regfootball

thanks, an Impala SS or GXP GP would have been nice, but a bit out of my price range. Plus, the big back seat and command seating on the 500 were a huge draw for me.

I guess if you want to blow 5 grand more, or more, you could get an avalon. yes, the 500 needs improvements, but the avalon is not that much better a car. but my point is most folks won't even stop to consider the 500 OR the FUsion, OR the impala, because its not a HIP import.

right. my 500 was better priced, has more room, and is more comfortable and rides and handles better. you're right. it doesn't compare.

my dark blue new 500 was parked next to a new dark blue camry at the grocery store yesterday. as i looked at them side by side, same color and all, i struggled to understand why the camry would be considered a superior car by so many.

yes. they are also good at engineering incentives. <_< what will REALLY PISS ME OFF this next year is if the new POS HYundai AZERA makes a big splash and gets all sorts of sales and press.

dude, they don't even give em a FIRST LOOK. I bet 2/3 of the US population, especially weathy corporate types, 'movers and shakers', execs, 'professionals', urbanites, liberals, soccer moms, ....domestics NEVER enter their radar.

i dunno, 30,000 job cuts, won't that alone pretty much mean NO camaro?

the boxster is for real, the MX5 is a huge reach IMHO. I'd bet the S2000 is still a better overall car AND the solstic is a virtual equal to the Mazda with better styling. the A3 cannot be had for 25 g. C/D has made the 10best such a complex issue, instead of the acutal 10 best now its segmented due to markets etc. they should do ten best affordable cars and 10 best not so affordables. Who can afford a Boxster?

tell me about it.

there is a topic on this already, look down the list

if DCX is pinning their hopes on that seriously ugly Stratus replacement......WOA God help us, each one of us

part of this is the result of people living in a self defeatist state. its NOT AT ALL good if its American designed or made. it extends to more than just cars, but at the root of this is the love of all things NOT AMERICAN as the answer to all our own problems and insecurities. I am not saying, don't buy what's right for you, or what your choice is. I am saying, do the proper research, make the choice YOURSELF, and TRY to look past the media hype from time to time. Status is a main reason folks buy imports in droves, moreso than the whole 'Toyota has legendary reliability' thing. We can't have any importance in this great big world, if we buy the unfashionable car (Chevy). We need to buy an import to make us seem smarter, hipper, more attractive to all our friends. We need popular culture and the media to tell us what we should drive. That's not to suggest that a lot of the domestics products still don't suck in some/many ways..for example, a 2006 Lucerne with a dated pushrod engine in lieu of a modern 3.6.............but the problem is the image and status factor is merely amplifying what are otherwise not hugely better advantages, if any, in a lot of market segments. Eventually, a whole new wave of folks who have never owned Toytas before but lived through a life cycle owning one will one day discover what the WEAKNESSES are. Toyota's historical customer clientele is so blind/sheepish in accepting whatever is bad about the products now, but if a whole new breed of customers who have never experienced them before start whing about things like flimsy sheetmetal, thin paint, undurable suspension components, poor sales and serivce experiences due to arrogance, blandness, costlier parts and service.......... it will take years to breed the UNSATISFIED toyota customers. its is time for a protectionist movement IMHO in this country, in many industries. this article alone could sow the seeds of such a movement. buy what you need and like...import or domestic..... but PLEASE America, don't BLINDLY discount your American companies. Make the choice yourself, and please, at least drive their products yourself first. those 30,000 laid off folks are now on YOUR payroll (i.e. your tax dollars). WHEN toyota officially becomes #1, they will assume the position of being targeted by consumer groups, they will be the main target by lawsuit happy plaintiffs and their lawyers. The press, legal community, customers, EVERYONE will then say....MMMMMM here's our new king of the hill. WE NEED TO BRING THEM DOWN! it will become interesting to see how Toyota acts on the defensive in that position. They will not be able to get away with all the pompous advertising they do now. They will not be able to the 'know it alls' they profess to be. The game will become different, and they will be marked. I hope they know the saying 'you get what you ask for'.

media 1, GM 0

since the prius wan't hod rod enough for them, :rolleyes: they extended that bias to all the other toyotas..... :rolleyes:

my recommendation build mercury's promo campaign around this stuff no wonder mercury sales are up!

to me the mustang, mx-5 and a3 are questionable

exactly. if it did, where's the solstice?

its a waste. more proof that dodge is the true redneck brand

spy shots of the new sebring were HORRENDOUS they'd be better off rebadging galants...oooops they got rid of them

coincidence, i saw a brand new Mazda5 in the target parking lot tonight

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! the 9-7x is the best trailblazer. it does look quite nice for a mere chevy.

J LO is a has been, but i'd have no problem doing a close inspection of that tushie of hers.

someone please do a chop of my aztek pics! lemmeknow i can send you a pic or two and make the ultimate ridgeline competitor

i'd prefer a live sales ticker at the bottom of my monitor, along with a continuing detailed analysis from some auto journaist panel. there's a lot of short term thinking in the analysis of auto industry sales these days. it might cloud some journalists' and industry exec's opinions of the long term. not to mention the general public as well.

PUFF PIECE or PUFFED RICE? they print all the stories about how great Toyota is, it still deosn't make me want a POS Camry, Solara, Prius, it didn't make me want a Sienna. Now I like the new IS and GS Lexus enough, but if push came to shove I would still get a Binner most likely. honestly, I think the media is building Toyota up, waiting for the big slip, and then watch them DESTROY them. It might take awhile, but they will. Right now they are supersizing the aura of them so the ripfest is that much more sensational. If you were a member of the press, wouldn't you think you could advance further in your career if a piece of your *cough* journalism had enough inertia to bring down perhaps our country's greatest industrial icons? (GM and Ford). Journalists, like *cough* architects, have a deep bleeding desire for recognition and affirmation......Like Frank Gehry, who figures we all need to have big curly metal facades shoved down our throats in some inteleectual fashion, the auto *cough* journalists have made it a cause to destroy our American car companies. Don't get me wrong, there are PLENTY of things to rip about GM, Ford, etc. But really, the bent these HACKS have taken it to in the last couple years has transcended reporting the news and now has gotten into CREATING the story or feeding it. And, Toyota knows what PR buttons to push. It may have been an expensive PR move to build the Prius, but it sure is paying off a lot more than having 20 more people on your PR staff would. Now the currency manipulation bit.....its becoming an issue. It used to be you could rile the public up into the protectionist mode, but society today is so hosed up that most folks don't care. They would never know why GM is at the currency disadvantage it is and such, and why it matters. People today have no sympathy towards their siblings or neighbors, much less their countrymen or business community. "What's in it for me" is the current line, and talk about yen or whatever doesn't enter their mind.