Stop! Bookmarks & Original Articles from the Automotive, Travel, Legal and Real Estate Markets

Maybe the Ford Transit Connect winning the North American Truck of the Year award at this year's Detroit Auto Show signaled to the world that vans are cool again.  Or maybe businesses are looking for the right vehicle to jumpstart the economy.  Either way, Nissan has decided to jump into the work van pool. Left [...]

Saab may have benefited from an eleventh-hour rescue, but the brand isn't wasting any time in trying to get back on its feet. Left Lane News reports, "The brand that almost vanished into the history books is back with just one model range until the summer release of the 2011 9-5, although a new slushy [...]

It worked once before. When a bid by Swedish supercar builder Koenigsegg to save the Saab brand failed, General Motors announced that it would be closing Saab…and another buyer stepped up.  Danish supercar builder Spyker closed the Saab deal this week.  Now, a Chinese company has failed in its bid to purchase the famous Hummer [...]

Arranging recall repairs just got easier for Toyota owners.  The company has recalled more than eight million cars in two separate recalls, both due to the risk of unintended acceleration.  Toyota dealers will now offer to pick up cars at customer’s homes, provide rental cars during the repair period, and deliver the car after repairs [...]

There may no be more telling sign of the times than this: In the early 2000s, Hummer reached its peak as a flag-waving brand built on an unabashed sense of American pride.  Yesterday, the brand was officially pronounced dead after the Chinese communist government blocked an obscure Sichuan construction equipment manufacturer from buying the company.  [...]

An interesting by-product of the recession: we’re happier with our car dealers than we used to be.  That’s one conclusion from the most recent edition of J.D. Power and Associates’ annual Customer Service Index study, which looks at how car owners feel about their experience with dealerships’ service departments. Dealerships, having a hard time attracting [...]

Edmunds Inside Line called it “Undoubtedly, the low point for Toyota in 50 years of operating in the U.S.”  Yesterday, Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who just eight months ago took the helm of the company his grandfather founded, “appeared before a U.S. congressional committee on Wednesday and endured hours of humiliation from angry lawmakers.”  Toyoda [...]

Good news, Toyota and Lexus owners: getting recall work performed on your car may get much easier soon, and the company may reimburse you for rental car or taxi expenses you incur while waiting for the dealership to perform recall repairs.  The benefit is already being offered in New York, but may soon be available [...]