regfootball

This was the all new 13. In comparison to a corolla, it's a champ. Compared to something fun......

why why why

sweet

i hope to get a chance to write my short impressions of this this week yet. bottom line.... it's just a commuter car, in some ways a better car than the Altima, just because it really is only trying to be an honest commuter car. It's like bringing the Corolla and it's creepiness along 8-10 years. I actually thought it was a decent ride for what it was, and overall pretty quiet except when you really have it on the boil, then, it's another Japanese brand car that doesn't really put anything into drowning the din in front of the firewall.

honda really needs to sell this car as a non hybrid.

over reaching government nanny state tyranny ABS / ESC I can understand. Collision avoidance and stuff is over the line i think.

where i wuz at sold a few kizashis for a few ticks under 17 for an AWD S model. the loyal suzuki customers came out of the woodwork to snatch up the deals when the prices fell. if there is a dealer with a stick shift kizashi, you will get that dirt cheap. probably an S base stick shift for 14 or 15......a GTS stick if you can find one for maybe 17-18.....

blu and dfelt are spot on. BMW success was premium price and premium experience of existing vehicle types. Trying to spawn more models just for kicks, and keep prices up, will be their downfall. Adding more models that aren't needed, will just drive the price down and then they will have to dumb down the vehicle too. BMW shouldn't chase volume in the US. It will kill them.

the changes or the level of photos? I knew there is not much in terms of degree of change they could do outside. they cleaned it up some. it looks better. But to me the atrocities were inside. We'll see if they indeed fix the carnage.

15 mpg city, 22 highway, that's why

nice hearse! THAT'S THE rendezvoux ass on that thing.

they could have tried to sell 80% of their 2013 allotment to fleets and just wait it out till 2014. And then ultimately keep refining the dealer network. Apparently they say no scenario of increasing volume. I beg to differ. All it would have required was some image and brand building and some advertising and keeping the features and content fresh. And having some lease incentives etc. It should have been easy to sell 30k of Kizashis, 25k of SX4's, 15k of Grand Vitaras, and 10k each of Equators and Swifts. That's 90k. Add the new crossover, and eventually the Kizashi size crossover. Even in a down year, there is no excuse why they could not have sustained 60-80k sales a year. Even 75,000 spread out through 250 dealers = 300 cars / 12 months = 25 cars a month. That should have worked out. 80,000 on 200 dealers = 400 / 12 = 30+ cars a month.

i would have bought one for you blu and delivered it to your garage, that was under the master plan in which i would have gotten rich selling them. Swift is a fun looking little baby car.

People bitch about the mpg, but there really are very few vehicles out there that get better than 27 if they are equipped with AWD. And the gas tank is small. Part of the gas mileage issue is the weight....3000 pounds, and a shape that is not aerodynamic. Kizashis get as much mpg. The FWD only Sportbacks got 3-5mpg more easily. The CVT is a little rubbery, but it is a 2010 vintage. It is snappy on the higher mph range. I wanted to see how a DI engine and newer CVT would have fared. I saw this new green color at the 13 MY training (I would buy one), and got to play with the new radio. It works nice and phones connect ASAP. They should have had that in 2010. Lots of headroom, and most folks think the rear leg room is even decent for such a small vehicle. The SX4 drives well, and is pretty reliable. It's a terror in winter. 4 wheel discs, 8 air bags. The new grille / fascia kept it fresh. The plan was to continue to sell the SX4 next to the new S Cross crossover and the matching sedan. There was also to have been a Grand Vitara replacement. Either based on the Kizashi or simply an all new frame rugged SUV. Most customer objections were from the mpg and size, and occasionally safety ratings. The new S Cross would have handled that being Matrix size. Yet many bought one because the small size allowed them to fit in garages that were small. It's not much bigger than a Fiat, but it's way more road worthy. I still have been thinking about maybe getting one to replace my Cobalt if I can strike the right deal, although a Kizashi would be the way to do. I like cars, but really at some point in life, you just want something simple you don't blow a lot of bucks on. Had Suzuki marketed their cars and positioned them that way, maybe they wouldn't be out of business. Suzukis will continue to be sold in Canada. Thanks for the complimentary review. Just to give you an idea of how fast and drastic the out of business thing was.....had 13 MY training......they just put out the 13 brochures.....and out of the blu, bye bye.

Happy Birthday!!!!

nice review

anyone who tied up with GMDAT and then VW would die on the vine....

did not at all expect it. got out in time i guess, but had just gone through training on the 13's......... just is proof you couldn't jump in something with just one foot. I wanted a new 9-5 and Saab went down. Then I wanted a Kizashi and look what happened. I really like the Outlander Sport........ Some of the Mazdas are looking good...... decent iron, could be a player with some effort on the product line and marketing.........

ouch! out in time I guess! really is too bad, though, some decent iron came outta there. and the new crossover was to arrive next summer. there were far too many issues to list that were impediments.......... there is so much involved on the marketing and finance end there determines who gets the car sales these days...... edit, this does not say 'permanently cease automotive sales'........ two years from now after cooking the books maybe they come back for some reason or another......... i wonder just how badly the VW mess killed them.....

should have it up tomorrow.

Tested 2013 Nissan Altima SV sedan 2.5, MSRP roughly 25k Had to. Drove the Accord last week, the midsize segment is on fire with new entries. As you know, the Honda failed to win my endorsement due to NVH issues. But the 13 Accord has a new CVT...that was not the problem. Honda still makes their cars too loud and noisy, etc. The 13 Altima in nearly every way, shape and form is the most analogous to the new Accord. And the Altima itself is a market juggernaut. Sales and leasing, the Altima has been in the top of the sales charts for several years now. For 2013, Nissan chose not to mess with success, but did concentrate on worthwhile improvements all around the car to make sure it stays with the pack. The new sheet metal is instantly comparable to the previous version, without the hokey taillights that that one had. However, the Altima design has gone off in an elegant direction, in a way, to mimic its Inifiniti brand. Infiniti on a budget. Taking shape in the front is a new grille shape that is the signature of Nissan's meat and potatoes lineup. It all works together nicely.....a certain amount of style, and the car does have an elegant look. Not particularly youthful, or sporting....but Nissan has evolved in the direction to try to take on the Toyotas of the world with vehicles that are a little more appliance like. The look mostly works but at least for me, the greenhouse has a little too thick of chrome. To me, the Infiniti remake look on a budget does lose a bit in translation as well. It can be a bit hokey, like the latest VW's and their cheaper Audi looks. The front end and fender shaping is a bit strange.....but overall the car has an identity its own. I had driven a 2010 Altima for 900 miles on a rental once, so I wanted to see how different the 13 was, considering the engine itself it pretty much carryover. The CVT is new though and immediately it seemed improved to me. However, there is a hint of rubberbandiness to it yet. The 13 Accord's CVT is better, but not by much. For most drivers this CVT is a great transmission, and what else is different is how it has wider ratios for better acceleration, and lower rpm cruising. This Altima was content in many situations to run at ridiculously low rpm's while cruising....which also should the fuel economy and is no doubt a major reason for the 38 mpg highway rating. This car should have no trouble putting up great FE numbers. The 10 Altima ran pretty high rpms at high speed so the improvements Nissan is claiming are very real. So the car had decent scoot and the CVT was pretty responsive. Even with the carryover engine, power was very good for such a large car. I would estimate acceleration vs. the Accord to be a draw. Where the Altima had an advantage was quite simply less drone. The Altima was quieter at cruising speeds, and also during acceleration. Not by a massive amount.....but what seemed grating in the Accord is more of simply a nuisance. The noise from the Accord's din was bad to listen to. The ALtima sounds more like something inbetween ducks honking and hair dryers in a busy salon. And the time it offended you most was pretty much only under hard acceleration. This is again, not a CVT problem.....it's a noise insulation and NVH issue. To the Accord's credit, it does not let the rpms sky to 5000 and hang there like the Altima still does. But for most driving, the Altima will be responsive enough so the drone will merely be an annoyance.....not a deal breaker. Ride and handling were benign. I think the car has gotten a little cushier...it's not a slug, and it's not sloppy. But it is biased for comfort. There is no leaning towards sport, nor does it lean towards puff cruiser. It sort of occupies a pleasant inbetween. It would probably be a good road car. It feels big, big, big, and very stable. But don't expect tons of fun. The interior in my opinion is done nicely, with good materials and accents, and soft places on the doors. The seat cloth is more velourish than burlapp.....consistent with old Altimas. It's a 'warmer' interior than the Honda. But it also looks like you've seen it before. It sort of has a little bit of a dated feel, again, maybe a cheap luxury theme too. It is though, a good step above the 2012. There is tons of room inside and in general there was nothing of note to me regarding features or controls that stood out, other than some gauges and displays looked a little cheap. Visibility from the cabin was pretty good. I think it would be a tossup among a lot of folks as to overall whether the Honda or the Nissan had the nicer insides. (I might lean a little to the Honda there although the Nissan does feel softer and less cold inside). Trunk was big. This car would excel as a family car I think too. In the end, driving the new Altima was kind of like one of those moments in life that you just spent a bunch of time doing nothing particularly significant. It went by, it was ok at the time, it passed, and you don't have a bunch to say about it. But it didn't let you down, or draw attention to itself as being out of line. The new Altima is improved over the old one, and will continue on being what it is. It had just enough style and flair so as not to be lumped in as being a Toyota like in it's duty as an appliance, and it also came off as more amenable and refined than the Honda. HIGHS Wise refinements to the Altima franchise Big mpg boosts Nicely improved CVT Room and space abounds Good acceleration, cruises effortlessly Soft and warm interior with some hand me down luxury feel Stable and secure ride and handling Decent noise isolation when the rpms are down Lots of features and tech for the price LOWS The honking ducks and vacuum cleaners under the hood when you rev it up Just a bit of rubber bandiness left in the CVT Bit of a dated feel already, some faux luxury feel Some styling elements a bit awkward Starting to feel less youthful, 'softened up' On a path to a lack of identity Doesn't excel.....or fail.......at any one thing. Is the car trying to do what Toyota has done for so many years? (i.e. inoffensive appliance) SUMMARY I really am having a hard time finding a way to be telling in a quick line about this car. But the truth is that the car will be well received and will sell a lot. Nissans used to have a little bit of an edge to them....that is how the 03 (or was it 04) plus Altimas became so popular. This new look with Inifiniti lite on a budget makes sense perhaps. But the car has lost some swagger. Maybe not all just yet. But plenty enough that it too has gravitated into that somewhat androgynous place....the one where your car is just along for the ride too. Really to me, between the altima and the accord, it's six of one, half dozen on another. 100 people would drive the two cars, and 52 would choose the Honda due to the H, and the rest, the Altima. I think the end result is similar.....cars that offer a lot, and have most bases covered, but have some NVH issues. Where I separate it in this case is, i think I would not be bothered by the Altima's drone near as much as the Honda's. Nissan vanilla personality makes it an okay B (higher than the Honda due to less and less grating noise.

Verano feels lighter than the Regal. It is, and it feels that way. And the cars have the same engines and are darn close to the same size. Today I say a 13 Taurus for 6 grand off MSRP, so that is another car you can get for 24 grand. Veranos don't need much for rebates right now though!

Now an interesting take would be a 24,000 dollar Verano vs. a no options Focus ST for something skin to the same price...........

i agree, the heated seats ought to be standalone. here is what i propose. a 3 door and 5 door version, available here in the US.....maybe with the Opel seats and interior schemes. price em below the sedan a bit. the 1.6t and 2.5 are the engines (turbo 2.0 as the limited edition). Build em in Europe and import just a small amount of them to round out the showroom but create a buzz and something to market vs. the VW's. keep the Opel grille shape on them. Make the big sunroof like on the 08 saturn astra an option. Sport suspension standard. Then bypass the Cruze hatch. Buick does the hatch better. Bring the Adam too to back it up. I was very surprised to find the backup camera on this car, but it is indeed a neat extra in my book. Verano fills the niche of the old Grand Ams and Aleros but is like 4 steps beyond it. Bear in mind, the new Malibu has a lot of the same feel of the Verano. Although not as nip/tuck/tidy.

Tested 2013 Buick Verano SD sedan, MSRP about 24k 2.4l four cylinder, 6 speed automatic. This is one I have dying to get into. Verano. WTF is a Verano? (Keep in mind I am used to seeing VERONAS aplenty in various states of non operation in my previous service department). I have been seeing these everywhere! I thought new age car shoppers did not buy Buicks! Only OLD people drive them! They are so.........so......... Wait, something about this car is different. What is it exactly? GM makes everything the same way! Oh, this is from Germany? Ok, well not exactly. But the car does have its roots in the German Opel Astra.....one of Europe's most popular and most well regarded name plates. So you are saying that GM has finally built a PREMIUM compact car? So you really are trying to tell me that Buick (yes, Buick) is building a car that someone under 60 would drive? That GM builds a car that people buy on the goodness of the product, and not the rebates? It's true. This could very well be GM's best car out right now. Every test of a GM car that I have taken in recent memory has impressed me. And not because I am a GM homer and have driven many GM vehicles since my very first drive in a Chevy truck at age 14. Ok, the car I drive every day, a Chevy Cobalt, does not at all impress me. In fact, you can have it. But that was created in another era. I am talking today about GM cars new to market since THE CRASH. GM, whether the press is willing to admit it or not, has built a very good stable of very very very good vehicles. Each successive GM new vehicle in the last 3-4 years has gone to great lengths to put criticism of GM's car making ability to bed. The Verano I feel (prior to the new ATS) is the car that can finally start to put nails in the coffin of old GM. There have been ifs and maybes about some of the cars before it. The Cruze had a few shortcomings (like real world mpg, and shifting issues) that dogged it's entry in the world. The Regal, Buick's own brother, was deemed overweight, expensive, and underpowered in base trim. The LaCrosse suffered from niggly things like a small trunk and such. The Sonic came close, so close. Yet, buff books still thought the Fit was better. There are no glaring weaknesses in the Verano. Nothing to bitch about. No deal breakers. There are a couple, "if they did this, it would be even better's". Better yet, the car is as advertised. In fact, it's underpromised, and overdelivered. We are told the Verano is a PREMIUM small car. It very much is, and best of all, it may be the best explanation about Buick's new place and position in the market. That is the best part. A NEW DIRECTION. I enjoyed driving the Verano. It felt substantial and felt nice to drive. It did not feel ostentatious, it did not feel cheap. It was satisfying and secure, with a little bit of fun. It was mature and a little bit youthful at the same time. It was style, but it was purpose. It was tasteful, and not fad. It was a little bit of chic and not any excess. Generally I can describe the drive in my highs and lows. My main complaints about the Verano were that the seat back contour I think I needed to adjust to and it may not be contoured for everyone. Overall the seats are supportive and very comfy. The dash and interior is simple, organized, and very stylish. The ergonomics were very very good. The view out was neither wide open nor claustrophobic....in other words, just right. The little front windows were perfect to see just a little bit extra of the road. Steering and handling were about spot on for most folks, while leaving you to imagine how nice a slightly enhanced sport package would be on the car to jazz it up a bit more. Fit, finish, materials, and impression of quality were all very good. The Intellilink is Impressive in display and operation. The car has a level of NVH and refinement that simply is not present in so many cars on the market now today. But it is in no way mush. It's just right. Overall, you feel like (in this trim) you got more than you bargained for. No details on this car are cheesy in any way. Ok, maybe the gawdawful ventiports.....they need to get rid of them! Can't wait to try the turbo! I would recommend this car to pretty much anyone. Commuters, my own parents, older friends, younger friends, foreign brand fans. Perhaps the only presumption a small car like this may not deliver on is EPA estimated MPG. In an age of advertising wrought with 40 mpg claims, this may be the cars weakest link. I am not sure if in higher trims and prices if the endorsement stays the same. What can GM fix besides improving mpg? I think the biggest flaw is not having the 3 door, 5 door, and wagon for sale here in the US. Absolutely the 3 door and 5 door would be what I would want to check out. Buick has a real chance here to make a splash, to keep the other VARIANTS off our shores is travesty. A five door with the Astra seats (not the poofy ones here) would fight the Golf nicely. I think bringing the 2.5 to this car is a priority, along with an 8 speed auto or so. A sport handling package should be offered. The turbo is coming and will be perfect. Buick should find ways to offer unique and personalized versions and options to really create interest with the self involved bunch. I would also ditch the rear trunk and switch it to the Astra version as well. This is all nitpicky! This car is bangup for GM. No wonder now why I am seeing them all around. HIGHS Style without fad Great interior (especially in tan), even with leatherette / cloth mix Excellent gauges and center console / stack Intellilink display is very nice and touch screen responds well (I did not play with voice commands) Stereo has good sound Very comfortable seats, compared to what you are typically used to (except for a seatback glitch) Great visibility all around and balance between open and closed interior feel usable trunk (if a bit small) that is nicely trimmed Right size steering wheel! Driving position can be set to just your liking and you are held in place Quiet inside, and whatever sounds the engine makes sound good Gets up and goes when you want it to, good acceleration and smoothness Car feels solid and stable and secure and is just the right size Very good balance for ride / handling and suspension. Goldilocks would say 'just right'. 18" wheels that are handsome and tires that are premium, on a base car! The ability to show your friends a no compromise GM car Does not feel at all like the Cruze and you will not confuse it with one. German, Japanese, and American car fans would all enjoy the car. Peyton Manning drives one! LOWS There should be a sport package available with a little tighter steering and suspension, because it would be oh so good Where is the turbo yet? We can't wait! Where is the 3 door, 5 door, and wagon? Astra butt is nicer Could we get a version with the Astra seats to sample those? Driver seat back contour was a bit hard to get comfy with. Trunk could be a smidge bigger. Likewise, rear leg room is tight for those of us who have passengers a little more than occasionally. Fortunately, foot space is pretty good. 2.5 would improve it more. As would an 8 speed auto, or at least one that shifts a little quicker. F*cking ventiports come an inch away from ruining it all EPA estimated MPG is less than it probably needs to be Turbo should be standalone option on all versions of the car. Manual should be optional on the 2.4. 1.6t would be a nice midlevel offering too. SHAQ needs to get a LaCrosse to fit inside. OCN BLU doesn't have one yet SUMMARY With a disclaimer about not knowing how a more optioned up version of this car feels, I would wholly endorse this car to just about anyone, for any purpose. It is as advertised and is satisfying. It feels worth more than you'd pay. It is a car you would be pleased and proud to drive. There are no deal breakers. Any future improvements will not be fixing the car, it would only be enhancing it. This car is an A, even in it's basic configuration.