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Auto blog

Car and Driver lists 10Best for 2013, same as it ever was

Forgive us for having the distinct feeling of déjà vu, but it certainly feels like we've been here before. By that we are referring Car and Driver and the announcement of its annual 10Best vehicles for 2013. To be sure, it's an impressive selection of cars that combine heart-pounding performance and frugal sensibilities, but it also represents something of a broken record on the part of C/D. We're not so sure that's a flaw, though, as the resulting list is tough to argue with.
Vehicles like the Ford Mustang, Porsche Boxster, and BMW 3 Series have maintained their high-horsepower spots on this list for several years now. Even on the more practical and nimble end, the Honda Accord, Honda Fit and Mazda Miata have not budged. These continued spots are even in light of redesigns for some vehicles such as the Accord, Boxster and 3 Series.
In fact, the only newcomer to the 10Best list this year are the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ twins, which knocked out the Cadillac CTS-V. We think it would have been a huge misstep to have excluded the FR-S/BRZ, even in light of the supercharged Caddy's lamentable departure from 10Best.

10 automakers sued over keyless ignitions

Keyless ignition has rapidly proliferated throughout the auto industry to become a fairly normal feature on new cars. It's supposed to offer the convenience of keeping the fob in your pocket and just pressing a button to drive away. However, ten major automakers are now being sued in US District Court over claims that the system is dangerous, Reuters reports. The suit alleges that people are forgetting to shut off the engine, and the lack of an idle timer is the cause for 13 deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning and multiple injuries. The suit currently includes 28 plaintiffs, according to Reuters, but the lawyers are asking for class-action status to potentially add many more. The case goes after a major swath of the industry, including BMW, Daimler, FCA, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, plus their related brands like Acura, Infiniti, Mini, and Lexus. In all, over five million vehicles are affected. The assertion here is that people walk away from their vehicle without shutting it off because they believe the engine shuts off automatically. If parked in a garage, carbon monoxide can build up, leading to poisoning. The lawyers claim automakers know this is a problem and also cite 27 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the issue, according to Reuters. The plaintiffs are asking for an automatic shut-off and damages from the companies. These concerns have come up before, though. Toyota previously faced a lawsuit over a carbon monoxide death after a woman accidentally left her Lexus running. Also earlier this year, GM recalled 64,186 examples of the 2011-2013 Chevrolet Volt because owners weren't shutting them off. The problem resulted in two injuries, and the company released a software update to limit the idling time.

Yearly auto recall record demolished in 6 months

With nearly 40 million vehicles under repair campaigns and counting, 2014 will almost certainly go down as the year of the automotive recall. At just past the halfway mark, we are already at record levels, and there aren't any signs that the epidemic is slowing. General Motors' latest 8.4 million vehicle recall in the US puts the industry over the top for the title of the most cars with fixes pending from automakers ever. That's a prize no one ever wants to receive. According to TheDetroitBureau.com, the US recall total has hit 39.85-million vehicles to surpass the previous record of 33.01 million in 2004. Perhaps more surprising, with over 26 million repairs pending, it's still quite possibly that GM could recall more vehicles by the end of the year than the 27.96-million unit total of the entire US auto industry last year. With over 40 campaigns under its belt in 2014, the roughly one million cars it would take would hardly come as a surprise at this point, especially with increased government scrutiny into the Detroit automaker's processes. The pace of recalls started off relatively normal this year, with just a smattering of campaigns. The most surprising early on was Aston Martin calling in about 75 percent of its output since 2007 due to counterfeit plastic, but with just a few thousand cars, it was relatively tiny in pure numbers. GM really kicked things off soon after, but we didn't know it at the time. It issued its first bulletin for 778,000 Cobalt compacts in early February. Things only ballooned from there as more models were added to its growing ignition switch problem. The onslaught of announcements from every major automaker hasn't abated since then. Some industry executives are trying to put a positive spin on the situation. "With what's transpired (in recent months), there's a higher level of scrutiny," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas, to TheDetroitBureau.com. He believes that automakers are looking at data much more thoroughly than before, and it means better customer safety. Still, many consumers probably wish these problems had been found before their car went on sale.