When it comes to what is and isn’t dependable, I do rely on you, dear reader, for feedback about your experiences out in the real world. I rather liked the Volkswagen Lupo and have driven loads, but apparently the gearboxes used to fail quite often under warranty. As the little thing is quite obsolete now, I presume the ones in circulation are okay. Anyway, I got a thumbs up from Gordon, a reader, when it comes to Toyota hybrids. He steers a 12-year-old Prius with almost 100,000 miles. There is nothing wrong with those. The trouble seems to be the state of the roads in the UK. So mechanically no issues, but structurally it is suspension parts that need to be replaced. By that level of reasoning, the perfect used vehicle is going to be a Japanese hybrid 4×4. Let’s buy one. I almost did. I looked in the metal at a whole bunch of Lexus RX 400h hybrids. They look a bit odd. I thought a reversing camera would be fun, but then I saw an RX with a £2000 bill for electronic repairs and went off the idea. The RX will do a solid six-figure mileage and there are plenty around with reassuring bills for cambelt replacement. So a 2005 one with full service history and in tidy condition will be around £3500. For a comfortable car with lots of kit, that should be worth buying. A 2008 SE model with a fraction of the miles and just as together would be £8995. Lexus owner Toyota also makes the RAV4 hybrid, of course, and a 2016 one with 70,000 miles and in Business Edition specification is around £15,995. Then there is a partly electric SUV in the shape of the Porsche Cayenne. Okay, it’s not Japanese but it’s very well engineered and a 2010 3.0 V6 Tiptronic S hybrid will cost £18,995 with 70,000-plus miles. It will do a reasonable 34mpg, officially anyway. Then if you go plug-in hybrid, there are other exciting possibilities. It brings into view Mitsubishi Outlanders, which, with gigantic mileages, are rather cheap. With £10,000 to spend, you should be able to get a private example with history from 2015 with just over 100,000 miles. If you want the reassurance of a dealer, then you will pay closer to £11,000. Owners seem to like these and there aren’t any issues. It simply gets on with the business of working in a very unflashy way. Here is a brand that just stands for doing off-road stuff and there is that small matter of 140mpg. Sort of. This could well be the best used car ever, based on our latest buying parameters. Until we all go and make up some more. What we almost bought this week It’s hard to think of a better and more reliable winter hack than an old Toyota Yaris. We found a 1999/T-reg with 115,000 miles and a year’s MOT for £550. The three-owner car has never missed a service, too, as the 20 stamps in the book testify. Twelve months’ motoring for the price of a month’s PCP. Tales from Ruppert’s garage You may not remember that the adorable Italian car would spontaneously wee out some coolant after a run. Rather worryingly, it sounded like a kettle. All I did was top up the coolant to the lowest level in the expansion tank. I stopped doing that and – you know what? – it packed up spilling coolant. I do worry that there isn’t enough in the system, but the temperature stays normal, which is 90 on the gauge. I should attend to a bit of ‘dieseling’. It isn’t the new spark plugs and it could be all sorts of tired A-Series engine issues. Reader’s ride Al Horsman pops onto these pages occasionally and here is his revived Puma: “It was a real find, but the paintwork on it was a bit tired looking. I’ve finally got round to bringing it back to its former glory. I think you’ll agree it was worth the effort and a little expense! “The roof had deteriorated the most – it was parked under a tree – and the rest of the car was detailed to match the roof as best as possible. I had the headlights refurbished, too. They’re much clearer now and safer for the coming dark evenings. Also, given the 1.7 engine is really quite a modern powerplant, I tried using Shell super-unleaded, particularly before a long journey, and that has really made the car quieter on motorways. (I think the engine needed a proper clean out.) That’s welcome because the car is really too highly geared for motorway driving.” Readers’ questions Question: I think I’ve just been ‘zapped’ by a policeman with a speed gun when I was driving at 33mph in a 30mph zone. Will he let it pass because of the 10% rule? Josh Brown, via email Answer: What 10% rule? It’s true that police chiefs suggest that a 10% allowance above the speed limit for speedo error is okay but it’s only a suggestion and not a rule, much less a law. You’re at the mercy of the traffic officer, I’m afraid. John Evans Question: Now it’s autumn and getting colder and wetter, what’s the point of a car’s air conditioning system and can I just leave it switched off? David Wright, Belfast Answer: An air-con system works by passing the air in your car’s cabin over cold
Origin: James Ruppert: 4×4 Japanese hybrids are niche but they work
they
Quebec Road Rage video on Facebook: They should have called the police…
A video of a severe instance of road rage sparked between two Quebec drivers last weekend was captured on video and is now going viral on Facebook.Last Saturday afternoon, while traveling on the A-40 through LAssomption in Lanaudire, passenger James McKinnel spied some dangerous driving and got out his phone to record what was happening.In those 60 seconds, punctuated by cries of Les esties de jambons! The f**$ing hams! viewers can witness a white Volkswagen Jetta and a black BMW X3 engaged in some reckless manoeuvers on the traffic-dense highway.The video hit the news and found its way to the Sret du Qubec communications office. But it was nothing new, there. Spokesperson Capitaine Paul Leduc says every week the provincial police receive at least one video, if not two or three, involving reckless driving.In Quebec, said offense is subject not only to a $1,500 minimum fine and up to 20 demerits points enough to lose your drivers license but is also subject to criminal sanctions.If that road rage case would have caused a fatal accident and this one was very near to becoming a multiple-collision, says Capitaine Leduc these drivers might have been kept off the streets for a while, and faced up to 10 years of imprisonment.But although theres video proof of these actions and the license plates are easily recognizable, Sret du Qubec cant pursue the file. Without a confirmation of who was behind the steering wheel at the time the owner? Their kids? A thief? it cant investigate, nor send a summation. It means last weekends road rage video will go nowhere, besides on your relatives Facebook Wall unless the amateur cineaste lodges an official complaint and is willing to testify in court about what he witnessed.Only then would police officers have several means to catch these offenders, starting with images from surveillance cameras. In extreme situations, a reconstruction team could be called in to prove, for example, that this or that vehicle was traveling at such and such speed.When you see something like this, call the police. Dial 911 or *4141 and give us the details, emphasize Capitaine Leduc. At this point, we would have sent a patrol car and we would have asked Transports Quebec to turn its cameras toward the action. And believe me, there are a lot of those cameras in Montreals highway belt. We would have been able to collect videos needed for legal proceedings.There is one caveat, of course. Dont put yourself at risk, says Capitaine Leduc. We dont want you to cause an accident while trying to avoid another
Origin: Quebec Road Rage video on Facebook: They should have called the police…
They came, they drove, they set a record
Take our word for it: there are indeed 294 luxury and supercars assembled on the Pemberton Airport runway to set a new Guinness record.Sapphire Creative VANCOUVER — They came, they drove, they set a record. While it’s not official yet, Hublot Diamond Rally organizers are confident that last weekend’s event at Pemberton Airport set a Guinness Book of World Record for the most luxury/supercars ever parked together on an airstrip. “Our final count was 294 luxury and supercars on the airport runway at one time,” rally organizer Craig Stowe said, adding that was also the most vehicles to take part in the rally since its inception in 2013. “I was quite shocked at that number. If I thought that we could reach 300 I would have let more people attend.” The world record attempt was the idea of Vancouver entrepreneur and supercar owner Robbie Dixon, who is a founding driver of the charity fundraising rally. Fittingly, Dixon’s McLaren Senna was at the sharp end of the assembled vehicles for the all-important helicopter-based photo shoot. Without those photos, there’d be no record. “The next step to making the record official is to submit the photographic and video records to Guinness,” explained Stow, adding, “I think we have enough photographic evidence that it cannot be denied.” As much as Stowe is pleased with that number of 294, it’s the much bigger number of 2.2 million that he is most proud of. That’s the amount raised in it seven year history for local, provincial and national charities. And he sees that number only growing in the coming years. “It’s become a strong annual event that is built into the car culture of the Lower Mainland now,” Stowe said, citing a number of reasons for its popularity. “The rally’s format is somewhat unique, it has a strong charity component, and it offers a great drive up and down the Sea-at-Sky Highway.” This year’s event also took on an international flavour, with 35 drivers bringing cars up from Washington
Origin: They came, they drove, they set a record
Corvette buyers cancelling orders as they await new mid-engined C8
2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1Handout Every few years, a car undergoes a major transformation. Buyers, realizing big changes are coming, wait to spend their money on the new machine. It’s a dynamic as old as Detroit, but certainly not unique to it (see: iPhone, Apple). At the moment, this pre-release slump has set in on the granddaddy of American sports cars: Chevrolet’s Corvette, the most collected car in America, is about to be reborn. Until then, though, no one seems to want the angry thing. Since its 1953 debut, the Corvette has been overhauled seven times. This time, however, the swoon in advance of the big unveiling is particularly pronounced, in part because General Motors is drastically changing the car. Its engineers have moved the engine from the front – where it has always been bolted – to the middle, behind the driver’s head and in front of the rear wheels. The swap moves the American sports car in line with competitors from Ferrari and McLaren who argue that the mid-engine layout makes for a more balanced car. The Corvette clan is ready. “We’ve been taking deposits for a rumored mid-engine Corvette since 2014,” said Sean McCann, floor manager at Stingray Chevrolet near Tampa, Florida. “People are canceling their orders (on 2019s) and starting to hold back, because they want to wait and see what’s going to come out.” Corvette sales in the U.S. have declined every quarter from the prior-year period since 2016. Dealers sold just 18,791 of the vehicles in 2018, 44 percent less than in 2015. Current models are idling on dealership lots, forcing dealers to offer large incentives. Stingray, for example, is dangling discounts and incentives up to US$15,000 on some of the high-performance models. If you’ve always wanted a Corvette and don’t care where the engine goes, now’s the time to buy one. General Motors declined to talk about the big Corvette upgrade or the sales slump, though the company did confirm a reveal date for the new car: July 18, in southern California. The Corvette is a so-called halo car. Its primary job is to shine so brightly on glossy magazine covers that the luster carries over to the local dealership floor and illuminates the greater Chevrolet galaxy, from the thirsty Silverado to the circumspect Sonic. From that perspective, the new ‘Vette is already doing just fine. The tricky thing, however, is that the Corvette is one of the rare speed machines that contributes significantly to the bottom line. General Motors makes a tidy profit on each one, and it typically sells a lot of them. At its peak in 2006, Corvette sales approached 37,000 in the U.S., roughly level with the Volkswagen Beetle and Lincoln Town Car. Sports cars in general are having trouble keeping up with the rest of the auto industry. Annual sales in the U.S. slid 22 percent in the past three years, as buyers clamored for SUVs of all shapes and sizes. Carbon-laced speed machines are expensive, and those who can afford them, mostly older buyers, are fast losing the physical capability to drive them—or at least get in and out of them. Jonathan Klinger, a spokesman at Hagerty Insurance, said the coming Corvette is a bid to attract younger buyers to the brand. McCann, at the dealership in Florida, is expecting a tide of customers who otherwise would be kicking tires at more exotic dealerships. Barring an economic meltdown, the depth of the swoon should reflect the scale of the coming Corvette boom. Tony Fiorello III (right) bought this 1965 Corvette for his ailing father and plans to add the 2020 version to his garage. Tony Fiorello Tony Fiorello, president of a dental implant company in Florida, will be one of many padding the sales stats for Chevrolet. He wanted the first mid-engine Corvette so badly he hedged his bets. In 2017, he put down two deposits, one for the 2019 version and one for the 2020. “It’s a paradigm shift,” he explained. “And I just knew that I wanted to be No. 1 on the list.” The 2019 model is now in his garage. He drives it regularly, and has no plans to sell. Eventually, he figures it will be a collectible: the last of the front-engine
Origin: Corvette buyers cancelling orders as they await new mid-engined C8
Ontario gas stations face fines if they don’t display premier’s carbon tax sticker
Rob Phillips, Minster of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, left; and Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, with an example of the sticker that will be placed on the pumps for participating gas stations was unveiled during a press conference on carbon tax for home heating and gas on Monday April 8, 2019.Veronica Henri / Postmedia Buried in Ontario’s budget bill are fines of up to $10,000 per day for gas station operators who don’t display government-mandated stickers about the price of the carbon tax. The budget contains a new piece of legislation called the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act that would require gas stations to display the sticker on each pump. The sticker shows the federal carbon tax adding 4.4 cents per litre to the price of gas now, and rising to 11 cents a litre in 2022. The legislation lets the government send inspectors to see if gas stations are properly displaying the stickers and sets out penalties for non-compliance. Individuals could be fined up to $500 each day, or up to $1,000 a day for subsequent offences. Corporations could be fined up to $5,000 a day, or up to $10,000 a day for subsequent offences. Obstructing an inspector would carry a fine of at least $500 and up to $10,000. This is a new low, even for (Premier) Doug Ford, NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns said in a statement. It’s bad enough that he’s wasting public money on partisan promotion, but now he’s threatening private business owners with massive fines for failing to post (Progressive) Conservative party advertisement. Similar critiques came from federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who denounced the fines as ridiculous. Not only is this a violation of freedom of speech, it will cost small business owners across the province who don’t want to take part in this government propaganda campaign, McKenna said in a statement. This should be denounced by all political parties as a new low for our political discourse. The provincial Tories are slamming the federal carbon tax at every turn, and while Ford has said he is staying out of the upcoming federal election, he directly linked the two Friday in a speech to the Ontario General Contractors Association. When you go to the ballot box think of your future, he said. Think of the country’s future. Think of your children’s future, because we cannot accept this carbon tax. Energy Minister Greg Rickford’s director of communications said the stickers are about transparency. But critics note that the stickers don’t mention carbon tax rebates. Amir Attaran, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, called the government proposal a farce and said the legislation breaches the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The government can mandate a no-smoking sticker because of public safety, but they cannot mandate a partisan political statement without destroying freedom of expression unconstitutionally. Spokespeople for Suncor Energy, which operates Petro-Canada gas stations, and Husky Energy said they would comply with the legislation. The Canadian Fuels Association, which represents gas retailers, declined to comment. The carbon tax is expected cost to a typical household $258 this year and $648 by 2022. Residents of provinces with the tax will be getting rebates on their income tax returns that start at $128 annually and increase for people with spouses or dependents at home. The federal government says a family of four in Ontario would get $307 this year. Ontario is one of four provinces, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, where Ottawa imposed the levy because they opted not to impose their own pricing schemes on carbon emissions. Ontario is challenging the carbon tax in court this
Origin: Ontario gas stations face fines if they don’t display premier’s carbon tax sticker
All about car 