Suzuki Dealership Network Shrinks, As Cars Become More Appealing
If you're shopping for a sporty, economical compact sedan, we'd recommend that you put the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi on your shopping list. But there's a potential snag: With Suzuki cutting its dealership base, you might find that you no longer have an outlet nearby.
Despite strong, almost unanimously positive reviews of the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi sedan—we call it "sophisticated, well designed, and a lot more fun to drive than most other four-cylinder mid-size sedans"—and some very noteworthy value claims, like the lowest-priced vehicle with all-wheel drive and a nav system (the 2010 Suzuki SX4), the brand hasn't found shoppers rushing into their local Suzuki dealership. Suzuki sales are down so far this year versus 2009.
Some of Suzuki's dealerships have in fact been selling just a few of the brand's vehicles per year.
Although most improved in this year's APEAL study from J.D. Power and Associates—indicating that its products, like the new 2010 Suzuki Kizashi, are appealing to shoppers—the brand ranked a distant last place in this year's Customer Service Index (CSI) study.
According to Automotive News, Suzuki offered buyout offers to 150 of its dealerships, through a program that ended in July, and about 50 accepted the offer, leaving the brand with about 300 stores remaining across the nation.
Suzuki is hoping that, by weeding out the poor-performers, the rest of the dealerships will have more of a chance of being more profitable, as the brand repositions its marketing for the U.S. and aims for a more upscale customer.
[Automotive News]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2007-2009 Mazda3, Mazda5 Recalled For Power-Steering Issue
Mazda is recalling 2007 through 2009 model-year Mazda3 and Mazda5 models for an issue with the power-steering system.
The recall follows an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), looking into power-steering system failures in the 2007-2009 Mazda3. Altogether, 33 complaints were received and three crashes were attributed to the issue.
The recall affects about 300,000 North American vehicles altogether, including some 2007 models, all 2008 models, and most 2009 models of the Mazda3 and Mazda5. A Mazda source told the publication that rust contamination in the vehicles' hydraulic steering system can cause the pump to overheat and shut down, sometimes temporarily. A service bulletin has already been out for more than a year.
"Should an issue occur with the power steering assist, the power steering malfunction warning light will illuminate, and the car will require more physical effort to steer," Mazda explained in a video available at its U.S. website. "But at no time is the vehicle undrivable."
Mazda emphasizes that if the power-steering fails, the vehicle will still track straight as normal, so the driver should proceed very carefully to a safe emergency pullout. Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes reiterated to TheCarConnection.com that if drivers experience the failure, "It just becomes much harder to steer the vehicle."
After a time, upon restart, the power steering might return and the vehicle might, at the customer's discretion, be driven cautiously directly to the dealership. However, Barnes says, if the issue has already occurred it's likely to again and drivers shouldn't assume that it was a one-time issue.
Through its dealerships, Mazda will be replacing the hydraulic lines and pumps of the affected steering systems.
Should owners have additional questions or concerns, they should call Mazda customer assistance at 800-222-5500.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Crash-Test Dummies Go To The Smithsonian
The crash-test dummies have taken up residence at the Smithsonian. No, not those Crash Test Dummies. You know—Vince and Larry, the guys who have been features in public service announcements going back to 1985.
It's become one of the most successful safety campaigns in U.S. history, so they rightly deserve a spot at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C.
From the mid-1980s through 1998, TV and radio spots as well as magazine ads featured a more slaptick approach, as well as a little comedy—with lines like "it's a great job...they may have to pry me away from it"--to help us understand the importance of buckling up and saving lives.
Altogether, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 84 percent of Americans now buckle up, and NHTSA administrator David Strickland, at a presentation, pointed to the Vince and Larry characters as "tremendously helpful in building public awareness of seat belt use."
Check out one of the classics below, and remember to buckle up this weekend.
[NHTSA]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Cadillac CTS, 2011 Infiniti M Earn ‘Top Safety Pick’ Status
If you're limiting your luxury sedan search only to the safest models on the market, you have two new options. The 2011 Cadillac CTS and the 2011 Infiniti M37 and M56 have joined the ranks of the safest vehicles on the market, garnering the much-vaunted Top Safety Pick status from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The Cadillac CTS sedan, one of our High Gear Media editorial staff favorites, has gone several years without major changes and has top 'good' results in frontal, side, and rear impact scores applying all the way back to 2008 models. And now it's passed the roof test with flying colors—with a strength-to-weight ratio of 4.12.
For these new roof tests, which the IIHS phased in this past year, the Institute measures protection in the event of a rollover by measuring how much constant pressure the roof will take in a designated area. To earn a 'good' rating, a vehicle's roof must be able to withstand four times its body weight.
The Infiniti M37 and M56 are completely redesigned for 2011. In the roof test, the new model achieved a comparable strength-to-weight ratio of 4.21. The predecessor to the M37 and M56, the 2010 Infiniti M35 and M45, hadn't done as well; it had achieved top 'good' ratings in frontal and side impact but earned a 'poor' rating in the IIHS seat-based rear-impact test.
In our full review of the 2011 Infiniti M, editorial director Marty Padgett points to the optional blind-spot and lane-departure systems, as well as the adaptive headlamps, that altogether help keep the driver from trouble. Otherwise, we like the new M's "super-sedan handling," rear-seat room, and gorgeous look inside and out, though we find the V-6 in the M37 a little coarse.
[IIHS]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
OnStar Data: Drivers Of GM Vehicles Seek Wal-Mart
The Onstar Turn-by-Turn Directions service that GM offers in nearly all of its vehicles is really cool. And with record navigation traffic in the summer travel season—with more than two million routes requested during July—it looks like the feature is catching on.
We just used the feature a couple of weeks ago in the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, in fact, when we made a few wrong turns and found ourselves without an old paper map, as well as without the optional in-dash navigation system.
While we could have gotten out our smartphones and turned to navigation apps, there was an even easier solution: We pressed the little blue OnStar button up on the rearview mirror, and almost instantly were connected to a U.S.-based operator, who in turn—after some polite chit-chat on our part—beamed our hotel destination to the car. Guidance was automatically activated, with clear directions in the middle of the gauge cluster prompting us for the next turn. And even when we made another wrong turn, it adapted its directions to get us there quickly.
OnStar used the occasion, of record usage, to look in its database of more than 13 million points of interest and found its most frequently programmed destinations. It's not surprising that the winners were all major chains, though retail stores—like Wal-Mart—won big over restaurants or gas stations.
Earlier this year, the navigation-service company TeleNav released some of its most popular search destinations. Wal-Mart—which coincidentally was also in the news today for raising its prices—was also at the top of that list, with Starbucks and Target also high-ranking destinations.
Here are OnStar's top 10 most-requested destinations for July:
1. Wal-Mart
2. Holiday Inn
3. Home Depot
4. Walgreens
5. Marriott
6. McDonald's
7. Bank of America
8. Starbucks
9. Target
10. Hampton Inn
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Nissan Juke Pricing Starts At $18,960
Today we have pricing details for one of the most exciting vehicles on the horizon, the all-new 2011 Nissan Juke. The compact five-door crossover with muscular styling and a small turbocharged four-cylinder engine will go on sale across the country this October priced from a very reasonable $18,960.
This gets you behind the wheel of the base Juke S model, which still comes with a handy CVT and economical front-wheel drive layout. In addition to the CVT, a conventional six-speed manual is also offered. The most fuel efficient model, however, is the front-wheel drive Juke equipped with the CVT; it registers a fuel economy of 27 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.
In total, the 2011 Juke is available in eight models, each powered by a standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder mill with direct injection and turbocharging technologies and rated at 188 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque.
If you opt for an all-wheel drive model, you get a powerful torque vectoring system that splits torque up to 50:50 between the front and rear wheels and can also split torque from side to side across the rear axle. When cornering, the system helps reduce understeer and enhance the vehicle's cornering feel.
Another new-to-Nissan technology debuting on Juke is the innovative Integrated Control (I-CON) system. It features a three-mode drive selector--Normal for everyday driving, Sport for a more intense performance feel and Eco for maximum efficiency, adjusting the throttle response, transmission and steering feel depending on which model is selected.
Other features include body-colored side mirrors, 17 inch wheels, 60/40-split fold seating (rear bench), six airbags, and a host of optional luxury amenities.
[Nissan]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Insurance Fraud Up Again: Inflated Bills, Staged Accidents Rampant
Smashed windshields, staged accidents, and suspicious fender-benders and vehicle fires might remain relatively common tactics for deceiving insurance companies—and might be more rampant in a down economy—but insurers are definitely catching on.
Last week, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released a questionable claims analysis for the first half of 2010 and found that overall, referrals of claims to law enforcement were up 18 percent from 2009 to 2010; and from 2008 to 2009 they'd already risen by 31 percent.
The only types of law enforcement referrals that were down in 2010 so far have been agent and adjuster fraud, as well as informant tips.
Criminals are clearly seeking creative ways to pad their coffers, at the expense of those who pay their premiums and use insurance only for honest accidents. Some crime rings involve deliberately damaging vehicle windshields and file a damage claim, then don't fully fix the windshield. Inflating towing or storage bills is another tactic.
Faked damage, questionable vehicle theft, and suspicious vehicle fires remained among the most frequently referred to law enforcement officials, while other reasons included agent or adjuster fraud, unperformed repairs, and inflated repairs.
Instances of inflated towing or storage bills went up a remarkable 92 percent. Questionable auto repair or auto-body claims were up 29 percent, and VIN manipulation was found up 22 percent.
So if faking a receipt for towing, or setting that vehicle you regret buying ablaze sounds like a good idea um it's not.
[National Insurance Crime Bureau]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Ford F-150: New EcoBoost V-6 Headlines Four New Engines
With its 2011 F-150, Ford [NYSE:F] is boosting fuel economy by up to 20 percent by going with a fuel-efficient, turbocharged gasoline V-6 as its mainstream engine in the lineup.
Once upon a time, the automaker would have been laughed out of any serious truck owner's stall. Turbos were peaky; they lagged in responsiveness; and they were finicky with maintenance needs—exactly what you don't want in a truck powertrain.
A turbo fit for a truck
But—thank modern electronic engine controls—that's all changed. Ford's latest 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 has been a huge success in the Flex crossover and Taurus SHO sedan, proving that a V-6 can feel every bit like a V-8 in power characteristics while feeling more like a V-6.
Ford hasn't specified exact power or fuel economy figures yet, but we've been told that the engine has been retuned for the F-150, taking advantage of the hoodspace that longitudinal mounting and the huge engine bay allows, as well as stronger truck transmissions, so it power might approach 400 horsepower, along with 400 pound-feet.
With last year's base 4.6-liter V-8 engine rated 15 mpg city, 19 highway in base 2WD form, that could put the EcoBoost F-150's fuel economy as high as 19 mpg city, 23 highway.
4 mpg could make a huge difference
And four miles per gallon makes a huge difference in annual fuel budgets—as well as for fossil fuel dependence and the environment when we're talking about a vehicle that Ford sells tens of thousands of per month.
But the EcoBoost won't be the base engine. The most affordable 2011 F-150 will come with the new Duratec 37 that's now made its debut on the 2011 Ford Mustang and will soon be introduced in the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. In the F-150, it will be rated at 300 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, and just as in the other applications it will have Ford's new Ti-VCT variable camshaft timing system.
Next up above the EcoBoost will be a new version of the Mustang GT's 5.0-liter 'Coyote' V-8, retuned here for truck duty and improved durability and making 360 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque.
At the top of the lineup is a 6.2-liter V-8, making 411 hp and 434 pound-feet of torque. Unlike the 5.0, this engine has a cast-iron block.
EcoBoost carries 11,300-pound tow rating
And here's the punchline: According to PickupTrucks.com, the new EcoBoost V-6 is rated for towing up to 11,300 pounds—the same as the mammoth 6.2-liter V-8. Base V-6 models can tow up to 6,100 pounds, and the 5.0-liter models will tow close to 10,000 pounds.
Gone entirely are the old four-speed automatic transmissions; it's six-speed automatics all the way, with the new 6R80 that's included in most of the lineup offering both a manual mode as well as a tow/haul mode.
[Ford Motor Co.; PickupTrucks.com]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
NHTSA: Toyota Electronics Have No ‘Sudden Acceleration’ Fault
So-called 'sudden acceleration' has a long and unfortunate history, almost destroying Audi sales in the mid-1980s after 60 Minutes accused the Audi 5000 of accelerating out of control at random.
Now, as previewed a few weeks ago, an NHTSA report finds no electronic cause for the phenomenon--and suggests that in the cases that involve Toyota vehicles fitted with event data recorders, or 'black boxes,' the accidents have been due to driver error.
Black boxes: No braking
Starting in 2007, various Toyota models have been fitted with black boxes that record a few seconds of the car's control inputs once an airbag has been deployed.
While this limits the number of accidents that can be analyzed, the results are still revealing. Of 58 data recorders analyzed by teams from both the NHTSA and Toyota, 35 showed that when the crash occurred, the brake pedal was not depressed at all.
Another 14 showed only partial braking, and 9 more indicated braking only just before the accident. The report said brakes were pressed and released, or both brake and accelerator were pressed together, in a handful of crashes.
Drivers may not actually know what pedal they're pressing during an emergy, explains Richard Schmidt, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In an article in The New York Times, Schmidt noted that "sudden acceleration is very often caused by drivers who press the gas pedal when they intend to press the brake."
Only a subset of crashes
A plaintiff-lawyers' group, on the other hand, scoffed at the notion that the report exonerated Toyota in any way. It noted two concerns with the data presented from the subset of cases that involved event data recorders.
First, the NHTSA report does not address many of the complaints that occurred in pre-2007 cars and, second, many of the crashes occurred at speeds too low to trigger the airbag, meaning no data was recorded.
While the report may help allay concerns of widespread software flaws in Toyotas, the company is still dealing with recalls stemming from two known issues that have contributed to a small number of cases not attributed to driver error.
Two known causes
Those are "sticky" accelerator pedals that may rust to the point where they don't return to idle, and fitting of unapproved or aftermarket floor mats that can wedge accelerator pedals to the floor if they shift out of position.
In the case of the sticky pedals, attributed to an unapproved materials substitution by a U.S. parts supplier, Toyota has recalled the affected vehicles and is replacing the accelerator mechanism.
As for the floor-mat problem--believed to be the cause of a horrific crash last year in which a California Highway Patrol officer and his family were killed when their Lexus crashed and burned after accelerating to high speed--Toyota is shortening accelerator pedals in the affected vehicles so they cannot be entrapped no matter what floor mats are fitted.
Almost 10 million recalled
In the last year, Toyota has recalled 9.4 million vehicles worldwide to fix these two issues, including 7.5 million in the U.S.
An NHTSA statement carefully notes that the agency has "drawn no conclusions about additional causes of unintended acceleration in Toyotas beyond the two defects already known: pedal entrapment and sticky pedals."
And the agency stressed it is continuing to investigate the accidents, as is Toyota itself. The agency and NASA are testing whether electromagnetic radiation may interfere with vehicle electronics, bombarding vehicles with EMR at a Chrysler test facility.
For more information on those causes and Toyota's responses, see our summary, Toyota And Lexus Recall: Everything You Need To Know, which provides full details on the two largest recalls in North America to address accelerator pedal issues.
[Automotive News (subscription required), Detroit News]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Auto Incentives Surged This Spring, But Affordability Fell Flat
This spring might have been the time of enticing incentives for some automakers—and record high incentives from Toyota—but in a snapshot of the market as a whole it doesn't look like they made vehicles any more affordable.
According to Comerica, the average vehicle took 23.6 weeks of median family income to purchase, over the second quarter of this year.
Although median family income went up slightly (about 2.4 percent), the average cost of a new car went up by $200 to $27,950.
While that figure might be higher than the average purchase price of $24,000 to $25,000 we've cited recently, the Comerica figure includes finance costs as part of the price.
Those average figures might have also been influenced by some unusual economic trends. Sales in the near-luxury and luxury segments surged, as those who could afford a vehicle took advantage of discounts and incentives, while sales continued to lag in the middle of the market as economic uncertainty persisted. Small-car sales, as well, continued to lag expectations.
The hidden story here buried under the medians and averages is that it's quite likely, for those few families who were shopping in the middle of the market—for a mid-size sedan like the 2010 Chevrolet Malibu or crossover like the 2010 Ford Flex, for instance—it has been the season for the very affordable vehicle.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
