TOYOTA’S TROUBLES

Toyota anticipates they will spend approximately $440 million on a possible accelerator pedal recall, which has been reported to have cause deaths and serious injuries here in the United States.

Over 3.8 million vehicles are estimated to be recalled, for a faulty floor mat that can dislodge from the holding clip if equipped or not and suddenly becomes stuck between the accelerator pedal and the floor causing the vehicle to rev out of control.

This is Toyota’s claim and quick fix and it is not settling with many industry experts. Who believe there are other factors that can lead to such unfortunate occurrences even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have found other problems on a Lexus ES 350 that was responsible for killing four people in the California.

Although pedal height to floor clearance maybe possible for some of these reported issues there are other areas needs to be explored intensively like the Pedal assembly design which are now cable-less a flyby wire system, loose components, faulty wiring Throttle Body Unit and any accompanying  sensors, monitoring computer command PID’s data signal, and a possible reprogramming of the PCM. A percentage remain that driver error could be a possibility.

To duplicate this intermittent concern can be tedious and time consuming, however for all the lives and money that could be save it is worth every investment, not to mention Toyota’s reputation

For anyone who has ever had a personal computer problem well there is no difference in the automobile.

In today’s sophisticated technologically advance automobile having upwards of thirty  individual modules that control system, like Brake, Steering, Climate Control, lighting, Anti-Theft, Suspension, Seats, Doors, Electronics Controls, Navigation System, Parking, Tire Pressure, to name a few, delivering their information over a network  can at times lead to mishap.

Imagine a classroom full of students all attempting to speak with their teacher at once, and for that teacher to intake, process, and command each student concern simultaneously in repetitive fashion throughout the day, at some point their bound to be an error.

The action taken to correct this problem by the PCM may not be favorable and this is where a glitch can happen. An uncharacteristic response becomes noticeable

Thousands of data are monitored and processed within milliseconds in response to drivers input and command, oftentimes an overload of information can cause an erratic performance where reprogramming the PCM sometimes fixes the problem.

PREMIUM PRICES

Since late spring of 2008, used car prices have been steadily raising based on a number of reasons that contributed toward these factors.

The recession, Job loss, and insecurity have caused buyers to hold off purchasing new vehicles, rental fleets have been holding on to their cars longer, and leaseholders are purchasing their vehicle after their lease term ends, and to make matters worse the CARS program that deplete inventory of almost 700.000 vehicles.

 It has been decades since used cars are in such short supply of almost 4 million units. Dealers are beginning to scramble for used vehicle by any means, even scanning used car classified for vehicle on sale, by private sellers and are trying to make a deal, in order to fill up their empty lots.

When you consider that, dealers could make more profit selling a used car verses new, you begin to understand why they have decide to pull out the conventional way of doing business, even offering you more on your trade-in, some dealers will even buy your vehicle if you don’t buy one from them that is how desperate they have gotten.

Right now it is a seller’s market, sellers could get premium for their used vehicle but do not let greed get in the way

Many sellers are looking at the blue book value and taking it as gospel, almost everyone I have asked this question about selling their car for blue book value said they would want the amount suggested and more, without taking into consideration, condition of vehicle, and various options that can offset the price significantly.

Be realistic ask yourself if you would pay that amount for a used vehicle, set a fair price I don’t mean give it away but again a fair price, and I guarantee your vehicle will be sold in a short time. I have not seen a properly priced vehicle remain on the market longer than average.

If you decide to sell to a dealer, keep in mind that they use the black book and not the blue book and would not pay you premium, but if you negotiate a price between both books and closer to your asking price for a profit then the deal maybe to your advantage.   

Take into consideration, how long have you being trying to sell your vehicle. How much does it cost you each week that the vehicle remain on the market and make a practical decision.

GM Good or Bad Deal

GM today started their new advertisement campaign-telling consumers they can return their new vehicle within 60 days of purchase,

Although this may seem like a lucrative deal, the fine print of the disclaimer is yet to be seen, the trick could be in the details. Is this another three card Monty game or the consumer stand a chance to gain. “Follow the ball”

Here is how the program works

Starting September 14 thru November, the vehicles that are covered are the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac 2009 and 2010 models. In addition, you have 60 days to drive the vehicle, racking up no more than 4000 miles, and do not include lease vehicles 

Reuters reported under condition of an anonymous source that GM would cut U.S. dealers discount by a half percentage point in order to facilitate the campaign. Dealers are already beginning to cry foul, every since they got wind of the program, not all dealers are in agreement, however they all hope it is successful.

If this is such a great deal, why offer when supply is limited. Due to the lack of inventory because of the previous CARS, program that dried up dealership lots if buyers cannot get the car, they want, the quality is not to their expectation, and based on the percentage of returns negative publicity may kick up like a raging storm and hence, image may be ruined for a long time to come.

In the waters of survival, a drowning man will grasp at a straw; this is a very gutsy move by the new GM, Lutz, and the advertising crew, start counting the days.

GM, if you stand behind your product set a solid reasonable price, and says to consumers, THIS IS THE BEST QUALITY FOR YOUR MONEY GURANTEED. The consumers will be your best judge.

Good Luck in you endeavors. YOU NEED IT.

CARS SUCCESS DEBATABLE

Analyst, Politian’s, Consumers and the local Joe has been debating the government CARS incentive program for success or failure. Please feel free to add your comment as well.

The past year was the worst decline in auto sales in over 25 years; many dealers lost their franchise because of slow sales. Manufacturers began to look at other options, such as closing down factories, slowing down production and discontinuing brands

Over 690,000 vehicles were purchased under the government CARS program with a value of $2.87 billion. For buyers who did not qualify other manufactures like Chrysler match the CARS rebate and these figures are not even counted.

 Take into account the many other buyers who purchased vehicle quickly because of the reported shortage of inventory. These sales would not have been possible without such incentive.

Remove the payout debacle to dealers out of the equation, they will be compensated, however the CARS program was definitely a huge SUCCESS.

Dealers Cry / Non-Payment

As the frenzy continues many a dealers are feeling the effect of a slow government payout system that already has surpassed the ten days time limit after a claim has been filed in order to be paid in the CARS program.

Dealers are outrage venom is spewing they are searching for answers and someone to hold accountable for the snail pace delivery of government cash in their account. Only a small percentage of dealers have gotten some payment thus creating this fire storm

I have spoken to a few dealers concerning this issue and the cry is the same, it is larger than reported   and has started to resonate. One quote I will remember for a while is from David Wilson representing his dealer group, he said

“OUR GROUP HAS DELIVERED 936 “CLUNKER” DEALS THRU YESTERDAY 8/9/09. WE HAVE SUBMITTED 450, 3 HAVE BEEN APPROVED AND WE HAVE BEEN PAID ON NONE……THE GOVERNMENT NOWS OWES US ABOUT $4,000,000. HOPE THIS WORKS OUT.”

 I certainly feel the crunch for the many dealers not being paid in the cash for clunkers program; however let us look on the bright side.

It is the government that is backing these vouchers and thus payment is more than guaranteed, can you imagine what will happen if dealers are not paid, the economy  would start to decline and the PR would not be pretty for the government administration.

Another bright side is, if the government did not offer such programs would we have sold as many vehicles. The bottom line is all dealers will be paid. When? nobody knows and that is the scariest part; treat this as filing your taxes and waiting for the return.

Many a dealers embrace this clunker program, but is the payment due to them that is driving everyone nuts, bills are piling up and employees needs to get paid

On the dull side the trusted dealer representative NADA either drop the ball on this one, sold out the dealers, do not understand the program themselves, or simply do not give a flying feather.

NADA should also be held accountable they should be more vigilant and vocal; the individual dealers should never have to be making the loudest roar. Come on NADA the dealers have done their job now do yours. Get them paid NOW.

THE NEW MILEAGE WARS

On Tuesday August 11, General Motors marketing campaign slogan whatis230.com launch a website and press release to promote the Chevrolet Volt electric car due out for 2010. GM CEO Fritz Henderson said the Volt fuel economy rating would be at least 230 mpg and a full recharge of the electrical system cost about 40 cents. The Volt would be the first car to have rated mpg in the triple digits

This is great news at this time when gas prices have been inching its way up for the third consecutive weeks, and the economy unstable consumers are now grasping at anything that would save them even a single cent

Hold on to the brakes Nissan yelled, not so fast. Within hours of the Volt press conference, Nissan Motor Company quickly releases its own mpg rating on their new electric vehicle debut August 2 name the Leaf. They claim the Leaf would get a whopping 367 mpg, and sell for $25.000-$33.000 unlike GM Volt at around $40.000.

Presently neither GM nor Nissan can substantiate their claim of this sudden, enormous, mileage boost. The Environment Protection Agency said to date they have not tested a Chevy Volt and cannot comment on the issue. Nissan has remained silent.

 

Enough of all this bragging about how much mpg the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf gets. How about producing your first 1000 car and put them to the real test in the hands of the consumers. Oh, why not just set the real price for these vehicle and stop with this around or in between prices. I say to you both put up or shut up and stop the publicity tease.

Until these cars are actually driving on the roads saving consumer money and the environment, it is best to keep your great ideas top secret. Stop with the nonsense and competitive jabbing, your concepts are great however build and deliver your product and let us decide.

A WORD OF CAUTION PURCHASING VEHICLE UNDER CARS CLUNKER PROGRAM

My number one question for the past few weeks have been the cash for clunker rebate program offered by the federal government to car dealers in order to boost the economy.
Question: how does the program work?
Answer: Customers that trade in their old, fuel inefficient vehicles could get a rebate of $3500 or $4500 off their new purchase. To date $3 billion dollars has been allocated by the government to foster this program.
The timing could not have been better to purchase a new vehicle, with industry sales at over 25 years low; there are some good deals available. This is a buyer’s market all the fruits are ripe and ready for the picking however you have to commit, don’t hesitate as the adage goes you snooze you lose.
Even though the deals are great, inventory are dropping fast and you may not be able to get your vehicle with all the options you want, it is first come first serve.
The manufacturers were caught off guard of the new demand for vehicles, all the manufacturers had slow down their production for months because of slow sales, and since the surge began, they have been scrambling to produce more vehicles as fast as possible to meet demands.
While the incentive programs are excellent with some manufacturers offering additional discount on top of the government $3500 to $4500 a word of caution, still exist.
Some dealers are taking advantage of the consumers by not applying the discount properly. A perfect example published in today’s paper the Atlanta Journal Constitution where a dealer advertise the incentive but only apply a partial amount and pocketing as much as $2000
Another area to investigate is whether they apply the factory incentive as well. $3500 or $4500 government rebate, should be subtract from the purchase price plus any additional factory rebate, some dealers are not giving you both, which is wrong.
Please be on high alert, you must scrutinize your contract and document before signing, there are tricks in the equation and if you are not careful you could end up losing a lot of money. You may want to contact us to review you documents before closing the deal; it is what ACS8 does protect you the consumers not the dealers.
Go ahead and make that new vehicle purchase, prices will never be this good in a long time.

Car Allowance Rebate System Quandary

Breaking new, the cash for guzzlers program has the potential of coming to a screeching halt after only six days in progress. The media are having a field day with this latest news.
On Thursday, reports from the National Automotive Dealers Association spokesperson Mr. Bailey Wood stated that they were notified by the Transportation Department officials regarding plans to halt the program in less than a week of its existence.
According to a survey taken by NADA of 2,000 dealers found evidence of a backlog of almost 200,000 claims that remain to be filed, and if all claims are paid out it will surpass the allocated budget of $1 billion dollars.
There is good to this dilemma or debacle depends on whom you ask, the program is still in the works contrary to previously report, however no one knows for how long.
Today the government said they would continue the program and honor all sales, until they come up with a new plan. Currently congressional officials and industry personnel are in a meeting exploring options toward a viable solution.
The smart thing for the government to do is to make the necessary funds available to sustain the program to the end date rather than by funds. It has already proven successful and is a sure way to keep on boosting our economy.
Other stimulus programs have not been so effective; it is only fitting that the CARS program be given precedence over non-functional ones.
Did the program reach its objective?
Absolutely, but because of manipulation of the process things got out of control very fast. My prediction posted on a previous blog was confirm, but for many other analyst and critics they were caught off guard and are now shuffling for an answer.
How did the money run out so fast?
Dealers were pre selling vehicle and holding them until the release date of the rules and regulations, some dealers reported that they had over 40 vehicles presold before the program officially launched. Based on the number of dealers that qualify the average dealer would have sell about 13 vehicles. Now some dealers are reporting to have sold up to 60 vehicles.
At the ringing of the bell on day one so many claims were submitted within the first hour that the system got over loaded, the frenzy is comparable of trying to purchase a ticket to the World Series.
If dealers had started to sell vehicle on day one of this program rather than the reported presale the turnout would have been different, less congested and ran more smoothly. Not to say dealers should not have presold vehicles, but do not make a fuss of the outcome.
Another sticky point is, not all dealers may be compensated if they did not follow guidelines correctly and could end up losing more than the shirt on their backs.
The bottom line is $1 billion was allocated, over $1 billion was spent hence the objective has been met.

Cash for Guzzlers Details

Finally, the day has come for full disclosure of the rules and regulation governing the cash for guzzlers incentive
The government has been slow with their implementation of the program to help jumpstart the auto industry and economy. Dealers and customers have been on edge since the program has been announced.
Customers that trade in their old, fuel inefficient vehicles could get a rebate of between $3500 to $4500 off their new purchase. $1 billion dollars has been allocated for an estimated 250,000 new vehicle trade-ins by November 1 2009.
With an estimated 19000 dealerships and 250000 vehicles, this amount to an average of 13 vehicles per dealers in a 3 months span. Although this program was put forth to boost the economy, it could be over sooner that predicted.
Many dealers have been selling and signing up customers for the program in advance prior to the release of the government rules release today July 24.
Already there have been complaints from some dealers that they are unable to log into the system because of constant crashing of the website, others about the length of the document. One could only understand the frustration of waiting so long to get the details, and trying to be first to take advantage of this program because the money will run out quickly.
For consumers that may not qualify for this incentive Chrysler have come up with a new program offering any customers up to $4500 off a new purchase on selective models regardless if they qualify for the cash for clunkers or not. Their program last until July 31.
As per their program if you qualify for cash for guzzlers they would double the offer meaning you could now get up to $9000 of a new purchase.
Emerging out of bankruptcy in less than 2 months is it the right thing for Chrysler, only time will tell.
Down load the rules to CASH FOR GUZZLERS http://www.cars.gov/files/TheRule.pdf

GM Insight out of Bankruptcy

LEANER letting go of the stagnated overpaid white-collar workers that steered GM into the ravine
MEANER cutting dealerships and their commission regardless of their appeal
These two definition best describe GM new stance,
Henderson said the real focus now is customers, cars, and culture. What the heck was it before, did they not intend to have customers why were you building cars in the first place.
What GM needs to do is listen to the people
How about putting out a national poll good or bad asking the American people what they want in a car and what models they would like to see remain, then take your marketing campaign from their perspective.
However, no company wants to hear the bad news, which oftentimes is the truth, we all forget about constructive criticism, and how important this could be for future development of a product or system.
Take your head out of the sand GM, wake up and listen to the American people, your idea is usually one person to a few making these irrational decisions. The consumers are the many, the majority and their opinion matters.
If GM intent is not to focus on the people and their needs, then cease immediately and do not string us along.