Consumer Reports Canada car

Whether you're looking for information about a specific car model or looking for more general automotive and transportation information, the Internet and your telephone provide access to a wide variety of sources.

Automobile manufacturers

Most manufacturers have a local phone number and a toll-free phone number for calls from anywhere in Canada. The table below provides those numbers, along with each company's Web address. "NA" indicates that we could not obtain a phone number.

Federal and provincial governments and organizations

Transport Canada can provide general information on vehicle-safety standards, vehicle-restraint systems, fuel-consumption ratings, emissions, collision statistics, tires, and other topics. From Canada (except Ottawa), call 800-333- 0371; from Ottawa and from other countries, call 613-998-8616.

Transport Canada's website (www.tc.gc.ca) has information on topics such as road safety and Canadian automotive regulations. You'll also find a number of other useful resources, including Natural Resources Canada (environmental information), Statistics Canada (information on a wide variety of subjects, including data derived from the national census), the Canadian Automobile Association (information on safety, travel, and other consumer topics), and the Transportation Association of Canada (technical and advocacy transportation issues).

You'll also find links to U.S. organizations and government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.dot.gov), the Transportation Research Board (www.trb.org), and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.org).

Automotive organizations

A good source of information is www.canadiandriver.com. It has links to various groups, including the Canada Safety Council (for driving safety and other safety-related topics). The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (www.ccmta.ca), a transportation and highway-safety organization, is another resource.