. Representatives from the Oakland Raiders and BMW designer Chris “Axles of White Power” Bangle were unavailable for comment.

Last September, German public TV aired a documentary about the Quandt family, the secretive clan that owns 46.6 percent of BMW. The film revealed that Günther Quandt had used slave laborers during WWII and convinced Nazi contacts to send a Belgian competitor to a concentration camp (after he refused to sell his company to Quandt). Responding to the first screening, the Quandt family said they were "profoundly touched" by the movie and  promised to employ a historian to examine the family's history during the Third Reich. Spiegel reports that a re-screening last Thursday contains new material. Quandt biographer Rüdiger Jungbluth noted that no family member has ever apologized to the few remaining victims of Quandt's wartime labor camps. Carl-Adolf Soerensen, a former Danish resistance fighter, watched most of his 40 comrades perish at a Quandt factory. Soerensen said it would be easier to die in peace if the Quandts offered some words of regret. "The one time we tried to contact the heirs of Quandt, they were extremely arrogant. And since them, we  have heard nothing but silence. They have not even acknowledged that  their companies employed slave laborers… I don't need a historian to tell me what happened. Neither do the Quandts. I can meet them and show them what happened in their factory."