Most of the license plates on the vehicles driven by the characters in this episode are obvious fakes - they have black lettering on a white background with no identification of what state they're from, making them appear to be just cardboard add-ons. An exception is the blue convertible that Phelps drives at the beginning during the teaser/tape scene: it has yellow lettering on a blue background, as California license plates had at this time.
When Jim jumps from the car, the shadow of the camera is visible in the lower part of the screen.
One of the significant plot points was that Dana had to escape her captor in time to warn Jim that the car he was in was sabotaged. However, by the time Dana was able to warn him, it was too late, as the brake lines had already been damaged so he could no longer just stop the car and get out.