When It Comes to Automatic Shifters, It's Proceed With Caution

Shifters used to be familiar, intuitive, and generally safe. Now that carmakers are striving for stylistic differences, the results are sometimes confusing and potentially dangerous.

Many new-car buyers over the past few years have probably been surprised to find a dial or a row of buttons where they expected to find the automatic transmission lever. Some cars have shifters that look—at first glance—like familiar gear selectors in the center console or on the steering column, but which function in complicated or counterintuitive ways.

The result is that one of the most fundamental systems in a car can end up being confusing to drivers, and, if used improperly, dangerous. Since it’s not always immediately obvious whether these unfamiliar transmissions are in gear, Neutral, or Park, it’s possible for rollaways to happen after a driver exits the car.

BMW began to deploy unusual shifter designs in the early 2000s. Since then, many other manufacturers have introduced new takes on the conventional PRNDL shifter in more mainstream cars.

Some cars have built-in safeguards to prevent rollaways. But other vehicles have needed fixes to their transmissions after problems surfaced in the field. In April 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had to recall 1.1 million vehicles after 41 people were reported injured. In June of that year, actor Anton Yelchin was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled into him. read more »

Trade-in woes for vehicles with recalled Takata airbags

The Takata airbag scandal has prompted the largest auto recall in US history, affecting millions of vehicle owners worldwide

The potentially defective airbags have been linked to more than a dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries.  Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recall alert, repairs for recalled vehicles are slow-moving.

There are currently 46 million recalled Takata air bag inflators in 29 million vehicles in the United States according to NHTSA, and part delivery is often being prioritized to the most humid locations, which creates the greatest risk for the airbag defect.

Websites for Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and NADA guides can estimate a vehicles value before and after the recall. read more »