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Oh yes speeding tickets. I forgot about those. After many incidences of almost getting killed by road raged Audi and BMW drivers because of my slow Prius driving I forgot all about those speeding tickets.
The situation is my wife's BMW 530xi touring is becoming expensive to repair so I may altruisitically let her drive the Prius while I do the self sacrifice of driving a yellow Auds S4 instead .
Uh oh. You have used your keen reasoning powers to formulate yourself an excuse. I'm afraid you are clever enough to shoot yourself in the foot, yet how clever is that in the long run?
May I suggest this?... If your wife needs another vehicle, get one that is suitable for her, and keep your Prius for yourself, which is suitable for you (it keeps you from those tickets, and more importantly, you really love it.)
Misery loves company but I think both of us would have been better off without that kind of misery.
Though your misery is very different from mine. My highly unreliable BMW 335i was impressive in terms of performance while your so far reliable BMW X3 is unimpressive in terms of performance.
The greatest day I had with my BMW 335i was the day I sold it. Yes I lost tons of resale value after keeping it for 32 months but despite that the resale value was higher than the price of my new 2010 Prius.
A used 2007 BMW 335i equalling the price of a Prius may sound like a bum deal but heck I am happy I sold mine.
May I suggest this?... If your wife needs another vehicle, get one that is suitable for her, and keep your Prius for yourself, which is suitable for you (it keeps you from those tickets, and more importantly, you really love it.)
You know you're beginng to sound far too rational for an auto enthusiast.
Cramer didn`t but a guy named Dion---i think- is the person.. did.....I really thought for a time Dion could have been you .......Although the rythm and flow of the universe are beyond my ability , the longer term implications of your post are important on many investment fronts, and as the markets are largely driven by sentiment ( no more logic right now) your words of wisdom are important....Again thanks..Tony
I`m with you....I hope for continued improvement----and really when you step back and take a look, we have come a long way from this spring...The three places I spend time, the people have largely adjusted, and activity is robust....Eventually it will be seen for what it is .. I just hope the government gets rid of the shady practices that are going on, and the table can be level....Then an investor can do his thing and trust again.....Tony
There is absolutely no way in our lifetimes that the Germans will catch up to the Japanese in reliability. The Japanese will have to give it away.
The Germans do not care enough about reliability and they certainly don't care about customer satisfaction. Infiniti and Honda both had ride problems but they fixed theirs quickly while BMW is still selling their **** 3 years later and blaming it on the customer.
That, is why BMW and Audi will never catch up.
The Americans OTOH will make a good stab at beating out the European imports because they might have (maybe) gotten the message after going bankrupt as an industry....hard to tell.
Interesting car landscape here. Plenty of oceanfront property too. No trees to maintain either. This is Barrow, Alaska and I saved the photo from the webcam simply because it's the first time I saw vehicles on it. I imagine it's a long long way to a lux car dealership.
It's amazing that we both view and study the Alaskan webcams. I quite frequently take a peek at Barrow at different times of the year. Pretty soon, the open sea will be iced over and temperatures will be dropping to generally 15 to 35 below from about mid November to the end of March.
There is still a little daylight left around mid day, but in a few more weeks, Barrow will be in total darkness as it is located well north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle is at 66.5 degrees Latitude. On December 21, the sun will be just below the horizon at local Noon at the Arctic Circle and thus you basically have 24 hours of darkness. On June 21 (summer solstice), the sun is located just above the horizon at local Midnight. In other words, there are 24 hours of daylight. At the Pole itself, the sun rises on March 21 and sets on September 21.
I don't know....my HOJ BMW X3 2009 is said to be terrific in ice and snow...as long as the snow isn't too deep because then it will get itself stuck. It has a nice cargo capacity for its small size and you can put big game carcasses up through the pano roof.
Is there some reason you kept it for 32 months? I am wondering if there is a sweet spot between the massive depreciation for just changing the title and having it be so old you might as well just keep it until it dies.
The warranty is 4 years which includes maintenance.
I looked at the 2010 Prius with the solar roof. It was very high tech with electronics that compared very favorably with those of the Lexus...or the Lexus' electronics did not compare all that favorably against those of the Prius...hard to tell which is which.
The Prius was simply too small although when I get 10 mpg in the city with the X3, I think......
I will be happy to sell the X3 to a private party. Selling to a dealer takes too big a hit and encourages dealers to sell more obnoxious junk to the consumer. I saw a 3 series sedan (coupe maybe) selling brand new at the BMW dealership for maybe 10% more than the Prius.
I'm amazed that house is not on stilts. If that snow doesn't melt in the next few days then it'll be there in May. Every flake they get sticks and stays around for 8+ months once you're past the next week. I like this site at Fairbanks too and saw some readings here at -59 last winter in the daytime with super dense Ice fog and with a guy standing outside his car with an outfit on that didn't look any different than you would dress for 30 degree weather. I've also seen a few 90+ temps in Fairbanks over the years in late June and July. There's a layout of what buildings are which in the cam somewhere and in winter the most cars are always parked in front of the bar. Notice the car heaters in the parking lot? BTW I have seen a few Landcruisers or LX's in this parking lot.
The little snow that is now on the ground at Barrow may not melt since it has been a little below freezing (29 degrees at 3:00 AM AK time this morning) and it will likely continue to be below freezing and getting gradually colder the next week or so. The only way that snow dissipates here from now into at least March is by sublimation (going directly from ice to water vapor). Once in a great while though, there can be an amazing thaw even at Barrow in the winter with a warm Pacific air mass that reaches this far north. Again, this is a rare event.
It is interesting to see that Barrow is 29 degrees with a light northeast breeze off the Arctic Ocean (not yet frozen this far south). The air is actually being warmed a bit due to the wind being off the unfrozen ocean. Temperatures in other stations to the southeast and southwest of Barrow were in the low 20s and upper teens this morning with no ocean breeze. It will not be long now before the ocean becomes frozen stiff as temperatures gradually get colder and colder. Incidentally, Fairbanks was 24 at 3:00 AM AK time.
Jaguar is now an Indian beast (according to the Indian press AND Tata Group) thanks to Tata Motor's 100% acquisition of JLR. Land Rover/Range Rover is also fine Indian heritage now. Both now high quality Indian luxury cars. Power to JLR's new Indian owners/masters.
Already Jaguar/Land Rover are establishing component sourcing offices in India. Soon they may be entirely "Made in India".....yessss!
... I test drove a Honda Civic Si coupe on Fri afternoon. I have to say that I really liked it, simple car, a blast to drive...
I test drove a Civic Si sedan a couple times. I agree w/ your assessment. It's very fun to drive. I wouldn't at all be upset if I "ended up" w/ an Si sedan.
There is absolutely no way in our lifetimes that the Germans will catch up to the Japanese in reliability. The Japanese will have to give it away.
Probably not, but at least from what I'm seeing the Germans are steadily improving while the Japanese have either plateaued, or are slipping. Before 2003, the idea of a Lexus with a single problem was pretty much unthinkable. Then came the GX470, which had some troubles in its first year. Lexus fixed most of the issues for 2004, but Lexus was supposed to be invincible, and that proved that they were not.
Much worse was the '06 GS300 AWD, which was so bad it couldn't even get a recommendation from CR, and Lexus did not fix the problems for the '07 year. So the GS fails at every performance and comfort metric vs. its German rivals, and its not even reliable.
At this point, I'm just not interested in anything being made by Lexus or Acura. Yes their cars are (mostly) reliable, but they are also mostly ugly and boring. Infiniti is different. I'm not big on their SUVs, but the G and M, though flawed, are compelling alternatives to those looking for Japanese reliability with some European handling.
The 2011 M in particular already looks better than the new E and the upcoming 5, and we'll see how it will fare against Audi's C7 A6 due around the same time.
Other than the CTS, I don't even see a competitor to anything European, let alone a killer product from Team America. The new SRX is crap, and Lincolns (as always) are just overpriced Fords.
The 2011 M in particular already looks better than the new E and the upcoming 5
Hmmm. No.
I usually agree with your posts, but I'm just not as upbeat on the new Infiniti M appearance as you seem to be. Yes, I recall the interior is very well done, and credit is given for that...but the exterior appearance is much too boring, and not nearly as attractive as the German competitors, IMO. there were others here that also expressed a lack of excitement generated by the (yawn) new Infiniti M.
That said, I'm sure it will be a decent purchase for someone who actually likes the way it looks.
...but the exterior appearance is much too boring, and not nearly as attractive as the German competitors, IMO. there were others here that also expressed a lack of excitement generated by the (yawn) new Infiniti M.
We may have to just agree to disagree here. The current M is not a great design by any stretch. It's better than the RL, maybe about the same as the GS. I'm not a fan though of either the new E or the new 5.
The E's grill is tired, the LED strips look stupid (the twin foglights are a slight improvement), the headlights look like Lexus copies, the hood ornament should've died out long ago, and the rear end is just kind of a shapeless block, like the back of a Camry.
I'm assuming that the new 5 series sedan will look just like the 5 GT, which is not attractive at all. Given a choice of the three, I would take the new M over the 5 and E in a second, on exterior styling alone. When you compare the interiors, its that much easier.
No car is perfect but the proof of the manufacturer is in its response. 6 years running on the ride and 3 years on the transmission and then moving on to another model is not my idea of reliability.
Fool me once....
As I said, the Japanese will have to give it away. They benefit from having a population of hyper consumers who will nit pick products to death and then complain loudly about them. The Europeans have consumers who think that having a car that drives well necessarily means it is unreliable and expensive. I do not think that is true. People put up with too much for too long and that kind of thinking leads to the disaster in Detroit.
Yes I agree that the German3 reliability will never catch up with the Japanese unless the japanese are falling. This is due to the Japanese' obsession over perfection.
OTOH the Germans are still the pioneer in technology because they never stop researching. And their pursuit of prefection is aimed at another areas like steering, suspension, etc.
The Americans will NEVER catch up with the Germans or Japanese unless they can get over their arrogance thinking they can fool us customers, and start again from the bottom. Right now, apart from a few gems they have left I'm ranking the D3 below the Korean Hyundai. They played it dirty, offering neither reliability nor technology.
That said, I agree with you about BMW. Their service has been poor lately and it's getting even worse. Audi's service quality is great, alas not the product reliability. MB otoh seems to have started to learn it's lesson.
What was the reason I kept my BMW 335i for 32 months?
I was reluctant in selling it as long as all those services costs were kept under warrnatny.
That at least was my intent anyways. But I could not wait four full years.
The BMW 335i befan affecting my life more and more. Frequently canceling or postponing client appointments with the same excuse: "I cant make it because I have to go to the BMW dealership to get my car repaired and to pick up a rental."
I was stuck many times on the road during winter because of traction control malfunctions and winter tires that refused to perfrom their duties in Toronto snow. The cost of run flat tires here are about Canadian $750 to $800. All eight of my winter plus summer tires had to be replaced after 25K miles of driving. To pay $6400 on rubber alone for 25K miles of driving is ludicrous.
Recurring electrical window, sunroof, hose pump, traction control glitches, loose plastic moulding, ventilation and many other problems just added many gray hairs on my head.and keeping it another day would have given me perpetual frown marks on my forehead.
Speeding tickets was a nuisance but that was not my prime motive for selling my BMW.
I sold my BMW 335i through Auto Trader and got a better price than I had expected. Eight thousand dollars more than what Toyota was willing to offer as a trade in.
My conscience bleeds for the poor fellow who bought my car. Today I am responsible for that man's many miseries. When he asked me how did I like my car? What do you think I said? The truth? Ofcourse not. Otherwise the only place that would take my car would be a scrap yard.
My Prius has the solar sunroof and it is quite helpful during hot sunny days. Unfortunate the solar sunroof is kind of like my backyard swimming pool---useful only during those rare warm days of sunshine in Toronto.
That is like comparing honey sweetened lemonade with lemonade made with rotten lemons.
There is no bloody way a car like my BMW 335i would have left a factory from Japan. NO WAY!!!!
And Lexusguy what is this fascination of yours for a Infiniti M?
That picture looks hideous when compared to a MB E. Low quality good looking German versus a higher quality hideous looking Japanese model? What a horrific choice.
Agree with your posts and assuming the quality angle, Infiniti wins my vote in this comparo.
As far as the entry level, the G would take my dough this time around over the 3'er. Only the 1'er would be able to top that decision if interior room was thrown out with the baby.
Dewey, your BMW trials and tribulations are comical and sad at the same time. Those are truly horrific experiences but you have a way of making them sound funny after the fact. I know that your Prius has totally changed your driving habits and I'm sure you are having a fun time driving it. I'll be interested to know how it does in the Toronto snow this winter.
There is no bloody way a car like my BMW 335i would have left a factory from Japan. NO WAY!!!!
Probably not. As I've said, if my S6 was anything like your BMW, you can bet I would've forced Audi to buy it back, and I would probably be done with Germany for another decade.
For a GS300 AWD to be unreliable though, on top of the rest of its failures, is simply inexcusable. There is no redeeming feature to that car. Nota one.
What's not to like about the M? It at least has some styling this time, which is more than can be said of the current car. The M can match the Germans on tech feature-for-feature, and yet their control system is simple and easy to use. You can set a preset by pushing a preset button, rather than say, submenu 12 in iDrive.
The 5 series is ugly, expensive, and cumbersome to use. Regardless of what you think of the M's styling, its much more affordable than the 5 with similar handling, and much easier to interface with. It's also one of the most reliable cars in the segment. What's the problem here? Since when does anyone with styling as a top priority buy Japanese anyway? Did you buy a Prius because of how it looks? I certainly hope not.
Not necessarily a reliability issue, but it does bring the question of designing and engineering into the mix...
At the same time we read these recent posts about the greatness of Japanese reliability, we find that those toyota engineers have missed the boat on some rather common sense areas of safety. Perhaps not a reliability question, but safety is even more important in my book. I'd rather the car give me an extra visit to the shop than a visit to the emergency room, or to a body bag.
Government issues 'urgent' warning to remove Toyota, Lexus floor mats David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau Washington -- Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to recall nearly 3.9 million vehicles -- the largest U.S. recall in the company's history -- as the government issued an "urgent" warning to remove driver floor mats because of the danger of inadvertent acceleration.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged owners of the Toyota and Lexus vehicles to immediately remove driver's side floor mats because of safety risks. Toyota is in the process of submitting the formal recall documents to the government; its largest recall before this was a 2005 recall of 900,000 vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that under certain conditions, the mats from 2004-2009 model year vehicles could cause the accelerator to stick in the full open position, which may result in high speeds and serious crashes.
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The agency strongly recommended removing driver-side mats and not replacing them with any other mat. NHTSA has received more than 100 confirmed reports of accelerator pedal clearance issues which provide the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position.
"This is an urgent matter," LaHood said. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration."
Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, said an Aug. 28 crash that killed four -- including an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer who was at the wheel of the 2009 Lexus when it plunged over an embankment and burst into flames -- may have been the result of sudden acceleration linked to a floor mat.
Mark Saylor and his wife Cleofe, both 45, their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala, and 38-year-old brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, were killed after reporting to a 911 operator that they could not stop their Lexus ES 350, as it careened down Route 125 in Santee, Calif.
LG, I think the quality of those photos really favors the Infiniti M in a big way. Often, I find that photos can make a big difference. The angle, lighting, and reflections on the vehicles' paint, as well as the paint colors, all make a big difference. A couple of lousy pics of the M agains a few good pics of the Benz and Bimmer would paint a different picture.
When you mention the front grill, the M's grill is boring... obviously designed with a computer graphics program that tweaked some horizontal lines... nothing that imaginative going on. That said, it is plenty neutral and not offensive, and not the horror of the Acura grill, but it can not lay any claim to the legendary icon that the Mercedes grill has evolved into.
The E and 5-Series have their flaws, too, but overall the M still looks like just another Japanese car that is "trying". Frankly, I'm not a fan of any of 'em.
I do agree, however, that this latest Infiniti M is one of the better looking Japanese sedans, and that it is an improvement over the one it replaces. I think it speaks well for the design direction that Infiniti is headed. Among the Japanese makers, I agree with you that Infiniti is setting the better example.
Add the Koreans into the mix and I'd have to say that Hyundai may very well be the one to keep an eye on.
The Prius has the lowest coefficient of drag of any mass volume car. The styling is not about aesthetics but about form following function. Which I find kind of traditionally Germanic.
Remember the aerodynamic Audi 5000S of the 1980s. Aerodynamics not bling was the styling rule for that car and the rule for the Prius today.
Yes there is a certain beauty about a car that is solely designed for function and not merely to impress people with its sexy curves and its oversized monstrous grille like many European cars today (hint: Audi today unlike Audi from yesteryears).
Can't say for sure, but It actually may not be just the floor mats themselves that's the culprit, but the position of the gas pedal... might be too low, and thus not allow enough clearance. Now that would be stupid engineering, and it may in fact be the real problem. We'll see, as more details come out on this.
From what's been reported on Edmunds, '10 Prius unaffected. '09 was the latest culprit.
I find it interesting that when I took my car into Audi for a non-routine oil change that there was a couple software upgrades. Had to flash the CPU or something. Service rep didn't really say what it solved, but after I looked it up, had something to do with the intake manifold. Can't say I've noticed any difference since then, but would have appreciated a notice that it's time to take the car in.
Also observed from Audi forums, can't positively confirm, but if one had their car 'chipped', it'd have to be redone after this corrective measure.
Yes there is a certain beauty about a car that is solely designed for function and not merely to impress people with its sexy curves and its oversized monstrous grille like many European cars today (hint: Audi today unlike Audi from yesteryears).
I think there is middle ground here. A car designed fully for function & aeros is beautiful for engineers, but not so much the buying public. I'll sac some drag for some style anytime. IMO Audi's style is the best It's ever been, w/a little Italian swagger, yet still remaining somehow conservative among the general public.
I haven't seen anything yet from Japan that I'd aspire to style wise. The G coupe is about as close as I can think, but I can't shake the feeling that I could crush the exterior while washing the car.
I spent a little time in the E last week, & it's really a nice cabin IMO. Not state of the art by any means, but I wouldn't toss it out. Overall, just too many things to nitpick about. I spent more time checking out the E coupe. I would have cross-shopped this at the time if it were available, but it showed up a year later. I think it's a very good rival to the S5.
Headed up to MD tomorrow for Pop's 70th. Bringing 10 lbs of local jumbo shrimp, 5 lbs of scallops & 6lbs worth of local grouper fillets. Bro's in the MD area are bringing crabs galllore & other local goodies. Should be a good time!
People put up with too much for too long and that kind of thinking leads to the disaster in Detroit.
I'm not sure Detroit has anything to do with this. Whole nother can of worms.
Possibly middle ground again? German cars had the rep of drivers cars with bugaboos. Japanese 'tried' to emulate the German car experience & the reliability took shots.
Perhaps there may be truth to compromise for performance v reliability.
Infiniti seems to have the best performers of the Japanese, w/better reliability v the Germans, I guess, but still fall a tad short. A good compromise for the wallet strapped, but without such limitations, why sell yourself short? Life is short after all.
It's all I can do not to convince the wife that she needs an R8.
I can't remember where I read it but some nut was seriously asking other people on the net if he should consider buying a BMW X5 that had been lemon lawed. I guess I thought that cars returned under lemon laws would find a home in the junk yard....silly me.
I was wondering if the solar roof on the Prius had to have direct sunlight to work. I thought it was quite the expensive option but interesting. Honestly, after the last month of car nightmares, I am looking longingly at ads for Corollas....it has come to that.
How different is the German car experience these days? Is it really a difference that makes a difference or is it mostly just a romanticized ideal that doesn't really exist beyond the fancy badge.
I for one I'm content with the BMWs I've owned recently. And, I do not think I am the only one.
2004 530(d) sedan was performant (for her size) and reliable; moreover she was safe enough to keep my family and myself with no injuries when I crashed her against the motorway rails by an accident of which the car was not guilty.
2008 335(d) coupé is brilliant. Both in performance and reliability. And, this is so even with the RFTs she wear.
2009 118(d) hatched. A gem, performant enough and sober like a hermit.
All of them were/are fuel economic (regarding their segments) with very low CO2 emissions. 118d was the world green car of the year a couple of years ago.
I am aware I have kept any of these cars only up to four years at maximum. Thus, I'm only speaking from my limited experience (but also from references from other owners). Enough badge for me.
Notice I am not saying that there are no other cars more reliable than German cars or that BMWs cannot be lemons or bad designed cars. For instance, X3 has no credit over here.
Speaking about badge, one can find the streets plenty of BMWs (5-Series), Audis, MBs and VWs used as licensed taxi cabs; taxi cabs are usually owned by the driver, who has a cab or just a small fleet of them; they don't belong to big companies over here. I say this because, when looking for reliability, owners-to-be have always in mind which cars are used as taxi cabs.
"I for one I'm content with the BMWs I've owned recently. And, I do not think I am the only one."
I agree with that José. I have been silent on this for a while, but it's time for a balanced view. BMW sells many vehicles to many satisfied customers and is a very successful company. They are not at the top of the reliability chart, but most BMWs are terrific cars.
My 135i convertible has been one of the most pleasureable and fun-to-drive vehicles I've ever owned, and I've owned a more-than-typical number of cars, as you know.
So far, it has had one unscheduled visit for service. This was to replace the HPFP, which was a known issue. Otherwise perfect. The twin turbo engine that Dewey used to praise, is awesome... absolutely deserving of the international award for best engine in the world. Incredible full 300 lb. torque delivery starting from a staggering low 1400 RPM... it's simply fantastic.
BMW's sport seats are some of the most comfortable seats in the industry, and I can't give them enough praise.
This BMW has been a delight to own. I drive along the coast with the top down, almost on a daily basis, rowing through the gears, and quite frankly, there just isn't another car I'd rather own... except maybe an R8 Spyder... hahaha... and I do think about an M3 now and then.
I wouldn't at all be upset if I "ended up" w/ an Si sedan
After posting that, I was reminded that Honda/Acura Canada are playing dirty with their Canadian pricing. They are one of those few car companies that refuse to honor warranties for cars bought from the US, usually at huge discounts. So, the Si is fun and I liked it, but for this reason, not on my potential buy list any longer.
Oh oh, my 07 IS350 is on that list, I guess another free tank of gas is on the way courtersy of Lexus Canada. I have floored that gas pedal so many time (in the power mode too), not realizing the danger lurking below. :surprise:
Auto, DSG for the dd, and most definitely stick for the other with ew's permission of course :P . With that said, if I picked a high rev'ed 4 banger dd, I might have to take the stick.
How different is the German car experience these days? Is it really a difference that makes a difference or is it mostly just a romanticized ideal that doesn't really exist beyond the fancy badge.
Warning: Long rambling post ahead:
I remember when the Datsun 240Z (Nissan product, of course) made its appearance... for me, it was one of the most significant moments in automobile history. In some sense, from my perspective, it really bookmarked the tsunami that was coming from Japan. The Honda Prelude and the Mazda RX7 were eventful as well. They weren't necessarily volume cars, but they were symbolic of a major cool factor associated with the Japanese cars... beyond just the dependable economy car image that was more typical in those times.
Back then, Japanese cars and luxury really didn't belong in the same sentence. The European cars ruled that category. As I recall it, the first attempt towards a luxury car from Japan sold in our market was from Nissan, with the entry of the Maxima, and then the copy-cat Cressida from Toyota. It might be worth mentioning that Toyota also tried to copy-cat the iconic Z-car from Nissan by introducing the Supra.
But, Toyota really hit the nail on the head with the introduction of the Lexus line. The first LS was more like a Japanese E-class, yet it was so good that it was compared with the S-class, and no matter what anyone thought of the car, it overflowed with value, and expected reliability... which it ultimately lived up to.
Prestige is something that takes many, many years to build, and Lexus is the only Japanese marque to have achieved a genuine level of prestige. The Europeans manufacture certain models that have prestige. I am not saying that I personally need or care anything about prestige, but only pointing out that some of the European cars have it.
IMO, many of the Japanese cars were essentially about cheaper, yet more reliable vehicles. They seemed to be flimsier than European counterparts, IMO. They were, and are, fairly reliable, but their materials often seem cheap. Lots of very thin sheet metal and tons of plastic.
Nowadays, the Japanese have added nicer and more luxurious models to their usual fleet of cheap flimsy vehicles, and at the same time, the Europeans have offered more economical models. For example, it was a very big deal when Mercedes introduced the C-Class to our market.
So... the "difference" that you question isn't as profound as it once was, but it still exists, IMO. The driving dynamics that have been discussed at tremendous lengths here for years, are very different between the German cars and the Japanese cars. IMO, the trophy still goes to the Germans, and Europeans in general, for the superior handling. Yes, the Japanese build reliable cars, and that is definitely noteworthy and important, as cars should be reliable... but the driving experience is a major factor.
As I get older, or should I say "mature"... LOL... I am more and more inclined to be more practical about my perspective of cars. And also more responsible. Responsible to the environment, and my own financials as well. That's why I see the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius as two really smart choices.
If my BMW should fail me at some point in the future, as Dewey's BMW did to him, I will probably go the same route as he did. In fact, I am already just waiting for a very cool electric or hybrid vehicle to come out that I can't resist.
And that brings up one other point. The Japanese get the credit for taking a global leadership position regarding the design and production of technologically advanced fuel efficient models. Sure, the Germans will come up with their own mouse traps, but whether or not they prove to be better won't ever change the fact that they were the followers and not the leaders in this particularly important time in history.
It's the same old thing... High performance and prestige are mostly European. Reliability and value, and "futuristic" are mostly Asian. But, the boundaries will overlap more and more. Examples of the changing landscape to consider are the VW concept that gets 171 mpg, and the Nissan GTR. I'm sure there are better examples, but those come to mind.
The American domestic cars are a mixed bag. Cadillac and Lincoln on the side of prestige and luxury, and cars like Cobalt on the side of economy... although the Cobalt is a POS. Not really that much better than the old Vega and Pinto... IMO... just more domestic junk. The frustration in all of that is that Buick and Caddy and a couple of Fords prove that it is possible to build a decent domestic vehicle, but so much in the process goes terribly wrong, and that's partly why the American manufacturers are in the terrible shape they are in, although I think Ford has a decent future ahead.
Anyway, enough of the rambling..... I posted a warning.
German Audi R8 Spyder... is still my dream car. Japanese Toyota Prius or Honda CR-V (or something similar) is still what I actually, in real life, see in my driveway after my Bimmer days are over. But, we'll have to see what really happens.
Geeze! You sure you're not marcincincinatti in disguise?? :surprise: :P
...As I recall it, the first attempt towards a luxury car from Japan sold in our market was from Nissan, with the entry of the Maxima, and then the copy-cat Cressida from Toyota. It might be worth mentioning that Toyota also tried to copy-cat the iconic Z-car from Nissan by introducing the Supra. ...
Actually, I believe the Cressida came along a year or two before the Maxima and was a much better car, I might add. I doubt the Supra was a stab at the Z considering it was just a spinoff of the Celica which itself was a spinoff of the Corolla. You could, in essence, say both the Celica and Supra started life as mere trim levels of the Corolla! Shocking, ain't it! :surprise:
... IMO, many of the Japanese cars were essentially about cheaper, yet more reliable vehicles. They seemed to be flimsier than European counterparts, IMO. They were, and are, fairly reliable, but their materials often seem cheap. Lots of very thin sheet metal and tons of plastic. ...
Not really. The Japanese cars of the 70s/early-80s were notoriously crappy. The Toyota and Datsun mini pickups come oozing to the top of mind! LOL Not to mention the Tercel and B210. You could get a sunroof AND an open view of the road below your feet! LOL :surprise:
Anyways... American manufacturers can build some nice stuff. The CTS being a prime example, and Buick is making unbelievable strides. Here's hoping the Velite comes to fruition some day; and I don't even like convertibles. Check out Chevy's new Equinox and Cadillac's new SRX. The STS "coulda been a contenda," but they made it so horribly bland that it just faded to obscurity in the eyes of luxury buyers. The XLR? Excellent idea executed horribly (or perfectly depending on how you choose to interpret "executed.") And I SOOO have my fingers crossed that FIAT or whoever it was that bought Chrysler will follow through with machines such as the Firepower! and the ME Four-Twelve. If the latter isn't an aspirational supercar, I don't know what is!
Comments
Uh oh. You have used your keen reasoning powers to formulate yourself an excuse. I'm afraid you are clever enough to shoot yourself in the foot,
May I suggest this?... If your wife needs another vehicle, get one that is suitable for her, and keep your Prius for yourself, which is suitable for you (it keeps you from those tickets, and more importantly, you really love it.)
TM
But not as much as I hated mine.
Misery loves company but I think both of us would have been better off without that kind of misery.
Though your misery is very different from mine. My highly unreliable BMW 335i was impressive in terms of performance while your so far reliable BMW X3 is unimpressive in terms of performance.
The greatest day I had with my BMW 335i was the day I sold it. Yes I lost tons of resale value after keeping it for 32 months but despite that the resale value was higher than the price of my new 2010 Prius.
A used 2007 BMW 335i equalling the price of a Prius may sound like a bum deal but heck I am happy I sold mine.
You know you're beginng to sound far too rational for an auto enthusiast.
I`m with you....I hope for continued improvement----and really when you step back and take a look, we have come a long way from this spring...The three places I spend time, the people have largely adjusted, and activity is robust....Eventually it will be seen for what it is .. I just hope the government gets rid of the shady practices that are going on, and the table can be level....Then an investor can do his thing and trust again.....Tony
The Germans do not care enough about reliability and they certainly don't care about customer satisfaction. Infiniti and Honda both had ride problems but they fixed theirs quickly while BMW is still selling their **** 3 years later and blaming it on the customer.
That, is why BMW and Audi will never catch up.
The Americans OTOH will make a good stab at beating out the European imports because they might have (maybe) gotten the message after going bankrupt as an industry....hard to tell.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=t70ryv&s=4
Try fitting this beast into your Lexus LS.
There is still a little daylight left around mid day, but in a few more weeks, Barrow will be in total darkness as it is located well north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle is at 66.5 degrees Latitude. On December 21, the sun will be just below the horizon at local Noon at the Arctic Circle and thus you basically have 24 hours of darkness. On June 21 (summer solstice), the sun is located just above the horizon at local Midnight. In other words, there are 24 hours of daylight. At the Pole itself, the sun rises on March 21 and sets on September 21.
Interested?
The warranty is 4 years which includes maintenance.
I looked at the 2010 Prius with the solar roof. It was very high tech with electronics that compared very favorably with those of the Lexus...or the Lexus' electronics did not compare all that favorably against those of the Prius...hard to tell which is which.
The Prius was simply too small although when I get 10 mpg in the city with the X3, I think......
I will be happy to sell the X3 to a private party. Selling to a dealer takes too big a hit and encourages dealers to sell more obnoxious junk to the consumer. I saw a 3 series sedan (coupe maybe) selling brand new at the BMW dealership for maybe 10% more than the Prius.
BMW is losing all its cachet.
I'm amazed that house is not on stilts. If that snow doesn't melt in the next few days then it'll be there in May. Every flake they get sticks and stays around for 8+ months once you're past the next week. I like this site at Fairbanks too and saw some readings here at -59 last winter in the daytime with super dense Ice fog and with a guy standing outside his car with an outfit on that didn't look any different than you would dress for 30 degree weather. I've also seen a few 90+ temps in Fairbanks over the years in late June and July. There's a layout of what buildings are which in the cam somewhere and in winter the most cars are always parked in front of the bar. Notice the car heaters in the parking lot? BTW I have seen a few Landcruisers or LX's in this parking lot.
http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/
Here's the Barrow site if anyone is interested:
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/snowice/sea-lake-ice/barrow_webcam.html
Try having these drivers anywhere near real snow and ice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzeiMJQrvk
It is interesting to see that Barrow is 29 degrees with a light northeast breeze off the Arctic Ocean (not yet frozen this far south). The air is actually being warmed a bit due to the wind being off the unfrozen ocean. Temperatures in other stations to the southeast and southwest of Barrow were in the low 20s and upper teens this morning with no ocean breeze. It will not be long now before the ocean becomes frozen stiff as temperatures gradually get colder and colder. Incidentally, Fairbanks was 24 at 3:00 AM AK time.
Already Jaguar/Land Rover are establishing component sourcing offices in India. Soon they may be entirely "Made in India".....yessss!
I test drove a Civic Si sedan a couple times. I agree w/ your assessment. It's very fun to drive. I wouldn't at all be upset if I "ended up" w/ an Si sedan.
Probably not, but at least from what I'm seeing the Germans are steadily improving while the Japanese have either plateaued, or are slipping. Before 2003, the idea of a Lexus with a single problem was pretty much unthinkable. Then came the GX470, which had some troubles in its first year. Lexus fixed most of the issues for 2004, but Lexus was supposed to be invincible, and that proved that they were not.
Much worse was the '06 GS300 AWD, which was so bad it couldn't even get a recommendation from CR, and Lexus did not fix the problems for the '07 year. So the GS fails at every performance and comfort metric vs. its German rivals, and its not even reliable.
At this point, I'm just not interested in anything being made by Lexus or Acura. Yes their cars are (mostly) reliable, but they are also mostly ugly and boring. Infiniti is different. I'm not big on their SUVs, but the G and M, though flawed, are compelling alternatives to those looking for Japanese reliability with some European handling.
The 2011 M in particular already looks better than the new E and the upcoming 5, and we'll see how it will fare against Audi's C7 A6 due around the same time.
Other than the CTS, I don't even see a competitor to anything European, let alone a killer product from Team America. The new SRX is crap, and Lincolns (as always) are just overpriced Fords.
Hmmm. No.
I usually agree with your posts, but I'm just not as upbeat on the new Infiniti M appearance as you seem to be. Yes, I recall the interior is very well done, and credit is given for that...but the exterior appearance is much too boring, and not nearly as attractive as the German competitors, IMO. there were others here that also expressed a lack of excitement generated by the (yawn) new Infiniti M.
That said, I'm sure it will be a decent purchase for someone who actually likes the way it looks.
TM
We may have to just agree to disagree here. The current M is not a great design by any stretch. It's better than the RL, maybe about the same as the GS. I'm not a fan though of either the new E or the new 5.
The E's grill is tired, the LED strips look stupid (the twin foglights are a slight improvement), the headlights look like Lexus copies, the hood ornament should've died out long ago, and the rear end is just kind of a shapeless block, like the back of a Camry.
I'm assuming that the new 5 series sedan will look just like the 5 GT, which is not attractive at all. Given a choice of the three, I would take the new M over the 5 and E in a second, on exterior styling alone. When you compare the interiors, its that much easier.
Fool me once....
As I said, the Japanese will have to give it away. They benefit from having a population of hyper consumers who will nit pick products to death and then complain loudly about them. The Europeans have consumers who think that having a car that drives well necessarily means it is unreliable and expensive. I do not think that is true. People put up with too much for too long and that kind of thinking leads to the disaster in Detroit.
Yes I agree that the German3 reliability will never catch up with the Japanese unless the japanese are falling. This is due to the Japanese' obsession over perfection.
OTOH the Germans are still the pioneer in technology because they never stop researching. And their pursuit of prefection is aimed at another areas like steering, suspension, etc.
The Americans will NEVER catch up with the Germans or Japanese unless they can get over their arrogance thinking they can fool us customers, and start again from the bottom. Right now, apart from a few gems they have left I'm ranking the D3 below the Korean Hyundai. They played it dirty, offering neither reliability nor technology.
That said, I agree with you about BMW. Their service has been poor lately and it's getting even worse. Audi's service quality is great, alas not the product reliability. MB otoh seems to have started to learn it's lesson.
I was reluctant in selling it as long as all those services costs were kept under warrnatny.
That at least was my intent anyways. But I could not wait four full years.
The BMW 335i befan affecting my life more and more. Frequently canceling or postponing client appointments with the same excuse: "I cant make it because I have to go to the BMW dealership to get my car repaired and to pick up a rental."
I was stuck many times on the road during winter because of traction control malfunctions and winter tires that refused to perfrom their duties in Toronto snow.
The cost of run flat tires here are about Canadian $750 to $800. All eight of my winter plus summer tires had to be replaced after 25K miles of driving. To pay $6400 on rubber alone for 25K miles of driving is ludicrous.
Recurring electrical window, sunroof, hose pump, traction control glitches, loose plastic moulding, ventilation and many other problems just added many gray hairs on my head.and keeping it another day would have given me perpetual frown marks on my forehead.
Speeding tickets was a nuisance but that was not my prime motive for selling my BMW.
I sold my BMW 335i through Auto Trader and got a better price than I had expected. Eight thousand dollars more than what Toyota was willing to offer as a trade in.
My conscience bleeds for the poor fellow who bought my car. Today I am responsible for that man's many miseries. When he asked me how did I like my car? What do you think I said? The truth? Ofcourse not. Otherwise the only place that would take my car would be a scrap yard.
My Prius has the solar sunroof and it is quite helpful during hot sunny days. Unfortunate the solar sunroof is kind of like my backyard swimming pool---useful only during those rare warm days of sunshine in Toronto.
dont give me this about Lexus lemons.
You cant compare a Lexus lemon with my BMW lemon.
That is like comparing honey sweetened lemonade with lemonade made with rotten lemons.
There is no bloody way a car like my BMW 335i would have left a factory from Japan. NO WAY!!!!
And Lexusguy what is this fascination of yours for a Infiniti M?
That picture looks hideous when compared to a MB E. Low quality good looking German versus a higher quality hideous looking Japanese model? What a horrific choice.
As far as the entry level, the G would take my dough this time around over the 3'er. Only the 1'er would be able to top that decision if interior room was thrown out with the baby.
Regards,
OW
To each his own on this one.
Regards,
OW
Probably not. As I've said, if my S6 was anything like your BMW, you can bet I would've forced Audi to buy it back, and I would probably be done with Germany for another decade.
For a GS300 AWD to be unreliable though, on top of the rest of its failures, is simply inexcusable. There is no redeeming feature to that car. Nota one.
What's not to like about the M? It at least has some styling this time, which is more than can be said of the current car. The M can match the Germans on tech feature-for-feature, and yet their control system is simple and easy to use. You can set a preset by pushing a preset button, rather than say, submenu 12 in iDrive.
The 5 series is ugly, expensive, and cumbersome to use. Regardless of what you think of the M's styling, its much more affordable than the 5 with similar handling, and much easier to interface with. It's also one of the most reliable cars in the segment. What's the problem here? Since when does anyone with styling as a top priority buy Japanese anyway? Did you buy a Prius because of how it looks? I certainly hope not.
At the same time we read these recent posts about the greatness of Japanese reliability, we find that those toyota engineers have missed the boat on some rather common sense areas of safety. Perhaps not a reliability question, but safety is even more important in my book. I'd rather the car give me an extra visit to the shop than a visit to the emergency room, or to a body bag.
Government issues 'urgent' warning to remove Toyota, Lexus floor mats
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington
-- Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to recall nearly 3.9 million vehicles -- the largest U.S. recall in the company's history -- as the government issued an "urgent" warning to remove driver floor mats because of the danger of inadvertent acceleration.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged owners of the Toyota and Lexus vehicles to immediately remove driver's side floor mats because of safety risks. Toyota is in the process of submitting the formal recall documents to the government; its largest recall before this was a 2005 recall of 900,000 vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that under certain conditions, the mats from 2004-2009 model year vehicles could cause the accelerator to stick in the full open position, which may result in high speeds and serious crashes.
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The agency strongly recommended removing driver-side mats and not replacing them with any other mat. NHTSA has received more than 100 confirmed reports of accelerator pedal clearance issues which provide the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position.
"This is an urgent matter," LaHood said. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration."
Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, said an Aug. 28 crash that killed four -- including an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer who was at the wheel of the 2009 Lexus when it plunged over an embankment and burst into flames -- may have been the result of sudden acceleration linked to a floor mat.
Mark Saylor and his wife Cleofe, both 45, their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala, and 38-year-old brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, were killed after reporting to a 911 operator that they could not stop their Lexus ES 350, as it careened down Route 125 in Santee, Calif.
link title
TM
When you mention the front grill, the M's grill is boring... obviously designed with a computer graphics program that tweaked some horizontal lines... nothing that imaginative going on. That said, it is plenty neutral and not offensive, and not the horror of the Acura grill, but it can not lay any claim to the legendary icon that the Mercedes grill has evolved into.
The E and 5-Series have their flaws, too, but overall the M still looks like just another Japanese car that is "trying". Frankly, I'm not a fan of any of 'em.
I do agree, however, that this latest Infiniti M is one of the better looking Japanese sedans, and that it is an improvement over the one it replaces. I think it speaks well for the design direction that Infiniti is headed. Among the Japanese makers, I agree with you that Infiniti is setting the better example.
Add the Koreans into the mix and I'd have to say that Hyundai may very well be the one to keep an eye on.
TM
I dont know if the floor mat issue is applicable to my 2010 Prius?
We are talking floor mats here not engineering. So what is the cure? Remove the driver floor mat? Presto and the problem is solved just like that!
OK I will confess BMW makes better floor mats than Toyota. Fortunately my wife still has BMW floor mats and that definitely gives me "floor mat envy".
The Prius has the lowest coefficient of drag of any mass volume car. The styling is not about aesthetics but about form following function. Which I find kind of traditionally Germanic.
Remember the aerodynamic Audi 5000S of the 1980s. Aerodynamics not bling was the styling rule for that car and the rule for the Prius today.
Yes there is a certain beauty about a car that is solely designed for function and not merely to impress people with its sexy curves and its oversized monstrous grille like many European cars today (hint: Audi today unlike Audi from yesteryears).
Now I got low grip tires on snow and floor mats to worry about with my Prius. :sick:
I will see how those low grip tires perform on snow and if they are unimpressive then I will just have to buy winter Blizzak tires.
TM
I find it interesting that when I took my car into Audi for a non-routine oil change that there was a couple software upgrades. Had to flash the CPU or something. Service rep didn't really say what it solved, but after I looked it up, had something to do with the intake manifold. Can't say I've noticed any difference since then, but would have appreciated a notice that it's time to take the car in.
Also observed from Audi forums, can't positively confirm, but if one had their car 'chipped', it'd have to be redone after this corrective measure.
I think there is middle ground here. A car designed fully for function & aeros is beautiful for engineers, but not so much the buying public. I'll sac some drag for some style anytime. IMO Audi's style is the best It's ever been, w/a little Italian swagger, yet still remaining somehow conservative among the general public.
I haven't seen anything yet from Japan that I'd aspire to style wise. The G coupe is about as close as I can think, but I can't shake the feeling that I could crush the exterior while washing the car.
Headed up to MD tomorrow for Pop's 70th. Bringing 10 lbs of local jumbo shrimp, 5 lbs of scallops & 6lbs worth of local grouper fillets. Bro's in the MD area are bringing crabs galllore & other local goodies. Should be a good time!
I'm not sure Detroit has anything to do with this. Whole nother can of worms.
Possibly middle ground again? German cars had the rep of drivers cars with bugaboos. Japanese 'tried' to emulate the German car experience & the reliability took shots.
Perhaps there may be truth to compromise for performance v reliability.
Infiniti seems to have the best performers of the Japanese, w/better reliability v the Germans, I guess, but still fall a tad short. A good compromise for the wallet strapped, but without such limitations, why sell yourself short? Life is short after all.
It's all I can do not to convince the wife that she needs an R8.
I can't remember where I read it but some nut was seriously asking other people on the net if he should consider buying a BMW X5 that had been lemon lawed. I guess I thought that cars returned under lemon laws would find a home in the junk yard....silly me.
I was wondering if the solar roof on the Prius had to have direct sunlight to work. I thought it was quite the expensive option but interesting. Honestly, after the last month of car nightmares, I am looking longingly at ads for Corollas....it has come to that.
2004 530(d) sedan was performant (for her size) and reliable; moreover she was safe enough to keep my family and myself with no injuries when I crashed her against the motorway rails by an accident of which the car was not guilty.
2008 335(d) coupé is brilliant. Both in performance and reliability. And, this is so even with the RFTs she wear.
2009 118(d) hatched. A gem, performant enough and sober like a hermit.
All of them were/are fuel economic (regarding their segments) with very low CO2 emissions. 118d was the world green car of the year a couple of years ago.
I am aware I have kept any of these cars only up to four years at maximum. Thus, I'm only speaking from my limited experience (but also from references from other owners). Enough badge for me.
Notice I am not saying that there are no other cars more reliable than German cars or that BMWs cannot be lemons or bad designed cars. For instance, X3 has no credit over here.
Speaking about badge, one can find the streets plenty of BMWs (5-Series), Audis, MBs and VWs used as licensed taxi cabs; taxi cabs are usually owned by the driver, who has a cab or just a small fleet of them; they don't belong to big companies over here. I say this because, when looking for reliability, owners-to-be have always in mind which cars are used as taxi cabs.
Regards,
Jose
I agree with that José. I have been silent on this for a while, but it's time for a balanced view. BMW sells many vehicles to many satisfied customers and is a very successful company. They are not at the top of the reliability chart, but most BMWs are terrific cars.
My 135i convertible has been one of the most pleasureable and fun-to-drive vehicles I've ever owned, and I've owned a more-than-typical number of cars, as you know.
So far, it has had one unscheduled visit for service. This was to replace the HPFP, which was a known issue. Otherwise perfect. The twin turbo engine that Dewey used to praise, is awesome... absolutely deserving of the international award for best engine in the world. Incredible full 300 lb. torque delivery starting from a staggering low 1400 RPM... it's simply fantastic.
BMW's sport seats are some of the most comfortable seats in the industry, and I can't give them enough praise.
This BMW has been a delight to own. I drive along the coast with the top down, almost on a daily basis, rowing through the gears, and quite frankly, there just isn't another car I'd rather own... except maybe an R8 Spyder... hahaha... and I do think about an M3 now and then.
Gosh, I think I'll wax the Bimmer today!
TM
After posting that, I was reminded that Honda/Acura Canada are playing dirty with their Canadian pricing. They are one of those few car companies that refuse to honor warranties for cars bought from the US, usually at huge discounts. So, the Si is fun and I liked it, but for this reason, not on my potential buy list any longer.
That is like comparing honey sweetened lemonade with lemonade made with rotten lemons.
You are hilarious...
LOL. And just think... once you remove your floor mats, you can floor it with even more confidence!
Curious... if available, would you have preferred the car with a stick instead of the mandatory automatic?
TM
Warning: Long rambling post ahead:
I remember when the Datsun 240Z (Nissan product, of course) made its appearance... for me, it was one of the most significant moments in automobile history. In some sense, from my perspective, it really bookmarked the tsunami that was coming from Japan. The Honda Prelude and the Mazda RX7 were eventful as well. They weren't necessarily volume cars, but they were symbolic of a major cool factor associated with the Japanese cars... beyond just the dependable economy car image that was more typical in those times.
Back then, Japanese cars and luxury really didn't belong in the same sentence. The European cars ruled that category. As I recall it, the first attempt towards a luxury car from Japan sold in our market was from Nissan, with the entry of the Maxima, and then the copy-cat Cressida from Toyota. It might be worth mentioning that Toyota also tried to copy-cat the iconic Z-car from Nissan by introducing the Supra.
But, Toyota really hit the nail on the head with the introduction of the Lexus line. The first LS was more like a Japanese E-class, yet it was so good that it was compared with the S-class, and no matter what anyone thought of the car, it overflowed with value, and expected reliability... which it ultimately lived up to.
Prestige is something that takes many, many years to build, and Lexus is the only Japanese marque to have achieved a genuine level of prestige. The Europeans manufacture certain models that have prestige. I am not saying that I personally need or care anything about prestige, but only pointing out that some of the European cars have it.
IMO, many of the Japanese cars were essentially about cheaper, yet more reliable vehicles. They seemed to be flimsier than European counterparts, IMO. They were, and are, fairly reliable, but their materials often seem cheap. Lots of very thin sheet metal and tons of plastic.
Nowadays, the Japanese have added nicer and more luxurious models to their usual fleet of cheap flimsy vehicles, and at the same time, the Europeans have offered more economical models. For example, it was a very big deal when Mercedes introduced the C-Class to our market.
So... the "difference" that you question isn't as profound as it once was, but it still exists, IMO. The driving dynamics that have been discussed at tremendous lengths here for years, are very different between the German cars and the Japanese cars. IMO, the trophy still goes to the Germans, and Europeans in general, for the superior handling. Yes, the Japanese build reliable cars, and that is definitely noteworthy and important, as cars should be reliable... but the driving experience is a major factor.
As I get older, or should I say "mature"... LOL... I am more and more inclined to be more practical about my perspective of cars. And also more responsible. Responsible to the environment, and my own financials as well. That's why I see the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius as two really smart choices.
If my BMW should fail me at some point in the future, as Dewey's BMW did to him, I will probably go the same route as he did. In fact, I am already just waiting for a very cool electric or hybrid vehicle to come out that I can't resist.
And that brings up one other point. The Japanese get the credit for taking a global leadership position regarding the design and production of technologically advanced fuel efficient models. Sure, the Germans will come up with their own mouse traps, but whether or not they prove to be better won't ever change the fact that they were the followers and not the leaders in this particularly important time in history.
It's the same old thing... High performance and prestige are mostly European. Reliability and value, and "futuristic" are mostly Asian. But, the boundaries will overlap more and more. Examples of the changing landscape to consider are the VW concept that gets 171 mpg, and the Nissan GTR. I'm sure there are better examples, but those come to mind.
The American domestic cars are a mixed bag. Cadillac and Lincoln on the side of prestige and luxury, and cars like Cobalt on the side of economy... although the Cobalt is a POS. Not really that much better than the old Vega and Pinto... IMO... just more domestic junk. The frustration in all of that is that Buick and Caddy and a couple of Fords prove that it is possible to build a decent domestic vehicle, but so much in the process goes terribly wrong, and that's partly why the American manufacturers are in the terrible shape they are in, although I think Ford has a decent future ahead.
Anyway, enough of the rambling..... I posted a warning.
German Audi R8 Spyder... is still my dream car. Japanese Toyota Prius or Honda CR-V (or something similar) is still what I actually, in real life, see in my driveway after my Bimmer days are over. But, we'll have to see what really happens.
TM
...As I recall it, the first attempt towards a luxury car from Japan sold in our market was from Nissan, with the entry of the Maxima, and then the copy-cat Cressida from Toyota. It might be worth mentioning that Toyota also tried to copy-cat the iconic Z-car from Nissan by introducing the Supra. ...
Actually, I believe the Cressida came along a year or two before the Maxima and was a much better car, I might add.
... IMO, many of the Japanese cars were essentially about cheaper, yet more reliable vehicles. They seemed to be flimsier than European counterparts, IMO. They were, and are, fairly reliable, but their materials often seem cheap. Lots of very thin sheet metal and tons of plastic. ...
Not really. The Japanese cars of the 70s/early-80s were notoriously crappy. The Toyota and Datsun mini pickups come oozing to the top of mind! LOL Not to mention the Tercel and B210. You could get a sunroof AND an open view of the road below your feet! LOL :surprise:
Anyways... American manufacturers can build some nice stuff. The CTS being a prime example, and Buick is making unbelievable strides. Here's hoping the Velite comes to fruition some day; and I don't even like convertibles. Check out Chevy's new Equinox and Cadillac's new SRX. The STS "coulda been a contenda," but they made it so horribly bland that it just faded to obscurity in the eyes of luxury buyers. The XLR? Excellent idea executed horribly (or perfectly depending on how you choose to interpret "executed.") And I SOOO have my fingers crossed that FIAT or whoever it was that bought Chrysler will follow through with machines such as the Firepower! and the ME Four-Twelve. If the latter isn't an aspirational supercar, I don't know what is!