JSwain: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

Nissan Recalls Altima for Third Time to Fix Hood Latches

Nissan is recalling 846,000 Altima sedans in the U.S. for faulty hood latches. If this sounds familiar, it's because this is the third (and hopefully final) time this problem has surfaced.

The 2013-2015 Altima has a secondary hood latch—the one you grab after the hood pops open partially—that may not lock the hood in place. Assembly problems with the actuation lever and improper anti-corrosion coating have contributed to the latches binding and rusting. Since dealers may have made haphazard repairs on the second round of 625,000 cars (that involved grease and bending a lever), Nissan wants to replace all of the hood latches just to be safe. The first recall, initiated in September 2014, involved 220,000 cars from 2013.

In January 2015, Nissan recalled 170,665 late-model Pathfinder and Infiniti JX35/QX60 SUVs for problems with secondary hood latches, which were installed incorrectly so that the hood-release cable would not engage the locking claw.

Hyundai to Reveal Revised 2017 Santa Fe, Santa Fe Sport at 2016 Chicago Auto Show

CARS.COM — Hyundai's three-row and two-row Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport SUVs have gotten much love from Cars.com's editors; the Santa Fe earned a win in Cars.com's $40,000 3-Row SUV Challenge and took home our Family Car of the Year Award in 2015. The Santa Fe Sport was our Family Car of the Year in 2014. The love fest ended after the vehicles earned marginal safety ratings in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's small front overlap crash test.

An update for 2017 could change that, and Hyundai plans to unveil revised versions of each SUV in February at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show. The automaker hasn't released any details about the changes yet. We'll know more after the new models take the stage Feb. 11 at McCormick Place.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

FCA to Cut Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200 in Shift to Pickups, Jeeps

CARS.COM — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said Wednesday it plans to cut the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 sedans as it shifts focus to more-profitable pickup trucks and SUVs.

Sergio Marchionne, the automaker's CEO, told reporters FCA will "withdraw the current 200 and Dodge Dart from the marketplace over a prolonged period of time," according to the Detroit News. FCA spokeswoman Jodi Tinson confirmed the comments today to Cars.com.

Both cars may not be around for long. AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan expects that "prolonged period of time" to be sooner, not later.

"They're probably going to be gone in probably two years at the most," Sullivan told Cars.com, noting the "very carefully chosen words about the 200 and Dart. Yeah, 'run their course' — that means they're going to go, and we're going to replace them with trucks."

In a 21-page investor report, the automaker also said it would scale back the rollout of its Alfa Romeo brand, with a midsize SUV due in 2016 or 2017 and several more cars — including two utility vehicles, two specialty cars, a hatchback and a full-size car — due by 2020. That's a significant delay for Alfa, which had been on track for its gaggle of new cars by 2018. It's unclear how many will come to the U.S., given current international models such as the MiTo subcompact and Giulietta hatchback aren't available here.

"We're not talking about brands with a huge depth or breadth of product," Sullivan said of Alfa Romeo's U.S. presence. "The amount of money that they wanted to spend on Alfa was staggering. I take it as [a sign that] they are conserving cash."

FCA's report also said the next-gen Ram 1500 pickup eventually will get "mild hybrid" capabilities, while a next-generation four-door Wrangler will come with "next-gen powertrains," including diesel and hybrid options. The timing for these cars wasn't immediately clear, however.

FCA is focusing on trucks and SUVs, which generally are more profitable than cars. Amid low gas prices, popularity has surged: Truck, van and SUV sales gained 12.8 percent in 2015, according to Automotive News, while car sales fell 2.3 percent. With brands such as Jeep and Ram, it's little wonder that trucks, vans and SUVs accounted for more than three-fourths of FCA sales in 2015.

"Looking longer-term, they really didn't talk about crossovers — they didn't talk about [a Dodge] Journey replacement," Sullivan said. "They only talked about the things that make money. They talked about pickups and Jeeps."

That doesn't completely shut the door on cars like the Dart and 200. According to the Detroit News, Marchionne said FCA was open to replacing the cars, at least initially, with products built by another automaker.

How We’d Spec It, Size Xtra Small: 2016 Smart Fortwo

2016 Smart Fortwo Passion coupe

Don't laugh—people actually buy Smart Fortwos, and the way Smart structures the car's option sheet, those folks are encouraged to delve deep into the catalog of personalization accessories. Indeed, only the base-spec Fortwo Pure trim level offers any real limitations on optional goodies—you can still pick from a dizzying array of colors for the body panels and "Tridion" safety cage. At the recent launch event for the Fortwo cabriolet, the head of Smart mentioned that most Fortwos are purchased loaded or nearly loaded and that few trade hands for anything close to the listed $15,400 base price. Checking out Smart's online Fortwo configurator for ourselves, we were surprised by just how individualized one can make a Fortwo, and naturally felt prompted to build one for ourselves.

MODEL:

Smart Fortwo Passion coupe (base price: $16,890)

The Fortwo coupe is offered in four trim levels: Pure, Passion, Prime, and Proxy. The most expensive, the Proxy, is also the most polarizing, with only a searing blue-and-white interior color scheme and a $19,230 price tag; it's also the only way to get the Fortwo's first-ever five-speed manual option and the sport suspension. If you can dig that interior, we'd suggest it's the way to go, but we can't, so we set our sights lower, toward the heart of the Fortwo lineup. That landed us the Passion, which comes nicely equipped with automatic climate control, cruise control, 15-inch aluminum wheels, power heated side mirrors, map lights, a nifty center-console storage drawer, a cargo cover, and a leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. (The base Pure rides on steel wheels and does without everything listed above, while the next-level-up Prime adds leather seating surfaces, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a clear roof panel, fog lights, LED taillights, and heated seats.) For $16,890, the Fortwo Passion represents the strongest value in the Fortwo lineup—and we say that understanding that, overall, the Fortwo lineup lacks value given the cars' extreme smallness and its price parity with larger, similarly equipped vehicles.

2016 Smart Fortwo Passion coupe

OPTIONS:

Titania grey matte body panels ($450)

Black Tridium cell ($0)

Fog lights ($110)

Center armrest ($100)

Lighting package ($400)

Height-adjustable driver's seat ($100)

Panoramic roof ($350)

Heated seats ($240)

Orange and black cloth interior ($0)

What's most surprising about the Fortwo's plethora of options for body panel colors, interior schemes, and various knick-knacks isn't the breadth of choices—it's that none of the extras we added cost more than $500. As a result, we had no qualms over adding seven (!) extra-cost items to flesh out our Passion coupe. Starting with the car's exterior, we painted the exposed portion of the Fortwo's Tridium safety cage a glossy black. For the body panels, we ordered up a butch-looking matte-grey hue; we've seen this combination in person and must say, it eliminates nearly all of the Smart's inherent cuteness. Not that we'd be self-conscious behind the wheel of a Fortwo or anything.

A $110 pair of fog lights for the front bumper and a $400 Lighting package (LED taillights and LED daytime running lights) added a dash of glitter to the headlights and taillights. We'd have ordered the $600 sport package for the nifty mini-Mercedes-AMG wheels and lowered suspension it includes, but Smart requires it be paired with the optional dual-clutch automatic transmission. Kind of a buzzkill for the car's sportiness, no? To us, the five-speed manual is more important to the Fortwo's fun factor, not to mention extracting the most from its 89-hp turbo three-cylinder engine.

2016 Smart Fortwo Passion coupe

To add a pop of color to our Smart's palette, we sprung for the no-cost orange-and-black cloth interior option. An all-black scheme and a seemingly dirt-seducing white-and-black arrangement are also choices. To brighten things up even further, we added the $350 clear panoramic roof. Comfort enhancers like heated seats (a steal at $240), a height-adjustable driver's seat ($100), and a center armrest ($100) were easy and affordable additions.

Our imaginary Smart Fortwo's total MSRP will probably dredge up yet again the question of value, and at $18,640 our matte-grey city car is hardly cheap. Even so, treat the Fortwo as a fashion accessory, almost like an even smaller Mini Cooper (which offers an even wider array of personalization options), and keeping the minicar under $20,000 should be considered admirable. Fiat 500s and Minis are ubiquitous, not to mention priced well over $20K if equivalently equipped, and if you truly don't need space for more than one passenger or live somewhere where parking is a real concern, the Smart isn't such a dumb choice.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

DeLorean Comes Back for the Future

CARS.COM — A blast from the past is coming back for the future. More than three decades after its ignominious ending, the DeLorean, a gull-winged, stainless-steel sports car — iconic thanks to the "Back to the Future" film series — is returning to the assembly line, albeit on a limited basis.

According to the Detroit Free Press, DeLorean Motor Co. will produce about 300 new replicas, about four a month, of the 1982 DMC-12 coupe model, notable for its ahead-of-its-time design elements, stainless-steel body and gull-winged doors. The brand is able to return the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive car to production thanks to a new low-volume manufacturing bill approved by the federal government, the Free Press reported. The new versions reportedly will cost close to $100,000 and will go on sale in early 2017.

Only 9,200 DeLoreans were built during the car's brief production heyday from 1981 to 1984 before shutting down. In the mid-1990s, the newly formed DeLorean Motor Co., which is unaffiliated with founder John DeLorean's estate, acquired the large stockpiles of parts leftover from the original operation and began refurbishing, repairing and rebuilding DeLoreans for enthusiasts at a cost of as much as $58,000 for a model customized to resemble the film version complete with the "flux capacitor" time-travel device.

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the release of the beloved film in which Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel through time in a DeLorean DMC-12 coupe with some major aftermarket modifications, as well as the "future" date the characters time hopped to — Oct. 21, 2015 — in the film's first sequel. Meanwhile, Lexus commissioned the development of a hoverboard prototype (that actually hovers), the Chicago Cubs got about as close as anyone might've predicted to the World Series and there's been talk of self-lacing Nikes — all things foretold by the franchise.

Jeep CEO: Hellcat-Powered Jeep Grand Cherokee Coming in 2017

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

2016 Toyota Prius Video

CARS.COM — Toyota has redesigned its Prius hybrid for 2016 and the result is an improved car, especially in the areas of driving dynamics and its interior. For the first time, the Prius is aimed at people who care about more than just getting the highest mileage. Watch the video for more.

The Doom of the VW Diesel Scandal Has Begun to Encroach as Far as My Own Garage

As the Volkswagen diesel scandal blankets the industry like so many, well, carcinogenic particulates, the doom has begun to encroach as far as my own garage. And I’m pissed. READ MORE ››

Monday, January 25, 2016

Texas Truck Showdown 2016: Max Towing

CARS.COM — When it comes to pickup truck sales, the Lone Star State is the undisputed king. So to find the undisputed king of pickup trucks, we dusted off our 10-gallon hats, rounded up a posse and moseyed on down to Houston with a team of trucks to test for sister site PickupTrucks.com's first-ever Texas Truck Showdown. We put competitors from Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Ram and Toyota through a battery of tests on the track, on the highway, loaded and unloaded, and with trailers in tow to find the toughest truck in Texas.

Check out the results from the Max Towing Showdown on PickupTrucks.com by following these links:

Texas Truck Showdown 2016: Max Towing Overview

Texas Truck Showdown 2016: Towing Acceleration

Texas Truck Showdown 2016: Towing Braking

Texas Truck Showdown 2016: Towing Mileage Test

What's the Best Light-Duty Truck for Towing 2016: Texas Truck Showdown

How to Channel A Ford Model A

Back in the late 1940's-1960's it was pretty easy to distinguish if a hot rod in a magazine was built on the east coast or on the west. One of the big differences is how the profile and stance of the car differed. An "east coast hot rod" was easily identifiable by its low ride height and body channeled pretty hard over the chassis without chopping or lowering the roof. It seems as the years went on guys were channeling and lowering their cars more and more until there was almost no ground clearance and no headroom from the raised floor.

2016 GMC Canyon Diesel Review: A Truck with Clarity of Purpose

Whether because of stubbornness, a true belief in the technology, or the fact that automotive product plans can’t easily be unraveled, General Motors is standing behind diesel despite the fuel type’s battered reputation of late. (Thanks, VW.) Indeed, the new Cruze once again will offer a diesel engine, Cadillac is moving forward with development of its own diesel powerplants, and—most pertinent to this review—the General’s new mid-size pickup trucks each offer a 2.8-liter Duramax four-cylinder diesel. READ MORE ››

Friday, January 22, 2016

2016 Volvo S60 T5 Cross Country: Hey, It Worked Before

-Some ideas keep coming back. First, AMC put four-wheel-drive hardware under a Concord station wagon (née Hornet Sportabout) and dubbed it the Eagle—and then doubled down and pulled the same stunt with a sedan (and a coupe!). A decade later, Subaru tried the same thing and created the Legacy Outback wagon; and eventually it, too, thought What the heck, people are snapping up those Outback wagons, let’s try a sedan. Now Volvo is applying the formula for its thematically similar V60 Cross Country to the be-trunked S60. READ MORE ››

5 Million More Inflators, Three Car Brands Join Takata Airbag Recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today added about 5 million airbag inflators to the growing list of Takata airbag recalls, and said three additional brands — Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen — will become part of the massive ongoing action. This latest recall expansion comes after the recent death of a pickup truck driver in South Carolina, which brings the total related U.S. fatalities to nine among the 10 worldwide.

Related: More Takata Airbag Recall News

It was not immediately clear which specific car models would be under recall. NHTSA is receiving two specific filings from Takata, spokesman Gordon Trowbridge told reporters in a conference call today. Both filings involve driver's-side airbags.

Cautioning that its findings are preliminary and "subject to significant change," Trowbridge said the first recall expansion — of around 1 million cars — involves vehicles from Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler vans, Ford, a small number of Mazda B-Series pickup trucks and "some Saab vehicles." The second expansion, covering around 4 million cars, also involves Volkswagen, BMW, Honda and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The first recall expansion stemmed from testing on a 2006 Ford Ranger pickup truck in which a motorist recently died in South Carolina. The second expansion stemmed from airbag testing on Toyota RAV4 SUVs.

The Ford incident would mark the 10th global death among about 100 injuries from the rupturing airbags, whose defective inflators come from supplier Takata Corp. In a statement to Cars.com, Ford said it's "working with the agency to review the available information, but we have very limited information at this point."

The automaker would not immediately clarify which cars it was adding to its Takata recalls, which thus far includes the Ranger, Mustang and a handful of Ford GT exotics.

Stay tuned for more; we'll update our full list of cars under recall once NHTSA posts most specifics.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

NHTSA Launches Recall Awareness Campaign

CARS.COM — About 51.3 million vehicles were recalled in 2015, a record number that beat 2014's total just shy of 51 million, Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, announced today. The number of recalls was nearly 900, also a record. Today, NHTSA launched a national vehicle safety recall campaign to raise awareness about the importance of checking regularly for recalls on your car and getting recalls fixed promptly.

The pace of recalls ramped up in 2014 with massive Takata airbag and GM ignition switch recalls, and has continued under increased scrutiny by regulators. "Massive recalls are still a part of the landscape," Rosekind said in a speech at the 2016 Washington Auto Show in the District of Columbia.

Rosekind vowed that increased regulation and enforcement would continue, but said that further gains in the goal — cutting traffic deaths — also will require better ways to spot and fix potential problems before vehicles are on the road, as well as better response from car owners in getting repairs done when their vehicle is recalled.

Both are addressed in the new agreement between federal regulators and most major automakers to share safety data, to improve analysis and to improve recall response, as well as to cooperate on cybersecurity. The deal for the "proactive" safety collaboration, modeled on the commercial airline industry, was announced Jan. 15 at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Rosekind said that getting all recalled vehicles fixed is a 'high-priority item" for NHTSA and he called on dealers — the "front line" — to make getting recall repairs done more convenient for owners and also to make it a policy not to sell new or used vehicles with unrepaired recall defects.

Rosekind also announced today that NHTSA is launching a yearlong digital advertising campaign themed "Safe Cars Save Lives" to urge better consumer response to recalls and also to promote use of the agency's vehicle identification tool to check for open recalls for a specific vehicle.

2017 Jaguar F-Pace Driven! The Early Returns Are Promising Indeed

While we might not be learning much about how the new Jaguar F-Pace will deal with the challenges typically faced by luxury crossovers, we’re certainly having fun. READ MORE ››

Forget Cars, Millennials Don't Even Want Driver's Licenses

CARS.COM — Is the millennial generation's license to drive taking a backseat to its license to chill? It appears so, judging by a new University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study. It shows a steep decline in licensed drivers among younger people who increasingly prefer to live in urban areas and leave the driving to Uber or public transit.

The open road and a set of wheels once symbolized freedom, but in today's era of convenient, smartphone-based ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft that romantic notion seems increasingly quaint. Generally speaking, the younger you are (down to the legal driving age, of course), the less likely you are to have a driver's license compared with the same age group three decades ago.

The study, conducted by institute researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle using Federal Highway Administration data, shows that 16-year-olds' eagerness to drive plummeted in the period examined, from 1983 to 2014. About 46 percent of American teens in 1983 became licensed drivers sometime in the year after their 16th birthday compared with about a quarter in 2014, a drop of nearly half. The latest study found that the decline in the percentage of licensed 16-year-olds observed in earlier studies — to about 31 percent in 2008 and about 28 percent in 2011 — has continued.

In fact, all the age groups up to age 44 showed continuous declines over the 31-year period, with the exception of a slight uptick in licensed 25- to 29-year-olds from 2008 to 2011. Since 1983, the share of 17-year-olds with licenses has dipped by nearly 35 percent, 18-year-olds by more than a quarter, 19-year-olds by 21 percent and 20- to 24-year-olds by more than 16 percent. Despite that one-time blip for 25- to 29-year-olds, the age group's percentage with licenses still dipped by 11 percent for the entire period, followed by 30- to 34-year-olds by 10.3 percent, 35- to 39-year-olds by more than 7 percent and 40- to 44-year-olds by more than 3 percent.

Unlike the age ranges associated with the "millennial" badge, groups ages 45 and older showed smaller declines — or even gains. For example, 92.1 percent of 60- to 64-year-olds are licensed to drive, the highest percentage of any age group measured, and that percentage grew 9.9 percent from 1983 to 2014.

Percentage increases for that period actually occurred for all Americans in age groups 55 or older, with the greatest spike — nearly 44 percent — for those ages 70 and up. That oldest group also was the only age group to show a gain from 2008 to 2014, up 0.8 percent. But even they turned the corner from 2011 to 2014, dipping by 0.3 percent to an overall percentage of 79 percent.