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Smokers Can Still Find Respite — and Ashtrays — in Their Cars

No offense tobacco users, but the last time cigarettes looked cool was when John Travolta and Uma Thurman chain-smoked over cheeseburgers, steaks and $5 milkshakes in "Pulp Fiction". According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke declined from nearly 25 percent in 1997 to just over 15 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, in the past two decades more than half of U.S. states have enacted indoor smoking bans. It seems like one of the only places smokers have left to freely enjoy their vice is in the sanctity of their own car — though that, too, has been gradually going up in smoke.

As business-news publication Quartz previously reported, by the time Hyundai announced in late-2013 that it would eliminate what used to be known as the cigarette lighter in its cars and replace it with a USB charging port, the movement away from accommodating smoking motorists had already been gaining steam for nearly 20 years. Chrysler helped spark the trend in 1994 with the introduction of its first cars in half a century without ashtrays, Quartz noted. Since then, that little push-in lighter that uses the car's circular 12-volt jack to heat up coil springs has all but disappeared, while the jack itself has been appropriated to plug in portable electronic devices such as radar detectors and cellphone chargers.

With smoker-friendly implements like in-console lighters and ashtrays seemingly disappearing into thin air, we at Cars.com got to wondering how many vehicles offered smoking accessories as standard or optional features. Turns out — if you're willing to buck up the extra cash — a lot. If you want a car with a lighter and ashtray for the front, and in many cases even the rear, you can find it on nearly 700 model-year 2015 vehicles from nearly two-dozen automakers, according to a Cars.com inventory search. If all you need is an ashtray, whether it be factory-installed or a dealer add-on, you can still get one on more than 4,000 models from nearly three-dozen automakers.

The more luxurious among the optional smoker's packages are naturally from luxury automakers and cater to cigar smokers. Bentley has one of the more alluring-sounding ones, if you like having a stogie in one hand while steering with the other. Bentley calls the smoker's package available on current Continental models the Freedom of Choice option.

"While certainly not for everyone, for those who choose to smoke in their Bentley, it's only fitting that our designers have created a most stylish means of doing so," the automaker said in a statement. "The Smoker's Pack comprises of an anti-slip mat, cigar lighter and ashcan, beautifully embossed with the Bentley 'B.' "

But like a Bentley or the habit of smoking itself, the smoker's package ain't exactly cheap. On the 2015 Continental GT, a front ashtray with a cigar lighter is $340, and $415 for ashtrays and cigar lighters in both the front and rear. The 2015 Aston Martin V8 Vantage's Smoker's Pack, which also includes an ashtray and cigar lighter, will set you back $570, while the similar 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia's Smoker's Kit runs $578. Available as a no-charge option, however, on the 2015 Porsche Cayenne is a Smoker's Package with front and rear cigarette lighters and ashtrays.

But don't worry: You need not have money to burn to enjoy the luxury of smoking while driving. While the aforementioned cars all cost between $60,000 and $250,000, you can also get a factory-installed Smoker's Package for $85 on a 2015 Ford Fiesta.

Despite continued availability of these smoking accessories, environmental health and safety laws, and cultural shifts continue to clamp down on smokers, and increasingly they're creeping into the cabin of their cars. Many states already have laws that prohibit smoking in a car where a minor is present, and others are likely to follow. But hey, if the existence of smokers' car accessories is someday crushed out entirely, you'll still be able to plug your e-cigarette into that USB port where your lighter used to be.

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Gas Prices Under $2 at 25 Percent of U.S. Stations

Gas prices have dropped 13 days in a row as the national average for regular unleaded fell to the lowest it's been since February. The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report on Thursday showed that the national average for regular gas was $2.22 a gallon, down 7 cents from a week ago, while the average price of regular was less than $2 a gallon in seven states.

Related: More Fuel-Efficiency News

Prices started to climb in late-September after several refineries slowed or halted gas production to perform routine seasonal or emergency maintenance, temporarily reducing the supply of gas and pushing up pump prices. Much of that maintenance has been completed, and the supply of gas is back to normal levels in most regions. GasBuddy.com said nearly 25 percent of stations nationally are selling gas for less than $2, and predicted that cheaper gas should become more widespread.

"That number will likely grow in the months ahead as refiners continue to finish maintenance and resume producing gasoline at a time when demand is low, contributing downward pressure to gasoline prices," GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said in a statement.

Despite recent market gyrations, U.S. oil prices still hovered around $46 a barrel on Thursday, about $31 cheaper than a year ago. Oil accounts for more than half the price of gas, and the current low prices are a major reason motorists are paying less at the pump compared with October 2014.

The national average for regular gas is 87 cents cheaper than it was a year ago, according to AAA, and at $2.72 premium gas is 76 cents cheaper; diesel fuel is $1.12 cheaper at $2.51 a gallon. Diesel prices may not continue to fall, however, because some of the heavier oil used to make diesel is diverted to heating oil during the cold months, reducing the available supply.

South Carolina has the cheapest gas, at a statewide average of $1.92 a gallon. Alabama and Mississippi average $1.95 and New Jersey, $1.96. Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas also are at less than $2. Prices edged up about a penny in Hawaii the past week to $2.90. At the same time regular fell 4 cents a gallon in California to $2.86, making Hawaii the most expensive state for gas. Nevada, at $2.79, and Alaska, at $2.58, are the only other states that average more than $2.50. Prices have been falling quickly in Alaska, dropping 13 cents the past week and 55 cents the past month.

As refineries in the nation's midsection completed maintenance and resumed normal production, pump prices fell by double digits the past week in several states, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Oklahoma. The biggest declines were in Ohio, where the average for regular fell 19 cents to $2.21, and in Indiana, where the average dropped 20 cents to $2.21.

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2012-2015 Mazda3, Mazda6 and Mazda CX-5 Transmission Issues

Vehicles affected by service bulletin:

2012 Mazda3
2013 Mazda3
2014 Mazda3 (VINs lower than JM1BM*****228314)
2015 Mazda3 (VINs lower than JM1BM*****228314)
2013 Mazda CX-5 (VINs lower than JM3KE****517027)
2014 Mazda CX-5 (VINs lower than JM3KE****517027)
2015 Mazda CX-5 (VINs lower than JM3KE****517027)
2014 Mazda6 (VINs lower than JM1GJ****203425)
2015 Mazda6 (VINs lower than JM1GJ****203425)

The problem: Affected vehicles have a six-speed manual transmission that may be hard to shift into 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gears. In addition, the shifter may sometimes jump out of 3rd gear over bumps in the road. Faulty clutch hub assemblies and a possibly bad 3rd gear are being blamed.

See More Service Bulletins

Corrective action: Dealers will remove and disassemble the transmission to replace 3rd gear and the affected clutch hub assemblies, as needed.

Warranty info: This repair will be done under Mazda's powertrain warranty.

What owners should do: Call your local dealer with your vehicle's identification number to determine if it's involved in this service bulletin. You can call Mazda directly at 800-222-5500 or NHTSA at 888-327-4236. Reference TSB No. 0500814.

Need to find a dealer for service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find a local dealer.

Editor's note: This is only one of dozens of service bulletins issued each month by automakers. Please check your automaker's website to see if your vehicle has any service bulletins pending.

Check for recalls here on Cars.com.

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Takata Recall Update: Many Affected Airbag Inflators Not Yet Replaced

Faulty Takata airbags created major headlines more than two years ago, yet federal officials say less than a quarter of those airbags have been repaired. In a public meeting this morning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed that as of Oct. 9, just 22.5 percent of the 23.4 million Takata airbags under recall in more than 19 million older U.S. cars have been fixed. The completion rate is 29.5 percent in areas of high absolute humidity like Florida and the Gulf Coast, where officials believe there is increased risk of airbag malfunctions and automakers have prioritized their recall efforts.

The crisis involves faulty airbag inflators from supplier Takata Corp., which can inflate with too much pressure and send metal shrapnel into vehicle occupants. It affects cars from 10 U.S. automakers plus two commercial-vehicle manufacturers, and NHTSA has linked the problem to 98 injuries and seven U.S. deaths. (Investigators have linked an eighth death internationally.)

The agency still targets a 100 percent replacement rate nationwide, but it's unclear how long that will take. NHTSA is looking at whether it needs to accelerate the recalls — and how to do that, given replacement inflators "simply won't be available within the next month, or even the next six months," acting enforcement administrator Frank Borris said.

Jennifer Timian, who heads NHTSA's recall management division, said the recalls are "making progress, and the overall completion rates are constantly improving," but added that the "remedy completion rates are simply not good enough."

Amid manufacturing complexities, the production of replacement parts has been slow.

"Because the system is vehicle-specific, you just can't take a part designed for car A and put it into car B," said Stephen Ridella, NHTSA's vehicle crashworthiness director. "You can design an inflator from company X to go into a Takata airbag unit, but it has to be specifically designed for that specific unit. Development needs to be done, and that takes time."

Ridella laid out a number of options to speed the process, including further coordination with Takata and other airbag suppliers to get more replacement parts into the pipeline and authorizing independent mechanics — not just dealerships — to make the repairs.

NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind said the agency will have a decision on if and how it plans to accelerate the process by Thanksgiving.

Some Replacements the Same as the Old Ones

Takata has contracted with at least three other airbag manufacturers — Autoliv, Daicel and ZF-TRW — to help build replacement inflators, NHTSA officials said. Combined, the three other manufacturers supplied 70 percent of the inflators inside Takata's "inflator kits" — a new inflator plus all associated mounting hardware — it shipped this month.

Some of those kits have the exact same inflator as the faulty one, however.

The situation is "not ideal," Ridella said, but officials want to reset the clock on long-term humidity exposure while Takata finds a longer-term solution because "currently there is no alternative available for these vehicles."

That means certain consumers will have to get a replacement twice. It's a situation that's "a recipe for confusion," Rosekind conceded, but officials insisted that consumers should get it done anyway.

"This temporary replacement is safer than the older part in their vehicle because it is new, and it has not been exposed to the environmental factors that are believed to be related to the ruptures," Timian said. Consumers should "not skip the interim remedy, thinking that you'll just wait for the final remedy. Similarly, do not get the interim remedy and decide that you don't want to bother with going back for the second time for the final remedy. These are both bad ideas. The interim remedy is much safer than the original inflator part, but it will still eventually have the chance of rupture. The final remedy, once available, will be safe."

It's unclear how many of these interim inflators are part of the larger pool.

NHTSA has "not determined how many remedies will be interim because we haven't concluded which Takata inflators, if any, will meet our requirement of a safe inflator for the life of the vehicle," spokesman Gordon Trowbridge told us.

Side Airbags, Too

Until recently, frontal airbags comprised all of the inflators in question. But two recent Takata incidents raised the possibility that side-impact airbags, not just frontal ones, could also be at risk. One incident prompted GM's Oct. 18 recall of 395 U.S. cars and SUVs because of faulty inflators in the side-torso airbags embedded in the front seats. GM said it's not aware of any real-world incidents, and the recall stems from just one inflator in a larger batch that failed a test.

Still, the recall follows a June 7 airbag deployment on a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV that reportedly caused a Takata side curtain airbag to rupture.

A Volkswagen spokesman told Cars.com he has "not heard anything further" about the Tiguan investigation, but NHTSA grouped it today with the GM incident.

The agency notes that the newest airbags under investigation are "SSI-20" devices. It has ordered dozens of automakers and airbag-inflator manufacturers to inform NHTSA of "any credible report of an inflator rupture," said Scott Yon, chief of the vehicle integrity division in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. "Based on these events, the SSI-20 inflator is now part of the Takata investigation, and NHTSA will continue to keep a close eye on this matter to ensure that all SSI-20 inflators that could have this problem are taken out of vehicles."

Trowbridge said he didn't have a total number of SSI-20 inflators in circulation.

Takata would not comment specifically on the Volkswagen or GM situations, both of which NHTSA tied to SSI-20 inflators. The company issued a statement to Cars.com that it's still investigating what happened in both side-impact airbag deployments.

"While we are still investigating the cause of this malfunction, we believe it is unrelated to the previous recalls, which the extensive data suggests were a result of aging and long-term exposure to heat and high humidity," Takata said. "We are cooperating closely with NHTSA and the vehicle manufacturers."

Loaner Vehicles 'Appropriate'

Rosekind noted that some automakers have made free loaner vehicles available to any consumers awaiting replacement parts who don't want to drive their cars.

Cars.com asked every automaker involved in the Takata recall if it offers free loaner vehicles to owners waiting to get their vehicles repaired. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota all said they do. GM said it does in areas of high absolute humidity. Ford said it does not. BMW, Mazda and Mitsubishi did not immediately respond.

NHTSA appears to favor them: "It would be appropriate for manufacturers to consider doing [loaner vehicles] during this time," Rosekind said.

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Recall Alert: 1.2 Million Mazda Cars, Minivans

Vehicles Affected: Approximately 1.2 million Mazda cars and minivans, including model-year 1990-96 323 hatchbacks and Protege sedans; model-year 1989-98 MPV minivans; 1993-98 626 sedans; 1993-95 929 sedans; and 1992-93 MX-3 hatchbacks

The Problem: Due to an excessive amount of grease at the contact points inside the ignition switch during production, as a result of time and use the grease may carbonize and accumulate between the contact points, reducing the electrical insulation performance inside the switch. As a result, continuous use may lead to contact points of the thermal base of the switch to become conductive, which may overheat the switch; if this occurs, the switch may smoke and possibly cause a fire. Mazda noted that once the vehicle is running, the problem does not directly affect drivability, operation or safety features, and that no related accidents or injuries have been reported.

The Fix: Dealers will make the necessary repairs for free.

What Owners Should Do: Mazda will begin notifying owns in December. Owners can call the automaker at 800-222-5500 for more info.

Need to Find a Dealer for Service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find your local dealer.

More Recalls

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Value of Fuel-Efficient Cars Tank Amid Low Gas Prices

Gas prices have fallen nearly 40 percent since summer 2014 highs and currently average $2.23 for a gallon of regular unleaded nationally, according to AAA. Low gas prices are helping drivers keep more money in their pockets, but values for electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel-efficient gas-powered cars have dramatically fallen at the same time.

Seller-set asking prices for the Nissan Leaf electric car have taken the biggest hit, falling 33.7 percent ($6,186) from July 1, 2014, to Oct. 19, 2015. The Leaf's price decline is more than four times greater than the 7.4 percent decrease for all 2011 to 2013 used cars over the same time period.

The rest of the cars in the top five are all designed to travel further on less gas or, in the case of the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, let owners avoid the gas station for long stretches. Asking prices for the Toyota Prius Plug-in fell 28.1 percent ($7,020), Ford C-Max Hybrid prices dipped 26.5 percent ($5,917) and prices for the Volt and Ford Fusion Hybrid were both down 25.3 percent. Prices for small, fuel-efficient gas-powered cars also fell, with the Mazda2 and Chevrolet Aveo, Spark and Sonic all seeing prices decrease by 23 percent or more.

Meanwhile, prices for SUVs and trucks outperformed the overall used-car market. Jeep Wrangler prices were down 3.2 percent ($846) to $25,662 and Toyota Tacoma prices were off 3.7 percent ($1,004) to $26,033 on average. Just one model — the now-discontinued Toyota FJ Cruiser SUV — recorded a price increase; it was up 2.4 percent ($720) to $31,013.

Cars.com chart

Editor's note: The chart details used cars from the 2011 to 2013 model years with the greatest declines in seller-set prices. To be eligible for the list, a model must have at least 250 cars in Cars.com's search listings.

Source: Cars.com used-car listings, 2011 to 2013 model years

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Study: Distraction Persists Long After Voice Text Sent

Traffic ahead comes to an abrupt stop. Another car veers into your lane. A child chases a ball into the street. The events leading up to a deadly accident can happen in the blink of an eye. The growing problem of driver distraction opens the window of danger much wider than you think. According to a just-released study from travel-services giant AAA, the period of distraction can last long after the initial moment of inattention occurs, be it distraction from a cellphone or an in-car multimedia system.

In its study of the distraction periods caused by the use of in-vehicle multimedia systems and smartphone features, researchers with AAA's Foundation for Traffic Safety tested the reactions of 322 drivers ages 21 to 70 using hands-free technologies in 10 model-year 2015 vehicles and three smartphone systems. While systems performed better if they were relatively easy to use, required less time for tasks and had fewer errors, all the tested systems resulted in distraction levels researchers deemed unsafe.

"Researchers found that potentially unsafe levels of mental distraction can last for as long as 27 seconds after completing a distracting task in the worst-performing systems studied," AAA said in a statement. "At the 25 mph speed limit in the study, drivers traveled the length of nearly three football fields during this time."

The best-performing multimedia systems, meanwhile, still distracted drivers for 15 seconds after the initial task.

Researchers assessed the systems on a five-point scale, with one representing mild distraction comparable to listening to the radio, two being potentially dangerous and five being a "very high" level of distraction. The systems were tested by drivers who used voice commands to make calls or change music while driving. Here's how the voice-activated systems ranked, followed by their distraction score:

1. Chevrolet Equinox, 2.4

2. Buick LaCrosse, 2.4

3. Toyota 4Runner, 2.9

4. Google Now, 3.0

5. Ford Taurus, 3.1

6. Chevrolet Malibu, 3.4

7. Apple Siri, 3.4

8. Volkswagen Passat, 3.5

9. Nissan Altima, 3.7

10. Chrysler 200c, 3.8

11. Hyundai Sonata, 3.8

12. Microsoft Cortana, 3.8

13. Mazda6, 4.6

In light of the study's findings on the extended driver-distraction effect, AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney urged drivers to remain cautious while using in-car and smartphone technologies, even in a traffic lull or some other temporary situation. He also called on automakers to continue improving their products.

"Developers should reduce mental distractions by designing systems that are no more demanding than listening to the radio or an audiobook," Doney said in a statement. "Given that the impairing effects of distraction may last much longer than people realize, AAA advises consumers to use caution when interacting with these technologies."

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