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
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Tentative contract shows U.S. union still has power, but members ready to work
Striking United Auto Workers members picket at the General Motors Lansing Parts and Warehouse for the fifth week of the strike on October 16, 2019 in Lansing, Michigan.Bill Pugliano / Getty On the picket lines at a General Motors transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio, passing cars honked and striking workers celebrated a tentative contract deal by munching on 10 pizzas dropped off by a supporter.They had carried signs for 31 days and demonstrated the muscle the United Auto Workers union still has over Detroits three manufacturers.Details of the four-year pact werent released, but GMs latest offer to end the monthlong strike included wage increases and lump-sum payments, top-notch health insurance at little cost to workers, promises of new products for many U.S. factories and a path to full-time work for temporary workers.Thats a big difference from what GM wanted going into the talks: to slash total labour costs at its factories, which are about US$13 per hour higher than at foreign automakers in the U.S.Terry Dittes, the UAWs chief bargainer with GM, said the deal offers major gains for 49,000 union workers who have been walking picket lines since Sept. 16. Theyll stay off work for at least a couple more days while union committees decide if they will bless the deal. Then workers will have to vote on it. The deal shows that the union, with less than one-third of the 1.5 million members it had at its peak in 1979, still has a lot of clout with GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.I think economically the UAW will do just fine in this agreement, said Art Schwartz, a former GM negotiator who now is a labour consultant in Michigan. The union certainly still has power in this industry.President Donald Trump called UAW President Gary Jones on Wednesday night, but union spokesperson Brian Rothenberg said he did not know what the men discussed.The strike immediately brought GMs U.S. factories to a halt, and within a week, started to hamper production in Mexico and Canada. Analysts estimated the stoppage cut GM vehicle production by 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles, and the costs to GM will hit around US$2 billion.Workers, on the other hand, lost north of $3,000 each on average, the difference between their base wages and $250 per week in strike pay from the union.Its nice to see theres a deal, but without knowing the details Im a little skeptical because we dont know the highlights or the lowlights, said worker Nick Kuhlman, who was among the strikers huddled around a burn barrel on a blustery, gray Toledo afternoon.I just hope it gets done, said Toledo worker Mark Nichols, who thought the strike would last only a week or two and was ready to get back to work because his savings are running low. Striking United Auto Workers members picket at the General Motors Lansing Parts and Warehouse for the fifth week of the strike on October 16, 2019 in Lansing, Michigan. Bill Pugliano / Getty GM apparently was able to close three of four factories that it wanted to shutter to get rid of excess capacity in slow-selling cars and components. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant will get a new electric pickup truck and stay open, but factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; and near Baltimore are to be closed. The Lordstown area will get an electric vehicle battery factory, but it wont have nearly as many workers as the assembly plant that for years made compact GM cars.The deal now will be used as a template for talks with GMs crosstown rivals, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Normally the major provisions carry over to the other two companies and cover about 140,000 auto workers nationwide. It wasnt clear which company the union would bargain with next, or whether there would be another strike.The strike had shut down 33 GM manufacturing plants in nine states across the U.S., and also took down factories in Canada and Mexico. It was the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007, and the longest since a 54-day strike in Flint, Michigan in 1998 that also halted most of GMs
Origin: Tentative contract shows U.S. union still has power, but members ready to work
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