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I will want an economy car for my daughter in 5 years, hopefully those C-class leases are still around.
What else would IS buyers upgrade to?
Have you driven an IS250? Nothing like an IS350, an upgrade itself. The engine really makes that car.
But not the brakes nor the throttle!
BOY do you ever apply double-standards.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101214/COPY01/312149952/129- 2#ixzz18DRdJ4eZ
Don't shoot the messenger, if you disagree please call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES.
The A3 is more of a wagon, while the Golf is a hatch back. I think the Golf is slightly bigger. And not so low to the ground. The Lexus HS 250h is smaller than the Camry, Prius or Corolla. Not sure who the target market is. Maybe the luxury Yugo buyer. The A3 and Golf both have a lot more room than the HS 250H and a reputation for topping 50 MPG on the highway. In our shrinking economy the World market is what counts. Lexus took the words of PT Barnum and proved them with the American car buyer.
So it's a clone of the old Golf.
Just get a Golf!
If I'm salaried, the Prius, to be entirely honest.
$2k or so less than an A3 TDI. I bet it outsells the TDI models. Any takers? Loser buys a beer at the New York Auto Show in April 2011.
So I guess that proves that Audi gets the old designs from VW. I would not buy an Audi unless they bring the A4 Quattro Allroad 2.0L TDI to this country. Only thing Audi has that I like.
Right today there is not a vehicle sold in the USA I would waste my cash on. Asian, Korean, German or domestic. I drive my Nissan Frontier so much that the battery in the Sequoia is dead every time I go to drive it. It sits in the garage for two weeks and the battery goes dead. POC
Outselling the A3 TDI should not be that difficult. VW sold 4304 TDI models last month so that would be a target for them to shoot for. The A3 set an Audi record for sales in November and 70% were TDI models. It is not what I would call a big seller at 788 units. Audi had their biggest November ever for US Sales. Interesting to me is the fact that Luxury car sales are doing very well.
WITHOUT briging up the Saylor family...
Tell me (because I am real curious) about Katsuki Watanabe, and the 100,000mile comment...what's up with that? I just want to know, what is up with this guy that had you mention him?
thanks!
So IS buyers just upgrade the engine, where other entry model buyers upgrade the model. That's an interesting strategy. Of course as Lexus doesn't have as wide of a competitive range as its peers, I guess thats how its gotta be.
Or maybe it's a huge conspiracy against the blandest brand in the world...that's it.
I'm thinking some may consider him Toyota's Roger Smith???
I like that model as well, but TrueDelta has reported some early reliability issues, so I'd wait until that was sorted out.
What I like about TrueDelta is they ask for a VIN and ask you to check in with mileage every couple of months, so it's not just a survey once a year. They also publish the earliest reliability results.
Yeah, small niche. Lexus is aiming for 1000 or so units per month for the CT. So they hope to outsell the A3 in all powetrain configurations, I suppose.
I wouldn't compare the CT to all TDIs, because you'd have to compare all hybrids instead.
I've had good look with used, and bad luck with used. It's a toss up.
So IS buyers just upgrade the engine
I didn't say that - the data we have doesn't break it down. The cheap lease you mentioned was an IS250, so anything else in the Lexus lineup is an upgrade from that.
I'd say the same thing about a base C300. I bet a lot come back for that C350, which is probably what they really wanted in the first place. Not sure if you've driven the new C300 but the ones I've sampled (including on the Summit Point track at an Audi event) were decidedly underwhelming.
Lots of these are entry points to a luxury brand but not really special cars - A4 sans Dynamic suspension, base C300, IS250 AWD - all unimpressive.
Period.
But something that automatically performs a task that requires skill - and is actually a part of license testing - seems a bit different. And really sums up a brand in its own way.
There are several issues with the model. Then VW has that distinction it would seem. I would have to have an AWD or at least 2 more inches of road clearance. When it is running nothing competes with it overall. I think VW would have been wise to call it by its European name the Golf Estate. Jetta has a lot of baggage to contend with in past models.
Doesn't bother me as much as laser cruise control, which makes me nauseated as a passenger, because the driving is never as smooth as a human.
Toyota part-owns Subaru but hopefully they let Subaru be Subaru and bring over that diesel.
How many distronic or equivalent cars are you riding in? I've never experienced it, don't plan to. I'd be almost kind of ashamed to need a car to park itself for me.
Oh yeah, and 1000 units per month for the CT? For how many months? I wonder how the HS is selling.
But let's be honest, the average Joe (or Jane) is going to park-by-braille until it squeezes in. Or pay for garage parking. So it's not really required.
How many distronic or equivalent cars are you riding in?
Once was enough. Blecht. Gimmicky and vomit inducing.
12,000 CTs per year is ambitious, but I think it'll outsell the HS because the price is lower and more importantly MPG is higher.
How is the HS selling anyway? Not exactly a home run.
The last thing we need is to add more emphasis on parallel parking.
But let's have some fun with this. Say there is one spot on the street, between your fintail and, say, a classic Benz gullwing, both mint, 100-point condition.
Would you rather watch:
1. A Lexus LS with self-park assist a person in to that spot, or...
2. The "spoiled" lady you keep referring to in her Lexus, parking in that same spot without any assistance.
Trick question. LOL
MKZ hybrid is 21% of sales, 2567 total for MKZ means 539 MKZ hybrids:
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=33592
HS sold 788, down from last year but easily beating Lincoln:
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/12/01/lexus-november-2010-sales-report/
Not too shabby.
You don't think there's a parking component in a Skip Barber course? Maybe the skidding one with the handbrake....
Ohio hasn't used parallel parking in there driving test for at least ten years or so.
Really eh? I have driven them twice, and had ruled them out even before I drove them. First time was in the first Murano. No thanks. Second time was in an 08 Altima. No thanks, but i could see how they get the better FE numbers on level terrain, but you just confirmed exactly what I suspected in hilly terrain. Sounds to me like EPA was diligent enough with their test conditions, allowing for all of us who live with hills and mtns.
Flat fours and sixes in the Subes are quite torquey. They must be a real treat as an oil burner though. But the revs you mentioned wouldn't be due to not enough torque, it sounds to me more like it needed a software upgrade, or something even bigger. I hate all autos anyway, but I'd take ANY old geared auto over any CVT...even if it did have stepped 'gear' positions. No thank uuuu.
Toyota decline
788 a month is actually a lot more than I expected, though.
My thick chrome bumpers vs a plastic iso-pod. My car won't feel a thing :lemon: But no matter, the aimless RX driver will be too chicken to try it anyway.
And I do like how my stereotype of the typical driver of that designer handbag on wheels (or Faberge egg, I like that one too) still resounds.
You can actually get a 6 speed manual Outback, though. Nice to have that increasingly rare option. Certain models give you paddle shifters for the CVT, so you can choose from 6 simulated fixed ratios. You may prefer that.
Do kids even learn how to drive stick any more? Sad. Mine will.
Interesting, so no longer a requirement, then.
Not to mention most folks will simply find a garage, or in the case of luxury cars - valet parking.
This is consistent with what you see in this thread. Love/hate.
My theory is that most of the people that say they would avoid them weren't buying Toyotas in the first place (Gary excepted).
They were the first upscale hybrid sedans, prices are similar, basically direct competitors.
788 a month is actually a lot more than I expected, though
It was a lot more last year. Actually if you add MKZ and HS sales this November, the total is close to HS sales from last November. So it seems like the segment is not that big, and not growing. More competitors mean each one gets a smaller slice of that little pie.
Still, Lexus kept about 2/3rds of the pie, newcomer Lincoln took about 1/3rd or so.
The big question is will the CT cannibalize the HS? Priced lower and more efficient, it could win (do more volume) or lose (cannibalize sales from its sedan sibling).
I'll admit that's funny, but M-B sponsors fashion week, BMW has Martha Stewart pitching the beige interior of her new X3, and direct mailings from Audi and Jaguar fall just short of hilarious.
I subscribe to all of those so that I'm invited to their driving events. LOL
I don't know of the CT would cannibalize the HS, it might even go after the strippo IS instead.
The Stewart beige thing is very funny, really belongs in a Toyota product. What's more beige than a RX?
The DMV needs to test drivers for Valet Parking then. :shades:
Isn't KBB more backward looking, and JDP more forward looking?
It seems that Toyota is still highly regarded, but there trend is downward, whereas GM is lowly regarded, but trending up. In some ways the trend is more important that the absolute perception, since it portends the future.
If the CT is the cheapest Lexus it may indeed hurt the IS250. In fact, Lexus should drop that model and offer only the IS350 for the next-gen IS. That 2.5l V6 (yes, it's a V6 not a 4 banger) is weaksauce.
Oddly enough Infiniti followed suit and now sells a G25, also a V6, not the 4 banger from the Altima. Strange.
Then again, BMW is talking about 4 bangers in their entry-level cars, and even FWD bimmers (yikes!).
I dunno, maybe velvet-lined, soft-touch beige.
Beige to me means generic, the RX doesn't feel that way. It *drives* that way, sure, like an isolation chamber.
I know you call those owners selfish, but I disagree. They're comfortable as it gets for passengers, dull for drivers. If anything, they're unselfish. They pick the car that coddles their family, and sacrifice personal driving enjoyment.
Just my 2 cents'.
LOL
Way back when I used to valet...we loved giving the new guy a Saab and see how long it took for him to figure out he had to put it in reverse to get the key out!
Or let him drive the Porsche 911 and try to find out where the key goes!