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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    So why doesn't Cadillac get out of the sedan business and into the crossover business? The XT5 outsells CTS, ATS, and CT6 combined. They could drop all 3 of those sedans and sell an Equinox based Crossover and make more money without all that rear drive platform development cost.
  2. smk4565
    Took a while for the GNX to show up. Good call on the DB5, and the 1955 300SL took a really long time to show up and is the first choice for any 6 cylinder car battle. I'd say a Porsche 911 is a good bet too because they have all wheel drive for 4 seasons and they are a reliable car that holds value. I think we need an ultimate garage of cars not sold in the USA, such as the Skyline.
  3. smk4565
    The luxury brands have moved down market because compact sedans and crossovers are on the rise. Toyota had to do a CHR, Honda a HRV or whatever they are called because there is demand for smaller crossovers. So they had to go into that new segment, that brought lower prices. Audi, BMW and Mercedes would be fools to ignore the X1, X2, A3 sized cars as that is where the growth is. Mid and large sedan segments are dropping at any price point. Cadillac has been so slow to respond to the crossover market that they are in 7h place in sales this year in the USA. They have actually lost market share since Johan took over.
  4. smk4565
    I am skipping the track car and wild card country. Off Roader (Italy): Daily Driver (USA): Family Car (Japan): Weekend Fun car (UK): GT Vehicle (Germany):
  5. smk4565
    CT6 is cheap, if Cadillac raised the price of it by $30,000 next month, you'd see CT6 selling at 300 units a month too. The A8's saving grace is China, because in Europe they are only selling about 500 A8's a month on the whole continent. The S-class destroys it there just as bad as it does here. Audi ha massive business in China though.
  6. smk4565
    For a dairyer driver with my own money, I'd just need the mid-size sedan category, and I would look for another E550 or an E63 with the 5.5 liter turbo V8 as it gets 1 mpg better than my current 5.5 liter V8 and adds all wheel drive. So it would actually be more practical than what I drive now. I don't like SUVs, and I live about 15 minutes outside of downtown Pittsburgh so I don't have a place to go off road. Otherwise a used G-wagen could be interesting. Or I always liked the 90s Discovery's with the little glass windows up in the roof, those are probably like $2,500 now, assuming you can find one that runs, and would be fun to take off road and beat on.
  7. smk4565
    That is pathetic sales total. I think this car is too big more most Europeans. And it would need a 2 liter turbo hybrid engine to likely have any chance. But really it is too big, to a lot of Europeans a 3-series is a mid-size car, and this thing is a foot longer than a 3-series.
  8. smk4565
    I think the Toureg is actually priced higher or at least the same as the Audi Q7 which is larger, and an Audi. So it never made sense to have a VW SUV in the $50-70k range. Makes sense to drop it, and they need an SUV under the Tiguan to have 3. They could get one in between Tiguan and Atlas I think too.
  9. smk4565
    Audi since the 80s and 90s has had reliability issues. All cars have improved since then but of the German cars I think the general consensus is that Audi is the least reliable. Porsche has often rated top 3 in initial quality and long term reliability for the whole industry.
  10. smk4565
    The 7-series isn't so bad, has a lot more performance than a Lexus LS. I think it still has some cache too. It is just no S-class. If the S-class never existed, people would have thought the 7-series to be the king of the big luxury sedans for the past 30 years .
  11. smk4565
    Stand up hood ornament it still Boss on a sedan. The S-class and Rolls-Royce Phantom have stand up hood ornaments. Only the big dogs have it now.
  12. smk4565
    That seems like a lot of money for a Patriot even if it is 0% for 6 years. The Patriot has a 90s GM level interior and it still has the stand up antenna on the hood, that everyone outside of FCA got rid of in 2001. I did look on Auto Trader and found that 2015 Patriot Latitude 4x4s go for $17-18k, which to still seems high to me for what it is.
  13. smk4565
    The rear looks like a Lincoln Continental, and overall I think it looks a bit plain but Audi likes conservative styling. The inside has a clean look, but I like buttons. If I want to change the volume on the radio, I want a knob, not a touch screen. I do like the laser beams and 48 volt hybrid and self driving tech.
  14. smk4565
    Patriots have to be selling a 50% off at this point.
  15. smk4565
    I think they are banning sale of new gas powered cars, so the existing gas burners could go on oil 2050 by the time they all die out.
  16. smk4565
    Come 2030 there will be countries banning gas and diesel, France in 2040 is banning them, so they have to get on the path to electric. Regulations will probably make gas engines extinct post 2030.
  17. smk4565
    I think it makes more sense to have a car that suits your needs but isn't larger than you need. Large cars/SUVs are hard to park, if you drive in urban areas or parking garages they can be a pain. If you don't need a 3rd row or a cargo area, there is no point in buying it. I have a mid-size car and hardly ever use the back seat, maybe 5 days a year, the other 360 it is empty. I could drive a 2 seater with no real impact. I think you have to look more at performance, fuel economy and features that you want at your price point. And small cars especially the used ones are fairly cheap, people overpay for crossovers, and dealers usually price cut those small cars.
  18. smk4565
    a V6, that's it? Unless that electric motor has about 250 hp this is a disappointment. Why not just offer an all electric Bentayga?
  19. smk4565
    You don't need a ton of models, but you need models in 2 of the top 3 largest segments. Daimler got Chrysler rear drive full size sedans, a halo sports car, a revamped Grand Cherokee. Dodge/Chrysler had to come up with small and mid-size sedan and they let the Sebring stick around 5 years too may and brought out the Dodge Caliber. What a mess. The one hit they had was the PT Cruiser and that was a Diamler era car. I am all for 3 basic platforms, but how can a main line car company not have a small sedan or a mid-size family sedan? FCA still has all their investment in the large sedan category, the one that is shrinking the fastest.
  20. smk4565
    Since they are independent they will want one in their line. They probably have people that would pay $300k for a Ferrari SUV so they might as well take their money.
  21. smk4565
    Well it is all history now. And I don't see Chrysler-Dodge as viable brands past 2022. Large sedan market overall is collapsing, they don't have a small or mid size sedan, no small crossovers, no EV. Case in point this "new" 2018 product has a V8 from 10 years ago. Imagine if GM cancelled the Malibu and Cruze and dropped a Z06 engine into a Tahoe because it was "badass" and could do burn outs and have a midnight edition with red brake calipers. That is basically the FCA play book.
  22. smk4565
    No, I said Daimler never should have bought them. After they did, they did help Chrysler out, but when Jurgen Schrumf or whatever his name was, was let go, and Dieter Zetsche took over, they started to look on how to get out of it, so at that point they weren't going to pump money into Chrysler. At least they got new products like the Pacifica, Crossfire, 300 into Chrysler. FCA is taking Chrysler and Dodge down to about 2-3 vehicles each, and they don't have any plants to replace or update the 300/Charger until 2022 I think. And you know they will lag on autonomous cars and electric cars because that stuff costs money.
  23. smk4565
    First off, Daimler should have never bought Chrysler to begin with. It was a bad idea and the people who thought it was a good idea got fired and the people in charge now are the ones that got them out of it. I never said the Durango should have a 4-cylinder, it needs a big engine because it is a big, heavy vehicle. But Dodge-Chrysler brands as a whole don't have small and medium vehicles or a good 4 cylinder which is the majority of the market. Even Jeep sales are down this year while crossovers are fire.
  24. smk4565
    Daimler gave them the Crossfire, a Mercedes mechanical twin, they gave them the 5 speed auto for rear drive cars, the Grand Cherokee platform and the LX platform. Chrysler let that stuff rot since they are still using it 15 years later. If not for Daimler Chrysler would still be selling front drive Concordes and Stratuses.
  25. smk4565
    I would be fine with trading the V8 for a bi-turbo V6. An E43 adds about 15 hp to my engine with the same torque, adds about 3 mpg, and the car is quicker. I wouldn't feel like a need a 5.5 liter engine if a 3.0 turbo can do the job. That being said I would take a turbo V8 over a turbo V6 also. I've driven the C300 and GLC300 with the turbo 4 vs the old V6, I think the 2.0T is fine, it doesn't feel stressed or like there isn't enough power, if you put your foot down the turbo kicks in and you get the torque, and the car moves adequately, it doesn't feel laggy. Maybe the 4 lacks a little refinement of the V6 at higher rpm. But there is a fuel economy gain to be had too. I always felt like the Infiniti G37 needed to be revved up to get anything out of it, the CTS 3.6 always felt sluggish to me if it wasn't at 4,000 rpm. All these V6s should go to turbo, Infiniti has since I last drove one of their cars, but the rest need to. They can put an Alfa Romeo 2 liter in a Charger, Wrangler, 300, etc and then turbocharge the Pentastar as an upgrade. That 6.4 liter Hemi in the Durango is so dated it makes less hp and torque than a 2.9 liter V6 from the same company. And the Hemi has more than twice the displacement! That is embarrassing.
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