WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today urged owners of certain 2000-2003 Toyota Tundra vehicles to remove spare tires mounted underneath the body of the vehicle. Excessive corrosion due to “road salts” can cause the rear cross-member of the vehicle frame to fail and allow the spare tire to fall onto the roadway at any time, creating a road hazard for other vehicles.

Toyota has just announced a recall of these vehicles, but NHTSA recommends that owners remove the spare tires even before taking the vehicles to the dealers to be remedied.

In addition, the corrosion may also cause damage to the rear brake lines and lead to brake system failures.

The safety recall involves 110,000 Toyota Tundras for model years 2000 through 2003 that are registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin. Vehicle corrosion is often spurred along by chemical de-icers, such as road salt, used in the winter to treat the roadways.

Toyota will contact owners of all affected vehicles and ask that they bring the vehicles to a local dealer to be inspected and remedied. Based on the extent of the corrosion, Toyota will either apply a corrosion-resistant compound to the affected area or replace the rear cross-member. In the event that the rear cross-member cannot be replaced, Toyota will develop a remedy for those vehicles.

Toyota also announced it will notify owners of model year 2000 through 2003 Tundras registered outside of the recalled states and perform the same inspection and repair if the owners desire.

If you own a Tundra and would like Star Auto Authority to inspect or remove the spare tire, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to inspect the area while you await information from Toyota. If you attempt to remove the spare tire yourself, NHTSA recommends that you avoid being under the spare tire or rear cross-member while doing so. Also, if you move the spare tire to the truck bed or to another location in the vehicle, make sure that it is properly secured.

Posted by Jim

Even though the weather has been mild recently, the frosty days will soon be upon us and you’ll want to be sure your car is up for the less-than-ideal driving conditions it will surely encounter.

Historically, preparing your car for winter meant changing the coolant, replacing the thicker summer engine oil with a slicker “thinner” oil, and checking your battery water levels. You may also have installed winter (or studded) tires.

Through the years, technology has made our vehicle fluids, batteries and tires more versatile. They no longer need to be changed with the seasons, but few auto experts have stepped up to inform consumers that the idea of “winterizing” your car has changed.

Here’s how we recommend you ready your car for winter:

• Inspect the tire tread and overall condition. Is there sufficient tread for the car to gain traction in the snow? Are the tires wearing evenly across all treads (and all tires)? Are there any bulges or cracking in the sidewalls or treads? If your vehicle performs poorly in the snow and your tires are in good condition, you may want to ask your service advisor if a set of winter tires would help.
• Ensure all fluids are up to par (clean) and topped off. This is actually important for all seasons, but now seems like an ideal time to prevent a breakdown (in arctic temps) caused by dirty or low fluids. Inspect the condition and level of your coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and engine oil. While fluid colors vary, you essentially want them to be clear or translucent. Any fluid that is thick and opaque most likely needs to be flushed. Reviewing your maintenance schedule can serve as a guide, or seek a professional opinion from your technician or service advisor.
• Test the freeze  protection of the coolant. While you’re checking the condition and level above, this test is important enough to warrant its own bullet point. Over time, coolant looses its ability to resist freezing. A quick litmus type test can tell you if the fluid needs to be flushed for lacking the protective qualities you need to survive winter.
  
• Conduct a full load test on the battery. Your favorite auto technician can handle this for you and can fairly accurately predict if your battery will be able to crank the engine on those bone-chilling January mornings.
• Replace the windshield wiper blades. As we reported in a recent post, about 90 percent of our driving decisions are based on what we see, and even though we’ve all experienced the frustration and fear of not being able to see clearly during a storm, an estimated 46 million U.S. motorists have wipers that can’t adequately clear their windshields. Let’s take a more proactive approach and replace them before they stop cleaning the windshield.
• Protect the paint. To keep your car looking good year after year, this is also an ideal time to have it detailed. A protective wax or coating will be applied to the clearcoat, protecting it from the harsh effects of road salt, snow, ice and rain.

At Star Auto Authority, we automatically inspect all of the above with every visit, except for the battery load test. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, use this as a guide to ensure trouble-free winter travels.

No matter how well they’re made, many cars are going to have design or manufacturing problems that pose a threat to your safety. When a problem is discovered and the government deems it a safety concern—typically, the car is at greater risk for a crash or fire—they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice to owners of affected vehicles. As you probably know, the recall notice will direct you to your dealer, where the part in question will be inspected and repaired or replaced.

Each month, we publish a list of recent safety recalls on our web site. You are also welcome to call us (847 816 0011) or email us with questions, too. You can also obtain free recall information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), carfax.com, autobytel.com and dmv.org.

Sometimes, cars have less serious problems that you still might want to know about. In this case, manufacturers issue  a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB). These are most helpful to your auto technician because they address unusual drivability, steering, noise, etc. problems a specific car make and model may be experiencing. These bulletins explain the problem or condition and how to resolve it. The pros receive updated information through subscription plans, and these are sometimes available in consumer versions, too. You can buy access to these for an annual fee. (But as a client of Star Auto Authority, why would you need to? We can look up the information for you!)

A recent Wall Street Journal article detailed consumer sticker shock woes in a way we deal with every day: The cost of tires has risen dramatically in the past several years—even for the family Truckster—and many consumers don’t realize the implications of buying that SUV with the larger tires or the sedan with the sports package until it’s hitting them squarely in the wallet.

According to the article, the average price for tires rose 9 percent in 2008 and a shocking 24 percent since 2005. What’s behind the price hikes?

• Tire makers are urging car manufacturers to equip new vehicles with specialty, higher-performance and higher profit tires that can handle higher speeds and that offer firer handling for sports rides. This trend isn’t limited to sports cars, according to the article. Even minivans and basic sedans are being fitted with tires at the factory that once would have been reserved for Chevy Corvettes and Audi TTs.
• The trend is that more and more cars are being sold with larger-diameter wheels than previous years. These need to be fitted with larger tires, which of course, are more expensive. (And if you choose the sports package on your new car, it regularly includes high-performance, larger-diameter tires.)
• The privilege of tire technology, such as run-flats, comes with a higher cost. While you no longer have to worry about hitting a nail and being stranded along the road side, you pay a premium for the peace of mind when it comes time to replace the tire.

Here’s where our expertise comes into play. What can you do to control your costs?

• Consider the tire size and style (regular vs. high performance) before you buy that new car.  Before you buy the car, get an idea of how much the replacement tires will be and what the expected lifespan is.
• Weigh the pros vs. cost of replacing the tire with one of the same speed rating. Many new cars have extremely high speed ratings. Switching to a lower rating can save you money without compromising the performance. “All tires sold in the U.S. have to meet the same federal safety standards, and all will stand up to typical use,” the Wall Street Journal article says. Consumers often feel obligated to buy into the higher speed ratings, even though that only becomes a factor in “evasive maneuvers in an emergency.”
• Invest in preventive maintenance. Rotate your tires as recommended, maintain the proper tire pressure, be sure the wheels are properly aligned and keep an eye out for worn suspension parts. This minimal investment will maximize the tires’ lifespan by ensuring they rest evenly on the roadway for even tread wear.