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Total recall: More manufacturers join the recall bandwagon

Total recall: More manufacturers join the recall bandwagon


So if you thought that the crazy automobile recall saga had ended, you were wrong. Since our last post on the recalls earlier this year, there were an insane amount of recalls that followed, from almost every car manufacturer in the world you can ever think of, almost all of them being issued following instructions from the U.S.-based NHTSA agency. And we could not bother to post each recall issue as a separate story, the task being as equally tedious as the reader-response to these. Here are all the recalls that could potentially be relevant to our region since April 2012.

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Nissan Juke-R street-legal version revealed

Nissan Juke-R street-legal version revealed


Soon after the Nissan Juke-R prototype ended its world tour in a publicity stunt of unprecedented scale, it was announced that the car will go into bespoke production on a limited basis since they were receiving enough interest from rich people looking for their next plaything. Here is the first proper street-legal Nissan Juke-R.

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So we got a 2013 Lexus RX 450h hybrid

So we got a 2013 Lexus RX 450h hybrid


We kind of weren’t interested in testing this one. We’ve driven the Lexus RX 350 several times before, and while it’s a great car, it isn’t the kind of car you look forward to, especially since we’re trying to take a break from testing cars at the moment. Ah, but this is the RX 450h, the hybrid version of the luxury mommy-mobile. For some reason, we had visions of the slowpoke CT 200h in our minds when this RX was home-delivered to us, but we assumed wrong.

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Mitsubishi-Galant

Long-term update: Mitsubishi Galant GTS gets non-dealer major service


We still remember the time when we used to service our cars at ghetto garages and petrol stations, because we were not financially well-endowed back then. That was fine, considering we didn’t even own a car newer than 10 years at that time. Things change of course, and now we own four cars, all relatively newer, so we get almost all of them maintained at their respective dealerships. All except one — our 2008 Mitsubishi Galant GTS.

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Chevrolet-Trailblazer

Chevrolet Trailblazer 2013 claims Middle East’s most popular SUV title?

It seems to be the season for making tall claims. General Motors put out a press release saying the Chevrolet Trailblazer is the “Middle East’s most popular SUV” without backing up this fib with any more details. That might be a bit hard to do in reality, with Toyota around, and with the real Trailblazer being discontinued since 2009.

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Comparo: 2012 Toyota 86 vs 2007 Honda S2000

Comparo: 2012 Toyota 86 vs 2007 Honda S2000


This one was a long time coming. Sure, everybody else is busy comparing the Toyota 86 to everything from the VW Scirocco to the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. But aside from the Mazda MX-5, there was only one other car that’s similar to the 86 in recent history, and it’s the Honda S2000. It ceased production only 3 years ago, so it is still possible to buy one on the used market. And whadaya know, we actually own one in our fleet. And our car also happens to be one of the lowest-mileage S2000s in the world. This was going to be interesting.

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So we got a 2012 Renault Koleos, and crashed it

So we got a 2012 Renault Koleos, and crashed it


It’s not the end of the world, but 2012 has been a bad year for us. While we made loads of money, our luck with cars hasn’t been as sweet. Earlier this year, we broke off the stupid front lip on a Toyota Land Cruiser tester, for which we had to run around for a police report. Then in the summer, someone put a small scratch on a Porsche 911 tester, for which we had to run around for an even bigger police report. And then there was an “incident” with this Renault Koleos tester in the middle of a Ramadan afternoon.

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