A Horse With No Name

Probably everything toytoa makes will have a hybrid model within the next 5 years or so. They are already building a bunch of Lexus Hybrids. Chris

Not to mention the extra mechanical systems to service. Even if it was only six bucks extra for the hybrid I'd still take the regular Civic. Chris

As a current xB owner I'm not sure I like the new xB either... And 17k will take away from sales for sure. Chris

2 7 4 Thanks! Good work, guys! Chris

1 2 4 11 Chris

1=first 2=second #1 is really sweet... Chris

If you ever decide to garage or limit the use of the B-59 get collector insurance. It cost me $225 a year for 10k on my 55 Chev, because it was modified. Were it to be unmodified I could have had it for about a hundred a year. Chris

1968 Torino G.T. Really clean Mercury full size ragtop, red on red with a black top. A whole slew of SSR's. Chris

I'll gladly buy you one of each next time I am north of the border! Chris

Actually didn't think I'd be saying this but for 14 grand that's a lot of damned car for the money. I was thinking they were more of a 20-25k car. Chris

Actually I am still in LUST over the Cobalt SS. Chris

..and let's not kid ourselves, people still buy cars based upon price, Carbiz is right. Both the Civic and Impala are (in their own way) worlds ahead of your Dodge or my Scion. That being said I really miss the Concorde I traded in on the Scion. Chris

Carbiz-The Impala is still a very impressive car. One of the guys at work has one and I love that thing. In a regular comparo with a "normal" customer, you probably could sell the Impala over the Civic with ease. However...the SI does have its advantadges. Chris

Older Benz=sweet Newer Benz=Needs to donate itself to a beer can factory. Chris

Or crawl... Chris

Hate to say this but I like this car. Chris

In 10 years the kids will be out of the house and I see a Mini Cooper S with a JCW package in the garage. Seriously, I would love to buy a small diesel car like a diesel Astra for a daily. Chris

Confused...selling the Buick also? Still like the Caddy... You need to think Pontiac, son. Chris

Just as an aside, do you and your partner live in a Historical part of Houston-your neighborhood looks great! Chris

Which is why if the Impala or new Civic were my only two choices the Civic would win hands down. Chris

Excellent point about J-body buyers. For whatever reason I have talked to loads of people who have bought them and loved them. My only gripe is that 99.7% are automatics in my area. Actually kind of thinking about buying a manual J-body or Cobalt as a commuter car for my wife. Chris

Fuel economy is a real concern about the HHR. My Scion xB may be uglier to some than a red-bottomed baboon but I'm getting 10 whole MPG (real world) better than people I know who are driving HHRs. I like the HHR, but it does indeed need a fuel economy bump. Chris

Carbiz, Brian and the rest of us reading this. Do yourselves a favor. Go sit outside of an Autozone or an Advanced Auto parts store and see what rolls into the lot on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Watch what they buy. There are lots of 10, 15, 20 year old domestics chugging along just fine and lots of times their owners are just buying spark plugs and a set of wires or five quarts and a filter. What Carbiz is saying makes sense. The Malibu is a great used car bargain. Sadly, resale is a real issue if you do buy a new domestic as they depreciate heavily at times. However, given the lower purchase price you still can come out ahead. Back to the Civic topic, however... Chris

Also saw a sweet Yellow 71 Corvette with just perfect to die for Chrome near work yesterday. The rumble from the exhaust sounded healthy. Chris

...and getting back on the China topic here is a funny, true story. Here in Columbus right down the street from the electrical project my company is finishing one of our rivals decided to put in all Chinese made light fixtures in a 5 story office building. The inspector, who happened to be a really sharp guy, noticed that they were not U.L. listed. Every light fixture from the building wound up going into dumpsters and being replaced with stuff made here in North America. Some of the replacement was made in Mexico, which is alas much better than China. And yes, China does need to screw themselves. Chris