GM and Ford Announce Customer Protection

Automakers hope payment protection and equity assurance will boost sagging sales

Mark LaNeve

Today General Motors and Ford announced customer protection plans that cover car payments in the event the buyer loses his job. The General Motors program includes all purchases made during the month of April; Ford’s Advantage Plan runs through June 1.

“Our Total Confidence plan is an unprecedented offer that reinvents the ownership experience in an extremely positive way,” said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president for sales, service and marketing.

The General Motors plan covers vehicle payments up to $500 for a maximum of nine months. An equity assurance clause adds negative equity assistance once the customer is halfway through the loan, if he wants to buy another GM vehicle.

All General Motors customers get a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty on new car purchases that is transferable and includes five years of roadside assistance. Vehicles equipped with OnStar come with a year of the basic safety and security package with automatic crash response.

Ford and dealerships partner to assist local charities

Ford is partnering with its dealer network to assist local charities impacted by the economic turndown. The automaker will announce further details on the outreach program in April.

The Ford Advantage Plan gives new car buyers up to $700 of payment protection for twelve months on any new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury.  The program includes zero percent financing through Ford Motor Credit on select vehicles.

“This is the strongest product lineup we have ever offered,” said Ford vice president of sales and marketing, Ken Czubay. “When you combine these great products with payment protection, zero percent financing and support for local charities, customers can feel confident about getting back into the market for a new car or truck.”

2009 Buick Enclave CX

Not your father’s Buick (and that’s a good  thing)

By Nina Russin

2009 Buick Enclave

When I was a kid, the coolest car on the block was a  Buick Wildcat that one of the neighbors owned. Its Nailhead V-8 engine roared like a tiger; the air filter was the size of a landing strip. When I looked under the hood of that car, I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license.

As time passed, Buick lost its path: sporty Invictas gave way to milk toast sedans. As a result, the circle of Buick loyalists aged and shrank: a subject of justifiable concern to company execs. Buick needed a clean sheet of paper. The Enclave cross-utility vehicle is just that.

With seating for up to eight passengers, the Buick Enclave is an affordable cross-utility vehicle for young families on the go. Available with either front or all-wheel drive, the Enclave has the features active buyers look for: a V-6 engine with good gas mileage, and a versatile interior.

Available all-wheel drive improves the Enclave’s all-weather performance. Towing capacity is 4500 pounds.

Standard OnStar automatically notifies police and emergency medical personnel when the airbags deploy. Other standard safety features include antilock brakes, stability control, front, side and side curtain airbags.

While the Enclave’s base price of $34,130 puts it in our luxury class, the car is less expensive than other vehicles in its competitive segment. GM’s powertrain warranty covers any repairs due to manufacturing up to 100,000 miles. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Range Rover Supercharged

High luxury for off-road enthusiasts

By Nina Russin

2009 Range Rover

I’m sure there are people with the financial means to take a hundred-thousand dollar car through quicksand and not think twice about it. I don’t happen to be one of them. As I drive the supercharged Range Rover on a crowded Phoenix highway, I try not to imagine a rock jumping off a dirt hauler.

This isn’t to say that the Range Rover can’t take on the most extreme off-road terrain. Its standard terrain-response system, automatically locking center and rear differentials plus permanent four-wheel drive give it the ability to climb up the side of a Mayan ruin.

The engine bay is completely sealed to prevent water intrusion, in case the driver wants to take his Rover through a stream, though I wouldn’t recommend anything deeper than several feet. At 5,842 pounds, I doubt it floats.

But it seems a terrible shame to risk scratching the car’s Santorini black paint: a metal flake that’s especially lovely in the bright Phoenix sun. Ditto for the standard 20-inch alloy wheels.

Fortunately the Range Rover is as much fun to drive on paved roads as it is off-road. The supercharged V8 engine on the test car produces 400 horsepower and 420 foot-pounds of torque. Despite its hefty curb weight, the Range Rover accelerates from zero-to-sixty in 7.1 seconds and has a top speed of 130 miles-per-hour. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Acura TL SH-AWD

Flagship sedan gets new styling and all-wheel drive

By Nina Russin

2009 Acura TL

Acura’s flagship sedan is new from the inside out this year, with  available all-wheel drive. The ‘SH’ in the model designation stands for ‘super handling.’ The all-wheel drive system can transfer torque from side to side, as well as between the front and rear axles.

There are two available engines: a 3.5-liter V6 in the front-wheel drive model, and a 3.7-liter V6 in the SH-AWD. The bigger engine is a bored out version of the 3.5-liter block. Aluminum cylinder liners in place of iron on the base engine are a weight-saving measure that also improves cooling. 

Electronic throttle control saves weight over traditional mechanical systems. It also eliminates some parts that wear out over time. An electronic steering pump is lighter than hydraulically-actuated systems that can deteriorate and leak.

All cars share a five-speed manual transmission. F-1 style paddles on the steering wheel allow driving enthusiasts to manually select gears. A hill-start assist feature prevents the car from sliding backwards on steep hills. Software holds gears in the corners to prevent upshifting. Shift logic also eliminates hunting on hilly roads. Read the rest of this entry »

Honda Insight Rolls Into Dealerships

Pricing begins at $19,800

2010 Honda Insight

Honda’s affordably-priced Insight goes on sale this week: pricing starts at $19,800 for the LX. The upscale EX with navigation starts at $23,100.

Honda is targeting Gen Y and empty nesters with its new compact hybrid. Since most hybrid cars sell for $25,000 or more, Honda is hoping the Insight will hit a yet-untapped sweet spot in the market. The automaker projects sales of about 90,000 cars per year.

Styling from the A-pillar forward is similar to the FCX Clarity: Honda’s production fuel cell car. Unlike the original Insight that debuted ten years ago, the new car has a spacious interior with seating for up to five passengers.

Power comes from a 1.3-liter engine rated at 98 horsepower, and a 10-kilowatt electric motor. A continuously-variable transmission optimizes fuel economy and eliminates clunky downshifts. Average fuel economy is 41 miles-per-gallon. Driving range between fill-ups is over 400 miles. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius

Toyota ups the ante with its third-generation hybrid

By Nina Russin

2010 Toyota Prius

The problem with doing something well is that everybody else wants a piece of it. When Toyota rolled out the first Prius in 2001, industry insiders saw a limited production car for a niche market.

But Toyota knew its hybrid sedan had more potential than sales of 12,000 units that year suggested. The name, Prius, comes from a Latin verb meaning “to go before.” As it turned out, the public’s initial reaction was a swell before the tidal wave of popularity that followed.

Today, Toyota has sold 700,000 Priuses in the US: 1.2 million world wide. The public has taken to gasoline/electric hybrids like ducks to water.

As a result, the duck pond is loaded with competitive products, including the affordably-priced Honda Insight.

When Toyota began work on the third-generation Prius in 2004, it assigned two thousand engineers to the project. The new model doesn’t look radically different than the car it replaces, but looks can be deceiving. Read the rest of this entry »

General Motors Gains in Vehicle Dependability

J.D. Power & Associates report is good news for Buick and Cadillac

By Nina Russin

2009 Buick LaCrosse

Last week, J.D. Power & Associates released its 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study. The report, covering customer satisfaction over the first three years of ownership, was good news for General Motors. Buick and Cadillac were at the top of their respective segments. The Buick LaCrosse received an award in the midsize class, and Buick tied with Jaguar as the most reliable brand in North America.

Cadillac ranked ninth among all brands in the industry: the CTS ranked second in the entry premium segment, while the DTS came in third overall among large luxury models.

The study confirmed what GM insiders suspected, based on a fifty percent decrease in warranty claims since 2006. People who buy new GM cars are finding them pleasurable and dependable to own.

Quality improvement begins with design, and continues through customer delivery, according to Janine Fruehan, manager for quality/safety/ R & D communications.

The process begins with engineering for manufacturability: engineers validate all the components that will go into a new car.

“Years ago we validated parts to a certain mileage,” said Fruehan. “Today we test and validate to not fail.” Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Rolls Royce Coupe

Where else can you get an optional $12,000 Starlight headliner?

By Bill Baker

Rolls Royce Coupe

Since Rolls Royce introduced its $434,000 convertible last year – you know the one that reminds you of a Riva speedboat you can moor in your garage – it has been sold out.

Now, the company that brings you the disappearing Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament has completed the four-model Phantom line with the addition of a two-door coupe built off of a modified convertible chassis. Those two models, along with the original Phantom and its Extended Wheelbase version, comprise the complete Rolls Royce line until sometime next year when “RR4″ comes along. That will be a less expensive, much sportier addition to the Rolls’ sedan stable that will come off a BMW 7 Series platform. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ 4WD

Full-sized sport-utility vehicle with off-road capability

By Nina Russin

2009 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ

General Motors’ forte is full-sized trucks. Engineers on the Chevrolet Tahoe melded Corvette engine technology with a robust body structure.  As a result, the truck handles like a passenger car, but is durable enough to tow trailers and go off-road.

Although Chevrolet is a value brand, the Tahoe is an expensive truck. The LTZ grade tested starts at $50,900. But buyers get a lot for their money: a 5.6-liter V8 engine, six-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel drive, two-speed transfer case, and 8200-pound towing capacity.

The test car comes with an optional 395-horsepower 6.2-liter V8 that is flex-fuel capable. Average fuel economy is 14 miles-per-gallon: about what one would expect from a 7300-pound truck. My highway fuel economy was substantially better than the EPA estimate of 19 miles-per-gallon. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota Hybrid Sales Top One Million Mark

Automaker introduces three new hybrids in the US this year

2010 Toyota Prius

Rising fuel prices have been good news for Toyota: sales of hybrid vehicles in the US recently topped the one million unit mark. Together, Toyota and Lexus have sold over 1.7 million gasoline-electric hybrids worldwide.

Since introducing the first Prius for the 2000 model year, the automaker has produced hybrid versions of almost every Toyota and Lexus model: hybrids are the company’s halo cars. Over the past decade, Toyota has claimed 75 percent of total hybrid vehicle sales in the US.

This year, Toyota rolls out the third-generation Prius: one of ten new hybrids coming by 2012. Other hybrids in the Toyota/Lexus line-up include the Lexus RX 450h (coming this summer), Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Lexus GS 450h and Lexus 600h. The new Lexus HS 250h that arrives in showrooms late summer will be the most fuel-efficient car in the Lexus line-up.