A Horse With No Name

The last thing VW needs right now is more legal liability.

One more reason i would prefer a Golf R to a type R... Amazing that this thing outruns the CTS-V of a few years ago. I would be more impressed with Honda if the current SI was more distinct from the regular Civic.

None of the first gen models have the ad Blue and will not be able to be repaired easily. methinks VW may well crush up to about half of what it is buying back...they are not going to fix and resell a car that is 7 year sold with 100,000 plus miles on it.

My friend Aaron got a very good deal on a 2015 TDI wagon. I still miss mine, sold it back about 7 weeks ago. It got 58 Miles per gallon on a highway trip right before I sold it back... As far as the older TDI's go, a bunch have been coming through flattened on flat bed trucks at a towing lot near my daughters school. TDI Cup Jetta, Beetle Covnertible, several other interesting older Vee dubs flat as a pancake...

Agreed!

...and I am thinking about pulling the trigger on a 2017 GTI to replace my departed TDI Jetta...hmmm... Be interesting to see the Jeep it things work out for you!

I looked at a leftover 16 at 30K a few months ago at a local GMC dealer....they are nice trucks... ...and I have a bunch of friends with TDI VW's with 300 and 400K on them on the original Turbo...

This is very correct, I think. The roughness and ruggedness reflected some of the unsettled nature and dynamism of not just American cars but American culture. America has never been about smooth and silky, it has always been dynamic, exciting, and a little unpredictable... Take a look at the vintage C2 stingray and the E type Jag, the Jag is smooth as silk and the stingray is a really edgy design. Safer yes, especially pulling into traffic. I loved the DSG in the TDI Jetta I sold back to Volkswagen a month of so ago...

I would like to thank everyone for participating in this thread, and invite people to read my self exile post in the lounge. Learned a couple of really important things about myself here, and I found this thread oddly refreshing. First of all, there is a part of me that really would like as Drew said a really comfortable car that pampers you a bit. Secondly, I got hit upside the head with a 2 x 4 (or maybe 2 x 12 floor joist) in a really positive way. For the first time in a decade, I have an American car that I not only like looking at...but has some real lust factor built in. There are a lot of cars like the Shelby GT350 R that I love but Cannot see owning, or cars like the Cruze which are fine cars but do not excite me to the point of wanting to spend coin to buy them. Don't laugh but....Cmicassa is right, and dfelt also...Buick...I am smitten by....the 2017 LaCrosse. Better looking than most of the luxury cars we are talking about here, affordable, parts will be cheaper than the TLX and IS that I also like, interior materials and design are arguably better than the Acura or Lexus...comes with a V6, and a good V6 standard.....hmmm.... Probably the only dude on the planet cross shopping a WRX, Golf R, TLX, and Lacrosse. I need to do some hard thinking. I tend to keep cars for a very long time so I want to be very sure of this decision. Secondly, a specific critique of what I dislike about modern luxury cars in general and the Conti in particular. I do not think modern luxury car design wears feminine design language well. I finally found what I profoundly dislike about not just the Conti/MKZ but the Infinity lineup, the SUV's of Lexus, and even the Bentley that Frisky Dingo posted on the what would you buy instead thread in the lounge. All of them have feminine design language IMHO that works poorly with the design. I may not be making much sense here, but look at a 1960's continental and also a modern Nissan GTR. Both of them are very masculine designs with a lot of masculine design language. That plays really well with modern luxury car design IMHO. Drew's comment about David Beckham in a suit was right on the money... With that...see you all in May or June. Regards, Chris

Those cars have zero on the hood but per the link Surreal provided Focus ST has three grand on the hood and zero percent financing. Local Subaru dealer had a WRX equipped just the way i wanted it....they offered me $200 off and a cup of coffee....I told them they would have to do better than that. Dealer must have been right because two hours alter the WRX had a new owner (and it wasn't me)....I did get a cup of coffee though. Which is one huge reason that the Fiesta and Focus ST while excellent, are not on my list. They depreciate more in the first year of ownership than a Golf R or WRX does in 4 or 5....

Gentlemen; I will be going on a self imposed exile from C and G for 3 or 4 months, this time for real. No one here has done anything wrong, but I want you all to know what I am doing, as I consider everyone here pretty much a friend and someone I respect. I have a kitchen remodel that has been going on for a year and just needs to get done. I am doing everything myself (tile, electrical, plumbing, building the cabinets from scratch, et al.) My wife deserves to have this Complete, and I am in the home stretch. My sons friend Brian has taken up woodworking with me, and he is building guitars almost competently with and tools from scratch. he is very talented, and has picked up in ten weeks things that took me ten years to pick up. But I urgently need to build another proper woodworking bench for my workshop, not something out of construction grade 2x material but a proper hardwood working bench with vices that work flawlessly and a perfectly flat work surface. In the midst of all this, we lost several close rounds in the last collegiate debate tournament we competed in. This had the odd effect of motivating my two best students, Erin and Kirsten, to want to work their butts off in the spring and win some tournaments. I have a substantial coaching burden at this time writing cases, helping research, driving to tournaments, judiging, et al. If that wasn't enough, my 15 year old daughter is transferring to a different high school, one where I will have a substantial role in transportation and parental involvement. It is a school that works with the artistically gifted, and I think it will work out well for her. But it is going to be a huge chunk of time. If that wasn't enough, the health thread here has been one thing of many that has got me very serious about my health for the first time in a decade plus. I am forcing myself to take care of myself, and I have several people here to thank for that. From an automotive standpoint, I also need the voices of everyone else to die back for a minute so I can decide what to replace the Jetta with. There are several cars on the short lit, which we will get to in a minute... But the good news is that there is a domestic I really want to own, not just like, on the list for the first time in a long time....don't laugh but... Buick LaCrosse with the 2017 redesign is on my short list. Am really ready for an entirely different sort of automobile ownership experience, and the thought of a big comfortable sedan sets really well with me. Will be back in a few months when things clear up... Short list at this time... Golf R GolfAlltrack GTI WRX IS250/350 Buick Lacrosse 2017 or newer Acura TLX WRX Regards, Chris

Oddly enough nothing that I want to own is on that list...

A hefty supply for sure! Local Chevrolet dealer has enormous incentives on Cruze.... An interesting question...I really loved the 8 speed in the 300 I drove....

Agree completely.

Indeed!

I can relate to that.....

And actually I agree with you here. Were more car makers to think like Boutique car makers, the world would be a whole lot better. Subaru and Mazda are two of my favorite brands because they do exactly that, understand their role as a niche automaker. It's also what I love about VW/Audi/Porsche/etc. when they feel free to become unfettered and build the product they really want to build. GM's success over the last decade has come partially because they are building the product they actually want to build...same with Jeep.... I have no objection to the same thing happening with Lincoln....

I am not rooting for a sports team, my paradigm is that I would consider all of the players (Benz, Lexus, Acura, BMW, Buick, Volvo, Cadillac, Lincoln, Infinity) as having real work to do to bring their product to where it should be. Were I to hit the powerball tomorrow, I would have a WRX in my driveway and travel with the balance. I think that it is possible that we have one last golden age of Luxury ICE cars before we go electric. I am essentially a selfish bastard and would like to see that before I die. Not thinking that this "golden age" of luxury cars is going to come unless we demand it. And I would accuse all 9 of the above, and throw in Chrysler for a good number 10 (300 has not had a complete update since its introduction over a decade ago) of resting on their laurels to a certain extent. Yes, all of the above can be good clean fun...(as can the #11 player, Genesis G90). But my fear is that we "dance on the 50 yard line" and let car makers rest on their laurels. YMMV.

...and again....if we are using sales stats....at the end of November, Lincoln did not crack 100,000 in sales...compared with Infinity at 120,000 roughly, Acura with 144,000 (roughly) Cadillac with 148,000 (roughly) BMW almost 200,000 units ahead of Lincoln at 280,000, Lexus ahead of them at almost 300,000, and Benz with a whopping 338,000 cars.... Audi is posting consistent sales gains and is pushing almost double the number of Lincoln at 187,000 cars..... So yes, the non fleeted conti's are a nice conquest but a drop in the bucket.

...and Lexus beat BMW into the #2 sales slot in the US market.... Agree completely.....both of them are also genuine flagships with a loyal following... More telling is the C and D article Frisky Dingo previously quoted in another thread that panned the suspension tuning on the MKZ. Not considering the conti really sporty....acceleration does not equal athleticism in a car. Quoted for truth....

There is no limit to the creative ideas they could get flowing....but it will never happen due to Sergio and a lack of interest in the US market.

Excellent advice, that I also live by.....

...and you would be smart to do so IMHO. Did the same thing myself and never looked back....

Again, the only sport compacts I could see dropping a dime for would be the WRX, GTI, Miata and BRZ/86. Everything else can just pound so much sand for all I care....even the Civic SI really really leaves a lot to be desired IMHO.

At some point I need to go to Pittsburgh for a few things, would love to pick your brain on a few things over lunch. Certainly the market is reacting well to Cadillac, sales are finally starting to reflect their efforts...