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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    I know the answer to the tape cassette deck is the Lexus SC430 though I don't know the last year that it had it.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Why?
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Flight was canceled. I was half way to the airport in the cab and had to turn around to go home. I was rebooked on a 6:03am out of Pittsburgh.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    If we're going to call things as they are. The CLA is Benz's Cimmaron. It has absolutely been executed better than the Cimmaron was, but the intent and purpose is exactly the same; getting lower end customers to pay more for a luxury branded car with family car specifications.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    The Beetle is too good to get axed
  6. Drew Dowdell
    and yet, plenty of cars have gotten so much larger.... look at the Sonata, Accord, and Legacy.... then think about how big they were 10 years ago. Even the Sonic is much larger than an Aveo was. The Tempo was replaced by the Contour was replaced by the Fusion... and now the Fusion is as big as the first Taurus.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    It shouldn't be that surprising. It's the Opel Karl with a different front fascia.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    I understand what you're trying to say, that the CLA isn't being cross shopped and if it is, then that reflects badly on the ATS. But what you're doing is projecting your good sense onto the shopping public as a whole. You're assuming that shopper that cross shop a CLA and ATS will naturally gravitate to the better vehicle. You simply cannot make that assumption. The CLA is not a better vehicle than the ATS in most measurable ways.... in the very base trims, the CLA has more power than the ATS 2.5, but as soon as you option up the ATS with the 2.0T, the ATS walks away from the Benz. CUE is the only sore spot on the Cadillac that I see. The only way CLA is decidedly better than the ATS is in that all too critical "I've always wanted to be able to say I drive a Mercedes-Benz" factor... and there is simply nothing Cadillac can do to combat that. Cadillac could offer the CTS at the CLA price and it would still not overcome the "I want to say I drive a Benz" factor. It also doesn't hurt that Benz is offering very subsidized leasing on the CLA.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Nor Lexus GS which was outsold by the previous STS for years... and is still a poor seller.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Most consumers shop via price classes, and most have no earthly idea which wheels are driving. CLA and ATS start within $1700 of each other, and both are entry-level models from luxury brands. Strict brand partisans aside, I can't see how you think they AREN'T frequently cross-shopped. If they are, that's not exactly a compliment for the ATS. You don't want those cars to be cross-shopped. That says to me that consumers think the ATS is only on par with what is basically a tarted up, squished Jetta with a three-pointed star on the snout... And it's losing even more sales in the process (CLA is easily outselling the ATS). Sales numbers may not worry you, but this route is more troubling than the sales race with its direct competitors. It's not very prestigious, either. You may want to rethink where you're going with that. Actually, I think that people will buy anything that has a 3-pointed star on it. It would be the single biggest way that Benz could increase SMART sales. The CLA and GLA are the cheap, fake Louis Vuitton bags of the luxury car brands. Yes they still cost a lot more than a plain, non LV branded bag at TJ Maxx, but they are still fake..... .and probably sell in much higher volumes than the real thing.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Probably all Audis.... they have 80 models if you go by their way of counting. VW is supporting both, which I suspect would be the same for every automaker. What may remain to be seen is whether a vehicle's infotainment unit supports either system, or customers have to select the specific OS that matches their phone. I wouldn't be surprised if carmakers tried to charge for system 're-flashes,' for each time a consumer changes from Android to Apple and vice-versa. That would majorly suck! We're a two OS household... .he has an iphone and I have an Android..... actually... I do have both iphone and android, my iphone is my work phone
  12. Drew Dowdell
    My rental has a sun roof this week... I actually had it open a bit today
  13. Drew Dowdell
    SRT, IPL (kinda), Type-R SVO was also used at Ford before, no?
  14. Drew Dowdell
    I started my day today at 3:30 am eastern so I could fly into Chicago by 7am central..... the tea must flow....
  15. Drew Dowdell
    some more specific engine development maybe
  16. Drew Dowdell
    Gearing. In the Regal it is geared to feel peppy. In the Equinox it is geared to not feel slower than a CR-V
  17. Drew Dowdell
    So do you like the dopey Mercedes column mounted shifter with push button park? I still like the old school shifter, which I have, but the stock does open up a lot of space in the center console. Idea = 8 Execution = 3 I think any vehicle without sporting intentions, and even some that do have sporting intentions, should have push-button/rotary gear selection. When we're getting into the 6+ speeds, the driver is no longer going to be doing gear selection via an old school shifter anyway.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    In those cases only a minority of shifters will work anyway.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    which engine?
  20. Drew Dowdell
    I'm shocked... really shocked.. .that they haven't issued a recall on this.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    The best... or maybe a Dodge Dart instead. That's a really good Dodge Dart. The best... or maybe a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport instead... That's a really good Outlander Sport The best... or maybe a Mazda 5 instead... That's a really good Mazda 5
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I've updated the gallery with live shots. To your point about the chrome... This is just an add-on package. Unless they did replacement headlight clusters also which would probably cost another $500.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Trail Boss 40

    From the album: 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Trail Boss

  24. Drew Dowdell

    2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Trail Boss

    Images added to a gallery album owned by Drew Dowdell in Gallery

  25. Drew Dowdell
    2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Trail Boss 39

    From the album: 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Trail Boss

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Drew
Editor-in-Chief

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