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Comments
Then I drove one and totally lost interest. It drives like a mid 80s pickup at best.
I saved about $6 grand buying a Forester instead.
-juice
Bare-bones* does not necessarily mean cheap.
* = My definition of bare-bones is minus all the luxury/comfort goodies. It can still be high-tech, yet bare-bones.
Bob
The other day I spotted an "H2 Limo" ... I looked once .. twice ... three times .. I just couldn't believe what I was really seeing ...
An H2 ... had about 4 extra windows down the side .. but no doubt about what it was .... strange ...
Of course, this was about a mile from the factory but STILL ... who needs an H2 LIMO???!!!!
Diesel, manual tranny, vinyl seats, that's what you're talking about. I guess Toyota figures it can profit $2 grand on those, or $8-10 grand on LX470s. Guess which one they'll build?
Strangely, guess which ones customers demand?
-juice
PS I'd love to see that limo go off road! Hilarious.
That's why you don't see very many bare-bones anything over here anymore.
Bob
Did you say "who needs one?" LOL! Where does "need" fit in here? ;-)
Folks want the most over the top limo they can get. It knocks people out to see limos like that...it got your attention, eh? :-)
I won't make the chat
-mike
Ed
-juice
Mercury also doesn't offer a longer warranty or any free service, to appeal to upscale buyers.
If they truly want to turn it around, skip the pushrod-engined Ford minivan and sedan clones and offer European cars. The Focus ZX3 and ZX5 should have been Mercurys, let Ford sell the sedan and wagon only. Then a Mercury Mondeo, it even rolls off the tongue nicely. Finally, a Mercury Maverick, a euro SUV. All 3 with 4 valve per cylinder DOHC engines.
Zero overlap with Ford product. Then offer a 5/60 warranty and maybe 2-3 years free service.
What do you think?
-juice
I think the Japanese have the right approach to brand-building: 2 product lines (Acura/Honda, Lexus/Toyota, Infiniti/Nissan), not 3 (Lincoln/Mercury/Ford). GM has the same problem, only worse. It's a far different world today, than when these brands were created 60–80 years ago.
Bob
-juice
Also, on a side note-When my husband and I were looking for a new vehicle, I drove a forester. It was nice, and had good bells and whistles, and I really wanted the AWD, but it needed more oomph, and more towing capacity(we pull two large PWCs and all the acoutrements to the lake almost every weekend during lake weather) We also carry two greyhounds all over the place.
So, we bought the Xterra, and have been very happy with it so far. The only thing we would change now is that we wish we would have bought a 4WD manual, instead of a 2WD Auto.
0-60 the Forester is actually quicker, but the V6 in the XTerra has good low end torque and would haul that trailer better.
-juice
Bob
Cheers!
Paul
Steve
RRRR! Wrong! Europeans buy them because fuel costs are substantially lower, it has little to do with emissions (from a driver's stand point).
Bob: bet you're bummin' about that tow rating.
Steve: it's a slippery slope. The potential for abuse is big, so hopefully they'll pass some privacy laws before implementing those.
-juice
-Rachel
The next new car we buy is mine, and I'm really hoping for a 2004 WRX. (although the mazda 6 is pretty tempting, even with wrong-wheel drive)
The attraction of diesels in europe is partially historic as the price differential in fuel and increased mileage of diesels makes them much cheaper to run. However, they have significant pollution problems, not just with gases but more problematically, particulates. These are small pieces of soot formed from various carbon based compounds. This is the primary component of the smoke you see behind deisels, particularly when thery are not operating at perfect efficiency. These are virtually impossible to filter and are carcinogenic.
I owned a Merc Diesel for four and a half years. It did a reasonable job of long distance cruising but was unpleasant to drive where acceleration was needed.
Diesl engines run far better in steady load situations where they can operate within their efficiency band. They are great for locomotive engines and long distance trucks. If you have a long distance commute with little traffic at either end, they are also appropriate. For other uses, it would be more sensible to look at other energy sources which can cope with less even power demands.
I cannot see why the limited market available for diesels would be sufficient to warrant the development expesnse. This is particulalry so for Subaru where one of the fundamental design characteristics is a flat four, low CofG engine. I can't recall anyone making a flat diesel and imagine the increased stresses involved (compression is typically 20 or 25 to 1 compared to about 10 to 1 for petrol engines and hence everything has to be that much heftier) would make it infeasible.
Cheers
Graham
The catch is it costs $39. Most of these events are free (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, and Edmunds Live were).
It sounds like fun, though. What do you guys think? I'd love to see Loosh (controlled), paisan (fast), and Hutch (THE CAT!) go at it in identical cars on an autocross course.
Check it out:
http://www.mazdarevitup.com/f_home.asp
That's about the price of a day of autocross, right? Plus they provide the car.
-juice
-Brian
-mike
How many runs do you usually get in a day of AutoX?
-juice
-mike
-Colin
-mike
Juice-
I'd love to do that. Look like great fun. Should we all sign up? It's the only way to test drive, IMHO. A drivre around the block is NOT a drive around the cones, and I'd pay to wring out a new 6. If there is a manual, anyways.
-mike
It felt good from the driver's seat. There's definitely more rear legroom than in the WRX. I didn't like the hard plastic on the back of the front Recaro seats, that rear passengers might bang their knees against.
I was really disappointed in the dealer. They acted as if they could care less about selling this car. The guy I spoke to only had a vague idea as to what this car is really about, and seemed disinterested to boot.
Bob
Steve
Bob
DOH! They misspelled Forester again! "Of the 11 small SUVs tested, only two -- the Hyundai Sante Fe and the Subaru Forrester -- offer side air bags as standard equipment."
His loss, Bob. He was prolly thinking "this geezer has no idea about the benefits of AWD". ;-)
-juice
I want to reference that old chestnut about selling an old man a young man's car but not vice versa, not sure if it fits here.
Ed
If it were a freebee, then yes, but not for $30.
Bob
-mike
It fits.
Bob
My boss sold out the business to a large corporation and remained as a director. As a present to himself, He bought a silver Porsche Boxster. This immediately became known to his family, friends, colleagues, customers and throughout the industry as "Bruce's Penis Substitute". Fortunately blessed with an excellent sense of humour, he happily acknowledges the title arguing that it is only used once a week, on the weekend.
Perhaps there are cars that older men should not drive.
Cheers
Graham
Which? The Porsche, or that most blessed of private parts??? ;-)
Steve
Funny Graham, because my somewhat overbearing Australian neighbor referred to his then-girlfriend's Eclipse sport (2wd no turbo) as a "p3ni$ car" also. I didn't get why, since it was a) his girlfriend's (now wife) and b) the second-lowest performance verison of that car available. They both said it was because it was an impractical sports car and, therefore, a replacement for lack of something else in the original buyer (they bought it used). I tried to respond that it was no such thing, lacking as it did any sports car characteristics except perhaps 16" rims and sport seats. I wasn't getting anywhere so I gave up. SO maybe there is a bias against sports cars in general in Oz?