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Comments
I'd spend the extra $1,000 upfront if the more expensive vehicle upfront was more pleasing to me. That's exactly what I did with my Accord actually!
I did too. Ended up with a 550 S and a Murano....go figure! :P
Congrats on the wheels.
Now roughing it is driving the Forester. :P
Any how, residuals are misleading. OK, a model retians 56%, but of what? The original MSRP? We all know MSRP is basically fiction nowadays, noone pays it.
It would be more useful to have residual as a % of the actual price paid.
Example. Let's say a Malibu MSRP is $20k, but you're a savvy negotiator and you pay $16k. 2 years down the road, resale is horrible and you get just $10k for it on a trade. But that survey would call that 50% residual, and the actual amount is 62.5%, a rather big difference.
Example #2. You were first in line to buy that hot Mini Cooper S. MSRP was $20k, but you were first on the block and the dealer had a $3000 ADM, so you paid $23k. Trade in value is quite good, let's say it's $15k. They survey will call that a 75% residual, but it's actually just 65%.
So basically in this fictional example the Cooper appears to have much higher residuals, but in actuality they're about the same. I think a lot of the differences are overstated for this reason.
-juice
PS rob: I read about the temps building Town Cars in Automotive News, then saw it again on the Straightline Blogs
I had to visit the dealership couple of days later, and to my surprise, the Honda was gone, the Olds was still sitting in the lot.
-juice
Doesn't speak much for their turn-over, or rotating their inventory. I would shop other dealers. :P
I think they had a serious image problem with those, though. Plus it was oddly styled, so it probably only appealed to near-blind AARP members. Not too many of those drive.
-juice
You should have seen my mother, before I took the keys.. :surprise:
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I am beginning to resemble that remark! :surprise:
Actually DEAD FROZEN drivers have been hard to come by since the proliferation of the cell phone! :P
Seriously, I'm of the opinion that even just a FWD vehicle with decent all-seasons tires will get you home in all but the most severe conditions, if you drive sensibly, unless "home" is a cabin on the top of a mountain accessible only via a logging road.
Yep. That said, I am not sure about others, but I do find more bigger "SUVs" off the road or upside down once the weather strikes. It is rare to see FWD cars, or even smaller utes like CR-V in that situation, perhaps those drivers are a bit more careful than others who try to defy the laws of Physics.
I am also reminded of a beach driving situation that a Taurus was subjected to on Padre islands in Texas. I was aware of the shortcomings of my car (rental of course) that it will be a bad idea to drive on sand. So, I chose to drive on the seaweeds and wet areas, as opposed to a few AW-Drivers and many of them were actually stuck in sand (including a Subaru).
It goes on to prove, it doesn't have to be the vehicle!
Also, since the term SUV is applied to a vehicle that is more car than truck, like the CR-V, it is indeed foolish to take such risks.
LOL! Saabgirl, my missus, had one of those before selling it to her sister and buying her 9-5. She complained that the only other people driving Olds 98s were AARPies, so she required something European. But here's the thing: her 9-5 spent a lot of time being rebuilt by Trollhattan gremlins before it stopped dumping her most unstylishly at the side of the road. The Olds, meanwhile, has always answered the bell and even looks pretty good. (I don't mean styling, I mean the paint and trim aren't faded, protective strips aren't loose, etc.)
My Grandad had one of those...the hugest boat you ever did see. He was religious, as I am sure the old geezer I talked with is, keeping that boat running like a top. The man today had 125,000 miles on it....said he never had a major repair until mile 110,000 and replaced the transmission. :surprise:
Took my previous car to the dealer because there was rust near the gas cap (brand new '91 Escort), and their fix was to apply a free undercoating. As if that would remove rust from that location.
It didn't, obviously. And it didn't reduce road noise, either. At least it did no harm.
-juice
I would have, however, pointed out to them the Ford rust warranty, printed in the Warranty Book, included in every Ford sold, world-wide.
You mean the one where they guarantee your Ford will rust? :P
-juice
Surface rust is of absolutely of no concern, and easily brushed off and sealed against the elements. The rust proofing is, in all cases, the same regardless of manufacturer, and applied to the basic metal frame before painting.
Fortunately, most steel is galvanized, and most other panels nowadays are aluminum. So most surface rust is from damaged panels that aren't fixed.
-juice
I think the foreign car manufacturers like to prolong that old 'reliability' argument just so they appear to have a reason to charge more upfront...
...and don't get me started on value...many options that you have to pay high premiums for on Hondas/Toyotas are standard equipment on domestic models...
Because it will return more money to you, in the end? A Honda, no matter the price, will have a higher percentage of resell value 5 years down the road, than a comparable domestic. That is just fact.
Are you serious? Why is it that side airbags and curtain airbags are still options on the base trim levels (or maybe all trim levels)? I was just reading yesterday that GM is promising to have curtain airbags standard by 2012, are you kidding me, that is very slow? Why is this standard on EVERY Honda NOW? Also many other safety features such as stability control... even anti-lock brakes (Fusion comes to mind) are options. When you add that in as options that can add well over $1000 to the price.
This is crazy! People see that base price, on Domestics and say "wow, that is such a good price", and then you add in the safety features alone, and that price has risen substantially.
Also, how would you know how good Honda's and Toyota's are if you only own Domestics. I HAVE owned both, Domestics and Japanese brands and the Japanese brands have been better EVERY time. Every time I have traded or sold a Domestic, I have been disappointed, with how much I lose over a fairly short amount of time. Every time I trade or sell a Japanese, I am pleasantly surprised by the amount I get. As for reliability, I have been left stranded a few times by stupid domestics, while I have never been failed by a Japanese. Also, my domestic cars seemed like they were always in the shop. The only thing my Japanese cars are in the shop for is routine maintnence.
I agree with terry totally.
MNF
Good post +++
Domestic manufacturers play on American people's IGNORANCE. I would bet that majority would rather have automatic headlights rather than side airbags. Most would rather have self-dimming mirrors than VSA. And so on.
What domestics have failed to realize is that the number of ignorant people is dwindling. People are getting more educated and can discern that side airbags are more important than automatic headlights...
Besides, there is no price premium on Japanese, Honda in particular when you compare equially equipped vehicles.
Yes, a stripper Ford Focus is cheaper than Honda Civic LX. But LX comes standard with many features that are not standard on the base Focus. Once you option up the domestinc to match Honda, domestic is more expensive, rebates only bring the domestics down to Honda's level.
Agree. A lot of the people that are now buying domestics are the ones that grew up on domestics, and they feel comfortable with them. What they don't know is the superioty of the Honda's and Toyota's. Or, many people think they are NOT supporting the economy by buying foreign. In reality, they are, there are many foreign car company plants and design center's in the US, and those workers are having jobs and they are paying income tax to our government.
I was just in my brother-in-laws 2006 Equinox and it had leather (no sunroof), and it did not have curtain airbags. That is so stupid, because it is not even a base model and MSRP price is ~$26K, and why is a base $20K CR-V come standard with that?
Once you option up the domestinc to match Honda, domestic is more expensive, rebates only bring the domestics down to Honda's level.
Definatly true, as I stated in other post, the base is lower than Honda, but then comparibly equipped it more expensive than the Japenese. As you said, the rebates bring it back down. How long are the domestics going to count on rebates to make sales. I'm not buying them, even with rebates. Many people are doing what I'm doing and ignoring rebates, because we want better cars, not better prices. I want the features, domestic cars still don't have available on way too many cars (i.e. Navigation, Stability Control). Why is it that foreign vehicles do better in IIHS tests. domestics need to get in the game and start marketing there cars for comfort and quality (they need to get that first), not just the rebates and sales (red tag event).
I do not even see what people like about the domestics anymore, there prices apples to apples to Japenese are higher (at MSRP), designs are never as good inside, quality is never as good, and resale value is not good.
The ones I have are made in England, and trap more water/mud.
While I was very impressed with the new Santa Fe and it's power seat, I must say I was totally UNDERwhelmed with the new CR-V. The interior was blah and the seat, although height adjustable, had no seat bottom angle adjustment...I didn't like the seat cushion angle. I don't see an option for a power seat in the CR-V even with a full blown EX model.
How dumb..... but it's available in Japan....but not here....huh? Just like the new Fit has height adjustment everywhere else but here. I guess when people blindly buy your cars, you can decontent them and get away with it.
They are genuine rubber mats from England. I believe they offer two kinds, just look for the ones made in England. They also have nice custom cargo area mats as well.
Again, I have seen some good mats available other places, but only have experience with the above.
I've had them in my Ody and my Accord. They work well but the driver side one in the Accord only lasted 3 years. The Ody ones are close to 7 years old and seem to be fine.