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Detroit, 9:52 PM
Tue Dec 1
29 posts in the last 24 hours
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03:56 PM
I got a Gencoupe and I love it - it's exactly what I was looking for, and there was literally no competition within $10,000 of it.
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04:56 PM
I'd have liked a 240SX, or something with a bit more power, but they're 11 years out of production. I'd have had fun with an MR-2, but they're canned too. I'd have loved a Lotus Exige, but they're fantastically far out of my price range, and I don't think they can be had for any price around where I live... Actually, the more I think about it, the more it seems that apart from the Genesis Coupe, the type of car I was looking for is extinct at almost any cost.
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06:07 PM
They got my business because I wanted something like this, had pretty much given up finding it, and just before settling for something else, I heard about these and gave one a try. They actually had to order one for me to buy because they wouldn't stay on the lot for more than a week, so it seems there was an unsatisfied market for this type of car already...
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02:57 PM
Last night I finally got it right, I have got the flue something fierce and as I was throwing up I realized every time I did it sounded like "Hyundai!" Why is that important?
Because after reading this story I just Hyundaied in my mouth a little bit.
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02:58 PM
I'm wondering the same...is Hyundai truly the "next Honda" or is it just based on temporary frugailty?
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11:31 AM
Dull as it was, I preferred the "Meet Dave" days to this overly-busy, scattershot crap.
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11/30/09
I'm sick of these localizations.
It looks like it has teeth grill on it and the taillamps look like crap.
11/30/09
It's the U.S. sedan that gets the three bar grille...sadly.
11/30/09
But don't mind me. I always get riled up about the smallest things.
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Considering that they've changed the styling, the suspension settings, the body configuration, and are holding back the most competitive engines available in the European market, I don't see why this will be any different for driving enthusiasts than was the release of the Escort 'World Car' back in 1980. It could well be different for Ford though, because I don't think this car will register on the sales charts like that previous coal cart did.
11/30/09
11/30/09
You are sitting here talking out of your ass and throwing down the blanket statement that because it is a Ford or other domestic car, it must necessarily suck.
That may be true of Chryslers, but it sure as hell isn't true of Ford or GM's latest offerings. I don't know what rock you've been hiding under, but the Fusion, Taurus, F-150, Explorer, Escape, Expedition, and Mustang, all from Ford, and all currently for sale, are all great cars.
They are very well made, use high-quality materials including soft-touch plastics, and have had no more reliability issues than their import competitors. In fact, we've been seeing their import competitors, particularly Toyota, having significantly worse issues.
Hell, even the current Focus is a well-made little car with a decent interior. They sure as hell aren't lookers on the outside, and may not be as dynamically capable as a Civic due to the comparatively ancient platform they are built on, but they aren't bad little cars.
As for the rest, we just don't know yet. We don't know what the price is, as it isn't yet for sale. We don't know what the production costs are, but my guess is that if they are going to sell it, they won't lose money on each one made. We don't know what, if any, material changes have been made under the skin or in the interior, as we haven't actually seen or driven the real thing yet.
Also of note, the Fiesta is intended to slot below the Focus, and an all-new Focus is slated to be introduced in a year,
It's one thing to be skeptical of the notion of a good American small car, in fact, it's quite understandable; but rather than applying an obviously false blanket statement to every American car, the least we can do is be rational enough to withhold judgment until it's had the opportunity to be put through it's paces.
11/30/09
Under the skin it is a Mazda2, so maybe it will be reliable in the manner of a Mazda6 based Fusion. I still don't see Fusions commanding the same transaction prices as Accords do, and it isn't a mystery why to anyone who has cross shopped them.
11/30/09
11/30/09
As for Chrysler... I don't know about them. They are going to have a rough rough rough time ahead of them.
11/30/09
In the roughly two-and-a-half decades that I have been around, however, I have learned to recognize my personal biases and how they might erode away at objectivity, and how to compensate for them.
You are correct from the standpoint that past attempts at domestic small cars have had similar claims, and that most were reviewed as being crap.
But here's the nuance you are choosing to ignore: the Cruze, the Fiesta, and the upcoming Focus, which are all for sale in Europe, have received positive reviews thus far. Combined with the context of their other recent offerings receiving positive reviews, there is reason to believe that the new Fiesta will also be good.
As for past attempts at domestic small car, many have sucked. Believe me, I drive on of them. I'm not immune to that truth. But many have been better at the time and in retrospect than you choose to realize. Case in point? The Focus. When first released, it was the best car in it's class. It fell behind because it went so long without a replacement, but it remains a competent little car.
Finally, your assertion that the Fusion may not command the same resale value as an equivalent Accord in equivalent condition may be true, but once again, you are choosing to gloss over a great deal of context there. Like Toyotas, Hondas have been raised to near mythical status without any real reason to back it up. 80's Japanese cars are just as crappy now as the 80's domestic cars.
It's all people's perception. If door handle breaks on a Civic or Corolla, or even a Jetta, the response is "Oh, no big deal. I'll just get it fixed." If the same thing happens on a Focus or a Cobalt, the reaction is "Stupid American POS!" This is somewhat understandable, as domestic automakers have in the past put out some crappy offerings. But that doesn't mean that that is still true today.
Granted, neither Ford nor GM will fix the reputation that they were pegged with overnight, but a few years from now, the resale values will equalize, as even the old Fusion was as capable a car as its Honda and Toyota contemporaries. When that is realized over the lifetime of the cars, the disparity will begin to disappear. No, it won't happen overnight. But to apply the same blanket statement that is obviously false because you personally choose to ignore factors that are contradictory to your previously held notions is just ignorant.
11/30/09
And for your enlightenment, the Fusion isn't all that close to the Mazda6 anyway; they were developed simultaneously as two mostly-unique models.
11/30/09
Imagine a new 2009 Malibu overstaying its welcome at a dealer in Southern California, where a domestic sedan is as cherished as herpes. The retail price may be $27K, but with incentives and dealer desperation you can buy it for $21,500. Accross the street, the dealer has the first 2010 Accord EX-L 4-cylinder/automatic. If you want it, the dealer will take the $27K sticker plus $450 for mandatory window etching, $99 for wheel locks you don't care about, and $300 for forgetting to process your DMV paperwork.
$21,500 for the Chevy and $27,849 would be the transaction prices, and they are the difference between Honda and the Honda dealer making money on a particular car and GM and the Chevy dealer not making money on another.
People cross shopping Fusions and Accords become aware that the Fusion carries a big price advantage in the real world. Most of them still buy the Accords because they are tactilely better in addition to any advantage in reputation.
Are you suggesting that there is little to choose between 20+ year old Domestic and Japanese cars? I'm not sure how you determined that, but it was anything but the case at the time. New Japanese cars in the '80s had straight body seams, interiors that fit together, wheel trims that didn't fall off in the first month of ownership, and a level of reliability that US cars only now supposedly match. Very few Japanese cars had decent styling or much to offer enthusiasts, but they were of much, much higher quality than the offerings of the big 3 at the time. I should know, as I was still one of their victims at the time.
11/30/09
As for GM, I hope they turn it around, but I am not ready to give them a chance. I will however, cross shop the Fiesta versus the other cars in it's field :The Fit, Versa, and Polo (if available). I have already eliminated the Yaris and anything GM, Chrysler, Hyundai or Kia from my list, and the Civic, Corolla, and Golf are too big and too pricey for me to even look at.
11/30/09
I flinched every time a Nissan pulled into the lot, and it happened all the time. Now that I have a Honda, I've spent less than $200 on maintaining it by the book over almost 3 years.
Having left the miserable world of trying to fix Nissans, I have a girlfriend with one. It needs a catalytic converter after 90K miles, the one that is part of the exhaust manifold. The dealer is happy that this one made it 10K miles past the warranty, as they all fail. They don't care that they sold the car new and maintained it. This being California, the replacement has to be the dealer part. From the dealer. Period. Figure about $1,500 for this repair, and on a car whose paint fell off after less than 5 years, just like every other dark grey Nissan in southern California. Did I mention that the heater core has started to give off coolant smells this week?
Basically, the car has totaled itself by being a crummy piece of crap after 7 years and 90K miles of light use in the hands of a nice school teacher. I'm glad yours has treated you well, but I have had to deliver the bad news to at least a 100 people who were not well served by Nissan. One of them was a Nissan rep practically stranded by a new Quest, which brought me so much joy I'm probably paying for it still by being in a position to pay for my girlfriend's mistake of buying one of these awful cars.
12:03 AM
11/30/09
Of course the Soviet model probably behaves better in collisions with military vehicles, never wears out, and can always be made to start in the winter by lighting a fire on top of the engine. This might be harder than I thought.