The Auto World

Final approval granted in VW and Audi turbocharger lawsuit. Settlement offers warranty and partial failure reimbursements. Older vehicles may see little benefit due to strict eligibility. When the turbocharger in Julie Kimball’s 2010 Audi A4 went out, she paid around $3,000 to replace it. The car was well out of warranty, and she had to get back on the road. That said, she decided to take Volkswagen to court over what she thought was a defective design. What she likely didn’t realize at the time was that, after more than three years in court, she’d walk away with just $3,500. Also: Man Gets Nearly $2 Million For Slamming His Thumb In A BMW Door Kimball originally bought the car new and alleged the turbo issue at around 63,000 miles after roughly a decade of ownership. A court threw out most of her case in 2023, but allowed her to amend and refile her claims multiple times. In the end, one surviving claim about negligent misrepresentation managed to succeed, but probab...

Bentley’s EV SUV may share powertrains with the Cayenne EV. Front end could take cues from Bentley’s EXP15 concept car. Design blends Batur-style lights with Bentayga proportions. Luxury car buyers can’t seem to get enough of SUVs, so naturally, Bentley has decided to give them another. This will be the brand’s second SUV, a smaller model positioned beneath the Bentayga and sold exclusively as an EV. It’s already been spotted testing in Europe, though, in classic prototype fashion, Bentley’s engineers have made sure we still have very little idea what it actually looks like. Read: Bentley Is Going To Release A Smaller SUV Few Are Asking For A tester snapped earlier this month at the Nurburgring was clad in so much camouflage, and so many pieces of body cladding, that it looked like a Botox job gone bad. However, hidden behind the black and white skin could end up being an SUV that looks quite nice, at least if these renderings by Nikita Chuyko for Kolesa prove to be ...

North Carolina bans unattended idling in public areas. Police use the law mainly to help prevent car thefts. Unattended running vehicles are common theft target Just about all drivers leave their car idling on occasion, if not with some regularity, whether out of habit or convenience. As winter settles in across the northern hemisphere, that habit becomes even more common, with many drivers running their engines longer to warm up the cabin before heading out. More: This Guy Makes Over $100,000 Snitching On NYC’s Most Annoying Traffic Offense Now, a little-known law highlighted in North Carolina is serving as a reminder for plenty of Americans. Leaving a car idling, especially while unattended, can result in a ticket in some public places. The Dawson Rule Explained Known in North Carolina as the Dawson Rule , unattended idling is considered a class 3 misdemeanor. As one might expect, it sits at the bottom of the enforcement ladder there. It only applies in public ar...

Fresh data shows monthly new car payments hit $748. Used car loans average $532 per month with 11.4% interest. Some Americans are now taking on 100-month car loans. Car buyers in the United States are facing one of the most expensive markets in recent memory, and the data is starting to show just how steep the climb has become. More than 80 percent of new car buyer had to finance their purchase their vehicle, and last quarter, the average monthly payment was an eye-watering $748. Newly-released data from Experian has shed light on just how much of a financial burden car ownership can be, even for the millions opting for used models instead. Read: Average New Car Price Breaks $50,000 Barrier For The First Time Ever New vehicle prices have surged over the past five years, with the average transaction price rising more than 30 percent since 2020. In September, that figure crossed the $50,000 threshold for the first time ever. That escalation has reshaped monthly payments...

Oil giant BP is selling a majority stake in Castrol for $10.1 billion. Company is being bought by American investment firm. Deal is expected to close next year, following regulatory approvals. Castrol has been around for 126 years and is one of the largest and most recognizable lubricant companies in the world. However, they have a new owner as Britain’s BP has announced plans to sell a 65 percent stake in the company to the American investment firm Stonepeak. Back in May, several major players were reportedly eyeing BP’s Castrol division, according to sources cited by Bloomberg . Among the names floated were energy giants like Reliance Industries in India and Saudi Aramco, along with private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Lone Star Funds. More: Castrol TOM’s Racing Toyota Supra Found In Storage And Is Being Restored In the end, BP chose Stonepeak, a US-based investment firm headquartered in New York City. Stonepeak manages roughly $80 billion in assets and ...

One recall impacts over 45,000 Ford Mustang Mach-Es in US now. Ford must update headlight software on affected Mach-E models. Some Maverick models need instrument panel toppers replaced. Ford is ending 2025 in the only way that it knows how: by issuing multiple recalls. This week, the automaker announced three new safety actions in the United States, this time involving the Mustang Mach-E, Escape Hybrid, and Maverick. Faulty Module Puts Mach-E in the Dark The most substantial of the three recalls affects the 2025–2026 Mustang Mach-E . According to an internal investigation, a failure in the LED control module could cause the headlights to stop working altogether. If the module gives out, the vehicle loses not only its high and low beams, but also the position lamps, turn signals, and daytime running lights. Read: Ford Recalls Over 272,000 Vehicles Because Park Isn’t What You Think Ford said that 45,047 units are impacted, all produced between June 6, 2024, and Octo...

UK police seized two illegal e-bikes in a recent operation. One bike was allegedly capable of reaching 103.8 mph. Officials did not explain how the top speed was determined. E-bikes are creating problems across multiple regions, and the consequences are starting to pop up in increasingly dramatic ways. In America , they’re often blamed for skirting traffic laws. In the UK, at least one is now under scrutiny for allegedly being capable of triple-digit speeds. While that’s certainly plausible, it’s probably not accurate in this case. Either way, this latest seizure in the UK demonstrates just how potentially dangerous these bikes can be in the wrong hands. More: New York’s E-bike Chaos Hits A Breaking Point After Fatal Collision According to a social media post from North Yorkshire’s outer neighborhood policing team, officers stopped an “adapted bike” that was allegedly capable of reaching a top speed of 103.8 mph (167 km/h). That is a staggering figure for anything ...

Rezvani teases next-generation Tank ahead of its 2026 debut. It still looks like a military SUV but promises more power. Current Tank uses Wrangler bones and supercharged V8s. The Rezvani Tank has made a name for itself by fusing military cosplay with a burly Jeep chassis, optional V8 theatrics, and the kind of exclusivity that comes more from price than competition. Now, the California-based builder is back with a new generation, claiming to deliver more power, capability, tech, and customization than before. Still draped in shadows, the next-gen Tank has been teased ahead of its full debut in January 2026. While it retains its tactical silhouette, it appears to have a redesigned body with more angular surfacing. More: You Can Pretend To Be Batman With This Bulletproof Lamborghini From what we can see in the teaser images, the updated Tank gets new LED headlights flanking a beefier grille. There’s also a massive hood bulge, while the redesigned fenders appear more ...

Ohio police arrested three kids after a stolen car crash. The 11-year-old driver said he learned theft from videos. Officers say the chase reached speeds of 80 miles per hour. We all make dumb choices when we’re young and inexperienced. What very few people ever do is steal a car and run from police at 80 mph before even becoming a teenager. That’s allegedly what three kids in Ohio just did, crashing a reportedly stolen vehicle into a house, an incident that sparked not only a police response but also a surprising concern among the kids about whether Santa would still show up this year. Read: One In Four Lexus TX SUVs Stolen In Ontario According to authorities , the trio was just 12, 11, and 8 years old. Somehow, despite slamming into a residential home, no one was seriously hurt. License Plate Reader Triggers Pursuit Officers say the incident began when a Flock license plate reader flagged a Mazda 3 that had previously been reported stolen. Police found the vehicl...