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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    I think it was pretty clear I am talking about F-150. Wait, you think Mercedes can out F-150 the F-150? Not Ram, not Toyota, and not Nissan have come close. You think you have some brand loyalty with Mercedes, you haven’t seen F-150 buyers yet. They’ll laugh at that rebadged Frontier.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Update: Fate calls.... I might get to drive a Corvair this week, though it is an automatic and I had hoped for a manual.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Not allowed to bring phones into the meeting. I LOVE the name btw! A double jibs up from me to Lincoln for that. It fits perfectly in the rest of the Lincoln SUV lineup. It sounds distinguished. Leagues better (see what I did there?) than GLx### or Q/QX or X/XT at the other brands.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    And for people who want a large truck, Honda and Mercedes have nothing to offer. You don't get a yuuuger segment than that. Where's your scorn for Mercedes missing out on probably the most important and lucrative market in North America? I don't know what you mother was seeing, or if she was shopping with a tape measure. The CTS is 2.4 centimeters longer than the 9-5 (I'm assuming the 2001ish model, the final 9-5 was nearly XTS sized), and less than half a centimeter wider. Furthermore, the 9-5 should feel larger inside due to the FWD packaging. Thinking the CTS is too big compared to a 9-5 is just making an excuse for some reason to not like the car. My own mother went the other way. She had a 94 Bonneville and really liked the look of the CTS. I tried to sell her on the Aurora instead, but she didn't want an Oldsmobile (brand snobbery, you might know about that). I tried to tell her she wouldn't like the CTS because it would be too small for her. Make sure the Cadillac dealer we went to was an Olds/Cadillac dealer. I put her in a Sunburst Orange CTS on the showroom floor. She immediately was disappointed. It was too small. She got out. I told her to try out this other car behind the CTS without telling her what it was. She got in and went "Ooooo, I like this". It was a black Aurora. That one wasn't the one she bought, but she did end up in an Aurora. She beats up her cars badly, but she got that one to about 170k miles before she sold it to an employee who promptly totaled it. These days she drives Ford tough. Her King Ranch is well over 170k miles now.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Those of you who know me know why this one will be weird... I've alway wanted to experience driving a vintage aircooled Beetle and likewise a Corvair. I need to drive a '66 Toronado just for the experience. I'd love to own an '85 Seville and again own an '85 - '87 Continental.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    The MKT is popular with Lyft/Uber drivers for a different reason. It is the most efficient vehicle at the lowest price that fits into every single Uber/Lift car category. They can be UberX, UberXL, Uber Black, Uber SUV. The only other vehicles that can do that and match it on fuel economy would be the GLS diesel and possibly the Q7, but those are a lot more expensive, even used, than an MKT. No other vehicle can hit all of the requirements while also being cheap to buy and cheap to fuel relative to its competition. MKTs, with their big cargo areas, are also good for the coveted "airport runs". If you have an MKT and get an Uber Black ping for an airport run, you probably just struck gold.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Cadillac is in on the fleet market in China, that and the EV requirements are why the CT6 PHEV is built there. That's why there is an ATS-L, an XTS 2.0T, and there was an STS-L in China. Your question regarding Lexus and Infiniti in China reveals your ignorance of history. The Chinese largely shun Japanese cars due to that little disagreement Japan had with China from 1931 - 1941. The Chinese like Buicks because their former Emperor used them and they became a cultural status symbol. This is true even to today. American and European cars are status symbols in China, the Japanese are parihas. Once you understand the cultural implications, then you see why Lexus and Infiniti have an uphill battle there. In Europe, it doesn't matter if Mercedes is only producing Trabants, Germans will still buy them over any current Cadillac because they are culturally loyal. Wash, Rinse, Repeat with the French and the CV2.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    This is exactly what I'm talking about with you insisting that cars if different sizes can't compete. They can and do compete. If the 2004 CTS had been the size of a 3 Series, I never would have bought it. The 3-series was never a consideration because it was way too small. The other car I looked at was one of the last Aurora's Cochran had in stock that wasn't a Final 500. Had I waited another 6 months, the 300C would have been an option. By offering a larger car at the same price, Cadillac won a sale over BMW. The CTS-V was clearly targeted at the M3, of which it beat in hp and torque, performance and price. "Oh, the CTS-V is faster and handles better than the M3 and costs less.... But it has usable rear seat legroom and a decent sized trunk, so that must mean it competes with the M5 that costs $35k more!" Don't you see how ridiculous you sound? Cadillac's 5 series competition came in the form of the STS which got shit on for having a "dull" interior. No German car fan from that era has any business talking about dull interiors of other cars.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Yup. Been going to NAIAS every year since 2007. I may bring the Toronado up for woodward cruise this year.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I liked the early 80s 6 series
  11. Drew Dowdell
    I'm just done with lag. I know they aren't slow. Yes I've been to Michigan, I just didn't remember where you live.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    No, it's as I said, it's their answer to Designo. Select a GLS550 and select Designo and all the options required to match what the XC90 Excellence has ($109k and a heated steering wheel is still optional on a GLS?) and you're up at $110k. That seems exactly right to me. Mercedes doesn't even offer you a Crystal gear selector knob, so clearly the Volvo is better. I'm not going to knock the E-class as it is clearly an excellent car. The S90 stands up well against it in interior comfort. It has some of the best contoured seats I've experienced. It isn't meant, in its current configuration, to be a sport sedan. It is clearly built for comfort. It also is larger than the E-Class like the CT6 is. So the fact that you cannot see value in that is unsurprising. The GLC has less interior room than my Encore or even the XC40 much less the XC60. You must be a shorter guy and pack light to always prefer these cramped German cars over their larger competition at the same price. Because of the airy feel of the cabin, the XC60 even feels bigger than it is inside. Cinderella, you've lost a shoe. Could you be any more of a brand whore? I don't need to explain my purchases to anyone... and if I did feel the need, the explanation is simple. I picked the better car. As far as the other Germans... I'd pick an Enclave or Nautilus or GLE or XC60 or QX50 or Grand Cherokee Summit or XT5 over a Q5 every day of the week.... don't be putting that pile up on a pedestal... and I don't even like the XT5. The newest X5 looks compelling, but BMW interiors are about as cheerful as a graveyard on a wet Sunday.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    And China. Most of the E-classes are for livery use there. E-Classes (Along with XTS) are even replacing Town Cars here in Pittsburgh for Black Car service.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    I've already started my on boycott of all 4-cylinder turbos that are meant to replace V6es. The CTS is a great driving car if you have good roads. The roads around me are very poor, so with the stiffer suspension, it makes the car a bit too jumpy over road imperfections. So if those two things aren't issues for you, I'd say go for it.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Most E class sales are 4 cylinder. The E63 is irrelevant to the sales mix. They could drop it and you wouldn't notice the difference in the numbers.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    The Excellence trim is not competition for AMG, it's not trying to be. It's competition for Designo. An S60 Polestar is most likely aimed at M3, S4 but will be the only awd plug-in hybrid option in the bunch. That makes it very interesting to me.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Sorry guys, i had to remove the spec chart, it was causing some weird formatting issue on the site.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    I like that big coupes are making a comeback, but can we get some real usable rear seat headroom? See my signature on an example of how to do it.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    It's being downsized also to be a tweener car. There is nothing at all wrong with the CT6 interior aside from seats that might be a bit too firm. Plus, it drives itself, has 4 wheel steering, and a plug in hybrid capable of 40+ miles of EV range. Benz doesn't.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    No. It's the fanboi's problem for promulgating the idea that every car has to be exactly the same in order to compete. You are one of the most guilty of this phenomenon. You cannot accept the fact that cars can be different sizes, favor comfort over handling, use technology in a different way than your pet brand. You cannot admit that the CT6 is a competitor to the E-Class and 5-series because you can't get over the extra room it offers... somehow that disqualifies the car even though it is in the same price range. No, they didn't. This is why you have no credibility. Luxury SUVs released before or the same time the M-Class (1997): Acura SLX (1995) Oldsmobile Bravada (1990) Infiniti QX4 (1997) Land Rover Range Rover (1994) Jeep Grand Wagoneer (1980) - say what you will about the brand, it was definitely a luxury suv with its pricing. It cost more than a base Eldorado or Mark VII. Jeep Grand Wagoneer (1993) - the Grand Cherokee based Grand Wagoneer was a separate nameplate and the luxury version. No they didn't. People like you insisted they had to copy... that the only valid entry in that class had to be certain dimensions and certain suspension tuning, and certain number of gears in the gearbox. You have repeatedly insisted that the old CTS and 3-series didn't compete because the CTS was 4 or 5 inches longer. Well, you're flat out wrong. I leased a CTS because I didn't want the cramped interior of the 3-series. I leased the CTS because it was a bit more compliant over these awful pittsburgh roads. Cadillac went from near zero in that segment to selling 60k CTSes a year. They were taking sales from someone. There is no such thing as a 4-door coupe. What you're thinking of is a 4-door fastback and Cadillac was doing those way back when Germany was being turned into a pile of rubble. Oldsmobile has done them multiple times, Eagle has done them, Rover has done them, Citroen has done them. You even owned a nameplate that previously was a 4-door fastback. I laugh at the term as there is no such thing as a 4-door crossover coupe. First, if we're going to call them that, then again, none of the Germans were first. Even if you don't want to count the AMC Eagle SX, there is still the Acura ZDX (2010) which came out 5 years before the GLE coupe and the same year as the X6. Furthermore, if that Audi Q8 is a crossover coupe, then someone needs to send a memo to Infiniti about changing their marketing because they've been building that body style since 2002 with the FX/QX70. And then still, there is the Suzuki X90, an ugly looking SUV that by being 2 doors and 2 seats has more of a claim to the "crossover coupe" name than any of the modern vehicles. In short, Germany is in no way the leader for this completely misnamed body-style. So still.... wrong all around.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, the I30 was the ES equivilent, and IMHO, a nicer vehicle than the ES of the time. But they dropped that to try and pursue German car drivers who will never defect their brands and built this instead. The Lexus GS was still a pretty attractive piece at the time, but had just given up its inline 6 in favor of a V6.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    (Slightly) Better looking than a Jaguar, but not as good reliability. I really want to be impressed with these new Alfas... I was in love with the 159s.... but these just fail to impress me.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    Some may recall that Infiniti went the other direction. They dropped the relatively popular I30 in favor of the M35 in a bid to look "credible" to the BMW-Über-Alles kids. Look where it got them.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    It's also the reason used prices are increasing. The people who do want sedans are playing the depreciation game to get the price to be more reasonable.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    The problem is that people aren't willing to spend what manufacturers are asking for new compact cars. I tested a Cruze hatchback RS Redline edition. It was a great car, but the sticker price was $27k. That is insane for a Cruze, or any Focus that isn't an RS. Civics can crest $30k now. A Trax and a Sonic cost roughly the same to engineer and (labor costs being the same) build. But people will pay more for a Trax than for a Sonic. Chevy could offer rebates on a Trax that bring the price all the way down to the sticker price of a Sonic and still make money on it. It's not that people don't want sedans, it's that manufacturers are making more money on SUVs and fake crossovers.
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