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Everything we see and read about these days concerning General Motors is bankruptcy related or just bad pub.  Well, there are good news. I found an article by G. Chambers Williams III of the San Antonio Express-News that has some good things to say about at least one GM brand, the Cadillac.  The Cadillac ranked at the top of the list of new-car owners for overall satisfaction.  This award was part of the 2009 AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards.  The even better news is that this is the second year in a row that Cadillac has taken the top spot!  These awards are watched closely by the industry to see how satified owners are with their new vehicles.  This survey was based on 25,000 consumers who bought or leased a new vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2008.  According to George Peterson, the AutoPacific president, “The winners performed well in 48 separate categories that objectively measure the ownership experience.”  That’s great news for Cadillac!  Specifically, the Cadillac Escaladewas rated the highest for satisfaction among trucks and SUVs.  The Hyundai got the 2009 Rising Star award for moving up 11 positions for overall brand satisfaction.    If you want to see a complete listing of winners, check out the article.         

GM announced today that they will stop making the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid as well as the Saturn Aura hybrid, according to msnbc.com.  GM is currently working on a more efficient hybrid system.  The Malibu and Aura hybrids are considered “mild” hybrid systems, which means that they only get about 4 miles per gallon more than the standard models, but they cost about $4000 more.  Some models have even closer gas mileage than four mpg.  The new hybrid versions will be available next summer.  There will be 14 gas-electric hybrids on the market by the end of 2012. The problem was that these hybrids just weren’t selling. The fuel economy wasn’t good enough for people to justify spending the extra money.  The sales have been very slow for all GM hybrids, cars and SUVs/trucks, so they need to revamp their hybrid systems with hopes to come out stronger in the next few years.  I think it’s a good idea. Why continue to make a product that no one really wants? What a waste?  Take some time, make it better, than show me the goods!

Well, Chrysler has officially partnered with the Italian company, Fiat.  So, there you have it, out with bankruptcy and starting a new life, so to speak.  I feel very sorry for the 789 Chrysler dealerships around the country that are out of business now. That’s about 25% of the Chrysler dealerships and approximately 40,000 people.  The new Chrysler will be owned by a trust fund (about 55%) created to ensure health care obligations are met for retired union Chrysler members.  Then Fiat will own 20%, the U.S. government owning 8%, the Canadian government owning about 2%.  Fiat will have the option to own more, but not until the U.S. government loans are repaid, which is about $10 billion so far.  The key, according to officials, is that Chrysler needs to redesign its vehicles and start making small cars, which have about 15% of the U.S. sales right now.  We’ll see if this happens. I hope it does for the company and the other 75% Chrysler dealerships. Good luck to all of them. 

So, I found an article on cars.com that breaks down the different car options available and which ones are worth the money in terms of resale and which ones are not.  According to Automotive Lease Guide, ”any non-practical standard feature that you add as an option to a new car will improve its resale value.”  Here’s a disturbing statistic….you ready?…..on average a five-year old car is worth only 28.5% of its original value. Yuck!  So, here are some of the best options to add and then some not-so-good ones as well.

Highest Return Options:

Cruise Control -89.2% return on resale - most cars have it so if you don’t, you are really driving an outdated car.

Power Windows & Power Locks - 77.1% and 74%  return respectively. Yet again, if you buy a car without these options you are driving an outdated car and tougher resale.

Air Conditioning - 68.2% or 76.6% if you have the rear air conditioning as well.  This is another pretty standard feature, but now the better air conditioners have the dual controls and for the front and rear. You need these for resale I think.

Some good options for resale:

Power Seats - 59.6% - people like convenience

Automatic Transmission - 55.8% - if the car comes with stick, you may want to upgrade to automatic.

Tilt Steering - 50% - this is becoming more and more standard, so once again, if you don’t have it and don’t buy it, you will be behind the times!

Options not worth it:

Rear Entertainment Systems - 27.7% - every year there are new, better systems coming out. In five years, DVD players might not even be in existence (that may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.)  Not worth the money.

Navigation Systems - 26.1% - for years, these systems have been depreciating faster than the cars they are in.  You need to update the systems with current map discs, and even if you do this, the technology becomes outdated and you are stuck with the system since its in your dash.  Skip it.

A couple of other options were mentioned in the article, but for the most part, you will lose at least half of the money it costs for the options due to depreciation.  That’s hard for me to swallow, and I will remember this next time I’m asked at a dealership if I want to upgrade. Hopefully you will as well. 

Here is a list of the top 5 favorite engines available now according to autoweek.com.  Autoweek actually lists 10, but I thought I’d give you the top 5.

1.  Audi 4.2-liter V8 with 420 hp that is found in the Audi R8.

2.  BMW 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged diesel I6 with 265 hp found in the BMW 335d and BMW X5. Good gas mileage as well.

3.  BMW 5.0-liter V10 with 500 hp found in the BMW M5, BMW M6 

4.  Dodge 8.4-liter V10 with 600 hp found in the Viper SRT10

5.  Ferrari 4.3-liter V8 with 510 hp found in the F430 Scuderia 

Wow! These are all awesome engines, too bad the cars that they are in are REALLY expensive.  I guess that goes with the territory though. You aren’t going to get a Ford Focus with these engines. I just don’t understand, especially in our economy these days, how people can afford these vehicles especially with these great engines?  There must be some out there though…..

You need to know this information before you buy your next car.  Detnews.com wrote an article giving the least and most expensive cars to insure.  The Nissan GT-R, which is a sports car with a 485 horsepower engine is the most costly car to insure costing an average of $2533 yearly.  The Hyundai Santa Fe, an SUV, was the cheapest costing $832 yearly.  The Honda Accord costs $951, the Honda Odyssey costs $871, and Chevrolet Impala $959.  These costs are based on the claim histories of the cars, based on driving habits and accidents and the quotes are according to insure.com.  I’m sure you could probably get different quotes, but insure.com quotes prices from many companies online.  I’m not surprised that the Nissan GT-R would be so costly, but 3x as much as the Hyundai Santa Fe?!  That’s surprising. So,  before you head out to buy your new Nissan GT-R,  know that you are going to probably pay an arm and a leg to insure the car, though you will look great driving it. Right?

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Toyota announced yesterday that they will start leasing plug-in hybrid cars later this year in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, according to msnbc.com.  There will be 200 plug-ins available in Japan, 150 in the U.S., and 150 in Europe as well.  The plug-ins will have lithium-ion batteries, that are more common in laptop computers and other gadgets than in cars.  Currently, Toyota’s hybrids use nickel-metal hydride batteries.  The lithium-ion batteries will produce more energy and the cars will run like other electric vehicles do.  Plug-ins are charged in a regular household socket, and if the battery runs low, the vehicle will then drive like a regular hybrid, so don’t worry about your battery dying while driving.  More and more companies are trying to make plug-in models. Who knows. I wouldn’t be surprised if these cars are the norm in 10 years.  We shall see I guess.    

www.autobloggreen.com

The new Audi A3 TDI is not for sale yet, but there is a great deal of talk about it already.  Diesel is so popular elsewhere, that the U.S. just needs to get with the program and start buying diesel as well.  The clean diesel is here and trying to make a push in the U.S.  Autobloggreen.com gives a very elaborate and fabulous review of the Audi A3 TDI. I’ll just give you some key points in my mind (for whatever that is worth!)

Let’s start with the fuel economy.  It will probably be getting around 40 miles per gallon, and the A3 TDIs averaged about 50 mpg on the highway.  The prices have not been announced either, but according to autobloggreen.com, they are thinking the price for the TDI will be about $30,000. That’s kind of high for a compact 5-door hatchback, but I think (according to the review) if you test drove this car and checked out the interior, you might not be thinking the price is too high.  There were several pictures on the website of the Audi A3 TDI. I think it’s a very nice looking car. Hard to tell how small it really is from the pictures, but I’d take an Audi A3 TDI if anyone is offering.