In 1992, Congress mandated that the Justice Department create a database recording vehicle information from junkyards, mechanics, insurance companies and other sources as a tool to combat auto theft and fraud. The Justice Department dragged its feet a bit -- 16 years or so -- before lawsuits from consumer advocacy groups spurred the creation of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System in 2008. Two years later, California has joined 30 other states offering residents the reports produced by the system, and for a pittance. California residents can now pay $4 for a report that shows whether a car has been stolen or its odometer altered, and whether it has been salvaged from a flood, rebuilt after a wreck or declared a total loss. Before, customers had to pay $30 or more through Carfax, the company to which the state farmed out reporting duties up until recently. 

Toyota chief Akio Toyoda may want to pack his fire-retardant driving shoes for this week's congressional hearing, considering that participating officials have pledged to “hold Toyota’s feet to the fire.” In between bouts of grandstanding, the politicos will also subject the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to scrutiny -- which they should. There are recurring inconsistencies in the way consumer complaints to NHTSA turn into actual investigations; there's a similar lack of rhyme or reason to the pace of investigations, which could be wrapped up in 10 days or drag on without closure for several years.

           

This raises important questions about why some cars are investigated or recalled after just a handful of customer issues, which others are not, despite thousands of consumer complaints. Based on my own reading of complaints to NHTSA, I’ve long suspected that what bothers some people is simply the way their car works. Without minimizing genuine defects, I’ve met plenty of drivers who simply don’t know enough about cars to offer objective criticism of their functions.

 

(Update: Check out this great Washington Post article for a history of Toyota's lobbying activities and ties to Washington.)

Well, this isn't going to help Toyota's reputation.

According to documents requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (as part of the government's investigation into the myriad Toyota safety issues), Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota's head of U.S. operations, crowed to the company's Washington staff that Toyota had saved about $100 million through its work with the government to limit regulatory action in the face of unintended-acceleration issues. The statistic was part of an internal presentation by Inaba during a July 6 meeting in Washington and was listed under a subheading called "Wins for Toyota."

The documents were recently obtained by the Detroit Free Press. 

We can't remember the last time we were excited about a new Kia.

Sure, the Korean automaker is making a (new) name for itself with capable and dependable models like the Soul and the Borrego -- all with a bang-for-the-buck factor, considering their low price points.

Which is not, of course, to say that you're going to have your head turned by a Kia rolling down your street.

But could that change? Based solely on the picture above (and, yes, that's a Kia), perhaps: That image is the concept version of an all-new, redesigned Optima that, it has just been announced, will make its debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show, in April.

Will the production model resemble the sleek, mean, low-slung monster that looks like a powerhouse Audi/Beemer mash-up? Few models bound for showrooms closely mirror their concept counterparts, so probably not. But considering the side-by-side view of the current Optima against its slick rendering, we are, yes, excited to see exactly how the transformation plays out. 

General Motors will create a European arm for its Cadillac luxury brand after distributor Kroymans Corp. declared bankruptcy last year.

Cadillac Europe will import, market and distribute Cadillacs through a sales and service network in “key European markets,” GM said on Monday in a statement. The company said it would give details later.

Kroymans, a Dutch dealership group, went bankrupt in March. But some Cadillacs, such as the CTS and the CTS-V sedans, have remained on sale in Europe since then, Cadillac spokesman Nick Twork said in an e-mail.

 

To be fair, the 57-year-old Uniontown, Pa., man being brought up on charges was unable to buckle up -- because he was riding on the hood of his girlfriend's car as he continued the argument they had begun before she tried to drive off.

Also: He was in only his underwear.

This was no joyride, though, but rather the result of a domestic dispute that found the police at the receiving end of a complaint about a man riding on the hood of a car, clad only in his skivvies, screaming at the woman driving -- who happened to be his 28-year-old girlfriend. Not to mention the fact that the area was recently hit by some serious snow and the temperatures at the time of the dispute were in the teens.

Unsurprisingly, drug paraphernalia was found at the scene. 

Sure, there are plenty of weirder-looking cars -- both concept and sale models -- out there in the world. The Cygnet (captured via iPhone here in the Soho area of London, via secretnewcars.com), after all, is based on the Toyota IQ city car, and that model seems quite well-designed and capable.

However, when you slap an Aston Martin badge on the thing, then bump up its price tag to Mercedes-Benz C-Class levels, things get a little interesting. And by "interesting" we mean, "Seriously? What in the hell are these people thinking?"

Not to mention the fact that only current Aston owners will have the, ahem, privilege of plunking down the $40,000 to $50,000 this repurposed Toyota will cost. All others who have some weird need for a golf-cart-sized Aston that is an Aston in name only will have to go out and purchase an original DBS or V8 Vantage for the pleasure.

Check out another shot of the Aston Martin Cygnet out and about after the jump. 

On Jan. 28, Automotive News sent reporters across the country to various Saturn dealerships in order to record one day in the history of the dying badge.

The brand, which had been launched nationally 25 years earlier, in 1985, was part of the massive GM restructuring that saw Pontiac likewise shuttered, as well as the eventual sales (details of which are still being worked out) of the Saab and Hummer divisions.

The result is a far-reaching look at what happens when an automotive brand is shuttered.