Malibu fault code affected by which engine powers it

Code P0172 came up in my 2010 Chevy Malibu. The dealer charged me $100 to troubleshoot the code. I was told that all the sensors were good and to run the gas tank low and fill up with high-octane gas. Does going to high-octane gas make any sense to you? The "Check engine" light is still on and I'm concerned that if another code comes up I'll never know. What do you think?

If the engine in your vehicle is the 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder, the P0172 indicates a rich fuel/air mixture. The long-term fuel trim is beyond the range of adjustment based on the oxygen sensor feedback to the PCM. Look for a leaking fuel pressure regulator or fuel injector, or a restriction in the induction system like a clogged air cleaner or collapsed induction hose. Other possibilities include fuel contamination in the crankcase, a faulty PCV or evaporative emissions system, or contaminated fuel. If it is a fuel issue such as an excess amount of alcohol, the dealer's advice might help.

All bets are off if it's a V-6 engine because the P0172 code would indicate a rich mixture on cylinder bank 1 only. If this is the case, look for a mechanical issue with an injector or fuel pressure regulator.

By the way, you may be able to avoid the diagnostic charge in the future. A number of auto parts stores will plug a scanner into the diagnostic link on your vehicle and read any stored fault codes — at no charge. Taking advantage of this service not only can save you money, but arm you with accurate diagnostic information when you take the vehicle to the dealership or service agency.

I am having a problem with my 2000 Chrysler minivan that I bought new. It had 175K on it the first time it stalled on me. Since no one could figure it out I just let it go until now. The problem is after driving the car for at least 40 minutes in very hot weather with the A/C on, the car starts to lose power as if it is running out of gas. The accelerator doesn't respond and as I put my foot on it, the car sputters worse and worse and eventually dies. When I try to restart it and it starts it runs really rough and eventually dies. The first few times I had it towed, and of course by the time it got there [service agency], it fired right up. There were no error codes and no one could figure out what was wrong. I learned that if I just let the car cool down for about 45 minutes it would start and run fine for a long period.

In the rest of your letter you mentioned having the crankshaft and camshaft position sensors replaced, but I doubt this fixed the issue. From your description, the engine is suffering from a loss of fuel pressure. If it is heat-related — high underhood temperatures — it would be labeled "vapor lock," where the fuel boils in the fuel rail, generating air bubbles that disrupt fuel delivery. Try carrying a spray bottle of water with you, and when this happens again open the hood and cool the underhood components of the fuel system with water. If the car restarts and runs cleanly, it's vapor lock. Servicing the cooling system and ensuring good airflow through the A/C condenser and radiator can help lower underhood temperatures.

If the water doesn't help, it's possible that it's a failing fuel pump or that debris in the fuel tank is slowly clogging the fuel strainer surrounding the fuel pickup as you drive. This would also cause a loss of fuel pressure, but after sitting the debris can fall away from the strainer, allowing the car to run fine again — for a while.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paul brand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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Site lets job seekers ‘upskill’

When Iba Masood and Syed Ahmed graduated from college in 2010 and 2011, respectively, they initially had trouble finding jobs.

Like many of their classmates, they had the education, but not the specific skill sets that some companies were looking for.

So in 2012, they created Gradberry, a website that allows students and graduates to "upskill" through interactive, online courses and find jobs and internships, and allows employers to find new talent.

"Industries are currently in flux and constantly changing, and universities haven't been able to keep up with the new tools of the trade that graduating students need," said Masood, co-founder and CEO of Gradberry, now a finalist in the MassChallenge startup accelerator and competition.

Many business schools don't teach students how to use the software tool Salesforce, for example, a skill that many employers require for sales and customer relationship management positions.

"Gradberry aims to fill that gap," Masood said.

The website offers both free and paid courses taught by experts in areas such as technology entrepreneurship, social-media marketing, HTML5 and digital photography. Prices for paid courses generally range from $49 to $99. And once you've completed all the lessons in a course, you earn a certificate that you can add to your Gradberry talent profile.

You can also search for internships, freelancing opportunities and full-time jobs on the website, and employers can search for job candidates by browsing through their talent profiles.

Viveka Mishra, a fellow MassChallenge finalist, used Gradberry to post a job last week for a full-time marketing position at her company, PegaSense.

"The site was incredibly simple to use, and the posting itself was nestled in between Amazon job postings," Mishra said. "When I posted the job, Gradberry tweeted an energetic, 'PegaSense is looking for a marketing rockstar,' with a link to the posting to their massive amount (11,100) of Twitter followers."

"Using Gradberry has been great marketing for PegaSense," she said, "and we've since been in contact with high-caliber candidates from across the globe."

Worldwide, Gradberry has 38,000 users and will never charge people applying for jobs, Masood said, but the company will begin charging employers by next year for premium services such as training for 
employees or advanced filtering that will allow companies to search for prospective job applicants by their universities and majors.

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Mercedes S550 worth its high price

When the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550 4matic sedan was delivered for testing, my first thought was, why would anyone spend $128,000 on a car? After a few days behind the wheel, I now wish I had $128,000 to buy this car.

Opulence, elegance, style, superb engineering and tech goodies are hallmarks of this flagship four-door.

A 4.6-liter V-8 biturbo engine produces a prodigious 449 horsepower and easily pushes this full-sized and heavy all-wheel-drive. Select your driving mode and the car will adjust the suspension and shift points to maximize your driving pleasure. From gas-sipping ECO to quick-reacting Sport, the S550 has it all for your driving pleasure. And it's a pleasure to motor about in this car.

The cabin is adorned with full-grain, supple, perforated leather seats that can be heated or cooled. The driver's seat features a massage mode along with multiple adjustable settings. Tech features run the gamut from navigation to the extraordinary Distronic Plus with steering assist that will make hands-free steering lane adjustments in cruise control.

Active Blind Spot assist, night-vision cameras and a pedestrian-recognition back up camera are just some of the long list of equipment available. Our tester came with the optional $6,400 Burmester surround sound system that absolutely fills the interior with symphony hall quality audio. Even AM news sounded special. The interface could have been a tad more user-friendly, but after a day or two it was mastered.

But as expected, it's the marvelous fit and finish that make a Mercedes so attractive. The polished wood-grain inlay and leather-trimmed door panels, the velvety head and pillar liners and the pillowed rear seat headrests all caress you in luxury. Add the reclining rear seats, separate rear climate control and sun roof and you see why you may have to get a driver to chauffeur you about. And it has a built-in air freshening system — just pick your fragrance.

The exterior remains simple and elegant. The five-louvered grille has only the radar panel embedded, the famed hood ornament is back on the nose and the LED lights wrap around the fender flares. The simple lines still imbue class yet have single creases along the hood that draw your eye toward the slightly upturned trunk. Despite its length and width, the car maneuvers easily and parking assist helps swing the four-door into tight spots.

The car handles like a dream for a full-sized cruiser. The seven-speed automatic shifts seamlessly and the 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway won't have you pulling into the gas station at every exit. Step onto the accelerator and the Benz responds with aplomb. The car almost feels like it pulls itself closer to the ground, drops down a couple of gears and just rockets forward without making a fuss of it or snapping your head backward. It may not have the explosiveness of a pure sports car, but there's an effortless muscular engine under the hood.

In the ultra luxury class, only a few cars demand your attention. The Jaguar XJL, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and maybe the Lexus LS among them. But having­ tested the Jag and the Lexus­, I think the S-Class easily outduels them.

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Shoppers gear up to sales tax holiday weekend

BOSTON — Massachusetts shoppers hitting the stores this weekend will be able to enjoy a discount as part of the state's sales tax free holiday.

On Saturday and Sunday items at stores costing $2,500 or less will be exempt from the 6.25 percent sales tax.

A few items don't qualify for the tax break, including cars, motorboats, meals, telecommunications services, gas, steam, electricity and tobacco products.

For items costing more than $2,500, the sales tax applies to the entire price of the item. For example, if an item is sold for $3,000, the entire sales price of the item is taxable, not just the amount that exceeds $2,500.

Many retailers have welcomed the tax free weekend as way to lure in customers during a slow time of year.

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B.R.A. vows no more secrets

The BRA's acting director hopes a new policy requiring the agency to hold public meetings and a 10-day open comment session before giving away any city-owned land will help restore some of the credibility it lost in the backlash over last fall's secret dealings that gave the Red Sox rights to use Yawkey Way forever.

"The public should have had an opportunity to scrutinize the deal and comment on it before it was presented to the board for action," Boston Redevelopment Authority chief Brian Golden told the Herald yesterday. "That is what this policy does. If we are going to convey an interest in public land, there must be a public process. … We think it is absolutely essential to the long-term credibility of our agency and the legitimacy of our decisions. That's what really hangs in the balance."

Golden said a new edict adopted Thursday by the BRA board will greatly increase transparency and prevent what happened in September, when the agency kept the public in the dark on the terms of its deal with the Red Sox up until just before the board's vote on the 
$7.3 million pact. No public forum was ever held.

The board also approved a disclosure policy that requires developers to divulge the names of all investors — to "1/10th of one percent" — involved in their projects. Another measure will require developers seeking "Public Development Area" designations, which allows them to skirt zoning regulations, to provide community benefits.

"They appear to be trying to institute policies where there weren't any," Matt Cahill, head of the Boston Finance Commission, a watchdog agency, said of the new policies. "That is a step in the right direction."

Golden served as secretary and executive director of the BRA at the time of the Yawkey Way deal but said he — and most other BRA staff — was cut out of the Sox negotiations because they were handled exclusively by then-BRA chief Peter Meade and chief of staff Jim Tierney.

Tapped by Mayor Martin J. Walsh to lead the BRA and carry out his mission of creating greater transparency and accountability at the agency, Golden has publicly criticized the sale that gave the Sox permanent rights to close Yawkey Way on game days and concert dates for as long as the team plays at Fenway Park, calling it a "bad deal" for taxpayers. The contract also gave the Sox the air rights below its pricey Green Monster seats on Lansdowne Street.

On the disclosure policy, Golden said citizens have a right to know the investors in projects in their neighborhoods, and the agency needs to know as well to prevent conflicts of interest among its staff and board members. Failure to comply could result in the agency rescinding its approval of a project, said Enrico Lopez, the BRA's policy director who drafted the three policies.

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Boston online retailer Wayfair files for public offering

Boston-based online home goods retailer Wayfair filed paperwork for its initial public offering yesterday, a long-awaited move for a company that has seen more than $1 billion in sales during the past 12 months.

According to the paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wayfair is hoping to raise up to $350 million in its IPO.

Wayfair sells furniture and other home goods, and said it took in $574.1 million in the first half of the year. Still, Wayfair took a $51.4 million loss, largely because of sales and marketing expenses.

William Preston, a research analyst at Renaissance Capital, said e-commerce companies have done well with their IPOs recently.

"We've seen pretty good success in e-commerce this year," he said.

Founded in 2002, Wayfair will likely be the first U.S. e-commerce company to go public this year. Other e-commerce offerings this year have been from foreign companies.

Preston said one of Wayfair's biggest challenges will be proving to investors it can coexist alongside Amazon, the established king of e-commerce.

Wayfair has raised $363 million in venture funding, but co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine each still own 28.9 percent of the company.

Wayfair said in the filing it will trade under the symbol "W" on the New York Stock Exchange.

A spokeswoman for Wayfair declined to comment.

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MCCA plays up $1.1M temporary Lawn on D

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority spent $1.1 million to build a lush open space in the Seaport District to host concerts, artwork and lawn games, but it will be usable for no more than two years before the acres of newly laid sod and rows of fencing are ripped up to make way for an expanded convention center.

James E. Rooney, head of the MCCA justified the expense of creating the new, 2.7-acre open space, dubbed The Lawn on D, as a working experiment that will help fine-tune plans for a permanent green space farther up the block where there are currently state transportation department buildings.

"The idea in our research on great open spaces is that most of it has been redesigned two or three times before it achieves greatness," Rooney said. "And there is a lot of money in building open space and then rebuilding it, and then rebuilding it again. Our idea is to make this part of the design process, experiment with it, figure out what we did wrong, program it, figure out what worked and didn't work. Then build it once."

Rooney acknowledged that much of the area that has been spruced up — a once rock- and gravel-covered field now wired with electricity and Wi-Fi, hooked up with water and landscaped with trees and grass — will be torn up in 18 months to two years as the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center gets a $1 billion, 1.3 million-square-foot add-on.

"It's not all throw-away. Some of it we will be able to reuse," said Rooney, who noted that the event space, when not in use by conventioneers, will be open to the public to play bocce and ping-pong, and enjoy live music and interactive art. "We wanted to create a sense of space in the South Boston waterfront. ... Think of it as a college quad, that you just go out and just hang out with your friends, with Wi-Fi."

The MCCA said in May it was paying HR&A Advisors $200,000 for the concept and the design, and Chris Wangro, another New York consultant, $50,000 to develop programming for the space.

It is also a walkable connection to and from the Convention Center, D Street and the Aloft and Element hotels, as required under an agreement the MCCA has with their developers.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh called the lawn "really a great way of showcasing our city."

"It gives the neighborhood a sense of pride," Walsh said. "Having The Lawn on D is another way to make our city more innovative."

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Fed suit on title insurance kickbacks should be wake-up call

WASHINGTON — A new federal court suit alleging kickback violations by one of the country's top-producing real estate sales teams raises an unsettling question for homebuyers: Could your agent or broker be pocketing under the table large chunks of what you pay for title insurance?

Some legal analysts say the litigation should be a wake-up call for realty brokers and their customers nationwide. It focuses fresh attention on the often murky financial relationships that exist between title insurance agencies and realty firms — relationships that have been drawing increasing scrutiny from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore earlier this month, alleges that the Creig Northrop Team P.C. — a real estate group ranked among the highest-grossing nationwide in recent years — received payments totaling $1.3 million between 2001 and 2014 from a title insurance company, which the complaint characterizes as illegal "kickbacks" that were never disclosed to buyers. The plaintiffs also allege that the defendants used "sham" employment and marketing agreements to disguise the true nature of the payments.

The Northrop team is affiliated with Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., the largest independent brokerage in the country. Timothy Casey, an attorney representing both the Northrop team and Long and Foster, said he had no comment on the case, pending authorization from his clients to do so. Lakeview Title Insurance Co., which allegedly paid kickbacks in exchange for referrals of business by the Northrop team, did not respond to a request for comment. The defendants' answer has not yet been filed.

The filing seeks class action status, $11.2 million in "compensatory damages" for the plaintiffs, plus potentially millions more in other damages. A related suit sought and was granted class action status by the same federal court earlier this year. In that case, the Northrop team and Long and Foster denied any wrongdoing.

The court ultimately dropped Long and Foster from the class action, having found no evidence that Long and Foster had participated in the Northrop team's alleged actions.

The new suit, brought by Nancy Wade and Janice Rulli, who purchased a home in Ellicott City, Md., through the Northrop team, seeks to reinstate Long and Foster as a defendant with new allegations that an employee of the brokerage firm not only was aware of the allegedly illegal payments, but "admonished and disciplined" sales agents when they did not steer business to the title agency.

The complaint alleges that Carla Northrop, vice president of the team, received $775,000 from Lakeview Title over a six-year period under an "employment arrangement" that required little or no work — she had no office space, no set hours, no cellphone or business cards — yet was compensated with one-half of the title insurance premiums charged to home purchasers who were referred by the Northrop team.

No one can predict how the court system ultimately will rule on the allegations in the Northrop case. But real estate industry experts say it highlights an area of growing sensitivity for brokers and agents. Though federal prohibitions against kickbacks for business referrals have been in place for decades, regulators and consumer attorneys are becoming more aggressive in challenging "marketing" and employment compensation deals that can add significant amounts to brokers' incomes, but discourage their buyers from shopping for lower-cost or better settlement services.

Such arrangements are widespread, said New Orleans attorney Marx Sterbcow, and "a lot of them" are vulnerable to legal attack.

According to Sterbcow, payments for questionable "marketing services" can range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in the case of large brokers or involve more modest payments to small brokerages or even to individual agents who have negotiated arrangements with title and other vendors.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has begun stepping up its own investigations and enforcement actions against brokers and title companies, especially on alleged referral-fee arrangements and inadequate disclosures provided to consumers.

It recently settled with one large realty broker for $500,000.

Under federal law you are free to shop for title and other services.

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The Ticker

Google buys Calif. photo co. Jetpac

Tech giant Google has purchased the startup Jetpac, creator of software that analyzes the pictures cybernauts post on the Internet and works up urban guides from the information it extracts from them, the Jetpac Web site said.

Founded in 2011 with headquarters in San Francisco, Jetpac compiles information from the photos that users post on social networks, for example on Instagram, the property of Facebook, and by means of an advanced system of artificial intelligence, creates guides with the information it extracts from them.

The usual pictures of food, buildings, people and decorative elements circulated by Instagram enrich the useful content of Jetpac's online guides to the habits, activities, curiosities and leisure-time possibilities that each city has to offer.

The monetary value of the acquisition has not been revealed.

TOMORROW

•  National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for August.

TUESDAY

• Commerce Department releases housing starts for July.
• Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for July.

WEDNESDAY

• Federal Reserve releases minutes from its July interest rate meeting.

THURSDAY

• Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.
• Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates,
• National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for July.
• Conference Board releases leading indicators for July.
•  Ted Finnerty, left, joins the Boston office of JLL from the New York office, where he was a vice president and associate director. Prior to coming to Boston, Finnerty led the 12-person capital improvement team for the Empire State Building. His experience also includes a number of tenant fit out projects of varying sizes for a variety of clients. Finnerty is a LEED Accredited Professional and was named to Real Estate New York's "Top 30 Under 30" list in 2007.
•  Nick Herz has joined Boston Realty Advisors as a managing director and shareholder in the Capital Markets group. Herz will focus on expanding investment sales, debt finance, and equity placement activities. Prior to joining Boston Realty Advisors. Herz served as senior vice president in the Capital Markets groups at CB Richard Ellis/New England and Colliers International.

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Tax holiday lures Massachusetts shoppers

Shoppers packed stores as the state's sales tax holiday kicked off yesterday, with retailers anticipating a blockbuster weekend at the registers in the doldrums of summer.

"We are expecting to see a pretty big weekend," said Bill Rennie, vice president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. "We're expecting big crowds this weekend, a lot of traffic in the stores."

A spokesman for the Northshore Mall in Peabody said stores were busy yesterday, and so were the parking lots.

"You can definitely see the influx of traffic compared to a typical Saturday in August," said Rich Balest. "Northshore is looking pretty good right now."

The big box stores and electronics retailers were seeing the most traffic, he said.

Rennie said the association's members expect to rack up close to $500,000 in sales this weekend.

"Interest is as high as it's been in years past," Rennie said.

The state department of revenue estimated the state missed out on roughly $24.6 million in uncollected sales tax last year. That was the fourth straight increase over the year before.

Many stores doubled their staffing levels and across the state malls rolled out the promotions and gimmicks. The Simon Malls, which include the Northshore Mall, Square One Mall and South Shore Plaza, had extended hours, and the Northshore Mall had puppies on hand so people could take a break from sales tax-free shopping and play with the dogs.

Antonio Duarte said his freezer broke a week ago and he waited for the tax holiday to take a trip to the Northshore Mall to replace it.

"It comes at the right time," Duarte said. "I saved a few bucks."

Stacey Stanley is building a new house, and needed some supplies from the plumbing supply store, she said.

"It just so happened to fall on the tax-free holiday, so we said might as well," she said. "I think it's great, maybe they should do it twice a year."

Still, not everyone was buying into the sales tax holiday, which suspends the sales tax for items up to $2,500 — a $150 savings on the maximum amount.

"If Macy's decided to have a storewide sale for 6.25 percent, no one would show up for that," said Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumer World. "It's very big hype."

Still, he said the holiday can help people save on specific items.

"People are going to save the most on big-ticket items, stuff for which normally it hurts if you have to pay sales tax on it," he said. "Just because it's 6.25 percent less expensive, that's no reason to buy it if you don't need it."

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