Author Archive for Tim Esterdahl
Associate Editor Tim Esterdahl is a married father of three who enjoys all things automotive including wrenching on his collection of old pickups. He also plays an absurd amount of golf. Like really absurd.
Should Electric Car Owners Pay A Special Usage Fee?
Drivers have received a lot of incentives to make the switch to electric, but the free ride may come to an end soon. The problem lies in the way that most states and local municipalities raise funds for transit projects. Every time you fill your gas tank, a certain percentage of that sale goes directly to state or local coffers. The move speaks to the need of creating more fairness between different vehicle owners.
Electric vehicle owners might have to pay a new tax to help pay for the infrastructure they use. Will this new tax level the playing ground between different types of vehicle owners?
Tundra Forums Grow with New Tundraforum.org
Tundra forums have been growing recently thanks to their popularity and the sales growth of the Toyota Tundra. Add one more forum to the mix, tundraforum.org, which by our count makes six.
A new Tundra forum has launched, Tundraforum.org. This now makes 6 forums.
New Chinese Knockoff – Ford F-150
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Shanghai-based JAC Motors must be in love with Ford. The state-owned automaker plans to debut its newest love letter to Detroit’s big blue oval in April, when the Ford F-150 clone it calls the JAC 4R3 is set to appear at the International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing.
Is it a Ford F-150 or a JAC 4R3? At any rate, it is very, very similar.
Chevy and GMC Pickups Design to Change – More Locomotive?
Auto shows bring together the industry’s best to roll out the newest concepts, technologies and designs to throngs of onlookers, made up of car lovers and media personnel alike. Normally, futuristic designs are the norm, but is GM reversing this trend with their “locomotive” styling approach?
Will a new "locomotive" design attract buyers? Or will the look go so much against the grain, it will alienate loyal buyers?
Study States Toyota Recalls Didn’t Affect Brand
A recent study produced at North Carolina State University suggests that customer perception of the Toyota brand may not have been affected by the safety recalls that occurred in 2009. Those recalls were due to a malfunction that caused certain Toyota models to accelerate suddenly, which was widely covered by the media. About 9 million vehicles were brought back to dealerships around the country, and many analysts feared that the Toyota brand would suffer irreparable damage.
A recent study has found that the massive Toyota recalls of 2009 didn't have any long-term impact on Toyota's brand.
