Time to check your frozen vegetable stash: bags of frozen corn sold as store private-label brands that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes have been recalled by the company that packaged it. Some of the corn was distributed to Save-A-Lot discount grocery stores and to Market Basket stores, but two of the brands were not exclusive to any one retailer. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Fiat Chrysler Offers $100 Gift Cards To Get Your Recalled Car Fixed Already
By 8.31.15
The federal government has fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million for its failure to address vehicle defects and active recalls, and perhaps they’ve concluded that customers will respond to a cash incentive, not a cash punishment. Taking a break from desperately hugging General Motors, today the automaker announced an offer: car owners get $100 if they bring their vehicle in for repair, and an extra $1,000 or $2,000 trade-in incentive to buy a new car instead. [More]
Uber Hires Security Researchers Who Hacked A Jeep To Protect Its Self-Driving Cars From Cyber Attacks
By 8.31.15
As technology advances and our cars become more and more autonomous, they are also opened up more and more to a new danger that didn’t used to exist on the roads — hack attacks. To protect that new technology and reassure future customers that riding in self-driving cars can be safe, Uber has hired the same two vehicle security researchers who managed to remotely hack a Jeep earlier this summer. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Wants To Hug GM So Tight They Merge
By 8.31.15
When you’re a multibillion-dollar company that’s been under heavy scrutiny from federal regulators and you’ve been turned down by several potential suitors in the last year, you don’t simply give up on a possible merger. Or at least that seems to be the case for Fiat Chrysler when it comes to the automaker’s unrequited love for General Motors. [More]
Cascadian Farms Recalls Frozen Green Beans From 2014 For Possible Listeria
By 8.27.15
We have really terrible news for anyone out there who was planning to make a turkey bacon and green bean sandwich on whole wheat or multi-grain bread, even though that has probably never been a sandwich that a real person would eat or make. All three of those foods have been recalled in the last few days, now including green beans from Cascadian Farm. [More]
Tesla Model S P85D Breaks Consumer Reports’ Ratings System
By 8.27.15 — Updated: 8.31.15
This story was first published by our sister publication Consumer Reports. [More]
Class-Action Lawsuit Claims 10 Automakers Hid Keyless Ignition Carbon Monoxide Dangers That Led To 13 Deaths
By 8.27.15
At least 13 people have died because 10 major automakers concealed the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than five million vehicles equipped with keyless ignitions, a new class-action lawsuit claims. [More]
Regulators Open Investigation Into Jeeps That Just Roll Away When Parked
By 8.26.15
When putting your vehicle in the “park” position, you probably have the expectation that your car won’t be moving. That’s apparently not the case for more than 400,000 Jeeps now under investigation by federal regulators because they have a tendency to simply roll away after being parked. [More]
Oscar Mayer Recalls 2 Million Pounds Of Turkey Bacon That May Spoil Before Its Time
By 8.26.15
Customers have been contacting Kraft Heinz Foods about something unfortunate: their packages of turkey bacon were going bad long before the posted expiration dates. The company investigated these complaints, and the investigation has culminated in more than 2 million pounds of bacon being recalled because it too might go bad. [More]
CarMax Plays “Used Car Recall Roulette” By Selling Potentially Dangerous Vehicles
By 8.25.15
During the height of recallopalooza 2014, a coalition of consumer advocacy groups raised concerns about CarMax, alleging that the nation’s largest used vehicle seller was misleading customers with claims of “Quality Certified” cars and “125+ point” inspections while not revealing that some cars had been recalled for safety issues that had not yet been repaired. More than a year later, a new report shows that CarMax is continuing this practice, which one legislator has dubbed “used car recall roulette.” [More]
Toyota Officially Testing Airbag Inflators From Takata Rivals
By 8.25.15
A week after it was reported that Toyota planned to buy 13 million airbag inflators from a rival of Takata in an attempt to reduce the risk associated with millions of recalled safety devices from the Japanese auto parts maker, the car manufacturer announced it will indeed be testing alternative replacement components. [More]
Car Dealerships Still Don’t Understand How Customer Surveys Should Work
By 8.24.15
For years now, we’ve shared stories of how the current system of car dealership surveys is unfair to everyone involved. If you’re in the market for a car or considering a career in car brand marketing, consider how something as simple as a customer service survey has devolved into bullying, pleading, and lies. [More]
9-Out-Of-10 GM Ignition Switch Compensation Claims Denied
By 8.24.15
The fund set up by General Motors to compensate victims of the carmaker’s long-ignored ignition switch defect ultimately acknowledged that GM was responsible for 124 deaths and 257 injuries, but these confirmed instances only represent a small portion of the thousands of claims rejected by the fund. [More]
Uber Testing Bus-Like Feature That Gives Passengers A Discount For Getting Picked Up Along “Smart Routes”
By 8.24.15
While some folks might prefer the privacy of their own car and driver, others are totally willing to share a ride in order to save a few bucks. Uber is testing a new feature for its UberPool option — which allows drivers to pick up multiple passengers along a common route — that works similar to bus routes. [More]
Apple Offers To Fix Cameras That Take Blurry Photos On Some iPhone 6 Plus Phones
By 8.24.15
Can’t take a photo on your iPhone 6 Plus that doesn’t come out blurry? You’re not alone: Apple says it’s recalling a select batch of the Plus phones to fix an issue with the iSight camera that can make even your best efforts come out wobbly. [More]
NHTSA Denies Second Petition To Open Investigation Into Unintended Acceleration Of Toyota Vehicles
By 8.21.15
For the second time this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would not open a probe into millions of Toyota vehicles regarding possible unintended acceleration. [More]
Toyota Reportedly Set To Buy 13 Million Airbag Inflators From Takata’s Rival
By 8.21.15
Automakers have struggled in recent months to get their hands on enough new parts to replace millions of defective Takata airbags. To make matters worse, the Japanese auto parts maker at the center of the massive safety issue has re-recalled hundreds of thousands of replacement parts in recent months because the devices could still harm drivers and their passengers upon deployment. To reduce these risks, Toyota is reportedly looking to purchase millions of new airbag inflators from a rival of Takata. [More]
Tesla, Airbnb Team Up To Create The “Ultimate Road Trip,” Provide Chargers For Rental Hosts’ Homes
By 8.21.15
What do electric cars and rental properties have in common? Not much, unless of course you live in California, drive a Tesla, and rent your abode on Airbnb, as the two companies recently announced a partnership to provide free charging stations to select hosts’ homes along the left coast. [More]
