autoinsane

Toyota calls shenanigans on ABC news segment, claims test was “artificially manipulated” and “unrealistic”

Just when you thought you’d heard the last word on Toyota’s acceleration problems, the company is fighting back. Today the company stated that it had comprehensively tested claims made by ABC News andProfessor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University and found those claims not only wrong, but “artificially manipulated” and “unrealistic”. Read on for a link to the original testing by ABC and Toyota’s full statement.

OnStar showing Chevy engines and transmissions approaching 100 percent reliability in January

In the month of January, 99.3 percent of the 1.8 million Chevrolet vehicles enrolled in OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics reported that there were no issues with the key components of their engine and transmission systems.

IIHS Releases Safest New Vehicles for 2010

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its list of cars awarded Top Safety Pick. The 27 vehicle list includes 19 cars and 8 SUV’s. The Big Winner? Subaru, with five of its cars winning the awards from the IIHS. The Subaru Forester, Subaru Impreza (except WRX), Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback and Subaru Tribeca were selected, that’s almost Subaru’s entire lineup.

Volvo and Volkswagen also cleaned up with four cars a piece taking home a trophy. Detroit was not to be out done, each Big Three Automaker had at least two cars make the list.

The IIHS points out that Toyota and it’s subsidiaries were absent from the list after receiving 11 awards last year, as well as BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Saab for not having qualifying vehicles. Other big surprises include the Honda Accord and Ford Fusion missing the grade for only meeting ‘acceptable’ standards in the new roof safety standards.

Ford adds rear air seat belts to next-generation Explorer

Raising the bar in passenger safety, Ford Motor Company announced it produced the first-ever air-inflated seat belts to enhance rear-seat protection for passengers, most often found to be children and older passengers susceptible to head, chest and neck injuries, when it debuts on the next-gen Ford Explorer.

Crash test: 2009 Malibu vs 1959 Bel Air, aka 50 years of the IIHS

On the surface this video seems like a normal Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test. However, the two cars involved represent the span of 50 years in which the IIHS has been crashing cars for consumer safety. Can you guess which one does better?

VW DSG reader stories round 3 – “Flash of death” woes lead to brand new recall

Late Friday night we broke the news that Volkswagen of America was offering up another 53,000+ vehicles as part of a second recall concerning its DSG transmission. Our readers knew something bigger than a simple temperature sensor acting up was afoot and let us know. Here’s a few more of the emails that we’ve received.

Volkswagen recalls 53,300 new vehicles, announces service program to address DSG complaints

Volkswagen Group of America has announced that it will ramp up an official customer service program to specifically address DSG related issues for Volkswagen and Audi models. At the same time, the company announced a new recall that includes over 50,000 vehicles.

VW DSG reader stories round 2- Failures reported in non-recall models

It’s time for round two of reader-submitted Volkswagen DSG failure stories. Today we have three stories, each bringing new light to how widespread the DSG failure issues may be while posing an entirely scary question- Is the current recall just the tip of the iceburg? You don’t want to miss this.

How long has Volkswagen/Audi known about DSG recall related failures?

After news of the Volkswagen & Audi recall broke last week we asked for your DSG failure experiences. One email in particular, from reader Adam M. brings up an interesting question regarding the so-called “flash of death”. How long has VW known about the potentially serious safety aspects of the failing transmission temperature sensors?

Flash of death? Volkswagen & Audi DSG recall issues caught on video

Yesterday we reported that Volkswagen & Audi were recalling 13,500+ vehicles equipped with it’s DSG transmission. Today we’re finding out the recall may just be the tip of the iceburg. After the jump we have videos of what happens when the transmission fails and more information on the recall.