I spotted a NEW (insert make/model) today!

tjc78

New Camry.... I can't tell if I like it or not. Front end is a bit "interesting" but what isn't these days.

Mr_Shiftright

I *thought* I saw the 2018 Jeep Wrangler going the opposite way on the freeway but only got a quick glimpse--are they on the road yet?

I've seen video reviews of it, and it looks to be a better Wrangler in every possible way.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

I *thought* I saw the 2018 Jeep Wrangler going the opposite way on the freeway but only got a quick glimpse--are they on the road yet?

I've seen video reviews of it, and it looks to be a better Wrangler in every possible way.

I didn't think the new ones had been released yet. We have lease numbers for the 2018's, but I'd guess the new one will be a 2019 model year.

stickguy

Same as the remodeled Jetta due out soon. Short MY 2018 of the old style.

fintail

New E300 parked beside me at work - still had window sticker residue (not the best detail?). Then saw a new style E coupe on the road.

explorerx4

A new Impreza sedan in a nice aqua blue color.

qbrozen

Saw my first Stelvio today on the open road. White. Sharp car.

Mr_Shiftright

Very sharp in the front end. Must be a hell of a blind spot looking rearwards, though.

fintail

New-ish, saw a Continental today that wasn't a rental or fleet car. Not a bad looking car.

Mr_Shiftright

Reminds me a bit of a Tesla Model S. Spokey wheels, big hips.

fintail

But it has a grille, not egg shaped, not flocked to by over-monied eco-dorks

I suspect depreciation is fierce, too, might be a good used buy.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, I was thinking that depreciation is going to hit those Alfas pretty hard. It's difficult to rebound from a bad launch in the car mags and vlogs.

fintail

Oh, I was thinking about the Lincoln

Alfa depreciation will probably be worse!

ab348

Spotted an Alfa Romeo Giulia on a flatbed today (the jokes sort of write themselves....).

The odd thing is that we don't have a dealer locally, with the nearest being in Quebec City, nearly 400 miles away.

texases

The Giulia has had one of the worst new car rollouts in quite a while. Seems like every site/magazine/etc. has had problems.

But I'm not reading great things about the Tesla 3, either. Time will tell...

Mr_Shiftright

The Tesla is critic-proof. It's a cult, really. Short of bursting into flames, every defect on a Model 3 will be artfully apologized for. I'm already seeing this online. It's like the Harley-Davidson or the Apple of EVs.

As critics of the Harley once said: "It's hard to argue against the success of the brand when its customers have the company name tattooed on their foreheads".

stickguy

I'll consider a Guilia lease in the summer, if they are desperate to unload them. But not a buy. And not if I have to depend on it every day! At least where I am now, there is a dealer close by. Just need to check the areas I may possibly move to.

qbrozen

Here is where used RWD Ti models are already. If you look closely, you'll see they were around $33k and change in Nov. Now just 1 mo later they are $30k.

fintail

It's a cult to an even deeper extent than Apple products - probably because of the high price, and nobody wants to admit spending that much in a questionable decision. I see Jalopnik today had a funny story about a Model 3 owner experiencing constant hiccups - not long ago, they were shilling for Tesla, and would ban people for mentioning it. How things change, I guess even wikipedia-schooled hipster kidults can see the light.

Time for a MSRP cap on tax breaks for such vehicles.

Mr_Shiftright said:

The Tesla is critic-proof. It's a cult, really. Short of bursting into flames, every defect on a Model 3 will be artfully apologized for. I'm already seeing this online. It's like the Harley-Davidson or the Apple of EVs.

As critics of the Harley once said: "It's hard to argue against the success of the brand when its customers have the company name tattooed on their foreheads".

Mr_Shiftright

It's difficult to know what actually goes on at the Tesla factory, and the reporting on the Internet gets more and more bizarre.

In a story I read entitled something like "NEW MODEL 3 NOW LEAVING THE FACTORY", what it actually was, was drone shots of a fly-over showing a few hundred Model 3s (if that) parked in a row, with one truck loaded up with cars just sitting there.

Keep in mind that Musk was promising "5,000 cars a week" by this time.

One would think a normal company would just publish sales figures for the month, instead of the media having to rely on drone fly-overs to speculate where these cars are even going--if anywhere.

It's very odd. Even MORE bizarre was that the story was seriously proposing that this drone shot had effectively silenced all the doubters

Wha?

fintail

The "Kool Aid" jokes are kind of trite and cliched, but they kind of apply to this too.

Beta software is often riddled with flaws, cars at launch often have flaws, combine them and have fun.

Mr_Shiftright

I've driven a Tesla Model S and the Chevy Bolt (too briefly to really write it up), so I'm looking forward to a spin in the Model 3. One thing about the Model 3 that I did discover, though--if you want one with all the cool features you can add on, this isn't a $35,000 car. This is closer to a $60,000 car. Even just the autonomous feature costs and extra $8K or so.

qbrozen

The $35k is a bit of a joke, IMHO. Oh, you want a color other than black? Cha-ching. You want full performance instead of the detuned version? Cha-ching. People should just go into it assuming $45k as the starting point.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

The $35k is a bit of a joke, IMHO. Oh, you want a color other than black? Cha-ching. You want full performance instead of the detuned version? Cha-ching. People should just go into it assuming $45k as the starting point.

I thought it was pushing $50K, minimally equipped.

I would think that less than 1% will be equipped at a price point less than $45K

qbrozen

$35k base plus $9k high-po version plus $1k for anything other than black paint. Then start adding options from there. Premium pack alone is $5k.

bhill2

qbrozen said:

$35k base plus $9k high-po version plus $1k for anything other than black paint. Then start adding options from there. Premium pack alone is $5k.

Ah, brings memories of the ‘60s. “Oh sure we have that model for $1995, but wouldn’t you like a nice heater?  Power steering makes driving so much easier too.  And the available electric wipers are quite useful in this climate. Oh and a radio to keep you company—we have one for $49.95, of course if you want pushbutton station memory it’s a little more...”. And that’s before you consider an optional engine that is capable of actually accelerating the  car. 

Mr_Shiftright

Musk just sold out of 50,000 baseball caps that said "The Boring Company" on it. $20 bucks a pop, too. I tell you, this guy has magic fingers. He reminds of the patent medicine craze in America in the 1800s----"Dr. Wizard's Vegetable Health Pills--Cures All Diseases!".

fintail

Any Simpsons fan will get it:



Musk has a cult around him just like his products.

Mr_Shiftright

What Musk did is make EVs sexy. There's really no "new" technology at all, and his cars are built just like any other modern car. But he did jump start the EV industry.

Remains to be seen if all his "depositers" are going to wait 2 years to get a Model 3 or not, and if they will pay full freight once the tax breaks expire (soon) and the options list grows larger.

And then we have all the EV competition coming down the pike right now.

fintail

If a 3, S, or X is sexy, I'll be frumpy and proud. I just don't see it. Credit can be given for getting the ball rolling, yeah, although for me personally, until tech makes another quantum leap, I'd want nothing beyond a hybrid - I want range and efficient refueling time.

Mr_Shiftright

Well "sexy" in that previously, most EVs made you look like a dork.

fintail

To some, a Tesla does that too

texases

Yeah, prior EVs were mostly frumpy or goofy:

imidazol97

Remember the days of no

fintail said:

Any Simpsons fan will get it:



Musk has a cult around him just like his products.

1951:





This huge Hadacol Caravan with 17 plush railroad cars loaded with America’s top movie stars and singers is going to have whistle stops and one-night-stands in 15 states, while traveling 3800 miles. All to increase the sales of Hadacol.

Hadacol, of course, is that “cure anything” patent medicine that LeBlanc markets as a vitamin supplement and, according to the Senator, “marches into battle against the pain and suffering of rheumatism, heart problems, ulcers, diabetes, nervousness, gas, cancer” and on and on. You name the medical malady, LeBlanc says, “Hadacol cures it.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Hadacol contains 12 % alcohol and has tremendous sales in “dry” areas of the country where one cannot buy liquor– like much of the South. A bottle of wine has about the same alcohol content as this “medicinal” elixir.

So, alcohol? Yes. Taste? No. Hadacol has been described as “smelling like a sewer and tasting like dirt.” Consequently, entertainer Groucho Marx asked its creator, “What is Hadacol good for?” Always the showman, LeBlanc replied, “It was good for five and a half million for me, last year.”

http://southernmemoriesandupdates.com/stories/hadacol-health-tonic-brings-big-stars-to-small-towns/

Mr_Shiftright

With EVs and hybrids we get a kind of "feel good marketing", as opposed to power or status.

But that doesn't work all by itself. The car has to perform reasonably well.

The new Porsche Mission E will pack some 670 HP. So you can go that fast and still save the world. Perfect!

fintail

Some Hadacol might make those cars seem like a cooler design.

The dry area stuff is amusing too, hard to believe such backwardness existed in relatively recent history (and to an extent, still does).

imidazol97 said:

Remember the days of no

So, alcohol? Yes. Taste? No. Hadacol has been described as “smelling like a sewer and tasting like dirt.” Consequently, entertainer Groucho Marx asked its creator, “What is Hadacol good for?” Always the showman, LeBlanc replied, “It was good for five and a half million for me, last year.”

http://southernmemoriesandupdates.com/stories/hadacol-health-tonic-brings-big-stars-to-small-towns/

fintail

Although the Tesla powertrain is remarkable and has merit, I think there's some power and status involved too, simply based on the price. This is the new Belle Epoque (remember how the last one ended), and ostentatious displays are in again.

The Porsche will just double down on it too, and probably still get an undeserved tax break.

Mr_Shiftright said:

With EVs and hybrids we get a kind of "feel good marketing", as opposed to power or status.

But that doesn't work all by itself. The car has to perform reasonably well.

The new Porsche Mission E will pack some 670 HP. So you can go that fast and still save the world. Perfect!

fintail

I spent a few minutes car-looking, This thing caught my eye at the MB dealer - high options, nice colors, and you can see the scrape low on the front driver's side bumper/airdam area. It'll probably buff out as it appears to be transfer from another object, but still.

MB dealer had this cool indoor display for AMG, with simulated tarmac and all. Car is a nicely equipped E63s wagon with a MSRP around 124K, I think:



Also a way to not be hounded too much by a salesperson is to tell them you are 18 months into a 36 month lease

ab348

fintail said:

The dry area stuff is amusing too, hard to believe such backwardness existed in relatively recent history (and to an extent, still does).

Dry areas still exist in pockets here in Nova Scotia. When I was working I had the responsibility for bringing the ancient records up to date - they were recorded on an old highway map with hand-drawn boundaries colored in when I arrived there - and so I pulled together all the records that I could find since Prohibition ended and had it digitized via a GIS. Then I was in charge of initiating the plebiscites required by law whenever a liquor store or manufacturer wanted to set up in these areas. Every year I petitioned the legislators to change the law, to no avail.

ab348

fintail said:

I spent a few minutes car-looking, This thing caught my eye at the MB dealer - high options, nice colors, and you can see the scrape low on the front driver's side bumper/airdam area. It'll probably buff out as it appears to be transfer from another object, but still.

Unless I'm missing something I don't see a way to look at any photos of that car other than the one on the listing.

fintail

That's the funny part, you can see the white scuff in the listing pic. Not the highest attention to detail the day that pic was taken, apparently.

Too bad when you were tasked with updating maps, you couldn't also update minds. More people on the wrong side of history.

ab348 said:

Unless I'm missing something I don't see a way to look at any photos of that car other than the one on the listing.

fintail

Saw a Velar today, along with a questionably driven new unplated Jag XE, new E-class at work, and I've noticed a recent proliferation of the illuminated grille star on MB - virtually 100% of the time on a mallcruising CUV/SUV.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

It's difficult to know what actually goes on at the Tesla factory, and the reporting on the Internet gets more and more bizarre.

In a story I read entitled something like "NEW MODEL 3 NOW LEAVING THE FACTORY", what it actually was, was drone shots of a fly-over showing a few hundred Model 3s (if that) parked in a row, with one truck loaded up with cars just sitting there.

Keep in mind that Musk was promising "5,000 cars a week" by this time.

One would think a normal company would just publish sales figures for the month, instead of the media having to rely on drone fly-overs to speculate where these cars are even going--if anywhere.

It's very odd. Even MORE bizarre was that the story was seriously proposing that this drone shot had effectively silenced all the doubters

Wha?

I saw a model 3 out in the real-world, so someone got one. It was parked though.

andres3

fintail said:

To some, a Tesla does that too

Just a dork with more money, and/or money to burn.

fintail

Saw a new unplated G63 AMG in white with black wheels and tinted windows. Russian mafia car or Russian mafia car?

fintail

Prius people with more money, or sometimes mysteriously monied people who thought the Karma was scary, and can finally move up from their Prius.

andres3 said:

Just a dork with more money, and/or money to burn.

tifighter

Saw a Kia Stinger today. Red. Not amazing, not offensive. Aggressive. Definitely a gutsy move from Kia; the reviews have been positive. The big question- will it sell??? What does it get cross-shopped against?

stickguy

Oh yeah. Get to see this at car show too.

I think it competes with itself almost, being unique. But will get cross shopped to an oddball assortment of stuff. BMW and Audi for sure. Probably Infiniti..

fintail

I've read some Stingers out there are carrying ADMs. Good luck with that!

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

I've read some Stingers out there are carrying ADMs. Good luck with that!

Well that's the height of optimism, I must say.