Earlier this week, auto dealers in Michigan successfully manipulated the state’s lawmakers to clarify that the only way any car company can sell any vehicles in Michigan is through franchised auto dealers. A handful of other states have similar laws banning Tesla or any other car company from selling their products straight to consumers. So why doesn’t Tesla just give in and work with dealers? [More]
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Chrysler Recalls 184,000 SUVs For Same Airbag Issues Responsible For Ford Vehicles Recall
By 10.14.14
It certainly hasn’t been the best year for vehicle airbags. In the spring Honda, Toyota and other vehicle manufactures recalled millions of cars because the safety devices were found to be defective. And now we’re learning that the same short-circuit responsible for the recall of hundreds-of-thousands of Ford vehicles last month has been found in nearly 184,000 Chrysler-produced SUVs, prompting yet another safety recall. [More]
A Brief History Of Car Colors — And Why Are We So Boring Now?
By 10.10.14
You don’t know their names, but you see them everywhere: countless shades of reds, greens, blues, grays, tans, taupes, whites, off-whites, charcoals, blacks, gold and silver. Really what you’re seeing is Vanilla Shake, Tahitian Pearl and Torched Penny. Cars are everywhere, and so are the colors they’re cruising around in, their own distinctive skins. Paint is one of the most important design aspects parts of a car — the right paint job can mean the difference between luxury and sport utility, can turn Grandpa’s jalopy into a teen dream machine, and forever change a car from a vehicle you use to get around to a statement on free love and drugs. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Nearly One Million Ford Vehicles For Possible Power Steering Defect
By 10.7.14
The investigators over at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have had their work cut out for them this year. And that workload doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, as the regulator announced this week that it would be looking into power steering issues in nearly a million vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Co. [More]
NHTSA Probes Ford Fiestas Because Car Doors Shouldn’t Magically Open While Driving
By 9.15.14
As a general rule of thumb I make sure to never drive with my door open: it’s not safe for me, my passengers or other drivers. But for some 60-odd drivers of Ford Fiestas, closing the door didn’t mean it would actually stay shut, and that issue opened the door (horrible pun) for a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. [More]
Map Of Most-Stolen Car Models In Each State Shows Car Thieves Need More Variety
By 8.18.14
Car thieves either don’t have much imagination or they don’t have much to choose from when selecting which vehicles to boost. A look at the most-stolen cars in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia shows surprisingly little variety in terms of cars being swiped. [More]
Ford Recalls The 2013 Escape For 11th Time; Also Recalls Focus Hatchback
By 8.18.14
The newly redesigned Escape isn’t working out too well for Ford Motor Company. Over the weekend, the carmaker recalled the compact SUV for the eleventh time. [More]
Ford Recalls 83,000 Vehicles Because Losing Power Or Rolling Away Isn’t A Perk
By 8.15.14
Another day, another round of cars that might roll away even if they appear to be in the “park” position. This time Ford is recalling more than 83,000 vehicles because a faulty part could cause them to lose power to roll away. [More]
Recording Industry Sues Ford, GM Over “CD-Ripping” Vehicles
By 7.29.14
While it’s usually perfectly legal for you to put the music you buy on a hard drive for your own use, the makers of the technology that rip your CDs into MP3s (or other formats) may be breaking the law if they don’t pay the recording industry piper. That’s why two of the country’s largest automakers are currently being sued by a music business royalties group. [More]
Hidden Listening Devices Found At Ford HQ; FBI Investigates Former Engineer
By 7.25.14
Like mismatched partners in a bad early ’90s buddy cop movie, Ford and the FBI are working together to investigate why a former engineer at the car maker may have placed listening devices in conference rooms at the Ford global HQ in Michigan. [More]
EPA Wants Car Companies To Test Gas Mileage In Real World
By 7.15.14
Over the last few years, car makers have had to fork over more than $500 million in refunds to customers because of exaggerated fuel economy estimates on new vehicle stickers. In an effort to provide more accurate mileage information to consumers, the Environmental Protection Agency wants car companies to do their mpg testing on the road instead of in the lab. [More]
Ford Issues 6 Recalls Covering 101,000 Vehicles
By 7.8.14
In an effort to show GM that it’s not the only U.S. car maker who can issue a huge number of recalls, the folks at Ford have announced six separate recalls covering a total of 101,000 vehicles. [More]
Ford To Reimburse 200,000 Drivers For Another Batch Of Bad MPG Ratings
By 6.13.14
Less than a year after being slapped on the wrists for posting inaccurate MPG info on its cars, Ford could be on the hook for more than $100 million in payments to around 200,000 drivers of several additional vehicle models that were sold with overstated fuel economy ratings. [More]
Ford, Heinz Working To Make Car Parts From Tomatoes
By 6.10.14
The last thing you want when you buy a car is a lemon. But the folks at Ford and Heinz think you may someday want a tomato; or at least a car made with tomato-based parts. [More]
Car Recallapalooza Continues As Ford Recalls 1.39 Million Vehicles
By 5.29.14
When we saw that Ford announced a recall of 1.39 million cars and sport-utility vehicles, we had to check back in the archives. Hadn’t we just posted about a Ford recall? Yes, it was only earlier this month that 692,000 vehicles were recalled because their airbags might not deploy. This latest batch mainly involves power steering failure in SUVs. [More]
Ford Recalls 692K Ford Escape & C-MAX Vehicles Because Airbags Are Supposed To Deploy
By 5.9.14
A software glitch in some of Ford’s Escape SUV and C-MAX vehicles may prevent airbags from deploying immediately, so the carmaker has recalled a total of 692,500 vehicles to fix this potentially deadly problem. [More]
Just What Tourists At The Empire State Building Needed: A Ford Mustang Blocking The View
By 4.16.14
In a publicity stunt that rivals its original stunt from 50 years ago, Ford perched a shiny yellow Mustang on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. [More]
EPA Revises Fuel Mileage Numbers For Ford C-Max In Wake Of Consumer Reports Test
By 8.15.13 — Updated: 8.16.13
Back in December, our pals at the not-so-secret above-ground Consumer Reports auto-testing facility called into question the 47 miles per gallon (highway and city combined) number touted by Ford for its C-Max Hybrid, saying their tests showed a still-respectable but lower-than-advertised 37 mpg. Now, only a mere eight months later, the EPA is also saying that number should be lower. [More]
