U.S. Auto Market News and Reviews

berri · December 2017

I wonder if as Chrysler improves their vehicles, the often better deal they offer is involved as well?

Mr_Shiftright · December 2017

Cults always do well in these surveys.

uplanderguy · January 2018

I drove a Dodge Journey Crossroad about 600 miles this weekend. My first reaction was the mainstream "It's a Chrysler, sigh" response but I have to say that I left impressed. Steering very precise; rock-solid even on crappy streets; and quiet--almost zero tire/road noise, which is a pet peeve of mine. It had 33K miles.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2018

It's a very old platform but seems to be holding up well.

andres3 · January 2018

I have to admit none of my domestic car rentals over the years has ever broken down on me to the point I needed a tow truck or early replacement.

One time I was given an empty fuel tank and it ran out of gas before I could reach the gas station I was going to 2-3 miles away.

uplanderguy · January 2018

I ordered a "standard size SUV", which is normally a Hyundai Santa Fe at Enterprise. This was larger, but not too large, and most-definitely quieter.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Article is three months old, but I just saw it--exploding sunroofs:

https://jalopnik.com/here-are-all-the-cars-reported-to-have-exploding-sunroo-1819815183

I can remember my cousin's pretty-new '72 Impala Sport Coupe having a broken driver's side window when she came out from the supermarket. I seem to think it took some arm-twisting but it was a warranty fix.

fushigi · February 2018

What's missing from that article is what the per capita rate is and how that compares over time. Maybe the incident rate is basically the same but there are simply more cars on the road with glass roofs. Panoramic roofs weren't really a thing, or much of one, 30 years ago. And it seems like complete data just isn't there; need numbers from all manufacturers. For instance the article cited a several hundred percent difference in Ford-known events v. NHTSA-known events.

I recall being a couple hundred yards behind an F-body on the highway one time when a T-top panel blew out. No damage to me but I can only imagine how startled the driver must have been.

uplanderguy · February 2018

My '63 Studebaker had a large factory sunroof--of course it was covered with fabric instead of glass.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Discussed this previously, but if I were buying a small SUV this year, it'd be this, in this color:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2018-Chevrolet-Equinox-1-of-15.jpg

Wonder how long before that color is discontinued!

I also like the wheels and tires, and how they fill the wheel openings.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Wish I could find a way to post it here, but someone on Facebook posted this morning, "Sure a lot of talk this weekend about Patriots and Eagles", and there's a pic of a Jeep Patriot and an AMC Eagle.

suydam · February 2018

Not my color at all, but to each his/her own. I like the looks of the Terrain a bit better, mainly because the interior is nicer. But I haven’t driven either one. I like the dark blue and the white is nice as well.

Michaell · February 2018

uplanderguy said:
Wish I could find a way to post it here, but someone on Facebook posted this morning, "Sure a lot of talk this weekend about Patriots and Eagles", and there's a pic of a Jeep Patriot and an AMC Eagle.

How about this?

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

uplanderguy said:
Discussed this previously, but if I were buying a small SUV this year, it'd be this, in this color:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2018-Chevrolet-Equinox-1-of-15.jpg

Wonder how long before that color is discontinued!

I also like the wheels and tires, and how they fill the wheel openings.

Kinda "chunky"--I like that look as well.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Speaking of the Terrain--I know a guy who says he had one as a loaner--the '18, and complained that it didn't have a key, a gas cap, a shift lever, and it stopped at every stop sign.

I asked him about "no shift lever" and he said it had "PRNDL" buttons you activated under the HVAC controls. I would think the Equinox would be the same. That is funky these days, but then the Pacifica I rented a year or so ago had a round knob as a shift lever--rather close to the round radio knob IMO.

Michaell, thanks for posting the pics of the Patriot and Eagle!

imidazol97 · February 2018

uplanderguy said:
and it stopped at every stop sign.

Is there a way to disable the stop-start on that car?

uplanderguy · February 2018

I have that feature on my '17 Cruze and I am not aware of a way to disable the function. I'm used to it on mine.

berri · February 2018

Coincidently, I just got back from over a week in a brand new Equinox LT rental. Started out with a new Maxima, but the trunk was so small it wouldn't even take our two suitcase (form over function). So that didn't even make it out of the airport rental area

FWIW, here is my take on the 18 Equinox. Overall a nice vehicle. Smooth, quiet ride for it's size, except in strong winds it had some wind noise in the A pillar areas, I think it was the door seals. Fairly peppy with typical highway mileage in upper 20's; city lower 20's. The brakes were a little grabby, but it was low mileage so maybe needed to break in a bit (not dangerous driving it, but if I owned it I'd have the dealer take a look). The stop start was much smoother than older GM's I've had with it. I noticed two things I thought were better in then previous model though. First, the '18's seat bottom seemed shorter and the bolstering combined to make the previous model more comfortable (but the '18 seating was still alright). I think this issue might be a matter of your inseam length. Second, the cargo area seemed smaller than the previous model. I think the Equinox is nicer overall than the Ford Escape and maybe even the Toyota RAV4. But I think the redesigned Honda CRV may be the best overall when you consider the whole package. However, despite what the reviews say, my impression from test driving is that with the Honda you will still have to put up with typical Honda road and wheel noise intrusion. The Equinox is quieter. At a minimum, I'd recommend testing out both the CRV and Equinox (and RAV4 if you wanted to try out three) before buying a small crossover since different buyers have different preferences and priorities. They are both nice cars.

As for disabling the Equinox stop start, I tried what several people on these blogs had suggested and indeed letting up on the brake briefly or touching accelerator very lightly while brake still engaged seemed to start it back up. Also, I was in a warm climate and in longer stops it would start back up on its own to kick the AC back in. If looking for a small crossover, I'd definitely recommend testing the Equinox.

uplanderguy · February 2018

I bought a '15 for my daughter about five months ago--I never liked the looks of that generation--very "soccer mom". I think the current one looks better, but I've heard other people who traded from the last one to this one say (online) that there is less cargo space in the new one. A classmate of mine has a new Diesel one and says she loves it.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Did it have a shift lever or push buttons?

berri · February 2018

The Equinox had a regular shifter. I think the sister GMC Terrain threw in a push button sort of thing.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

Some new things are old things: (Yep, all electronic).

berri · February 2018

Nice dash, what is it, maybe a DeSoto?

fintail · February 2018

Looks like a Packard crest.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

Yeah, last of the true Packards--not sure if it is a '55 or '56 pictured, but the "Ultramatic" transmission, which was electrically operated, came out in '55, along with self-leveling rear suspension. These buttons were much easier and smoother to operate than Chrysler's cable-operated system. Probably worked with solenoids.

uplanderguy · February 2018

That's a '56, as the pushbutton wasn't available on '55 Packards. My dealer friend, even in our small town, sold a new, late-production '56 Caribbean convertible, 18th from the last serial, to a local Doctor. While fairly new, he was in Cleveland and was unable to back out of a parking space and he called my friend and they went over the two hours with a wrecker and towed it back. Contacts of some sort--it was in the pushbutton controls supposedly, not the trans itself (although that was a weak point in those last Packards). I first-heard the story probably 35 years after it happened. The car, amazingly, survives in Denmark in beautiful, restored condition--serial 5699-1258. Only 276 '56 Caribbean convertibles were built. The torsion-level suspension was a smooth rider, but my dealer friend said they didn't sell one that didn't come back to them for repair.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Picture below.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Here's the car on delivery day. They took several pics of the car that day, pretty proud to be delivering a $6,000 car in June 1956:

http://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/dealer/pics/php6uD4xP.jpg

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

That's correct---1956 was the first gear for the push buttons. The transmission also had a lock-up clutch to eliminate slippage. Quite advanced for its time, and designed entirely in-house. Packard had an excellent engineering department.

uplanderguy · February 2018

IMO only, the V8 and Twin Ultramatic had pretty serious teething issues that were never completely resolved. I have been impressed by the ride in the '55-56 cars; I've been in a few when they were collector cars--my best man has had four of them over the years. Another friend of mine whose Dad was a Packard dealer in Illinois used to take prospects for a ride in a Torsion-Level Packard over nearby railroad tracks and then let them drive a used medium-priced car on their lot for comparison. He says that sold people on that Packard ride...as one of their slogans in those last two years said, "Let the Ride Decide!".

My only personal complaint in riding in my best man's Patrician was the way the rear door was cut. I never got in back without conking my head.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Small thing maybe, but I always wondered why they stuck with vacuum wipers on a car that expensive. Even Studebaker pickups had electric wipers at the same time.

fintail · February 2018

My dad's 60 Ford had vacuum wipers, I remember he got a kick out of seeing how slow he could make them move.

uplanderguy · February 2018

I'm surprised to hear that, fin. I know AMC's had them I think until 1971 or so (I could be wrong).

I do remember that our '62 Ford Fairlane still had a manual choke, though.

berri · February 2018

In the carb days a manual choke wasn't such a bad thing. It would start the car up in all kinds of bitter cold weather. I think the Ford V8's had auto chokes back then while the 6's had a manual choke.

uplanderguy · February 2018

Funny you say that, berri. When we traded that Fairlane in on a new '67 Chevelle, my Dad bemoaned that it had an automatic choke.

Michaell · February 2018

My sisters '85 Mazda RX-7 had a manual choke.

fintail · February 2018

I am not sure what it was, but I remember some car in the family had a manual choke, or at least I vividly recall riding in a car with one. All of my dad's old Fords were V8s, so maybe not those. I doubt the Horizon had manual choke. My mom's cars were all too modern. After my dad retired, he had a Datsun 610 as a hobby car, maybe it was that.

The 66 Galaxie was painfully cold-blooded, it might have been better with a manual choke.

circlew · February 2018

Toyota 2018 dominates CR Best Vehicles in U.S.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/02/22/consumer-reports-2018-top-picks-vehicles/362272002/

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

And the sun will rise tomorrow. Say what you will, Toyota knows how to screw a car together.

fintail · February 2018

Toyota Camry. Lauded for adding "styling flair"

LOLOLOLOL

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

Well it's relative to what it used to be. You know, your old Uncle Mike suddenly shows up sporting a pair of Nike Lebron 15s.

fintail · February 2018

He needs to look back to his cardigan vest and hush puppies.

berri · February 2018

You know Fin, back in the day a pair of hush puppies was actually more comfortable than tennis shoes. BUT, once it rained or snowed the hush puppies were wrecked. Cardigan's, I don't know. I think you had to go back to the early 60's or prior to see many people wearing them. Mostly I think guys maybe wore them inside to lower the thermostat in winter. Personally, I never really liked sweaters. Never liked anything you had to pull over your head either. I'd put a jacket on inside instead if it was cold. I'm sure others had a laugh about that

suydam · February 2018

My father had at least a dozen cardigans. They were that thin polyester material that stopped being made in maybe the 70s. I couldn’t find any replacements for them except at yard sales. Fortunately, being made of no natural material, they lasted forever. He passed away two years ago at the age of 93. So I’m guessing there are still some old geezers out there wearing them.

berri · February 2018

So is that a rags to riches story

Mr_Shiftright · March 2018

A trade war is the kind of war nobody wins. It's like drilling holes in a lifeboat to get even with the other passengers.

Well, the industries being protected stand to gain something, but certainly not the buying public.

As we saw in the American auto industry, a lack of competition in the late 70s and early 80s didn't make for a better produc,t and the threat of protectionism to save the Big Three from annihilation by the imports just motivated the Japanese and Germans to build better cars right here in the U.S. using our labor and our wage structure.

France had a very protected automobile industry--it certainly didn't help them build better cars.

fintail · March 2018

This entire idea is really proving that a certain someone received his fancy b-school degree via daddy's wallet and nothing else. There is virtually zero history of trade wars ending well for any of the real people involved.

This time, it isn't even protectionism, it is simple thin-skinned petty retribution from a mental case.

Funny thing, those buying the higher-end European cars would just pay the fee (which will probably be siphoned off by the conmen at the top of this regime). It won't hurt anyone. I think so many of these cars also have huge profit margins to the point where the maker could absorb much of the cost, should DOTUS have the gall to move on this.

Mr_Shiftright · March 2018

The economy does not like chaos. The stock market does not like chaos.

berri · March 2018

I think we may living a replay of the late 20's and early 30's. Widening spread between haves and have not's, small portion of population holding large portion of national assets, weak president (Hoover), questionable tax law, artificially low interest rates for too long and now possible big trade wars. When the middle class folds, the rich also end up getting hurt badly. Of course, our president seems to be getting a reputation for changing his talk and twitters quickly. Doesn't help confidence long term and adds to national stress in my opinion. Some say a depression is impossible today, and maybe so, but we sure came close a decade ago.

fintail · March 2018

Even with this relatively strong economy, I think it would take no more than a couple modest crises to throw it into a disaster. Car sales would definitely suffer, especially if imports received a wackadoodle tax. People wouldn't run to the competition, they'd either pay up or hold on to their cars. 1929 might not repeat, but I wouldn't rule out 2008.

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