Well, while we waited for Nicole to return our calls, emails and skywriting notes we read the cars news for you.
Infiniti Kills off I35
Father-in-law drives one of these. He's one of the last ones, too -- Infiniti is stopping production of the I35. Why? Sales of the G35 are a lot better. Here's the deal with many of the Japanese cars: they are as dull as dishwater but wonderfully competent. So we expect the I35 to run for years and years with relatively few troubles. But it's a car you can't find in a parking lot. You'll need to scroll down some once you click the link above. And sign up for their newsletter. It's great.
Black Boxes in expanded tests
But Cars! Cars! Cars! editor, you say, didn't you already cover black boxes in cars? Yes we did but now the dirty dogs at the insurance companies are getting into the action (which was inevitable since they are dirty dogs). Damned dirty dogs!
VW's got a sludge problem
Looks like some of them pretty Passats and awesome Audis have got themselves a little problem. Sludge. And it's ruining engines by the boatload. The article gives more specifics: VW's letting 426,000 owners know of the problem. The article continues, "The timing couldn't be worse. VW Division has old products, and sales are down 11.5 percent for the first seven months compared with the year-ago period. And it has only been a year since VW voluntarily recalled more than 500,000 vehicles because of faulty engine ignition coils." Sure sounds like it's time for VW to put down the hooterglaven and tighten up the lederhosen. Come on, boys, this is fahrfromgoodin.
Ford and GM are cutting production
Ford and GM aren't selling cars like they used to. Based on a lot of what we see from those companies we aren't surprised. But, as much as we like to pick on Detroit, it's not only their problem. Even Toyota's having sales issues. Not only are Toyota's SUV sales are down, the Camry's in the same boat! Upon further inspection, Camry sales have declined because of sheer dullness of the product. People climb in, notice the good build quality and then, boom, snore-city. Toyota builds a great car but they sure could use a jalapeño pepper in there once in a while. Also, Hummer and Jag are reducing production. (But we know that Hummer and Jag are just GM and Ford, right?) NYTimes requires registration... damned dirty dogs!
And for some good news:
Honda announces 2005 Honda Odyssey
Man, this makes us want to start popping out the kids and then popping them into this minivan. This is another instance where Honda shows its great engineering prowess. Do we mean better fuel economy from a more powerful engine? No. Do we mean a nifty second row seat whose center can fold away so there's a path to the third row? No. Then what?, you might ask. Cup holders baby. Seventeen! Woohoo! Any vehicle that has a proper home for our 12-pack of Schlitz is a winner in our book. Oh, the front of the minivan is better too, "the Odyssey is the first Honda in North America with a special advanced compatibility engineering (ACE) structure. It's designed to reduce injuries to occupants of smaller cars or to an unfortunate pedestrian." We'll finish our Schlitz, toss Billy the keys and let you know how well it works.
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