The 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix looked like it had got in a fight, and lost.

The front bumper was hanging perilously close to the ground. A big lick on the left hand side had smashed it up well and good, along with the left fender and hood. The body cladding on both sides of the vehicle had been stripped off. Leaving holes and plastic screw holders as the proverbial abusive pockmarks of the unloved.

Her seats were tore up… dashboard smashed… forget about a plain old beater. This one was beat all too hell. And you know what? (Read More…)

It’s strange how the passage of a few decades makes the mid-70s Corolla seem like a much better car than it actually was. Granted, it was quite a car for the time, with a combination of price, reliability, and fuel economy that Detroit and Europe couldn’t touch… but if we take ourselves out of the mindset of the Malaise Era and fast-forward our vehicular expectations maybe ten years, this generation of Corolla turns out to be a cramped, underpowered, noisy econobox that lasted maybe 150,000 miles (if you lived in the rust-free Southwest). (Read More…)

When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will come to Germany on April 23, he will open the Hannover Fair and will visit old friends at nearby Volkswagen. Volkswagen will have a present for China’s outgoing leader: Volkswagen will build another factory in China. What is strange are the factory’s size and location. (Read More…)

Bryan writes:

Sajeev,

I bought a salvage-title 2007 Honda Fit with 73k miles. Since then I’ve put 10k miles on it.

The owner’s manual has no maintenance schedule. Instead, everything is driven by the “maintenance minder”. A small display shows alphanumeric codes when certain conditions are reached. For example, the “1A” service is oil, filter, and hose/boot checks. Other codes like “1C” and “2C” are more rigorous things like belts & plugs, trans fluid, etc. There is an infamous oil life monitor which, if followed, has me draining blackstrap molasses at enormous intervals.

I’m stumped as to the mileage or conditions that prompt these. Without any previous service history I don’t know when to change plugs (are they 30k or 100k plugs?), transmission fluids (either on a normal or severe schedule) or serpentine belt (it was nearly dust at 74k).

Is there a database that reveals the mileage behind these reminders? I’d like to keep the car as long as possible. I love it and I love car maintenance. How can I be a maintenance hypochondriac with a maintenance minder? (Read More…)

The Tata Nano, touted as the world’s cheapest car, did put India on the world map as far as automobiles go. I have frequently read comments on various American blogs where readers are hoping that Tata Motors launches one in the States. Be careful what you wish for.

Spotting old cars is like an addiction for car guys. That’s why this giant sized 1960 Chevy limousine had a group of guys around it even though a wedding reception was underway next door.  The good news is that everybody found their correct seats before the respective festivities began. There were anecdotes about guys being dragged away by their ears. (Read More…)

When government, media and industry agree that a trend exists, it’s generally taken as fait accompli. After all, these three institutions wield immense cultural power, and together they are more than capable of making any prophecy self-fulfilling. But there’s always a stumbling block: acceptance by the everyday folk who actually make up our society. And when a trend is taken for granted, the ensuing rush to be seen as being in touch with said trend often generates more heat than light. Such is the case with the trend towards “green cars.” Few would deny that they are “the future,” but at the same time, there’s been precious little examination of how this future is to be realized. And when such examination does take place, it tends to raise more questions than it answers.
(Read More…)

Lada will end production of their Soviet-era 2017 sedan, since citizens no longer have to line up to buy a car and can purchase one of the free market. Sales of the 2017 were down 76 percent in Q1 2012, and Lada, which now makes vehicles that aren’t warmed over Fiat clones from the 1960’s, decided to axe the venerable sedan.

(Read More…)

The Nissan NV may be an exciting newcomer, but the tried-and-true GM and Ford vans are the staple of the commercial market. Our own Mike Solowiow took exception with the 2007 Chevrolet Express passenger van as a passenger hauler back in 2008. Will the no-frills cargo hauler variant find favor with us here at TTAC? […]

It hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as the handful of early production Tata Nanos that caught fire, or the Ferrari 458 recall, also for fire safety issues, or the newly expanded investigation into Jeep Wranglers burning, and certainly not nearly the attention given the near non-event with that one crash tested Chevy Volt, but BMW appears to have a corporate wide fire problem with turbocharged models that has now resulted in recalls of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles. (Read More…)

Instagram, the popular photo sharing service, was bought by Facebook for $1 billion, despite not producing any tangible goods or generating revenue. Ducati is all but set to be purchased by Volkswagen for $1.12 billion, while producing tens of thousands of premium motorcycles sold across the globe ad fielding one of the most prestigious brands in the transportation industry.

(Read More…)

That split-grille that graces the front of the 2013 Lincoln MKZ? Don’t look for it on every single Lincoln product going forward.

(Read More…)

Even as the German brands are moving away from wagons and towards freak-of-nature pseudo-crossovers like the BMW 5-Series GT and Audi Allroad, Cadillac is standing by their station wagons – and coupes, for that matter. But there may be some product shuffling involved.

(Read More…)

European car sales are getting it on the chin. Sale in the EU were down the sixth consecutive month, with a decline of 7.0 percent compared to March last year, ACEA says. March is prime selling season in Europe, and customers refuse to buy. March registrations have not been at this level since 1998. January to March, car sales in Europe are down 7.7 percent. (Read More…)

Like a sign on a door, this sum of financial flammables has indeed been given two meanings.

The first is that it represents the daily gasoline usage of all of us here on planet Earth.  Scooters, cars, industrial machines, toys, generators, plastics and petrochemical materials the world over all amount to this “deficits don’t matter” level of daily consumption.

That number alone will be incredibly hard to change on a voluntary basis. Heck, it may indeed be close to the realm of impossible barring another financial crisis. But there is a smaller usage level that can be altered depending on… well… you!

(Read More…)