http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:40:07 -0500 Tips and Advice -- find out how to maintain, service, insure, wash and wax, and change the oil in your car with tips from TheCarConnection.com. Lifestyle/Fashion http://static.thecarconnection.com/website/tcc-feed.jpg http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1016207_farewell http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1016207_farewell Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:23:50 -0400 http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015875_what-next-as-car-sales-collapse http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015875_what-next-as-car-sales-collapse Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:30:02 -0400 Reporting on the auto industry can be a bit difficult, these days, certainly if you're hoping to find something good to say. And the latest news is no exception. Wrapping up the second quarter, General Motors announced a whopping $15.5 billion loss, the third-worst in its history, and nearly double the record loss reported by Ford Motor ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015868_bat-11-out-of-hell http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015868_bat-11-out-of-hell Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:36:52 -0400 By all rights, the BAT 11 simply shouldn't exist. The incredibly sexy sportscar, pictured above, is the work of the folks at Stile Bertone. Certainly, you've heard that name before. It's penned the designs for a long procession of over-the-top autos, such as the Lamborghini Countach. But when work began on the BAT, successor to a rare ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015867_nardelli-to-chrysler-workers-alls-good-sort-of http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015867_nardelli-to-chrysler-workers-alls-good-sort-of Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:18:00 -0400 Hard as it is to imagine, we're coming up on the first anniversary of Chrysler's takeover by the folks at Cerberus Capital Management. It's been a year of turmoil and one involving some massive change, both in the industry as a whole and at Chrysler in particular. Plants have been ordered closed; thousands of jobs have been cut; but despite it ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015866_the-v-8-is-dead-long-live-the-v-8 http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015866_the-v-8-is-dead-long-live-the-v-8 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:25:31 -0400 The V-8 is dead. Long live the V-8. Probably nothing is more symbolic of America's love affair with the automobile than the classic eight-banger. It's the engine of choice for muscle car knuckle-draggers, luxury car aficionados, and truck haulers alike. And until recently, V-8s were stuffed under the hood of nearly a third of the ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015864_gm-loses-155-billion http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015864_gm-loses-155-billion Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:03:12 -0400 General Motors posted a massive $15.5 billion second-quarter loss, a widening deficit that underscored the mounting problems facing the giant automaker, Detroit, and the auto industry in general. The huge loss, one of the worst in industry history, and nearly double the record deficit posted by Ford, last month, was the result of a ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015863_more-vw-product-coming-to-us http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015863_more-vw-product-coming-to-us Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:30:54 -0400 It seemed like forever before Volkswagen finally decided to put up a new assembly plant in the U.S., decades after closing its original, ill-fated facility, in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. But now, the automaker can't wait to expand an operation still several years away from opening. It was just July 15 when the German maker concluded its ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015862_its-not-just-detroit http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015862_its-not-just-detroit Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:15:07 -0400 While Detroit's Big Three automakers may be struggling for their very survival, the domestic manufacturers aren't the only ones suffering from the current car market downturn. The sharp slump in light truck sales have slammed hard two of the Japanese Big Three, including Toyota, which has already announced sharp cuts in pickup ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015861_the-cuts-keep-coming http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015861_the-cuts-keep-coming Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:04:18 -0400 The cuts keep coming, and anyone collecting a check from Detroit's Big Three has to be wondering for how much longer. General Motors has confirmed that the 15 percent cut in salaried "costs" it announced earlier this month will result in the loss of 5,000 white-collar jobs. Look for the bulk of those cuts to occur in the U.S., though ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015860_end-of-the-cheap-lease-era http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015860_end-of-the-cheap-lease-era Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:09:57 -0400 If something seems too good to be true...maybe it is. Yet for the last two decades, automakers have swallowed a bit of pixie dust (or was that electric Kool-Aid?) and convinced themselves the lease is the industry's best friend. There seemed to be plenty of reasons why automakers and auto buyers alike loved leasing. You, as a car-buying ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015859_rising-rental-rates-and-how-to-cut-your-costs http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015859_rising-rental-rates-and-how-to-cut-your-costs Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:26:43 -0400 And you think you've seen gas prices soar? Try renting a car, these days, as I do, during some of my travels, despite all the press cars I review, while on the road. Rates have been rising fast, I've found, in places ranging from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, as well as Nashville and other points in between. Nail Abrams, a rental car ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015855_microsoft-bullish-on-detroit-auto-industry http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015855_microsoft-bullish-on-detroit-auto-industry Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:02:39 -0400 Microsoft hopes to SYNC up with the auto industry. The software giant's high-tech infotainment system has been one of the few big success stories for Ford Motor Co. this past year, drawing in the sort of high-tech-savvy buyers who might normally steer over to an import brand. Now with Ford about to lose its brief exclusive on the SYNC ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015854_toyota-tought-times-coming http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015854_toyota-tought-times-coming Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:34:23 -0400 Hard times are coming, predicts the world's largest automaker. Toyota - which captured the global sales crown from struggling General Motors during the first half of 2008 - has lowered its global sales forecast for the year, largely because it expects its first annual decline in the critical U.S. market in nearly two decades. Last year, ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015853_more-gm-cuts-coming http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015853_more-gm-cuts-coming Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:12:41 -0400 The cuts keep coming at General Motors. The automaker will eliminate yet another 117,000 light trucks from its production plans for the rest of the year. That's on top of earlier reductions that means GM will shave a total of 287,000 SUVs and pickups from its U.S. total for 2008. The latest news brings to 1,760 the number of layoffs that ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015850_watch-honda-crash http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1015850_watch-honda-crash Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:24:33 -0400 No, not literally. The automaker is doing quite well, thank you, despite the sharp slump in the U.S. market. But we've been invited to watch Honda crash a white 2008 Honda Accord, as part of its federal safety ratings test. Over the years, I've been witness to a number of live crash tests, and I have to admit they're always an amazing ..]]>