House to Vote on Emergency Aid for Auto Industry
from The Los Angeles Times
The House will convene next week to vote on a plan to provide emergency cash to the nation's battered automobile industry, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this week, but a federal bailout for Detroit faces an uphill battle in the Senate and an uncertain fate at the White House. The proposal would add the ailing industry to the $700-billion rescue package. More

Sagging Economy Gives Auto Repair Shops a Boost

Car repair companies across the country are reaping the benefits of a scaled-down economy as people patch up aging vehicles instead of splurging on newer ones. More

Hybrids Enter Auto Repair Classes

Learning the basics about hybrids – and how to deal with them safely – is slowly becoming standard text in vocational programs around South Florida. Auto technician programs are teaching students about the distinct differences in the trendy vehicles that run on both gasoline and electricity. Knowing those differences, instructors say, is essential. More

The Gap: Feather, Fill and Block

In collision repair, the term that has become known as "The Gap" refers to the part of the repair process that exists from the time the repair ends and where the refinish process begins. The repair area is finished up to150 grit and void of any surface imperfections. Once this stage is reached, the panel is handed off to the painter, who will work the area more to get the panel to accept the paint. More

Automakers Sign on to NASTF Service Information Standards

The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) has established NASTF Service Information Standards and requested that each auto manufacturers renew its commitment to NASTF to make service and training information and tools accessible to all repairers on an equal basis by signing an agreement with NASTF. Much of the standards embody the practices that have been in place for six years, but one new element is a binding arbitration backstop in the NASTF Dispute Resolution Process. More

Loading Up on TVs and iPods

Back when bulky car phones were for the elite and directions came from a passenger holding a map, stores like Car Tunes, a six-outlet chain in the Detroit area, mostly sold upgraded car stereo systems and bigger speakers. In comparison, the array of electronics that retailers sell for vehicles today seems endless — from navigation systems and iPod interfaces to high-definition satellite television and many more comforts of home. More

Hard Times Cut Demand for Big Chrome Custom Car Wheels

The bling-bling is going out of the fancy custom wheels business. After a decade in which shiny chrome rims ruled the streets — the bigger and more outrageous the better — consumers appear to be passing up automotive cosmetics in order to buy gas and groceries. More

Badly Burned Fort Worth, Texas Mechanic Counts His Blessings

Fire engulfed him from his knees to his chin, but Clifton Atkins, an auto mechanic at Affordable Muffler and Auto Repair in Fort Worth, Texas, doesn’t remember any flames, just the torturous sensation of intense and spreading heat. Four months after the accident, Atkins says he’s thankful. More

At Specialty Garage, Making Hybrids Even Greener

The fig tree and the philodendron are the first things that meet the eye in the repair bay of Luscious Garage in San Francisco. Then the two Toyota Priuses come into focus — one with a slightly dented rear door, the other on a lift with two tires off and rusty brake rotors exposed. Then comes the eerie sense that something is missing: grime. The only hybrid specialty garage run by a woman has opened in the Bay Area, which has more Priuses — 70,000 as of 2006 — than most states. More