2009

Could American Cars Break Threw the Unreliability Stigma?

[REVISED UPDATE, October 23: For awhile, it seemed too good to be true. The full text of Colorado House bill 09-1331, "An Act Concerning Incentives For Efficient Motor Vehicles," turns out to include a cap of $6,000 on the tax credit available for any low-emission car. The all-important phrase...

The Little Korean Car that Could

Anyone in the world who's ever seen a movie set in New York City can recognize a New York taxi. It's yellow with black graphics. So would you mistake this 2009 Tesla Roadster Sport for a taxi and hail it on the streets of Monaco? Probably not, but it's a tribute to the hacks of New York just the...

Between car loans, trade-ins, and special promotional incentives, most people rarely write a large check for their new car purchase. But what you can get for $10,000? What's the absolutely simplest, least expensive car on the U.S. market today? Actually, there are two: the 2009 Hyundai Accent and...

Toyota may will recall all models of the 2004-2009 Toyota Prius to ensure that the driver' side floor mat cannot interfere with the accelerator and brake pedals, possibly causing the accelerator to stick. This afternoon, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an "urgent" warning...

Thanks to the strong financial incentives offered by the Cash-For-Clunkers program, the average gas mileage of new vehicles sold in the U.S. during August reached a record high: 23 miles per gallon, up 8 percent from the 21.2 mpg in August 2008. The calculations were done by the trade journal...

If you watch TV or read the papers, you'll see lots of coverage of people who are pretty unhappy with one facet or another of the U.S. government. This post is about something government seems to do relatively well: pre-commercial research and development. Here at GreenCarReports.com, we usually...

Being a pioneer isn't easy. Just ask BMW North America CEO, Jim O'Donnell. As the German automaker continues to test 450 electric Minis (aptly called Mini Es) in New York, New Jersey and L.A., creating the charging network has proven challenging. "We are learning a heck of a lot just about the...

Hybrid vs diesel: It's a longstanding green-car conundrum. Which is better, a hybrid-electric vehicle that recaptures wasted energy in a battery and uses it to assist the gasoline engine, or an efficient modern clean diesel that goes further on a gallon of fuel? The answer depends in part on your...

Now that Congress has voted another $2 billion in funding for the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," the program's success means carmakers are starting to face shortages of their most popular high-mileage models. The latest manufacturer to face a...

Thinking about trading in your clunker for a nice, new, fuel-efficient car? Take a breath; the first-week success of the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, better known as "Cash for Clunkers," looks to be continued at least through Labor Day. Last Friday, the US House of Representatives...

As expected, the US Senate voted yesterday to add $2 billion more to the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program--better known as "Cash for Clunkers". President Barack Obama is expected to sign it today. The vote approved a bill identical to the one passed last Friday by the US House of...

In May, Italian supercar maker, Ferrari, entered the hybrid fray with a patent application for four-wheel drive systems utilizing electric motors. Today, Lamborghini has tossed its cap into the ring. According to Car Advice, in a recent interview with the German magazine, Automobilewoche...

Does the Clubman Have the Edge Over the Standard MINI Cooper?

Despite IRS tax credits and superior gas mileage figures, BMW is reportedly having a tough time selling its new diesels, the 2009 BMW 335d sports sedan and the 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d (yes, that's really its name). We've thought from the beginning that Volkswagen would be the big winner in selling...

The Cash For Clunkers program officially kicked off back on July 1st.  For more details on this programs click here.  Most dealers are eagerly awaiting the official guidelines for the program that are set to be released on July 24th.  However, several dealership have taken the risky step of...

Less than a week ago, we told you that hybrid drivers are more likely to get into accidents than non-hybrid drivers. Today, one Connecticut woman has become a mildly amusing example of this puzzling statistic. State police have identified the driver of a Toyota Prius who ran into a utility pole in...

Less than two weeks after a bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate to provide tax credits for buyers of natural-gas vehicles, or NGVs, the House has passed an entirely different bill that funds research and development of NGVs. Unlike the tax credits in Senate bill S.1408, which would...

The Compact Audi Packs a Lot Of Value