How much would you pay for a 2005 Chrysler? Well, an anonymous seller on eBay is asking for a million dollars, but it's no ordinary car. The Chrysler once belonged to none other than President Barack Obama, who used it when on trips home to Chicago when he was just a Senator from Illinois. So is a President's former sedan really worth one million dollars?

There's optimism in Detroit. Back from bankruptcy the "Detroit Three" of GM, Chrysler and Ford are all making money and they're pouring money into engineering and designing cars that can go head to head with the best in the industry. The 2012 North American International Auto Show kicks off this week in Detroit. 

Later today, President Obama plans to announce a major agreement between the White House and the nation’s top automakers. By 2025, cars sold domestically will have to drive 54.5 miles to the gallon. The president hopes this move will dramatically decrease the country’s need for foreign oil,  but this agreement  may also dramatically change the face of the American highway as we know it.

President Obama emphasized nation building in his speech last week, announcing his plans for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. We have been asking Takeaway listeners: how would you like to see the government spend all of the money once spent on wars, here at home?  

Many of you would like to see improvements in energy and a shift away from foreign oil dependence. President Obama suggested requiring all cars and light trucks to run at 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025. Is this feasible?

With gas prices on the rise, and energy policy in the headlines, both consumers and governments have reason to be happy about GM’s new hybrid, the Chevy Volt. The car is still in limited supply, and it’s pretty expensive — near $50,000. But for those who can get their hands on a brand new Chevy Volt, the government has added an incentive — a tax rebate of $7,500. However, as Mary Chapman writes in The New York Times "Wheels" blog, that deal may have been a little too sweet. Car dealers across the country have begun snatching up the rebate for themselves, and leaving their customers in the dust.

This weekend marks one hundred years since the first driver put tires to the starting line at the Indy 500, America’s most competitive car race. Sports writer Charlie Leerhsen is the author of "Blood and Smoke, A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indy 500." Leerhsen discusses a century's worth of squealing tires and helps solve a lingering mystery from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's very first race.

The auto industry might just be driving the U.S. economy. U.S. car sales rose in March by 16.9 percent and Chrysler, Nissan and Ford are vying for the top slots. Chrysler hit its highest monthly total in three years in March with a 31 percent increase. And lot of that growth was fueled by hybrid and electric car sales. However, despite this good news, there are also reports that car companies are scaling back overtime hours and production schedules, especially in their small truck production.

Would you let someone you didn't know borrow your car? New car-sharing programs are letting people do just that. Companies like RelayRides.com let people in urban areas like San Francisco, Portland and Cambridge, Mass. rent out their own cars for an hourly fee.

We talk to one reporter who took car-sharing for a test drive: Casey Miner, at KALW 91.7FM in San Francisco and one of our partners in the Transportation Nation project.

It's not like seat-heaters, a fancy sound system, or other car purchase options/ad-ons, but Nation's Trucks in Sanford, Fla. does offer a deal if you purchase a truck: buy one, get an AK-47. Technically, to get your semi-automatic with your vehicle, you have to jump through all the usual hoops of buying the weapon according to state laws. But Nick Ginetta, the general sales manager at the dealership who acknowledges it is in effect a publicity stunt, hopes he'll get a few more customers than usual.

For nearly two weeks, a stretch of highway outside Beijing saw monster gridlock, which stretched out over sixty miles and trapped drivers on China's National Highway 110 for days. It had been expected to last until mid-September, but last Thursday, after eleven days, the traffic jam suddenly broke.

Many people, of course, are wondering: Where did it go? How did it start? And could this kind of jam happen again?

Why isn't there a better way to text while driving? That’s a question that Joel Johnson, editor at large of Gizmodo.com asked in a recent column.

So far, he’s received over 500 responses to his column, most of which suggest that people who text and drive should simply give it up, use the phone instead, or die behind the wheel because they deserve to. However, Johnson insists that, in a world where most people text and drive, his question is valid. If we can't stop it, why not make it safer?

What do you think? Should texting while driving be outlawed or be made safer?

Ford has been open about its plans to phase out the massively popular Crown Victoria line in 2011, but is inviting stiff competition from both Chrysler and General Motors, who are unveiling vehicles aimed squarely at police fleets. Will Ford be able to keep the 75 percent market-share of the police cruiser market, that the Crown Victoria managed?

On Friday, Chrysler will make its last PT Cruiser. Ten years ago, the Cruiser became a cultural phenonenon with buyers willing to wait in line for their chance to own one. Why did the Cruiser strike such a chord?

Blind people and advocates for the blind liken it to walking on the moon: The National Federation of the Blind has joined forces with Virginia Tech to create a car that could be driven by passengers who do not have the use of their sight. The car, slated at this point for a 2011 release, uses hand sensors, speaking computer directives and other forms of cutting-edge technology to aid their visibility-challenged drivers.

Detroit got a dose of good news, yesterday. For the first time in the 24 year history of the JD Power and Associates Initial Quality Study American car makers beat out imports. Porsche still topped the list, but Ford was in the top five up there, along with luxury brands. That is the only time a mainstream American brand has been in that group. 

In a statement released yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he intends to levy a $16.4 million fine, the largest allowed by law, against embattled, multinational Toyota Motor Company.  

A video of a Prius that lost control in a dramatic crash on a California highway has sparked a new investigation into Toyota's acceleration problems. Worse, the driver says he had already reported problems to the car dealer.

The CEO of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, will testify before Congress today as part of a probe into his company's massive car recall. Toyoda's prepared remarks have already been released and the embattled CEO is expected to apologize to customers and to lawmakers ahead of his testimony.

Inspired by the blizzards hitting much of the country, we’re dedicating this week's tech segment to a timely topic: the weather. Scientists are developing new and innovative ways to predict it... and one of the tools they’re enlisting is your car.

State Rep. Charlie Hoffman from Georgetown, Ky., is witnessing the affects of the Toyota recalls on the lives of his community, who rely on the company for jobs.