Someone parks two cars near you. The first? A sports car. It could be a Porsche 911 C4 Cab, a Ferrari F430, or a Z06 ‘Vette. Something special. Expensive. Exotic. The other car is an oldie. Let’s say a 1976 Toyota Celica or a 1984 Volvo 240 wagon. Which one would interest you?
Brad writes:
Some years ago in an effort to quiet hydraulic lifters, I ran a quart of ATF in my Isuzu Trooper for 500 miles before I changed the oil. ATF supposedly has a bunch of detergents and this would clean out all the oil passages. I can tell you, the drained oil was the blackest I’d ever seen come out of one of my cars. It also seemed to help with the valve clatter, but didn’t completely cure it.
So here is my question . . . I’m getting close to an oil change in my 1988 911 Carrera, I was thinking of doing the same thing to it, to really clean out the engine. What do you think?
TTAC commenter j_slez has worked his magic again, this time on our new Ford monthly sales data. Hit the jump for a comparison with GM and Toyota.
In prepared testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee, Car Czarlet Ron Bloom revealed that the government would no longer back GM and Chrysler warranties. “With the successful emergence of the new companies, consumers can now feel assured that the companies have the financial wherewithal to meet their warranty commitments on a continuing basis,” Bloom said. The $641 million spent by the government on the warranty program has been returned to the Treasury with interest, reveals Bloom. “This achievement represented a prudent short-term use of taxpayer funds,” was his conclusion. GM spokesfolks tell Automotive News [sub] that The General never even tapped the fund, while Chrysler reps are mum on the subject.
In between long stints behind the keyboard and the wheel of an Audi, I’ve been reading Robert Lacey’s epic Ford: The Men and the Machine
Ford got a whole lotta love around here yesterday for agreeing to hook up TTAC’s staff with better press fleet access. Though the move shows that Ford is more willing to face the truth than its Detroit competition, the announcement generated perhaps a bit more optimism about the firm’s fortunes than the data warrants. One commenter got so carried away by the good vibes that he opined “the Ford brand pretty much has a good car in every segment there is, with the exception of the minivan.” Not quite. Let’s turn to our XLS spreadsheets of Ford monthly sales since 2003, shall we? [Thanks to bumpy ii for the spreadsheet]
Old GM’s marketing maven is New GM Sales and Service Supremo. Of course, Mark LaNeve held those latter two responsibilities before GM nosedived into bankruptcy. In fact, you could say that LaNeve’s administration of the sales and service elements of his tripartite position helped push GM’s corporate yoke into its maximum forward position. (I couldn’t possibly comment.) LaNeve should take some comfort in the fact that A) he still has a job, despite CEO Fritz Henderson’s dark hints about a sudden shiv in the shower; B) LaNeve still has a high paying job; C) his marketing remit has been filled by Bob Lutz, the only man on planet earth capable of making GM’s taxpayer-fronting taskmasters wish they’d stuck with LaNeve; and D) LaNeve gets a new business card! Automotive News [AN, sub]: “A GM spokesman said an official title remains to be created.” Suggestion box below. Meanwhile . . .
joemoc1 writes:
Should Hollywood decide to remake of Bullitt, who would play Frank Bullitt, and should they still still use a Mustang? A Bullitt Mustang? And would the bad guys still drive a black Dodge Charger?
Red light cameras have come under fire recently for focusing on vehicles that make right turns on red, a maneuver that is rarely responsible for causing an accident. But even cities that do not issue many right turn tickets focus on another type of violation that is not dangerous. According to data obtained from the city of Fullerton, California, tickets mailed to the owners of vehicles entering a through intersection less than a second after the light turned red added up to nearly $1 million last year. These technical violations rarely cause accidents. A 2004 Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) study showed that right angle accidents—the type caused by straight-through violations of red signals at intersections—do not happen until an average of nine seconds after the signal had changed from yellow to red (view study).
Darwin S. writes:
I have a 1999 Buick Century that now needs constant water. It happens pretty slowly. I recently drained all the water and refilled with water and antifreeze. It doesn’t appear to be leaking anywhere. What’s happening? Thanks.
Vijay Ravindran at the WaPo’s Achenblog details his own descent into Camaro buying hell:
“I wanted a Chevy Camaro.
I’d never really liked American sports cars before. But the 2010 Camaro — a revival Chevrolet has been talking up since 2006 — is so much more sleek than your typical muscle car. And since my BMW 330 started showing its age (nine) around the same time that the death of the U.S. auto industry hit the headlines, I thought: Why not do a little something to help?”
An Automotive News [sub] piece on Toyota’s efforts to rethink its North American manufacturing strategy reveals Toyota NA President Yoshimi Inaba’s potential willingness to apply for US retooling loans. Though Inaba states that the Obama administration would not play a “material” role in Toyota’s return to profitability, he refused to rule out applying for Department of Energy retooling loans. Nissan has already secured $1.6b worth of the so-called “136 loans,” and is moving away from its current strategy of sourcing hybrid components from Toyota, according to Reuters. And whether it takes money from the government or not, Toyota is sounding the same PR notes as its recently-rescued competitors. “Our sense has been always that we listen to the market, we listen to customers, we listen to the dealer. That element is a little bit lost,” admits Inaba in the WSJ. Inaba also concedes that Ford is better positioned to exploit GM and Chrysler’s bankruptcy-bailouts, adding that “we certainly want a good chunk of it. As the dust settles down a little bit we would also like to go after any incremental volume.”
“With this new brand manifesto campaign, we set out to reintroduce Scion to young, urban consumers by reinforcing the company’s unique position as an authentic brand that is all about creativity and individuality.”
Simon Needham of of Attik, creator of Scion’s new “Brand Manifesto” campaign. Which makes Scion look like that drunk guy at the party who’s met you three times but doesn’t remember. Just play along. Oh, you’re into big wheels and bodykits? How interesting. “Become one of us by becoming none of us?” How individual. On the other hand, at least Scion’s repetition is better than those NSFW hamsters.
Is it beginning to seem like we’re stuck in a 1971 time warp? Sorry, if that era is a bit painful for some of you. True confessions: I don’t like writing when it’s nice outside. And it’s glorious here in the summer. I wrote this six-car comparison back when it was still rainy and gray. So I’m “on vacation”, and you’re stuck in the early seventies for three more weeks. But for you dear CC readers, I offer this faint hope: If I’m inspired, or if writers start getting paid again (god forbid), I might increase the Curbside Classics once the weather turns crappy in the fall.How often would you like to see a fresh old moldy car?
Oh, and if you already know this week’s car from the results of the C/D test, please don’t spoil it for the others still hanging in deep suspense. Thanks!
As Robert posted below, TTAC is redoubling its efforts to get timely road tests by reaching out to the very manufacturers we lay into on a daily basis. But why, you might ask, would these giant firms feed the mouth that bites them?
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