Autoblog

If you haven't gotten the automated phone call frantically saying that you desperately need to speak to someone about your car's warranty, consider yourself lucky. If you gave in and actually bought an expired warranty from these spineless telemarketers, good luck getting reimbursed for car repairs.

At least that's what several state attorneys general are saying. Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal says his office has received a "huge number" of complaints about the highly annoying and possibly illegal sales calls. Illegal because many of them blatantly violate the Federal Do Not Call Registry. Annoying because not only do they waste people's time, the extended warranties the companies are selling are almost always impossible to use, according to one attorney general. Connecticut, New Jersey and Iowa have teamed up to look into the sales pitches.

Unfortunately, the calls are almost impossible to trace since the numbers are spoofed. One number being used was traced to a disconnected phone in Nebraska that had belonged to an illegal immigrant who had been deported after a meat-packing plant raid.

If you've gotten calls from these people, you've probably already learned it's about impossible to get anything specific from them like a call back number, a manager's name or even the actual name of the business. We hope the investigation brings these alleged scam artists down. Hard.

[Source: The New York Times]

Ben Terrett, a graphic designer in London saw this FIAT Doblo and snapped a photo. We thank him for his expert eye and quick reflexes. While at first glance this might seem to be a commercial van covered with advertising for the driver's company, it is in fact a van covered with angst. The sides and rear spell out a laundry list of complaints the owner has with it: "This FIAT is very unreliable, 2 new clutches, 2 new flywheels, 2 new master cylinders, 2 new servos, Since new, Nothing but aggro." Apparently this guy isn't too happy with his little FIAT and hasn't gotten any satisfaction from his dealer. As Terrett points out, it looks like a pretty effective way to take revenge. Thanks for the tip, James!

[Source: Noisy Decent Graphics]

A member of the North American GT-R Owner's Club forums started a thread recently in which he tells about dropping off his Nissan GT-R at the dealership when he began hearing loud noises coming from the rear of the car. The dealership told him that his transmission was toast as a direct result of him turning off the car's VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) too much, which you have to do in order to use the Launch Control function. The cost to repair the tranny is $20,000 and Nissan won't cover it under warranty since the GT-R owner's manual states that damage to the transmission is not covered if it is proven to be the result of using Launch Control with the VDC turned off. In fact, the manual states that the only reason you should turn off VDC is for when you're rocking the vehicle because it's stuck in mud or snow. That's kind of like Nissan saying you should never use the Launch Control function despite the fact it's there.

Remember last week when we told you about a tuner shop in Florida that got stuck holding a $16,000 bill after customizing some broke guy's Toyota Celica? That shop is resolving its dispute through the courts and will likely end up selling the car to make its money back, but a mechanic in the U.K. named Darren Tandy recently found himself in a similar situation with a very different outcome. A customer came to pick up his Land Rover recently and refused to pay the agreed upon price of £1127 for the service work that Darren had done. At first the owner offered £950, then £850, and when Darren still refused to release his vehicle, the Rover owner called the local constabulary. Shockingly, the policeman who arrived on the scene actually told Darren he had to lower the price, and when he refused to accept £550 for the job, which didn't even cover the parts, he was arrested and thrown in jail. He spent three hours behind bars and promptly filed a complaint against the Northumbria Police, who performed a full investigation and found themselves free of any wrongdoing. Convenient, eh?

[Source: The Sun]

It's time once again to wield the hammer of Carsumer Advocacy. In today's episode, however, it's not the consumer being oppressed by the big, bad corporation, but rather the small business owner defending himself against a customer. We take you to our scene set in sunny Ocala, Florida where a tuning shop called JapWorks is under siege by a 16 20-year-old kid. The shop owners are Aaron and Brandon, and the kid in question is Joe D who commissioned JapWorks to build out his Celica to the tune of $16,000. When the job was finished, Joe D denied ever agreeing to that much work despite having conversations with the owners in which he insisted that the bulk of the charges be paid upon delivery of the vehicle. Joe sent his mom and even his girlfriend to pick up the car, the latter even offering $60 and asking if her boyfriend could set up a payment plan.

What has ensued is one epic thread on the TampaRacing.com forums in which Aaron and Brandon have continually kept the community up to date on Joe's attempt to retrieve his Celica, which, by the way, was only recently financed by his mother who was told by her son that "sponsors" were paying for the car's customization. Aaron and Brandon also discovered that Joe has scammed people before after a number of victims came forward in the thread to identify shady dealings with him. The police and State Attorney's Office are now involved, and the car is tucked away in a secret location. Aaron tells us that wheels are in motion with state authorities to bring this dispute to a close, which will likely result in he and his partner taking possession of the car and selling it get their money back.

We highly suggest hitting up the forum thread below and following this madness across some 120 pages of posts. It gets especially interesting when Joe shows up to defend himself. Also, if your heart goes out to Aaron and Brandon who are bearing the weight of this financial burden, you can donate to help pay for the shop's legal fees here. Good luck guys!

UPDATE: We don't have the space to tell the whole story here, but Joe did put some money down and provided many parts and materials at the beginning of the project, though the shop owners realize the rest of their good faith was taken advantage of. And yes, Joe is 20 years old, not 16.


[Source: TampaRacing.com, JapWorks.com]

Click above to watch Ryan's call to action

Ryan Mickle, seen above and apparently afraid of no ghosts, has had a change of heart since purchasing his Range Rover Sport new in 2006. Since then, gas prices have shot through the roof and fighting climate change has become a favorite global pastime. Seeing that his SUV gets about 13 mpg, Ryan doesn't want to drive it, doesn't want to sell it and doesn't want anyone else to get behind the wheel -- ever. Trouble is, he's not quite sure how to go about it just yet. So, he wants you to help him decide the fate of his SUV. A few initial ideas: catapult it into the Pacific Ocean, blow it up or convert it to a run on either electrons or biodiesel.

We're hoping that common sense wins out here and the vehicle is somehow saved from such an inauspicious fate as being merely blown to shreds -- after all, that's not very eco-friendly either. While a biodiesel conversion might be fun, we'll put our official vote on the EV idea. Yank the engine, drop in a nice electric motor and some decent batteries in the rear cargo area... presto-chango, problem solved. Well, maybe it's a bit more complicated than that. Watch Ryan's video after the break. Thanks for the tip, everyone!

[Source: One Fewer]

As the self-appointed family car reviewer for Autoblog, I have some opinions on the topic. If money were no object, my nomination for the ultimate family car would be split between the Mercedes-Benz R-Class and the BMW 5 Series wagon. But the R-Class entry price is $42k, and the Bimmer's is close to $50k -- not exactly family-friendly.

Forbes Magazine, however, is a bit more realistic in its quest for the perfect family car, and considers price a deciding factor, like the majority of families. I agree with its Compact Car pick. The 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit is a good deal for your $16k entry price (though Forbes says $19k). On paper, its 15 cu. ft. of cargo space doesn't sound like much, but in reality, it's bigger than it sounds. The Rabbit also averages about 25 mpg, and these days, that's a big deal.

Still, there are some Forbes picks I just don't agree with. For example, the mag selects the Saab 9-3 Sport Combi as best wagon. Really? I admit I've never driven one, but I'm just wondering where the new Jetta Sportwagen placed. (I just stepped out of reviewing one for a week.) Forbes cites the Saab's maximum 72.3 cu. ft of cargo space as a big factor. But it only bests the VeeDub's by 5.4 cu. ft. And while the VW gives up 110 horses to the Saab's 280, but the VW gets, on average, 24 mpg to the Saab's 18. Oh, and the Saab requires premium fuel. I guess the question is this: Do you want to drag race your wagon or save money? My family will take the cash, please.

J.D. Power and Associates asked 19,000 potential car buyers what they want and what they're willing to pay for. Safety is apparently on the minds of many, with blind spot detection and backup assist taking the top two spots. But once consumers were told blind spot detectors would cost as much as $500, the device fell to No. 4 on the list, while a $300 backup assist jumped to No. 1. And a majority (73%) put in-dash navigation as No. 3 in popularity, but when told they'd have to pay an estimated $1,800 for it, it falls way down to No. 18. Hear that OEMs? Cheap nav is on a bunch of people's wish list.

With gas prices at record highs, 72% of the respondents said they were "probably interested" in a hybrid powertrain and 23% were "definitely interested." When told the system would add $5,000 to the cost of their ride, though, hybrids fall from fifth place to No. 8. Disappointingly, clean diesel technology comes in at the very bottom of the list with only 37% saying they would probably be interested.

We spoke with Mike Marshall, Director of Automotive Emerging Technology at JD Power, who said he was disappointed in the clean diesel interest but not really surprised. "We knew it wouldn't do that well," Marshall said. "One of the biggest things working against diesel is where people are coming from."

Hit the jump to read the rest of our interview and to view the full press release by J.D. Power and Associates.

UPDATE: We spoke to Mike Marshall, not Chris, and the survey queried 19,000 people, not 1,900. We've updated the post to reflect the corrections.

[Source: J.D. Power]

It's time for another installment of Carsumer Advocacy. We won't go into the nitty gritty details of this one, as it's spread across a 61-page forum post on VW Vortex. The basic gist is that a guy moved into a house in a nice neighborhood. Said neighborhood then started a Home Owners Association with an annual fee of over $1,500. The new HOA then hired an outside contractor to police parking inside the neighborhood. Parking passes were then required that had to be displayed within the vehicle at all times, even when parking in your own driveway (!). If the loose passes (they weren't stickers) weren't displayed, a homeowner would get a $140 ticket and a couple of boots slapped on his or her wheels until the ticket was paid.

One day, forum member The A1 and A2 German forgot to hang his parking pass on the rearview mirror of his mildly tuned Audi A4. The boots came, but rather than acquiesce, he got some rolling jacks and wheeled his car, boots and all, back into his garage. It's the principal of the thing, as this guy apparently always used his parking pass and, despite the rent-a-cops knowing his vehicle, they ticketed him and gave his car the boot anyway. Then the standoff began. This guy was smart and called the police to make sure he wasn't doing anything illegal like stealing the contractor's boots, and when the HOA contractor's eventually found out where their they were hiding, he was happy to let them come and retrieve their property. The contractor now his boots back, but the man's parking pass has been revoked and apparently his neighbors are now being terrorized by these boot police who are hell bent on revenge. Click the source below to read the whole story, or hit up the second source to view just those forum posts by the man in question.

[Source: VW Vortex, GT Planet]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Chevy Aveo

Consumer Reports isn't known for completely trashing cars in its reviews. In fact, the publication is more often criticized for going too easy on them and finding something to like in everything that passes through the CR garage. But dang if they didn't just tear apart the 2008 Chevy Aveo sedan, going so far as to say its big-bro Cobalt is an all-around better car and better deal for bargain shoppers. They cite Cobalt's comparable fuel economy, better handling, quieter more refined interior and, after discounts, better price.

The magazine calls the Aveo a "miserable little car" and, since they couldn't find the name "Aveo" anywhere in the car's interior, thinks GM might think so, too. CR says its readers certainly thought the Aveo was miserable, rating the hatchback and sedan variants at the very bottom of their classes.

Worse than the Cobalt? Ouch. We tested the 2007 model and gave it a resounding score of "eh." Any Aveo owners out there who want to defend their little Korean cars' reputation? Anyone?


[Source: Consumer Reports]