Filed under: SUV, Etc., Safety, Videos, GMC

For most of us, holiday travel is little more than a slight inconvenience, but an Amarillo, Texas family has found out just how treacherous taking to the road in winter can be. David Higgins, his wife and his five-year-old daughter packed into the family's GMC Yukon for a ski trip in New Mexico. Shortly after the trio crossed the state line, a severe snow storm descended, forcing Higgins off the road. The SUV quickly became mired in the white stuff, and it wasn't long before the entire vehicle was encased in a massive snow drift.

The Higgins called 911 for help, but dispatchers told the family the weather was too bad for anyone to come save them. Two days later, rescuers located the stranded family and pulled them from the vehicle. Presumably fearing exposure to subzero temperatures, the Higgins' stayed inside their vehicle, though it isn't clear why they didn't continually try to dig out a path to keep from being trapped inside. Fortunately, they brought along plenty of food and water, and huddled together to keep each other warm, but they say that they nearly ran out of oxygen. Hit the jump to watch an ABC report on the family's harrowing ordeal.

Continue reading Family buried in New Mexico snowdrift for two days saved

Family buried in New Mexico snowdrift for two days saved originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Tennessee family on a road trip discovered they had a stowaway when a snake slithered onto the windshield and hung out for several miles. Happy airlines? Even snakes think plane travel is too expensive. More »

What did wheel thieves do before cordless impact wrenches? They certainly didn't do what a gang of ambitious wheel-thugs did, blitzing a Texas GMC dealership and stripping 140 wheels off 35 Yukons and pickups, leaving the trucks stranded on blocks. More »

A mother and her 4-year-old daughter struck by a SUV while crossing a Scottsdale, Ariz., intersection survived with only minor injuries. The mother and police were ready to blame the SUV driver — until a red-light camera video showed otherwise. More »

Filed under: SUV, Etc., Safety, Videos, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Luxury

Sadly, it's simply not possible to build an automobile that's impossible to steal. But what we all hope for is that an automaker does all it can to make the unscrupulous thief's job as difficult as possible. According to a report from WXYZ Action News in Detroit, General Motors full-size SUVs aren't particularly hard to grab. In fact, the Cadillac Escalade is the insurance industry's most hated vehicle with $146 in theft loss payments per insured vehicle, per year. On average, insurance companies pay out around $11,934 per theft claim when it comes to the Escalade with 10.8 of the SUVs stolen per 1,000 vehicles.

Gone in 60 14 seconds, says the news station, citing a security flaw in the design of the vehicles' steering column (sounds familiar, no?). Specifically, it seems that the little locking metal pin that is supposed to keep the aforementioned Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon locked firmly in 'park' (which is supposed to be a safety feature, not necessarily a theft deterrent) is rather easy to defeat by giving the column-mounted shift stalk a hard yank down.

Also cited as a contributing factor is the lack of a steering wheel lock that inhibits directional movement of the vehicle when not running. It seems that GM decided to leave off this well-known feature for a period after the introduction of ignition keys with computer chips that make it difficult to start the machines without the properly coded chip.

Combine these flaws and you end up with a vehicle that isn't all that difficult to steal. Here's the process outlined in the video after the break: Smash the driver-side window (which apparently doesn't set off an alarm) and force the column-mounted shift lever into 'neutral.' Step two requires some help: Have a buddy with a mutually lax sense of right and wrong push you and your confiscated SUV to a deserted area and strip it of all its pricey bits and pieces. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy, assuming you don't have a bothersome conscience.

According to a spokesperson for Cadillac, The General is aware of these issues and has introduced laminated glass for the side windows along with a beefed-up locking pin for the shift lever. Also, these full-size SUVs were re-equipped with locking steering wheels to make them more difficult to push without the proper ignition key. In any case, we'd suggest you keep a close eye on your blinged-out sport 'ute... and get used to paying higher-than-average insurance premiums.

Click past the break to watch a video of the full report.

[Source: WXYZ Action News]

Continue reading Video: Why the Cadillac Escalade is a particularly easy target for thieves

Video: Why the Cadillac Escalade is a particularly easy target for thieves originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SUV, Crossover, Chevrolet, GM, GMC

The Sport Utility Vehicle is dead. Long live the Sport Utility Vehicle.

We all know by now that the SUV, considered the Official Car of the 1990s and early 00s, has mostly fallen out of favor. But that doesn't mean we should expect the large, body-on-frame behemoths - with the exception of impractical niche models like those from Hummer - to completely disappear from automaker showrooms any time soon.

Instead, the market may just right-size itself back to a more natural mix, with those users who really do need the off-road and towing capabilities of a proper SUV sticking with their 'utes and the rest of the population switching to crossovers. With that in mind, Automotive News reports that the redesigned GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe, due in 2013 or 2014, will likely stick to their truck-based roots. No surprise.

Nor should we be shocked by the revelation that the GMC Granite, which was first shown at the Detroit Auto Show early in 2010, is still in the works. In today's market conditions, an entirely truck-based lineup makes very little fiscal sense, but we'd imagine that General Motors' Lambda triplets will remain the automaker's volume sellers.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Report: GM SUVs to continue with full frame, Granite still on the table originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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