Electronics giant Best Buy has been watching as online retailers chip away at its market share and a growing number of customers use the store as a showroom for products they will ultimately buy online. But some at the company see a future in a product that isn’t as easy to sell over the internet: electric vehicles. [More]
ford
NHTSA Investigating 2.7 Million Ford F-150s For Potential Fuel Tank Problems
By 5.9.11
It’s been a bad spring for the Ford F-150 pickup truck brand. First, there was the recall of around 1.3 million vehicles for faulty airbags. Now comes news that NHTSA is investigating a problem with rusting fuel tank straps that could impact 2.7 million F-150 trucks. [More]
Ford Adds Another 1.2 Million Trucks To F-150 Airbag Recall
By 4.14.11
Remember when NHTSA suggested that Ford should recall 1.3 million F-150 trucks over airbag concerns? Probably not, because the car company only chose to recall around 150,000 of them. Well after further conversations with regulators, it appears that all those trucks Ford had originally decided didn’t merit a recall… they do now. [More]
Consumer Reports Announces Its Top Car Picks For 2011
By 2.28.11
Our test-happy kin at Consumer Reports have released their annual auto issue, which means it’s time for the magazine’s list of its top picks in 10 categories. [More]
Recalled Windstar Not Worth Fixing, Ford Wants To Buy It
By 2.24.11
Eric owns an elderly (model year 1999) Ford Windstar, and isn’t particularly interested in trading it in for a new car for financial reasons. Ford recently recalled hundreds of thousands of older Windstars, and Eric dutifully brought his car in for repair. Instead of a freshly safe car, he received an offer of $3,700 for his van. If he wanted to keep the van, he would need to sign a document absolving ford of any liability if anything goes wrong with the car. What would you do? [More]
Ford Recalls 150,000 F-150 Trucks Over Airbag Concerns
By 2.23.11
Denis Leary may shout about how crazy smart the engineers at Ford are in those irritating TV ads, but those engineers apparently weren’t smart enough to include an airbag that might not deploy without warning in the F-150 pickup. [More]
Toyota Allegedly Conspired To Keep Canadian Exports Out Of US — Get A Piece Of The Class Action
By 1.26.11
If you bought or leased a new car in the Toyota family from Jan 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003, you could get some cash in a new class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges a conspiracy between Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and the Canadian Automobile Dealer’s Association (CADA) to keep Canadian car exports out of the states and raise prices for American consumers. [More]
Ex-Ford Employee Admits Stealing Secrets Worth $50 Million
By 11.23.10
Espionage! A former Ford engineer charged with stealing trade secrets worth $50 million has pleaded guilty, and was apparently caught with the evidence on his laptop when he was arrested in Chicago in 2009. The man worked for Ford for 10 years before quitting the company to accept a position at a Ford competitor — Beijing Automotive. [More]
Don't Worry About The Economy, People Are Buying Pickup Trucks
By 11.18.10
Everything is going to be just cupcakes, at least judging by how pickup trucks are selling. [More]
Consumer Reports 2010 Car Reliability Survey: Who Makes The Best Cars?
By 10.26.10
Our gear-head bros at Consumer Reports have published the results of their Annual Auto Survey and there’s good news for General Motors, whose numbers showed considerable improvement. Still, no U.S.-based car makers were able to beat out either Honda or Toyota for reliability. [More]
GM, Ford, Chrysler To Invest $2 Billion, Add Jobs, In Michigan
By 10.26.10
With the help of heaps of state tax credits, Michigan’s Big 3 car makers — Ford, GM and Chrysler — will be adding over 2,200 jobs and $2 billion to that state’s economy over the next few years. [More]
Geek Squad Gets Some Sweet New Wheels
By 9.3.10
Sick and tired of seeing Geek Squadders rolling in those tired old VW Beetles? Then you’re in luck. Ford says they just made a deal to deliver around 1,000 new vans for use by the Best Buy nerd herd. [More]
Ford Sends $50 Gift Card To Make Up For Delayed Fiesta
By 8.12.10
Leslie has been waiting for her Ford Fiesta for quite a while now. She’s been patient and not too sad, but was still delighted when the automaker sent her a letter apologizing for the delay, including a $50 Mastercard gift card. “Fifty dollars is no lottery win,” she writes, “but hey, it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick any day.” Very wise, Leslie. [More]
What Should I Do About The Stinky Oil Change From Hell?
By 6.14.10
Reader Chris got the oil change from hell from a Ford dealer and now doesn’t know what to do about his stinky car and wants your advice. [More]
Ford Shutters Mercury Brand; Octogenarians Everywhere Weep
By 6.2.10
In news that will impact the parking lots of retirement homes nationwide, Ford will announce today that they have decided to pull the plug on its Mercury brand of vehicles after 71 years of blandness. [More]
NHTSA Warns Of Possible Stuck Accelerators In 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Vehicles
By 6.1.10
Over the weekend, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it had opened a formal investigation to examine allegations of accelerator pedals in model year 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles “becoming trapped in the depressed position after the driver releases the pedal to decelerate.” [More]
Can You Trust Those Awards You See In Auto Ads?
By 5.10.10
If you pay attention to all the various automobile ads on TV, you’d probably notice that just about every make and model of vehicle has won some sort of award from some magazine, or that its been “rated highest in its class” by any number of organizations. But what many people don’t know is that these awards and thumbs-up ratings almost always cost the car companies a pretty penny. [More]
Walmart Regains Top Spot On Fortune 500 List
By 4.15.10
With over $408 billion in revenue, Walmart has regained the coveted top spot on the annual Fortune 500 list. The mega retailer had slipped to #2 behind Exxon Mobil on last year’s list after two consecutive #1 years in 2007 and 2008. [More]
