15661 A Solenoid Coil & Valve Meyer Snowplow M15661 on 2040-parts.com

Toyota Prius Recall: 5,000 UK cars affected – 242,000 worldwide

5,000 2009 Toyota Prius (pictured) are being recalled Toyota has had a bit of a nightmare with recalls in recent years, and the news that they’re now having to recall 242,000 Prius models from 2009 worldwide is another financial, and logistical, problem for Toyota. But in truth, the recalls are about car makers now taking responsibility for faults in their cars which become apparent long after warranties have expired, and that’s no bad thing. The Prius models affected are those built between March 2009 and October 2009 (you can check if your car is affected here) and the UK has 4,947 cars on the road that need to be looked at by Toyota’s dealers.

2012 Focus ECOnetic & Fiesta ECOnetic now even more frugal

2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic - now even more frugal If a little fairy from the future had come back in time, even as recently as the 1990s, and told you that a family sized Ford would have 100bhp and do more than 80mpg by 2012, you’d have laughed. But laugh no more – the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic average 83.1mpg and emits just 89g/km. Want something even more economical and even less emitting, where you can still have grown-ups in the back?

Teen driving: Can computers teach us to drive?

Can technology help us do a better job of training novice drivers? Note the term "novice," which is coming to replace "teen" as the focus of national concern about inexperienced drivers. This stems in part from graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws that have pushed up the age of new drivers and is partially a reflection of recent studies showing that it's not just newly licensed drivers, but all inexperienced drivers younger than 25 who are at higher risk of death or injury in car crashes.