Author Archive for Jason Lancaster

Five Things Toyota Can Teach Lebron James

Unless you’re living in a cave in Waziristan, you’ve undoubtedly learned that Lebron James has abandoned Cleveland for South Beach. After two years of nauseating speculation, LeBron finally announced his decision last night. [Sidebar: Staying in Cleveland would have been the right thing to do in my opinion – they have been destroyed because of him.]

Image copyright Keith Allison

The thing is, all this publicity and media love for LeBron has many parallels with Toyota’s rise to fame in North America. James has thrust himself into the spotlight, and playing in Miami with two other superstars is only going to raise expectations. Consider the following:

In-Car Alcohol Detection Technology Follow-Up – TruTouch

Last week we asked for your opinion on in-car alcohol detection systems and whether or not they should be mandatory safety equipment. In order to keep that post to a reasonable length, we left out some information about an infrared skin alcohol detection system that seems very promising.

KBB Ranks Tundra Second To Last In 2010 Truck Comparison

While there are some caveats given, Kelly Blue Book’s 2010 truck comparison placed the Tundra 4th overall behind the F-150 (1st), Ram 1500 (2nd), and Chevy-GMC 1500 (3rd), with the Titan coming in last (5th). While it’s not very clear as to how the scoring system works or how exactly the Tundra comes in 4th, here are the criteria used by KBB and how each truck was ranked in their comparison:

The Tundra Is Now America’s “Most American” Pickup

Every year, Cars.com uses domestic content data from NHTSA and automaker-supplied data to pull together a list of the “10 Most American” vehicles. Over the last three years, the Tundra – with 80% domestic parts content – has been on this list.

* – The Ram 1500 ranking excludes regular cab trucks, which are assembled in Mexico.

On the Cars.com list, the Tundra is now the second-most American truck available…but only if the Ram 1500’s stats exclude regular cab models. If Ram’s “American made” numbers reflected the foreign-built reg cab’s it’s likely that the Tundra would be the only truck in the top 10 most American vehicles. For that reason, it seems clear to us that the Tundra is now officially the Most American truck you can buy.

What do you have to say about that, Ford, GM, and Chrysler-Fiat truck owners? 🙂

GM’s Washer Fluid Heaters “Fire Waiting To Happen”

I found an interesting video today via TheTruthAboutCars that needs to be shared. According to Canadian Mark Whinton of CarQuestions.ca, GM’s recall of 1.5 million heated windshield washer units is URGENT.

[got a washer fluid heater unit] out of an 08′ Buick Enclave and took it apart…and discovered corrosion on the inside on that [power] contact. That’s incredible. These things are an accident waiting to happen. If that [corrosion] migrates over to the ground contact, you could have a 40-50 amp sustained draw while the car is off…that is incredible. Did they have fires? My guess – absolutely they did. General Motors better get those cars in quick.

Whatever you may think about Mark – who doesn’t seem to have anything at stake in this particular issue – you have to agree that what he says makes some sense while watching his videos (see below).

The question I have – did Toyota’s recall fiasco prompt GM to take action sooner than they would have otherwise? Obviously, no one can know the answer to that question, and my sincere hope is that the answer is “no.” Still, there is evidence of a conspiracy. The New York Times has found some emails that suggest GM knew this was a safety problem as early as 2007.