Vision-oe 990-0341 Steering Pump-power Steering Pump on 2040-parts.com

Clunkers records $2.88 billion in rebates

Dealers submitted a total of 690,114 cash-for-clunkers deals for $2.88 billion in rebates by last night's 8 p.m. deadline, coming in under the $3 billion budget for the popular program, the U.S. Transportation Department said today.

Redesigned Ford Mustang scores high mpg for V8

Completing the fuel-economy story for the redesigned 2011 Mustang, Ford said on Tuesday that the V8-powered pony car is rated at 26 mpg on the highway and 17 mpg in city driving. That compares with a 16 mpg/24 mpg city/highway rating for the 2010 Mustang. The highway rating was achieved with the six-speed manual transmission.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.