Posted on 6/4/2014
DETROIT (Bloomberg) — BMW’s M235i high-performance car has secured the German automaker its highest-ever score from Consumer Reports, beating the costlier Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette in road test reviews. The M235i, which earned 98 out of a possible 100 points, scored better that the discontinued BMW 135i, making it BMW’s highest-rated vehicle of all time. As tested, the M235i had a price tag of $50,400, or about $60,000 less than the Porsche 911 Carrera S from Volkswagen AG, which received a score of 95. The BMW is $23,000 cheaper than General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Corvette Stingray LT3, which scored a 92. The M235i has a “classic BMW mold” and offers “tenacious cornering” on the track, while embracing the company’s recent focus on comfort and luxury, Consumer Reports said. “This really is a totally dual-purpose car,” Jon Linkov, Consumer Reports deputy cars editor, said in an interview. “This is a car you could drive to work e ... read more
Posted on 5/21/2014
DETROIT – In a continuing effort to quickly address emerging safety issues, General Motors announced today it is recalling about 2.42 million vehicles in four separate U.S. recalls. The recalls are for: 1,339,355 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia medium crossovers from the 2009-2014 model years and Saturn Outlooks from 2009-2010 because front safety lap belt cables can fatigue and separate over time. In a crash, a separated cable could increase the risk of injury to front seat passengers. 1,074,932 of the previous generation 4-speed automatic transmission Chevrolet Malibu from the 2004-2008 model years and Pontiac G6 from the 2005-2008 model years because of a shift cable that could wear out over time, resulting in mismatches of the gear position indicated by the shift lever. 1,402 Cadillac Escalades and Escalade ESVs from the 2015 model year because an insufficiently heated plastic weld that attaches the passenger side a ... read more
Posted on 5/16/2014
If you think winter weather is hard on you and your family, just imagine the toll it takes on your car each and every day. After months of traveling through snow, sand and salt, you may not even be able to remember what color your car is, let alone what it feels like to have it look all shiny and clean. When the weather warms up it’s time to give your car a fresh, clean look, and while you’re at it, make sure the winter months didn’t do any internal damage that may cost you a lot of money to fix later on. Packing your car with an emergency winter weather kit is a great idea, but once the snow is gone the kit should go too. Don’t clutter your car with an extra snow shovel, ice scraper, sandbags and whatever else you certainly won’t need now that the weather is more hospitable. This will not only free up space, but will also get you better gas mileage if you’re not toting around unnecessary items. As long as you’re de-cluttering your vehicle, now i ... read more
Posted on 5/5/2014
Once the lenders decide that they need their vehicles back, here is how they do it. Keep in mind that many dealers install GPS tracking devices on their vehicles. But the newer devices can do more than just find the vehicle in mind. They can turn off the vehicle remotely or disable it. Since they do not want to do that when the vehicle is in the garage or on private fenced area, they wait till the vehicle is in an area that can be reached to tow away! They often send a spotter to see if the vehicle is in a good location for towing before they disable it with a click of a button! If a co-signer was used but the owner wants to keep it hidden, the co-signer might want to return it to clear his credit name. This conflict of interest often causes the co-signer to act like the spotter to have the vehicle returned back safely! The device attached may also allow the dealers to track customers for several days every half hour if they need to know where the customer ... read more
Posted on 4/26/2014
Have you ever been out driving on the road without a care in the world and suddenly your car starts to make a funny noise? While you turn down the radio so you can hear the sound clearly, do you start to think about all of the things that could be wrong with your vehicle? Maybe you start thinking about the last time you took your vehicle in for repairs. No matter what you start to think about during that time, one thing you can’t ignore is the fact that your car needs to go to an auto repair facility. Instead of taking any chances on the problem getting worse, you need to contact your Eurotech and find out when is a good time for you to bring your vehicle in for service. The longer you drive around ignoring the issue, the larger your repair bill will be. If you don’t have a good auto repair facility that you can take your car in too, it is time for you to start looking for one. Any auto shop that you decide to take your vehicle to needs to be run and managed by ... read more
Posted on 4/21/2014
People need to use a vehicle for travelling in their day to day lives. In today’s world, cars are no longer considered an element of luxury. Instead, they have become people’s necessity in the 21st century. Even though every individual would love to own a car, not everyone can afford buying the vehicle of their choice. Most of the newly made cars found in the market are very expensive and they may be out of reach for many people. If you are someone who wants to purchase a vehicle and is low on budget, you can look for cheap cars for sale. Here are a few tips which will help you in finding cheap cars for sale: 1) Approach your local garage – the local garages not only repair vehicles, they also buy and sell them on a regular basis. At times, they sell used vehicles, which are in good condition, at very low prices. Hence, you need to directly approach them and find out they could offer you with a car of your choice, which will be affordable and meet a ... read more
Posted on 4/7/2014
General Motors is about to start repairs on the 2.6 million vehicles at the center of the controversial recall tied to at least 13 deaths. Starting Monday, owners of six GM models can bring their vehicles to a dealer to have the ignition switch replaced. The automaker said customers should make appointments at dealerships and that more replacement parts in the massive recall would be available “as time goes on.” The faulty ignition switches can be bumped — say, by a knee or the jostling from a pothole — and the vehicle can switch off while on the road, disabling power steering, power braking and the airbags. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), which announced the recall two months ago, said it learned of problems with the ignition switch as early as 2004. Federal investigators, Congress and attorneys representing GM owners are asking why the company didn’t issue a recall years ago. GM CEO Mary Barra apologized and toldcongressional panels ... read more
Posted on 3/19/2014
Drivers fed up with forking over a small ransom to fuel their cars at the gas pump, combined with ethical and environmental concerns regarding societal dependence on the oil industry, are increasingly opting for hybrid cars. These vehicles feature a small fuel-efficient gas engine combined with an electric motor that assists the engine while accelerating. The motor is powered by batteries that automatically recharge as you drive, giving 20 or 30 miles more per gallon than a standard automobile. As fuel efficiency is a top priority for many consumers, industry experts believe that the hybrid vehicle may be at a tipping point, on the verge of mainstream acceptance. Industry Evolution Since the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle was introduced in Japan by Toyota in 1997, there has been a steady rise in awareness and acceptance of this techno ... read more
Posted on 3/12/2014
There are more electronics, more communications gear, more safety features and more power—as well as more efficient power—coming. Here’s a look at what’s hot and trendy on showroom floors and at auto shows: Electronics Everywhere Cadillac’s 2004 SRX crossover sport utility has drive-by-wire throttle control, which means there’s no mechanical link between the accelerator pedal a driver touches and the throttle for the SRX’s engine. Instead, electronics tell the throttle what the driver wants and help the engine respond. In BMW’s 2004 X3, the xDrive all-wheel-drive and traction system is controlled by electronics that monitor things a driver can’t: the rotational speed of each wheel, and the vehicle’s yaw and lateral acceleration. It also looks at the steering angle the driver has set and whether the brake pedal has been pushed. All are factored in by the electronics as it determines where, among the four wheels, to transmit torque while ... read more