If you want to find the websites for Ford, Chevy, or Dodge, you just add a “.com” to the name. But not so for Tesla, which had long been unable to acquire the user-friendly Tesla.com domain name. That’s finally changed, though no one is saying how. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
In Wake Of Additional Deaths, NHTSA Being Pushed To Reopen Jeep Investigation
By 2.19.16
Three years after Fiat Chrysler and federal regulators agreed to a recall to fix more than 1.56 million Jeep SUVs that could catch fire in the event of a rear-end crash, safety advocates are calling on the government to reopen an investigation into the alleged defect, claiming that an additional 11 fatalities, possibly more, have occurred since that recall was initiated. [More]
Traveler Complaints About Airlines Increased Nearly 30% Last Year
By 2.19.16
While airlines might not be leaping at the chance to tell customers how to file complaints about their service, that hasn’t stopped more travelers from sharing their tales of woe with the Department of Transportation. In fact, the number of complaints filed by beleaguered passengers increased by nearly 30% last year. [More]
Why Has My New Chevy Truck Been Sitting In A Toledo Rail Station For Two Months?
By 2.18.16
Turn on your TV and you’ll be inundated with ads for local auto dealers touting the immediate availability of your brand new car. And for many car buyers, once they’ve picked the vehicle they want, it’s not too long before they’re on the road in their new wheels. Of course, if you’re buying something the dealer doesn’t have in stock, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer. But one Consumerist reader wants to know why his new truck has been sitting in an Ohio rail yard for nearly two months. [More]
Toyota Recalls 2.8 Million RAV4 SUVs Because Seatbelts Shouldn’t Separate
By 2.18.16
The purpose of a seatbelt is to secure a person riding in a car to prevent injury in the event of an accident. But the safety devices may not work as intended in nearly three million Toyota SUVs now being recalled. [More]
Regulators Urged To Recall Every Vehicle Equipped With A Takata Airbag, But The Data Isn’t There Yet
By 2.17.16
A day after General Motors recalled nearly 200,000 of its previously discontinued Saturn and Saab vehicles as part of the ongoing Takata airbag defect debacle, federal regulators hinted that a complete recall of all vehicles with any airbag by the Japanese parts maker could happen, eventually. [More]
GM Adds Another 200,000 Saab And Saturn Vehicles To Takata Airbag Recall
By 2.16.16
General Motors has discontinued and sold its Saturn and Saab brands, respectively, but announced today that cars from both brands that date as far back as 2003 contain potentially explosive parts from Japanese part-maker Takata. The recall announced today includes a total of 180,000 vehicles in the United States and 20,000 in Canada. [More]
Report: Volkswagen Chief Executive Knew Of Diesel “Defeat Device” Investigation In 2014
By 2.15.16
At least some high-ranking executives at Volkswagen knew a year in advance about a probe into the carmaker’s diesel vehicles that eventually uncovered “defeat devices” that skirted federal emission standards, new internal documents reveal. [More]
Police: Woman Attacked Uber Car, Driver With Baseball Bat
By 2.15.16
When you make a living driving people around, you’re likely to run into a bad customer or two, from a driver being attacked by a passenger to a rider commandeering and then crashing the ride-hailing vehicle. A Chicago Uber driver experienced a not-so-great night on the town last week, when someone attacked him and his vehicle. [More]
Regulators Close Probe Into Kia Airbag System That Fails To Detect Children In The Front Seat
By 2.15.16
Five months after federal regulators opened a probe into airbag mats that fail to detect when a child is present in the front seat of certain Kia sedans, the agency announced it would close the investigation without seeking a recall of the affected vehicles. [More]
Volkswagen Begrudgingly Complied With Regulators’ Request For Takata Airbag Recall
By 2.12.16
Earlier this week, Volkswagen announced the recall of 840,000 Audi and VW-branded vehicles equipped with shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags. But according to documents recently posted by regulators, the already embattled carmaker resisted the safety initiative. [More]
Uber To Pay $28.5M To Settle Allegations It Misled Customers On Safety Practices
By 2.12.16
Ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to more than 25 million customers, and rename its so-called “safe ride fee” in order to settle a class-action lawsuit that the company misled consumers about its “industry leading” safety procedures. [More]
Ford Partners With Startup To Launch On-Demand Bus Service In Kansas City
By 2.11.16
Residents of Kansas City will have another option when it comes to tooling around town next month: Ford has partnered with Boston-based pop-up bus company, Bridj, to launch an on-demand bus service in the city.
[More]
Tesla Updates Self-Parking Software After Consumer Reports Raises Concerns
By 2.10.16
When Tesla announced last month that it would push out a software upgrade to allow Model S owners to park their electric car in a garage or perpendicular spaces without anyone behind the wheel, it was seen as yet another step toward a fully autonomous vehicle. That was until researchers found the new “Summon” mode contained a small safety issue. [More]
Regulators: Google’s Computers Can Be Considered Drivers In Autonomous Vehicles
By 2.10.16
Just a month after federal regulators took steps to ease restrictions for self-driving cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has let one tech company know that its artificial intelligence system could be considered an actual driver under federal law. [More]
DOT: Average U.S. Airfare At Lowest Price Since 2010
By 2.10.16
It’s not often that we get to use the word “cheap” along with “airfare,” but that’s the case today, after the U.S. Department of Transportation released its quarterly numbers, showing that the average price for an airline ticket in the third quarter of 2015 was the lowest it’s been in six years. [More]
UPDATE: VW, Audi & BMW Specify Vehicles Affected By Latest Takata Recall; Mercedes-Benz Recalls 840K Cars
By 2.10.16
UPDATE: Hours after announcing its first recall related to Takata’s shrapnel-shooting airbags, Volkswagen and Audi revealed just which cars were affected by the defect. [More]
GM Recalls 473K Trucks, SUVs Because Brake Pedals Shouldn’t Fail
By 2.9.16
Most of us take for granted that our car’s brake pedal will work properly when we go to use it. But for the owners of some General Motors trucks and SUVs, that may not be the case. [More]
