The 2011 Chevrolet Volt may be an extended-range electric car--or a plug-in hybrid, take your pick--but it's designed to promote the use of gasoline. Well, older gasoline, anyway. In the case of owners who have short daily commutes and plug in their cars regularly to recharge at night, the Volt’s 25-to-40-mile ra...Read more

When consumers are not buying new cars, they're repairing their old ones. Right? Well, not exactly. Some repair shops are reporting that a segment of their customer base is taking one of the family cars out of service entirely. In this way they can avoid the related costs of insurance, registration, fuel, as well as r...Read more

Turn around is fair play. As recently as January, Pep Boys was rumored to be seeking a suitor in the form of a private equity firm interested in acquiring the auto parts and service company. But now Manny, Moe and Jack are scouting around for acquisitions of their own that might quench their thirst for expansion. The ...Read more

The tools of the trade are tin foil and a ladder--and the prize is $4-per-gallon gas. It seems to be the return of a scam that struck some years ago, but it has unfortunately returned recently to the Maryland/Washington, D.C. area. The service station dealers’ association in the region has alerted their membersh...Read more

A long overdue bill sitting on the desk of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon would bring the sale of auto service contracts, commonly referred to as extended warranties, under the licensing and oversight jurisdiction of the state’s insurance regulators. The bill was introduced by a lawmaker whose district includes Wen...Read more

I have always identified with the underdog, and at times have taken on the role of the apologist. But this time let’s just say I’m playing the devil’s advocate. After all, no one in their right mind would “really” defend a car that could be defined as a roadside bomb. Popular Mechanics sa...Read more

You have 45,000 miles on your tires, and when you accelerate on a grade, you can hear them spin. It's time to go shopping for tires--but where do you start? Know what you're riding on today. Let’s assume that you want to maintain the quality and match the tires to your car manufacturer’s recommendations. Y...Read more

Not too long ago the choices in auto repair in Russia were like the choices available in governing when the country under communism - there were none. You could have your car repaired at the dealership and that was it. But a number of conditions as reported by The Moscow Times have changed all that. First, the same ty...Read more

Can a disputed auto repair be worth the loss of two lives? Of course not, but that was the outcome of a conflict in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, when a disgruntled customer shot and killed a 60-year-old manager and grandmother of nine, and then turned the gun on herself, according to a report in The Columbus Dispatch. ...Read more

Amnesty programs are used for everything from taxes to parking tickets. The idea is to offer an incentive in the form of forgiveness, to encourage a behavior that is beneficial to a larger group and at the same time reduce the administrative costs of tracking down and collecting what is owed or offensive. Tires may se...Read more