For the last 31 years Ford’s F-Series has held its place as the nation’s no. 1 truck seller, but 2009 is bringing bigger challenges to Ford’s position as no. 1 truck seller. Companies like Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota and Nissan are all trying their hardest to knock Ford out of its position.

Improvements in the area horsepower, interior and fuel efficiency are making 2009 competition all the more challenging. Each manufacturer has unique features that make their particular truck special.

With gas reaching close to $4 a gallon, fuel efficiency is something that ways heavily on most people’s minds. Dodge has taken advantage of these concerns and created the new 2009 Dodge Ram that is 4% more fuel-efficient. (more…)

We all want a safer car, one that we are less likely to get hurt in. Car manufactures are giving people just what they want, safer cars. And they are going to great lengths to do so. We hear about new features all the time, bizarre placement of airbags and manufactured crumple zones.

All these features work with one common goal, to make the road less likely to hurt you, but Volvo is trying to go above and beyond. Volvo is currently working on car that will guaranty that you walk away from the crash. (more…)

With Gas prices at an all time high, the thought on many people’s minds is “what car will give the best gas mileage?” That however, is not the subject that is going to be discussed in this entry. We are going to the opposite end of the spectrum; we are going to talk about what cars get the worst gas mileage.

The Audi S4 Avant makes the list with 21 miles to the gallon on the highway and 14 in the city. That totals out at to $3,352 a year for gas. (The 15,000 miles a year, 55% in the city and 45% on the highway is based off of the EPA’s estimations).

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I thought this was an interesting story (probably because I own one). Isuzu Motors has announced that it will no longer distribute new Isuzu passenger vehicles in North America. They site the reason to be because General Motors will no longer be producing one of Isuzu’s line of SUV’s and two of their pickups. I assume that they have made that distinction of only discontinuing their passenger vehicles because they also make a low cab forward truck, which it would appear they would continue to sell here.

Personally I own an Isuzu Amigo, which I think is a great little SUV. So, it’s good to note (more…)

When we think of issues at the DMV, we think of long lines and hours of waiting. What many people don’t know of is the many other problems that DMV is part of, problems that they are less than happy to share with us.

Many of these problems are issues we hear of daily, but never link them to the DMV as part of the problem. Such as, how easy it is for a con to get away with Car and Identity theft through the DMV. (more…)

Are you at risk? Wednesday, Toyota issued a recall on all Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 350 all weather floor mats because they are potential safety issue. (more…)

Teen’s are at the highest risk one it comes to driving. Car accidents are the number one cause of death for people 15-20 years. In the last fifteen years there have been many advancements in the quality of safety features in new cars. (more…)

In Southern California and Ontario, Canada local law enforcement have taken punishment for street racing to the next level. The cars of those found participating in illegal street racing are literally crushed until tires burst and windows shatter. What is the motive behind this seeming cruel penalty? (more…)

According to a report from Managing Automation, robots are now feeling the pinch from “a persistent slump in domestic automobile sales”. The drop in robot sales in 2006 (49% decrease) followed a large increase from the year before.

Even with the decrease in automotive application sales, robot production is a booming business with 10, 338 units sold in the first 9 months of 2006 valued a $740.1 million.

Senior analyst at ARC Advisory Group stated  “ I don’t see things turning around among the Big Three anytime soon”. Thanks to retooling efforts of European car makers, and new plants being built stateside by European, Japanese and Korean automakers many robots are still finding a job.

Buy a car, Save a robot its Job!!

Imagine buying a newer used car for a family member, checking that it has all of the latest safety features, and when it really counts finding out that someone had fake airbags put in the car after an accident.

Yes, another thing to check for when buying a used car. And another reason to only buy from reputable dealers. Hard to believe, but at this point it seems it is actually legal to manufacture fake covers to put when the air bag should be. Although Connecticut’s Attorney General has proposed legislation for the state to outlaw the sale and installation of replacement covers without bags and some other state already have this in place, this is still a risk.

One manufacturer of these air bag covers admits selling more 4,600 of the counterfeits in 1999 and 2000.

How do you know if the car you are looking at has a fake air bag? (more…)