16 Articles
Jun 30, 2005
Long-term durability figures for 2002 cars are in

J.D. Power has released its 2005 Vehicle Dependability Study, which tracks the problems recorded by original owners of model-year 2002 vehicles. Industry-wide, the numbers improved by over 10% compared to the previous year, with 84% of all models showing an improvement. That's great news for carbuyers. Lexus led the study for the 11th straight year, with Porsche coming in second and making the largest overall improvement. Lincoln, Buick, and Cadillac round out the top five. The bottom-thi

Eric Bryant
Jun 30, 2005
Mazda3 sells like mad, production to be boosted

The rumor that Mazda is giving away free cocaine to raise sales of its Mazda3 is officially untrue. (Seriously, I just made it up.) Turns out the car doesn't need narcotics to sell, it's just that damn good. So good, in fact, that the company is boosting production to meet overseas demand, mainly that of the European, U.S. and Australian markets. Mazda's Ujina No. 2 plant will begin pumping out an extra 2,000 units per month, which should help Mazda meet the car's projected annual sales o

John Neff
Jun 30, 2005
JD Power predicts more diesels and hybrids

In what is likely not the most shocking news of the day, JD Power predicts that hybrids and diesels will continue to increase their market share in the upcoming years as fuel economy increases in importance. Ah, but the magic is in predicting exactly how much market they'll capture, and the experts say that the two technologies will make up approximately 11% of the market by 2012, up from 4.8% today. 3.5% of those will be hybrids, with the other 7.5% carrying compression-ignition engines.

Eric Bryant
Jun 30, 2005
Renting cars by the hour with HourCar

Residents of the Twin Cities can now rent a Toyota Prius by the hour thanks to a new service called HourCar introduced by the non-profit organization Neighborhood Energy Consortium. Members pay a fee to join the service plus charges based on time and mileage to reserve time with one of six Priuses. A car can be reserved up to a half-hour in advance and picked up at three different locations. One member referenced in the article, for example, pays $20/

John Neff
Jun 30, 2005
"Blue Devil" Corvette spotted at Nurburgring

The concept here is simple. Start with the already stunning Corvette Z06. Add a supercharger to its 7-liter V8, yielding something north of 600 HP. Use enough carbon fiber to bring the weight down to 2900 lbs or so (about the weight of a Cobalt SS). Call it the Blue Devil, charge approximately $100,000, and let the debate begin. Will it be the fastest vehicle for the money? Almost certainly. Will it be "exclusive" enough to justify the price; that is, does it look too much like its more p

Eric Bryant
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