regfootball

if they did one sedan it may be good. my guess is they are developing a lancer replacement for global use and probably just want to sell it here. i would argue it makes more sense to sell a Galant replacement in the US. But sales wise for Mitsubishi it is probably easier to sell the Lancer size here in the US. TBH, i want to see a bunch of the Japanese brands go bye bye. I wouldn't miss a beat if Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi went bye tomorrow. Nissan too. No love for Subaru either really. Reality is in the US we'll still have Toyota Honda Nissan and Subaru for a long time. To me, Mazda has nothing here anymore. So if it went out tomorrow I could care less.

had another 18 traverse test drive this weekend. A FWD LS. Good basic runabout. The all black interior and cheap cloth and oddly shaped seats are demerits, but for the price and the good performance of the engine etc, i still find it to be a very good choice. I can see those who make the case that say, a CX-9 interior is nicer. Perhaps but very few of the CX-9's have to sell in less loaded trims than the Chevy does. A also saw one of the local dealers has the 2.0t 4 cyl RS FWD version en route.......

inside looks cool. Outside looks like maybe Chevy has been sniffing Ford glue; it's almost got some shaping like the F150's. And not digging the little hofmeister kink on the base of the rear door window. But hey its all spy photos so who knows what it will really look like. I do like the current ones, they way they have massaged the look the last couple years.

you know, i was lukewarm on the Avista just because it was a coupe and i know coupes don't sell. But after awhile I go back and look at the images and it really was sweet. I am sold that the Avista is a better coupe idea than an ATS coupe. Avenir concept also....needed some tweaking from concept to production and it is a large beast which is what i think Buick needs for a sedan. It really was 100% Buick in idea and a production version could have been that much more bodacious. Waterfall grilles need to come back BTW. It is true, GM is dumbing down Buick and applying the Avenir name as a trim just does that more. There's a few things that really grate me about the new Regal that leads me to think that Buick doesn't really give a shit or that the Allred guy is just clueless. One, the GS has a basic engine. Yes, its a v6, but hello, its a GS, it needed the twin turbo. The v6 roll on acceleration is not a step up above the 2.0. Second, the Insignia as built in Germany has these award winning seats (not the same seats the GS has) that are built for extreme comfort. Instead, stupid GM looks to have put the miserable same as Malibu seats in the Regal for US consumption. Flat, unsupportive, lacking padding and comfort. Overall it seems the Regal interiors will not be as trimmed out as the Insignia's as far as lush door panels etc. Third, not offering the sexy GS wagon, or a wagon that is not outbacked / butched up with gray cladding. The Insignia wagon is sexy as shit, and they aren't going to supplement the TourX with another wagon body offering. LaCrosse is jello styling and the current grill may fool some into thinking Buick 2010 Taurus. Center console is hugely intrusive and they used a shifter that older drivers will have problems using. Interior space is ok but not cavernous.....it feels more like a midsize inside. I've only seen one new LaCrosse on the road that I did a double take on thinking it looked good and that was only because it had the big wheels on it. 2.5 engine option that is new this year is an embarrassment. I love the Encore updates, but Encore needs a real motor. As least as an option. Encore needs to grow just a bit in size i think, despite its notion of being a subcompact. It's a narrow ride. Leg space is good and a surprisingly large cargo area....so to enhance what is there would help. New Enclave to me is a solid A plus but it is priced crazy high and i guess that is ok because they will probably sell well. The Envision has tired old styling and is made in China.....they really could update the design and build it here. 2.5 engine choice is embarrassing at the prices they want. Regal Sportback fills the Verano void but to some degree Verano provided a nice entry to Buick brand. So Buick will need to keep Regal prices in check and not price it out of reach, but I'm sure they will price it out of reach because it is GM. What is missing at Chevy and Buick is a Ford Edge clone. Large two row SPORTY crossover. Not a Trailblazer that looks like another butch truck. Something that would sell well vs a Lexus RX or Ford Edge / MKx. Enclave does that to some extent but not everyone wants a 3 row. Midsize like an Escape is not large enough and 3 row is too large. So something of that ilk. If they scrapped the sedan and basically took this LaCrosse platform as is, same drivetrain, wheelbase, seats in the same locations, jacked it up crossover high and put a sloping rear crossver body on it, we'd be talking about how Buick can't keep it in stock.

I want to commend you on surviving Cobalt ownership for so long. I sold our Cobalt a few weeks ago finally, our 2010. I think 7 1/2 years of Cobalt ownership is enough life punishment for awhile. In the Cobalts defense. I paid 10,400 for it new. Sold it for 3,400. Aside from oil changes, and 2 sets of tires, i only put new headlights in it, paid for a new ignition lock, and power window motor and regulator. Never did brakes once. My total ownership cost from depreciation and maintenance was about 100 bucks a month. I guess the tradeoff for having the Cobalt was very low cost. But the Cruze will be a huge upgrade! gotta keep factories running

In my past observations, Ford usually gets their 18's out anywhere from June - September. GM maybe lags that some. FCA i don't have a good history base on but many chrysler dealers are just getting 2018 300's now too. Those should have been out 1-2 months ago.

i had never wanted to lease again but i have 2 leases now. My Malibu lease is 235 a month for 15,000 miles so i look at that as a rental. I would have had to finance 25 grand plus (500-550 payment) for the same car. It was not a car as a second family car that i want to keep long term. I view it as a go to work expense. If i financed, i'd be underwater until year 4 probably. After 5 years i probably don't want the car anymore. By then I might be able to trade it in for 4,000. that becomes a pretty expensive savings account. In the meantime i take the per month difference and pay down other debts i need to work on. I probably could have bought a Ford Fusion S or SE and been able to stay within 100 bucks a month of that 235 on a purchase. But at some point i'd want a little nicer car than those price leader trims that are actually well priced but really do remind you of what you paid with the basic cloth seats and lack of power seats etc. The van lease was a little bit different. It was partially due to shocking prices. I didn't think i would want to own a Chrysler long term. I feel like i spent a lot of money for no return but at the same time i am not stuck with something i did not want to own. I sort of want to just ride it hard and put it away wet. If the kids were out of the house i might want to buy something like a Ford Edge SE or SEL, something that will hold value a bit more. Or, i don't like pickups but generally if you buy a pickup at model year end prices, they will hold value pretty well too. Or some three row crossovers do. I kind of wanted to drive a van once but i didn't really have interest in being a 'van owner'. Right now trying to decide if lease or buy on something new and will look at CPO too. Before the last couple leases I always tried to find 1-3 years old and under 15-20k miles.

you're exactly right. but many other manufacturers already had good incentives on their 18's. Seems like Chrysler / FCA's 2017 backlog may be something to watch.

funny story. FCA.. last month all the adds for Ram truck leases 200 a month. I went in to get an oil change on the last saturday before the end of the month on my chrysler van and tried to strike up a conversation with sales guy as my lease is ending soon. 'yeah, there really isn't any incentives on the new 2018's'. I've never been so slighted by sales guy before. FF to tuesday, i get a voice mail from both a regional chrysler marketing line, and from a sales guy at another dealer. wonder if they say the october numbers, i bet there will be incentives now.

when i leased our malibu (i never wanted to lease again) the dealership told me 65% of their new business was leasing now.

those will be 10 grand cheaper in six months

Spotted and touched a new 2018 Accord a few days ago. Couldn't get inside It definitely has an 'interesting' look to it. It's got the lowered coupe like roof that is in vogue, and the greenhouse is basically a stretched Civic sort of look. Some odd sculpting to the body and a very blunt and weird upright front end make for a look that is hard to process at first; although strange design has been done often by Honda on cars and motorcycles over the decades (strange design is like a Honda badge of honor). The headlight detail in particular is interesting, with a very introverted looking face. Some of the other front end seams and cut lines and detailing is a bit strange as well / things not seen before. The car seems squashed to the pavement....there is not much clearance off the road and the side of the body is filled out at the sill about as far as I have seen any sedans. You can't call the car 'rakish' at all, but it is very 'low slung'. Is it like a large behemoth 4 door Prelude? And not really a trunk / rear deck to speak of..in contrast to a comparatively longish hood. I think it will take awhile to warm up to this new look, although it is an improvement over the outgoing one, which is an odd statement to make. There is a somewhat element of a luxury look here, but once this car hits the street en masse the uniqueness should fade away. The interior through the glass looks to be largest in class. Leg room and width / girth seem amazing and this probably will set new expectations for 'mid size' bread and butter sedans. I'd be curious about the head room with the roof seeming low...but the seats look as is they may have a low hip point also. I think this car could have been raised a couple inches to sit a bit higher off the pavement and have a higher sit and roof. But i suppose they would lose 0.1 mpg off the CAFE then. Interior design looks to be somewhat uninspired...but the materials look like they will be ok for the class. The interior likely won't offend, but it there is blandness and predictability...no design risks. Not a fan of the 'screen sticking up out of the dashboard tacked on' look either, but many are doing it this way. It's hard to knock the initial weirdness of the car when it seems Honda delivers on practically all counts as far as powertrain, value, and interior utility. The manual transmission bunch are delighted to know Honda still is offering sticks in the new Accord. Honda seems to want to own the market for large sedan stick buyers in the country. The two engine offerings appear to be able to excel in mpg or power in either case. And finally, turbos from Honda. I had sworn off of manuals for good but if i get the itch again, this would be a leading candidate.....a 2.0 turbo stick Accord would actually be something i could forgive the funky looks for. Since no one else really wants to offer the stick. And even the automatic 2.0 to me would be on the list with the new Regal as candidates to replace my Malibu when that goes back in 2019. I have no idea who would choose a new Camry over this (even the new new Camry). Sorry, but the Mazda6 pales in comparison to this with the possible exception of those who may prefer the more intimate Mazda interior. I would even say that this over a loaded Impala would be a statement I might make too. Despite being tough to look at from some angles, i think the Honda continues to check many good boxes on the sedan market and should continue to see big success.

Spotted and touched a new Enclave a week or so back. Couldn't get inside Very impressed at how it continues the look of the outgoing model. Very tidy, and body gaps are much tighter. Not as bombastic in overall design as the old one. But the market will like the shape in the flesh. The size of the vehicle is literally spot on for the market. Perfect size. Buick's bling reduction I think is setting itself up to bring back the bling in mid cycle refresh..... The interior through the windows looks very well done. With lighter shades of materials, its not a dark tomb like most of the Traverses. The new dashboard is quite different than the outgoing one, and is very swoopy and cockpit like. In fact, overall, it is interesting how much different the character is overall between the Traverse and Enclave. Also, the character of the interior, the change between old and new. Price was WAYYY high, but for awhile at least i see Buick raking the cash in. New Enclave should line GM's pockets for many years to come.

I have been researching the chrysler tranny lately due to us probably getting the Pacifica soon. The Cherokee and 200 in particular have had much issues, I would call them. Lots of bad owner comments but it could be as you say, overreaction as well. I have read more than a few folks taking the vehicle to the dealer multiple times and still issues. But that is on the first couple model years. The 2017's they may have finally worked out more of the bugs so let's hope so. Actually chrysler has a lot of tranny and electrical issues the last few years including on the Pacifica and evidently it's happened on cherokees too where the vehicle propulsion just dies. You're going 60 and it will lock up and kill or go down to 20 etc. that is the scary stuff. The old compass I rented one and it was horrible the new one is light and day I may recommend to my mom to look at a compass or Cherokee A compass with 4wd, heated seats and steering wheel at 27k? Even the renegade can be deemed a possible better choice than the soul renegade is probably the more natural competitor for the soul IMO

1-go for it 2-I don't have ad blocker and the ads now are fine. I have no problem doing a premium subscription either up to a moderate level. I forget how much that is now. I'm all for the site doing well financially.

sat in a new compass at the dealer this morning while getting oil changed, i know this is a soul thread, but the compass was mentioned. the new one is really nice and i don't see how most folks would prefer a soul over the new compass.

interesting but not sure how these long hood designs work with FWD chassis. Especially compacts that really want to maximize the greenhouse vs. length

quite a bit of masturbation, it is

we don't have Pontiac but still have Mitsubishi. Where is the justice in this world.

I could understand that. However GM is held hostage by have no to have them in the fold. If you wanted A GM and made in US they have no other option

Tell this to Johan@cadillac the names don't need to be global.

crazy, my malibu turbo hates anything besides plain old ethanol tarnished 87 octane the best. i see your Cruze is pulling some great mpgs!

aren't all Audi 'redesigns' "subtle"?

what's the point of showing new Audi pictures, they all look like the old ones

A good friend who had 2 crv's in the past (and hated them) just got their second highlander. They love them. He gives them glowing review. Right size for them with 2 kids in college. Good performance and as good of mpg as the crvs. Basically he has nothing bad to say about them. I drove the cx-9 and it's chic but the turbo four is an epic fail compared to this since the v6 here will prob get the same or better mpg.