2005 2.4 Ex-l Used 2.4l I4 16v Automatic Fwd Sedan on 2040-cars

Auto blog

WSJ investigation reveals Takata may have hidden testing failures

We're not sure how much more Takata can get wrong concerning its airbag fiasco. The Wall Street Journal says it reviewed internal documents submitted during litigation that reveal US engineers had concerns about altered test data for at least a decade, from 2000 to 2010. This comes after Taktata's largest customer, Honda, stopped doing business with the company, publicly calling Takata out for "misrepresented and manipulated test data." On top of that, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hit the Japanese company with an open-ended fine of $70 million. Ford took away its business, as have Toyota and Mazda. The latest recall tall has surpassed 19 million vehicles in the US alone. The in-house memos show US employees complaining among themselves that their Japanese equivalents were burying validation test failures and changing the results of validation tests. Such tests are conducted to show automakers that Takata products met specification, and employees specifically cite Honda as the recipient of those edited or redacted reports. One US engineer wrote that the "prettying up" of data "confounded my engineers," and "has gone beyond all reasonable bounds and now most likely constitutes fraud." The engineer apparently said his team made sure that the products were up to spec by using alternative data. Takata said the issues the Journal article covers don't have anything to do with the exploding airbags, and that in one case the problem with the airbag inflator was resolved, and in another case the problem airbag inflators didn't reach production. Takata admitted to the Journal that there have been past instances of "selective, incomplete or inaccurate data" in customer validation reports and apologized, laying the situation at the feet of employees trying to meet production deadlines. News Source: Wall Street JournalImage Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Recalls Honda Safety

Japanese automakers kick in $800k for new charging-station company

Cynics may say that gathering $800,000 (total) from four of Japan's largest automakers is merely a rounding error. Still, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, along with the Development Bank of Japan, are putting those funds to good use. So, that's something. Last week, those five entities officially founded Nippon Charge Service LLC. The company was established to promote plug-in vehicle charging installations across Japan and the automakers seeded it with 80 million yen, or about $786,000 US. Those funds will be used to help business owners deploy charging stations at convenience stores, highway-side locales and other locations that will make it easier for plug-in vehicle drivers (of Toyotas, Hondas, Mitsubishis and Nissans, obviously) to get their juice. The automakers first announced they'd collaborate last year, when they said they'd work with the Japanese government to more than triple the country's publicly accessible chargers to about 17,000 units. No targets were disclosed as far as how many charging stations would be deployed this time out, but, in a move similar to the EZ Charge system in the US, Nippon Charge Service will also have universally-accepted charging cards available by the end of the year to drivers all of those brands' plug-in vehicles to make the charging process a little more seamless. Check out Honda's press release below. Japan Automakers Advance Electric Charging Infrastructure with New Company, Nippon Charge Service -Established to help build charging infrastructure for electric-powered vehicles (PHVs, PHEVs and EVs)- Toyota Motor Corporation Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Development Bank of Japan Inc. TOKYO, Japan, May 30, 2014 - Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation jointly established a new company, Nippon Charge Service, LLC, on May 26 to promote the installation of chargers for electric-powered vehicles (PHVs, PHEVs, EVs). The goal is to help build a charging network that offers more convenience to drivers in Japan. The new company will promote the installation of chargers, for the good of society and to expand the use of electric-powered vehicles. Related industries are also expected to benefit. Development Bank of Japan Inc.

McLaren confirms Alonso, keeps Button

Every year a big game of musical chairs breaks out in the Formula One paddock, as some drivers try to hold on to their seats, some try to grab new ones and others are left without a seat for the following season. McLaren has been extremely reluctant to announce who would be sitting in its carbon-fiber seats next season, but it's finally spilled the beans. McLaren was strongly rumored to have hired Fernando Alonso for next season, speculation over which was all but confirmed when the two-time world champion announced his departure from Ferrari. He's now been officially confirmed to be returning to Woking for next season. But the bigger question over who would be his wingman has now been answered as well, as the team has decided to keep Jenson Button on board for at least one more season. Long regarded as a top driver, Button started out with Williams back in 2000, then spent a couple of seasons in Enstone with Renault before switching to Honda in 2003, finally winning the championship in 2009 when the team went out on its own as Brawn GP (now Mercedes). He switched to McLaren in 2010 to form a dream team with Lewis Hamilton (who in turn left for Mercedes last year), but though Jenson has been unable to rack up another world title, he's remained a favorite especially of Honda's, which returns to F1 next season to rekindle its once-dominant engine-supply partnership with McLaren. Alonso, meanwhile, made his grand prix debut with Minardi (now Toro Rosso) just one year after Button, then switched to Renault first as a test driver and then got the race seat, winning back-to-back world championships in 2005 and 2006. He subsequently spent one tumultuous season alongside Hamilton at McLaren before going back to Renault and then to Ferrari, which which he spent five years, scoring eleven checkered flags to finish in second place in the standings, three times. Alonso's signing and Button's retention spell bad news for Kevin Magnussen, the young Danish driver who got his start with McLaren earlier this season after winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Series title last year. With all the other seats already spoken for, Magnussen was left with no choice but to accept a test-driver role with McLaren in the hope that he might be promoted back again in the future. McLaren-Honda prepares for 2015: laying the foundations for future domination McLaren-Honda is delighted to announce its new driver line-up for 2015: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.