Chevy Volt vs. the Nissan Leaf
Frustration can be seen on every technician’s face from time to time. Will it ever end? Electric cars can give us the relief for which we have been waiting for more than 100 years. And it can start now.
The first two electric cars on the road today are the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. The Leaf is pure electric (no gas tank), and the Volt is more of a plug-in hybrid. They are here, in the hands of a few early adopters. There is nothing to compare the old versus the new as we usually do, so we will compare them with each other.
Serviceability Report: BMW
You, the technician, need a voice of reason. This article completes eight years of reporting on the basic construction of different carmakers, but we have never looked at BMW.
BMW is one of three car companies that make motorcycles; Honda and Suzuki also make motorcycles. Each company has a history of racing. At the track, making the car or motorcycle hard to fix is the wrong way to go. All three of these brands are well respected in reports on their two-wheeled machines, but how do American technicians view the four-wheeled BMWs?
Lexus’ RX Series: What’s Its Future?
The Lexus brand has been around for two decades now. Toyota saw that Honda had a good thing going with Acura so Toyota jumped into the luxury market and moved into first place with European-type designs, good product and new ideas. This crossover segment, as it was first called, was a smaller SUV that used a car platform (uni-body) and a four-wheel-drive (4WD) system with higher ground clearance than a conventional car.
Serviceability Report: Hyundai Sonata
In this article, we will examine the 2006 Sonata versus the 2011. It should also be noted that Hyundai has cooperated with the National Automotive Service Task Force in a thoughtful way. Hyundai and its other company, Kia, are the only car companies that post all their service information on their Web sites for free. Every wiring diagram, technical-service bulletin, body manual, you name it. Hyundai and Kia have shown, in this way, support for aftermarket shops like no other company.
Serviceability Report: Nissan Altima
In 1993, Nissan discontinued its much-criticized Stanza, replacing it with the U.S.-made Altima, which, like the Stanza, is a compact car. The very first Altima rolled off the assembly line June 15, 1992, as a 1993 model. All Altimas were built in Smyrna, Tenn., until June 2004, when Nissan’s Canton, Miss., plant began producing additional Altimas to meet high demand.
Serviceability Report: Volvo S40
In the summer of 1995, the first S40 was built in a Dutch factory that originally produced the DAF (Van Doorne’s Aanhangwagen Fabriek). This was a joint venture among the Dutch government, Volvo and Mitsubishi. In 1999, Ford Motor Co. – the world’s most-profitable carmaker at that time – bought the automobile operations of Swedish-based Volvo for $6.45 billion. This is a figure slightly less than Ford’s 1998 profits of $6.57 billion. As of this writing, Volvo is for sale and may end up in the hands of the Chinese automotive company Geely – so Ford can get back to basics.
Serviceability Report: 2010 Subaru Outback
The first Subaru Outback was a hit with consumers. Over the years, many other original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) came up with similar crossover wagons and SUVs. By the year 2000, everyone was in the game but Subaru continued to raise the bar and now has a third-generation Outback for 2010.
Serviceability Report: Honda Insight Hybrid
Honda introduced the first hybrid to America in December 1999, a month that changed a lot of what we thought we knew about cars. That was the past century. Since then Honda has produced a hybrid that flopped, the Accord HEV (2005-2007), and a Civic hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) that sells well. The first generation of the Insight was discontinued in 2006 and the Civic HEV was on its own, holding the hybrid flag for almost two years until now. In April of this year, another Insight was offered as a 2010 model.
Ford Mustang: Does Ford Really Have a Better Idea?
This year, we continue our series on redesigned cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. Ford will now go under the technician microscope as I compare the 2004 3.8-liter Mustang to the 2009 4.0 to see if it is easier to service or a step back in time.
Serviceability Report: The Acura RL, Honda’s Top-End Car
How does the 2009 Acura RL compare with the 2003 Acura RL in terms of serviceability?
It has been six years ago this month since I was asked to speak for you in AutoInc. The purpose of my quarterly article is to have a dialogue in terms of a technician’s point of view when it comes to the design of cars and trucks.
Serviceability Report: Toyota Tacoma – How Are They to Repair?
We aren’t going to compare a 1972 to a 2008, but we will look at the 2008 vs. the 2002 model. The most popular is the V-6 with 4WD, but with gas prices not going below $4 a gallon, the four-cylinder is looking pretty good these days, and in regard to AWD – do I really need that?
Serviceability Report: Chevrolet Malibu
The name Malibu brings a lot of us older techs back to a time in the ’60s that was more “car” based and less about the world impact of so many vehicles. My dad drove a 1967 Malibu 307 two-door hardtop, blue with a white vinyl roof, that I borrowed for my first date. Oh, the memories; simpler times for sure.
