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

navigator89

I spotted quite a few nice models.

A blue Cadillac XLR coupe. Absolutely stunning.

Three 2006 Sonatas, in silver and like two in gray.

A silver Mercedes ML55 AMG.

A black BRABUS M class.

Silver Chrysler 300C, and red Lexus GS300.

A lot of Chevrolet Uplanders.

A light blue Mini Cooper S.

Two white Cadillac STS.

And finally, a black Avalanche on some nice chrome rims.

ateixeira

I've seen quite a few of these, 3 just yesterday. I guess they are so common now that I hardly notice them.

-juice

boomchek

The 06 Pilots and Accords are trickling in to our dealership. I bet all you guys have seen them already as the US usually gets cars before us.

anyways love the look of the Accords rear end. should have been that way from the start (03 model).

jcat707

I saw a red Pontiac Solstice today. It's the first one that I've seen. I guess they are finally getting to customers although up here in Michigan, convertible season is pretty much over. I also saw a Saturn Relay minivan for the first time. It was a dealer courtesy shuttle.

boomchek

In red color, nice looking car and not as big as i thought it would be. From the magazine pics it seemed huge (unless the driver was tiny). In person looked very nice.

Also seeing the new Mercedes B Class on many test drives. Lots of Smart cars here too.

lemko

...co-worker bought a new silver Chevrolet Uplander.

navigator89

They really are getting common around here, I've seen them in grey, silver and beige. Generally I see 2-3 Uplanders a day.

Anyway, today I spotted my first Jaguar X Type wagon, in white. It looks good.

And 3 Mercedes SLKs, two silvers and one black.

stickguy

I must have missed this one. What does this model replace in the line up? Is it the new small one?

ateixeira

They should be more common - they've been out for a full year now. GM added a bigger engine option for '06 so maybe sales will pick up.

I saw my first brand-new DTS yesterday. They applied the Art & Science styling to it. It's a big bulky looking, but still an improvement over the last gen.

-juice

stickguy

Where does this fit in relation to the Equinox?

I will admit that I don't normally care for SUVs, and have zero interest in Chevy (GM for that matter), but I do try to keep up!

ateixeira

You mean the Uplander?

Uplander is their minivan, despite the fact they call it a Crossover Sport Van in marketing materials.

Equinox is their actual Crossover, a car-based SUV.

Is that what you meant?

I think small families with 1-2 kids would shop Equinox, while bigger families would want the seating of the Uplander van.

-juice

stickguy

OK, brain lock. I forgot that they renamed the minivan when they gave it the beak implant.

I will now give myself 10 lashes with a wet noodle (as Anne Landers used to say when she goofed up).

chidoro

saw a dodge charger last Sunday and I actually thought it was pretty snazzy looking. And I despise the 300C too so I think dodge did a good job distinguishing itself. I'm starting to see a lot more RL's on the road these days as well.

jcat707

I saw an 06 Trailblazer with the new front and new real bumper. The new bumper makes the back look much better. Too bad it's only on the LT models.

lemko

...my first 2006 Chevrolet Impala. This car was a deep shiny black and appeared to be exquisitely built. Body panel gaps were tight and even. The craftsmanship was impeccable. The interior truly is a vast improvement over the old car.

danf1

I couldn't tell if it was an Accord or Civic at first. It seems to be much larger than the old one.

navigator89

Spotted today two new Grand Vitaras, one in silver and the other in black. Very sharp looking, more so than the CRV, Tucson, Sportage, etc.

fintail

Saw a new Civic sedan today, in the most boring color - white

ateixeira

H3 spotted in Ocean City, MD. Among the millions of VWs that were there for some event/meet.

Saw an STS on the way in this morning, nice.

-juice

a_l_hubcaps

I saw a dark blue 2006 Kia Sedona on City Ave in Philly today. It had California AUTO MFR plates. I don't think the Sedona is on sale to the general public yet.

-Andrew L

ateixeira

It isn't, so nice find. Dealers don't even know when they'll get them.

-juice

jaserb

Eye catching for sure. Woulda been a lot better car if they'd decided to make it a reskinned Lancer Evo instead of a reskinned Galant.

-Jason

navigator89

Spotted two Audi A8s yesterday, one in beige and one in maroon.

And today saw another one in silver.

Seeing Audis is really rare, because all I usually see are BMW 745Li, Lexus LS430, and Mercedes S500.

andys120

I noticed quite a few A8s when I was in the NYC area.

lemko

...red 2006 Impala.

navigator89

I saw a blue Acura NSX, probably like my 3rd in my whole life.

The Uplander is really getting common. I see around 4-5 daily.

teds1

New DTS, not that different overall from the old one, just the light treatments. the headlights look a little too slivery and aggresive for the rest of the car, not Cadillac's finest styling.

Maybach 62

My first R-Class, Nice... It's a minivan though, I don't care what they call it.
That's fine... I have nothing against mini vans per se, but it's a mini van. I definitely wouldn't mind having one, seems like it would nice for roadtrips and such.

Oh yeah and a rare one... audi A8 W12, don't see to many of them anywhere... This was chauffeur driven as well, why bother with the big engine if you aren't going to drive it?

jaserb

He test drove the W12 and decided it wasn't fun because there was no way to use the extra power and stay out of jail. His former ride was a Passat W8, so I guess he really likes that engine.

-Jason

andys120

(320?)SLK, the first I've seen, it looks smaller and nicer than in photos. This one was a nice dark metallic red.

merc1

Actually the Phaeton uses a regular Audi V8, not the W8. The W8 is history.

M

anythngbutgm

I don't understand them sometimes. They go out of their way to develop the W engines only to drop them a couple of years later? Seems like a pretty boneheaded move if you ask me. VW reliability in the toilet, and they go flush millions (no pun intended) on a new and unproven technology figuring that nobody would know about their quality issues? And then to throw it into a midsize family car (Passat) at 40 grand set to compete with $25-30k Accords and Camry's in the marketplace. How about putting that money into R&D to figure out what the heck happened to the reliability of your mainstream cars?

Sorry for the rant. I saw a Passat W8 wagon this morning that got me thinking...

navigator89

a silver Grand Vitara, a new Audi A4 in silver and a maroon Sonata.

And then a nice looking black Escalade on dubs.

jaserb

I just looked it up and you're right - it is the same V8 engine as the Audis. The VP was going on and on at dinner about how technically cool his engine is. Maybe in the interest of job security I'll let him keep thinking that.

-Jason

boomchek

They are goofy with the way they plan and develop things too. Instead of the money they put in a developing the Phaeton and Toureg theyt should have built a conventional minivan to compete with the Sienna and Odyssey.

I sell so many Odysseys to ex-VW owners who grew out of their Jettas, Passats, and Golfs. The reason is the Odyssey is more fun to drive than a SIenna, and many VW folks like good handling cars.

I bet if VW would develop a conventional minivan they would do really well and keep their loyal customers instead of losing them to us (Honda) :P

ateixeira

Saw one of those also.

Sonatas are common around here now, I see them all the time.

-juice

stickguy

a couple of Impalas on the road, and an SS (silver) parked out infront of the chevy dealer.

A new Sonata parked in my work lot today while I was looking out the window. Looks nice. A friend of mine that is looking at Camrys (new or used) I convinced to go take a look. The Sonata will be equipped like an '06 Camry, but probably priced closer to the '02 he is also looking at!

Also a new mercedes SUV. I'm pretty sure it was an ML. Didn't look like the R model, but did look like a Kia, so I guess that makes it an ML..

My first A3 out on the open road that I can recall.

Quite a few new 3 series are popping up, with the temp tags on still. Saw 2 like that yesterday. Like the car, but not the butt.

andys120

all seen for the first time today:

-Hummer H3: honey, they shrunk the SUV and it worked!

-Audi A6, big mouth

-Mitsu Eclipse, seen from a distance-looks nice from the side. It was a trendy metallic orange.

boomchek

I must be the last one here to see one. We finally got a shipment. It looks much better than the pictures, and the coupe is smaller than it looked in the photos. I thought it would be bloated but it's not.

stickguy

1st ones in the area. It was at the dealer Got to drive one too. Haven't seen one on the raod though, but expect to see a lot soon.

navigator89

a maroon Hyundai Sonata, a silver Range Rover Spor and a beige Grand Vitara.

And when passing a car dealer I saw a white Nissan Skyline R34 GTR as well as a black Mitsubishi Evo. Both are absolutely stunning cars.

Also a red Ferrari, which was darker than Maranello red but lighter than maroon.

And when driving by a house, I saw what was either a 2007 Mercedes S Class or a Maybach 57, because I only saw the rear, which is very similar. Since the S isn't really out yet I assume it was the 57, my first.

And finally, a silver Maserati Quattroporte. A stunning car to say the least.

teds1

All I have to say is that my mother has a beetle (new style) and it's the most unreliable piece of crap car I have ever seen. It has 48K and problems you woudl expect from a 150k vehicle. The check oil light has been on for a year, no one can figure out why. The check engine light has gone off regularly for serious issues. We just replaced the AC system, the bracket which allows the seat to go forward broke so in an accident the whole seat would have flipped forward, the ground clearance is minimal and we have ripped off the plastic cladding on the bottom on regular roads a few times. The engine screams at 4500 rpm in 5th on the highway at 75 mph, the milage isn't good and the rear headroom is non existent.... Thank god it's a 5 speed or I might push it off a cliff.

My point being that I agree, VW has had some serious quality issues in their cars since about 97. Phaetons are cool though, I like them a lot, soooo stealth, beautiful interior. I like the idea of W engines but they are rather unproven in passenger vehicles, obviously they do fine on a race track.

ateixeira

No, I'm the last, in fact I still have not seen a new one in person.

-juice

fintail

Saw another new Passat this morning

chidoro

There was a new Impala parked at my office's garage this morning. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be considering past Impala's. I also saw a 2006 Accord on my way home from work last night. The rear really looks good in person now, I almost thought it was a coupe until I realized it was the 2006 refresh. There is also a new, albeit 2005 Accord Hybrid in the parking lot as well.

ateixeira

Saw an Impala going home yesterday, and I was following an STS coming in.

I like the STS, it keeps growing on me. Edgy, like the CTS, but it doesn't over-do it, either.

-juice

clarencehollow

I spotted a new Hummer H3 the other day. I drove behind one today. It reminds me of the Jeep Cherokee. I found out it's actually nothing more than a re-bodied Chevrolet Colorado with the same engine, the 5 cylinder. I just don't like it, and if I wanted to spend that kind of money I would get a real SUV - the Chevy Tahoe - 2007 to be exact.

ateixeira

Saw an H3 in my friend's Town House development.

Then I saw a Lincoln Mark LT, first I've seen in person.

Then I saw something really freaky, it had a Benz logo, but it was a van. At first I thought it was an A-class, but it was bigger. I got closer and read the label - Vaneo on one side, 1.9 on the other, it said. I'd never even heard of that. Had diplomatic plates, so surely it's a european car.

Also saw a Tucson and a Sonata.

-juice

navigator89

several Hyundai Tucsons since they came out. I see more of them than the Sportage. Of all the 2005 models out, I see Uplanders and Tucsons the most.

Spotted two Sonata today on the highway, one in silver and the other in black. Also was behind the 2006 BMW 750Li. The back looks nice now that's its cleaned up. Then a dark green new Odyssey.

Finally a white previous generation Pathfinder on dubs.

boomchek

I saw Scion tc in person. They don't sell them in Canada, even though I see a lot of imported bA and BB or whatever the name is but never a tC.

Not a bad looking car.

lemko

...coworker has a new blue Chevrolet Equinox. Well, GM's small SUVs are selling!