2QuickZ's
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Eh, crappy, poorly styled interiors doesn't seem to stop Toyota from selling cars. Maybe theirs are coming along though. I haven't checked one out in a couple of years. The last time I sat in a new CRV a couple years ago I honestly thought they were at the low end of the material quality and fit and finish scale and that the vehicle on the whole felt cheaper than pretty much all the competition. As for the dealership comment, maybe that is a regional thing or even something with your local dealership. I have been in several Ford dealerships around here and none of them were as you described. In fact, the hardest sell I ever got was at a Honda dealer. This would have been back around '04 - 05. They had at least three different people come and talk to me to give me the high pressure sales pitch. At one point I was beginning to think "Terry Tate - Office Linebacker" would come flying at me if I even so much as attempted to leave without driving off the lot in the new Accord coupe I made the unfortunate mistake of stopping in to ask them about. Easily the most off putting car sales experience I have ever had. I don't think Ford could kill Lincoln. What would they replace them with? They need a luxury brand. What other major auto manufacturer is only one brand? I'm betting even Kia and Hyundai will add a luxury brand once they grow their volume a little more. I wouldn't be surprised if Genesis became a brand instead of a model. At any rate, I think Ford had to decide between turning Lincoln around and killing it and launching something new and they just decided dumping tons of money into it to hopefully fix it would be better than dumping two or three tons of money into killing it and launching something new.
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There is no way I would have thought the Cherokee would sell that well after seeing the first images leaked. It does look considerably better in person than in pictures but I still would not have guess that volume. I keep waiting for the drop off but it hasn't come yet. 200 sales being way down are no big surprise since the 2015's are just now hitting dealer lots. The big question for me is, can the new 200 match the volume of the old 200 at a fraction of the fleet percentage? I think that is what it would take to call it a success. If it can add volume that would just be a bonus!
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I'm not too worried about the CTS. I don't think anybody expected it to move up in size and price and still hang onto it's previous volume. ATS is definitely a concern, though. I've never driven one but I'm guessing the powertrains are the letdown? I've read the turbo four is not "refined" enough. I have sat in them and I thought the interior was fine and the back seat leg room was small but to be expected. Most people buying a car in the class are rarely ever going to have someone in the back seat anyway. I wonder if CUE is also turning people off? To me, the Cruze and Malibu fall offs are more concerning. Did some big incentives end or is this a direct effect of the recalls (especially the Cruze)? To me, the Cruze is a little long in the tooth and the Malibu became less desirable when they downsized it so these are two mainstream products GM has where people will readily look elsewhere. BTW - Encore sales....wow, just wow! It is outselling Verano and Regal and barely being outsold by LaCrosse. Who would have guessed that when it launched?
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June 2014: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
2QuickZ's replied to William Maley's topic in 2014 Sales Archive
I +1'd ya to even it out. I'm betting Macan will definitely cannibalize Cayenne sales. I think that is a given. I think a lot of people were willing to get something bigger than they really wanted or needed just so they could have the Porsche badge. Now they don't have to. -
I do always check gas buddy which is how I found these stations but at this point I know that it is always cheaper at two or three different intersections around here pretty consistently.
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I forgot to mention that I paid $3.75/gallon (cash or credit) for diesel. The same gas station had regular gas for $3.83/gallon cash, $3.93/gallon credit which is pretty typical for this area. I'm hoping diesel stays lower than gas the rest of the summer as it will no doubt be $0.30+ per gallon higher in the winter due to heating oil demand. One other thing: Diesel prices are ridiculously variable around here so it pays to drive a little out of the way to get it. Within a 5 or so mile radius of my house, diesel is anywhere from $3.75 - $4.39 / gallon with most stations at $3.99 - $4.09/gallon range. Diesel seems to have way more inconsistent pricing around here than gas.
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Well, the O2 sensor has now been replaced. Hopefully that will fix it, though as I stated previously, I never saw any driveability issues. The latest tank is in. I'd guess a 65/35 city/highway split on this tank. 509.7 miles on 13.888 gallons for a 36.7 MPG average. EVIC said 36.0 MPG with a 34.0 MPH average for the tank. Not too bad. They really aren't bad at all. They made a lot of improvements when it came back in 2011 and the 2014's saw even more with the upgraded infotainment and the 8 speed transmission. I have not had a chance to drive my parent's 2014 as it is down in Florida but I know they really like it. I'll have to ask my Mom how she likes it compared to the Tahoe she used to have.
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I was on vacation last week and haven't gotten a chance to take the car back in for the new O2 sensor yet. Maybe later in the week. We did not take it on vacation so I can't report any astronomical fuel economy figures. On a side note since this thread has gone all over the place anyway, my wife convinced her sister to let us drive their 2013 Durango SXT on our vacation. It is AWD. For our whole trip (~1800 miles), it averaged 24.2 MPG. Considering that included the local driving we did in Virginia Beach as well as two quite bad traffic jams on the way back (1.5 hours of stop and go delay added on to a 7 hour drive), I was pretty impressed. I wonder how much better it would have done with the 8 speed? Anyway, it is a very, very comfortable cruiser. I'd put it on par with our Flex we just sold if not even a little better as a highway cruiser.
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I found these pics on Allpar:
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I thought those stupid "no self serve" gas pumping laws were all about reducing unemployment under the guise of consumer safety.
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Well, I dropped the car off Monday and the dealership has had it ever since. They are trying to replace the O2 sensor but can't seem to get one. They finally called GM today to find out what was going on. Apparently this issue with the O2 sensor is a known issue but GM has not gotten the TSB issued yet. I guess it doesn't hurt anything but just keeps throwing the light. I have been in one of their Cruze LT's since I dropped my car off. It's a nice comparison for the mileage differences between the two cars since the drive is the same. Per the VIC I am currently getting 29.6 MPG. If it is low by the same 1.2-1.5 MPG my car is, that would put me in the 30.8 - 31.1 MPG range. I won't be able to calculate it because I forgot to set the trip odometer until after I had already put 50 miles on it. That would mean for my particular drive, the diesel is in the 4 - 5 MPG more fuel efficient range. BTW - At this point they are not sure when the part will be in. They asked me to come pick my car up and drive it until they get the part. No complaints about the dealer so far. They have been very accommodating. BTW BTW - I forgot to mention in my last post that I paid $3.78/gallon for diesel which was $0.10/gallon LESS than the price of regular unleaded.
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In to the dealer again tomorrow. Hopefully they will do something about the code this time but since it has not thrown it again since a week ago, my guess is they'll clear the code and send me on my way again. My next tank was also in. 440.1 miles on 12.73 gallons for a 34.58 MPG average. 75/25 split but abysmally bad traffic on a lot of the city driving. Couple examples: It took me 25 minutes to go 5 miles last Wednesday. I had another day where it took me an hour to go 28 miles. Anyway, the VIC said 30.3 MPH average for the tank and 33.2 MPG. It is always 1 - 1.5 MPG lower than calculated.
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It looks like they are running around in full force so I imagine someone will post up pics sooner or later. I am never ready with the camera phone when I see this stuff and I just about rear ended someone Friday when I went to grab for it.
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I would love to have this engine in a new CTS-V sedan. I can't wait to read everybody's write up's after the car mags, newspapers and car websites get to drive it.
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I saw a couple MY15 Chargers on the road without camo yesterday. Only one was an R/T the others were I presume SXT's though I don't remember seeing a badge. They did not have the center section of the bumper painted black like the R/T did. As a current Charger owner I can say I was not wowed by the front end styling when I first saw the pictures but after seeing them in person, I am back on board. I thought they looked pretty good rolling along. That's one of the perks of living in the Metro Detroit area. You get to see a lot of different vehicles cruising around long before they are actually on sale. I remember taking pics of a current gen CTS-V before they had come out. We also get to see a lot of the Euro stuff that isn't sold here.
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I don't think it fleets more than the Big 3 either but I would guess it is pretty close to on par with. Maybe 25-30%? Just guessing as I don't know. For sure Toyota is going out of their way to compete on price. Both of those things are something they didn't use to have to do. Since they are bailing on the Subie plant production of the Camry, maybe they are planning to pull back on fleet? Avenger is dead, as is current 200. The new 200 is a much nicer car and while I'm sure it will still have a typical fleet percentage for the midsize category, I highly doubt it will turn out to be the fleet whore the current car is. Only time will tell, though.
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It has been a good little car other than this gremlin. Hopefully they get it fixed on this next visit. It is a nice driving little car. I am very glad I got the diesel. It accelerates well but at the same time is very relaxed doing it. It makes for a little more serene driving experience. I'm very happy with the gas mileage considering how much of my daily commute is on surface streets and am especially amazed by how little the fuel economy has dropped off in the especially heavy traffic I have been dealing with in the last couple of months.
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When I see them, I mostly think it looks like a Focus wagon. They are't lookers but I personally don't think they are ugly. I would have assumed the styling is non-offensive enough it would neither help nor hurt sales.
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Haha. I still think I would take a Sonata over the Altima unless the prices were way out of wack for similarly equipped vehicles.
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Surprisingly there are a lot of Camry's and especially Corolla's on the rental lots in the Detroit area. Those same lots used to be dominated by Big 3 products. Avalon is not a bad car but I think I would go Impala or 300 before Avalon. Impala for the overall package ad 300 for the style, RWD and V6/8 speed combo.
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I'm using Chrome 35.0.1916.114 m and I could not see it yesterday but it looks fine today. The funny part is I could see them in all the other sales ticker threads. It was probably a problem with GM's site since they host it. EDIT - Now that I can see it I guess I might as well weigh in. Spark sales doubled?!? Wow. Impala doing well. Silverado easily outsold Ram this month. This may sound strange but the one that amazes me the most is the quantity of Captiva Sports they sell. Did they even sell that many Saturn VUE's per month?
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They must have done a lot of fleet Camry dumping this month. 50K for the month? They can't produce anywhere near that amount per month so obviously that is not sustainable. It blows my mind how many Crapolla's they manage to sell every month. So many better cars in the segment that a Corolla wouldn't be anywhere near the top of my list.
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May 2014: Mazda North American Operations
2QuickZ's replied to William Maley's topic in 2014 Sales Archive
Mazda6 sales finally up. Every time I see one of them on the road I can't help but think what a nice looking car it is. I wonder how much the diesel engine (if it ever gets here) will help sales. Are there people waiting for diesel availability before purchasing one? -
Sales: Sales Figure Ticker: May 2014
2QuickZ's replied to William Maley's topic in 2014 Sales Archive
No Maserati sales broken out this month? haha -
May 2014: Volkswagen of America, Inc.
2QuickZ's replied to William Maley's topic in 2014 Sales Archive
You can't have both bland styling, high pricing and a suspect quality reputation (even if it is no longer totally accurate) and expect to sell in any numbers. Get any two of the three right and you are in decent shape. Hell, even one of the three would help.
