For the first time in quite a while, Japanese automakers dropped out of the top 3 in J. D. Power annual study of vehicle dependability. Porsche took the top honor while Lincoln and Buick cruised in at second and third respectively. Lots of improvements in quality across the board (Porsche jumped 10 spots, and Ford gained 6 spots from last year report). Follow the link for the official press release.

On my drive to Northfield this afternoon, I saw a Prius trying to accelerate to merge onto the highway and I couldn't believe the car's acceleration was intended. Then it reminds me of the "breaking news" last week about a runaway Prius in California. The second I heard of it, I could smell BS (not because of the cattle farms along HW 3).

Jim Sikes, a man who has his name on multiple bankruptcies with the collective debt amounts to over $700,000 (of which Toyota Financials is one of his debtors), was the driver of said runaway Prius. Further background investigation found that Sikes was 5 months behind on his Prius' bill as well as many other interesting bits. The man appeared on media networks claiming he's not planning to sue Toyota, yet has hired a lawyer the moment his name was on the news.

Unlike Tiger Woods who gave in to publicly apologize for his sex scandal, The General has finally called it quits and divorced his Swedish beauty, Saab. In all fairness, GM didn't have any offspring with Saab so the financial complications weren't too bad to work out in court. It also helps when there's always someone (Spyker Cars, Dutch supercar maker) who desperately lusts after a Swede native with a good-looking behind.

Japanese cars in the years past have dominated the Consumer Reports' Top Pick Cars. So it is a nice change of pace to see more diversity this year with German and American automakers joining the list. Among the ranks are the MKVI GTI from Volkswagen, Traverse and Silverado from Chevrolet. Follow the link to read the press release from Consumer Reports.

The Automotive Recyclers Association Education Foundation (ARAEF), developer of educational programs for the automotive recycling industry, announced a collaboration agreement with I-CAR.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the two organizations outlined plans for mutually promoting the level of knowledge and skills required to improve communication and educational exchanges between the recycling and repair industries.

"Our planned partnership presents an enormous range of potential benefits to the automotive recycling and collision industries," said ARAEF Managing Director Virginia Whelan. "This collaboration will undoubtedly result in new educational training tools and endeavors with tremendous potential for innovation and far-reaching benefit."

"A mutual understanding of each other's industries can go a long way in improving communications and meeting customer expectations," said Jamie Jacobs, I-CAR Instructional Designer. "This agreement between the ARAEF and I-CAR is a big step forward toward this goal, and provides a commitment from both industries to continuing education with regard to the considerations for recycled parts usage during collision repairs."

The ARA Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization formed to research and develop learning materials for automotive recyclers. The ARAEF is the founder of the ARA University, an online training platform for the automotive recycling industry.

Source: Collisionweek (requires login)