Drew Dowdell

1995 Buick Riviera Promotional Video VHS that was mailed out to prospective customers. It was accompanied by a model guide book.

the things I do for you my loyal subjects…

Coming up I have the 1995 Riviera, 1999 Eurovan which is... problematic by modern standards, 1998 Firebird, Olds 88 and LSS. 2000 Bonneville. I have one on the Achieva, but it is super boring and doesn't show the car enough. I think there is the second to last Grand Prix also. Dodge Stratus. Let me know which one you want to see next.

I was gifted a large stash of promotional material in April of 2021 and I'm just now getting around to going through it. As I begin to start doing video reviews, I am using these old VHS tapes to learn about video editing software and get practice.

GM does it where it wants, but the latest all-new designs have been getting excellent interiors.

Many billions were spent on Giorgio with little to show for it until the latest Grand Cherokee. All of those you mentioned were just recycled Fiat products.

@David is talking about Marchioni taking revenue from Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler, starving them of product, in order to resurect Alfa-Romeo which was a dead brand... 2012 to 2018 their only models were the MiTo super-mini and the Fiesta sized Guilitta

We're not getting the 160 hp version, so most of their complaints are addressed by that. Minimum hp is 100 hp more.

Again, this is off the shelf, parts-bin stuff we're talking. The Hornet's PHEV engine is in ~200k Jeep Renegades and another 10s of thousands of Fiats in the US. It's not a new engine, having been in production since 2018 The 2.0T has been powering the Cherokee and Wrangler since 2018. It's built both in Italy and in Kokomo, Indiana. The Hornet will obviously be getting the Italian built one, but it's the same design. The 6-speed is developed by BorgWarner and has been used in the Dart, Renegade, 500L, 500X, and Suzuki SX4. The 9-speed has been in every FWD Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep since 2013. It's also been in or currently in the Pathfinder, QX60, Honda CR-V/Pilot/Odyssey/Passport/Ridgeline, Acura TLX / MDX, Land Rover Evoque / Discovery Sport, Jaguar E-Pace, and Fiat 500x. You're talking well over a million vehicles on the road today with that transmission. The interior switch gear looks to be mostly the stuff from the latest Jeep redesigned interiors. The shifter, center console, and door controls are from the Compass, the start button and HVAC controls are from the Grand Wagoneer/Cherokee. uConnect is in everything, and Chrysler has been doing TFT gauge pods for years. The standard @smk4565 rant about parts sharing would normally apply here, except that in this case it is an advantage because nothing is particularly rare or unique. There's no reason to believe that the Hornet would be any less reliable than a Compass or Renegade, and aside from body panels and interior trim, there is nothing particularly unique about it. Sorry you got yourself insulted.... but parts availability for these isn't going to be an issue.

Come on man.... that's from 2016 for an unrelated oddball car from 2012. He's talking about his car having an oddball size tire and complaining about spark plugs. Rock Auto has sparkplug 12 options for his car. Walmart has 11. The O'Reilly's up the street has 5 options in stock that I could pick up in 10 minutes. That 1.4T has been used in a gazillion Renegades since then. His car takes 15" tires which are not going to be a Hornet/Tonale thing... but Tire rack has over 25 options for him. I'm actually surprised that @smk4565 isn't ragging on the Tonale/Hornet for being a Compass rebadge. Let's be intellectually honest here...

We're waaaaay off track here. The Hornet is basically Compass and Renegade mechanicals in an Italian body. There's not going to be long waits from Italy except for possibly body panels if you wreck it. The mechanicals are global engines and transmissions already used in vehicles sold in the US. Uconnect is off the shelf.

Those delays are hitting everyone. My co-worker’s Tesla has spent more time back at Tesla than in her hands. She’s probably going to try and get it lemoned out. It’s got less than 3000 miles on it.

The saving grace for the Tonale/Hornet is that it is a platform mate to the Compass, Renegade, Fiat 500X, and Fiat 500L. It's not like the Giulia and Stelvio which were on the all new Giorgio platform. So they've got some practice building it. Giorgio is what underpins the new Grand Cherokee, btw.

Unless you've heard something I haven't, it isn't the 2-liter that is the problem. That same 2-liter is used in the Wrangler and Cherokee. I've always understood it to be the electronics. They don't have zero history of hybrids. They have the Pacifica PHEV, Wrangler 4xe, Grand Cherokee 4xe, several Citroëns. You're just spreading F.U.D. about the 1.3T. It's been running around in Jeep Renegades and Fiat 500Xes since 2018, and in the Tonale it runs at the exact same output as the 2018 Renegade.

Land Cruisers aren't really overrated... I'm not saying that either. What other SUV can stake you to the country club OR participate in the People's Liberation Army? It's that Land Cruisers are rare, expensive, and have a mystique. The Nissan Patrol/Armada is every bit as capable as the Land Cruiser, but no one collects Armadas. There's not a lot that Nissan gets right, but the 5.6 V8 is rock solid reliable. And as sad as it is, even the Armada/QX80 outsold the Land Cruiser/LX for the entire time it was on the market. Tahoes, when properly equipped with the 2-speed transfer case and G80 rear locker like I have, can also be just as capable. They're build for extreme duty... they make optional special 12-volt batteries for them to handle long periods with the engine off (I have one) and they have a spot for a second battery if desired. The Secret Service and many other law enforcement agencies use them. But no one cares because there's a zillion of them out there. No one collects and restores them because you can just go one car lot over to find a nicer one. The only one remotely collectible is the Avalanche/EXT. But when I say that Land Cruisers are rare, they only sold about 1,600 of them in 2011, and between 2,000 and 3,700 (typically 3k) per year since. Totaling 33,905 units in the eleven years since 2011. GM moves that many Tahoes, Suburbans, and Yukons in seven weeks. GM builds more of those three (and not including the Escalade) in 6 months than all the Land Cruisers sold in the U.S ever. That's why people hang on to them and keep them pretty.

I'm not saying that any one brand is better or worse when neglected. I'm saying that Toyota gets a lot of free passes, and the Land Cruiser in particular has a near cult like following, so when they enter the used market they are snapped up and given extra care. No one seeks out a 15 year old Explorer to fix up because they're a dime a dozen. But even me... yes, me, has an eye on an old Land Cruiser sitting at a buy here pay here lot nearby that I have the temptation to buy-fix-flip because I know I could get some cultist to pay top dollar for it with a little bit of investment and elbow grease on my part. (the only reason I haven't is time and I haven't looked under the frame yet)