Articles by CarsGuide team

The US state of Nevada has given Google a registration to trial its driverless cars among public traffic. The officials say that after driving demonstrations by Google, they are satisfied that the cars will be safe to let loost among human drivers.   Google, best known for its search products and mapping software, is trialling fully automatic cars, which can make their way through suburbs, motorways and day to day traffic without intervention from a driver. Google says its plan is not to take control away from the driver, but to enhance the cars ability to avoid an accident. The cars are equipped with a sophisticated array of devices for monitoring the car’s current position, as well as those of fixed objects, like trees, and moving objects, such as cars or people. “Our automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, as well as detailed maps to navigate the road ahead,” Google says. The team of developers included engineers who’d previously competed in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenge, an event organized by the US Government that pits autonomous vehicles against each other on off-road courses. Safety is the priority for the project, which Google believes could have significant impacts on the global road toll. Current estimates by the World Health Organisation put the figure at approximately 1.2 million deaths per year, which predictions it will rise as much as 40 per cent by 2030. “We believe our technology has the potential to cut that number, perhaps by as much as half.” Google says.  

Motorists may be set for some relief at the bowser after average petrol prices fell from a three-and-a-half-year high last week.The average price of retail petrol fell by two cents to 150.2 cents a litre in the week ending April 29, according to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum.CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said a recent fall in regional and wholesale petrol prices should ensure further falls in the next seven to 10 days.He expects the national average pump price to fall by four cents a litre in the next fortnight."While it has certainly been a tough few months for motorists, it does seem like that a reprieve is around the corner," Mr Sebastian said on Monday.Over the past month, regional oil prices fell by almost $US12."When you take into consideration that the Aussie dollar has managed to hold up relatively well over the same period, it certainly points to a pretty sharp fall in pump prices," Mr Sebastian said. 

And a folding roof is not going to work well with that. So Lamborghini are said to be designing the convertible version of the Aventador with a removable targa roof. European press and websites overnight suggested that the open-shut case for the Aventador will be a detachable roof that removes in two separate sections. That the roof panels will be carbon fibre is a no-brainer, given there will still be a focus on keeping weight down – and down low – as much as possible. However there’s no information on whether the convertible will include on-board storage for the panels, and given the Aventador’s shape that could be a tricky exercise. But keeping the engine cover identical between the two cars is not just a matter of pleasing the eye. Redesigning it would mean expensive extra work – and lengthen the production schedule. Lamborghini are likely to have the car under the spotlight at Paris motor show in September, and could well start teasing more details before then.  

Citroen's compact Berlingo van is now available in a choice of two bodies and two engines with more equipment and sharper pricing.  The latest Berlingo range consists of the standard body powered by the 1.6-litre, 66kW petrol engine and the long body, with interior volume lifted from 3.3 to 3.7 cubic metres, powered by the 1.6-litre, 66kW turbodiesel engine, which boasts an additional 83 Nm of torque to cope with its bigger load carrying capabilities. The long body turbodiesel also gains a rear cargo mat and the convenience of Bluetooth hands free mobile phone operation. Revised pricing sees the petrol powered standard body Berlingo priced at $19,990 and the long body turbodiesel pitched at $22,990 plus on road costs.  Citroen arguably invented the whole idea of box van with the Citroen TUB and the car-derived 2CV van setting a design standard for the two most common van types.  Berlingo looks as if it is car-derived, with a bonnet and a conventional driving position. However, there is no Berlingo car to hamper Citroen's designers from making the ideal small van so although bonneted, the driver sits high with easy access, the van section blends into the overall vehicle shape to produce a shape that is as functional as it is homogeneous. The Berlingo eliminated the 'bubble back' shape of the conventional car-derived van and all its handicaps. Citroen threw into the mix a range of functional, useful features and equipment designed for the van driver on the road all day, plenty of storage space, seats that are comfortable and easy to get into and out of all day.  This second generation Berlingo is a fresh clean design, with its bonneted good looks and box van carrying ability. It sits on a Citroen C4 Picasso platform, which is derived from the underpinnings of the World Rally Championship dominating Citroen C4 WRC car.  By moving to the bigger platform from the C4 Picasso, the new Berlingo offers significantly more space, up from 3.0 to 3.3 cubic metres. The original Berlingo had a optional simple folding seat that provided a table. The new Berlingo has a new seat, both a table and a load space extender, lifting the volume to 3.7 cubic metres,  4.1 cubic metres in the long body version. To meet business demands for greater efficiency, better performance and lower running costs, Citroen has developed the new Berlingo to deliver more. It has greater carrying capacity, thanks to its larger load compartment and higher payload capability, it has even higher standards of driver/passenger safety and comfort and delivers optimum performance and economy with low running costs.  

We asked four money experts.Gen Y: Justine DaviesOooh, I loooove flashy cars! Cars beautiful, shiny cars were always a part of my upbringing as my Dad owned a dealership for more than 40 years. He lived, breathed and dreamt about cars. His favourite sport to participate in was rally driving and his ideal weekend away involved the words V8 or Indy or F1. For a bit of a break, to relax on the weekend, he'd go for a drive. Cars have been a big part of my life. Over Dad's decades in the industry, my observation was that second-hand cars were always much better value for buyers. I mean yes, new cars have the beauty of an unblemished body and the sensory delight of new leather. Everything is shiny and bright and made just for you. It's heady stuff.The fact is, though, as soon as you drive that gleaming machine off the showroom floor it loses some of its value. It straight away loses the cost of the hefty government taxes that both state and federal like to scoop off the top of new car sales and it loses the premium of being new.The same is true of bikes, caravans, jewellery and pretty much everything else. If you desperately want a new car and can easily afford it, then hey, sometimes the pleasure in owning it is worth the cost premium. For everyone else, there's Redbook.Redbook is the authoritative guide to car pricing in Australia (and online is redbook.com.au). If you're wondering how much dough you'll do on a particular car over time, then check out their valuation reports. It's a 10-minute exercise that could save you a lot of money. Justine Davies is a finance author who has a weekly blog on yourmoney.com.au. Her latest book is Money for Nothing.Gen X: Bruce BrammallOooh, I haaaate flashy cars! Cars beautiful, shiny cars are the greatest way Gen-Xers can waste money on this planet. Justine, you're off with Santa's elves and a few fairies! New cars are gigantic wealth suckers. The flashier, the suckier. Financial vacuum cleaners, souped up by Tim "The Tool Man'' Taylor.They clean out wallets, bank balances and credit ratings like little else, except maybe poker machines and owning race horses. And li'l sister Justine knows this! She admits that "second-hand cars were always much better value''. Some people might find the following admission embarrassing. I don't. I bought my first new car aged 38.Because it was the bottom of the GFC and then-PM Kevin Rudd was offering obscene bonus tax deductions to encourage businesses to buy new cars, it was almost cheaper to buy new than second-hand. Cars are depreciating assets in a class of their own. "Loses some of its value'', Justine? Try 20-30 per cent as soon as you sign up. Then another 20 per cent in year two. The more money you spend on cars, the poorer you will be. I can safely say my bottom line is $100,000 better off today than if I'd bought three or four affordable new cars over my working life. Cars bring enormous joy to some people. If so, go ahead and buy new ones. But understand the huge impact they have on your finances. Regularly updating your wheels to new will cost you $10,000-15,000 a year, per car, every year. Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.Baby-boomers: Mark BourisNot always, although it's a scary fact that a new car loses a big chunk of value as soon as it leaves the showroom. Definitely not a money-making proposition. For Baby Boomer individuals and small-business proprietors with limited budgets, there is merit in keeping your car a little longer than the standard three or four years. That's provided it's reliable and you haven't got too many kilometres on it.Just on that, it's always intrigued me that 30 years ago, the dealers' sob story on cars that had hit 100,000 miles (161,000km) would be about how it had too many miles on the clock and was not worth much. However, in the modern era, cars are far more reliable and rarely play up but the new "drop dead'' benchmark is 100,000km, not miles that's good marketing by the dealers!Often the justification for turning your vehicle over every year or two is tax. We've all heard, or possibly said, ``I may as well trade the car in on a new one because I'm saving half the payments in tax''. That's not always exactly correct, for three reasons.First, if you use your car for business you get a deduction for the business portion only and that is usually much lower than 100 per cent. Second, with changes to the marginal tax rates during the past 10 years there are many more people with a marginal rate of 30 per cent rather than 45 per cent.Third, the luxury car threshold cuts in around $60,000, which means even a vehicle for which you've paid more than $100,000 can only be depreciated up to that threshold, so the excess amount can't be written off against your business income over time. Your call.Mark Bouris is the executive chairman of wealth management and advice firm Yellow Brick Road.Retirees: Kerrin FalconerRetirees were brought up in an era when many families did not own a car. Riding a bike, walking or catching public transport were the way to get around. Shopping was likely to be local and leisure activities largely centred on the home, neighbours and family. Owning one car, let alone two, was the exception.For those who did own a car, it was likely to be a Ford or a Holden solid, built to last and sometimes a ute. Cars were designed for reliability, not necessarily comfort or safety. There wasn't a seatbelt or airbag in sight and you were lucky if it had shock absorbers. A radio was an option and surround sound, Bluetooth and GPS navigation hadn't been invented.For most retirees, it just never made sense to buy a new car when the kids needed to be educated, the mortgage paid down or there was wealth for retirement to be accumulated. However, kids have now well and truly left home and are independent, but now it is all about leaving them an inheritance.Retirees have long fixated on this goal but perhaps it is time for retirees to indulge their long-held desires, if they can afford to. Yes, it is a waste of money to buy a brand new car. The value drops by thousands as the car is driven out of the showroom and the money would probably be better spent maintaining wealth.But in all reality, children who receive that wealth as an inheritance are likely to spend the money themselves on a new car. So to my mind, if it is a long-held desire and you can afford it, then go for it. You have earned the right to spend your own money. For a lifetime, retirees have been responsible and reliable. There may not be much time left to be irresponsible. Kerrin Falconer is a financial planner. 

In the run up to a new generation Patrol, Nissan is offering the special edition current model to commemorate the first successful vehicular crossing of the Simpson Desert. The Nissan Simpson 50th Anniversary Edition Patrol marks Reg Sprigg's historic crossing of the Simpson in a G60 Patrol. Nissan is also re-enacting the momentous feat this July with a restored G60, finishing with a celebration in Birdsville, Queensland. Limited to 500 units, the Simpson 50th Anniversary Edition Patrol is available now. Based on the new Series 8 ST grade, the Simpson Patrol has $8,500 of extra value but at the same MSRP of $56,990 for manual and $59,990 for auto. Extras include satellite navigation, reversing camera, newly designed alloy bullbar, driving lights, roof bars, kick plates, bonnet protector, air guide, a branded stainless steel wheel cover, a 41-litre branded cool box and more.

Chrysler has reported preliminary net income of $473 million for the first quarter of 2012, up more than 300 percent from $116 million a year ago. The company which filed for bankruptcy not so long ago cites a 40 percent increase in domestic retail sales for its change of fortune. "We continue to deliver on the targets in our five-year plan and are now focused on successfully launching the Dodge Dart, a car that is a true melding of Chrysler's and Fiat's engineering and styling strengths," said CEO Sergio Marchionne.  Revenue for the quarter was $16.4 billion, up 25 percent from $13.1 billion in the first quarter of 2011, driven by a 25 percent period-over-period increase in shipments and positive pricing. The Company reported a Modified Operating Profit of $740 million, or 4.5 percent of revenue, in the first quarter, up 55 percent from the $477 million reported in the prior year.  

And the auto giant has been involved in another people's car project for the past year in China.The venture saw 33 million visitors to the website, where people could create a concept online. And more than 119,000 car ideas were submitted, ranging from the intriguing to the ... well, quite odd.Three of the People’s Car Project’ concepts are on show at Auto China 2012 in Beijing: the Hover Car, the Music Car and the Smart Key.The ‘Music Car’ has been blinged up with organic light-emitting diodes, brightening (or darkening) the car with the driver’s choice of music. Just the thing for a spot of suburban Shanghai Saturday night fever.Looking like it is straight out of a sci-fi film, the two seater Hover Car is an electric vehicle that is imagined as travelling on the future's electromagnetic roads.The ‘Smart Key’ features a 9mm touchscreen that keeps the driver up to date on the car’s fuel situation, climate conditions and security. Forgetting where the car is parked is no longer an issue as the car can be monitored through a real time birds-eye satellite transmission. 

The good news for Kia is that it looks every bit as good as stablemate Hyundai’s luxury-bid Equus and Genesis sedans. The bad news for us is that – unlike the Genesis, which is being built in right-hand drive and on the roadmap for Australia – we’re unlikely to get the K9 here. There’s no right-hand drive program and no plan for one. So why the interest? Because the K9 shows just what Kia can do in its march towards ever-higher quality and better design. Designer Peter Schreyer has given the Kia K9 a sleek profile with a flowing line over the elongated bonnet and through the swept-back A-pillar. It looks like it’s been polished in a wind tunnel, and the 5090mm body promises a fairly slick 0.27 coefficient of drag. The interior is tasteful, dignified and could pass for a German product -- not surprisingly, given Schreyer’s Audi history and continuing influence at Kia. Where the Hyundai sibling gets a V8, the K9 carries a 213kW 3.8-litre V6 petrol engine, with a more powerful direct-injected 245kW 3.8-litre V6 to follow towards the end of the year. The K9’s rear wheels will be driven as standard via Kia’s all-new eight-speed automatic transmission, with the joystick controlling a shift-by-wire system. Four driving modes -- Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow – let you toggle through choices of suspension set-up, steering, engine and transmission response to suit the conditions. Kia claims a 50/50 front-to-rear weight ratio, and the K9 will keep it in line with electronically-controlled air suspension with five-link front and rear system. Kia is using the K9 to roll out a list of upmarket technology that could well trickle down into other models, including camera-based around-view monitor, adaptive LED headlights and lane departure and blind-spot warning systems. With all that on board, the Germans and Swedes might soon start benchmarking Koreas cars.  

Cars were scratched, tyres slashed and several body panels on nine cars were kicked in at Surf Ford on the Gold Coast Highway at Miami. The damage bill from Monday night's "senseless rampage'' could cost Surf Ford up to $15,000, the dealership estimates. Surf Ford general manager Dan Hall said he was disgusted at the senseless and destructive behaviour. "We have insurance but what people don't realise is the Gold Coast is doing it tough and something as senseless as this affects everyone,'' Mr Hall said. Damaged vehicles included a Volkswagen Beetle with smashed panels and a $60,000 Ford Ranger that had its bonnet "keyed''. Police are investigating the incident.