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GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda...Who will sell you your next car?
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They are both pushed by the government as needed. One for safety the other emissions.
The Smart cars are selling like hotcakes in Canada. Talked to a dealer in Victoria and an owner. Cool little cars that get an honest 70+ MPG city driving. No way to sneak them into the USA as far as I can tell.
Hey, I've owned just a smattering of Japanese cars in my lifetime and about 40 Domestics - so I'm not white hot, but I like domestic product, and consider it superior in some applications. Occasionally though, I have a need the Japanese fill better. My 89 Honda Civic. My 96 Infiniti, now my Lexus.
But look - I was at the auction today. Ran across a "4 holer", so I gave it a close inspection. Now, I've owned Buicks in the past, and liked them. They represented style, class and success even a decade ago. But I'm sorry, I believe they have Oldsmobiled this car and doomed it to oblivian, at least in this country. It's not pretty anymore. The rear end particularly is grotesque to me. The interior is about up to Buick standards, but that's not exceptional. 4 holes in the sides again is a nice touch. They should have never let go of that tradition. Changing the name was just stupid. Most stupid move they could have made. Park Avenue said exactly the right thing. Lucerne isn't even a North American name, it's French! Not exactly a patriotic connotation at this time, since the French despise us.
In summary, I would throw this car away in a heartbeat. It's probably a pretty good car, with that venerable 3800 Briggs & Stratton engine, better with the Chevy Truck V-8. Not what a Buick used to be to me.
The new one due out in Dec and then Mar will take an additional 200K units from the detroiters somewhere. Ram? F150? GM? All three will lose some units. Which is most vulnerable?
I am not sure how one could dodge the rules and get a Canadian car into the US...lots of cool grey market imports in BC, as the restriction is 15 years, not 500 years or whatever people are blessed with south of the border
Well, it's done all the time, fin... Not a huge deal if you put them through the DOT inspection - some need a speedo conversion, many these days don't. You use that funky kph thingy up there ya know..... I've bought several Canadian cars at the auction for friends - trucks mainly.
Engines available: 5.7-liter i-Force V8, 4.0-liter V6 and the legendary 4.7-liter i-Force V8
Here are some pictures:
Looks like a worthy Ram fighter to me
Of course, I'm an oddball.....I realize the rest of y'all aren't like me....
I was talking about grey market imports that are kosher in Canada but not here. You can go to Van and on any given day see a Skyline or a Honda Beat or a Toyota Century or a Euro model E class etc...those are the ones that wouldn't find a home to the south.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
-Loren
> It is also in the refrigerator section
> in Safeway super markets.
It's the latter part that bothers me about its name. Would you like to drive a supposedly executive car that's named like cheap cheese? :surprise:
LaCrosse, too, just doesn't feel right. Especially with its sporting connotations. It doesn't sound athletic. And how big is the lacrosse scene these days anyway? It's not exactly a prominent sport, but then, there couldn't be a Buick Football.
I don't understand why people moan about Buick's new names. Buick has always had mock-pretentious names (Riviera? LeSabre? Park Avenue?), and the new ones don't even sound that different (LaCrosse-LeSabre, for example). I think the main reason for the change was because the names were getting such a bad stigma. The LeSabre was the pensioner-express, the Century was a cheapo rental car.
Think, back in the late 80's/early 90's, the Reatta was pitched as a halo car, and I hear it could have had a much more interesting/premium engine than the 3800. But, of course, GM executives shot that down and the justification was that "Buick was seeking an older, more mature demographic". Look where that got them. Ten years down the track, Buick was trying to shed its image and make itself more appealing to younger people.
Another example of a lack of hindsight in 80's GM management.
Still hate the Lucerne name, and hate LaCrosse even more. The Styling of the LaCross is less objectionable to me, but also unremarkable to be sure. The LaCrosse that impressed the heck out of me was the Asian version they're selling in China. If they brought that one here - they would remake Buick in one year!!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
If you have already seen this comparison please ignore it.
Honda Accord V6:
US: $29,211 (including 7% sales tax)
Taiwan: $32,697 (including sales tax)
Difference: 89%
Toyota Camry V6:
US: $29,446 (including 7% sales tax)
Taiwan: $33,909 (including sales tax)
Difference: 87%
Honda Civic EX:
US: $19,752 (including 7% sales tax)
Taiwan: $21,182 (including sales tax)
Difference: 93%
Toyota Corolla:
US: $19,131 (including 7% sales tax)
Taiwan: $21,485 (including sales tax)
Difference: 89%
BTW, all the above models are being assembled locally, as well as the Asian LaCrosse.
By looking at the treand we can see that the US auto prices are about 10% less than the prices in Asian. To be precise let's take the average of the 4 differences and that gives us: 89.5%.
So given that let's assume the Asian LaCrosse's local MSRP is about 35,000 USD (let's not including that backseat entertainment system). 89.5% of the 35,000 USD gives us 31,325 USD (this number includes the 7% sales tax). So without the sales tax the MSRP of the Asian LaCrosse here in the NA market should come up to be: 29,133 USD.
Give that the US version LaCrosse CXS is listed at 27,990 I'll say the Asian LaCrosse should do pretty well if GM decides to market them here in NA.
By pricing it around 28,500 USD I'll say this is a pretty good Lexus ES fighter.
Yeah but since they all speak French, Italian or German, depending on where you are, it's easy to forget there is a country called Switzerland
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Looks like this Mercedes would be a giant Porsche 911
if you humped the back and it flowed without interruption
all the way to the rear. It's getting there :surprise: If ya
really think about it, the design while pleasing enough, is
somewhat all too easy. Yeah, a swoopy car must look
arched front to back. The designer takes out pencil and
draws up a double arched lines of roof and door line and
well ya got it. Whoopie! $65K ??? Don't know anything
about the dynamics of the car, and don't really care, as
that amount of money for a car is out of my league. And
I may add, there are wonderful cars for half that amount
which I would consider, even if I had the big bucks. And
for reliability? Kinda sad when Hyundai kicks your butt.
-Loren
How can you even mention the two brands in the same breath? I got stuck with an Accent as a loaner for a few hours. Then I drove my sister's new Tiburon all over Phoenix. I would not give a penny for either vehicle. Pure Junk. I don't care if they had a million mile warranty. I would rather have an E320 CDI in the shop twice a week as to be stuck driving a Hyundai for a day.
Hyundai
OK, a building of a reputation for reliability and a warranty to assure the customer they will repair the car if it is not correct.
-Loren
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2018 430i Gran Coupe
And yes I pocketed the difference.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
My sister loves the car. So I did not say anything to her. It was rough riding, very uncomfortable drivers seat. And my foot cramped up from a very odd accelerator pedal angle.
I went shopping in the little tinny Accent loaner while they were doing the 5000 mile service on my Passat. Horrible ride, noisy uneven braking & the trunk lid hits the antenna when you close it. I had to hold the antenna to the side when closing the trunk or it would have broken it off. Why would I consider driving any other Hyundai after that?
Odds are we probably will not buy a Mercedes unless they get their act together on their diesels. In fact I do not see myself buying any new car or truck that is not diesel.
The whole MB reliability thing should be aimed at the entry level cars that should have come in under one of the Chrysler names instead of Mercedes.
Mercedes sales are up this year, while both Camry & Accord are down compared to last year. The "S" & "E" are both doing quite well. In fact the San Diego MB dealer I visited was much busier than the two Toyota dealers I visited a week ago.
PS
We do have a Lexus from a time long ago when they were good looking.
I can agree with MB offering a big warranty...people claim the troubled days are over, let's see it. I've heard nothing but good about the new S so far. I doubt MB will jump on it though...it won't sell. Most people who buy these things new seem to get rid of them by the time they hit 5 years old anyway - gotta keep up with the latest model and all.
Agreed. All luxury brands would sell better(to people like me at least) with the long warranties. Most luxury buyers don't have to pinch pennies and don't worry about unexpected costs. However there are a lot of people like me that would spend the $40,000 to $50,000 or even higher if they knew the car would last them trouble free for 5 years and 100,000 miles. Many car makers do this to "buy into" the market (Hyundai), some do it like Chrysler did to get confidence back. I'm guessing the Germans would go broke.
Not too many cars dead on the road these days. I do recall the old days of the 60's when cars still bit the dust quite often. I heard that the 50's were more so. Go back to the 40's a earlier years, it was very common to end the day hitched to a tow truck.
To answer the question set forward on this forum of whom will make the next car sell, I say what ever car is best for me at the time. Will buy what I can afford, while providing the best value, longevity, fun, and looks. Maybe it will be an American Hyundai, Honda or Toyota, or a US/Canadian/Mexican/German, Ford, or GM. Kinda funny how things are backwards looking now.
-Loren
I think everybody here needs to be honest. There is no way to compare the quality of a MB with a Tiburon.
However there is a BIG difference in QUALITY and RELIABILITY. MB's are put together very well and they sound and feel solid. However they and most other European cars are not all that reliable. If the Germans had outsourced their electronics to the Japanese they would have an unbeatable combination. The way it is though BMW's,MB's and Audis are selling on style and past reputation. Unless they clean up their act they will miss selling to the GenX and Millenium's generations ho are buying Scions and other japanese cars (who eventually will trade up - Lexus, Infiniti, Acura's...)
I know what ya mean, gagrice - however, I chose to go the route in between - with the Lexus. One can have the bets of both worlds with a GS430 maybe?
Reliability issues. Which cars have serious problems, vs less worrisome glitches. It appears VWs have had some real issues for some years now.
-Loren
I don't know. I think cars like the Lexus IS series have cheapened the brand. The GS looks like a Camry with fancy trim. I could like the LS430 I think. To tell the truth the only reason my wife wanted to trade her 1990 LS400 on a new Lexus was to get a CD player and XM radio. The LS400 runs like new, with only 84k miles. Not a scratch on the original paint. Always in the garage when not being driven. We went down and looked at all the new Lexus. The only one she liked was the LX470. Her step daughter has a pearl white one and she likes it. Her biggest complaint with all the Lexus cars is visibility. She could not believe that the IS250 was really a Lexus. Her comment "What is Lexus thinking building that little car?". I have to agree. Same goes for all the cheapo Mercedes that have dragged MB down.
So, to use the same thought process...you think cars like the 3-series have also cheapened the BMW brand as well? BTW, in case you haven't figure it out yet, currently IS350 is the best performance sedan in the Lexus lineup. I might agree with you that the last generation IS is not up to the Lexus standard (but boy that's one great handling car) but to say the current generation IS has cheapened the brand is absolutely bogus (regardless of IMO or not).
To tell the truth the only reason my wife wanted to trade her 1990 LS400 on a new Lexus was to get a CD player and XM radio
You can get that done in either Bestbuy or CircuitCity, oh BTW, they do free installations.
The GS looks like a Camry with fancy trim
If you meant the ES then I agree with you but GS...come on. The GS has a different chasis, also it's a RWD comparing to Camry's FWD, how in the world is that a Camry with fancy trim???
She could not believe that the IS250 was really a Lexus. Her comment "What is Lexus thinking building that little car?"
Little car? It's about the same size as the BMW 3-series, MB C-class and the Infiniti G. In case you haven't figure it out yet, the entry-luxury class is the best seller for most of the luxury brands so if Lexus wants to gain more market share they'll have to be competitive within this segment. That, my friend is why Lexus is building "little" cars like the IS250/350.
Last but not least, Lexus is not the same now as in 1990 when your wife purchased the LS400. Back then Lexus needed a car loaded with goodies with about the same size as the S-class and 7-series but half the price to establish the brand and that's how the LS400 came along. Now Lexus is the best-selling luxury brand in US so it needs a full lineup in order to stay competitive. While Lexus is building "little" cars like the IS and ES they still haven't forget the one that makes them what they are today - The LS.
Check this out:
:shades: