Latest News         No comments

California Sues Car Manufacturers

Reuters reports that California has filed a global warming lawsuit against six automakers including Ford, GM and Toyota. California filed a global warming lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and three other automakers, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles’ emissions.

The lawsuit also names Chrysler Motors Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany’s DaimlerChrysler, and the North American units of Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd..

It also charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly… Read the rest of this entry

 Ask a Mechanic         No comments

More mechanical wisdom from Bob Weber

Clogged sunroof

Q–I have a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country Limited, which I purchased new. The van has a sunroof. Whenever it rains, water leaks from the sun visor mounting bracket, the overhead map light and a various front points of the front headliner seams.? The sunroof itself does not leak, however.? 

I took it back to the dealer for the first time at about 30,000 miles. They advised me that it was not covered by warranty but for $85 claimed to have opened up a drain line plugged by leaves. The fix only lasted a couple months and it’s leaking again. I’m not liking the prospect of another $85 charge. Is this a common problem Chrysler has with this model and am I going to have to learn to live with it, or, keep shelling out $85 every couple months? Where are these drains anyway? I didn’t… Read the rest of this entry

 Latest News         No comments

Editor’s Rating:

The Good: All-wheel drive option, sporty handling with a smooth ride

The Bad: Lack of a stick shift, no retractable hardtop

The Bottom Line: Nice car, but faces a stiff challenge from BMW’s new convertibles

Up Front

Back in the late 1990s, when I was a foreign correspondent based in Germany, a lot of the demanding driving enthusiasts I met were switching from BMWs to Audis, which had fresher designs and comparable performance and handling. My guess is that these days those same people are having a tough time deciding which to buy.

Some think an Audi is just a glorified Volkswagen, but they’ve probably never been behind the wheel of the new A4 Cabriolet. It’s a quick,… Read the rest of this entry