I know that everywhere you look on the internet, you find an article related to Toyota and their endless problems with their recalls for accelerator problems.  Well now the craziness is happening for Toyota concerning the “runaway Prius.”  I’ll quick give you the background.  Supposedly a man like in his 60’s was driving his 2008 Toyota Prius on the San Diego Freeway when all of a sudden the accelerator got stuck and he was going 94 mph and couldn’t stop.  He called 911 and then eventually put his foot on the brake and emergency brake simultaneously and the car stopped. No one was hurt.  The Prius has since been tested and supposedly there is nothing wrong with the gas pedal, brakes, or anything. Huh?  How can this be?

Toyota says in not so many words that the guy staged a hoax and that what he said did not happen.  Crazy!  People are nuts. I feel sorry for the guy if it really happened, and sure it could have, but it’s even crazier if he made it up.  Why do people do that?  It’s like the guy that built the balloon from Texas!  When you listen to this guy’s story though, I feel like he’s telling the truth.  I just can’t understand why you would make up a story especially when he and his wife have said they will not sue Toyota.  Why would you do it?  Maybe it’s true. If the accelerator really got stuck, then Toyota and all of the Toyota customers have some serious problems.  The Prius was not supposed to be one of the models that had the initial problems and the only recalls for the Prius were for floor mats.

What do you think?  Do you think that Toyota is making a crappy car these days?  I don’t know what to think.  I would hope not, but lots of information against them. Toyota was known for quality and I don’t think people are thinking that these days.  I hope either way that they get to the bottom of these accelerator problems and find out if the Prius owner is telling the truth.  I hope he is.

The new 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is an exciting new concept. It’s huge according to Frank Aukofer of Scripps Howard News Service.  This car will “be dubbed countless times as iconic or perhaps even legendary” says Aukofer.  The Mercedes-Benz is going back a half a century with the SLS AMG by bringing back the gull wing coupe.  This is a two-seater sports car that is “docile enough” to drive comfortably in heavy traffic. This is the perfect every day car for someone……with at least $200,000!!!

The gull wing doors have to be opened and closed manually. Mercedes-Benz thought about trying to have a power pull-down for the doors but this was nixed because it would have added weight.  There is a 6.3-liter V8 engine with 563 horsepower.  The SLS AMG goes from 0-60 mph in about 3.5 seconds.  There are also adjustable driving modes for street or race track.  The transmission is a seven-speed twin-clutch automated manual.  The gas mileage is decent for a sports car….13 mpg in the city and 20 on the highway.

So, if you are looking for an iconic car that will be great for show and can be driven daily to and from work, or wherever, then the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is probably right for you!  Start saving your pennies!

A lot of good stuff for some at the time but terrible when you like back happened in the 80’s. Horrible music, big hair, bad jeans, Miami Vice was awesome!  There were some great cars in the 80’s, and the good news is that you can still get some of these beauties!  Autoweek.com wrote an article about some 80’s favorites and their current prices according to Kelley Blue Book.  Of course even though autoweek included like 10 of these 80’s cars, tons of people commented on this article naming great 80’s vehicles that autoweek forget or didn’t include.  I’m going to just mention some of my favorites from that time and if you want to see more, check out the article.

1988-1989 BMW M3 - high price according to Kelley Blue Book $65,000 (for a car that’s 22 years old!) and the low price is $14,500 with the average being $24,417. It has a 2.3 liter 200 horsepower engine, which was big for that time.

1981-1989 Porsche 911 Turbo - high price $78,500, low $24,900, average $40,669

1987-1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am - high $22,900, low $4000, average $10,293. The 1987 Trans Am had a Tuned Port Injection V8 engine with only 210 horsepower.

1985-1989 Volkswagen GTI - high $5995, low $4100, average $4865 - My favorite!!!

The article is interesting and kindof cool to remind you of the different cars of the 80’s and the favorites for different people. Check it out.

This is a new interesting car.  It is built like a Honda Accord, looks a lot like a Honda Accord, but the Honda Accord Crosstour has nearly twice the cargo space and is a little higher off the ground.  What’s it’s not is a crossover vehicle. There is no third row seating, the cargo space cannot compete, and it’s not as versatile as a crossover.  Nonetheless, Honda and many others that have reviewed it feel as though people are going to like this car. The  Crosstour fits between the Honda CR-V and the Honda Pilot.  Everything about it rides feels like the Accord. It rides like it.  What a better marketing deal for Honda?  The Accord is known for reliability, quality, etc. Why not build a new car very similar, call it something different, and have people already feel comfortable with it because it’s just like an Accord.

Each Crosstour has a 3.5-liter i-VTEC, 271 horsepower V6 engine.  It costs between $27,800-$31,900.  The gas mileage isn’t great at 18 mpg city and 27 mpg highway or 17/25 if you get the all-wheel drive.  There is 51.3 cubic feet of cargo space with the back seats down, and 26 cubic feet with the back seats in place.

Now, it’s not the most attractive looking vehicle. Not as nice looking as the Accord, but the crossovers are not gorgeous either.  If you can get beyond the look (though it’s not awful by any stretch, just not the nicest looking car,) might be worth checking out.

www.mobilemag.com

The Honda 3R-C concept that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show is very different and quite bizarre looking if you ask me.  Let’s just start by saying it has three wheels. That’s weird in itself.  This is an electric vehicle with only 1 person (preferably a small one to fit in this little car.)  Supposedly it’s very safe. Doesn’t it look it????  The closer I look to the pictures of the Honda 3R-C, the crazier I think it is. I wonder what it will cost. There is a clear canopy on top to protect the driver from the bodywork and doors. By the way, why do you need more than 1 door?  It looks like it can’t possibly be comfortable for anyone.  I don’t know, I guess Hondahas done something write with this car, because people are talking about it. Good marketing strategy.  I just wonder if anyone will buy it, though there will be someone or two out there that will want the Honda 3R-C of their own. Good news for your guys that do…..I doubt they will be sold out, and there will be no competition from Centercaps.net for this beauty!

Wanna win $1 million???  Well, just figure out a cause and solution to the acceleration problem with Toyota vehicles.  It’s as simple as that.  Edmunds.com is launching a competition open to the public.  You don’t need to be a mechanic to enter. Just get to the cause and then explain it to them, and you are all set and $1 million richer.  Well seriously the details are still being worked out but that’s the jist of the competition. This could seriously help Toyota, since they really can’t figure out how to fix this problem themselves!

The new Ford Focus wagon will begin production later this year, and will be sold in Europe. The U.S. will probably not be getting any of these wagons. The interest in wagons here in the U.S. is not very strong, which is probably smart on Ford’s part. It might be a waste of money.

Surprisingly, the sales of Toyotas have not been as bad as you would have thought.  According to Kelley Blue Book, Toyota’s car values are down about 2 to 3 percent and won’t go below 10 percent.  There were steep drops in January right after the recalls were announced, but there haven’t been anymore drops and the prices are staying pretty resilient right now.  Good news for Toyota, now hopefully someone can win the edmunds.com competition and fix all of Toyotas problems!

Vehicles are much safer now. Five-star crash test ratings are extremely common, but of course there are ways that cars could be even safer. CNN reports that Mercedes-Benz has come up with a concept car the Mercedes-Benz ESF that is supposedly the safest car that could become a norm in the near future.  The ESF has several ideas of how cars can be safer.

The first idea is a “braking bag” under the car.  There are sensors under the car and when the sensors detect that a crash is about to happen, the bag inflates which pushes a metal plate down onto the road to slow the car and help reduce impact.  Sounds good to me.

Another safety idea is an air bag inside the a metal beam in the car door.  If there is side impact, the air bag will inflate pushing the beam outward to help take the impact.  Another good thought.

Lights that will use infrared night vision to detect people or animals in the road and then shine lights directly on them to try to prevent a crash/accident. Good idea but seems like a stretch.

During a side impact, the outside seat bolster will push the driver or passenger inward, away from the door.  The last future safety idea that is a part of the Mercedes-Benz ESF is the belt bag.  These are air bags within the seat belts that will help prevent injuries. Ford Motor Co. will be using the belt bag is all of their 2011 Ford Explorer and Mercedes-Benz expects that it will have the belt bags on its cars within 5 years.

Isn’t it amazing the technology that just keeps improving for vehicles?  It’s crazy. Every time you buy a car, there will be some big technological improvement within a year, and to have safety technology improved is great!

Aftermarket wheels are always a huge hit for vehicle gurus.  People love them.  There is a downside though.  Now that the technology in vehicles is so much better, it’s hard to just buy new, bigger wheels without causing your tire pressure system to go crazy.   I read an article where someone bought 19 inch wheels and tires, but then needed to buy 17 inch wheels to put snow tires on.  The cost of all of those wheels and tires is just the beginning of his problems.  Now, the tire pressure monitoring system cannot recognize all of these different tires.  So, now he has to buy new tire sensors for these tires.  It’s at least $50 a sensor. In some cases, you may want to be aftermarket sensors, because they will be cheaper.  So, now your tire upgrade is probably approaching $800-$1000. Yikes. This is where you really have to think about making changes to your vehicles.  The technology hurts you.  Everything costs more and you can’t not buy the new sensors. Low tire pressure can majorly screw up your car as well as be unsafe. Check into these things before you spend the money to buy the aftermarket wheels then you can enjoy your aftermarket wheels and tires!!!

Manual (stick shifts) transmissions are dying out.  Seriously dying out.  According to Ward’s Communications, 22.4% of cars sold in the U.S. in 1985 were manual transmissions, but in 2007 that number dropped to 7.7%.  Recently, aolautos.com checked their inventory of cars that are for sale and of the 4,391,747 vehicles only 241,560 or 5.5% came with a manual transmission.

Here’s some reasons for the shift (no pun intended) in the transmissions.  Years ago, manual transmissions had much better fuel economy.  Now automatic transmissions are much better gas wise, so it pretty even for fuel economy.  Also, stop and go traffic means more work for the driver of a manual transmission.  May be a pain especially if people are trying to talk on their cell phones, use their navigation systems, or text.  Also, because there are less manual transmissions around, teens are not learning to drive manual transmissions in driving school.  Therefore, these teens aren’t interested in buying manuals.  It’s a chain reaction, and if you ask me a sad one. My first car was a manual transmission.  I’d hate to see them go, as I’m sure others will as well.

John Brown is an editor of roadabletimes.com, which is a website for database of flying cars.  He predicts that flying cars will not longer be a fantasy but actually a reality within the next 5 years…”a practical everyday flying car.”  When you think about this it seems ridiculous to me. We are trying to get electric cars and hybrids to become everyday use in the next 5 years, let alone flying cars.  Well I saw pictures and little descriptions of these 6 flying cars on msnbc.com that have slight potential to become more than a concept, and some of definitely more believable that there is a chance than others.

First instance, there is one that is called a Skycar and it is like a dune-buggy car that has a huge propeller on the rear and then a parasail for when you want to fly.  This Skycar actually made a successful trip from London to Timbuktu, Mali recently.  The car goes from 0 to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds, that’s good!  It also can drive a top speed of 140 mph.  When it flies, it can go 100 mph at top speed and if the engines were to fail midflight (hopefully not!) you can glide to safety with the parasail.  Skycars are on sale for about $80,000 and will be on sale starting later this year.  The Skycar seems like a pretty legit flying car, but where will you fly it?  I don’t know if doesn’t seem that practical to me.  I guess maybe I’d need more information.  If our society is having a hard time considering hybrids and electric cars, will people really buy these flying cars?  Especially for that price?  We’ll see.