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Not saying I would definitely buy it but it kind of goes with the argument that many people want to downsize but still want the amenities they are use to.
Pot calling the kettle black are we? Should I jump down your throat for mentioning the Escort? hmmm....
You should not have used a blanked statement encompassing all manufacturers not being successful using the global approach. :P
My Sport is as, if not more, quiet than a Lexus, it has a very nice ride, good handling, nice leather for the seating, Sync, which you don't get in a Lexus, plenty of power, plenty of room, entry keypad in case you left your keys in the trunk. I did that with the smart key once, would not release the trunk or doors. Thankfully my wife had her key.
I really don't see the reason to spend an extra $6 - $10K for a name. The ES is just a fancied up Camry, which I have owned, and got rid of for the Fusion, which was a big upgrade for me. The only difference between the Camry and ES is the ES is made in Japan, the Camry in Kentucky. So what qualifies a car to be "luxury" other than gimmicks and the price?
I do not agree. The Lexus ES and Toyota Camry are very very different. Yes, they share a platform and engine, but, the quality and fit and finish are far superior in the Lexus. I do not have a spec sheet handy, but, the Lexus does come with a lot more features then the Camry.
If you do not think it is worth spending the extra $6-$10 grand, then that's ok. I will side with you on that one.
Honestly, there is a far greater difference between a Lexus and a Toyota then there is between a Honda and Acura. Just my .02
Buying Experience: Much nicer with the Infiniti.
Warranty: 4 Infiniti vs. 3yrs Mazda btb, 6yr/70k pwrtrn vs. 5yr/60k
Service Exp: Very pleasant, always offer loaners, internet, ice cream, doughnuts, soft drinks.(Go ahead and have fun with that one)
Vehicle itself: Much quieter, tighter tolerances, feels a lot more substantial due to sound deadening etc., nicer leather, better paint job, amentities.
I'm not bashing any midsize car that this forum discusses. I think they are all good cars, some better than others. Now I never mentioned the Lexus ES did I? I was talking about a future Infiniti called the G25 which would probably come in around 29k which is only about 3-4k more than your Fusion Sport. Tack on free loaners and a another years warranty to yours and you're probably looking at 2-3k more. Add NAV to yours and there would be very little diffence in price. Heck, an Accord EX-L w/Nav V-6 auto MSRPs for around 32k. I'm talking around 30k for an Infiniti.
You pretty much get what you pay for in this world. I'm not saying you don't pay a little extra just for that "prestige factor" but it isn't necessarily that much. When I bought the Infiniti I was actually trying to buy a Pathfinder and had no intention of buying an Infiniti. I couldn't get the Nissan dealer to deal so I said what the heck, the QX4 is the same thing, let's see what we can do. Got the Infiniti for less than I could get the Pathfinder for. The QX4 is basically an upgraded Pathfinder which you seem to think is no better than the Pathfinder. Wrong. The QX4 is a lot nicer than the Pathfinder. I drove them extensively before we bought.
I'm not pushing luxury brands on this thread as it is a moderate price midsize family sedan thread. I'm just saying that sometimes the price differences in between non-luxury and luxury are not as great as some people make them out to be if you compare entry level luxury to decked out CamCords.
I'd like to spend under 30k. I'd like some power and performance but not at the expense of a nice ride, a quiet ride. In this segment the Honda Accord looks ok, but I'm concerned about what the reviews say about elevated road noise. That and it's rather common.
I was considering the BMW 328xi, but now that I want to keep it under 30 I dont think that's doable? The G37 is very nice as well. I also like the Audi A4 but again probably priced out and I'd rather not get a base model.
The new 2011 Sonata looks intriguing, but I dont know much about it other than some pretty rendered pics I've seen. The Mazda 6 and Nissan Altima I should probably look at as well. *sigh*
So frustrating to be all over the place like this. I need to narrow it down to 2 or 3 at most.
Have you considered the Mazda6 or the Ford Fusion Sport? Both IMO are excellent choices for a midsize sedan with some entry-lux options for $30K...
That said, I'd drive all the cars you mention if they fit your budget. Don't let reviews deter you from test driving a vehicle; form your own opinion.
My wife has the 2009 Honda CR-V and I like the interior of the Hondas, but before that our fun car was a 2004 Infiniti G35. So I know the pros and cons of both which I guess is why I'm all over the place!
Sounds like my parents when they were car shopping back in 2008. They had a Civic and wanted a second car. They didn't have a CLUE what they wanted. They drove everything from a Hyundai VeraCruz to an Accent 3-door, a Ford Taurus, Chevy Impala, a year-old Caddy DTS, the then-new Accord, a Nissan Versa assorted Scions, and ended up with a 2008 Taurus with leather and sync.
It was quite entertaining to watch them whittle down their list.
Second, my statement re global cars was fully visible and thus was not "blanked."
That's not my experience, with compacts and modern mid-sized sedans. I agree you can see that kind of difference between some subcompacts that are optimized for fuel economy, e.g. Yaris, and non-hybrid mid-sized sedans. But that is a huge difference in size and utility.
And some folks do drive almost all highway, e.g. using a car for a long commute from rural areas. But I do urban driving almost all the time.
Unbelieveable.....really..... if you feel so strongly about staying on topic, you should have gone to an Escort thread and asked that question. You should practice what you preach.
If you feel so highly about not mentioning ANY other vehicles other then mid-sizers here then why are you not complaining about everyone else throwing their .02 in for their comments about non mid-sizers? Why just pick out mine?? My response about manufacturers being successful with globally produced cars was totally viable.....
Sorry for any misunderstanding.
Not if all you use it for is daily commuting. I went from a Lincoln LS to a Fusion and I'd have no problem switching to a Focus or Fiesta. It's just me driving back and forth to work most of the time.
And there are lots of folks who think a 5 mpg improvement is huge, even though the actual difference between a 25 mpg and 30 mpg vehicle is about $5/week for 300 miles (2 gallons).
Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
And there is more to a commuter car than fuel economy. For me, for long-distance commuting, a smooth, quiet ride is important. I think a mid-sizer like the Fulan or Camry or Sonata would do much better in that respect than a small car like the Fiesta. Then there's the weekends. If you want one car that can handle a variety of needs, a mid-sizer is a really good choice, also some of the compact 5-door hatches and wagons with interior room that rivals some mid-sizers.
But you're TOTALLY missing the point here. It's not what YOU want (or me for that fact). I guarantee you there are plenty of folks out there who want small cars with features and now Ford has options for them.
Could I drive a smaller vehicle? Yeah there is no reason I need a midsize car, but there was no financial incentive not to get one either. There were other incentives, like the Civic SI sedan would've been much more fun, but oh well.
they also have shuttle service to and from work, so i can drop the car off in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon.
i didn't buy my fusion there and bring it to the selling dealer for service, but all the other cars get serviced there.
I've driven in Atlanta a few times and I think reality is closer to what you described, except maybe late at night or on Sunday morning.
Having lots of choices is a good thing. As long as one of the choices is still a basic small car with the kinds of attributes I described earlier.
For conditions like these, my ideal car would combine quick reflexes, excellent visibility, and enough sheetmetal to provide safety from the accidents you can't avoid. So as the best compromise I'd go for a sporty-handling midsize sedan with a V6 and a good automatic--probably a Fusion Sport or a Mazda 6s, but there are lots of good options.
Did you leave out the Mitsubishi Lancer by mistake or on purpose here? Just curious.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I didn't omit your favorite car as a slight. Chill, people. :shades:
I doubt the Fusion will take the sales lead due to Toyota's issues (if anything the Accord will reclaim the title), and I also doubt that Ford (or any other automaker) will turn this into a marketing ploy, since Toyota's scenario is quite possibly the biggest nightmare for ANY automaker.
Besides, the Fusion IMO is selling well in Ford's eyes. IIRC plants are running at capacity, incentives are very low (if any), and it's hard to find more than 3-4 Fusions on any Ford lot around here, let alone a specific model/color/option.
Now you come back and say you left them out on purpose for what I consider to be a pretty silly reason......that they offer an array of versions. A basic Mazda3 or Lancer is no more different from other compact cars than the Mazda6 is from other midsize sedans. A little sportier but still, in basic form, all within about $1000 in price. If they came back out with the MazdaSpeed6 would you exlclude the Mazda6 from the ranks of midsize cars?
By the way, the Mazda3 is far from one of my favorite cars.
Anybody with dealer info on when the Sonata will arrive in showrooms? I've read conflicting reports.
One thing I could say is, given that the US car buying public has ignored the Lancer, maybe I could be forgiven for not including it in my little list except as "etc." They've ignored the Galant too. Heck, even Edmunds.com doesn't think the Galant is significant enough to warrant a little picture in this discussion.
And maybe I can be forgiven for having an OPINION that the Mazda3 is sportier than your average compact econobox. Or maybe not.
Let's not bring that back up. I took a pounding for that. LOL!!
Just a misunderstanding for god's sake. Let's move on.
There has been a lot of that this week. Can;t we all just get along?? :shades:
Hopefully we can all recover our sense of humor. Soon.
So other than the 2011 Sonata which I know about, are any other cars due for a complete or significant redesign in this segment? Accord, Camry, Altima etc.. anything within say a year from now?
Sebring gets a significant facelift this fall sometime in November...with a possible name change new interior, revised styling, etc. etc. So Sebring may be "dead" but there will be a midsize replacement by November.
Camry will probably be all-new and on sale by this time next year, Toyota tends to release new models early in the year.
Altima probably won't be shown until NY's autoshow April 2011 and won't be released until August-September of 2011 most likely.
When is the NMS from VW being released?
Send to: karen@edmunds.com
PS: Any Toyota owners from Minnesota? We have specific request for that state.
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Volkswagen of America president Stefan Jacoby has confirmed to High Gear Media that the new sedan to be built in Tennessee will effectively replace the VW Passat in North America
http://www.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036261_exclusive-volkswagen-nms-repl- aces-passat-phaeton-to-return
Perhaps Honda can back in stride and actually release a new model that looks better than the previous one. :surprise:
Camry will be redesigned, at least the gas pedal. :P
Bringing back the Phaeton is a mistake I think and it's sad that they will probably move the CC up into luxury territory. Probably a CC w/TDI(I think eventually) will start mid-thirties. Shame.
Her thoughts on all the cars she looked at. She liked the Altima and clearly had a pre set preference for it but the options quickly sent it off the price chart and no 2010's were available yet. Choices were very limited
Camry she liked but felt it was way to floaty and she said that it looked like Toyota forgot to finish the trunk - even went as far to look at multiple camrys to see if maybe the one she first looked at was missing some parts in the trunk space.
The recent rain storms in CA she told me this week she is SOOOOO glad she got the Subaru given her commute has been hell and the subaru sticks to the road like glue.
She got everything she wanted Plus AWD for the price target she was shooting for which both the Nissan and Toyota could not match.
Sonata is interesting for sure.