Mercury Mercruiser Bravo 1 Upper Drive on 2040-parts.com

Toyota ordered by Japan to address Prius brake complaints

Toyota Motor Corp., already grappling with recalls totaling 8.1 million vehicles on five continents, has been ordered by Japan's Ministry of Transportation to investigate a rash of consumer complaints about braking problems in its popular third-generation Prius hybrid vehicle. The Japanese carmaker has received several complaints about braking in the Prius in both Japan and North America since the end of last year, Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said. She did not say when the directive was issued or how Toyota would respond.

VW to cover maintenance costs for sludge-damaged engines

Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay maintenance costs under a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit over sludge-damaged engines in 479,768 VW and Audi models. Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court in Boston gave conditional approval of the settlement last week.

Stillen contest calls for production SEMA Scion FR-S bodykit designs

Tuning company Stillen has launched a competition to design a bodykit for the Scion FR-S to be put into production. As well as having their design made, the winner also win entry to the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) Show and be put up during the show for two days in Las Vegas, where the car will be displayed The contest calls for designers to submit renders of a lip/body kit consisting of a front lip spoiler, side rockers and rear valances by downloading the design templates from the contest website and submitting their own designs by email along with name and contact information. The Stillen design team will choose the top five designs three days after the submission deadline and upload them to its Facebook page, with the winner chosen by the public on Facebook after two weeks of voting.