This story is from the Associated Press, 7:00 pm, January 26, 2010. With the exception of the title; that creative is all ours. Women-Drivers applauds Toyota's drastic action in light of mitigating public safety issues.

TORRANCE, Calif. - Toyota Motor Co. said Tuesday it was suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals that stick, the latest quality problem to confront the world's No. 1 automaker.

As part of the plan, Toyota said it was halting production at five manufacturing facilities for the week of Feb. 1 "to assess and coordinate activities." There are 2.3 million vehicles involved in the recall, which was announced last week.

"This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized," said Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president and general manager. he Japanese automaker says the sales suspension includes the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

It was unclear how long Toyota would suspend production of the vehicles. In an e-mail to employees, company officials said, "we don't know yet how long this pause will last but we will make every effort to resume production soon." Toyota officials did not immediately return phone messages.

Toyota said the company would stop producing vehicles at plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Canada. They said no other North American Toyota facility would be affected by the decision.

The auto company said the sales suspension would not affect Lexus or Scion vehicles. Toyota said the Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids, would remain for sale.

Toyota said last week it was recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix accelerator pedals with mechanical problems that could cause them to become stuck.

That announcement followed a larger recall months earlier of 4.2 million vehicles because of problems with gas pedals becoming trapped under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was the cause of several crashes, including some fatalities.

Drive Your Bargain,

Anne

www.twitter.com/womendrivers

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2010 when...
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2 You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list
AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.
Go on, forward this to your friends.

I wrote none of the above, but I got it on good faith from my friend, George, who I am sure pilfered it. Therefore, I throw up my hands and offer no credit to the author, with regret.

Drive Your Bargain,

Anne

I am so inspired.

In this beautiful life there has, and is, and will be chaos abound. No wonder so many are skeptical. No wonder so many are resigned. No wonder so many breath apathy. But today, I share my source of inspiration with you...

Listen to MLK, Reliving the Dream. Written, produced and performed by Marcus Reid - the PositiveHipHop artist. Share it with your friends. Inspiration is attractive. And attractivness is contageous. May Marcus's message be passed around, along and forward. Just like Martin's.

 Chorus: I’m repping his name, cause he rep me before.  He didn’t change the game, he created the mold.                

             So now relight the flame, to still see his name… M – L- K reliving the dream

I don't remember Martin's marches. I didn't grow up in a place where such turmoil existed, or, I certainly didn't understand it if I did. I don't remember his loss, a tragedy and impact so profound the entire nation mourned. But history is a teacher. And so is my inspiration today from my friend, Marcus, a hip-hop performer that is bringing it back. Bringing a new message back, with this wonderful rap, all wrapped up in Positive.

Drive Your Bargain,

Anne

The latest round of compacts at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show were well received; frankly, many looked exceptional. From Ford, the winner of the the North American Car & Trcuk of the Year, to Chevy, Hyundai, KIA, Mazda, Fiat, and the new GMC Granite  - younger, the younger at heart, and urban drivers will have more attractive choices mid-year when looking to buy.

Many of these models will be coming standard with the latest in connectivity. From Bluetooth, to navigational GPS systems, to SIRIUS satellite radio. Ford has introduced the most innovative MyFord Touch Driver Connect Technology, powered by SYNC and the Microsoft company. With voice recognition, the commands are followed easily and the system even will speak-out-loud text messages that are received. Which begs the question -- how does this technology curve the human desire to send text messages?

The fine line questions are these:

• What impact will this instantaneous and soon to be standard (on many models) have on driver attention and safety?
• What will the cars go-to-market price be and will those affected by the recession or the younger buyers be able to afford these models that used to be thousands of dollars cheaper?

Most of these cars are so 'technologized' on the inside. Frankly, they look like a small aircraft's cockpit. While that is appealing, we are not flying planes.  On any given day there are an estimated 87,000 planes in our skies versus 240,000,000 million cars on the road.

It's fun, productive and enjoyable having all of our gadgets. Americans now expect nothing short of instant connections and 2010 is a line of demarkation for the auto industry. While going smaller, they have have added big costs and advancements to our social 'studies'. Let's see how it plays out at the dealership and in consumers actual driving behavior.

 Drive Your bargain,

www.twitter.com/womendrivers

Live from media days, the Detroit Auto Show is in full swing. This is an overview, more details and photos forthcoming:

Small compacts are in -- but in a new way. Aggressive, fun and youthful styling carries the day, as does connectivity and energy efficiency. Wow! Detroit has done its homework, ladies - no kidding. Let's start with Ford. Ford has a rocking 2010 line up-- the Focus and Focus hybrid are taking front and center stage. 

Chevy has a strong line up of C cars (more forthcoming when my interviewing stops), as does, KIA, Mazda, Mini, Honda, and of course, Hyundai - who as a company, has ongoingly been adding extraordinary value by keeping some of their last year's prcing in tact for 2010, while adding to it's Assurance program and making their cars more lightweight. Toyota will be launching a family of Prius's in the next year or so.

At the luxery level, BMW and Acura have added hybrid and eco-friendly technology. Lexus was the first to jump-start the efforts in this category with the launch of the 250h.

Buick is hot. New models for a new car company, with lots of Opel euro influence. Look out those of you who have said you would never drive a Buick-- test drive one and you may very well be a convert.

Remarkable Euro styling is shown in the Audi, BMW and Mercedes brands. Speaking of Euro, Volkswagon is showing some very tempting looks that are stepping into this class from a stying and feature perspective.

More to come.

Drive Your Bargain,

Anne

www.twitter.com/womendrivers