Good oil: Brits splash out

Thirteen million Britons face a £1000 ($3017) fine if they get caught using their garden hoses during the hot, dry northern summer, but a survey suggests many are prepared to risk it for the sake of a clean car. Men are the worst offenders, accounting for two thirds of those who had no qualms about using a hosepipe rather than the recommended bucket and sponge. A third of the respondents said they needed at least 60 litres of water to wash their car, not a measly bucket or two. If you think that's over the top, 11 per said they couldn't do the job without using at least 100 litres.

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Audi launches its new SUV, the Q7, here this month. The Chinese got it last month and customers snapped up the entire year's allocation. But what really has Audi chuffed is that it scored top in customer satisfaction in the latest J.D. Power study of the world's fastest-growing auto market. Audi has more than 120 dealerships in China and claims to be the most successful premium model there.

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There were worries that iconic landmarks would be demolished after the oldest car manufacturing factory in North America shut on June 30. Built in 1909 for the Overland company, a Jeep forebear, the Toledo Parkway factory was known for its three huge brick chimneys, monuments to an earlier industrial age. When the Wrangler line moved across the block to a new factory, many feared the chimneys would succumb to the wrecker's ball. Thanks to widespread concern, they'll now probably be saved.

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According to a report from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average weight of an American car is 1879kg - nearly 230kg more than 10 years ago. Its the heaviest vehicle fleet since the EPA began measuring weight in 1975. Now, slimming has become a priority in carmaking centre Detroit. In part, the gain reflects the popularity of big utilities and SUVs over the past decade.

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Up-and-coming British band Dirty Pretty Things are supporting a Make Roads Safe campaign with a concert in London next month, after three teenage girls were killed while driving home from a concert by the band in Ipswich.

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GM is expected to announce a new Chevrolet Camaro based on the concept car unveiled at the recent Detroit Auto Show. It will be built on the Holden-developed Zeta platform. That's the same one under the brand new Commodore VE that arrives here shortly.


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Sometimes a consumer hotline runs a little too hot. It seems Honda America's owner's manuals gave the wrong number for the US Government's safety hotline, directing customers instead to a chatline called Intimate Encounters, whose rates range from 99 cents to $2.99 a minute, depending on what, um, safety problem the caller wishes to address. Honda has been sending 1.2 million postcards to customers with the correct number.