A Little-Known Tactic Can Make the U.S. Investigate Your Car-Safety Problem

Gary Weinreich was terrified when the steering on his 2005 Toyota 4Runner failed on a busy two-lane highway in South Carolina in May. Later he was angry enough that he wanted to do more than gripe. So he tried a little-known tactic to compel federal regulators to investigate and possibly recall 500,000 other 4Runners for a prematurely rusted frame.

Mr. Weinreich, 69 and a retired environmental engineer from Murrells Inlet, S.C., filed a defect petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That meant his problem would receive more attention than the 40,000 normal complaints the agency typically receives in a year. read more »

Ducati Panigale V4 Range Recalled In North America For Oil-Cooler Issue

Ducati has issued a recall for 1,663 units of the Panigale V4 range in North America due to a potential oil-cooler issue. According to the documents filed with the National highway Transport Safety Administration or NHTSA, the oil-cooler on the Panigale V4, V4 S and the V4 S Speciale could crack during extreme usage, for example when doing hot laps on a racetrack. This problem was first seen on the European models of the Ducati Panigale V4 where the output port on the oil-cooler was seen to be leaking. read more »