The Environmental Protection Agency released a list of the most fuel-efficient vehicles based on combined city and highway fuel economy estimates for model year 2013. We’ve covered the first three fuel-efficient vehicles already. The Toyota Prius, Prius c, Ford C-Max and Ford Fusion SE claimed the top spots. Here are the next four most fuel-efficient vehicles (excluding EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles).

Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid

Combined MPG: 45

Going green can be difficult in a city like Phoenix with its relatively subpar public transit system. However, there are ways to cut down on your carbon footprint. Local dealerships such as Scottsdale AZ Volkswagen offer hybrid vehicles including the VW Jetta Hybrid. The Jetta Hybrid ranks third on EPA’s best cars for fuel economy— excluding electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Car and Driver calls it “one of the rare hybrids that can be fun to drive.” The Jetta accelerates quite quickly in comparison to other compact hybrids. In 7.9 seconds, it can reach 60 mph. The VW Jetta Hybrid’s achieves EPA ratings of 42 mpg city and 48 mpg highway for the combined mpg of 45.

Photo from Autoviva.com via Wikimedia Commons

Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

Combined MPG: 45

The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is a midsize luxury sedan with a sleek styling aesthetic for a hybrid. Its 2.0-liter four-cylinder combined with an electric motor generates a combined 188 hp, according to Edmunds.com. Standard features include adaptive LED headlights, adaptive suspension dampers and leather upholstery. Also standard— and more luxurious— are driver memory settings, 8-inch touchscreen display, 11-speaker sound system and Sync voice-command system.

Honda Insight

Combined MPG: 42

The Honda Insight is a less expensive— though less sophisticated— alternative to the Toyota Prius. For frugal, yet environmentally-conscious motorists, the Insight is a suitable choice. This four-door hatchback hybrid is offered in three packages: base, LX and EX. The standard or base Insight includes  expected features like full power accessories, 60/40-split-folding rear seat, trip computer and a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel— among others. The LX and EX add more sophisticated features like cruise control, upgraded stereo system and voice-controlled touchscreen navigation. The Insight also has standard safety features like antilock brakes and front and side airbags. The Insight received the best possible rating in side crash, frontal offset and roof strength tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Edmunds.com).

Lexus CT 200h

Combines MPG: 42

Powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder and a pair of electric motors, this premium compact four-door hatchback generates 134 hp. As indicated by the Lexus CT 200h’s inclusion on this list, it exceeds in fuel economy. The EPA estimates the hybrid achieves 43-mpg city and 40-mpg highway for a combined mpg of 42, according to Edmunds. The CT 200h oozes luxury both inside and out. On the inside, it’s decked with premium vinyl upholstery and a 10-way power driver seat. On the outside, its sporty design and low stance earns high marks in urban style.

If you find a great deal on car outside of your geographical area consider RCG Logistics for your auto transport needs. We ship vehicles all over the United States door-to-door.

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Despite all the setbacks of 2012 — record high gas prices, Hurricane Sandy, an economy that continues to struggle — a once defeated U.S. auto industry has shown impressive resilience over the last 12 months. According to USA Today, just about everything involving domestic-made cars is better now than it was a year ago. Factories and plants have hired more workers and given existing employees more overtime opportunities, the price buyers are willing to pay at the dealership hit a record average of $30,700, and foreign companies like Saab and American Suzuki Motor have stopped selling traditional cars in the U.S.

Things are really looking up, and for good reason. The auto industry got smart about the way they compete with the global market. Something that seemed to sit on the back burner while Europe and Japan climbed to the top with superior cars. So while the industry here in the states still has a long way to go before earning back the number-one spot, some of the most important steps were made in 2012. Here’s how it happened:

The Cornerstone of an Election

When President Obama decided to bail out GM and Chrysler during the trough of the recovery, he didn’t know at the time he would also be fueling voters in his favor in states that were once home to his would-be opponent, Gov. Mitt Romney. More so than any election in recent history, the state of auto was a big talking point among each candidates campaigns. The attention given to recovering cars made in the U.S. was a key factor in its success.

Hybrids, Finally

It seemed like the Toyota Prius was the only good hybrid car anyone could buy for just about forever. It still holds the top among hybrid vehicles sold in the U.S., for domestic competitors like the Ford C-Max are covering ground quickly. The country seems to finally be getting on board with the concept of the low cost of fuel efficiency, which helps with car insurance rates that tend to be higher for hybrid vehicles. Even specialized manufacturers like Tesla are making all-electric cars a reality.

So Long, “Government Motors”

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, it plans to sell all of its 500 million shares of GM in the next 12 to 15 months, closing the books on an almost $50 million bailouts of the auto industry. Whether or not you can safely say “the bailout worked” is yet to be determined, but the fact that investor confidence is now high to put the shares of GM back onto the market, really speaks to how well the company has recovered over the last few years.

Dodging The Cliff

By narrow margins, Congress avoided the dreaded fiscal cliff at the beginning of 2013, keeping investor confidence high and giving a surge to the stock markets. According to NBC News, the Dow Jones Industrial average went up 263 points after the compromised bill passed, the largest spurge in six months. The confidence in the markets, combines with the 2012 success of the industry, will help maintain and facilitate growth for an even more prosperous 2013. However if there is one thing that could potentially hurt growth is the upcoming sequester due to congressional impasse . Set to take effect in a few weeks are automatic cuts in federal spending. $85 billion worth of cuts will are scheduled to hit on March 1st and may mean furloughs for thousands of government employees.

About the Author:Hank Young still remembers his first experience working on an electric car. It was a BMW, and since then, he’s been following alternatively fueled vehicles and writing about hybrid and electric cars exclusively.

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Allstate Insurance recently issued its eighth annual Best Drivers Report™, which ranks the 200 largest cities in America by which has the ‘safest drivers’ compared to a national average of 50,000 cities.  The main determining factor for the ranking is the statistical frequency with which car collisions occur.  This year, Sioux Falls, SD was crowned the safest city for drivers.  The other side of the list, however, are what would be considered the most unsafe cities for drivers.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia ranked 190^th on the list of 200 and dead last in cities with more than 1 million people.  According to the data, a driver in Philadelphia has roughly a 64% higher chance of being in a collision compared to the national average and had an average of 6.2 years between collisions per driver.  For a comparison, the safest city with a population of over 1 million people was Phoenix, where a driver is actually 1.6% less likely to get into a car accident than the national average and has an average of 10.2 years between collisions. *

Boost Philadelphia’s ranking

The study points out that drivers in urban areas with more than one million residents, such as Philadelphia, are much more likely than the national average to be involved in a collision.  However, cities such as Phoenix, which ranked 55^th on last year’s list and 53^rd this year, actually decreased its collision average by more than two statistical points while enjoying an increase in population size.

How are accidents prevented?

Since the biggest cause of accidents is human behavior, drivers can have a significant impact on safety just by improving their behavior. Some of this behavior can be improved through education, but a lot of it is just common sense. Allstate offers these tips to help drivers improve:

• Avoid distractions. Cell phone use, texting while driving, and changing the radio can cause accidents. Even if you’re great at multitasking, all it takes is a couple of seconds with your eyes off the road to cause a crash. Minimize distractions by turning your cell phone off, sticking with the same radio station, and checking your appearance before turning the key in the ignition.
• Maintain the upkeep on your vehicle. Ensure that your tires, brakes, lights, and battery are in good working order.
• Be aware of road conditions. Drive appropriately and slow down on days with less than ideal weather, such as in snow, ice, fog, rain, and wind.
• Maintain a safe distance between you and other cars. Follow the old driver’s ed. rule of thumb of maintaining a distance of one car length between your car and the car in front of you for every 10 mph you are traveling.
• Don’t be a road rager. Anger caused by traffic, running late, or other poor driving can quickly escalate. Stay calm, and avoid other aggressive or angry drivers.

The residents of Philadelphia can take notice by the example set by the City of Phoenix, AZ – in which collision and injury statistics were reduced despite a city’s growth.  Individual level of attention and an emphasis on safety plays a big role. Transportation and planning departments can also implement technology and infrastructure to promote safe driving.

*Statistical data regarding crashes based on population size adapted from the AllState Best Driver’s Report™.  For more information or to read the report in its entirety, visit the AllState website.

About the Author: Joseph Lombardo is a Hammonton, NJ attorney who founded the Law Offices of Joseph Lombardo.  His practice includes representation for issues related to personal injury and criminal traffic matters.

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Australia and the USA share a similar love for large, powerful cars and trucks. This is perhaps due to the wide open spaces in both countries, just begging to be explored by a motor vehicle. Yet there are certain models that you can only find in each country. If you’ve read a Holden Captiva review and are interested in bringing this model into the USA, or found a great deal on a Ford Ranger and want to bring it back to Australia, there are a few factors to keep in mind. There are strict import and shipping regulations in place in both countries which must be met.

Bringing a Car to Australia

Travellers who want to bring their car into Australia on a short-term basis, such as for a road trip, can apply for a Carnet. These are similar to a personal passport and are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. You’ll have to apply for a Carnet before you arrive in Australia. Expect to put a security deposit down of 100% of the market value of your vehicle, and you’ll have to pay high fees should you break any Customs regulations. It’s also worth looking at local car listings sites such as Motoring.com.au to see if you can find a cheap used model to drive temporarily, as this may cost less than the customs and security fees.

If you’re looking for something more long-term, it’s possible to apply for a Vehicle Import Approval provided that the make and model meets all of the government safety standards. You will need to send your application, supporting documents, and all fees off to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.  The car will need to pass through Customs and you can expect to pay a Goods and Service Tax, Luxury Car Tax if applicable, and Customs duty. The car will need to be inspected by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. Provided the car meets all criteria, you can go ahead and apply for license plates and register your vehicle.

Importing a Car into the USA

The USA also has strict regulations in place when it comes to importing vehicles. Before any car can be brought into the USA, you must ensure that it complies with all current government regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) puts restrictions on factors like carbon emissions according to the Clean Air Act, while the Department of Transportation (DOT) regulates safety and bumper standards. These agencies both put forth extremely detailed compliance requirements that are regularly updated, so it’s worth visiting both of their websites before planning your import. Some cars can be modified to meet the requirements, but other high-speed sports cars are banned outright.

If a car is less than 25 years old and is found to be non-compliant with these terms, it must be brought into compliance, exported, or destroyed. There is a bit more leeway given for classic cars. Vehicles that are older than 25 years are exempt from the EPA and DOT requirements. However, you’ll still need to fill out the same paperwork and hand this to a Customs and Border Protection agent to get through Customs.

Preparing a Car for Shipping

Once you’ve ensured that your car is eligible for import to or from Australia, you’ll want to prepare it for shipping. It’s best to have the vehicle steam cleaned in order to reduce the chances of it falling under any quarantine risk, and to remove personal or flammable items before shipping.

Consider hiring an auto transport company to have your vehicle delivered to the nearest port. Be sure to remove all of your personal belongings from the car; any items not attached to your vehicle cannot be shipped with it.

Author Info:

Rachel MacDonald is a freelance writer specialising in travel, cars, and the Australian automotive industry. She works with one of Australia’s top car listings sites.

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The rising cost of fuel, increasing consumer interest in environmentalism and in turn alternative methods of transportation has fueled the sale of hybrid vehicles over the last decade. But as plug-in hybrids become more mainstream, will buyers shy away from pure electric vehicles given the practicality advantages hybrids seem to offer? An infrastructure built for hybrid vehicles will currently not be enough to sustain electric vehicles, given the driving habits of all but the most city-bound americans.

This infographic details the best and worst places to live if you want to follow an all-electric lifestyle. Interestingly, the center of government has the greatest concentration of electric charging stations in the US, which may have a distorting effort on policymaking. For instance, subsidies over most plug-in hybrids, including the high end luxury vehicles such as the less-than-stellar-fuel-economy (yet undeniably stylish) Cadillac ELR couple have rubbed some motorists the wrong way, while the European trend for small, fuel efficient vehicles isn’t quite there yet. As you might expect, California and Florida score well, though not as well as Hawaii, Rhode Island or Connecticut – with Alaska predictably ranking last, with zero charging stations:

Image via

About the Author: George is a researcher and writer for Sixt.co.uk – his main interests include sustainable energy, running, and being a lousy cook. He’s planning to cycle Eastern Europe this Autumn.

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Few things can ruin your day as quickly as a possibility that your car has been stolen. Unless you are delinquent on your car’s payments, few people prepare themselves mentally for the possibility of their car being gone when they return from the store. The usual question one asks when the looking for their car:

• Is the car stolen ?
• Repossessed ?
• Towed for tickets ?
• Forgot where you parked ?

“Has the city moved my car and simply forgot to tell me?”

To enable emergency road work or maybe clear the street for a movie scene City of Chicago instruct tow truck drivers to move cars into the next available legal parking spaces. That space may be as little as a street away or as much as a mile at times. Just last year city of Chicago relocated 17,000 vehicles.

To deal with this issue a special hotline ’311′ was setup up for drivers to get a status on their vehicles. Although the city’s policy of moving cars is implemented to minimize the inconvenience to vehicle owners, often due to the delay in logging cars, the city will not have answers for drivers looking for their cars. Some driver only located their vehicles after a week, not realizing that the city moved their cars, and after filing a theft claim with their insurance companies.

It is one thing to have your car moved due to a parking violation or ignoring a posted sign, however the situation is different when one parked correctly. Many owners are upset that vehicle are being moved without their permission.

88% of people say they would be upset if a city moved their car without asking

Sources: Auto Minded, Chicago Tribune, Autoblog Poll

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With over 2500 of the finest Bavarian spectacles present the vendors, tuners, dealers and the thousands of enthusiasts made Bimmerfest 2012 the biggest gathering in it’s 9 year history. There were booths, showrooms, models and even Lamborghini’s. From old to young this years Bimmerfest had something to wow everyone. From the tiny commuters of the 40′s to the yet-to-be revealed to the public 2013 M6 there where couple, sedans and convertibles from every decade of the highly recognized German auto maker.

Everyone who’s anyone in the BMW tuning game came out to show off their latest and greatest in performance parts and body aesthetics. Names like HPF Performance and VF Engineering showed off their huge horsepower beasts as crowds gathered to take pictures next their respective all out race cars.

2013 BMW M6

This year’s event sparked the interest of BMW of North America and none other that Ludwig Willisch made a guest appearance to address the loyal brand followers about the future plans of the M division and show off the only 2013 M6 currently in the country. The spectators listened in awe as the President of the company described his experience personally testing the soon to be released flagship coupe. As the crowed demanded to hear the heart of the beast rev through its power band, many were left unimpressed, comparing the new twin turbo V8 to its predecessors normally aspirated F1-like V10.

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Using false identities, defrauding financing companies, vehilce insurers and even local dealerships it seems that these smugglers where ready to use any means necessary to get their hands on a list of 20 some high-end vehicles and get them overseas.

Ferrari 458 Recovered by CBP

This is not a script for the highly anticipated sequel to “Gone in 60 seconds” featuring Nicolas Cage. This was the setting of our nation’s largest import and export harbor, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Sea Port early April where authorities seized the exotics that where boxed up in containers and labeled as used exercise equipment.

Totaling in over $1.5 million, a 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia, a limited production 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 and a handful of late model BMW’s, Audi’s and Mercedes

It is believed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers executed the raid after being tipped of by the Ferrari dealership who tracked their missing prancing stallion to the port using a GPS device installed in the car for this specific reason. These exclusive rides were being shipped to a country where there is an overwhelming demand in luxury and performance vehicles and buyers are willing to pay two to three times their cost in the states. Such lucrative opportunity has driven these individuals to collaborate efforts and falsify documents and even identities. Investigators assume that a sophisticated smuggling ring is in play to ship cars overseas, no arrests have yet been made on what surely sound like a plot to a familiar Hollywood thriller.

Source: U.S. Customs & Border Protection

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In the great recession of 2008 many trucking companies, auto transport companies, and car haulers were put out of commission. As car sales dropped dramatically there was simply not enough cars to haul and the market became over saturated with too many car haulers. The disequilibrium in the car shipping market had too many suppliers and not enough demand for their service. Weak demand caused prices for car transport to drop drastically,  combined with fewer overall shipments and all time high diesel prices nearing $4.77 a gallon forced many companies to shut down and liquidate their assets. Trucking companies started disappearing one by one abandoning their car haulers and putting many out of work.

2012 is total different situation, NADA economist predict 13.9 million new car sales in US. New and used car dealers have trouble keeping units in stock. In fact the problem is so severe that dealers are now struggling to get the new cars from ports of entry to their lots. Estimates are putting the difference between available capacity to transport and vehicles needing transport to near 1.7 million. With so many cars to ship, and not enough car haulers the shipping rates are going through the roof, often fueled by bidding wars for limited spaces. Dealers simply cannot sell cars that they can’t ship.

The car shipping companies that survived are rushing to buy up all the car haulers they can find to meet the demand.

No one knows for sure what car sales will look like a year from now, or where the demand for auto transport will be but today there is a very real shortage of companies that can move cars.

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