Posts Tagged With ‘ Cars ’

Textron Specialized Vehicles is recalling about 143,000 E-Z-GO PTVs or personal transportation vehicles in the United States, 8,100 in Canada, and 1,000 in Mexico. Some of the PTVs were recalled earlier in September 2021, January 2022, and September 2022. PTVs are golf carts or golf cars. The electronic board that powers the USB port can overheat and ignite adjacent components, posing a fire hazard in the recalled PTVs. Textron has received 30 reports of the electronic board overheating, including two resulting in a fire with property damage. No injuries have been reported. This recall involves... Continue Reading

Don’t get tricked into signing up for a high-cost loan when you buy a used car. Credit Acceptance Corp. misrepresented the cost of credit and turned the car-buying experience into a nightmare for many of its borrowers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General’s Office charged in a lawsuit. The borrowers faced unaffordable monthly payments, vehicle repossessions, and debt collection lawsuits. The agencies alleged the company harmed consumers by: Hiding the true cost of credit: The cost of credit was far higher than what borrowers are told. Setting up borrowers... Continue Reading

Wells Fargo is at it again. It shows why consumers should be skeptical about trusting big banks. The repeat offender has agreed to a settlement that requires it to return more than $2 billion to consumers and pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its largest product lines, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB said Tuesday. Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank, the CFPB said in a statement. Wells... Continue Reading

Photo: Ryan Hildebrand If you’re going to buy a car, be sure to find out if it’s been part of a recall. Only 75 percent of vehicles involved in a recall are actually repaired, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Car dealers and other companies that sell cars may not let you know about recalled cars that haven’t had repairs made.  A coalition of 35 attorneys general received $1 million from CarMax in a settlement Thursday for failing to disclose open safety recalls on their used vehicles to consumers before sales. CarMax didn’t provide consumers with information... Continue Reading

Among the largest recalls last week is Polaris snowmobiles, with about 138,000 recalled in the United States and about 61,000 in Canada. Electrostatic discharge inside the fuel tank can cause vapors to ignite during operation and the tank to burst, posing a fire hazard.  The recall includes Model Year 2021-2023 MATRYX, 2015-2022 AXYS, and 2013-2014 Pro-Ride Snowmobiles. Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled snowmobiles and contact Polaris or an authorized Polaris dealer to schedule a free repair, which will be replacing the fuel tank assembly. If consumers need to start their... Continue Reading

Photo: Vauxford Buying a car is such a complicated process. I always appreciate information from Consumer Reports on the topic. Each year Consumer Reports issues a report on car reliability. It’s latest report showed hybrid vehicles and midsized or large sedans are among the most reliable, while electric vehicles and full-size pickup trucks are the two most problematic categories. Seven of the top 10 most reliable brands are Japanese and Korean. Lincoln is the only domestic brand in this year’s top 10.  Here are how the brands ranked, along with information about whether they went up or... Continue Reading

It’s one of the biggest frauds unleashed on the American public: high gas prices despite falling crude oil prices. As consumers prepare to vote, it’s often the high gas prices that are on their minds. Recently, I wrote about price gouging. I reported about one-third to half of the current inflation in the United States is being caused by big companies making excessive profits. It was difficult to get information on price gouging, but a friend send me a copy of a chart that’s gone viral. In April, John Bevins of director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, an economic policy think... Continue Reading

Getting older in America is a challenge many ways. And, it seems that the older I get, the more ageism I face, especially from the medical community. My blogger friends are thinking and writing about aging, too. Here are their thoughts on the topic: Aging Aging is no territory for sissies. The senior years can be challenging. So when Carol Cassara of Carol A. Cassara Writer found herself unusually blue, she decided to unpack what’s going on with a therapist. She’s sharing it on her blog this week in “Why I Looked for a Therapist.” When Tom Sightings of Sightings Over... Continue Reading