The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

For the first time in 20 years, AAA won’t make a Memorial Day travel forecast

Gas prices continue to increase across the country with nearly every state’s average increasing by an average of 4 cents. At the start of the Memorial Day work week, the national gas price average is $1.87.

The last time the national gas price average leading into the holiday was under $2 a gallon was in 2003. That year motorists paid, on average, $1.50 to fill-up.

“Gas prices around Memorial Day have not been this cheap in nearly 20 years,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “However, as the country continues to practice social distancing, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to travel.”

What to buy and not buy at Memorial Day sales 2020

Memorial Day sales have begun, even though stores aren’t operating like they usually do due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shop online for safety or pick up items you’ve ordered from local retail stores.

Many states have opened retail stores, including Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Iowa. However, I wouldn’t take the risk to go shopping for clothes or other items yet. About a dozen states – Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Mississippi – have opened retail stores even though their coronavirus cases are going up or have plateaued rather than dropping. See this New York Times article on the reopening plans of states.

DealNews.com suggests consumers look for Memorial Day deals on:

Nation’s largest subprime auto lender agrees to pay more than $550 million for deceptive auto loan practices

Santander Consumer USA Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay about $550 million or more to consumers nationwide to resolve charges that its subprime lending practices exposed them to high levels of risk with auto loans that had a high likelihood of default. Santander also agreed to make changes to its terms and conditions for extending credit.

“Santander defrauded desperate consumers by placing them into auto loans the company knew these customers could never afford to pay, resulting in defaults and negative ratings on consumers’ credit reports,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In March 2015, a coalition of 34 attorneys general opened an investigation into Santander — the largest subprime auto financing company in the nation – after receiving an increase in consumer complaints on subprime auto loans. The coalition alleged that Santander – through use of credit scoring models that could forecast the risk of borrower default – knew that certain groups of consumers would have a high likelihood of default.

Ranger off-road vehicles are being recalled by Polaris due to fire hazard

Polaris is recalling about 80,000 Model Year 2018 - 2020 Ranger XP 1000 and Crew XP 1000 off-road vehicles.

The clutch belt can break and damage the secondary clutch and the fuel line, posing a fire hazard to the rider.

Polaris has received four reports of clutch belts breaking, which resulted in fuel line damage and fires. No injuries have been reported.

State Farm gets an ‘A’ and GEICO a ‘D-‘ on report card of refunds or credits for driving less due to the coronavirus pandemic

Companies that sell more than 82 percent of the auto insurance in the United States have announced that they’ll be refunding or crediting drivers more than $6.5 billion over the next two months. The payments are due to the insurers’ savings from fewer auto insurance claims related to the huge reduction in cars on the road and miles driven during stay-at-home orders and other covid-19 precautions.

The Consumer Federation of America and Center for Economic Justice contacted insurers and state insurance regulators to urge this type of relief in letters to commissioners sent on March 18 and March 30.

The groups also assessed different approaches insurer could use for relief and a way to ensure fairness.

Off-highway utility vehicles are being recalled by Kawasaki USA due to crash hazard

Kawasaki is recalling about 80,000 MULE PRO off-highway utility vehicles.

The steering shaft can develop excessive wear and affect steering control resulting in a crash hazard, posing a risk of injury or death.

The firm has received 453 reports of incidents of steering problems. No injuries have been reported.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump rolls back environmental laws

Auto fuel efficiency standards

The Trump administration released a final rule Tuesday rolling back auto fuel efficiency standards, which will let cars and light trucks emit about 1 billion more tons of carbon pollution over the lifetime of the vehicle fleet than under the standards set by the Obama administration.

“This is one of the most reckless and unconscionable decisions made by any president, and doing it in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis is doubly insidious,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.

The Obama-era fuel standards were the single largest effort by the federal government to fight global warming and the health hazards of carbon dioxide emissions, according to a New York Times article. Several automakers supported the standards, which required them to increase fuel efficiency to 54 miles per gallon by 2025. Under the Trump rollback, vehicle fleets will be required to average about 40 miles per gallon.

Consumer Reports announces top 10 choices for best cars of 2020

While luxury brands Porsche and Genesis claim the top two spots, moderately-priced brands are close behind in the latest Brand Report Card Rankings from Consumer Reports, a product testing organization. The annual rankings show which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on Consumer Reports testing and member surveys. 

Brands from South Korea and Japan, including Genesis, Subaru, Mazda, Lexus, Hyundai, and Kia, claim six of the 10 top spots in Consumer Reports’ 2020 rankings.

Porsche went up two positions from last year to claim the top spot, replacing Subaru. Rounding out the top-10 are Audi, BMW, and Mini. Kia and Mini are the only two brands that are new among the top group in Consumer Reports Brand Report Card Rankings, replacing Toyota, down three spots from last year, and Lincoln, down five spots from last year.

Chrysler recalls nearly a quarter-million 2014-2019 Ram ProMaster vans for shifter cable issue

Photos: Mr.choppers

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling about 222,207 model year 2014-2019 Ram ProMasters vans equipped with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine.

The transmission shifter cable could separate, disconnecting the transmission shifter from the transmission, which could result in the inability of the driver to shift the transmission. The gear shift level position may not match the transmission gear, according to the recall.

As a result, the driver may not know the actual gear position and unintended vehicle movement could occur, increasing the risk of a crash.

Mercedes-Benz recalls about 745,000 vehicles due to sunroofs that could detach

Photo: OSX

Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 745,000 vehicles in the United States due to faulty sunroofs where the glass panel could detach from the vehicle. Cars affected by this recall range from model years 2001 to 2011.

The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration said the bonding between the glass panel and the sliding roof frame could deteriorate and possibly cause the glass panel to detach from the vehicle.

This recall affects C-, CLK-, CLS- and E-Class models over about 10 years: