regfootball

what i read from owner comments on Edmunds was to expect about 20 mpg with the Element. Hell, my ugly ugly ugly Aztek gets 20-22 mpg. If I were an Element owner, I would expect at least 25 mpg. I would be willing to bet that the FJ will get close to 20 mpg.

sat in a couple at the autoshow....mixed bag, in some cases the interior is nice (TIGHT seams, good upper dash plastics) and in some ways its not so good (cheap lower dash plastics and cheap vinyl on the doors, some loose trim and sloppy not to well fastened climate controls). The whole effect is BLAND. The look is mid nineties Millenia outside, and its almost too eerily reminiscent of my old Dimante inside. It will please Camry customers and the masses. Miilions fall asleep in the process. At least Toyota knows where the money is. Sanitize everything. At least this car is a huge upgrade over the Azera and Sonata.

here's your economy car then enjoy, i hope this works for ya in the rain, too

i think that's the exact same FJ they had here at the autoshow yesterday. They wouldn't let you in the seating area but the trunk was open. I was aghast at the cheapness of the interior from what I saw. i GET that this thing is supposed to be a no nonsense vehicle and all that. However, they took it too far. You have to make it livable. Some of the cargo plastics looked like they would not hold up six months. They already had one of the trunk area pieces taped up with black tape. It looked like thick trash bag plastic. From what i saw, this was even on the door panels. The S-10 dash looked really cheap. To credit, the seats, shifter and steering wheel looked ok. But, to put this in perspective......a bottom end FJ compared to a gutless gas sucking Element is a much wiser purchase decision and you can do a lot more with it. I have major ambivalence over the cheapness of the interior, yet at the lowest trim level, I think its a justifiable purchase because you are getting a real motor with usable power, its fairly spacious, and it should hold up for mild duty. If you buy one, be prepared to live with the horrific plastics inside. Is there a trim upgrade available for this thing?

sat in an AZERA yesterday at the autoshow. I am telling you, this car screams 'third world' like a cheap suit from K mart. The exterior is a limp lifeless blob that makes the Oval taurus seem like high well executed design and is among the most dull cars I've ever seen and the interior is filled with all sorts of mismatched materials. the design is a hodgepodge, and the cloth especially on the seats is worse than some of the heavily criticized cloths of the GM past. This, along with the new Sonata and Kia Optima, are three of the most disastrous looking products on the market. Friends, don't kid yourselves, Kia and Hyundai have made upgrades to their hardware, but they are still selling on price primarily. The press' love affair with these two cars will soon subside as the months go by and there is newer iron to write about. Anyone who buys this car is a fool. Sorry, but that's my opinion. Just by a damn Camry or Accord or Altima if this is what you want, because all three of those are superior. Aside-the new Camry is BLAND, but well built seemingly except for loose trim pieces and climate control knobs that move around sloppily. The Camry dash has GM cheap plastic on the lower half and the door panels are cheap ass vinyl that wouldn't even be acceptable in my Ford. The blue green center stack control look a bit cheap as well. As usual, it has the cheesy Toyota cloth going on. Credit, the precision of the dash fits and the almost unnoticable seams on the construction of it do make seem well done overall. Still, it comes off way better than the AZERA.

Yeah, on those 4 hour trips ont he interstate where traffic moves at 80+mph I bet.....

rube, you can still get economy and fun, unless your one of those who can't seem to make good things coexist together in your life. You don't have to go the extreme. Give us an engine option, leave the whizzer whiner engine for the ecoweenies, and give someone like me the 150hp or 180hp option that would actually make the car usable on more than single lane city streets and it only hurts mpg by 2-3 mpg.... the ecotec is a powerful torque rich motor than can rev and in the real world begets is users with 35mpg often, even on heavier cars like the Saturn L and Grand Ams, Ions, and Cobalts. If Toyota is so freekin great let them stuff a 150hp mill in this thing that gets 30mpg real world city and I bet you'd sell em by the bucket load. I thought the Yaris had a nice overall interior and packaging and good looking plastic, but I still hate the center gauges and childish climate controls. The seats looked nice and supportive and chair high for efficiency. Anyone who buys an Accent or Rio over the yaris needs their head examined. The new Aveo, by the way, the interior on that one is NICE>>>>! If I were shopping in this segment of car, I guess I would honestly just get the Yaris or use my GM card and get the new Aveo. If Toyota doesn't upgrade the motor than I would go out looking for a blower for it. I think the tuner market will be huge for this car. I could hop up the motor and put some 17's and wide rims and brake upgrade the thing and still have money left for tacos and beer.

oh, they'll be fine. Honda is cutting the big checks to send their way right now.........

hey cmattson, i checked the Fit out at the autoshow here yesterday. WHAT A PILE OF DUNG!!!!!!! Seriously! its complete and total crap compared to what else you can buy. -ugly -tinny -uncomfortable -dash equally as ugly and cheap looking as the new civic's you want this car? Go buy an AERIO wagon and you'll get a more useful, more comfortable and better looking microcar with 50 more hp! And a warranty, all for about the same price. Seriously, the whole thing about this car being space efficient is hogwash. It was way too small and the cargo hold was not that spacious. Any of the competition hatchbacks are a better buy. I'm gonna have to eat a little crow on this next one...I REALLY liked the Yaris and aside from the DUMB AS HELL center gauges and childish looking climate controls (and useless motor), I would have to say the Yaris to me is a highly desirable runabout in either form, assuming the price is cheap. I still would pass on it unless it had exceptional safety scores. The Yaris had a nicer interior it seemed than many other cars in the show at prices up to 3 times as much. And its extremely roomy. If the Yaris were available with a 180hp engine, or even 150hp, I would be checking it out. The Yaris is much cooler than the old fart's Corolla. The new Accent / Rio combo looks third world in comparison and the Yaris absolutley blows away the LAME ASS fit in comparison. IMO. I would have ot say anyone who is remotely interested in a Fit simply is not a very good shopper, because I just don't think its got the attributes for the American market. No looks, no power, no comfort, tinny, not as much space as they suggest in their hype. Get a Yaris, or a base Caliber, or a Vibe, or an Aerio or Reno, or a base outlander BTW, the new Aveo's interior is REALLY nice. That car is gonna SELL!

After comparison, I still think the Outlander interior is a nicer quality with nicer seats and the trunk is larger, although the dash forms are dated. At one point last year, before I sold my Mitsubishi I could have gotten into a base Outlander with stick for around 13,500 new, except that ABS is not offered on that base model or with a stick. Plus the huge warranty. I do think the Caliber is the right product for Dodge right now and it will be a hit I think, but its too bad they botched the whole visibility / confinement thing. The Vibe, HHR all benefit. The Maxx even begins to be a great option to a heavily optioned Caliber.

quick...saw the yaris yesterday....its not bad. couldn't get inside of it. interior is very nice looking, still hate the center gauges. i expect it sell huge.....IF THEY PUT A BIGGER MOTOR IN IT...IDIOTS

I thoroughly checked out the Caliber at the autoshow yesterday. I think they pretty much have hit it spot on. Its a neat package at a good price. EXCEPT...... some glaring flaws........ 1. really cheap hard plastic on a lot of the inside. The graining is not overly nasty I guess, but this stuff is CHEAP. In the tan its not as obvious. And, I realize the car is cheap....but man, this just continues the recently Chrysler tradition of cheap interiors and brings it to the next level. In tan, I could accept it but the graytones are bad. The natty grained stuff is better than the adjacent pebble grained stuff. GM has been doing a better job with their plastics and Chrysler always seems to get a pass while GM and others get ripped on continually. 2. the folding rear seat has a fuzzy carpet like finish shile the cargo floor has a durable hard surface. Why doesn't the seatback match? 3. they could have moved the climate controls up so they weren't behind the shifter. who was the dumb ass that approved that? the shifter is tight against the control stack. 4. i didn't like how the structure intrudes on the door openings. Its tough to get in and out of because of the restricted size doors. 5. The interior feels incredibly confined with an extremely high cowl and mailslot windshield view and this to me, is the DEALBREAKER on the car. Someone made the comment sitting in the HHR that it felt confined and I agree to apoint (I tested an HHR and it did feel claustrophobic) but the cowl is so high and constricting on the Caliber along with the small side windows it feels like a prison. I do not like that. AT ALL. The seats are good and all seating positions are nice but then they botch it with a constricting interior! Vehicles like this are supposed to feel spacious and accommodating, not like a prison! The culprit is the high hood and firewall. WHAT IS IT WITH ALL THESE NEW CARS AND TALL BLUNT FRONT ENDS!?!?!!? is it the STUPID ASS EUROPEE ONS AND THE DUMB ASS PEDESTRIAN SAFETY STANDARDS? SCREW EM WHY ARE YOU CROSSING THE STREET ANYWAYS NOW I CAN'T SEE OUT OF THE CAR TO MISS YOU!!!!! -so, the interior is a dealbreaker feeling so confined. otherwise i liked the ipod holder (although i wonder if it allows it accept the bottom digital connection to the cable) and it fell right at hand and still allowed use of the armrest. BRAVO. the gauges were nice and the radio looks nice. the car is stylish and priced well. it has new engines.

guys, you can have beer and its good for yoU!

"If I were advising someone to lose weight, I'd start with soft drinks and juice drinks. Get rid of them," she said."

"They also allow men three times as much beer as sugary soda."

msn

are the PT's supposed to be getting the new engines from the Caliber family?

i just checked out the PT again at the autoshow today. Even after all this time, the PT is still a very appealing car.

in order for the domestics to ever survive, they need to be big players in volume and mainstream segments

i SECOND THAT

the way i worded it was not meant to associate the two. my bad. basically what i was attempting to say was to list them separately but i guess it came out sort of jumbled. my bad.

STOP IT MAN!!!!!! LOL

don't make me f-king burst out laughing like that! i might ruin a n-tsac that way! GET WITH THE PROGRAM! HERE'S YOUR CUP OF WARM STARCH

please correct yourself, it's not 'boxy big grille car', its CHUNKY big grill car

my 99 corolla prizm had 125hp and couldn't get out of its own way or accelrate above 55-60 mph. plus, it had scary braking at those speeds, plus questionable handling on thin tires. no smaller car with less hp will be any better. at least the ecotec equipped cars have torque to manage the road above 60 mph. no way do i put me and my kid in a Yaris and feel safe either precrash or during/aftercrash. Saving gas is great, but not if your family is toast in the process.