There was a paradigm shift that began two to three years ago, says DealerSocket’s Aaron Schinke, where people changed how they accessed the Internet, turning to a bevy of products that included not just smartphones and tablets but devices like Apple TVs, watches and Google Glass. More people were turning to these products than those […] [Read More]

Citing a defect information report provided by Takata, Honda North America announced this week that it is recalling roughly 2.23 million Takata PSDI-5 driver-side front airbag inflators in both Honda and Acura vehicles. One key takeaway from their announcement: the inflators will be replaced with parts manufactured by an alternative supplier, with repairs anticipated to […] [Read More]

In a development that prompted one Kelley Blue Book analyst to say, “people are in danger,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents released on Thursday that Continental Automotive Systems is recalling potentially up to 5 million air bag control units. NHTSA officials indicated the affected units manufactured between Jan. 1, 2006 and […] [Read More]

Impact Auto Auctions, a subsidiary of Insurance Auto Auctions and a business unit of KAR Auction Services, announced Thursday the opening of the first phase of its new Edmonton area facility. The company announced it has begun to direct all Edmonton area assignments and Early Tow and Appraisal Vehicles to the site. Business operations will […] [Read More]

Most automakers reporting certified pre-owned sales so far saw sales increase in January, and two luxury brands reported their best January ever. Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned sales reached 101 units, which is a record for the month. This performance bested the previous January record of 77 CPO sales established the prior year. The Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned […] [Read More]

The top three most-appraised vehicles Canadian dealers saw last month were, you guessed it, trucks. To be more specific, they were light-duty trucks, and you probably won’t be surprised which ones they are, because they’re the usual suspects: Ford F-150, GMC Sierra 1500 and Ram 1500. That’s according to Dealertrack’s monthly Tradetracker report for the […] [Read More]

Service technicians, consumers and dealers have a few months to get up to speed on the first changes the Ontario Ministry of Transport has made to used-vehicle safety standards in 42 years. Many think the changes are long overdue, as recent developments such as anti-lock brakes and even airbags weren’t even available in 1976. The […] [Read More]

Here’s some good news for buy-here, pay-here operators who have interests in Wisconsin. PassTime, Hudson Cook and Minneapolis-based law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren recently met with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) to discuss how GPS and payment assurance technology functions as well as how the technology protects creditors and benefits consumers.  At […] [Read More]

Don’t expect to see a huge residual value impact from the decision to transition Scion to the Toyota brand. According to Eric Ibara, Kelley Blue Book’s director of residual values, Scion vehicles tend to hold their value better than others. But the challenge was from increased preference of utility vehicles over cars — something that […] [Read More]

Updates from Barret-Jackson this week show that the auction raised $3,406,000 for both local and national charitable organizations during its 45th Anniversary Auction held in Scottsdale, Ariz. at the end of January. The auction sold 11 charity vehicles during this year’s event, bringing the company’s overall charitable auction sales to date to a little over […] [Read More]