Sergio Marchionne’s turnaround of Fiat was a weird one. He turned around a company, which most people thought had died already. Sergio’s turnaround was helped by GM’s unwitting “ re-capitalization” of Fiat, too. Recently, worker relations in Italy have been strained, to say the least. If you thought the situation with the UAW in the United States was bad enough, in Italy, things are spicier than Mamma’s Arrabbiata sauce. The Financial Times UK reports that Sergio Marchionne has finally lost patience with unionized Italian workers and has threatened them to change their mindsets or else be out of a job. The end of September is their deadline. Mr Marchionne wants Italy to help drag Fiat (and Chrysler) into one of the top five car companies in the world. But to do that, he needs concessions from his Italian workers. Big ones.

After one year of ownership we would expect EV residual values to be above the segment average expressed in terms of pound values. But, if the battery is owned rather than leased, and lacks the appropriate extended warranty, the value of the typical EV will then fall dramatically until the vehicle is five years old, at which point the car will have a trade value little more than 10 per cent of the list price

So says Andy Carroll, managing director of the British car-buying bible, Glass’s Guide. He tells BusinessCar that Nissan and other firms launching EVs in Britain should take out the battery cost and lease it to customers with minimum monthly performance clauses. This, he says, would dispel concerns, drive sales, and transform the resale picture. It’s also what Project Better Place is doing, albeit in a complete regional package with battery-swap stations and charging infrastructure.

While LeMons’ Judges Jonny and Phil took a breather to get married (not to each other) I was one of four people with the honor of taking their place. It’s true, there was a quartet of judges needed to do what those two professionals do on a regular basis, no matter what previous accounts may suggest. So I inspected close to 100 crap cars to see if they meet LeMons’ $500 purchase price criteria. And while I did, I found the Ten Coolest Engineering Feats of The 24 Hours of LeMons. So let’s get right to it.

1. 2000 Honda Insight 5MT CVT (49/61/53)
2. 2010 Toyota Prius (51/48/50)
3. 1986 Chevrolet Sprint ER 5MT (44/53/48)
4. 1990-1994 Geo Metro XFI 5MT (43/52/47)
5. 1986-87 Honda Civic Coupe HF 5MT (42/51/46)
6. 1994-95 Honda Civic Hatchback VX 5MT (39/50/43)
7. 2006-2010 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT (40/45/42)
8. 2010 Honda Insight CVT (40/43/41)
9. 2001-2003 Toyota Prius CVT (42/41/40)
10. 1989 Chevrolet Sprint/Suzuki Swift 5MT (38/45/41)

Keep in mind that this list [via our pals at Autosavant] is for EPA ratings, adjusted to the new post-2008 methodology (city/hwy/combined). Luckily, the EPA also accepts real-world mileage submissions from citizen-motorists to help illustrate the whole “your mileage may vary” thing. That list is after the jump.

Ken Dowd writes:

I’ve got high compression readings of over 190 lbs on all cyls on my TR4. The head has been reworked twice that I know of, about .050 has been shaved. I got these readings after putting the engine back together with all new sleeves, pistons, rings and a head/valve job. I CCed. the head at 55cc and crunched the numbers on several online compression ratio calculators and figured my compression to be about 9.5:1 Compression ratio on the stock engine is 9:1. Would you expect to see such high compression readings with such a small increase in compression ratio?

I’ve searched the world over and cannot find a spec for compression on a healthy 2138cc TR4 engine. Do you have any experience with after market solid copper oversized (thicker) head gaskets to bring down compression? That is the only thing I can come up with. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Talk about unfortunate timing: Just as the scrapping incentives all around the world are running out, a Japanese company found a way to turn old cars into fuel.

What is a car dealer’s most profitable business? Selling new cars? One would think so, judging by the amount of money invested into metal, marble and glass used to move new cars. But it’s wrong. If a dealer is good, his new car profit contribution is in the single digits. What makes money in a dealership? Servicing the cars. And selling used cars. As Buickman and Steven Lang will confirm: A dealer often can make more money re-selling a trade-in than selling a new car. This must have dawned on someone at Volkswagen …

My Dad worked with the same company for sixty years. His first days were spent making coffee, learning English, and finding any opportunities for him and the company. It wasn’t easy. Back then America was in a recession with unfathomable debt and a dollar that could seemingly buy all the remnants of a battle scarred Europe. Today we have all the elements of the past. Except America is still fighting the wars, the dollar is weak, and the only thing that our country can seemingly buy is more debt… and time. With such lighthearted thoughts in my head this afternoon, I decided to go for a long walk.

I revisited my past recently. A friend of mine who has been in the car business for longer than I’ve been alive called me right out of the blue. It had been well over two recessions since our last talk and yes, there was an awful lot of catching up to do. So the banter lasted about three hours and all we talked about was… how things don’t work in the car business. The list is longer than a modern day health care bill and the prescription is pain (and debt) incarnate. That is unless you decide to take the easy way out. In which case it’s downright fatal. There are thousands of do’s and don’ts in this business. Today I’ll share the Top Five ways many rookies end up scorching the thin skin under their Hawaiian shirts.

An RL Polk study, reported in the Detroit Free Press, reveals that Americans scrapped 1.2m more vehicles than they bought in the 15 months ending in September 2009. 14.8m vehicles were scrapped in that time period, compared to 13.6 new registrations, suggesting that new car sales could be heading towards an upswing. And with an average fleet age of 10.2 years (the highest in 14 years), common sense seems to indicate that the rebound should happen soon. Polk VP Lonnie Miller explains:

It foreshadows what may be pentup demand. The assumption is that those vehicles have to be replaced.

But is it that simple? Even Miller admits that a number of factors might cause scrappage to exceed new registration for the immediate future.

Some people just don’t get ‘it’. My wife can’t understand why I like Davesfarm videos and Bruce Springsteen. I can’t understand why she listens to whiny effeminate men who pretend to be musicians. Fair enough… we’re living up to our gender driven destinies. But then there’s the myth of an ‘educated’ person.

There’s something amazing about recessions. Prices can come tumbling down to Earth and the costs of living can all of a sudden be dirt cheap. Yes, I’m aware that my country’s leaders seem fully content on feasting on our future wealth with no concern for the consequences. Fair enough. But I also know a good deal when I see one.

TTAC Contributor Ingvar writes:

The family household beater has a limp. It’s a 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, four door, with the 4.3. It’s original country of purchase was Germany, at least it says so on the dealer engraved license frame. Sometime in its life it moved to Sweden, my mother bought it from a neighbor some four years ago. She needed it to have as a trailer truck dragging the horse trailer around, so it only sees occasional use.

However, from the start, it has had a small but significant lean to the front right, as though the frame was slightly bent. If that is the case, what could we do about it? And if it isn’t, what is it then? Shock absorbers, or wheel alignment, or something else?

I haven’t had it checked, the only thing I have done, is usual maintenance, oil shifts, and getting air in the tires. Please Sajeev, you are my only hope.

TTAC reader Tiburon Guy writes:

Hey Sajeev: Long time reader, first time e-mailer. I have a 2001 Hyundai Tiburon that I inherited from my wife when we got married (dowrys are making a comeback!). It has 70,000 original miles and I’ve maintained it properly. Recently a problem arose that the dealer could not point out nor could my personal mechanic (ASC Certified) determine the cause or solution to.

It’s an automatic transmission. Sometimes when starting the car, pushing the release button on the shifter is downright impossible. It’s stuck and won’t engage, which means I can’t shift into gear. After a few moments of wiggling and pushing and jerking (and crying on my wife’s part) it will give and we’ll be on our way.

This doesn’t happen all the time though, it’s once every month or so. Any idea what could cause this and if so, what can I do to fix or prevent it from occurring? We are the only owners of the car and have not raced or abused it. I’ve hunted the forums on the Hyundai fan sites and I can’t find anyone with the same issue.

The mind can deviate to all sorts of weirdness when it comes to cars. Baby on Board signs. ‘Rims’ that cost more than the actual vehicle. The ungodly use of purples, yellows and lime greens on entry level econoboxes. Then there’s the real deals. Cars that are so hysterically and vomitously ugly that only it’s creator can appreciate the rancid spewage. I see a lot of that at the auctions. Let me give you a few true classics of the trade…

Owning an old Volvo is like having a garden. There is always something to do in a garden. Likewise, the quality of your compost, soil, and water is going to dictate your harvest. The same is true for your driving habits, parts and fluids when it comes to keeping any old car. Okay, enough of the analogies. We’re all enthusiasts here. A 1991 Volvo 740 came to me with a two ton jack and a gas can in the trunk as well as enough spare parts to start it’s own Volvo shrine. It also came with the crappiest car seat covers I had ever seen, a blue wire that connected the alternator to trunk speakers that were removed (it had been Gomered). Finally, it had to be pushed through the auction lane because it wouldn’t stay running. But I bought it anyway for $175… and then the fun began.

Yesterday I sold a 1992 Lexus LS400. It was a well kept model with all the bells and whistles for it’s time. Hands-free cell phone. 250 horsepower V8. Sunroof, ABS, plenty of wood interior accents. For 195,000 miles it was a really great car. At the time it drove off I was speaking to a journalist from Reuters who was covering the Toyota recall. A mental somersault happened at that very moment. While I watched the Lexus pull away and kept on discussing the industry wide battle to contain costs, I looked at a few of my older cars. A 1993 Town & Country, still in great condition. A 1995 Cavalier that could easily go another eight to ten years. A 1997 Pontiac Sunfire Convertible that still drove like it was virtually new. Three cars. All of which were of seemingly dubious reputations for their time all had a good shot of hitting the big 20. I realized something in that very moment…

I hate spending money. To me the act of letting go of my hard earned dollars is the equivalent of forced labor at a future point in my life. Not that I won’t pay for things that I really enjoy. Family, vacations (within reason), educational tools, and even good friends are on that radar. But cars are ‘things’ and most of them are used for the miseries of daily commuting. An activity I rank right up there with filling out paperwork and paying bills. How do I keep those dollars and time where it belongs? I simply plan for the future and invest when necessary.

Jeremy writes:

Hello Sajeev, I have a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis that I picked up from a family member a couple years back. I registered the car in my name with only 37,000 miles on the clock, it now has just over 51,000. The car was garage kept for years. I have updated the fuel filter, spark plugs, tires, air filter, and the regular oil changes.

After driving the car for a while I noticed the transmission shifted with a slow “shudder” from 3rd to 4th gears. The transmission seemed to shift smoothly under light acceleration but mild to brisk acceleration is accompanied by the transmission shudder.

Back in 2007, I made my 37th pilgrimage to mouse country. My wife and kids were hardcore Disneyites. Me? I was just there for the company. I deal with enough Goofys in real life and the thought of waiting in line to meet yet another one chafed at me. So I told my wife that I would spend the next day visiting my own wonderland. An auto auction. There was a low mileage Geo Metro I was interested in along with about a half dozen other older vehicles.

Let’s pretend they never happened because… well… we’re still waiting for them. Sure, on the surface things could be worse. Real estate is getting to be cheap. Cars are getting even cheaper. We seem to be in this period of mild deflation where ‘deficits don’t matter’ and interest rates remain low thanks to China. It’s a debtly paradise that will eventually turn our economy upside down, but for now it’s all good. As John Fogerty used to say, “There’s a calm before the storm, I know it’s been calmin’ for some time.” I’m not convinced that hyperinflation will be on that menu, but a happy-go-lucky tightwad like me realizes that books and reality need to be balanced no matter what. So…

It was mine. A 1992 Lexus SC400 with only 78,000 miles had gone through a small dealer auction back in early 2009. Paint a little blotchy. Driver’s seat front had a small rip. But I really didn’t care. I knew it would be the last of it’s breed I would see in a while. After being halved to death ($50 bid increments), I bought if for $3450 plus the $120 fee. Threw in $300 of paint, $100 of upholstery, and financed it to an enthusiast for $8500. $3200 later the economy caught up with my customer and he voluntarily brought it back. $270 for a windshield and alternator and 11,000 more miles left me with a quandry. Do I keep it or finance again?

Six hours to showtime. We have 58 vehicles and 1 motorcycle for today’s sale. It will be a very interesting day between the first dealer conversation and the last car that rolls (or gets pushed) through the lane. We’re going to be managing an on site sale for a large financial institution that is most definitely not in the car business. Their business is the money business. They will demand 59 checks in hand within 24 hours, and these vehicles must help keep their books healthy for the end of year bonuses.

There are some cars that no one will appreciate… but the owners. A bad brand name. Fatal and expensive defects from times past. Even a body style made of a designer’s frump can turn a brilliant vehicle into a showroom relic. This week I majored in buying unloved cars. Seven cars. Seven sins. More than likely seventy-seven plus days on the pavement.

Kelley Blue Book has released its annual resale value data, and according to the WSJ, Toyota, Honda and BMW remain the top brands in five-year residual value. Still, Toyota’s average residual value dropped from 42.7 percent to 38.8 percent, while Honda fell from 44.5 percent to 38 percent. Those drops mirror an industry-wide decline in residual values, which had hovered around 35 percent for some time, but have fallen to about 32.6 percent for 2010 models. But American brands have bucked that trend:

KBB estimates Ford’s 2010 models will keep 32.4% of their value after five years. That’s an improvement—for 2009, KBB put the residual value of Ford’s models at 31.7%. Likewise, GM’s 2010 five-year residual value is 31.3%, up from 29.5% a year earlier. Chrysler’s figures are 29.5% for 2010 models, compared with 29% for 2009 models.

KBB’s top ten models for five-year residual value after the jump.

Growing up my family owned a Jeep Wagoneer that consistently broke down towing our boat. My frugal parents couldn’t afford to have it repaired by a mechanic so my Pop dutifully bought the repair manual and spent his days off cursing under the hood in our driveway. He eventually grew so frustrated that he dropped a 500cu Cadillac engine in that old Jeep. Technology has made do-it-yourself repairs little more than nostalgic memories. Now it takes expensive diagnostic computers to identify why the light on the dash came on. And not only are the diagnostic computers expensive but in many cases the codes are proprietary. With recent dealership closures, congress has proposed legislation to protect consumers access to this critical repair information. HR 2057, the Rural Communities Stranded Without The Right To Repair Act would require auto manufacturers to make repair information and computer diagnostic codes available to the general public.

We had a brief word with the IIHS’s Russ Raider, who was quite cagey on the origins and condition of the 1959 Bel Air that was destroyed for the Institute’s 50th birthday. What we were able to get out of him was that the ’59 Bel Air was in “good” condition, with only a little engine rust, leaky hood/trunk seals and non-original upholstery in the negative column. We also learned that the car was procured in Indiana, and with this information we went looking for Bel Airs on the internet. And you’ll never guess what we found . . .

BMW enthusiasts would have you believe that there’s only one “real” M3: the original 1986 model (codenamed E30). That bad boy began life as a homologation special for Group A Touring Car racing. As BMW updated the racer, the road car received power and handling upgrades. When the six-cylinder E36 M3 appeared in 1995 (US), enthusiasts derided it as too heavy and, well, comfortable. By the time the E46 M3 appeared in 2000, the ultimate driving sports sedan was considered a bit of a pig—by True Believer standards. In fact, the third generation M3 is an animal; it wants to be driven hard and put away wet. As you would when purchasing any German hot rod, tuck away a bit of money for repairs and consult a specialist before you plunge into an E46 M3. Consumer Reports put the E46 M3 on its reliability list, but a bunch of smaller stuff can and will go wrong, and your M car will need regular infusions of pricey fluids, pads and other consumables. Autotrader lists a Your Shitty Economy Car of the Week: a “pristine” (albeit white) dealer-sourced 53k-mile 2003 E46 M3 at a shade under $25K. So, about twenty large, then. Plus the turbo?

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Does this headline seem familiar? We noted a while back that British reliability records showed Chrysler and Fiat sharing space at the bottom of the rankings. Now, Glass’s Guide (via Autocar) has ranked British resale values by model, and Fiat’s Alfa 166 sedan takes dead last place. Not that this is entirely surprising; after all, reliability and resale tend to go hand-in-hand. The troubling part is that abominable resale values are already a major drag on Chrysler’s viability. How on earth is Fiat going to improve this desperate shortcoming for Chrysler, when it can’t beat the resale bug with its own products?

Whatever happened to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? Robin Leach’s TV series motivated class warriors and aspiring entrepreneurs alike, fortifying the former group’s conviction that they had a sacred duty to redistribute wealth (if only on aesthetic grounds) while inspiring rappers, coke dealers and other venture capitalists to redouble their efforts to reach ever-greater heights of conspicuous consumption. These days we have federal stimulus packages and MTV’s Cribs, which doesn’t include a single golden bath fixture (or a single book, but that’s another story). Ah, but we pistonheads will always have Pebble Beach, where we can watch old money compete with modern-day robber barons to pocket the world’s automotive crown jewels. One can almost hear Robin’s Harrow twang calling the tune: “One lucky collector bought home this 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Special, Ettore Bugatti’s personal car, for $1.38 mmmmmillion dollars.” Leach-like, the majority of the MSM would have you believe the collector car market defies economic gravity. The New York Times sets us straight.

The Cash for Clunkers (C4C) program is on its way to Senate approval, as your elected representatives have attached the bill to the $106 billion military spending bill. As the Detroit News reports, the C4C rider sallies forth into legislative battle in the same form as the House version: “Under the program, owners of cars rated at 18 mpg or less in combined highway and city mileage could turn them in for a cash voucher. Buying a new car rated at least 4 mpg higher would earn a $3,500 voucher; a 10 mpg improvement would earn a $4,500 voucher. Pickups would be eligible as long as the new vehicle has a mileage rating of at least 18 mpg and is at least 2 mpg higher than the old vehicle. A new truck rated at least 5 mpg higher than the turned-in vehicle would earn a $4,500 voucher.” One problem: the feds are not planning (i.e., budgeting) for success . . .

In a follow up to E. Niedermeyer’s previous post, details have emerged about the scheme to give rebates to buyers who trade “clunkers” for new, fuel-efficient vehicles. FT.com (Financial Times) reports that the program will cost taxpayers about $4 billion and will spur, according Brian Johnson, an analyst at Barclays Capital, the sale of 3 million units in the “near term” (whatever that means). With the US’ SAAR projected at approximately 9 million, this is a very optimistic prediction.

The Automotive Lease Guide is slashing projected residuals for 2009 GM and Chrysler vehicles, reports Automotive News [sub]. ALG says that their new 36-month projections reflect the brands’ “uncertainty,” heralding the arrival of yet another dire consequence of bankruptcy that the bailout was supposed to prevent. Oh well, what’s a few billion among friends? Now let’s take a look at the nitty-gritty.

“Cash for Clunker” policies have been enacted in a number of developed countries as a conveniently “green” way to stimulate new car sales. The idea is sold as a greenhouse gas-reducing measure which provides tax credits for removing older, less-efficient models from the road. Of course the point isn’t to get people out of cars or permanently reduce the number of GHG-emitting vehicles: to claim credits, you typically have to buy a new car. Texas already has its own take on the debt for more debt swap. And now the Congress– well the auto industry anyway– wants a piece of the action. Hence the Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicles Retirement Act of 2009.

CNW Research’s of Brandon, Ore, is in the business of tracking “consumer confidence, new-used floor traffic, manufacturer and dealer incentives, and used vehicle sales by channel.” In their daily work, they stumbled across a disturbing trend. As every grizzled veteran of this industry remembers, when the economy is down, used cars do well, because folks can’t afford new ones. People hold on to their ride much longer, which lowers the supply of used cars. Fewer new car sales mean fewer trade-ins, which lowers the supply of used cars. Or so the wisdom of the grizzled veteran goes. This time, it’s different. Sales of used cars fell 20.7 percent in November, compared with the period a year earlier. That’s still benign compared to the 37 percent hit the new cars took. But it disturbs the veterans nonetheless.

CNW expects 2008 to come in 36.6m units sold, down 11.5 percent from 2007. That would mark the lowest levels since the 1982 recession. Whoa: November new car sales also were the lowest since 1982. Are people tired of cars, whether old or new? Have we just been catapulted back to the bad early Reagan years?