GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda...Who will sell you your next car?

rockylee

lol

Rocky

rockylee

About all of em'

Rocky

snakeweasel

Really? My personal experience is that most drive Caddies.

rockylee

Well not in Chicago, NYC, Philly

Rocky

snakeweasel

I am in Chicago, my experience tells me differently

lemko

...youse guys aren't familiar with "The Sopranos." Johnny Sack, (Sacrimoni) the head of the New York crew had a Maserati. When Johnny Sack went to jail, Christopher Moltisanti, (played by Michael Imperioli) bought it from his wife for only $25K because she desperately needed the money since the government froze her husband's assets.

As for the other characters:

Tony Soprano drives a Cadillac Escalade
Carmella Soprano drives a Mercedes E-Class wagon
AJ Soprano drives a Nissan Xterra
Meadow Soprano has a rather beat Mustang convertible
Uncle Junior had a Lincoln Town Car
Paulie Walnuts drives a Cadillac DTS
Silvio Dante drives a Cadillac Seville STS
Phil Leotardo drives a Lincoln Town Car
Vito Spatafore had a Cadillac DTS
Christopher Moltisanti also has a Land Rover and I've also seen him in a Hummer.

nippononly

has VERY loud ads running on TV for some weeks now, Ram pick-ups for $12,995, $11,995 if you qualify for the $1000 Chrysler loyalty bonus (meaning you already own a Chrysler Group vehicle).

Good God, there are very few small cars you can get that cheap, let alone a full-size half-ton pick-up. I took a quick peek at the Dodge website, and even the barest, most stripped Ram has a decent equipment set and engine.

Of course, if half-ton pick-ups are your bag, the deals are EVERYWHERE right now. Dealers will sell you the old Silverado for the same price, and they ALL still have LOADS of them. If Toyotas are your thing, you can get the base Tundra almost as cheap too. I have seen several ads for Tundras at $14,995 (short cab V-6s, of course).

snakeweasel

Good God, there are very few small cars you can get that cheap,

Yeah but those Ram trucks drink a heck of a lot of gas. Since gas is over $3/gallon is it really a good deal?

Gas is just getting to expensive to own a pick up truck if you really don't need one.

lemko

has VERY loud ads running on TV for some weeks now, Ram pick-ups for $12,995, $11,995 if you qualify for the $1000 Chrysler loyalty bonus (meaning you already own a Chrysler Group vehicle).

Darn! I KNEW I should've kept my 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue! I could've got an extra $1K off a Dodge truck!

rockylee

Well meeting a few of them in my life from Chicago they had Maserati's and yes some had Caddy's.

Rocky

rockylee

ROTFLMAO !!!!

Rocky

rockylee

Well I guess one needs to calculate how much saving they are getting vs. how much they will drive it to see if it's a good deal for them or not considering the price of gas.

Rocky

snakeweasel

Well you didn't meet the ones I know.

nippononly

'85 Fifth Avenue - great-looking car. I liked that one. :-)

Just took a look at that dealer's website, and the deals get better and better. For another $1000 he will sell you an SLT, which of course has cloth in place of vinyl, carpets on the floor, and cruise and other niceties.

I also glanced at the specs - whoa! This is a 4800-pound truck being hauled around by the little V-6 from the Liberty? It is rated like 215/235 - that's not much for such a heavy truck. Maybe this deal has a hidden stinger...

Of course, this dealer would love to sell you a Ram with the V-8 or even the Hemi, but those aren't $12-13K, they are $5000 higher (even more for the Hemi).

The Hemi pulls a 15/19 mpg rating, while the smaller V-8 only manages 14/19? :confuse:

That must be because of cylinder shutdown standard on the Hemi?

And then there's glorious excess: a Ram Hemi 4x4 MegaCab. God that's an enormous truck. If you're looking to spend $30K on a truck (they are just as desperate to sell these as they are to sell the base stripper models) and don't need a long bed, this could be just the ticket! :-P

snakeweasel

The average driver should save over $1,100 in gas on the small fuel efficent car than the Dodge Ram. Based on the Ram getting 16/21 MPG and the fuel efficent small car getting 30/40 (Civic 1.8L Auto) driving 15,000 miles 50% highway 50% city with gas at $3.00/gallon.

The savings will only grow as gas goes higher.

rockylee

Yeah Chrysler is offering up the deals. Tood bad they don't make a vehicle I'd truely want to own presently. :sick:

Rocky

rockylee

But what I'm saying is if you can knock of $10-15K on a loaded up Mega Cab Dodge, then it will take you quite a while to drive that much savings up in a civic hybrid where your going to pay nearly sticker for it.

Rocky

nippononly

a Ram truck to a Civic is fun from an academic POV, but isn't realistic, I don't think. They serve such different needs. The really cheap Rams are all two-door cabs - they don't even seat as many people as the Civic. Would anyone really consider the Ram that was in the market for a Civic-type car, just to save a few thousand dollars?

GM, of course, will sell you anything from Chevy, Pontiac, or Buick with 6-year 0% financing and some extra cash on the hood in some cases, and anything from Caddy, Saab, and Hummer with 5-year 0% financing. Those deals are pretty good too. And they say the deals may get better this weekend, after Chrysler announces the return of employee pricing, and GM feels compelled to take them on head-to-head by announcing the return of its own program.

snakeweasel

Tood bad they don't make a vehicle I'd truely want to own presently.

I will agree and I will also extend that to Ford (with the possible exception of the Mustang), Honda and Toyota (with the possible exception of the Solara).

rockylee

R U Serious ? GM might bring back employee pricing again ? :surprise: WHOA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lemko, it might be time to buy a DTS or Lucerne if ya want one bad enough pal. If you are serious I will keep my eyes out for ya. I sometimes get a Dallas Paper and last year they were giving $25K off on Devilles in Big D. :surprise: I almost baught one. :surprise:

Rocky

lemko

Geeze! Didn't know they were offering 0% for 5 years on Cadillacs! I'd easily qualify! Thing is, ny 2002 Seville STS has a LOT of life left in it. I'd be a prodigal fool to go for this deal even as good as it seems.

snakeweasel

a Ram truck to a Civic is fun from an academic POV

The point is is that someone mentioned that these trucks are running cheaper than a small car. I am just pointing out that when you look at the whole picture which includes paying for fuel to run the thing its not really cheaper.

rockylee

0% for 5 or 6 years and employee pricing would set the record books for sales, even in this economy.

Rocky

nippononly

actually, GM officials have already stated they expect sales in the summer months to be 30% lower this year than last. They admit the massive incentives game is all played out, yet they have to match their incentives to the other domestics just to avoid taking an even worse bath.

And the GM employee pricing piece is just speculation at this point. Chrysler has not yet officially made the announcement that it will offer employee pricing after July 1 (althought that part seems solid), so once they do (after tomorrow), it remains to be seen exactly how GM and Ford will respond. All 3 domestics are really hurting on truck sales this year, including (for the first time) big pick-ups. Maybe GM and Ford will respond to Chrysler by just offering super-special deals on trucks. GM already has the gas thing going on (a year of gas at $1.99/gallon regardless of the amount consumed).

rockylee

It will be most interesting....

Rocky

jefferyg

Gas is just getting to expensive to own a pick up truck if you really don't need one.

Anyone who doesn't need a pickup truck has never owned one. I went through a short stint with no truck and couldn't wait to get another one. I have sworn that I will never again be truckless. I will always keep around some kind of truck even if its just a beater like the Ranger I recently sold. Heck, I'd buy a truck-wannabe Ridgeline before I'd get completely truckless.

And my dad had a 2002 Ram 1500 with the small V8. Granted he babies his vehicles, but he'd get about 17 around town and 21 on the highway. That's not great, but it's respectable for a full-sized crew cab truck.

I drove it once from where I live here in South Mississippi to Austin, TX to help my BIL move. I ran it pretty hard all the way to Austin (unloaded) and got 19 mpg. On the return trip pulling a 5x8 single axle U-haul and with the truck and trailer loaded, I got 15. I was amazed.

If you can live with a rolling oxymoron (Dodge Ram, do you avoid it or hit it :confuse: ) then now may be the time to purchase one. Our local paper yesterday advertised a Mega Cab at $12,000 off MSRP.

jefferyg

is that many if not most people are wanting to trade a vehicle when they buy a new one. When these big incentives are being offered, you don't get jack for your trade, so the dealers still make their money on selling the used vehicles.

Another big issue is that the 0% offer is just an enticement to get people in the door. The vast majority of people shopping for a new car will not qualify for the 0% financing. For the few who do, it's a great time to make a deal. But you can rest assured, the automakers are not giving away vehicles. They will turn a profit one way or another.

carguy58

They;re giving them away. Oh yeah somebody on this thread mentioned about Caravan;s being overstocked. The Caravan recieved a exterior styling refresh for the 2001 model year but it really hasn't been signifinantly changed since the 1995 model year to my knowledge stylistically anyway.

snakeweasel

Anyone who doesn't need a pickup truck has never owned one.

I disagree, I see plenty of pickup truck that you can tell have never been off the road or had anything in the back. If thats the case why do you need one? I have a sister who has one and she admits that she has never had anything in the bed, so why does she really need one.

I went through a short stint with no truck and couldn't wait to get another one.

Please don't confuse a desire for one as a need.

lilengineerboy

"IIRC Urkel drove a BMW not a Thing, not sure of the model name but IIRC the front opened up as the door."
It was a BMW Isetta
http://www.bmwworld.com/models/vintage/isetta.htm

heel2toe

Anyone who doesn't need a pickup truck has never owned one.

I think Americans oftentimes confuse "need occasionally" with "need in my daily driver." A Tahoe can be rented for a vacation, Home Depot has that hourly flatbed, etc.

snakeweasel

Danke für das.

tlong

I was mildly disappointed in the Mazda5, and at around $25K its to much for what you're getting in the car.

Thanks for the comments snake. Regarding the Mazda 5, we were actually pretty impressed for the price. Many others have commented that it's a steal with what you get. I guess we all look for different things.

We would actually consider a short Chrysler van, but the short models don't have leather or many amenities.

Tucson is nice, but reliability is reported at quite poor.

The Subaru wagons are just a little too small.

You'd think some US maker would make a smaller but more luxurious SUV. I'm amazed it took anybody this long to come out with them - RX/X3/RDS/CX7 type vehicles.

gagrice

I have sworn that I will never again be truckless

That's me completely. I can easy get by without a car. I have to have a PU truck to haul stuff when I want to. The cost for insurance on another car just to save on gas is more per year than my gas bill. My Sierra is exactly a year old and I have spent $676.13 on gas for the whole year. Insurance on the Passat I sold was $1100 per year.

snakeweasel

Many others have commented that it's a steal with what you get. I guess we all look for different things

As far as content wise its a good price but I thought the thing was rather small.

Tucson is nice, but reliability is reported at quite poor.

Cant talk about their SUV's but my experience with Hyundais cars is they are very reliable.

m1miata

Rocky, I would buy a $20K Deville. Sounds like a good price to me. GM could also try a Hyundai copied warranty to get back customers still a bit unsure about GM making 5 -10 year trouble free cars. But yeah, I would take $25K off on a $45K car - not bad!
-Loren

snakeweasel

Rocky, I would buy a $20K Deville.

Good luck as they don't make them any more, unless you want to count DTS as the DeVille.

fintail

They make a 20K Deville/DTS...it's a 2004 model...

nvbanker

"With General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. struggling in the United States, DaimlerChrysler AG plans to make it clearer to U.S. consumers that Chrysler Group is not part of the Big 3 but a unique German-American company."

Detroit Free Press....

explorerx4

back in the day (1989) you could get a taurus with a yamaha 3.0 v6. redline 7200. supposedly engine was good for 11k, but was limited by ford aceesories(alternator, a/c, etc.). the engine was a piece of artwork too.
had one, it was a lot of fun for my first sedan.

nippononly

let's bring back the SHO, eh? ;-)

Great cars. Where's the Fusion SHO today, I ask you? Ford needs to get SVT back on its feet double-quick.

baggs32

Great cars. Where's the Fusion SHO today, I ask you? Ford needs to get SVT back on its feet double-quick.

Man that SHO motor was cool to look at!

I agree about SVT. I'd SERIOUSLY consider buying a Fusion SVT that goes 0-60 under 6 seconds, runs on regular gas, has AWD, and handles like it's on rails. I'd even hold off on the Mustang for a few more years if my requirements were met by Ford and SVT sometime within the next six months. But I digress. :sick:

hwyhobo

Our local paper yesterday advertised a Mega Cab at $12,000 off MSRP

As soon as Dodge drops a 2.7l-3l diesel in the half ton, I will stand in line. I have no need for the gas guzzling engines they have right now. That small economical diesel would be perfect for me, and I suspect a lot of other drivers. Oh, and no, I don't need a 6l turbo-cummins either.

If the big three (2 1/2?) can't figure out gas is >$3 a gallon, they will crash and burn. Survival of the fittest, I guess.

gagrice

I predict the first company to bring a midsized PU with a 3.0L sized diesel to market will make a killing. If Ford wanted to give new life to the Ranger, they build them all over the world with a great 4 cylinder turbo diesel. We are the only country that wastes gas when diesel cars and trucks are superior.

rockylee

I want Audi's 4.2L V-8 Diesel :shades:

Rocky

gagrice

Nothing wrong with wanting as my Daddy always told me. I'm thinking more along the lines of economy and enough power to keep up with traffic on the Interstate.

m1miata

Hell, DTS, Deville, what ever they want to call it, is alright by me at that price. They could call it the BC, or Big Car, for all I care. What's the difference. How about the Big Luxury Touring, or BLT.
-Loren

snakeweasel

How about the Big Luxury Touring, or BLT.

The Cadillac Bacon Lettuce and Tomato?

bobw3

$25K for a Mazda5??? If you look on the Mazda5 boards, you'll see most people getting them for under $20K.

anythngbutgm

Check please...