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

texases

If there's any hybrid drivetrain worth getting, it's that one. And I think the Venza is the best looking Toyota, close to the Mazda CX-5.

tjc78

Good looking SUV except for the front, but since it’s a Toyota that’s a given. From the rear profile it almost has the shape of the first generation RX300.

I wouldn’t be surprised if my Mom gets one of those in two years when her RAV goes back.

stickguy

back from a week at the shore. car spotting heaven. at least 5 new Excursions (plus a Navigator). Popular beast for the well to do beach house crowd! A pair of GL63 hunchbacks. one in cement. along with a new 911 targa (I think based on the roof style). 2 different cement colored Raptors. temp tag panamera just street parked on a busy road. more Wranglers (mostly customized) than at a Jeep dealer. assortment of big MBs. M3 and M4 BMWs (plus an X7). Couple big Bentleys. An Aviator. Masser convertible.

tjc78

What about Tahoe’s and Yukon’s! They are pretty popular here in Sea Isle

I think I mentioned it before but the amount of Wranglers is unbelievable. It could be 1 out of 4 cars here at the campground.

explorerx4

@stickguy,
You mean Expeditions? Excursions haven't been made for many years.

fintail

Saw a new 911 cabrio driving down my mom's small town street this morning - car probably cost more than the value of almost any house on the street, things change fast in the PNW when you get a certain distance away from the interstate. Also a couple new Telluride in town, interesting as the nearest Kia dealer is an hour away.

Michaell

fintail said:

Saw a new 911 cabrio driving down my mom's small town street this morning - car probably cost more than the value of almost any house on the street, things change fast in the PNW when you get a certain distance away from the interstate. Also a couple new Telluride in town, interesting as the nearest Kia dealer is an hour away.

Saw an article on the Telluride - Kia dealers have, on average, a 15 day supply of them. Still selling for over MSRP.

What's odd is that the Hyundai variant can be had with a discount from sticker.

sda

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Saw a new 911 cabrio driving down my mom's small town street this morning - car probably cost more than the value of almost any house on the street, things change fast in the PNW when you get a certain distance away from the interstate. Also a couple new Telluride in town, interesting as the nearest Kia dealer is an hour away.

Saw an article on the Telluride - Kia dealers have, on average, a 15 day supply of them. Still selling for over MSRP.

What's odd is that the Hyundai variant can be had with a discount from sticker.

I am seeing a lot of both, but more of the Telluride around these parts. New Pilots and Highlanders not so much.

fintail

The Kia is better looking IMO, that could be part of it.

ab348

The Telluride is impressive looking while the Hyundai looks just like a bigger Hyundai SUV. I browsed Kia Canada's website yesterday and looked at the Telluride. To get what I would want (a light-colored interior) I needed to select the top-line trim at $54K + taxes/fees. That a lot of money for a Kia even in worthless Canadian dollars.

stickguy

explorerx4 said:

@stickguy,
You mean Expeditions? Excursions haven't been made for many years.

yeah, sorry. Got my E class barges mixed up! the new design ones. Not bad looking though. but the size of a bus.

stickguy

tjc78 said:

What about Tahoe’s and Yukon’s! They are pretty popular here in Sea Isle

I think I mentioned it before but the amount of Wranglers is unbelievable. It could be 1 out of 4 cars here at the campground.

a couple of Suburbans were floating around. Really no Tahoes that I recall. Plenty of Audi's though.

explorerx4

@stickguy,
Probably thinking of a Hoovies episode.

fintail

Hey, in the past 6 weeks-2 months or so, as Murka founders under questionable authority and even worse long term planning, the loonie and Euro have made decent gains.

ab348 said:

The Telluride is impressive looking while the Hyundai looks just like a bigger Hyundai SUV. I browsed Kia Canada's website yesterday and looked at the Telluride. To get what I would want (a light-colored interior) I needed to select the top-line trim at $54K + taxes/fees. That a lot of money for a Kia even in worthless Canadian dollars.

fintail

Oddball newish car - new style Altima owned by someone across the street from my mom. It was here when I visited a couple months ago, and I paid little attention to it, but walked by it and noticed it is unusual - loaded Platinum AWD model. Surely many don't exist like that, given the fleet nature of the car. Also odd in that the nearest Nissan dealer is at least an hour away.

benjaminh

A while ago I saw a VW Arteon. The rear quarter window treatment for this car seems unique and very good, providing interesting styling with flush glass, as well as better rear visibility.

texases

That's the best rear window I've seen in a long time.

stickguy

overall looks a lot like an Accord.

benjaminh

But the VW Arteon gives you better rear visibility than the somewhat more thick pillars in the Accord. I assume there are some advantages to the Accord design, since almost all cars use something like this, rather than the very thin dividers found in the Arteon. I assume it adds structural strength.

ab348

I think the Accord design makes for a shorter (front to back) rear door window which allows it to roll down into the door. The Arteon door glass and structure looks like the glass might just fit when it rolls down or it may have an articulating window regulator. Both are far superior to the very awkward design c/w black plastic triangles in the C-pillar that GM used on the outgoing Buick Regal and the current Cadillac CT5, which should never have been let out of the design studio.

sda

The Arteon is a hatchback, nicely styled. Too bad they are too expensive. A base model is mid $30s. Depreciation could be significant making it a good used buy.

laurasdada

I think it was Car and Driver that , in a review, called the Arteon a great car that no one will buy.

Michaell

laurasdada said:

I think it was Car and Driver that , in a review, called the Arteon a great car that no one will buy.

Agreed. It is sharp looking, in person, but when you get into the top trim levels that price out in the mid $40's, you begin to seriously think about an A5 Sportback.

andres3

Michaell said:

laurasdada said:

I think it was Car and Driver that , in a review, called the Arteon a great car that no one will buy.

Agreed. It is sharp looking, in person, but when you get into the top trim levels that price out in the mid $40's, you begin to seriously think about an A5 Sportback.

Or a Golf R.

benjaminh

Here's the structure underneath the new TLX. That pillar near the back window looks sturdy.

I know the Honda Accord is built to something like 4 times the federal roof crush standard, and I'm sure Acuras are the same way, if not even stronger. It might be that VW with that cool design was fully meeting the roof crush standard, but maybe not exceeding it by as large a margin?

stickguy

pretty cool!

benjaminh

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/volkswagen/arteon-4-door-hatchback/2020

The Arteon does meet all the IIHS standards.

explorerx4

No pano roof for that design.

stickguy

a regular moonroof on a sedan is fine by me.

fintail

Visited the high end car electronics shop to get a new adhesive piece for my dashcam (they gave me some 3M tape for free, then I found I can buy the OEM pieces on Amazon direct from the maker for very little) - in the workshop was a Cullinan, some kind of Lambo with lots of garish paint accents, and different yet more stylish, a 61 Impala.

kyfdx

Chevy SUV with temporary tags.. Smaller than an Equinox, but not a Trax.

Trailblazer? Decent looking.

stickguy

Blazer? Just a butch body equinox. Might look smaller. Unless it was the smaller trailblazer.

Would be nice if Chevy didn’t use confusing names like that. I guess tesilblazer is a lot smaller, so a bulked up trax?

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Chevy SUV with temporary tags.. Smaller than an Equinox, but not a Trax.

Trailblazer? Decent looking.

Yep, Trailblazer.

Comes with an in-line turbo 3-cyl.

qbrozen

I had no clue that Chevy XC40... I mean Compass.. I mean Venue ... ugh, I mean Trailblazer was even a thing.

stickguy

I didn’t either until I googled it.

Michaell

And you call yourselves car enthusiasts? :laughing:

andres3

Coming soon...a Spark SS

qbrozen

seriously, take your pic. Can barely tell the difference.

fintail

Faux butch, a representation of society. Hyundai and Chevy even have very similar rear door/C-pillar areas.

Faux floating C-pillar, please go away.

sda

I haven’t been impressed with what I’ve read about the new 3 cylinder turbos from Ford and GM. They seem to be rough runners and coarse sounding, with little or no gas mileage improvement.

qbrozen

sda said:

I haven’t been impressed with what I’ve read about the new 3 cylinder turbos from Ford and GM. They seem to be rough runners and coarse sounding, with little or no gas mileage improvement.

The Ford is far from new, though. I wanted to try one in the Fiesta back in... oh boy... ummm... 2015? 2016? But they were very hard to come by. My thinking was that, eventually, you could tune it and beat the pants off the larger NA engine.

stickguy

at least the Volvo has really good seats, and is built like a tank.

explorerx4

Ford had a 1.0 ltoer 3 cyl in the Fiesta. The current 3 cyl is 1.5 liter.

explorerx4

How good are Chinese tanks?

tifighter

I hope we never find out.

fintail

Saw my first Model Y loaded up with PNW outdoorsy cosplay gear - this one a kayak on the roof. 50/50 at best chance it actually sees water.

Michaell

fintail said:

Saw my first Model Y loaded up with PNW outdoorsy cosplay gear - this one a kayak on the roof. 50/50 at best chance it actually sees water.

Given the popularity of Tesla here in Colorado, I'm surprised I haven't seen a Model Y yet.

Wife's cooking studio has a regular customer who drives a Model X - she thinks the falcon wing concept is a bit dorky.

fintail

I've seen maybe 10 of them now, but this area is ground zero for the brand and its demographic, my specific area especially.

I think the doors are cool to look at, but the practical value is limited - it's a show-off/ego trick.

Michaell said:

Given the popularity of Tesla here in Colorado, I'm surprised I haven't seen a Model Y yet.

Wife's cooking studio has a regular customer who drives a Model X - she thinks the falcon wing concept is a bit dorky.

fintail

Saw a Lambo Uterus on the road today, by the young driver no doubt the product of being the second coming of Horatio Alger or similar.

sda

fintail said:

Saw a Lambo Uterus on the road today, by the young driver no doubt the product of being the second coming of Horatio Alger or similar.

What a horrible name for just about anything.