This is not a question about mechanical malfunctions exactly, but more about the avoidance thereof. I’d like you to give us your advice on engine cleaning. Clearly, it’s not a matter of putting a baggie over the carburetor and sticking a hose in there anymore!
The engine in my ’03 Town Car is looking dingy, but I don’t want to do anything prejudicial to the, I guess, thousand or so computers under there. I’ve noticed that practically all the shops in my area that used to advertise steam cleaning have quit on it, so that makes me think even the pros find this tricky nowadays. What do you think?
Ford applied for $11 billion dollars from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program (ATVMP). It received $5.9 billion, payable over 25 years. They are applying for another $5.1 billion. The mainstream media meme—that The Blue Oval Boyz are “pure” capitalists untainted by the stink of federal handouts—is bunk. Lest we forget, the DOE loans were the original bailout: a thinly disguised attempt to channel funds to the domestics. The money pays for retooling that the recipients would otherwise have to fund—freeing those funds for other purposes. Keep the lights on kinda stuff. When the “viability” requirement made the DOE loan a moot point for Chrysler and GM, THEN they headed off for “bridge loans.” Which became an investment in shares or, in Chrysler’s case, a partial write-off. Oops! Question: does anyone believe the DOE loans will help ensure that Americans drive more fuel-efficient vehicles? Anyway, Ford is on the take. Period.
Ford Explorer Sport Trac went into production in 2000 and will be leaving us next year, reports Automotive News [sub]. But what, you might ask, will happen to the “torn between Explorer and Ranger” market segment? Will they have to choose?
Old GM ran afoul of the requirements for the original bailout ($25 billion worth of Department of Energy retooling loans). Something about a DOE requirement that the recipients be running a viable business. Now that it’s emerged from bankruptcy with taxpayer assistance, “New GM” wants . . . taxpayer assistance. In fact, it doesn’t just want the money. It’s counting on it. According to The Wall Street Journal, GM Treasurer Walter Borst told a congressional oversight panel that securing $10 billion in no-to-low interest, twenty-five year DOE retooling loans was “a component of GM’s shorter-term liquidity assumptions.” C’mon. Really? “He pointed to those funds as one of the sources of liquidity GM is factoring into its plans in order to meet its capital requirements in the future.” Later, Borst decided to added [what he thought was] a suitable qualifier: “We’re not dependent on them.” Join us next time, for other phrases that you might hear from a drug addict.
From WIFR, on the occasion of the reopening of Chrysler’s Belvidere (Illinois) factory. Belvidere is the birthplace of the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass—all winners of TTAC’s Ten Worst award.
“The whole economy’s gonna pick up, once everybody’s back to work and starts making money they’ll be spending money and they’re talking about some overtime and stuff like that so they’re talking about good things ahead. So everybody’s optomistic [sic] and looking forward to the future,” says Belvidere Chrysler worker Ray Battistini.
Even frugal cars need to be desirable. Most electric vehicles are anything but. Right now, EVs are slow, ugly, cheap, and not good to drive. In contrast, the Tazzari Zero from Imola, Italy, wants to be a “wanna have”: great to drive, good to sit in and easy on the eyes. Here’s the data: cast-aluminum, glued frame, central motor, RWD, low center of gravity, Li-Ion Fe batteries. A two-seater that is a bit longer, but lower than a Smart. Weighing just 545 kg (1202 lb), 150 N·m of torque and 15 kW engine power would seem to go a long way. The top speed is 56 mph and it has a range of 88 miles. Gorgeous looks (if you ask me), with a dose of NSU TT attain the right balance of aggressive and cute.
Toyota has been remarkably upfront about its struggles with “Big Company Syndrome.” The fate of Toyota’s predecessor as the world’s largest automaker is an unavoidable example of what awaits giant manufacturers that lose their focus. And yet, as Toyota has replaced GM as the big daddy of car building, it keeps making eerily familiar mistakes. And its no surprise that Toyota’s challenges tend to center around marketing and brand management (hello, Scion). Toyota’s brand is a by-product of its obsession with manufacturing, rather than an independently developed, carefully-maintained image. The trademark Toyota brand qualities of quality and reliability are built on dedication and reputation, not the modern-day alchemy of marketing, sales strategies and brand-pushing. So why is Toyota telling Automotive News [sub] that it’s creating a wholly-owned subsidiary to coordinate global marketing and advertising? And why is Akio Toyoda going to be running the new marketing realm?
The list of CAFE violators (in PDF form) reads like a valet’s to-do list: Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati. These firms pay CAFE fines because, well, they can. CAFE fines are calculated by multiplying each tenth of a mile per gallon of average non-compliance by $5.50, then multiplying that dollar amount by the number of vehicles sold. As a result, luxury firms pay the highest fines when they try to go mass market: Merecedes paid about $30 million for 2007. But if CAFE is already weighted to let small companies off the hook, why are we hearing about new rules which seem to relax standards for firms selling fewer than 400k vehicles per term? Aren’t the regular loopholes enough?
Yoga teacher and ForbesAutos refugee Matthew De Paula has brought his zen insights and love of top ten lists to MSN Autos. Given the popularity of the genre (which we now usurp in the name of truth, justice and the American way), Bill Gates’ Boyz must be happy enough with the result—although Matt makes a few choices that will surely give pistonheads pause. We report, you deride. Well, we do too, but I’m sure you catch my drift.
1. Ford Fusion — I’m not saying De Paula is a Detroit apologist, but if ever a qualifier seemed po-faced, well, here it is: “The Ford Fusion doesn’t just hold its own against competitors, it beats them in some ways: The least expensive 4-cylinder Fusion is as fuel efficient on the highway (34 mpg) as the pricier Toyota Camry hybrid.” And that’s it: the only way mentioned. Oh wait. “The updated 2010 Fusion uses higher-quality materials, has better fit and finish, and a quieter ride than the model it replaces.” Don’t you just love it when relative excellence means relative to itself? Me neither.
The good old days of 2007. A time when I could visit a parts store and walk away with hundreds of dollars in free stuff. I remember O’Reillys giving me 24 quarts of synthetic oil for about $8.00 in taxes. Advance Auto Parts seemed to have access to every cheap Chinese tool set ever made with mail-in coupon in tow. As for Autozone? They gave me 12 free batteries when I established a commercial account there. I used them all that winter and made money on the cores. Ahh, those were good times! They’re no more. But you can still pick up a good deal here and there.
Despite TTAC’s GM Death Watch and Chrysler Suicide Watch, the MSM was asleep at the wheel during the domestics’ dissolution. Now that New Chrysler and New GM have appeared, like sin from Satan’s head, the MSM is . . . asleep at the wheel (obscure reference of the day: “miles and miles of taxes”). That said, U.S. News and World Report has this Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) thing wired. The magazine commissioned the Ethisphere Institute to consult its weekly TARP index to calculate the odds that We The People will see our $700 billion (that’s billion folks) “investment” again. The bottom line: the Institute says anyone who thinks we’ll get out bailout bucks back from Chrysler, GM and GMAC should be committed. Make the jump for the run down on the troika of former auto industry stars disappearing your tax money down a TARP-shaped black hole.
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