Welcome to our round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
Here’s what you missed while you were away.
TikTok creator goes viral singing her Toyota Tacoma song in dealerships
This viral TikTok singer went to Toyota dealerships to sell “Toyota Tacoma” song she wrote Photo by Cara Paige /TikTok
Toyota needs to use American TikToker Cara Paige’s “Toyota Tacoma” song in a commercial ASAP. We know it — that’s why we covered the story and have been singing the tune nonstop for the last week. Our readers know it — that’s why they clicked the story so many times and brought it to the top of this list. And Paige’s fans know it — that’s why they’ve encouraged her to reproduce and release the best quality version of the song yet, “Ur Toyota Tacoma” is available on all streaming platforms as of March 18! There’s even a Canadian Easter egg in the song where Paige talks about a road trip she dreamt of but never took to London, Ontario.
Canadians believe profits and politics are behind sky-high gas prices
The Shell gas station at Oak St. and King Edward in Vancouver was selling gas for $2.09/litre on Sunday. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
A majority of Canadians hold a pretty bleak outlook on gas prices, according to a recent poll. Maru Public Opinion found that most Canadians expect the record-setting gas prices to remain high or even increase, and name international events and “profit-taking” as catalysts. Can you blame them? Perhaps as a result, nearly 50 per cent of surveyed drivers said they’d consider an EV as a next purchase, with one third of those respondents considering themselves serious about visiting a dealership. Learn what else the polls revealed here.
“Free the Air!” Vigilante group deflates tires as environmental statement
A screen capture of the London, U.K.-based protest group ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ Photo by via the BBC
A group of British vigilantes calling themselves the ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ are attempting to bully “gas-guzzling” SUVs out of London’s downtown core by deflating tires and leaving notes on windshields. Cool name. Stupid operation. The anonymous group targeted a number of unsuspecting vehicles in the neighbourhoods of Chelsea, Chiswick, Notting Hill, and Belgravia, deflating their tires and leaving them sitting on flats. “SUVs and 4X4s are a disaster for our climate,” their rather formal looking note reads. “SUVs are the second-largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions in the past decade…We’re taking actions into our own hands because our governments and politicians will not.” Local authorities will no doubt be looking to ‘extinguish’ the vigilante action.
Porsche bought new by Seinfeld sells online for nearly US$2 million
A 2004 Porsche Carrera GT bought new by Jerry Seinfeld Photo by Bring a Trailer
Almost twenty years ago, comedian Jerry Seinfeld purchased a black Porsche Carrera GT for US$448,300. Last week that same car, now having gone through multiple other owners and traveled 3,700 miles (5,950 km), sold at online auction house Bring a Trailer for US$1.865 million. The car, a standard black-on-gray model with a 5.7-litre V10 and six-speed manual, surpassed Hagerty’s stated price for top-market models at US$1.5 million. Let’s just say this: somebody made a good investment.
GM faces class-action suit over alleged bubbly paint defect
A group of Chevrolet and GMC owners in Florida and Tennessee are filing a class-action lawsuit against General Motors, claiming the paint and clear coat, on a number of trucks and SUVs as new as three years old, “delaminates, bubbles, flakes, erodes and blisters.” The suit, brought to our attention by Carcomplaints.com and being filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, names 2015 through the 2019 Chevy Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe; and GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, and Sierra. The suit also accuses GM of failing to provide “truthful information about the defects of the paint.”
Keyword: News Roundup: A viral Toyota Tacoma song, Seinfeld’s $2-million Porsche, and more