I know all the time I’m bragging about the quality of foreign cars versus domestic ones, but so is everyone else. In an article from MSNBC, you can find the best cars for under $15,000 which are cheap to maintain and they get great gas mileage so you won’t be blowing your gas budget when you fill up.

At the top of the list was the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, and Scion xD (I love that the name of that looks like a really happy emoticon). The cars all cost around $15,000 and because they are small and inexpensive, they are fairly cheap to insure as well as maintain. Oh, by the way, they also get at least 30 mpg in combined fuel efficiency. These cars will obviously use less gas and you won’t have to be putting in the expensive grades either. These cars call for regular 87 unleaded.

If you’re really looking for a domestic car, then look no further than the Chevrolet Cobalt or the Pontiac G3. They are basically the same car and only cost around $16,000 and get a combined 31 mpg.

Right now they aren’t selling as well as they were a year ago, but you also have to remember that gas prices are far cheaper right now than a year ago too. People will go back to buying these cars once gas starts creeping up again.

The cars on the MSNBC list are all gas powered vehicles. There were no hybrids on the list due to the fact that they are more expensive to maintain, insure, and they actually cost more too.

From the article:
“The best way to a cheap ride? Choose something small, light, and more often than not foreign.”
Source

If you are in the market for a new car and are in the United States, there are still a few incentives for you that you may want to consider before you plop down $30,000 on your new car.

Obviously the biggest government incentive this year was the Cash for Clunkers program, but just because you missed out on that, that doesn’t mean that the government doesn’t want to help in other ways (as long as you buy your car by December 31st anyway).

When you go to a car dealership, you an typically negotiate a deal. Other than that, you can get a sales tax deduction right now. When the federal stimulus bill was passed at the beginning of the year, any person who purchased a car after February 17th and before January 1, 2010 is able to get a sales tax deduction on their car.

The downside is that the deduction is limited to the first $49,500 of the car’s price and the deduction phases out for those who earn over $125,000 per year or married people filing jointly $250,000. Once the person earns $135,000 alone or $260,000 for joint filings, the deduction is eliminated.

Sure, you aren’t going to be getting a huge deduction from this, but something is better than nothing. Because the deduction is only on sales tax, if someone lives in a state that does not have sales tax, the deductions can be applied to fees that the state or local governments impose.

You can also get a tax credit if you purchase a hybrid. Popular cars like the Prius aren’t eligible for the credit anymore, but 2009 models that are eligible include some cars from Chrysler, Dodge, Saturn and Mazda. The credits range between $1,550 and $2,200.

For the 2010 models, the tax credits are a bit more limited. They’re available to mostly SUV hybrids.

How important is car safety to you? It is definitely at the top of the list to me. After being in a car accident where my 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier was victoriously mauled by an 18 wheeler, knowing the safety rating of automobiles is something that I think is quite important.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a report recently that named the top vehicles for safety for 2010. The list last year was comprised of over 90 cars, while this year the list has been taken down to only 27. While this may sound like cars are becoming less safe, the IIHS put new stipulations in how it tested for auto safety…this year it included information about how the roof held up against rollovers.

The areas that were tested this year was the 40 mph frontal crash test, side crash test (which tests to see how a passenger would fare if they were to be hit by an SUV or truck), rear crash protection, rollover, electronic stability control and bumper evaluations at low speeds of 3 or 6 miles per hour (I believe this one has more to do with how much it would cost to fix a small parking lot accident rather than safety in such an accident).

The 27 autos that were picked are broken up into five categories large, midsize and small cars as well as midsize and small SUVs.  Those were the only categories where vehicles made the cut.

LARGE CARS

Buick LaCrosse
Ford Taurus
Lincoln MKS
Volvo S80

SMALL CARS

Honda Civic
4-door models (except Si)
with optional ESC
Kia Soul
Nissan Cube
Subaru Impreza
(except WRX)
Volkswagen Golf
4-door models

MIDSIZE CARS

Audi A3
Chevrolet Malibu
built after October 2009
Chrysler Sebring
4-door models with optional ESC
Dodge Avenger
with optional ESC
Mercedes C class
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Volkswagen Jetta sedan
Volkswagen Passat sedan
Volvo C30

MIDSIZE SUVs

Dodge Journey
Subaru Tribeca
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC90

SMALL SUVs

Honda Element
Jeep Patriot
with optional side torso airbags
Subaru Forester
Volkswagen Tiguan

Of course, these are just considered the safest cars. There are other cars that are safe, but didn’t get the highest marks. Something interesting I noticed while searching through the IIHS site is that the cars that didn’t come up as “Top Safety Picks” weren’t tested for rollover safety, in the small cars category anyway.

After all the mess that has been going on with Toyota/Lexus with the recalled floormats,  I’m actually surprised to not see them on the list at all. One would think that they would do something to make their cars more safe to get high safety picks for 2010 after that fiasco. I suppose there’s always next year, right?

>Evaluate the model, not the manufacturer. The Big 3 automakers have tried so hard to show people that its cars have improved in quality. Some of the cars that they are touting as built with the same quality as a Toyota or Honda are the Malibu, GMC Acadia, and Ford Fusion. These three cars often get good reviews, but there are some models (like the Chevy Cobalt and the Chrysler Sebring) that are still getting shoddy reviews.

Beware of bargains. Cars that are cheap now will be cheap when you go to sell them, only cheaper. It’s not really a quality issue it’s more of an issue that stems around the fact that you’re not the only person getting that deal on the car you’re looking at. When you try to sell the car in a few years, there will be hundreds or thousands of people trying to sell the car at the same time. This decreases the value of the cars.

Consider warranties. When you don’t know whether or not your dealership is going to go out of business, you really need to check to see where the next closest dealership is for warranty repair. Since this article was written, it is a pretty safe bet that Chrysler and GM will continue operating so liquidating is not an issue for either of these companies.

Gas prices still play a factor. Gas prices are still pretty low. Even though oil is starting to creep back up, some analysts are expecting it to spike again and the small cars that we all saw on the roads a year ago will be making a comeback. While the Big 3 made the best SUVs on the market, their smaller cars left something to be desired. They are, however, coming out with some new small models to appeal to people who are looking for something small.

That car may not be American. There are a lot of “American” cars that aren’t built in America. As a matter of fact CSM Worldwide is predicting next year that foreign automakers will be building more cars in the United States than the Big 3 will. Many of the cars the Big 3 produce are built in Mexico or Canada. You can check to see where your car was built if you look at the stickers in the windows and read them carefully.

Source

Porsche is taking Crocs to court over the name Cayman…as if anyone isn’t able to tell the difference between a plastic shoe and a $50,000 sports car?

The copyright dispute was opened in Germany by Porsche. The company is requesting that Crocs Europe B.V. stop selling shoes with the name Cayman as their style name. Porsche is also asking for Crocs to pay for its attorney fees according to a notice letter from the company.

The notice was given to the shoe maker on My 11th. According to the company Crocs said that it was “served with notice of an injunction against Crocs Europe BV’s use of the Cayman mark in Germany.” So, I suppose that this means that, if the filing were to go to trial and Porsche were to win, that Crocs would only have to change the name in Germany?

This is very Monster Cable-ish of Porsche to do (For those who don’t know: Monster Cable was going around about a year ago suing any and everyone who used the term “Monster” in the name of their product). These two products are not in the same market and honestly, do not often target the same people. Most of the people I notice wearing Crocs are not exactly the same people who are driving anything made by Porsche.

I can’t figure out why Porsche would want to pick a fight against a shoe company. Then again, I suppose that any publicity is “good” publicity. This is just kind of dumb and if it is just a publicity stunt by Porsche, then it should have to pay any attorney fees that Crocs incurs while it tries to figure out how to fight a German trademark dispute.

Oh, the image at the head of the post is a real Cayman and the thing that comes to mind whenever anyone says “Cayman” around me.

There are some cars out there that hold their value well. High end sports cars are some of them. Then there are cars that don’t hold their value well at all. Those cars include some of the more common cars or cars that are surrounded by speculation of poor quality. Sometimes a lot of that speculation is warranted because of past performance in the quality department.

The top five cars (or bottom five depending on how you think about it) for not holding their value are either Chrysler/Dodge or Kia cars.
Here are some of the cars that Forbes found to hold less than 20% of their value after just five years:

1) The Chrysler Sebring Convertible. While it looks sporty to some, this car doesn’t hold value well at all. The MSRP is $28,530 and after just two years its value is only 27% of its original MSRP. After five years, the value fell to just 15% of its original MSRP.

2) Kia Sedona. Kia has been seen by many as a low quality automobile company. The Kia Sedona is just one of the vehicles that the company makes that doesn’t hold its value well. With an MSRP of $21,245 it too (like the Sebring) only holds 15% of its original value after 5 years.

3) Kit Optima Sedan. It does a hair better than the Sedona and Sebring. With an MSRP of $17,495, it holds 17% of its original value after five years.

4) Kia Spectra Sedan. With an MSRP of only $13,550, you will still lose a lot of its original MSRP, but it won’t seem to hurt as bad with it’s 17% value retention after five years.

5) Dodge Grand Caravan. This minivan’s MSRP is $23,545 and only holds 17% of its original value after five years like the previous three vehicles.

Some of the problems with Dodge cars not holding their value well is associated with the uncertainty of the company’s ability to stay in business in the future.

Before buying a car, you can check the resell value for the next few years; you can also check quality reports for the cars. If you have your heart set on one model, then just make sure that you will be getting what you consider to be a good value and make and informed decision to know what your investing in; even if the model doesn’t hold its value well (besides, what does resell value mean if you plan on keeping the car until you eventually run it into the ground?).

Source

In the past month, auto sales for imported cars were all over the place.

Japanese staples Toyota and Honda have found themselves losing for the past few months with sales declines. Toyota had a 5.8% drop in sales of Toyota branded autos when compared to October 2008. Honda’s U.S. sales dropped 4% for October 2009 from October 2008 also.

It’s not all bad news for the auto companies though. Import brand Subaru saw quite the improvement in sales from October 2008 to October 2009; a jump of 40%. The Outback station wagon was redesigned for 2010 and led the way for the company in sales. Sales of the wagon were up 175% from October 2008. The company’s second most popular car, the Forester had a 13% gain.

Kia also saw quite a jump in sales. The Korean car manufacturer had a 45% gain in sales for year over year sales for October. It sold 22,490 automobiles in October 2009 and sold 15,483 in October 2008. Its sales were led by the Kia Forte and the Borrego.

Hyundai also saw a jump in sales. In October, Hyundai sold just over 31,000 cars; a nearly 50% increase from October 2008. Most of the cars that were sold in October are 2010 models. Hyundai is a joint company with Kia.

It seems as though people are wanting to buy cheaper cars and with the quality of Korean cars quickly rising, there are more and more reasons to buy one of these over the more expensive Japanese cars and (in some cases) lower quality American cars.

When you contact your insurance company to file a claim there are a few things that you shouldn’t say if you want to make sure that your policy will cover the incident. Now, do not fraud the insurance company, just make sure what you’re telling them is the truth.

1. Never start a sentence with “I think” or any other term that indicates that you’re not sure as to why something happened. If you don’t know say “I don’t know.” Giving information that can be proven wrong later can really hurt your claim and can damage your credibility.

Particularly beware of speculating on blame or causation. For example, if you suggest that a water leak is due to a construction defect, you could give the insurer an out if that’s a policy exclusion.

2. Don’t use the “whiplash” excuse unless your doctor actually says you have it. This is one of the most fraudulent claims every year that insurance companies have to deal with. In some cases, according to Amy Danise from Insure.com, mentioning whiplash in your claim is likely to get it flagged for further investigation.

3. Don’t admit to a doctor’s test as being experimental when it isn’t. There is a difference between an actual experimental drug/procedure and one that is proven (and accepted by the FDA for use) but your doctor wants to try it out in your case. You may want to make sure that your doctor can prove that it will be covered by insurance before getting it done and fighting with the insurance company later.

4. The word “flood” triggers some kind of nervous, shaking, fear in insurers; so don’t use it. When it comes to homeowner’s insurance, floods aren’t covered. A flood is weather related too, not if your pipe bursts and you find yourself with a basement full of water.

5. Don’t act like the only thing you care about is the money. When an insurance company sees that you care more about getting a check rather than fixing your damaged property, they will likely put your claim on hold while they go and check further into it.

When it comes to insurance, it’s all about what the insurance company thinks. If they feel that you’re trying to make a fraudulent claim, for any reason, they can simply put the brakes on your claim altogether. It is rather frustrating to pick and choose your words when you talk to the insurance company, but it is important. Too many people, every single year, decide that having insurance is a good way to try to make a bit of money, when in reality that is not what insurance is for.

I can’t tell anyone what to do with their money, but if an insurance company sends a check out, then fix whatever is broken.

Source

Ford posted a third quarter profit of $997 million which equals out to 29 cents per share. Just a year earlier, the car maker posted a loss of $129 million.

Ford said that it attributed the success it saw in the third quarter to the Cash for Clunkers program.

I am personally glad to see that Ford saw a good quarter. As the only United States auto manufacturer that did not take any money from the government, I believe that a lot of people are preferring it to other US automakers. However, thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program, a lot of the automakers had pretty good third quarters. It is likely that the fourth quarter won’t be as nice to the auto industry.

Right now, Ford is really trying to promote all the features of its cars. This is compared to how GM is promoting how its improved quality in its cars. I believe that Ford has always had better quality cars when compared to General Motors anyway. While Ford has been talking about Sync features and awards, GM is left to compare its cars to Hondas and Toyotas. It is a difficult race that GM is competing in and I believe that it might be the wrong battle for the company. I just don’t see the people who are brand loyal to Toyota or Honda switching to a GM car.

I haven’t personally seen too many Chrysler ads. I have seen a lot of ads for Jeep, but none for actual Chrysler branded cars.

General Motors will be continuing its money back guarantee into January of 2010.

In the program, someone can purchase a new GM car and after owning the car for 30 days they can return it, up to 60 days after the purchase (of course there are some stipulations as to what they can and can’t return).

A spokesman for GM said that only 15 cars have been returned since the program began in September. However, only one percent of those buying cars are actually choosing to have the refund option anyway. Here is what is going on: GM is offering a $500 incentive to opt out of the refund option. Many people (according to GM, 99%) are opting out and taking the cash incentive.

Of course, if you don’t opt for the cash incentive, and choose to return your car, then you have to wait 30 days after the time of purchase and make sure that you haven’t put more than 4000 miles on the car or done $200 worth of damage to it.

To give you an idea of how much $200 worth of damage is to a car, I recently had to take mine into the shop because some jerk hit my car with their door hard enough to make a small dent and take the paint off of my car. The repair bill (thankfully I didn’t have to pay for it) was over $600.

Racking up $200 in damage is easy on a car. So as soon as you know you want to return the car, park it in the garage and hope nothing happens to it (True story: A microwave fell on my old car when we were moving into our house while it was parked in the garage).

If you are in the market for a new car and are in the United States, there are still a few incentives for you that you may want to consider before you plop down $30,000 on your new car.

Obviously the biggest government incentive this year was the Cash for Clunkers program, but just because you missed out on that, that doesn’t mean that the government doesn’t want to help in other ways (as long as you buy your car by December 31st anyway).

When you go to a car dealership, you an typically negotiate a deal. Other than that, you can get a sales tax deduction right now. When the federal stimulus bill was passed at the beginning of the year, any person who purchased a car after February 17th and before January 1, 2010 is able to get a sales tax deduction on their car.

The downside is that the deduction is limited to the first $49,500 of the car’s price and the deduction phases out for those who earn over $125,000 per year or married people filing jointly $250,000.  Once the person earns $135,000 alone or $260,000 for joint filings, the deduction is eliminated.

Sure, you aren’t going to be getting  a huge deduction from this, but something is better than nothing. Because the deduction is only on sales tax, if someone lives in a state that does not have sales tax, the deductions can be applied to fees that the state or local governments impose.

You can also get a tax credit if you purchase a hybrid. Popular cars like the Prius aren’t eligible for the credit anymore, but 2009 models that are eligible include some cars from Chrysler, Dodge, Saturn and Mazda. The credits range between $1,550 and $2,200.

For the 2010 models, the tax credits are a bit more limited. They’re available to mostly SUV hybrids.

Source

When you go to a car dealership, the thing that most people are shopping with is their budget. You obviously can’t buy a $40,000 car if your budget is only $25,000. Therefore, you want to be able to get the most car for your money. You want to make sure that your car will hold up over time and also maintain its value. There are some cars that are clear losers when it comes to holding its value such as the Chevy Cobalt. However, there are plenty of cars that do hold their value well and are also the “most car for your money.”

U.S. News and World Report came up with a list comparing the cars. All the cars that were found to be the most for your money are worry free, have a low(er) cost of ownership and a high build quality.

Here is the list for 2009 as according to the magazine:

Best Midsize Car for the Money: Toyota Camry
Best Subcompact Car for the Money: Honda Fit
Best Compact Crossover (think station wagon) for the Money: Mazda 5
Best Compact Car for the Money: Hyundai Elantra
Best Midsize Crossover for the Money: Toyota Highlander
Best Luxury Crossover for the Money: Lexus RX
Best Full Size SUV for the Money: Chevy Tahoe
Best Sports Car for the Money: Mazda Miata
Best Luxury Car for the Money: Lexus GS
Best Compact Truck for the Money: Toyota Tacoma
Best Full Size Truck for the Money: Chevy Silverado
Best Minivan for the Money: Toyota Sienna
Best Large Car for the Money: Toyota Avalon
Best Upscale Car for the Money: Lexus ES

There is a trend on this list…If you can see Toyota obviously earned the most amount of points on whatever system that US News was using. Toyota has consistently been a brand that maintains its quality standards and holds its value well. If you count the Toyota brands on the list (including Lexus) out of 14 categories, Toyota holds 8 of the spots.

While the cars on the list may not be as amazing or outperform their competition, they are easier on your wallet over the time you own the car (and upfront). They are also cars that you can see yourself having for some time.

Source

An older article from US News World and Report shed some light into how to know if you want to buy a domestic car versus an import. Here are some of the tips:

Evaluate the model, not the manufacturer. The Big 3 automakers have tried so hard to show people that its cars have improved in quality. Some of the cars that they are touting as built with the same quality as a Toyota or Honda are the Malibu, GMC Acadia, and Ford Fusion. These three cars often get good reviews, but there are some models (like the Chevy Cobalt and the Chrysler Sebring) that are still getting shoddy reviews.

Beware of bargains. Cars that are cheap now will be cheap when you go to sell them, only cheaper. It’s not really a quality issue it’s more of an issue that stems around the fact that you’re not the only person getting that deal on the car you’re looking at. When you try to sell the car in a few years, there will be hundreds or thousands of people trying to sell the car at the same time. This decreases the value of the cars.

Consider warranties. When you don’t know whether or not your dealership is going to go out of business, you really need to check to see where the next closest dealership is for warranty repair. Since this article was written, it is a pretty safe bet that Chrysler and GM will continue operating so liquidating is not an issue for either of these companies.

Gas prices still play a factor. Gas prices are still pretty low. Even though oil is starting to creep back up, some analysts are expecting it to spike again and the small cars that we all saw on the roads a year ago will be making a comeback. While the Big 3 made the best SUVs on the market, their smaller cars left something to be desired. They are, however, coming out with some new small models to appeal to people who are looking for something small.

That car may not be American. There are a lot of “American” cars that aren’t built in America. As a matter of fact CSM Worldwide is predicting next year that foreign automakers will be building more cars in the United States than the Big 3 will. Many of the cars the Big 3 produce are built in Mexico or Canada. You can check to see where your car was built if you look at the stickers in the windows and read them carefully.

Source

Honda will be launching its new “dog friendly” accessory package for the Element starting in just a few weeks. The dog friendly features include a cushioned cargo bed with safety restraints, second row seating with places for leashes, a spill resistant water bowl area, paw printed floor mats, badges with the “dog friendly” stamp of approval for the exterior of the car, special ventilation in the cabin, and a retractable ramp for the pooches.

The Element is a car (really, it’s more of a crossover) that appeals to a small group of people. It isn’t an attractive car to most (and definitely not to me) but with those features, it would make any dog lover happy. I know that when I travel with my dogs it can be a hassle. I usually restrain them in the cargo area of my car (don’t worry, I have a hatchback so they’re in the cabin) with their leashes and it really is a pain to get them in and out of the car. I’m not saying that I would like to put them in the back seat exactly, but a nice cargo area meant for dogs would be nice.

There is a definite market for automakers to appeal to pet lovers. Accessories for cars to restrain dogs are expensive. Just a cargo net to keep them out of the front seat can run anywhere from $30 – $90 at a PetCo or PetSmart store. Other things like a special harness that clips into the seat belt are anywhere from $35 to $50 per harness. When You have three dogs, that can get quite expensive.

The only thing that this accessory package needs is crates fit for the car and we’re good to go! I know that my dogs would love something like this when they’re in the car.

I don’t necessarily think that some people who would opt for this package would go for something like the exterior badges on the car, but I wouldn’t mind.

Later in the month of August, car dealers and manufacturers participated in Cash for Clunkers and the program was a success because it got a lot of gas guzzling cars off the highways and it helped some citizens be able to get a new car that they may have not otherwise been able to afford.

However, now U.S. auto sales have fallen by 23% for the month of September. The two automakers that were hit the hardest was GM and Chrysler. GM’s sales dropped by 45% and Chrysler’s plunged by 42% for the month.

Ford even saw sales decline. However, while Ford’s United States counterparts dropped by staggering amounts, Ford managed to hold its decline to 5% from the previous year.

Automakers knew that the cash for clunkers success wasn’t meant to last and they had actually prepared for the steep decline in sales. There were plenty of analysts who were predicting that sales would take a tumble for the month of September.

It wasn’t only US automakers that faced a fall in sales, Japanese automakers also faced declining sales for September. Honda’s sales fell 20% for September and Toyota and Nissan fell 13% and 7% respectively.

There was a bright light in all the sales declines; Hyundai Motor Company’s, the Korean brand that offers pretty reliable cars at a low price, sales increased by 27% for September. Hyundai (when combined with Kia, its affiliate) is now the sixth largest automaker in the United States auto market. It has overtaken Nissan this year for the first time. This can likely be attributed to Hyundai’s cars having appealing price tags.

Along with the analysts, I knew this was going to happen. Cash for clunkers was a good program if you were looking in the short run, but the people who were out buying the cars weren’t exactly the kind of people that you can expect to come back and buy another new car in 5 or fewer years. Most of the people who took advantage of the cash for clunkers program are the kinds of people who hold on to a car (even if it is being held together by duct tape) for years and years longer than the more frequent car buyers do. I can see how it was good to have the, even as temporary as it was, jump in sales, but in the long run those won’t be sustained sales and the company will have to do something to get more people in the doors.

There is not a huge chance that automakers will be able to offer similar deals to the cash for clunkers program on their own to get people in the door to buy a new car. Chris even brought home a flyer that offers an incentive for a Ford automobile due to a partnership through work and the incentives were just not as good as the now-ended government run program.

Source

A few months ago, prior to GM filing for bankruptcy, it tried to sell off a couple of its brands. It was successful at selling Hummer to a Chinese company and Saab to another. Saturn looked like it was going to be sold off to Penske, but as of today that sell is just not going to happen.

The Penske Automotive Group decided not to go through with the deal because a manufacturer it had in mind to build the cars decided that it would not manufacture cars that would be distributed as Saturn.

GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson had this to say, “Today’s disappointing news comes at a time when we’d hoped for a successful launch of the Saturn brand into a new chapter. We will be working closely with our dealers to ensure Saturn customers are cared for as we transition them to other GM dealers in the months ahead.”

The deal wasn’t that great with Penske to begin with. GM would continue to produce three models through 2011, the Aura sedan, VUE SUV, and the Outlook. The other two models, the Sky convertible and the compact Astra would be discontinued. It is kind of sad to know that any dealerships would only be selling three models to choose from anyway in my opinion. Now, they won’t be selling any…

While sales have been dismal for the brand this year, some people have still gone out and bought new Saturns. So, the question now is what happens to the people who bought those cars? GM did say that it will honor the warranties of all the Saturn automobiles with deals with other GM dealerships. So, you may have to take your Saturn to a Chevy dealer to get it fixed.

Pontiac is the other brand that GM is getting rid of in the aftermath of the bankruptcy it filed at the beginning of the summer. I am actually kind of surprised that they did not try to sell of that brand as well considering that it had a pretty loyal following. Saturn also has (or had) a very loyal following. There were many people who would purchase a Saturn and never drive anything else. And for a GM car, it always seemed as though the Saturns lasted. When I was 16 and learning how to drive I really wanted a 2001 Saturn SC2. I had my eye on that car until they changed the body style a couple of model years later, and then just did away with the style altogether.

I feel for you loyal Saturn customers. This is not good news.

Source

If you own one of the following cars, you really need to pay attention to this post. You might be in trouble of having a serious problem due to the accelerator pedal and your floor mat:

This is the list of the Toyota and Lexus car models that are affected by the recall:
2007-2010 Camry
2005-2010 Avalon
2004-2009 Prius
2005-2010 Tacoma
2007-2010 Tundra
2007-2010 ES 350
2006-2010 IS 250 and IS 350

If you own any of these cars you need to take the floor mat out of your driver’s side floorboard and throw it somewhere where it cannot affect your driving at all.

A problem has arisen with the floor mats where they are actually not the right size for the cars and have been known to cause the accelerator pedal to get stuck against the floorboard. That means that you, the unsuspecting driver, will be careening out of control down some road if this unlikely event were to happen to you.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had this to say about the recall:

“This is an urgent matter,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”

NHTSA notes that there continue to be reports of accelerator pedal clearance issues which provide the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position. A stuck accelerator may result in very high vehicle speeds and a crash, which could cause serious injury or death.

NHTSA said that Toyota has announced that it will soon launch a safety recall of various model year vehicles to redress the problem. However, the safety agency warned owners to remove all driver-side floor mats from the models listed below immediately as an interim safety measure in advance of the recall.

Not everyone can have a perfect, clean driving record. For those who don’t have clean records and/ or are considered high risk drivers, there are options available for them.

You have to remember, even if car insurance is expensive, if you are going to be behind the wheel of a car, car insurance is the law. There are some companies that specialize in auto insurance for high risk drivers.

Drivers who have multiple tickets, have had accidents that were considered their fault, or young and/or inexperienced drivers are considered high risk drivers. If you fall into one of these categories, then it is important that you shop around for car insurance. Quotes can vary from company to company. Risky factors for young insureds leads to higher premiums and when you’re working for minimum wage like teens do, then it is important to make sure that you’re getting the most for your money. I remember when I was first driving and it cost almost $100 per month for liability and uninsured motorist coverage on my 2000 Cavalier.

Comparison shopping for car insurance isn’t only for teenagers, anyone can find affordable coverage for high-risk motorists if they know where to look or if they can do a search around the internet. There are so many companies out there that tend to focus on insuring people with squeaky clean records that sometimes those with a blemished record get left out.

Once when I tried to get an auto insurance quote online when I was younger, I had a really hard time finding a company that would offer insurance to me, let alone give me a real quote. I would always have to call the company during their business hours, which I’ve always found to be a bit inconvenient. Finding auto insurance doesn’t have to be as much of a hassle for risky drivers anymore.

Alright, so speaking from a quite personal experience, I was wondering when all you thought that it would be okay to file an insurance claim. The other day, Chris and I were at the grocery store when we realized that the car next to ours had hit the side hard enough to leave a dent in the side of the car. I, of course, was quite angry (because this is my car ). We filed a police report and I called State Farm about the dent and they said that if I took it to a repair shop it would be $200 due to uninsured motorists and they would cover the rest.

That’s all fine, but I know who damaged my car and I would really like for them to pay the deductible, not me! When it comes to parking lot accidents it seems like it is so easy to get away with damaging someone else’s car. In this case, my car was dented and the other car (no matter if I got their license plate number or not) got away with it without having to pay the uninsured motorist’s deductible.

I just hate that some thug-wannabes were able to scam my insurance company like that. I have told my insurance company about the car that I am SURE did this and they said that because there wasn’t enough “proof” they couldn’t do anything about it. That is complete and utter BS!!

I will promise something to the people who dented my car; If I EVER see your car again, I will do something to your car to where you will KNOW I spotted it and noticed it hanging out in a parking lot where I already was. Revenge is a … well you know.

GM really wants to draw in customers. They didn’t do as well through the cash for clunkers program as their competitors did and now it looks like the company is actually doing something about sluggish sales to help draw in customers that are wary of the company.

GM will begin offering a money back guarantee on all their cars. The terms are that anytime up to 60 days after you purchase your new car, you can bring it back in for a full refund.

The program is called “May the Best Car Win.”

So, you can expect a barrage of advertisements no doubt about people who have been wary of the company in the past and since it filed for bankruptcy protection. GM already has one that is going to start going into rotation with the new GM Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. where he tells viewers about his doubts in the company and how his opinion has changed over the summer.

The program is only set to run through November 30th.

Of course, there are a few stipulations to the refund. First, the purchasers have to be current on all the payments on the vehicle and secondly, the car can’t have more than 4,000 miles on it. It also only applies to the four brands that are still standing after the bankruptcy filing: GMC, Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac. It also only applies to new cars.

GM has a lot of work to do to catch up with Toyota and Honda. I believe that the company offering a money back refund is probably one of the better things it can do. The only problem I can see coming about from the program is that many of the people who go to return the car for the refund will find themselves being pressured to keep the car. I, like I have said in the past, am not a huge fan of high pressure sales tactics and this is something that would likely keep me away from GM.

I do applaud GM for trying though. At least the company is attempting to do something besides offer more money off the price of a car. I like that they recognize and are attempting to do something about the fact that many potential customers still view their cars as unreliable and cheap.

The Cash for Clunkers program seemed to be a hit for those automakers while others got left behind. However, the problem will come up over the next few months when no one is purchasing autos through the fall. Even with clearance specials that come out at the end of the year, automakers and dealerships will likely not see the volume that they saw over the past month.

Thanks to the program, sales of cars and fuel efficient trucks in August increased almost 30% from just a month earlier. The program also led to the first increase in year over year gains since October 2007. That means that August 2009 car sales were greater than August 2008 sales.

Like I said in the past, the program will undoubtedly leave the dealerships wishing for business for some time after the program ended. Now there are thousands of new cars on the roads and people are still going to try to make their cars go further. This will only lead to an even greater slowdown in auto sales in my opinion.

Cash for Clunkers did one thing right, it led to less emissions coming out of fuel inefficient cars. And when I think of clunkers I imagine a black smoke cloud coming out of the back of the car as it putters down the road. This program helped clear some of those cars off the road. The amount of carbon emissions that won’t be in the air anymore is also a pretty big deal when you start thinking about the entire program as well, which is what I thought was the main point of the program.

This was the last weekend of the Cash for Clunkers program and it looked like car buyers came out in droves to trade in their old gas guzzlers for the discount. The program, which ended two weeks earlier than the government had intended, burned through the $3 billion that was allotted quickly and the entire program will be over by 8:00 pm Eastern time tonight.

Many dealerships have decided to stop their participation in the program sooner than the 8:00 pm deadline just to make sure that the government doesn’t run out of money before they have the chance to collect on the money. Of course, this deadline meant that customers would be flooding in the dealerships to participate in the program.

The program was seen as a success to some, as I have mentioned before. It spurred a huge deal of new car sales and was able to meet its goal of getting gas guzzlers off the roads.

On Friday, the program has boasted that half a million new cars had been sold through the program. Of course, many dealerships have been worried that the government won’t be reimbursing them for the car sales that were created through the program. As of Friday, many of the dealerships had only been reimbursed for a small percentage of the sales done through the program.

As a response to the success of the cash for clunkers program, GM will be turning on some of the plants that were temporarily shut down and will begin amping up production.

The employees that were cut to 4 days a week will begin working their 5 days a week again; the workers that were left without jobs when their plants halted production will have jobs again. No one is complaining about the good news for jobs.

But, is this really a good idea for GM?

Sure, the company will be producing the more fuel efficient cars, thanks to the cash for clunkers program these are the cars that are being bought up as though they won’t be there tomorrow. However, after the program is over and consumers go back to not being able to afford the cars without the huge down payment of an old car or truck, what will happen to the extra cars that they are producing?

The cash for clunkers program was always a temporary fix to a much larger problem with auto makers. I believe that GM is smart for trying to cash in on it, but it’s a bit too little too late because the program will be out of cash in September and what will happen then?

I hope GM doesn’t get itself into a lot of trouble by amping up production on the cars and then losing money on them.

UPDATE: The Cash for Clunkers program is set to end on Monday at 8:00 PM. So GM should probably think twice about restarting the production.