08 Ex-l Family Van Sunroof Leather Heated Seats Rear Camera Third Row One Owner on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 2000 Honda Passport 4WD

The suits at American Honda Motor Company must have spent the bulk of the 1990s tearing out their hair in frustration as their rivals raked in big money from the sales of ever-more-profitable SUVs, even as American car shoppers lost interest in sedans and hatchbacks. Oh, sure, the Civic-based CR-V appeared here for the 1997 model year and sold well enough, but the lack of a larger SUV pained Honda more with each passing year. With the Acura MDX and Honda Pilot not ready for showrooms until the 2001 and 2002 model years, respectively, some stopgap had to be found. Isuzu stepped up and made a deal with Honda: the Rodeo would get Honda badges and become the Passport, while the Trooper would show up in Acura showrooms with SLX badges (for the 1994 and 1995 model years, respectively). Here's one of those Passports, found in a Denver-area self-service yard. Things got even weirder in the Isuzu/Honda world around the turn of the century, with the Honda Odyssey getting Isuzu badges and being sold as the Oasis. Fast-forward to 2009, and the only Isuzu-badged vehicles available new here were rebadged Chevrolets: the I-Series pickup (Chevy Colorado) and the Ascender (Chevy Trailblazer). The Passport name has some interesting American Honda history, stretching back to the first Honda vehicle sold here (and the biggest-selling motor vehicle in human history): the Super Cub. American Honda Motor Company couldn't use the Super Cub name on our shores, because Piper Aircraft had been selling a small plane called the Super Cub since 1949, so the motorcycle was called the Honda 50 over here. Eventually, this bike got a 70cc engine and became the Honda C70 Passport, sales of which continued through the middle 1980s. That means the Passports sitting in your local Honda dealership right now got their name from a one-cylinder motorcycle. General Motors has a Passport connection as well; when GM created the Geo brand to sell rebadged Isuzus, Suzukis, and Toyotas in the United States, it created a marque called Passport to sell the Daewoo LeMans as the Optima in Canada (all the other vehicles sold by Passport dealers were Isuzus). So, Honda's need to offer SUVs in its American dealerships led to an arrangement with GM-connected Isuzu to sell these trucks with a model name bearing links to both companies. So much history in the junkyard! Just as Geo-badged Toyota Corollas (mostly) got Delco radios, so did the Passport get Honda radios.

Takata airbags were adopted in late 1990s to save a few dollars per vehicle

According to a new report from The New York Times, General Motors started using airbags supplied by Takata in the late 1990s as a cost-saving measure even after receiving warnings about their safety. Takata's airbag modules were reportedly 30-percent cheaper than its competitors' offerings. GM approached Autoliv, which until that time had been its main airbag supplier, to see if it could offer a competitively priced alternative to Takata. Autoliv tested Takata's airbag inflator and found that it was unsafe, according to scientists who worked for the supplier at the time. Chris Hock, who until recently still worked for Autoliv, said the inflator "turned it into shrapnel" when tested. GM was subsequently warned by Autoliv that Takata's ammonium nitrate inflators were potentially dangerous. Still, "General Motors told us they were going to buy Takata's inflaters unless we could make a cheaper one," said Linda Rink, who served as a senior scientist at Autoliv at the time. A spokesperson for General Motors told The Times that it would be inappropriate to comment on discussions that "occurred two decades ago between Old GM and a supplier." So far, no Takata-supplied airbags have ruptured in an accident, and GM was far from the only automaker to make a switch to Takata airbags in order to save money. A total of 64 million airbags have so far been recalled from nearly every automaker selling vehicles in America. A spokesperson from Honda said in a statement to The Times that "There was no industry understanding in the late 1990s" that ammonium nitrate airbag inflators were risky. The majority of deaths linked to Takata airbags were in vehicles built by Honda. Takata still produces airbag inflators that use an ammonium nitrate compound, despite the devices being blamed for at least 14 deaths. Click here for NHTSA's dedicated site on open Takata recalls. Related Video: News Source: The New York TimesImage Credit: Joe Skipper / Reuters Government/Legal Recalls GM Honda Safety autoliv

Honda and Chrysler EV news, and talking with GM's charging ecosystem boss | Autoblog Podcast #781

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They're excited about the news of the possibility of an electric sports car being revealed for Honda's 75th anniversary, as well as the completely revamped — redesigned and renamed — Chrysler Airflow. They've been driving the Bentley Bentayga EWB, Range Rover, Toyota GR Corolla and the refreshed Buick Encore GX. We listen to a interview Greg conducted with GM's EV charging boss, Hoss Hassani. Finally, a reader is looking to help his in-laws choose an SUV, possibly a hybrid or EV, to replace a BMX X3. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast # 781 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown News Honda electric sports car could be unveiled this year Chrysler Airflow being redesigned and renamed for production Cars we're driving 2023 Bentley Bentayga EWB Azure First Edition 2023 Land Rover Range Rover SE LWB 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir Interview with Hoss Hassani, General Motors Vice President and EV Charging Ecosystem Spend my Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts Bentley Buick Chrysler GM Honda Land Rover Toyota Green Automakers Crossover Hatchback SUV Electric Future Vehicles Luxury Performance Sedan