More bad news for Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), with the company announcing that it was recalling around 600,000 Sienna minivans sold in the United States.

The latest in a string of safety concerns involves potentially rusted spare tire cables that could break, allowing the minivan's spare tire to bust loose and tumble into the road.

Earlier this week Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) took another hit to its public relations when Consumer Reports hit one of its new SUV models, the Lexus GX 460, with a 'Don't Buy' rating. Toyota announced today that in light of the concerns over the Lexus SUV it would be running safety tests on all of its SUVs to reassure Toyota drivers that their vehicles are indeed safe.

The concern comes from tests that Consumer Reports ran on the Lexus GX 460 that showed the SUV was a rollover risk. The electronic stabilizer that was supposed to correct the SUV from spinning out was not kicking in as quickly as it should be.

It was not that long ago that Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) was known for the safety of its vehicles, but the past year has been a nightmare for the Japanese automaker. And things took a turn for the worse Tuesday when it was forced to suspend sales of its Lexus GX 460.

The decision to suspend sales of the Lexus SUV came after Consumer Reports hit the model with a rare "Don't Buy" rating due to rollover concerns.

Consumer Reports magazine sent some bad news to Tokyo. According to The New York Times, "bug-ridden redesigns" caused the Japanese car company Toyota (NYSE: TM) to drop from No. 1 last year to No. 3 this year in the magazine's reliability survey.

"Consumer Reports removed high-end versions of three Toyota models - the Camry and Lexus GS sedans and the Tundra pickup truck - from its list of recommended vehicles and said it would stop recommending new or redesigned Toyota vehicles without data showing that past years' versions were reliable," the newspaper wrote. Honda (NYSE: HMC) and Subaru picked up the top two spots.

The big winner was Ford (NYSE: F). The company may not be able to sell many cars, but the magazine said that 93% of its US models ranked as average or better for reliability.

It is easy to say that it is just a survey, but the study by the magazine and the JD Power annual report on initial customer satisfaction are carefully watched by car buyers. It has been broadly assumed that Toyota's reputation has been a big part of its ability to pick up sales and market share from US car companies over the last two decades.

Toyota's stock has been trading near its 52-week low. No wonder.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

A reader recently asked us here at BloggingStocks.com to check out whether it was true that Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) was a stockholder in Consumer Reports. The answer is no. There are no stock holders. The following information and more is available at ConsumerReports.org

• Consumer Reports® and ConsumerReports.org® are published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of our information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants. Consumers Union is governed by a board of 18 directors, who are elected by CU members and meet three times a year. CU's President, James Guest, oversees a staff of more than 450.

Apparently some appliance salespeople were saying SHLD had a stake in Consumer Reports, which rates Sears' brand Kenmore consistently among the highest. I do not know how these silly rumors get started or why our inquirer could not have easily researched this on their own. But the internet works both ways; rumors and hoaxes get out of hand much too fast these days.

I hope we at Bloggingstocks.com have helped put an end to this one.

To find potential opportunities and verify my track record read Chasing Value or Serious Money.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He is on the advisory board of Internet start-up CircleBuilder.com.

If you regularly laugh in the face of death, eat nails for breakfast and think that only sissies need a backup parachute, than buying Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) stock is right for you.

While Ford has huge problems and is in debt up to its eyeballs, it's also working just as hard to resolve them under Chief Executive Alan Mullaly through an $11 billion restructuring plan. But what gets lost in the discussion about declining market share, union negotiations and debt is the fact that Ford makes some good cars.

Consumer Reports put the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan on its "Most Impressive" list of cars. The non-profit organization also recommended 54 percent of the Ford cars it rates, more than General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) or DaimlerChrylser AG (NYSE:DCX). Of course, the Japanese cars dominated the rankings.

Ford is certainly not going to dig itself out of a hole anytime soon but neither are its rivals whose shares are doing much better. It's interesting that Ford's stock is down 2 percent over the past year compared with a 60 percent gain in General Motors and a 22 percent increase at Daimler. This pricing doesn't make much sense.

Ford has a lower debt-to-equity ratio than General Motors and unlike GM has a positive return on equity. DaimlerChrysler's ratios aren't available, but its shares have been surging on expectations that it was going to sell Chrysler. Plus, sales in Germany and France, key markets for Daimler, have been slipping recently.

Carl Icahn has made billions betting on companies that are out of favor with the market including our beloved corporate parent Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX). Wilbur Ross has done well with steel and private equity companies are snapping up companies that the market is turning its back on left and right.

People get rich by not following the crowd. They also don't take unnecessary risks. So, before buying a stock like Ford, think about it long and hard. Then think about it again and again. This stock isn't going to make you rich quick, but has the potential to do better than it is today.

If you've had a baby in the U.S., you've probably done the obligatory walk to the car with a nurse, who inspects your vehicle to make sure you have, indeed, installed an infant car seat.

Consumer Reports came out with a (for parents) terrifying and (for the Evenflo Company, Inc.) damaging study today that detailed crash results from 12 widely-available infant car seats. To put it mildly? I never want to put a baby in a car again. Next time the nurse walks me out, it will be to the bus stop. Something I didn't know: infant car seats are only meant to withstand a crash at 30 mph. When Consumer Reports tested car seats at 35 or 38 mph, most seats failed, disengaging from their bases or (in four cases) flying out of them. Many seats would have "inflicted grave injuries" according to the Consumer Reports.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL)'s Graco Products unit has reason to crow, however; its SnugRide with EPS car seat was one of the two that passed the tests; both it and the other acceptable seat, the Baby Trend, Inc. Flex-Loc, retail for around $90.

I'm certainly glad to know that my children, having always been buckled into Graco SnugRides while in the car, were reasonably safe. But I have to ask myself: is the lack of safety of the inexpensive versions an even deadlier stake driven between the poor and the middle-class?

CarMax Inc. (NYSE:KMX) had a profit in its latest quarter. A big one. The company even moved up its forecast for the next fiscal year.

CarMax made a profit of $45 million, up from $23 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 24% to $1.77 billion. Gross profit on the used cars sold by CarMax is well above the gross profit on new cars: $1,898 versus $1,108.

The company said that Internet traffic, luxury car demand, and a return of SUV buyers as gas prices dropped helped increase sales. CarMax stock hit a record high of $52.77.

But, that's all yesterday's news. What does it mean?

CarMax is the largest retailer of used cars in the U.S. Oddly enough, the small new vehicle business at CarMax has dropped 3% to $110 million, while the used-car revenue rose 27% to $1.378 billion.

Another clue is that Detroit says that the average price that it's getting per vehicle is dropping. Incentives for some DaimlerChrysler's (NYSE:DCX) Chrysler models are over $4,000 a car, and General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) are not doing much better.

Consumers do not want to pay retail prices or anywhere near it for a car. Perhaps it's concern about the economy. Perhaps it's concern about the value of their homes. Perhaps research and Internet initiatives like Consumer Reports and JP Powers have convinced buyers that the right used car is virtually as good as most new ones.

CarMax results are not good for Detroit. When people buy used, new cars pile up.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.