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"People Bury Cars to Win Magnums    Two families, the Rosenfelds in Hacienda Heights, Calif. (Los Angeles), and the Dooners in Morton, Penn. (Philadelphia), buried their vehicles \u2014 a 1998 Toyota Camry and 1997 Mercury Mountaineer, respectively \u2014 tail-side-up in their front yards to win a 2005 Dodge Magnum RT, according to a Chrysler press release.   These strange doings were in response to Bury Your Car contest. To win their Magnums, &amp;quot;the Rosenfelds and the Dooners bid farewell to their family vehicles in mock funerals complete with pallbearers, a procession and a tombstone bearing the fateful inscription, &amp;#039;Rust In Peace.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; the press release explained. The contest included submitting an essay on why the entrants believed they should win the chance to bury their vehicle in exchange for the new 2005 Dodge Magnum RT, as well as a series of questions about the physical size/shape of residence, location of residential utilities, topography of entrant&amp;#039;s front yard and current car make and model. More than 250 Los Angeles County and 100 Philadelphia County residents entered.   Ford Debuts New Models   Ford recently rolled out some new vehicles for automotive journalists at its Michigan proving grounds about 45 miles north of Detroit, the Associated Press reported.   In addition to carryover models, the vehicles included new nameplates such as the Ford Five Hundred, the company&amp;#039;s new flagship sedan, the Freestyle crossover vehicle, and the Ford GT supercar as well as a redesigned Mustang and the Mercury Montego upscale sedan. They&amp;#039;re scheduled to go on sale in September. Ford also announced that a midsize sedan planned for next year, initially called the Ford Futura, will be renamed the Fusion, and that more than 50 percent of its 2005-model year cars and trucks will meet the federal government&amp;#039;s strict new emission standards, the story said. Ford said it will continue its new-car offensive next year with the Fusion and a new Lincoln sedan called the Zephyr, with production scheduled for the 2006 model year.   Pontiac Posts 2005 G6 Sedan Pricing   Pontiac announced introductory prices for the , an all-new vehicle that goes on sale in September.   Pricing for the G6 sports sedan will begin at $21,300 manufacturer&amp;#039;s suggested retail price (MSRP), which includes destination charges of $625. The 2005 G6 GT will be priced at $23,925, which includes destination charges of $625. Pricing for the 2006 GTP Sedan and two other G6 family members, a 2+2 sport coupe and a retractable hardtop convertible will be announced at a later date when production begins next year, Pontiac said in a news release. The G6 6-cylinder and GT models that will debut this fall are powered by a 200-horsepower 3.5L V-6 with an electronically controlled four-speed overdrive transmission. Pontiac claims that one of the G6&amp;#039;s most innovative features is the &amp;quot;panoramic roof,&amp;quot; a four-section sunroof that opens to nearly twice the area of a typical sunroof and gives even rear seat passengers an &amp;quot;open air experience.&amp;quot; It will be available for $1500.   Ford Adds Anti-Roll System to &amp;#039;05 SUVs   Ford will include a rollover stability control system as standard equipment on 2005 versions of its , Lincoln Aviator and , and , the Washington Post reported. It will be optional on the 2005 Ford Expedition.   The system uses gyroscopes to sense the truck&amp;#039;s position and can reduce engine power or apply brakes to one or more wheels to prevent it from tipping over, said a Ford spokesman. Although Ford says it is convinced that the vehicles are safe without, &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s our intention to make advanced technologies, especially those that have safety benefits, available as broadly as possible and as soon as we can,&amp;quot; a spokesman said. Rollover stability control is an option on several of Ford&amp;#039;s 2004 SUVs, costing from $600 to $800 depending on model and options packages. Ford&amp;#039;s Volvo subsidiary offers the system as standard equipment on the XC90 SUV.   Dramatic Increase in Cars Totaled in Crashes   This year, 16% of cars in accidents are totaled by insurance-industry standards, up from 7% in 1995, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Charlie Baker, publisher of Collision Repair Industry Insight, a trade magazine.   The problem is that most standard auto policies won&amp;#039;t pay to fix a car if the repairs cost more than its cash value. There are many reasons that cars are costing more to fix, but elaborate safety features play a major role and repairs are more expensive as vehicles come equipped with features such as Xenon headlamps that can cost $3,000 a pair, backup video cameras on their tailgates, and multiple air bags, the story said. A further factor is that new cars have been losing value at a faster pace because of deep discounting \u2014 the faster a car depreciates, the lower its insured value \u2014 making it easier to total in a minor accident. Also adding to the cost of crash repair is the use of lighter metals such as boron steel and aluminum, which are showing up more often as structural components. Unlike regular steel, they cannot easily be bent back into shape. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re moving closer and closer to the disposable vehicle,&amp;quot; Dan Bailey, chief operating officer of Carstar, a collision-repair chain based in Overland Park, Kan., told the WSJ. He gave the example of a 2002 Saturn sedan that arrived at one of Carstar&amp;#039;s franchises in Maineville, Ohio, after a low-speed crash in which the car was driven off the road. Although the exterior looked fine, the offroad excursion set off the air bags, damaging the dashboard, steering wheel, cruise control and even the sunroof. What would have been a $5,000 suspension repair was pushed up to $9,200, and the car was totaled. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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