General Motors just recalled about 136,500 of the 2011 model year of Chevrolet Cruze, GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express vehicles in three recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said….read the whole AOL News Story HERE

You want to buy a used car with a low amount of miles. But you need to be aware of the potential for odometer fraud, something that occurs more often with unlicensed dealers or private sellers.

“Odometer fraud is a situation in which a seller has intentionally taken miles off an odometer to increase the value of a vehicle,” said Inspector General Tom Clinkenbeard.

Clinkenbeard says buyers need to use common sense and do their research ahead of time before they ever put money down on a used vehicle. That includes researching vehicles up for sale through carfax.com or autocheck.com. These websites can tell potential buyers if a vehicle has ever been in a crash in which an insurance claim was paid out, or what a vehicle’s mileage was every time a title was issued.

Other important tips for consumers include:

• Be alert to the seller’s actions, how information is provided, and the location of the sale. If the sale appears suspicious, don’t buy the vehicle.
• Have a reputable mechanic or repair facility inspect the vehicle before making a purchase.
• Examine the title closely for altered information. The title must be in the seller’s name.
• Look for the odometer miles displayed, and then compare that number to the average number of miles driven per year. On average, a vehicle is driven 12,000 miles per year.
• Inspect the vehicle to make sure the overall condition matches the mileage. See if the vehicle has been repainted and if the tires match. Test drive the vehicle before buying.

Because I’m a Traffic Guy, this stuff interests me…check this story about the Longest and Shortest Streets in the World…Click HERE!

One of the smaller parks in city of Phoenix is the Cancer Survivors Park at 1^st Street and Willetta.  It runs from Willetta to McDowell and was established through the Richard and Annette Bloch Foundation.  In the park are a number of bronze statues of people.  Sometime, believed to be between the morning of Friday, April 15^th, and the morning of Monday, April 18^th, someone broke an approximately four-foot tall statue of a small girl from the base and stole the statue.  All that remains is the shoe, which was securely anchored to the ground as the base.  The cost to replace the statue is estimated to be about $12,000.

Anyone who may have information concerning this incident or knows the suspects or where the statue is, is encouraged to call the Phoenix Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at (602) 262-6141 or Silent Witness at (480) WITNESS, (480) TESTIGO for Spanish.

A team of students at Université Laval just won first place for the third time in the Shell Eco-marathon in Houston with their svelte hypermiling supercar, which gets an incredible fuel efficiency of 2,564.8 MPG! The annual Shell Eco-marathon challenges high school and college students to design, build and test energy efficient vehicles, and the Alerion team have proven themselves to be masters at their craft. The prototype beat out the second place winners by a whopping 766.1 miles per gallon, and the vehicle even improved upon Université Laval’s entry last year by 77 miles per gallon. Read the full story HERE

For parents and teens, choosing a car for a first-time driver can be an anxiety-filled process. Teens want a sporty car they won't be embarrassed to drive to school. Parents want safety, safety, safety.

Cross a new car off the list because the chances of a new driver putting a dent in it, or worse, are roughly 1 in 4.

Late-model used cars offer a just-right combination of modest power and performance, top-notch crash scores, advanced safety features and decent reliability scores that safety experts say parents should seek in any car intended for a new driver.

 Among the vehicles best suited for teen drivers: the Honda Accord (24 points,) the Ford Fusion (22 points) and the Toyota Camry (22 points).

You won't see pickups, sports cars, or tiny subcompacts on the list. Pickups are too easy to roll. Sports cars tempt young drivers to drive too fast. Subcompacts don't put enough metal between your kid and obstacles they may hit, even though today's small cars are dramatically better engineered than the tiny hatchbacks baby boomers drove in the '70s and '80s.

Read the rest of this Wall Street Journal article HERE