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Comments
Real bright. :mad:
For that, I'd go with the 5.6l Nissan V8. Absolutely love that motor. It is a gem IMO.
Too bad they put that engine in such a trouble prone PU truck. Not to mention it is real ugly. I am on my 5th GM truck and they are head and shoulders ahead of the Japanese counter parts.
PS
I would put someone that would key any vehicle in the same jail cell with someone that would burn a Hummer or SUV.
Good luck with your 5th GM'er. I'll leave it at that...
It was almost kinda tempting...at first. But it was a crew-cab, short bed model, which I don't want. And when you consider that GM would probably sell me the type of truck I want (basic, reg cab/8-foot bed) for around $15-16K, the Titan still would've been a waste of money for me.
Now if Nissan made a Titan in a short cab, 8-foot bed configuration and it could be had pretty cheaply, I might be tempted. I'm not crazy about the styling of the Titan, or its interior, but then I'm not crazy about the styling/interior of the Chevy. But for me it would just be a cheap workhorse appliance, and as the old cliche says, handsome is as handsome does.
And I really stand by the Ford trucks as being some of the best. Generations of my family have stuck by them and they have all been excellent.
I've lived in a suburb of Detroit for close to 20 years now, and I've never seen anyone given any trouble over owning a foreign brand (among family members I've seen it, but not in public). Now, if you're parking your car at UAW HQ or one of the plants, I could see. But in your average mall parking lot? - no.
West Michigan has quite a few GM and supplier plants; Delphi, GM, Johnson Controls, etc. is here. Part of the problem is that until recently, a lot of the shopping and the "big" movie theater in Grand Rapids are located in very blue collar areas, the theater is actually only about a block away from a GM metal stamping plant. My dad got his Civic's hood keyed in the parking lot of that theater, actually.
As urban sprawl increased, we've gotten much nicer malls and theaters closer to the burbs where I live, so it's not much of a concern for me. When I am going around those areas where I'll be parking in questionable areas, though, I take my wife's Explorer.
The ironic thing is that my buddy used to work for Johnson Controls and got laid off, but he has no problem with my car. Despite that my Max is the last of its kind built in Japan, it still has Homelink and some other interior pieces that his company made. So much for my "furrin" car.
I'm a cheerleader for GM, but I don't think I'd buy a Cobalt or its (future) clones yet. They've apparantly had some problems with them.
You want a reliable GM car, buy a W-body (Grand Prix, LaCrosse, Impala). The Canadian plant in which they are built has the absolute highest quality ranking in all of North America for any auto manufacturer, if I'm not mistaken.
For a Cobalt-type car, I'd stick with a Civic, Focus, or Corolla. I'd personally buy a Focus, because they are worlds more fun to drive than the other two. Sentras are weird in Nissan's lineup; they seem to have been infected with some sort of "crap" bug that the rest of their cars avoid. Let's hope the new one is much better.
You're right about the Camry and Maxima being in different classes today. I'm kind of stuck with my 2003 thinking, since that's the last time I did any type of serious car shopping.
On the Nissan end of things though, they'd cheapened up the interiors enough that I just don't see the Maxima as being much of an improvement from the Altima. While at Toyota, the Camry seems to have ritzed it up a bit, especially with the 2007 redesign, that it seems to be nipping at the Avalon's heels.
Now I'd consider a Maxima to be a sportier car than a Camry, as I would an Altima. But I just don't see it as a step up. Kinda like how a Grand Prix might be sportier than a LaCrosse or Impala, but not really a step up.
My problem with the domestics is not how they drive/handle, because the Focus is great on that end, but not on the interior quality of materials. You look at a Civic or Corolla interiors and they're so solid feeling as compared to the cheap feeling domestics.
I *THOUGHT* those days were past. I think that there is a lot less keying these days as the general public will NOT tolerate such behavior (plus everyone has access to a cell phone.)
In 1983, I went home to Cincinnati to visit family. I left the lights on in my Chevrolet Chevette at the local bowling alley. I asked if anyone could give me a jump as my battery had gone dead.
When they got out to the car, they were asking me my I bought a "[non-permissible content removed] car." I was surrounded by six guys who were ready to beat me to a pulp for buying a "foreign" car. Finally, I was able to convince the idiots that DELAWARE was one of the United States and they gave me a jump.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
if I was you, there is no way I would ever consider trading it for a GM product.
I have a 2003 Pathfinder, and god forbid it were to get totalled in an accident, I plan on
keeping it till it rots. I don't even think I would trade it on a newer Nissan. the
interiors reek of cheapness. I need cargo capacity, so I would either go for a Mazda
6 wagon, or perhaps an MDX or a Ford Freestyle
1.) If he really wants one he should get it providing it doesn't put him in a financial bind now or in the future (by that I mean if in 18 months he finds that he doesn't want it any more will he be able to unload it with some equity in it)
2.) If you don't need the utility that an SUV or a truck offers (by that I mean you won't be hauling things around or be off road) do you really need one? To be honest I have to chuckle at the 2 year old and older pick up trucks that look brand new. You know full well that they are not being used for their intended use. A working pick up truck doesn't stay looking new for long.
I know these two thoughts are contradictory but they are my thoughts. Over all if he wants it get it. The xterra isn't that bad.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I don't think there is anything out there that can directly compete with it except for the Liberty. Or maybe the Element for its interior versatility, but nowhere near the off road prowess or ground clearance. Maybe the Escape, but it's car based so the same would apply. I guess the new Toyo FJ cruiser...
My problem with the domestics is not how they drive/handle, because the Focus is great on that end, but not on the interior quality of materials. You look at a Civic or Corolla interiors and they're so solid feeling as compared to the cheap feeling domestics.
The last Corolla I drove was from the '02 model year so they may have improved since then, but the interior was awful, it wasn't fun to drive, and had no power whatsoever.
On the other hand, I've driven many a Focii (as rentals mostly), and Ford did a very nice job with that car. It feels more substantial to me than that '02 Corolla or any Sentra. I sat in an '06 Civic at the autoshow, and the interior was just too weird for me. The materials were probably nicer than its econobox competition, but I really didn't sit in it long enough to find out.
I have to give Honda a hand, though. The Accords and Civics of years past were so uniformly boring I would have never considered them, but the new Civic did give me a reaction. It was overwhelmingly negative, but then again I like the Nissan Quest and a WHOLE lot of people disagree with me. :P
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I have a 2003 Pathfinder, and god forbid it were to get totalled in an accident, I plan on keeping it till it rots. I don't even think I would trade it on a newer Nissan. the interiors reek of cheapness. I need cargo capacity, so I would either go for a Mazda
6 wagon, or perhaps an MDX or a Ford Freestyle
I do have SOME good news on the Maxima, at least. They're supposedly redoing the front end and overhauling the interior for the '07 model year. That still doesn't fix the fact that the car is now more luxury cruiser than sports sedan, though.
The thing I love about my '03 is that pulling onto a freeway entrance ramp is very, very similar to taking off in a jet. You pull around the curve very, very slowly.. then WHAM! the car pulls you to, uh, waypastlegalspeeds in a matter of seconds.
I have a buddy with a Mazda 6 sedan - i think in spirit, it's closer to my Maxima than the newer models. I think you'd love it, especially if you went for the "mazdaspeed" model with 279 HP. :P
I personally wouldn't touch an MDX with a rotting trout, but then again I hate SUVs with a passion. I despise having to drive my wife's Explorer. My mom's cousin has an MDX and he likes it, but I know he's had some mechanical issues with it as well (I get this info secondhand from my mom, so I don't know specifics). I'm sure an MDX would be more fun to drive than an Explorer, but unless I can safely do the kinds of things my Maxima can do, I'm not interested.
Can't really comment on the Freestyle, although that type of vehicle is kind of a neat mix between SUV and car.
My only hesitation in trading the Max in on something like a Grand Prix is totally taking it in the shorts on resale. I'd better LOVE the car, and drive it for a really long time to get my money's worth. The Maxima's resale has been stellar - 3 years into a 4 year loan, I'm up 5k in positive equity - and there is no way the Pontiac could dare to match that.
Which is why, for the time being, the Nissan probably isn't going to sweat leaving my garage.
I would be very interested in the whys and wherefores if you think the Focus is highly preferable to a brand new Civic for you.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The Civic's interior is just too strange for me. However, to give a definitive answer, I would have to drive an '06 Civic, which I haven't yet.
Past Civics, though.. the seats are park-bench hard, and every little imperfection in the road comes crashing through the cabin. The Focus, IMO, is the model of refinement compared to the Civics I've driven in the past.
2006 Focus
Both are quite impressive in person. The Focus is not bad, just a generation behind the new Honda. Interior room is much better in the Civic BTW, there was no comparison...
I read the post when it first went up and thought they were right on. Check out these posts about the %s of foreign cars to domestics in San Francisco, Los Angeles and DC. Huge absence of GM and Ford there vs the South. The fact that incomes in these places are probably twice what they are in the South would explain it to me. BMWs, MB, Volvos, etc cost more than the good ole pickemup truck. And they don't put a spit cup holder in an M3.
i can't fit in the back of a civic or focus, so extra room is not there for me.
focus can have a high msrp, but with rebates they are great values and good driver.
civic si sedan sounds interesting.
Actually, the one time I drove a Corolla was as a rental. I much, much, much preferred my Focus rentals.
That said, I'm sure some Honda small car similar to a Civic is a huge rental in Japan. :P
Additionally, although I've loved Maximas for years, the event that got me to buy one was when I travelled to AZ for my brother's wedding. I rented a 2002; the guy at the rental desk said, "I have two left. A Nissan Maxima and a Ford Taurus." I looked at the guy as if he had a screw loose, and said, "Ah, I'd like the Max please." "EXCELLENT choice", the dude said. "Have fun."
And, I did. I opened it up while driving at mach speed across the desert, the cabin blasted with warm air from the open moonroof. Around a year later, I bought my '03. If your theory is correct, I should have not wanted to buy such a car, since I already drove it as a rental.
Two things:
1.) Any car has the ability to be a rental car
2.) You never drove a DTS
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I buy a car and keep it 10 years. Who cares about resale. If you do , that means Toyota Camrys are on the way down because they're in the Hertz rental fleet at the store I pass at an area shopping group. The fact a car is in rentals means little other than the car company or related company has an interest in the rental company. The fact that the models purchased in rental/fleet sales may not be fully equipped with what impressed the CD, RT, MT type drivers doesn't mean much. They're just rental cars.
I also notice Mazda and Kia in their fleet at the store when I pass sometimes. IIRC there was a Jag wannabe there last year.
The Honda mystic seems to have worn a little. With certain age groups they seem to have an image that they have to have them. Wanna buy some google stock? Everyone had to have it for the last few years. I was reading the Sc problem group here. Sounds like lots of rattles and design problems. But they seem so forgiving because it's a Toyota Sc.
I look at the particular car and how much it's going to cost me to own it and drive it up to 200K. Don't forget insurance cost!!! along with all the dealer required services that the company may not require.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
But the fact remains that the rental fleet component of Ford and GM's sales are much greater than are those of Nissan, Toyota, etc. Whereas Toyota sells fewer than 8% of its cars to fleet buyers, about 25% of Ford's production goes to the fleets. Those in the industry know that this generally has a negative impact on residuals for Impalas and the rest.
Whereas Toyota sells fewer than 8% of its cars to fleet buyers, about 25% of Ford's production goes to the fleets.
I should make clear that about 25% of Ford's sales are to fleets, but that includes all types of fleet buyers not just the rental fleets.
A few factoids from Automotive News:
-about one of eight cars sold in the US is bought as a rental car
-81% of those sales are made by the Big 2.5
Do the math, and you can see that for a given model year, about 10% of those cars sold is a Big 2.5 rental car. Add to this that the rental fleets concentrate their purchases on specific nameplates (i.e. the small and mid-sized sedans), and you end up with a large proportion of rental Impala, Taurus (guess those would probably be Five Hundreds now) and the like. None of that can be good for resale.
Now that my daily commute is under 10 miles a day, I can fathom the idea of an SUV. I would like your thoughts/recommendations on an SUV with a 3rd row of seats. This will not be our primary family car, but every now and then, I need to able to get all 4 kids in the car.
My criteria, AWD and a purchase price below 35K and room eneough for the kids to get in and out.
Thanks for you help.
G-
My criteria, AWD and a purchase price below 35K and room eneough for the kids to get in and out.
Are you going off-road? If not, don't buy an SUV.
Toyota Sienna is a perfect choice if you want 7 seats and AWD and <35k.
-Also don't forget Gentex, Lear, Donnelly,
Pal your talking about my "home" (Western Michigan/G.R.)
Part of the problem is that until recently, a lot of the shopping and the "big" movie theater in Grand Rapids are located in very blue collar areas, the theater is actually only about a block away from a GM metal stamping plant.
-Actually Studio 28(former biggest theater in U.S.) is located closer to the Wyoming, Mi Delphi plant. :P The Metal Stamping Plant "Fischer body" as it's still known is a little further away than "one block". But your point of the city of Wyomingas a whole being very blue collared, you are absolutely correct. This is where I grew up the majority of my life.
My dad got his Civic's hood keyed in the parking lot of that theater, actually. -That is suprising. My friends who drive foreign cars never had anything happen like that happen to them.
As urban sprawl increased, we've gotten much nicer malls and theaters closer to the burbs where I live, so it's not much of a concern for me. When I am going around those areas where I'll be parking in questionable areas, though, I take my wife's Explorer.
-So you are a resident of my home city. Cool. I miss G.R. and Western Michigan.
The ironic thing is that my buddy used to work for Johnson Controls and got laid off, but he has no problem with my car. Despite that my Max is the last of its kind built in Japan, it still has Homelink and some other interior pieces that his company made. So much for my "furrin" car.
I used to work at the "maplewood" JCI plant back in 98'-99'
I probably even heard of the company you work for.
Rocky
Rocky
Why?
Why?
Supply and demand. Basic formula:
High supply + Low demand = Falling residuals.
Take a car with relatively low retail demand (Much of the demand for Impalas and such is highly inflated by the number that are purchased by Avis, etc.)
Then add a bunch of cars of that type being dumped onto the market within 12-18 months of the initial sale.
Result: Not much value at the end. Massive fleet sales hurt resale value. Read Automotive News and the trades, and you'll see that this is common knowledge within the industry.
When my Accord finally dies (its been kind of a lemon as far as Hondas go. Its definitely left me stranded more than any other car I've ever had), I think I will try to find a used Focus ZTS manual on the cheap.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The problem I see is that they seem to buy the lower equipped models and people driving them think that's the way al lthe models drive and ride. I assume that applies to the Camrys and Altima I saw at the local car rental satellite recently (and a Kia minivan).
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,