Recall Alert: 2003-04 Pontiac Vibe

General Motors is recalling 135,749 model year 2003-04 Pontiac Vibe hatchbacks due to an electrical problem that could cause the airbags to deploy, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In the affected vehicles, manufactured between Jan. 18, 2002, and April 27, 2004, the supplemental restraint system circuits are susceptible to internal electrical shorting; this may create an abnormal current flow and increased heat, which may damage the circuits. The problem could result in an inadvertent deployment of the front airbags or seat belt pretensioners, increasing the risk of a crash.

General Motors will notify owners, though no notification schedule has been specified. Dealers will install a supplemental harness containing an electrical filter between the airbag control module and its wire harness for free. Owners can call GM at 800-620-7668 or NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

Today's recall follows Wednesday's recall of 752,000 model year 2003-04 Corolla compact sedans and Matrix hatchbacks; the Pontiac Vibe is related to the Matrix and was produced during a Toyota-GM partnership.

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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: May 2012

Toyota dominated the sales landscape last month, with May sales up nearly 90%. That's versus a weak May 2011, when Japan's earthquake and tsunami had shoppers thinking Toyota, Lexus and Scion showrooms would have few cars in stock. It actually wasn't the case, noted Toyota spokeswoman Carly Shaffner; Automotive News data show Toyota maintained higher inventory in May 2011 then it did this past May, but the perception dried up demand and the automaker lost a third of its sales. Last month, it more than made them back: Camry and RAV4 sales more than doubled, Corolla/Matrix sales jumped 87.5% and Prius sales tripled. Even sales for the Lexus RX, which topped last month's Buzz Index, gained 82.1%.

Toyota wasn't the only mover.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: April 2012

Eight of March's 10 best-sellers returned to the table in April, but one of the newbies may surprise you. In March, an incentive-heavy Nissan Altima fell just 1,517 cars short of the redesigned Toyota Camry, clinching the No. 2 best-selling car position. Incentives remain high, but Altima sales dropped drastically enough to knock it off the top 10 list. Instead, shoppers drifted toward the Honda Accord and Toyota Prius.

The Accord, one of April's two newcomers, gained 25.6% last month, snapping three months' sales malaise to fall just 1,435 cars short of the hard-charging, recently redesigned Camry. The shift surprised us, given the Accord is in its final year before a redesign while incentives are about the same as a year ago.

There's little surprise that the Prius' sales catapulted 101.7% despite gas prices leveling off this month. Three new Prius variants — a subcompact Prius c, larger Prius v and rechargeable Prius Plug-in — accounted for 76% of that rise. Strip those away, however, and even the original Prius handily outpaced its year-ago sales.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: February 2012

Chrysler and Hyundai saw big increases in February sales as shoppers, spurred by positive economic news and rising personal income, hit dealerships to find incentives remain high. Dealer and manufacturer discounts, including trade-in bonuses and discount financing, totaled 16.1% off the average car's MSRP in early February, CNW Market Research reports. That's about even with January but much higher than February 2011's 13.3% in total discounts.

Sales for Ford's F-Series improved 25.9%, with the V-6 model — both naturally aspirated and EcoBoost (turbocharged) models — accounting for nearly 60% of sales. The Escape, an SUV that made the best-selling list for nine months running, dropped off as sales increased a modest 3.7%. Ford keeps piling on Escape incentives — up versus February 2011 — but perhaps enough shoppers are waiting for its replacement.

The redesigned Toyota Camry maintained a thin lead over the Nissan Altima to remain America's best-selling sedan, despite the Altima selling nearly 60% better. Nissan is cleaning up: Altima incentives are just a tad higher than they were a year ago, and the car is selling despite being in its twilight years. A redesigned Altima will debut at next month's New York auto show.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: June 2010

As we near the dog days of summer, the general malaise of the summer months seems to be taking its toll on car sales earlier than usual.

Many large automakers saw only incremental sales gains in June, with Ford up 13.3%, GM up 10.7%, Toyota up 6.8% and Honda only up 6.2%.

Despite the lull, some automakers managed to outperform. Beleaguered Chrysler saw a 35% sales boost in year-over-year sales; to be fair, the automaker was just exiting bankruptcy this time last year, making any comparisons between the two months extremely misleading. Korean automaker Hyundai also continues its sales gains, up 35%.

Significant changes on June’s top 10 include the Nissan Altima falling off the list and the Honda CR-V making the top 10. It’s the first crossover represented on the top 10 since April.

Find out which cars came out on top below. If you want to follow our breaking sales coverage every month, follow us on Twitter @kickingtires.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars June 2010

• Ford F-Series: 46,502
• Chevrolet Silverado: 30,994
• Toyota Camry: 28,435
• Honda Accord: 26,792 (includes 1,848 Accord Crosstours)
• Honda Civic: 26,474 (includes hybrid)
• Toyota Corolla: 21,876 (includes Matrix)
• Chevrolet Malibu: 20,720
• Ford Fusion: 18,412
• Hyundai Sonata: 17,771
• Honda CR-V: 16,041

Toyota Corolla, Scion xB Earn IIHS Top Safety Pick Status

Perhaps the most sought-after safety accolade in the automotive industry is scoring a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The agency recently added a roof-strength test for cars to be eligible for the award, making it an even tougher accomplishment. When the institute added the new guidelines late last year, no Toyotas made its initial list of Top Safety Picks.

Today, the IIHS announced that the 2010 Toyota Corolla and 2010 Scion xB both earned the top score of Good in the roof-strength test and are again Top Safety Picks. The 2009 models of both cars were past winners under the old guidelines. Of the four other Toyota models tested for roof strength, only the Camry earned a top rating of Good. The RAV4 and Yaris earned a rating of Acceptable, and the Tacoma earned a Marginal rating. No other Lexus or Scion models have been tested for roof strength yet.

The 2010 Corolla is included in both recalls for floormats and sticky accelerator pedals and is being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over complaints of it its steering. The Scion xB is not included in the two recalls.

The IIHS adds that "Recalls happen all the time, and they happen to Top Safety Pick vehicles as well. They just don’t usually attract the level of media attention as the Toyota problems have. The award for the Corolla only applies to vehicles fixed under any recalls — such as those related to the unintended acceleration issue."

2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid Not Recalled, Still On Sale

The Toyota Camry Hybrid is not included in the current recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, including the gasoline-powered Camry. That means Toyota dealers are allowed to sell the 2010 Camry Hybrid on lots right now. However, the Camry Hybrid is part of an earlier recall of 3.8 million Toyota vehicles over floormats that can become trapped under the accelerator.

Toyota Recalls 2.3 Million Vehicles Over Sticking Accelerator Pedal

A new recall announced today by Toyota includes approximately 2.3 million Toyota cars, trucks and SUVs. No Lexus or Scion models are included. The recall is to fix accelerator pedals that become stuck and lead to severe accidents. This recall is separate from the 4.2 million vehicles recalled over floormats trapping the accelerator pedal. Toyota says 1.7 million vehicles are included in both recalls.

Below is Toyota’s explanation as well as the models affected.

2009 Toyota Corolla: Love/Hate

I’m not going to lie — I wasn’t exactly looking forward to my weekend with the 2009 Toyota Corolla. I’ve driven a series of vanilla four-door sedans since May, and it’s gotten a little boring. There was nothing inherently wrong with any of the cars, but “responsible” isn’t usually how you’d describe your summer dream car. Fortunately, I was spared total boredom when I discovered the Corolla I’d be driving was the sportier XRS version.

Loved: Sporty handling
Although the Corolla XRS isn’t going to win any land-speed records or anything, I was pleasantly surprised with its zip. With some of the other economy cars I’ve driven this summer, merging onto the expressways required stomping the gas pedal into the floor and crossing my fingers. The Corolla needed far less coaxing to ease into high-speed traffic. Changing lanes on the crowded Chicago-area interstates can even be a pleasant experience in a car that moves without hesitation, like the XRS did.

Toyota Offering Five-Year Leases to Comply With Cash for Clunkers

Part of the small print in the Cash for Clunkers legislation is that it can only be applied to leases with terms of at least five years. Most lease deals are for much shorter terms — two to three years — because the allure of a lease is that you get out of a car and into a new one quickly.

Toyota is one of the few automakers we’ve heard of that will offer five-year leases, created just for the program. The 60-month leases are available for the Yaris, Corolla, Camry, RAV4 and Tacoma. One sample offer for a Yaris lease lists a headline-grabbing monthly payment of $79 per month for 60 months. The money you’d have to pay up front is $5,229, but if you deduct the $4,500 Cash for Clunkers credit, you’d end up paying $729 up front.

How much would it cost you to buy a Yaris in the same scenario and own it outright at the end of the term? Financed at 2.9% for 60 months, with that same down payment, it would be $125.03 a month, not including tax or destination.

The lease also allows you to drive only 12,000 miles a year. Offers vary by region.

2009|Toyota|Yaris

2009|Toyota|Corolla

2009|Toyota|RAV4

2009|Toyota|Camry