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

fintail

The image thing seems to be more of a NA construct than anything. In Europe, the brands are respected, but not instantly thought of as luxury. It all depends on the model and how it is equipped. These lease specials seem to have been going on for awhile, brand equity is still alive, sales are huge - the market accepts.

lemko

A blue BMW 3-Series followed by a red BMW 1-Series on Terwood Road in Montgomery County, PA.

ateixeira

328xi for $349/39 with $3,500 down. And a 5 series for $449 (I think the same term).

So cheap. Too bad I didn't like the new 5. Think I'd look at that AWD Bimmer if I were the leasing type.

I drive 2 cars (one daily commuter, one weekend/family car) so the 10k miles limit wouldn't be an issue for me.

I don't see how the math adds up. $50k car, in 3 years the residual is half or less, where's the $25k worth of payments? Even for the 5er the totals aren't even $20k.

ateixeira

Spotted at Washington Circle this AM.

Seeing a bunch of these now.

fintail

Saw a new ES today, as it was a couple blocks from the dealer, I suspect it was going to or from. Also had a new GS park way out by me at Costco.

kyfdx

3 years the residual is half or less

What if the residual is 63%, and there is a 6% cash incentive on the front end?

That's how the math works...

fintail

Saw another new Fusion - from a distance I thought it might be a Tesla or something. Looks like more than it is.

Regarding leases, vastly inflated residuals also help.

fintail

2 Fusions today, new Escape, and an Equus going slow on 405.

ateixeira

ALG handed out awards and no Bimmer was in the Top 10. Those started at 51% residual, so the 3 and 5 would have to be lower than that.

Of course BMW can set artificially high residuals and then take a loss down the road.

I think they're trying to take the lux sales crown, but long term they will have to take a hit some where.

ateixeira

That's right, the standard engine goes from 5 liters to just 2, albeit with turbochargers. I just had to check it out.

AWD is also coming, but those were not yet available. So I drove one with the new engine to see how it behaves in this vehicle, and to compare to BMW and Mercedes' 2 liter turbos.

Land Rover has used these engines in the popular Evoque, but it's basically an EcoBoost Ford powertrain, used in a variety of vehicles, from performance cars to SUVs.

Hop in and the ambience is still very much Jag, with suede headliner, covered pillars, real wood veneers (XJ has nicer burled walnut though), wool carpets, etc. Seats were a bit slippery for my tastes, but it made getting in and out pretty easy.

Press the start button and the shifter knob pops up neatly. The vents also power open. Neat, if a bit gimmicky.

Visibility is not very good. Thick pillars, chopped windows, and a high belt line make you want to check if you get cameras to park the thing (mine had them).

Short drive was not enough to leave lasting impressions about performance, but while it was quiet as a tomb, the whole car was unsettled. I wondered if the air pressure in the tires were way above spec?

Auto Start/Stop surprised me a bit, smoother than BMW's similar system, but not as seamless as a hybrid's. I guess they have to score (much) higher on CAFE, so let's get used to it.

The 2.0T reminded me of the similar engine in the Benz C class - doesn't perform as well as BMW's under-rated engine, but much smoother.

Will be interesting to see how customers respond to a tiny displacement turbo engine in a prestige brand like Jaguar.

Hopefully the ride settles down, though. As is it's just a really nice facade on an average platform.

stickguy

I drove by my local BMW dealer recently, and like every time I do, I was astounded by the huge number of new cars they have there. Lot after lot of them (and another dozen inside the palace!)

Someone must be buying a lot of them. They even have plenty of the real expensive ones you rarely see out on the road.

Wish that money train would run through my house!

anythngbutgm

Ya, one of the company parking lots that I walk thru a couple of times a day has a nice new triple black 535i in it. I coupld look at that thing all afternoon... What a killer looking car, a complete 180 from the earlier mishmash design...

berri

BMW is indeed selling well. But I believe they offered their dealers some pretty good incentive cash to take on inventory before the end of the year which also may explain part of the dealer lot inventory build up. I guess it's that sales race with MB thing?

ateixeira

WTOP was talking about this on the radio today, how big the incentives are now. GM just revealed their new pickups and those are at the top of the list, along with lux cars.

Saw a new ES hybrid today. On that car why not go with the hybrid, really.

explorerx4

It was a nice shade of metallic red.
Pretty good looking.

ateixeira

Driving on K street. Probably a green lobbyist.

fintail

Freshly plated Elantra GT, white, pano - not bad at all.

Freshly plated A8 - to think that a mere 4 weeks I was zooming across Germany in one. I want to go back. Also saw an S400 Hybrid, rare bird.

Rode in a friend's Prius C that he bought about 7 months ago. Actually seems adequate for city driving, but highway merging is another story - you have to strangle the poor thing. I don't like the gauges. I guess that's the price you pay for mileage - unless you live in a first world country and can get a small diesel car.

ateixeira

C works well for its intended environment, at half the cost of an EV. Back seat is usable, too. Center mounted gauges are dorky, though, even on a Z8.

Its achilles heel is the tiny fuel tank - just 9.5 gallons. I bet the low fuel idiot light goes on once you've used 7 gallons or so. Ridiculous.

Elantra GT would make my short list for a small hatch.

ateixeira

One of the big boys, LWB and high top, on Washington Circle.

Also spotted a new Accord. Subtle changes but much improved.

fintail

I suppose that environment is one with no acceleration concerns, and no hills. It's not just the location of the gauges that annoy, but the gauge itself. It seems too small, with a lot of wasted space.

My friend was about 50 miles into a tank of gas, and his range was down to about 250 miles. Not a good road trip car. Oh, and the windows fog up easily, have to keep the HVAC going at a highish speed constantly. But, I guess that's what you get for the cheapest hybrid.

I think the range on my rental A8 upon fillup was something like 1280kms!

ateixeira

The speedo gauge doesn't have much news to report.

I bet if they adds a heads-up display it will beam the MPG on the screen instead of the MPH.

My Garmin tracks how much time my Miata sits idling, though, and it's a *LOT* of the time. Would be nice if they added a smooth start/stop to it. Well implemented that would get half the benefit of a hybrid for much lower cost.

fintail

I suppose on roads above 50mph, speeding is a rarity. I wish HUD was more common, I have loved it on the BMWs I have driven, awesome feature for those few of us who like to watch the road.

The A8 I drove had stop/start. Annoying in a land of uncontrolled intersections when you want to turn left onto a crowded arterial in a car the size of a house. I could have disabled it, but I left it on and used it as a skills challenge. I don't know if it helped mileage.

ateixeira

DC is very flat, used to be a swamp until they back-filled it.

Go 90 minutes west and you hit some ~4000 ft peaks, but even those seem like hills compared to the mountains out west.

I went to Taos once and could barely breath at the 11,819 ft peak of Taos Ski Valley. *gasp*

Any how, the Prius C has plenty of power for DC. You rarely go over 35. Even the Beltway is only 55.

fintail

My friend drove the C cross country, GA to WA. Said it wasn't too troublesome until he hit Montana, then he'd have semis riding his bumper. He recently drove it to eastern WA - said it is suited to the right lane, and on some higher elevation longer inclines, it was wheezing a little.

Many areas of the Seattle area are very hilly - one reason I don't have an urge to drive a stick here. Too much work. The biggest plus to that Prius here is slow dense traffic, where it is in its element.

ateixeira

Wow what a poor choice of cars to take cross country! Is he sane?

I doubt a Smart ForTwo would have been any better. Or a Fiesta, Yaris, or Fit, or Versa, etc.

At altitude I'd spec out a turbo if I had to go subcompact, so maybe a Sonic with the 1.4T.

But for a long drive like that, you go for the longest wheelbase possible, great seats, a V6 at least, and a bladder busting fuel tank capacity for big time range, so you only stop when you choose to.

The C doesn't check off anything on my wish list for a trip car.

fintail

It was a one way move to a new job, and that was his existing car. Not much choice. But at least his fuel bill was low.

ateixeira

Got it, once in the car's lifetime, that's enough.

stever

Oh I dunno. I drove all over in a VW Bug in the late 60s/early 70s and survived. Builds character. :shades:

I'd even entertain a longish trip in a Miata so long as I didn't have to get on any freeways.

(What would be "longish" in a Miata anyway - could you tolerate six hours?)

ateixeira

More than an hour with the top down and you start to get "wind burn". With ear plugs you can go a little longer.

I took a 3 hour drive with a buddy and he was all gung-ho, but about 90 minutes in he caved and wanted the top up.

If I had to I would, but there are better choices for a long road trip than a short wheelbase roadster.

I'd love to drive to Deal's Gap but that's about 8 hours from here.

fintail

Saw a Gran Coupe this morning - I think it looks pretty nice, should get some sales from the execucriminal set. Also a new Accord that I think was a base model (rear appeared to have spaces for dual exhaust, but this car only had one tip), and an unplated new ES heading towards the dealer.