Monthly Archives: May 2011

Prices rise for fuel efficient cars

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Posted in General Auto News, Toyota

A new report from Kelley Blue Book (KBB), the used car pricing guide, is showing rising values for fuel-efficient models, as more Americans look for vehicles that will help them save some money at the pump.

The KBB Market Report for May 2011 indicates that these cars are in high demand and are driving up used car prices very quickly. As compared to January of this year, prices on average are up 20 percent across the fuel-efficient market segment. And with gas prices remaining high, KBB doesn't predict that these prices will be dropping off anytime soon.

For example, the report shows that drivers looking to buy a used Toyota Prius will be paying $3,800 more than they would have in January, due to a combination of both the gas crisis and an expected short supply of the vehicles because of the Japanese earthquake. The Ford Fusion saw a similar price jump at $1,800 over its January value.

Of course, the pendulum swings both ways, and dealers are also paying a lot more for fuel-efficient vehicles. If you've been thinking about trading your Prius or another fuel-efficient car, there's no better time to do so, as you could end up getting a great deal.

Lexus falls to third in luxury sales ranks

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Posted in Auto Industry News, BMW, Mercedes-Benz

Lexus has been at the top of the luxury sales chart in the U.S. for the past decade, but it looks like its reign has come to an end: BMW and Mercedes-Benz have officially passed the automaker on the sales charts.

The Japanese brand's fall from grace isn't a complete shock – analysts have been expecting this ever since BMW and Mercedes began to outsell the brand toward the end of last year. Yet it does serve to show just how much the luxury market has changed over the past few years, as high-end buyers begin to favor performance over reliability.

It doesn't help that Lexus has been hurt by the recent Japanese earthquake. The luxury brand's parent company, Toyota, makes many of its models overseas in the U.S. Yet all but one of Lexus' vehicles are made in Japan, creating a supply chain nightmare for the brand.

Still, BMW and Mercedes outsold Lexus long before the earthquake started. The fact that Lexus has fallen not one but two spots is all the more embarrassing. BMW is at the top, but it's by no means a dominant lead – it only holds a few hundred cars over Mercedes, which is several thousand ahead of Lexus.

Drivers in the market for any of these cars should check out New Jersey State Auto Auction. Luxury vehicles can cost a pretty penny new, but they frequently drop off in price when drivers decide to buy used.
 

Chevy to recall Cruze for steering issue

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Posted in Chevrolet, General Auto News

General Motors announced today that it will be recalling its best-selling Chevrolet Cruze model for an issue related to the steering column, which may have been installed incorrectly.

The notice does not cover every Cruze manufactured and sold in the U.S., but rather all of the models shipped from the Lordstown, Ohio, manufacturing plant, some 154,000 vehicles. The automaker became aware of an issue where the steering column may have been improperly fitted to the car in some cases. In addition, dealers will also check for a problem with the shift linkage on automatic versions of the Cruze.

"We think very few vehicles in the population have either issue, but we chose to conduct these inspections to give customers additional peace of mind about the quality of the Cruze," said GM’s vice president of global quality Terry Woychowski. "I conducted a quality inspection of the Lordstown plant this week and I am confident we have made the necessary process changes so neither of these conditions happens again."

GM has invested a lot into the Cruze, which is seen by many analysts as the most significant model for the company since it emerged from bankruptcy. Compact and fuel-efficient, the car has been a hit thus far, and was the second-best seller for the company throughout April behind the Chevrolet Silverado.

New models tend to carry inflated price tags, so drivers may want to wait until the used Chevrolet Cruzes begin hitting New Jersey State Auto Auction, where they can find great savings. 

Chrysler announces three special editions

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Posted in Auto Industry News

Chrysler is undergoing something of a renaissance as it looks to expand its lineup with redesigned and all-new vehicles. But what good is a vehicle if it doesn't have a cool special edition to go along with it?

The automaker announced some of the details for three of its new special trim levels that are expected to be available later this year, and they certainly appear to be a bit outside the box.

First up is the Dodge Charger Super Bee, which is styled almost exactly as it sounds. The muscle car will get a black and yellow paint job along with "Super Bee" insignias – which will certainly make the Charger a buzzworthy model. The Charger has actually had a Super Bee offering before, but it was on the SRT8 edition. No word yet on whether this will be an upgrade for the Charger SRT8 or the base model.

Also coming to the brand is the Fiat 500 Gucci edition. The 500 is Fiat's first model for the U.S. market in nearly 20 years, and the brand is now pairing with another Italian company to deliver a high-end version of the car, which gives it a retro look and high-end leather on the inside.

Chrysler also mentioned the Jeep Wrangler Mojave, which is essentially a Wrangler with desert-colored skin that was shown off at the New York Auto Show.

Drivers interested in a unique looking car may want to check out New Jersey State Auto Auction. There's a wide variety of cars for sale, and you never know what cool-looking models might show up.
 

Nissan NV200 wins taxi competition

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Posted in Auto Industry News, Nissan

New York City residents and tourists should prepare for a different sight on the city streets in the near future, as the town's iconic taxis are set to be replaced by new vans.

The office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently held a design contest to determine what model would become the city's new official taxi. Most cabbies used old Ford Crown Victoria models, which needed to be replaced by roomier, more fuel-efficient models. Automakers from around the globe entered the design contest, but when all was said and done, it was the Nissan NV2000 that ended up on top.

Nissan's van design held off challenges from the Ford TransitConnect and an unorthodox model submitted by the Turkish company Karsan. The new model features seating for four plus luggage, a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and a transparent roof that makes sightseeing a snap.

The NV200 is currently available in Europe and Asia. Nissan will be building the taxi version in Mexico for import to the U.S. No word yet on whether the model will be available in non-taxi version.

"The NV200 taxi will give Nissan the opportunity to showcase our dedication to vehicle quality and urban mobility to more than 600,000 passengers every day," said Nissan chairman Carlos Tavares.

Drivers interested in a used Nissan or any other vehicle may want to check out New Jersey State Auto Auction, which offers a wide range of cars for sale at affordable prices.

Honda announces airbag recall expansion

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Posted in Auto Industry News

Honda has announced that a previously-identified airbag problem in some of its used vehicles is more widespread than initially thought, causing the Japanese automaker to expand its recall by nearly 833,000 vehicles.

In 2008, the company found a small amount of cars with incorrectly installed airbags. If deployed, the safety devices could inflate too quickly and possibly explode, which represented a danger to drivers in an accident. The company issued a small recall to address the issue

Two years later, Honda expanded the initial recall of less than 4,000 to more than 300,000 cars, as it found that the problem could affect a wider range of vehicles. At that point, Honda revealed that it had received reports of 11 injuries and 1 death in relation to the airbag problem.

Now, the recall is being expanded again to include a potential 833,000 vehicles. Honda claims that it's most likely that the airbags in these cars are unaffected. However, if a vehicle was in an accident, it's possible that a dealer installed one of the faulty airbags after the original bag deployed.

It's mostly used Hondas that drivers will have to watch for, including the 01-02 Accord, the 01-03 Civic, the 02 Odyssey, the 02-03 CR-V and the 03 Acura 3.2 TL and CL.
 

Exploring the vehicles of “Fast Five”

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Posted in Celebrity Auto News

"Fast Five" raced to first place at the box office this past weekend, netting a whopping $84 million dollars. No doubt that action stars like Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson contributed to the film's success, but just as important as the actors in these films are the cars they drive. So what should moviegoers keep an eye out for when they go see the film?

Vin Diesel's character Dom has favored a 1970 Dodge Charger in every film he's been in, and it's back for the fifth installment. In the movie, the car sports a 900-horsepower supercharged Hemi, but in real life the producers went with a 400-horsepower model for filming purposes.

The Charger isn't the only vintage model in the movie. You'll also be able to spot Paul Walker's character, Brian, behind the wheel of a 1972 Nissan Skyline, as well as glimpses of a 1966 Corvette Grand Sport and 1963 Ford Galaxy.

That's not to say the film is light on modern cars. Returning from the late nineties is the Toyota Supra, while the Porsche GT3 represents the beginning of the new millennium. Contemporary models featured in the film include the Subaru STi and Lexus LFA.

Drivers might not be able to afford some of these souped-up rides in real life, but they can certainly look for some of the classic models at New Jersey State Auto Auction, which offers a wide range of cars for sale at affordable prices.

Automakers dial back incentives on new cars

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Posted in Auto Industry News

A new report by Bloomberg shows that automakers and dealers cut new car incentives in April to their lowest point in five years.

The 14 percent decline puts the average incentive for a new car at $2,320 in April. Automakers seem to be tightening their belts for two reasons. Sales are good right now, thus they don't need the extra bonuses to help hit their target numbers. And production in Japan has slowed to a crawl, meaning that the companies are hoping to squeeze every penny out of each vehicle they do have.

"The outlook for incentives is that they are going to be down dramatically," said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com.

In terms of specific automakers, Ford and Chrysler both cut incentives by approximately 20 percent each. GM offered some great deals on trucks, but offered absolutely no deals on its Cadillac luxury vehicles.

Over in Japan, Nissan scaled back the most, cutting deals by 33 percent and postponing its annual spring sales event. Toyota was more modest in its rollbacks, but still saw incentives drop off by 3 percent. Honda was the only automaker to offer more savings, with a 9 percent increase.

Drivers looking to save may want to avoid the new vehicle market for the time being, and instead browse the selection of used cars for sale at New Jersey State Auto Auction. 

Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner may have window-shattering problem

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Posted in Ford

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it will be launching an investigation into nearly 200,000 Ford and Mercury SUVs for an issue that could cause the back window to completely shatter.

The agency has received 18 complaints of the entire window spontaneously shattering when the trunk is either opened or closed. According to the bureau, at least one of these incidents led to injury, when "the complainant and her 10-year-old son were cut by glass fragments." Although no conclusive link has been determined, the NHTSA did reveal that most of the reported incidents occurred in cold weather conditions.

Specific models that will be looked into include the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs from 2010 and 2011.

Ford has previously issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) for the issue. TSBs are issued when a full recall is deemed unnecessary, but the company wants its mechanics to be aware of the issue and how to fix it. If the results of the NHTSA investigation find that the problem is widespread, Ford may be forced to recall the vehicles anyways.

Drivers in the market for a used Ford or any other vehicle should check to ensure that the model in question doesn't have a history of maintenance issues before they buy.

NHTSA investigates GM fuel issues

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Posted in Chevrolet

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it will be opening an investigation into approximately 865,000 vehicles made by General Motors, as the agency has received numerous reports of these cars displaying incorrect fuel levels.

According to complaints received by the agency, some SUV models manufactured by GM between 2005 and 2007 may eventually be affected by the issue. The complaints state that the fuel gauges show that the car has more gas than it actually does. In 58 of the complaints received, the driver actually ran out of gas because of the issue – with one of these unexpected engine stalls leading to an accident.

U.S News reports that the NHTSA supposedly received an additional 610 reports about the problem, though those drivers did not run out of gas.

The models in question are all built on the same platform and include the Saab 9-7X, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Buick Rainier. It's worth noting that Saab is no longer part of GM, as it was sold off to a third party.

No official recall has been issued, so drivers will have to wait and see what the NHTSA finds before taking their car in for service.

Drivers interested in a used car or SUV should be aware of any potential recall or safety news for the vehicles they're considering. Once they've decided on a model, New Jersey State Auto Auction can offer them an affordable price.