Transmission Trouble: Ford Accused of Fraud, Heading to Trial in San Diego

Costly litigation that could put American giant Ford Motor Company $4 billion in the hole is heading to a San Diego courtroom.

There, jurors will decide whether America’s oldest carmaker committed fraud by selling millions of Ford Fiesta and Focus models from 2011 to 2016 which the company knew had troublesome transmissions. Customers claim the dual-clutch transmissions would shudder and jerk while driving. read more »

Tesla’s new Smart Summon feature is drawing scrutiny from US traffic safety agency as people use it in crowded parking lots

Tesla’s latest software update has drawn scrutiny from a federal auto safety agency. Included in the company’s most recent V.10 software upgrade is a Smart Summon feature that lets drivers call their car from a parking spot to wherever they’re standing.

On Wednesday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said they had received reports about the feature. read more »

Lincoln Aviator owners battle serious problems with luxury SUV

With just 1,899 Lincoln Aviator luxury SUVs sold since their debut in August, some owners report problems ranging from the emergency brake unexpectedly taking hold while they are driving to passenger-assist alarms going off randomly and a dashboard screen that scrambles information.

The high-profile SUV already has been the focus of two recalls in August, one related to “unintended vehicle movement” while parked; the other involving seats that may detach in a crash. In addition, consumer safely alerts from the company noted, vehicles may have instrument clusters that disable warning alerts and fail to display gear positions — drive, reverse, park, neutral. Federal safety regulations require gear positions to be displayed when a vehicle is not in park. read more »

Pedestrian Detection Works, but Technology Still Has Ways to Go, AAA Study Finds

The auto group says the systems are valuable and hold promise. CR says all cars should have the important safety feature.

As pedestrian fatalities have increased at an alarming rate over the past decade, car safety systems designed to detect and avoid pedestrians have made significant technological gains.

But a AAA study released today concludes that the detection systems, paired with automatic emergency braking (AEB), still have a ways to go to reliably detect humans in all situations. read more »