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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The Scion xD is dead for the 2015 model year, so that can be ruled out. I would say buy the Soul, car loan rates are low, she could stretch the payment over 5 years 6 if she had to, and at the end of the lease that Soul should only have like $12-13k owed on it. I think the Mazda 3 hatchback looks good, but the price is probably too high, those can run into the $20-25k range in a hurry. Maybe she could get one of those Mitsubishi i- miev cars, I have seen 2012 used ones for $12-13k and there would be no fuel cost, no oil changes to pay for, etc. You can lease a new one for about $189 a month. The range is only about 62 miles, but it sounds like she doesn't drive a lot of miles.
  2. smk4565
    Sounds like the return of the Pacifica.
  3. smk4565
    The current tC is dated because it is basically the same car they had in 2005-2008. Toyota lets cars sit on the market too long and doesn't update engines or transmissions often enough. If they would keep their product fresh then it wouldn't be a problem. If you kill the Scion brand and put that money into keeping the Yaris, Corolla and Celica (which would be like a Corolla coupe to replace tC) then you could keep those models updated and relevant.
  4. smk4565
    The masses love rounded off crossovers.
  5. smk4565
    Plus the FR-S is already sold a Toyota GT86 in every other country, it would be cheaper not to market the Scion brand and to not have to rebadge a Toyota to Scion. I agree with Drew that the GT86 is going to appeal to more hard core sports car drivers and people that want a track car. The tC/Celica is going to appeal to people that want sporty looking, but easy to drive, good gas mileage, can drive in snow, etc. Having 2 sporty cars with a Toyota badge would make Toyota seem a bit less like a geriatric brand, they save the costs of marketing and running 2 brands also. A win-win for Toyota.
  6. smk4565
    I think people would care, Mercedes just set a July sales record. C-class sales are down because it is a soon to be replaced model, the 2014 model isn't even in production anymore, as production of the 2015 model started in late June. C-class sales are going to soar this fall when the 2015 hits dealers. Road & Track said the best materials in the 3-series can't even compare to the worst materials in the C-class.
  7. smk4565
    On second thought, after looking at how Scion brand sales are, Toyota should drop the whole brand and bring back the Celica. Scion only sold 5,500 cars last month, I bet they could sell 5,000 Celicas a month, if they made it look good and gave it a pair of 4-cylinder engines to pick from. Single people in their 20s that can't afford an expensive car would drop $20k on a Celica if it looked fast and sporty, even if it is slow and crap to drive.
  8. smk4565
    Well the A8 and 7-series aren't, they only sold about 500 each.
  9. smk4565
    But you can't get a 2-door Dart, Cruze, Focus, Jetta, Mazda3 or Corolla. Only the Civic and Elantra are available in coupe form; the small coupe market is pretty slim pickings. Toyota would be foolish to kill the tC, it hardly has any competitors.
  10. smk4565
    Prius is a joke of a car and terrible in crashes. I would not waste money on this product line and I would especially not waste my family or friends life by putting them into such a lousy car. I think they suck too and the batteries will sit in a landfill somewhere and contaminate the environment anyway. But the Prius has a loyal customer base, and you can't really compare it to other small cars because there are people that would buy a Prius for the "green image" alone and never think about getting a Cruze or Focus or Jetta. Toyota not only gets a lot of sales off the Prius, the Prius builds this myth that Toyota is the most fuel efficient car maker when they aren't.
  11. smk4565
    They still make the Avenger? I would assume the new 200 has a higher transaction price and fewer fleet sales than the old one, but to see no sales gain over that awful car it replaced is somewhat alarming. I think people like Jeeps and Chrysler minivans, but don't trust them on sedans yet, because the 300 is a pretty slow seller and the Dart only sells about 1/3 of what the Cruze, Focus, Elentra sell.
  12. smk4565
    S-class outsold the 7-series, A8, LS460 and XJ combined! Owning the segment.
  13. smk4565
    Cadillac has a few problems, outside of the Escalade which is selling very well. First the ATS and CTS were really targeted against the 3 and 5-series, almost to where they were copying dimensions of the 3-series, and why buy a copy when you can get the original. Secondly, Cadillac for a lot of years offered mid-size CTS at entry level price and a full size car at a mid-size price. Now that the ATS and CTS are priced a bit more in line with Lexus and the Germans, the buyers perhaps aren't willing to pay equal money for a Cadillac. XTS sales are probably down because you can get an Impala or Lacrosse which is pretty similar for way less money, and the traditional Deville buyer is dying off. This is why the XTS should be a one and done car. Thirdly, Cadillac marketing is weak, they mostly run that one "runway" ad where they show 5 different cars in a gray on a black background and barely touch on many features of the cars or try to make the brand sound appealing. The marketing department definitely isn't doing the products any favors.
  14. smk4565
    Prius is a bit of a different animal, it is a smaller car, but you have people that buy a Prius to make a statement, I think Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz both have a Prius. Scion needs small cars because they are going for young and urban buyers. The iQ is awful and should be cut, I can see the need for Yaris and Corolla and there is no Corolla coupe, so the tC sort of fills that need.
  15. smk4565
    Perhaps the best comparison for sleek roofline drag coefficients is to compare CLS vs E-class since they are the same chassis. The first-gen CLS had a drag coefficient of .30, vs .27 for the same era E-class, so the CLS design hurt aerodynamics. The current CLS and E-class are both .26 cD, so they are the same. A swept back roofline is only going to hurt backseat room in the Malibu, already a weak spot of the car. They need to get more interior space inside, without making it any bigger on the outside.
  16. smk4565
    I meant that Chevy had a 5.7 liter V8 back in the early 90s. Now they have the 5.3, and Ram and Toyota have a 5.7. But family sedans have basically cut engine size in half and increased power at the same time, while increasing fuel economy. Interiors in everything has gotten better, I'd say small cars probably saw the most improvement, look at how bad a Cavalier was and they sold that in 2003, compared to the Cruze or a Focus now. In 1994 the Silverado 4wd had a 4.3 liter V6 as the base engine, 14/18 mpg. In 2014 the Silverado 4wd has a 4.3 liter V6 with 17/22 mpg, a 3.5 mpg increase in 20 years! And from 4 gears to 6, and the transmission probably got them 2 of that 3.5 mpg. As said I give Ram some credit for putting new things into their truck, it is what has helped the Ram pass the Silverado in sales. But the diesel engine isn't a Chrysler innovation, Fiat made that engine and gave it to them. The engine is made in Italy. A smart move to use it, but without Fiat, the Ram pickup would still have a Chrysler engine from 2005 under the hood.
  17. smk4565
    How about a 2006 Subaru Baja with 210 hp turbo for $13,000? Although that seems like a ripoff too since it was probably $27,000 8 years ago.
  18. smk4565
    Some used cars are a lot and I don't get why. I do think since new cars are so expensive, that used cars are more in demand so the huge drop offs in price aren't seen as much as they used to be. I shipped a car from Florida to Pennsylvania for $650, it isn't that expensive to buy long distance and ship it, probably cheaper to ship it than to buy a plane ticket then drive 1,000 miles and spend the gas and risk wear and tear on the trip.
  19. smk4565
    Yeah, when Pontiac died, Toyota should have pumped money into Scion to make a Grand Am/G6 sort of coupe/sedan that was a little bigger than a Corolla, keep the tC fresh, they could have locked down the compact utility market before the Kia Soul ever arrived, but they missed the boat. In 10 years the brand has never really taken off. Toyota could just make the next-gen tC the Celica, dump the FR-S name and sell it as the GT86 as they do elsewhere, then add the Auris to the US lineup and you have 3 youth oriented cars under the Toyota name, no need to advertise 2 brands.
  20. smk4565
    Well the Yaris should be the only sub-compact, then the Corolla would be their small car. Chevy has Spark, Sonic and Cruze so they use a 3 car approach. Scion doesn't really need a subcompact, I don't think Toyota should position Scion as just an entry level crap brand, they should make them a sporty/fun brand. The xB and xD sucked, but most Toyota's lack style, imagination, modern powertrains, excitement, etc. If they could properly execute some products, Scion could be a solid niche brand.
  21. smk4565
    I do give credit to Ram for the diesel and 8-speed. And the 90s Ram had the Kenworth truck look which was cool for the time. Overall though pickups look about the same as they did 25 years ago, still using 5-5.7 liter V8s as they did 25 years ago, they swapped out 4-speed auto for 6 speed. It isn't as bad as full size vans like the Econoline that went 25 years with one update, but I think other segments advance faster than trucks.
  22. smk4565
    Well there are only 4 truck brands, unless Nissan still makes the Titan. But it is GM, Ford, Ram or Toyota. There are a dozen luxury car brands, and luxury car buyers needs may change more frequently, than those who just buy a pickup every time. Luxury market is more like mid-size sedans, there are a dozen cars to pick from and people come and go from the segment. I think the lack of competition lets pickup manufacturers get complacent, Toyota is so weak and they don't invest in new engines, they still have the 4.0 V6 from a 1999 4-runner, and that 5.7 liter V8 from 2007 with no improvement to horsepower or fuel economy in 7 years. It is laughable, Ford is the only innovator in the segment, that is why they are the leader.
  23. smk4565
    Toyota has really dated powertrains and a lot of their models seem dated. I don't get it for a car company that sells so many cars, that they can have stuff that is so old still on market without updates, like the 4-Runner lived on for years past its expiration date, the previous generation Corolla was laughable, etc. Scion has been neglected, I think the FR-S would sell better as a Toyota, and they could just do a mini box like the Kia Soul with a Toyota badge and make the tC the new Celica and ditch the Scion brand all together. With some youthful models, Toyota wouldn't seem like your grandparents car brand either. I think the idea of Scion is good, but they have screwed up the brand from the start. If their goal is to get younger, urban type buyers, they can do that with the right products. A rebadged Mazda 2 would give them the entry subcompact, the FR-S needs a turbo and convertible version, the tC needs an update, but the idea of a 2-door sporty coupe with a roomy backseat works, especially with the Cobalt coupe gone, G6 coupe gone, no Focus or Jetta coupe, etc. The Hyundai Veloster is pretty much the only alternative to the tC. They need a Golf GTI style hot hatch and a Kia Soul competitor also. The problem is Toyota makes generic crap with dated engines, so they aren't likely to build a more fun or interesting mini box, or a more fun to drive Golf GTI. Scion could be the Japanese Pontiac if done right, and a good version of Pontiac, not the rental car Pontiac we had near the end.
  24. smk4565
    That sleek roofline for aerodynamics is myth, my E-class has a .27 drag coefficient and it is basically a 3-box design, the new S-class has a .24 drag coefficient, it beats the Prius, and the S-class doesn't look like a 4-door coupe and it has a big vertical front end.
  25. smk4565
    Ever since the Mercedes CLS, everyone wants a 4 door coupe, but it is so overplayed now and most of these supposed 4-door coupes don't look at all like a coupe anyway. And the CLS worked for Mercedes because it was a niche car, and they had the traditional 3 box design sedan in the E-class already there. GM trying to redo this Malibu over and over shows how desperate they are. They did a new one for 2004, refreshed it in 2006, a new one in 2008, another new one in 2012, a refresh in 2013, and it still sucks. The Malibu seems to sell worse now than it did 5 years ago, and the competitors keep getting better. I don't get why this segment is so hard for GM to figure out.
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