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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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GM as a whole has been terrible on pricing lately. They just aren't competitive on price. The Traverse is a fine piece, but families shop on cost. Dip your toe just slightly out of the base model and the price shoots up drastically. Just adding leather forces you into the LT at $42k. Ford gets you there for $38k in an Explorer. Hyundai for $35k, Honda for $36k. I see Acadias over $40k with cloth seats. That said, GM will really punish you if you want more power, when it's even available. A 2.0T in a Malibu forces you into an option package priced at $31k. At Ford, the 2.0T is a $1,750 option on the SE model. You can already see above about the Camaro. Want an Envision with the 2.0T instead of the dog 2.5? Base price jumps from $34k to $43k. How about a nice CTS with a 3.6 instead of a 2.0T? That'll be an extra $8k please. $9,400 if you try the same jump in an ATS. Now a lot of those jumps involve multiple trim level climbs, forcing you into high option vehicles just to get a higher powered engine. I realize that poverty spec trims shouldn't have the higher power engine available, but being forced to jump from the base model to the Premium Luxury trim just to get a V6 is asinine.
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Hyundai News:Hyundai Wants To Cut Their Product Design Cycle By Half
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Hyundai
It's funny that you used that particular concept for the article picture @William Maley since it looks like a bunch of Hyundai designers snuck into the Peugeot / Citroen design studios after a party one night.- 8 replies
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You coulda just gone to the Nissan dealership.. Apparently "The Best or Nissan" works for both Chevy and Benz.
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Ultimate Dream Garage: 4.0 Liter Max Forced Induction Edition
Drew Dowdell replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
Have we met? I'll make a sporty/sports car list for another 5, in no particular order 1. 1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD 2.0T 2. 1999 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 3. 2017 Mustang Convertible Ecoboost 4. 2017 Mercedes SLC AMG 5. Porsche 911 Targa 4S -
Hyundai News:Hyundai Wants To Cut Their Product Design Cycle By Half
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Hyundai
This is true even in an EV with a regenerator. Eventually, the regenerators are going to get smaller and of different configuration. It will just be something that sits on the skateboard.- 8 replies
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Ultimate Dream Garage: Unconventional Cylinders Edition
Drew Dowdell replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
Don't restrict cylinder counts on that one, I've got a lot of good ones up my sleeve. -
Chevy Cruze diesel buyers - put up or shut up!
Drew Dowdell replied to regfootball's topic in Chevrolet
GM has been particularly terrible with advertising and pricing lately. I bet no one out there in the general public knows the diesel Cruze exists. -
Hyundai News:Hyundai Wants To Cut Their Product Design Cycle By Half
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Hyundai
They need to poach designers from Honda. Apparently they have the process down to the shortest in the business.- 8 replies
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Ultimate Dream Garage: 4.0 Liter Max Forced Induction Edition
Drew Dowdell replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
1. V90 Cross Country T6 - Daily Driver 2. 1998 Buick Riviera 3. 1985 Buick Riviera T-Type 4. Cadillac CT6 Platinum 3.0 AWD - Other Daily 5. Ram 1500 Limited EcoDiesel - muh truck -
SMART News:Smart's Dealer Network Will Shrink By Two-Thirds
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in SMART
Well, they already have an A, B, and C-class... how do you go smaller than that? No-Class?- 41 replies
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22 points
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Acura News: 2018 Acura RLX Debuts Before Monterey Car Week
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Acura
The prior one was a terrible car for the class with no name recognition. Putting X at the end of everything does not a great seller make (See Also: ILX). -
Ultimate Dream Garage: Unconventional Cylinders Edition
Drew Dowdell replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
I was going to say, what about oddball configurations like W engines or VR engines? Granted, those are practically limited to VAG vehicles. -
SMART News:Smart's Dealer Network Will Shrink By Two-Thirds
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in SMART
You get what you pay for. The Bolt can make it from Pittsburgh to Lancaster on a single charge. SMART can't even make it to Wheeling. Well they could, but with 2/3rd of all dealers opting out of the SMART brand, it's not going to happen.- 41 replies
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SMART News:Smart's Dealer Network Will Shrink By Two-Thirds
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in SMART
MB totally screwed up here. *Sits in his CEO Armchair* The SMART brand should have been expanded. It has virtually no name brand recognition or baggage in the US. It should have become MB's family car brand. Co-develop some cars with Renault for US consumption and sell them here. Just name them Smart 1, Smart 2, Smart 3, etc. There was a ready-made network of dealers ready to go, no need to build it up from scratch. I expect the SMART brand will close in the US in a few years.- 41 replies
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BMW News: What Is In BMW's Future Product Pipeline?
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in BMW
Read between the lines on that JDN announcement. The ATS is getting renamed and probably getting a hatchback. There is no more Regal sedan anymore either. But in both cases, that slot in the brands' lineups are not going unfilled.- 44 replies
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Quick Drive: 2017 Dodge Durango GT and Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Reviews
UConnect is excellent even in old versions. I want to get something that is going to be a long term purchase. We paid for NAV in the Encore and use our phones to navigate today. I need NAV, but I'm not paying for it again. Android Auto is superior to Car Play (which seems kinda forgotten by apple lately) and they just added Waze to AA. Either one is better than none though.- 25 replies
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Quick Drive: 2017 Dodge Durango GT and Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Reviews
The addition of Android Auto would cinch it for me. I am holding out on a vehicle purchase as long as I possibly can till I can get what I want with Android Auto. The only exception would be if I found an excellent integrated looking aftermarket- 25 replies
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Fiat News: Rumorpile: Chinese Automakers Are Interested In FCA
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Fiat
So to clear it up... FCA is really two main companies. There is FCA the parent holding company, and two main subsidiaries. FCA Italy - Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Lancia and the engine manufacturing subsidiary VM Motori (Think - EcoDiesel) FCA US - Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, plus the Mopar service and parts organization Maserati is its own directly under the FCA holding company. Sergio is not going to sell all of FCA. You get one guess on which subsidiary is getting sold off.- 32 replies
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Ultimate Dream Garage: 0 Cylinder Edition
Drew Dowdell replied to Frisky Dingo's topic in The Lounge
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10 Points
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Yup, but your Dodge Challenger to dodge challenger would be a Y>
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Let's play a game of car scrabble connecting model names and rebuilds. Rules: 1. You can connect cars by model name to model name of a different brand, model name to trim name of a different brand, model to model of the same brand but different generations, or from model to model via rebadge. You show the connections with N> for name, Y> for year, or R> for rebadge. 2. You can connect 2 cars by model name as long as they do not share a brand name and get 2 points .(Example: Edsel Citation N> Chevy Citation). You can connect names that have slightly different spelling as long as the name is pronounced the same, major changes in name structure are not allowed. (Hyundai Excel N> Buick Excelle works, GMC Sierra N> Oldsmobile Cierra works, Saturn Sky N> Nissan Skyline is not allowed). Yes Alphanumerics are valid, so Ford E350 N> Mercedes E350 will work. 3. You can connect 2 cars of the same make and model of different generations, but you get zero points, indicate the year in the connection (Example Dodge Dart '14 Y> Dodge Dart '64) 4. You can connect 2 cars that are of different Brands that are rebadges of each other, the model name can be the same or not, you'll get 3 points (Example Cadillac Catera R> Opel Omega) 5. You cannot connect by just brand (Example Cadillac Eldorado > Cadillac Catera would be invalid) 6. Add documentation where needed in parentheses (Example: Pontiac Sunfire R> Chevrolet Cavalier R> Vauxhaull Cavalier Mark II (UK) N> Lincoln Mark II) would equal 7 points. 7. You can build on previous poster's strings or build one of your own. 8. You can split strings as I will demonstrate below using the | symbol 9. Wikipedia and Google are FAIR GAME Here is a starting one: Mercury Monterey N> Opel Monterey R> Acura RLX R> Honda Horizon N> Plymouth Horizon R> Dodge Omni R> Volkswagen Rabbit |R>Isuzu Bighorn N> Ram 1500 Bighorn N> GMC Sierra 1500 R> Chevy Silverado 15000 |N> Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra R> Buick Century (82) y> Buick Century (97) R> Oldsmobile Intrigue