G. David Felt

Put some fender flares on it and a lift kit and you got a modern day Eagle!

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com & Black-Knight It seems that just yesterday Japanese automakers and their vehicles were seemingly and unanimously praised for their quality and reliability. However, today a new series of recalls out of the land of the rising sun herald a stark reminder that not every automaker is perfect. Today, might finally be a major wake up call for some that these companies are not bullet proof. Today Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda announced recalls totaling 3.4 million auto's world wide, with over 1 million in the US alone. The recall is over defective airbags. These are airbags supplied to these companies by the worlds 2nd largest manufacture / Supplier. Takata Corp. The defect is in the propellant for the inflator as part of the airbag system for the front passenger seat which can cause it to not inflate properly. As a result, there is a risk of fire starting or passengers being burned. The faulty airbags were produced at their Mexico factory between 2000 - 2002. Toyota has stated that the improperly manufactured parts could cause the front passenger airbag to rupture and deploy abnormally in the event of a crash. The parts can be repaired/ replaced in 1 to 2 1/2 hrs in most cases. Takata says it has only been informed of 2 million global recalls according to Reuters reports, but the statements by Toyota and Honda would seem to imply it could be a much bigger recall to locate the suspected inflators. Toyota is recalling 1.73 million vehicles, 510,000 in North America. http://pressroom.toyota.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3862 Honda is recalling 1.14 million vehicles, 560,000 in north America. http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=7158-en Nissan is recalling 480,000 vehicles, 45,500 in north america. View the official letter here: http://localtvwnep.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/nissan_recall.pdf or here http://www.arfc.org/autos/nissan/recalls.aspx Mazda anounced 45,000 vehicles to be recalled of which 4,000 were in Japan but no other figures given. View full article

What rear seat problems? This is the first I have heard of a seat problem. They need to fix the Rear Lift gate problem. My brother inlaw's Yukon had gone through 4 auto lift gate systems and the latest only being 4 months old just failed again so he cannot open the back gate as they only let it work in auto mode. Clearly the lift system is a weak point.

Why waste money on a funeral? They already blew 200 million.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com So what do you get when you cross breed a Fiat 500 with a Lambroghini? Fiaghini with 580-hp. Oemmedi Meccanica modified the Fiat 500 and put in a Lambroghini Murcielago 580-hp V-12 engine. Most drivers of this little run about are thinking fuel efficiency, not quarter mile times. This little beast has gone through many variations before ending in this final mutation. Let your inner child go nuts and check out this video!

From what I can see of the SUV's, not really digging the headlights. Will have to sit on the fence till I can see the whole package. Wonder if the V6 will be the turbo charged version? Still stupid for GM to NOT have a Diesel. This would drive massive sales for them to have a v8 Diesel.

Here I have to totally disagree with you, there are a few CUV's that are just a buch version of a mini van, but most CUV's are far better than a Mini Van any day of the week.

Poor Chevy Cruze, talk about a sad way to go in a short life.

If they would just leave history to the books and rebuild with modern buildings and roads, that would not be a problem.

More and more I am starting to really hate the waste of money on technologies that are not ready for prime time use by the masses.

Would be great to have a comparison of how they test now, the NON-SAE numbers compared to the new SAE towing numbers. Has anyone seen Toyota's official numbers? Their web site unless it is buried does not seem to list them. Just a blank space.

Agree with Ocnblu, no need for two cars, get a truck.

Europe seems to be the only market that still embraces wagons in comparison to CUV's or mini vans. Probably due to the whole bloody tax thing on engine size, etc.

While the information above does not mention Buick, I found many references without this detail that points to this being a service item you have to actually request in the reprogramming to have the feature disabled. Good luck with it.

At least on my Chevy, GMC and Caddilac auto's I own, you can change these settings via the driver info system. I found for your year the following info that pretty much makes this a dealer service visit in my opinion. The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI. Condition/Concern: Some customers may comment that they are unable to override the automatic door locking feature. In prior model years, customers were able to select "Doors Lock Manually" from the DIC. However, starting in the 2005 model year, this selection was removed. Recommendation/Instructions: Since the 2005 model year, all BCM's (Body Control Modules) are programmed from the factory to allow two personalized door lock settings: Setting 1: All doors lock when the transmission is shifted into gear. Setting 2: All doors lock when the vehicle speed is greater than 8 mph (13 km/h). New BCM calibrations have been released for the 2006-2008 model years to allow a Setting 3: No Automatic door locking (Manual). This setting should ONLY be turned on at the owner's request. Use the appropriate procedure below for the vehicle you are working on to disable the auto door lock feature. Use the following procedure to turn on this feature for models: ? 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT ? 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe ? 2007-2008 GMC Sierra, Yukon, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL, Yukon Denali XL ? Reprogram the BCM with updated calibrations currently available in Tis2Web. In some rare instances, the calibrations may not be available in Tis2Web and Techline Customer Support should be contacted to obtain the calibrations. When at the "Calibration Selection" screen in Tis2Web select the "locking" tab (should be highlighted in Red) and pick the calibration listed as "(Per customer request only) Auto Door Lock option ENABLED on DIC". ? On vehicles equipped with steering wheel controls (RPO UK3), DIC control buttons are included. Use the DIC buttons to scroll through the personalization settings to the "Auto Door Lock" feature. There will be to two different settings: "Lock with speed" or "Lock in gear". You will notice there is NO new setting but also there will be no "check marks" next to any of the settings. This means the auto door lock feature is disabled. If there is a "check mark" next to one of the "Auto Door Lock" selections then the only way to remove the "check mark" is to scroll to "Factory Settings" and select "Restore", this will remove the "check mark" thus disabling the "Auto Door Lock" feature. Note: Please keep in mind that if "Factory Settings Restored" is selected it will change all of the other personalization settings back to the factory settings and they will need to be reset back to the owners settings. ? On vehicles without the DIC control buttons once the BCM is reprogrammed with the new calibration the "Auto Door Locks" will be disabled and can not be turned back on unless the BCM is reprogrammed back with the previous calibration. Use the following procedure to turn on this feature for models: ? 2006 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT ? 2006 Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe ? 2006-2007 Chevrolet Silverado Classic ? 2006-2007 GMC Sierra Classic ?2006 GMC Yukon, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL, Yukon Denali XL Note: NO new calibrations are available for the 2005 models or vehicles with manual transmissions. Reprogram the BCM with updated calibrations currently available in Tis2Web. When at the "Calibration Selection" screen in Tis2Web select the "locking" tab (should be highlighted in Red) and pick the calibration listed "(Per customer request only) Auto Door Lock option ENABLED on DIC". On vehicles with Steering Wheel Controls (RPO UK3) use the controls to scroll through the personalization setting to the "Auto Door Lock" feature. There will be a new "Manual" selection now available to choose, along with the two previous selections "In Gear" and "With Speed". On vehicles Without Steering Wheel Controls (RPO UK3) enter the door lock programming mode, procedure located in section 2 of the owners manual. Once in the programming mode press the lock side of the drivers power door lock switch, you will hear either one, two or NO chimes. One chime indicates you are in Setting 1 (lock in gear), Two chimes you are in Setting 2 (lock with speed) and NO chimes you are in Setting 3 (Manual). Continue to press the door lock switch to scroll through the 3 different selections until you hear the desired setting and then exit the programming mode by turning the ignition key on. Customer :I read this and don't know if it is correct or not Customer :did you have a question for me? GM Tech (Cam) :It is, but it cut a part off, GM Tech (Cam) : 2. Use the following procedure to disable the auto door locks on the models listed below:2006 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT 2006 Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe 2006-2007 Chevrolet Silverado Classic (old body style) 2006-2007 GMC Sierra Classic (old body style) 2006 GMC Yukon, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL, Yukon Denali XL Note: NO new calibrations are available for the 2005 models or vehicles with manual transmissions. A. Reprogram the BCM with updated calibrations currently available in Tis2Web. When at the "Calibration Selection" screen in Tis2Web select "locking" (should be highlighted in Red) and pick the calibration listed "(Per customer request only) Auto Door Lock option ENABLED on DIC". B. After reprogramming the BCM, vehicles with Steering Wheel Controls (RPO UK3) can use the controls to scroll through the personalization setting to the "Auto Door Lock" feature. There will be a new "Manual" selection now available to choose, along with the two previous selections "In Gear" and "With Speed". C. After reprogramming the BCM, vehicles without Steering Wheel Controls will need to enter the door lock programming mode procedure located in section 2 of the owner's manual. Once in the programming mode press the lock side of the driver's power door lock switch, you will hear either one, two or NO chimes. One chime indicates you are in Setting 1 (lock in gear), Two chimes you are in Setting 2 (lock with speed) and NO chimes you are in Setting 3 (Manual). Continue to press the door lock switch to scroll through the 3 different selections until you hear the desired setting and then exit the programming mode by turning the ignition key on. Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed. GM Tech (Cam) :So you need to get it programmed so that feature is available in the cluster then you can, This is the only way. GM Tech (Cam) :Oh I see you reposted some of the same bulletin that was cut off. GM Tech (Cam) :The procedure requires programming of the BCM, usually a $40 cost then your options will be available in the system to alter the performance for the door locks. Customer :thanks

The whole unfolding of Fiskers makes one think they deliberately did not believe they would have to pay back the EPA. The fact the have not built anything for 9 months or so would tend to also imply they were happy to use tax dollars to do nothing. Good riddance, I hope the EPA takes everything and then sells it to an American company that can actually build something.

How does that go with the story line?

Single Shifter rather than Paddle play?

Saab exterior is better than I imagined based on your description. Still like the truck better.

broken

Interesting project suburban, rusty rear wheel openings.

Not a bad looking truck.

Looks solid over all for the age of being a project truck. I would just replace the front passenger fender since it has such a large rust spot.

It is pretty nice looking, I am going to assume that the Diesel is turbo charged and not supercharged since I have never heard of a supercharged diesel.