By Kevin Gordon

Please forgive the bad pun and the local news scare tactic headline. I couldn’t resist. As electronic control systems and wireless communications technologies proliferate in automobiles, so will the opportunities to exploit them. As a result, expect this topic to become topical and for ratings attracting headlines to make it to the front pages of your local newspaper. After the break, we step through some of the information about what has been done to date, what might be possible, and determine if there is actually anything to fear. Continue Reading

By Chris Haak

Ah yes, the “good old days.” Remember when cars had names like Comet, Monterey, Nova, Tempest, Metropolitan, and Zephyr? Though there is more diversity in the auto market today than there has been in decades (though no longer thousands of boutique automakers in the US as there were in the early days of the industry), vehicle names that are actual words found in the dictionary are becoming more scarce. That is not news. Some automakers, though not all, have decided that rather than building better, more sophisticated cars, they might just trick the buying public into believing that a DTS is more upscale than a Deville, that an MKZ is more contemporary than a Zephyr, or that a G6 outshines a Grand Am. Again, this is all old news. Today I’m more concerned about model names that once described engine displacement. If you read on, I have some solutions too.

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 By Kevin Miller 

I don’t know why it had to be Saab that caught my eye in the late 1980s and made me a fan – and driver- for life. I wrote about it once upon a time for Autosavant, that post is linked here. Whatever the reason, I’ve been caught up in my favorite brand’s gut-wrenching decline for two years. Even in December 2009, I had practically written my favorite brand’s eulogy. Although the Swedish brand’s fate was delayed for two years, it now, unfortunately, seems to be for real. Continue Reading

By James Wong

Perhaps in unfortunate coincidence, while writing this article, news spread like wildfire across London over Westminster council’s new plan to scrap free parking on single yellow lines on weekday evenings and weekends. Yet another knot has been tied around the driver’s neck, reducing what is essentially the only reason for driving in London to a potentially profitable venture of the authorities to, as they say, reduce congestion.

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By Chris Haak

There is more than a little chatter over the past week or two in the autoblogosphere about the Chevy Volt.  Normally, in these media frenzied times, that would be good news for GM’s environmental halo vehicle, but perhaps there *is* a such thing as bad publicity.

You see, the Volt seems to have a bit of a problem with catching fire following crash tests.

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By Chris Haak

According to hot-off-the-press research by J.D. Power and Associates, customers that their firm surveyed reported 351 problems per 100 vehicles with their factory-installed navigation systems.  Put another way, every customer that Power surveyed had 3.5 problems with their navigation system.  Considering that typical “problem” rates in the J.D. Power survey are close to one problem per car, this is a serious outlier and one that automakers need to investigate.

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By Charles Krome

To say the all-new 2012 VW Passat is having a successful launch could be the understatement of the year: Volkswagen’s all-American mid-size sedan reaped a tidy 986.2 percent increase in sales last month, and although that’s partially because VW only sold 464 of them in October 2010, the bottom line here—5,040 deliveries—is a fairly strong achievement. To put that into context, that total is higher than the October sales for cars like the Ford Mustang, Hyundai Accent or Nissan Maxima. Then, just a few days ago, the new Passat added to the sales excitement by being named Motor Trend 2012 Car of the Year.

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By Kevin Miller

I can’t find the car I want anywhere.  At least, not anywhere here in the US. I’ve long been a driver of useful, involving cars – the kind of cars with which I felt a bond, as owning each of them made life somehow more enjoyable. My two black Saab 900 hatchbacks (a 1995 for 8 years/160k miles, and a 1992 project car) both were a lot more fun to drive than they should have been as naturally-aspirated, front-wheel-drive three-doors;  both had that certain Saab style that I somehow identified with. Too, my 2004 Volvo V70R was a useful family hauler, with all-wheel drive and a manual transmission to get me most anywhere and have fun doing it. I truly bonded with each of those stylish Swedes. Only when the monthly repairs on the Volvo approached the amount of my home mortgage did begrudgingly decide that it was time for the Volvo to go.

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By Brendan Moore

As you may have read, Saab’s slow death rattle was halted last Friday. Two small Chinese firms, Pang Da and Youngman, offered again to purchase Saab from the floundering Swedish Automobile, a company born from the ashes of the GM abandonment, Spyker’s purchase of Saab, and then, the subsequent divesture of the Spyker supercar part of the business. 

The time, Swedish Automobile said yes to the acquisition, staving off what would have been certain liquidation of Saab. So, it now looks like Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. will probably be the proud new owners of Saab, and all for the laughably low price of $142 million USD. 

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By Kevin Gordon

I have seen a large number of commercials recently for a new product from Progressive Insurance called Snapshot. Snapshot is a small device that you plug into the OBDII port of your car. Once plugged in, the Snapshot monitors your driving habits. Based on how carefully you drive you can qualify for up to a 30% discount on your auto insurance. Is this when we begin to slide down the slippery slope of allowing our driving habits to be remotely monitored 24/7? How much personal freedom are you willing to give up in order to save money on your insurance? Please read on and use the comments to debate whether this is the beginning of the end. Continue Reading