Do you have a vehicle that was eligible for the government’s CARS program until the EPA revised old mileage averages? If so, your vehicle is no longer eligible for the $3,500-$4,500 incentive. If you had set up a deal before the final rule came out, however, the government will hook you up regardless. “We’ve tried to come up with the fairest possible solution under the circumstances,” CARS’ long-suffering spokesman, Rae Tyson, explains to Automotive News [sub]. But it’s hard to see what exactly is fair about that. Didn’t NHTSA specifically warn that “if a dealer chooses to structure a transaction before the final rule is issued, they will bear the risks associated with later demonstrating that the transaction meets all of the specifications of the final rule”? Why are the folks who ignored the warning being rewarded, while those who waited for the rules get the shaft? More importantly, if anyone got away with engine-melting a 1987 Alfa GTV (recently reprieved by the EPA mileage mulligan), there are going to be phones ringing in at least one congresscritter’s office. Hit the jump for a complete list of clunkers which saw their eligibility change due to the EPA revision.
Auto Motor und Sport picks up on a report in De Telegraaf about a wave of anti-Smart vandalism that’s sweeping the city of a thousand “coffee shops.” Apparently, Amsterdam’s police force has been forced to post patrols around the city’s many canals in an attempt to curb the latest “weekend sport”: Smart tipping. The extent of this European version of cow tipping is unclear, although Amsterdam’s Smart Center reports “a number” of incidents. Apparently, the fact that the diminutive city cars park facing canals (instead of parallel parking like everyone else) makes them especially vulnerable. However Dutchamsterdam reports that the vandalism is not exclusive to Smarts. “In recent years vandals have also targeted other small vehicles, including scootmobiles and tiny cars from the Canta brand — both used primarily by people with handicaps and limited mobility,” is their analysis. Finally, a use for all those damn Neighborhood Electric Vehicles!
UK magazine Which?Car reports that automakers in the Land of Hope and Glory have hiked prices, effectively killing the advantages of the country’s cash-for-clunkers (a.k.a. scrappage) scheme. The mag cites three examples: “The price of a mid-range Ford Fiesta has jumped from £11,570 in October 2008 when the car was launched to £13,195 in July 2009—a massive 14% increase.” And “Vauxhall’s new Insignia looked affordable in January 2009, priced at £17,981 but it has now broken the £20K barrier with a list price of £20,430 in July 2009, also a 14% jump.” And “Another chart-topping supermini, the Nissan Micra, was priced 11% higher in July 2009 (£12,395) than in September 2008 (£11,200), although its equipment has been improved.” Said the actress to the Bishop. Yes, well, the conclusion is inescapable. Ish.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Windy City’s police chief has issued new guidelines for the use of deadly force (shooting people, in layman’s terms). “Chicago cops will now be permitted to shoot at drivers or passengers in cases of felons fleeing in motor vehicles.” And there you have it, minus the shit storm that’s brewing on this bad boy. Of course, all TV cops already have that right, so why not the Chi Town Po-Po? “The liability to the City of Chicago could be astronomical.” Ah. Previously, on America’s Most Amazing Parting Shots, “Officers were allowed to use deadly force to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves or another person, but it didn’t allow them to use force to apprehend a fleeing forcible felon,” said the paper’s police source. “If confronted by an oncoming vehicle, officers were simply told to get out of the way, unless they were put in great danger.” Good thing the policy told them to get out of the way, I suppose. Anyway, the cops have already gone into damage control mode.
Seriously? If Alfa and Fiat are going to be added to the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep mix, something has got to give. And why not Chrysler? Maybe it’s just that every time I hear the word Chrysler, my immediate association is Sebring. Which is more than enough motivation for me to wish the brand dead. Perhaps the Chrysler name could live on as an umbrella brand (i.e., GM). As a vehicle brand though, Chrysler is toast. Or am I missing something?
“We’ve gotten thousands of thousands of questions regarding issues that Congress never dreamed of,” admit NHTSA spokesfolk to the NY Times. Say it ain’t so! The latest clunker stumper is the issue of gray market imports, which do not have official EPA ratings. When the Gray Lady’s Christine Negroni asked NHTSA if her gray market 1985 Mercedes 230E would qualify for a CARS rebate, the answer was likely accompanied by a heavy sigh. “It’s a question of determining if there’s a comparable model being sold in the U.S. that can determine fuel economy,” explains NHTSA’s Rae Tyson. “Our lawyers are going to have to make a decision.” Meanwhile questions like this have flooded the CARS hotline with some 45,000 calls. Not that calling the hotline would help with the gray market question. “If the question has stumped me, it’s going to stump the hot line too,” says Tyson. “It’s going to require an interpretation that we’re not equipped to make right now.”
Well, possibly more compelling. But first the sale. “I think that we’re past midfield with GM. There are always issues that you have to deal with, but I think we’re progressing well,” Roger Penske tells Automotive News [sub]. The bad news is Saturn’s rebirth isn’t going to be as simple as loading a boat with fun, quirky, never-before-seen-on-these-shores foreign cars and slinging Saturn badges on them. And while the details are being worked out (just how foreign and how quirky are we talking?) Saturn will be doing business as uninspired, uh, usual. “Under the terms of the tentative deal between GM and Penske, the automaker would supply Saturn with Aura sedans, Vue SUVs and Outlook crossover vehicles until at least 2011,” reveals AN. Epsilon, Theta, Lambda, oh my! Saturn hasn’t so much been saved as it’s been frozen in time. And Roger Penske won’t even discuss Saturn’s post-GM future. It looks like Saturn’s dealers are going to have to curb their enthusiasm just a little bit longer.
The Ad Hoc Committee of Consumer Victims of Chrysler is a group of litigants left claimless by a federal bankruptcy judge’s fiat, when Chrysler jettisoned “old Chrysler’s” product liability. Quietly into that long good night they will not go. Earlier this week, the group attempted to hand-deliver a protest letter to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne prior to the new company’s first-ever Board of Directors’ meeting. The company’s head of security intercepted the missive, promising to give it to Sergio [video here]. While they await an official response *crickets chirping* the group has released this none-too-subtle silent movie, attempting to shame the car company into honoring its legal obligations.
AutoExtremist Peter DeLorenzo is an asshole. Just kidding. Somehow, the carmudgeon got it into his head that TTAC (a.k.a. TIC-TAC) called him an asshole. Did we call him an asshole? Of course we didn’t call him an asshole. We don’t call anyone an asshole. Delusional, sure. Misguided? Oh yeah, we’ve called people misguided. Pietro too. But calling someone an asshole is a perfect example of what the Brits call “using a sledgehammer to open a walnut.” It shows no style, no finesse, no class. Two out of three ain’t bad, as we Yanks are wont to say. I mention all this because Sweet Pete is launching the rumor (picked up by Autoblog) that Chrysler will launch a fourth US brand called Ram. Obviously, that makes no sense whatsoever—which is why the AutoExtremist offers no explanatory justification and Autoblog sucks away the oxygen of publicity even as it wheels-in Peter’s tank (couldn’t resist).
Words are cheap. Detroit bailouts are expensive; the feds have spent more than $100 billion on the Motown meltdown. But don’t worry. Be happy. According to Reuters, “President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that General Motors and Chrysler Group were companies worth saving, but he expects both to repay their government loans.” But? The Prez made his prediction to celebrate the latest stats from the car buyers’ bailout (a.k.a. Cash-for-Clunkers or C.A.R.S. program). Even Reuters isn’t buying that one—much. Apparently, it’s all about the mix. “The impact on GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor was not immediately clear with passenger car sales outpacing those of pickups and sport utilities.” Translation: the Big Three need pickup and SUV sales to survive. Fair dinkum, albeit on a very, very small scale in this case. It gets better/worse . . .
A 1994 Impreza for $25? Bought one back in 2003 with an auto tranny and all the paint stripped off. It needed a new battery and . . . that was it. I sold it on eBay for $1576 to a fellow who flew in from California and drove it all the way back to IOU-land. He was a rally coordinator for Subaru and although the car was going to be modified, it ended up slogging through So Cal traffic instead for another 50,000 miles. I’ve always wondered whether it would have been more profitable to keep it? Perhaps.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri last week threw out a challenge to a red light camera program based on federal anti-racketeering statutes. The city of Arnold was first in the state to set up automated ticketing machines in 2005, a move that the attorney general at the time suggested was illegal. A group of motorists filed suit against the city and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the private company responsible for issuing the $94.50 tickets. The ticket recipients charged that the way ATS and Arnold colluded to extract cash from vehicle owners was similar to an organized criminal enterprise. This is a violation that would, they argued, fall under the RICO Act which was codified in 1970 as a tool to fight the mafia.
I have a question about the windshield wipers on a 2002 Chevy Venture minivan. The wipers function as expected, except that when they are turned off, they park in an upright position – not horizontally at the bottom of the windshield. This first occurred two winters ago, and they miraculously fixed themselves when summer came. This winter they again started parking in an upright position, and continue to do so. My mechanic thought a new wiper motor should fix the problem, at a cost of three or four hundred dollars. A quick search on the internet suggest that there is some reset procedure which might cure the problem. What is the best course of action?
Geely has been given the red stamp of approval to go forth and buy Ford’s Volvo, Gasgoo reports. The permit was issued by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which has to approve foreign acquisitions exceeding $100 million. Gasgoo says that Geely is “the only Chinese automaker that has won official confirmation on such deals.” A thinly veiled hint that the Hummer deal is still up in the air. Changan, Ford’s joint venture partner for Volvo in China, said it would not run for Volvo “because of unspecified conditions,” Gasgoo says. How much money will change hands?
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