Articles in Behind the Wheel

The Case of the Serial Volkswagen Vanagon Thief: Someone Keeps Stealing Iconic VW Vans in San Francisco

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The iconic Volkswagen Vanagon – officially the Volkswagen Transporter T Series platform – is the best-selling van in history, with over 12 million sold since its launch over 70 years ago.
Launched in 1950, the Type 2, named so to differentiate it from the T1, which was the Beetle or Käfer platform, was the first generation of VW’s Transporter family.  It was later retroactively named the Type 2 (T1) to indicate …

Car Owners Love Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and Find Native Infotainment Systems Confusing, Survey Shows, so Why is GM Taking Away These Options?

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Car owners have been perplexed about their audio and infotainment systems since the sole source of entertainment in a vehicle ceased being a simple AM radio.
While the car radio was for the first century of the automobile’s existence there for listening to news and music, in-vehicle audio became part of an auto’s telematics system, as well as part of in-vehicle security, navigation, remote diagnostics, and in-vehicle Wi-Fi.  Some loudspeakers are …

End of an Era: Last Ford Fiesta Rolls Off Assembly Line

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The last Ford Fiesta rolled off the production line Friday at the automaker’s plant in Cologne, Germany, marking the end of an era during which some 22 million of the model were sold.

The final two Fiestas that were manufactured will remain in Ford’s custody.  One will become part of the automaker’s international heritage fleet based in Cologne, and the other is bound for the UK heritage fleet.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker …

Congress Moves to Mandate AM Radio in New Autos: Let My People Modulate Their Amplitude

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Remember AM radio, that staticky radio band your parents listened to news radio to in the car?   Well, it’s not going away any time soon, you’ll be relieved to know.
If you’re listening to your iPhone in your car right now via Apple CarPlay or Bluetooth streaming, you probably didn’t know it was in danger, but a surprisingly high number of Americans – 82 million, to be exact, and a mostly …

Why You Should Probably Lease Your New EV and Not Buy It

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While many car buyers in the United States are excited about the $7,500 tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, their smiles frequently turn into frowns after visiting their local dealership.
The bad news causing the frown is that only 12 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles currently qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit under the new and far stricter battery-sourcing rules that recently went into effect.  Many EVs …

Here Are the Electric Vehicles That Are Eligible For the Full $7,500 Tax Credit

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Only 12 electric and plug-in hybrid cars will qualify for the full tax credit in the U.S. out of 90 available EV options on the market under the latest Internal Revenue Service clean-vehicle tax-credit rules.
The clean-vehicle tax credit program offers an incentive of up to $7,500 for the purchase of a new battery-electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid, or a hydrogen fuel cell EV, albeit with certain conditions including the automaker …

It’s National Car Care Month: Here’s What to Do to Prepare for Summer Touring

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April isn’t only the month many people swap their winter tires for summer tires but it’s also National Car Care month as well, a good time to have your automobile checked for any issues that might have developed over the long, cold winter, investigate any funny noises, and prepare your vehicle, as my Mercedes-Benz dealer in New York, Helms Bros., put it in an e-mail, “prepare your car for the …