Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
Options
Comments
This car, if bought in huge numbers, will turn the tide of our war against global warming. Bravo NISSAN !!!
First, city cars have had only limited success in the US. And make no mistake, that's all the Leaf - or any EV - can be until the range tops at least 250MPC and charge times are reduced to under 15 minutes.
Real-world example: While I live & work in the Chicago suburbs I occasionally have to go to our downtown Chicago office. The round trip is 88 miles. The Leaf is unsuitable to this commute unless I have guaranteed access to a charger downtown. After all, the Leaf's max range is achieved with minimal accessory usage (radio, HVAC, wipers, lights, rear defrost, etc.) and that minimal usage is simply not compatible with the drive. Especially in winter since range is additionally reduced in cold weather.
Second is the price. After $7500 in government incentives (which won't be permanent) the Leaf is still over $25K for a base model. Contrast with, say, the Fiesta which starts at just over $13K or Nissan's own Versa which can be had in stripped form for under $10K. It'll take a lot of years of duty - probably more than the vehicle's useful life - to even come close to making up the difference in cost.
Don't forget the home charger needs a licensed electrician to install. Add another $1200-2000 up front for the charger & dedicated 240V circuit. Some consumers would have to add even more as they might need to upgrade their home's circuit box and possibly even the feed from the utility to the home. A 100 amp panel is not going to be able to support a home + a Leaf.
Third, if you park on the street & not in a driveway or garage, forget it. The charge cable won't reach from a house to the street and even if it did you'd have to run it across a sidewalk, which may be illegal as it could block or impede sidewalk usage by wheelchairs.
And fourth: The charger installation will take the Leaf off the list of many folks who rent. Unless a landlord agrees to subsidize the cost (and what's in it for them?), a tenant would be stuck paying for the charger & either leaving it or paying for it to be removed when they move.
The Leaf will sell. There are some consumers who are homeowners with garages who have the income and value assumed eco-friendliness over cost. But as a value proposition, the Leaf fails.
The above are issues for all EVs, but specific to Nissan there's also some history to consider. Nissan has not previously supported their own hybrid particularly well. After being on the market for over 4 years, the Altima Hybrid is still only available in a handful of states.
I am sure other municipal services would fit in the same catagory.
But, for normal users, very limited, and you would have to have another car (or easy access to one).
I suppose if you live in the city and mostly stay local, it would be fine (with a garage to charge it) as long as you don't mind renting whenever you need to go someplace out of town.
so I guess a Leaf + zipcar would work? Just seems a very expensive solution for what you get.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
So my city is doing a green energy push and is trying to get people to sign up for alternative suppliers. The one being promoted is providing wind energy.
The windmill farm is in Texas. :confuse:
MB could do commercials of both men and women, doctors, lawyers, indian chiefs (casinos), business owners coming to their offices/businesses and parking their MB in prominent spots. Also, driving to country club, fancy restaurant, resort, etc. And of course, driving up a long driveway to their large house, parking in front in circular driveway with fountain in view.
MB wants more a performance image right now, everyone knows the stuffed suit image and it is boring.
I mean, I wish I could be a trophy wife.. sounds like a good gig..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
It must be nice to spend like there's no tomorrow and answer to nothing, indeed...but at the same time, the selling yourself bit can be troublesome :shades:
Anyway, Mercedes commercials are stupid and insulting to the vast majority of their existing and potential customers. Who in their right mind would drive a Mercedes on dry lake bed, kicking up dust, driving/sliding sideways. These commercials depict Mercedes drivers as dopes.
Who is insulted by a car flying around on an empty lake bed, unable to harm anyone? Really? I can't name them. Judging by the ability MB has to sell each and every one of the $60K-$200K++ performance cars it brings to this continent, there might be some appeal to showing a machine of that marque in a show off setting. And judging by healthy sales of more sedate MB offerings, the stuffed suit and McMansion crowd isn't offended either.
If I want to see stupid, it's claiming a kid who was into bikes would somehow be into Lexus ES when he is a 30-something, or how being a spoiled princess girl who now drives an RX is somehow a positive aspiration.
Robots drive them too :shades:
On a "stupid" update, saw a Cadillac commercial over weekend with the car being driven on a dry lakebed, with dust/sand kicking up and then sliding with front wheels cocked. As my grandmother (I think it was her) used to say, "monkey see, monkey do". Besides teen-age boys, who possibly could these commercials appeal to?
I'd say the Lexus IS would've been more appropriate for the kid on the Big Wheel whereas the RX marketed toward the spoiled princess with a pony was spot-on! Fortunately, there aren't too many spoiled trophy wives in my neighborhood. The guys I know wouldn't tolerate that selfish entitled attitude for a New York second.
Edit for link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BarYZdG1Qs
Eek, it's worse than I thought. Those may as well have been Lexus' cars.
Did you miss the ribbon wrapped around the Benz ML at the end?
Now who is the "whipped spineless yuppie" gifting his "trophy wife"?
How is that any different?
Youthful actions sell. Elderly actions do not.
In about 2-3 weeks we should see Lexus roll out their latest version of Christmas commercials. Maybe they could extend the story line after Christmas morning showing the wife with the RX at the riding stable. That would be good with a snow scene and the wife bringing the horse next to the RX. Borrow a little from the Bud Clydesdales walking in the snow.
Big wheel kid definitely should have had an IS-F,not a pinnacle of blandness ES.
My only gripe about the lake bed would be having to clean the car afterwards.
I'm much more offended by those putzing along at 5 under in the left lane...
Now, Citroen could legitimately show a commercial of a Citroen driving hilly, mountainous gravel roads kicking up dust and doing a lot of sideways sliding. That would be believable if run in Europe where citizens appreciate watching that kind of driving.
Road cars are sent on speed runs at dry lake beds.
Ford Uses "Rant Ads" to Call Out The Competition, Chevy Responds With Humor (Edmunds Daily)
A Buick Roadmaster is, and will always will be, cooler than a beige Highlander. FACT: it's RWD. FACT: wood paneling. FACT: Looks awesome. FACT: Corvette LT1 V8 Power. FACT: It's not a Toyota.
Did you see the picture of the red Mercedes 450 wagon somebody posted?
I saw that W116 wagon yeah, there were a few customizers making those in the 70s. I like the W126 wagon too:
Cooler than any Highlander!
In their minds, the Highlander falls in the latter category.
I'm not saying I agree with that, far from it, but that's just how it is here.
You bring together a group of auto enthusiasts and they all long for a station wagon with a turbo diesel and a manual transmission only with a stiff suspension. Great, except they'd sell about 3 of them in America.
This is where we live, we need to face it.
Heck, I'd take a nice full-size wagon over any SUV or crossover. In fact, my first car was a 1968 Buick Special Deluxe wagon - the Sportwagon's smaller sister. I sure miss that car!
And that was with 3 kids! No car seats of course (since no one used them I don't think, and I was the youngest anyway).
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
As if there weren't enough issues with space, we stopped in Illinois to visit a Navy buddy of my dad's. While there, the folks bought an old milk can to take with us - so I had to share space with that, as well!
A neighbor down the street from us had an early 70's Plymouth Satellite wagon .... white with fake woodgrain. I don't recall any other wagons on our block, though I'm sure there were some.
I still liked wagons. Image just wasn't important to me, still isn't. Function over form.
The Highlander is a good seller because it does exactly what it's intended to do, get the family back and forth from their destination in comfort, reliably, and while getting very respectable (if not class leading) fuel mileage.
It's been Toyotas mission since the beginning. And in typical Toyota fashion, cars like the Highlander are designed because Toyota understands its intended market and more or less... nails it.
I'm an enthusiast and Toyotas do very little to crank up my excitement meter, but if my wife wanted a Highlander as a commuter and we had kids, I would certainly give it a chance. Against its competitors I think it stacks up extremely well. :shades:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/08/mercedes-benz-confirms-production-of-cls-shoo- ting-brake/
Even though I'm not a fan of the open-mouth grille, the profile looks good and the shape actually looks fairly practical.
I wonder if they'll still do an E-class wagon?