An interesting auction to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and The Children’s Center in Michigan that helps troubled children, youths, and families.  The auction happened this past weekend in Monterey, CA.  Ford auctioned off 225 vehicles from around the world, beginning Thursday night.  On Thursday, Ford auctioned off 18 concept cars raising about $1 million for charities.  Here’s the crazy part. These concept cars cannot be titled for use on the road.  You basically can look at this car in your driveway. Crazy!  Some of these concept cars have no drivetrains and had to be pushed onto the auction block.  The top concept car was sold for $110,000.  It was the Ford Mustang GT-R concept.  A Lincoln MK9 concept and a Lincoln Mark X concept sold for $101,750.

This auction preceded the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which is one of the most prestigious and expensive car shows in the world, which actually is today.  The Pebble Beach Concours happens on the third Sunday of August each year.  There are 175 collectors cars and motorcycles from around the world that meet at the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach golf course. These cars/motorcycles are judged for their “historical accuracy, their technical merit, and their style.”  I bet it’s fun to go and see these cars on a beautiful golf course nonetheless!

So, mark your calendars for next year. Maybe you could go to Monterey, CA, get yourself a concept car (if Ford has the auction again next year) and then go watch the Pebble Beach Concours. Sounds like a nice vacation to me.

Volkswagen is coming on strong as of late with numerous new models that are getting a lot of publicity.  Volkswagen is trying to show that they are definitely competing at all levels of cars from the small, sporty GTI, to the sedan, Jetta, to the crossover, Tiguan, to the larger SUV, the Touareg.  All of these models have gotten updates and people are talking about them…which is every automakers’ dream with free marketing! 

The Volkswagen Tiguan is considered a sporty crossover, one of the sportiest in its class.  The Tiguan has been built on the ”chassis of the Jetta, GTI, and the Golf.”  This is a nice family vehicle with potential for a third row of seating to make room for seven.  It is a little bit more expensive than its competitors, but definitely could be worth it. The 2010 model has the price range of $23,200-$33,500.  The Toyota RAV4 ranges from $21,675-$27,985, the Honda CR-V from $21,545-$29,745, and the Mitsubishi Outlander from $20,840-$29,250.  Sure, more but the reviews may persuade you that a couple $1000s isn’t that big of a deal for this great crossover.  Volkswagen says that the extra cost over its competitors is justified because “it’s intended to be more rugged and durable and to offer a more exciting driving experience.” That’s some strong words. Ha! The Tiguan 23.8 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat, which can be expanded to 56.1 cubic feet if you fold down the rear seat.  It has a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine with 200 horsepower.  That’s enough for now about the Tiguan.

Let’s move on to the new 2011 Jetta.  This new model Jetta will be introduced in North America this fall.  It is 3.54 inches longer and the wheelbase is 2.76 inches longer than its previous models.  The Jetta’s interior has 2.6 inches of additional rear legroom.  There will be four trimlines available (S, SE, SEL, diesel-powered TDI.)  Here’s a crazy fact.  The base price of the S model has dropped to $15,995 from $17,500.  When have you every heard of the price of a new car dropping???  I sure haven’t.  The base engine will be a 115-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder powertrain.  The TDI model will get about 34 miles per gallon with city/highway driving and 42 mpg on the highway.  A new Jetta hybrid will be available in 2012.  

The interior technology of both the Tiguan and the Jetta is awesome.  I think that VW is doing good things and will have success with these 2 new models.  VW makes quality cars and from the sounds of it, the Jetta and Tiguan will be the same.

Cars are getting more wireless everyday and this is making it easier for hackers to access your cars and mess with the signals. Some researchers from Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina found a way to hack into a car’s electronics wirelessly through the tire pressure monitoring system, which all cars made since 2008 have.  There will become more and more ways that our cars will be become more wireless therefore, we will have more problems with hackers. Scary to think that we could be driving down the road and things go haywire because someone has hacked into our cars.  Yuck!

Ford has announced the engines for its 2011 Ford F-150.  There will be a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, 3.7-liter V6, 5.0-liter V8, and a 6.2-liter V8.  The 5.0-liter V8 will have a rating of 360 horsepower at 5500 rpm.  That’s quite a great deal of power.

It looks as though the auto industry will be adding 182,000 manufacturing jobs through 2012.  The auto industry has 50,000 more auto related jobs than they did a year ago.  Good news for the economy and the auto industry!  Things must be moving upward.

Note to self and U.S…..let’s not try to follow/copy Spain’s electric car marketing scheme. Not working out very well for them right now.  Spain has been publicizing their plan to have thousands of electric cars on the road in the coming years. That’s great news, but here’s the problem. Currently, Spain has only sold 16 electric cars so far.  The REVE electric car is up by 15 though. They only sold 1 last year. The government’s plan was to have 2000 on the road by the end of 2010 and 20,000 electric and hybrid cars on the road by the end of 2011.  Not looking so good. We in the U.S. need to find a better way to market I guess!!

Good news! Some auto advocacy groups have asked that Enterprise Holdings Inc, which owns Enterprise, Alamo, and National car rentals, to stop renting cars that have recalls that haven’t been fixed. I found it crazy that Enterprise was actually doing this, but the good news is that now that the advocacy groups are involved, they are no longer going to use these cars that have recalls that are potentially danger until they are fixed. Duh, but I guess we need auto advocacy groups in order to prevent morons from doing stuff like this.

This is all the exciting news I could find for you tonight. Good night!

I was searching for an interesting topic to write about tonight and I learned something new in the meantime. I had never heard of the Big Green Bus, but now that I read about it I really feel that it’s worth discussing.  The Big Green Bus is a bus full of 12 Dartmouth College students that are driving across the country to try to educate people on the little things we can do to be “green” and help the environment.  Their bus is a 1989 MCI coach bus that has been converted to run on waste vegetable oil.

The website is a wealth of knowledge for everyone. It explains all of the green aspects of the bus.  This is the 6th year that the Big Green Bus has travelled across the country trying to educate people.  The bus has bamboo flooring and cabinets.  It has solar panels that provide all the energy that they need.  The first bus that the Dartmouth students used in 2005 (there are different students each year) was a school bus that they painted green.

Most of the students that are currently on the Big Green Bus this summer are environmental studies/science majors at Dartmouth.  Some are in engineering and others in Biology, but all share a common bond to try to make this country a better place to live and helping people to make just some small changes that benefit the environment.

If you have a few minutes, check out the website of the Big Green Bus.  It will be worth your time.  Trust me.  By the way, this year’s bus trip will be over on August 29, ending in Cleveland, OH.  There is a blog on the website too from people who have met the crew members along the way. Check it out!

Another country is coming up with some very environmentally friendly ideas these days.  Paris currently has a great bike rentals system called Velib.  You go to a bike rack, pay your money to a machine, hop on your bike, and ride off.  Then when you are done, you return the bike to a rack anywhere in the city.  Well, the auto rental system called Autolib will be a similar rental system. There will be 3000 all-electric cars available at 1000 parking lots and garages throughout the city of Paris.  You will pay for your car when you need it, and then use it, and return it wherever you want at one of the lots or garages.

Supposedly this rental program will begin in September of 2011.  There are some things that have to be considered though. When the bike rental program began, there were 20,000 bikes and 7800 were stolen and 11,800 vandalized.  The government will have to try to figure out how to reduce the cars from being stolen and vandalized, because clearly it will cost a lot more to replace and fix than a bike.  Also, people will have to get used to the electric car.  What Paris doesn’t want or need are these rental cars stranded, needing charging stuck throughout the city.  Overall, what a great idea. This idea is similar to the Zipcars we have here in the U.S. but even easier to rent.  The idea is to reduce people from needing to have their own cars and reduce traffic and emissions.  I need to see this car rental system in place and successfully working, before I’m sold on it though.  There seems to be some loopholes that could cause a lot of problems and money.

China is now topping the U.S. with their environmentally friendly ideas and inventions. Most recently, China has developed a bus that will help ease congestion on with city roads.  The 3D Express Coach is an enormous bus that will allow cars that are less than 6 1/2 feet to travel under it.  The 3D Express Coach is also known as the three-dimensional fast bus or the Straddling bus.  As you travel under this bus that can carry up to 300 people per cab (up to 1400 people total,) there will be radar systems that will sound if you get to close to the wheels while under the bus.   China was originally going to have to spend millions of dollars to widen the roads, but instead will be spending $73 million to build the track. Obviously, widening the roads would be greater than $73 million! Plus, these buses should reduce traffic jams by 20-30% and they will be powered by electricity and solar power.  They will use about 860 tons of fuel per year (per the predictions,) saving yearly carbon emissions by 2640 tons.

You will board the bus on the upper level and the construction will begin by the end of this year.  The bus is about 13 feet tall.  The pictures look so cool.  I bet the U.S. will try something like this before you know it. What a great idea.

There are a few things that you should have in your car at all times for safety reasons. It doesn’t cost a lot, but it will be worth it in an emergency.  Driverside.com gives a list of the important items.  

1.  Owner’s Manual - people love to take their owner’s manual out in order to make room in the glove box for other things, but you never know when you need to know what a warning light is or other information that only your owner manual can tell you.

2.  Jumper Cables - I’ve wished that I had jumper cables on several different occasions and then was at the mercy of good samaritans to help me out. 

3.  Distilled Water - You could use it for yourself if you are stranded or to put in your radiator to prevent overheating.

4.  First-Aid Kit - You never know when you might need something.  We use our first-aid kit a lot for band-aids for the kids.

5.  Duct Tape and Rope (wouldn’t have thought of this) - these aren’t necessary for life-saving situations, but could just be helpful if you are transporting stuff or something in your car breaks.

6.  Updated Registration and Insurance Card - Hopefully you don’t need these, but you never know when you might be speeding or something and need to show the police your information.

7.  Blanket or Towel - this is to keep you warm if you get stranded. 

8.  Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman - multi-tools will definitely come in handy at some point I’m sure.

9.  Tire Pressure Gauge - it’s important to have the right pressure for your tires so this is really important to make sure that you have the pressures right at all times.

10.  Snacks - yet again if you are stranded or stuck in a traffic jam, snacks come in handy.

11.  Napkins, paper towels, or tissues - You need them. We eat and drink in our cars, and there will be spills. I spilled coffee yesterday in my cup holders, and there was a big puddle and I had nothing to clean it up. Annoying more than anything.

I think we can all handle buying these items. Obviously some are not as important as others, but all 11 will probably come in handy at some point.

The information that we have all been waiting for….well, maybe not all of us but some I’m sure.  The price of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is…..$41,000* (the asterisk is because there will be a $7500 federal tax credit that you will get for buying this car, but you need to finance $41,000 and then you get the tax credit on your next tax return.  The best deal is the leasing deal. You can lease the Volt for $350/mo. for 3 years with $2500 down. The price of the Volt leasing deal is alittle more than the Nissan Leaf, which is $2000 down $350/mo., 3 years. 

With this Chevy Volt you get standard navigation with a 7 in. screen, an 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty, Bluetooth connectivity, Bose audio system, and 5 years of OnStar service included. OnStar normally costs $300 per year.  There are a few options for more; heated leather seats, chrome wheels, three premium paint colors, and a rear park assist.  You actually get quite a bit for the price. A lot more than many other cars. I know the price is higher, but the lease price isn’t bad at all.

There will be 7 U.S. markets selling the Volt in December, and the rest of us will have the Volt available to us in a year to a year and a half.  If you want to know the 600 dealers that will have the Volts available are, go to http://getmyvolt.com. 

This is exciting stuff, right?  I don’t know.  I’m really not totally sold on the Volt or Leaf for that matter. I’ve been reading a lot about them and I think I will be waiting for the price to lower and for customers to give reviews after driving these cars for a year or so.  By the way, sorry about the blog in bold, just got a new computer and pressed some button and could not get the bold off.  I pressed it about 10 times with nothing happening. I’ll figure it out for the next blog.

www.theweeklydriver.com

The new 2011 Ford Explorer that will be in showrooms starting next winter.  Ford is hoping to bring back the SUV, but in a car form instead of a truck one.  I really like the look of the new Explorer. In 2000 (the peak year for Explorers,) Ford sold 445,137. Last year, Ford sold 52,190.  Partly this is due to the new crossovers that are out there, even the Ford Edge and Flex are competitors.  So, Ford decided to revamp the Ford Explorer and hope that those with current Explorers and new buyers as well will be drawn in by the look, fuel efficiency SUV, what’s under the hood, and the technology updates.  Ford just unveiled the details of the new Explorer last week and it really seems to be a hit on the car websites already. 

The price of the Explorer will start at $28,000 and go up to $48,000 for one with every option.  The gas mileage will be about 18 mpg in the city and 25-26 mpg on the highway.  The Ford Explorer will be equipped with a new EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine that will be more powerful than a V6 and will have about 237 horsepower.  The EcoBoost will only be offered in front-wheel drive.  Another option will be a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 290 horsepower. 

I like the fact that Ford is trying something new with this SUV and I think it will be a hit.  It’s a nice looking car, and people like the Explorers and I think more will come next spring when these 2011 Ford Explorers are in full swing.     

If you don’t have a perfect credit score and you want to buy a car, you are in luck…well in better shape now.  Back in the day (well a few years back,) the approval rate for subprime borrowers (those with credit scores of below 620) was about 60%. Last year the approval rate for these guys was 5% and now it’s about 9%. Just a little more conservative in our loans these days.  

Also, subprime borrowers have to put large down payments and their interest rates will be at least 10%.  The thing is that the people with bad credit make up a huge portion of the auto sales market.   

Looking for my good news?  Well here it is.  The numbers are getting better. More people are getting approved for loans with not great credit scores.  If you try to get a loan from a local or regional bank they seem to be more relaxed in their loan approvals.  Also, the average interest rate is down about a percentage point from last year at this time to 6.3% so that’s good news too. 

Everyone in the auto market and elsewhere is still so unsure of our economy (with good reason.)  The auto industry seems to be slowly but surely making its way up and out of its troubles, but financial companies still need to be careful when offering their car loans. It’s understandable, but still doesn’t make the guy happy that has a poor credit score get the car he always wanted, or any car for that matter. Best advice, get your credit score up and then go try to get a car loan.  Good luck!