2000 Acura Tl 3.2l Left Rear Suspension Lower Trailing Leading Control Arm Set on 2040-parts.com

Automakers rack up solid gains to finish 2010

Fueled by holiday and year-end discounts, as well as the introduction of new models, automakers finished 2010 on a high note by posting the year's best monthly sales in December. U.S. light vehicle demand climbed 11 percent last month to 1.1 million units--the best month of the year on a unit basis.

New Skoda Octavia Scout price and spec – costs from £25,315

New Skoda Octavia Scout costs from £25,315 The new Skoda Octavia Scout arrived at the Geneva Motor Show in the Spring, bringing an ‘Allroad’ version of the latest Skoda Octavia Combi (Estate) to the market. As with all estate cars with offroad pretensions, the Octavia Scout comes with a more butch set of bumpers and a more purposeful nose, black cladding for the door sills and wheel arches, a new set of alloys, a raised ride height and a few tweaks for the interior so it all looks more than capable of taking on a muddy boot sale car park. The Scout comes with a choice of two 2.0 litre TDI engines at launch, with a lower powered, 148bhp with a six-speed manual and a more powerful, 182bhp version, getting a six-speed DSG gearbox, both of which return official economy of 55.4mpg (although, oddly, the lower-powered gets emissions of 129g/km and the more powerful 134g/km).

Approved mechanics essential for quality service

DRIVERS need to make sure their car is being properly serviced by a qualified mechanic, says the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). To help drives do this, it has launched a government-backed scheme called the Professional Register. While there are around 175,000 people in the UK who call themselves automotive technicians, the IMI says it can only recommend around 27,000 as having the required skills and competence to carry out work to the required standard in their specialism.