I have a design rant which is inspired by a test drive I took today. I went to check out a Hyundai Elantra hybrid. It seemed OK, I may get it. The gas mileage is the selling point.
Now to set up the rant:
Back in the day, flat wide front floors without transmission tunnels were selling points. Toronados and El Dorados achieved this by virtue of front wheel drive. Corvairs and VWs had the drive train in the rear (they’re roomier than they look due to no hump!). Middle passengers won’t have to perch their feet on the hump! Marvel at all the foot room!
Well, now nearly every sedan is FWD. Instead of roomy, flat floors in the front, what do we get? A huge confining center console! The Elantra’s console even had a diagonal guardrail on the passenger side. Forget snuggling up with your girl, the guardrail even discourages hand-holding!
Last night, I caught an ad for the new Dodge Hornet, a platform I didn’t know was in the pipeline. It’s a sort of mini SUV dealie with a few hybrid drivetrain options and starting at $30k, up to $50k+. The early reviews seems pretty favorable.
I thought it was interesting of them to bring back the old AMC name. Based on the reputation of the old car, I’m not going to run out and buy this, but it will be interesting to see how it does in the market.
I said something similar when Dodge first announced the Hornet (possibly earlier in this thread, but I don’t feel like looking for that post right now). The name has passed from Hudson to AMC and now to Dodge.
I bet they figure their target buyer doesn’t remember the AMC Hornet. If anything, they probably know about, and have positive feelings towards, the Hudson Hornet, thanks to the Pixar film Cars.
Amen! The same way that an exciting car can energize you, a boring car can sap your will to live.
I recently passed on a great deal on a car because it was silver.
That paid off; I spent a month without a car, but found a 2000 Honda Insight in that warm, saturated, vibrant red (almost Porsche Guard’s Red, I’ve managed to park it where the setting sun will make it glow).
OK, I got an Elantra Hybrid Limited. In the spirit of the current color conversation, it’s a deep saturated blue! The only colors available on these are black, white, silver, gray, red, and blue. I would not have bought it if it wasn’t the red or blue. There is no joy in the finish of most cars these days.
So far the car is doing what I got it for. The dashboard readout says it’s getting over 50 mpg average for the last 1000 miles or so. I filled the tank yesterday and reset the trip odometer, so I’ll check the mpg the old school way when I refill again.
Now to the dealer experience:
Getting it was no problem. Paying for it and getting the license plate was problematic. When I went to get it, the finance guy wasn’t there and I had to wait an hour for him to get there. I wrote a check and told him I wanted the paperwork completed for the title and tag when the check was paid. I called back on a Monday, five business days after the check cleared my bank, and asked to speak to someone who could speed up the process since they had my money. The general manager said he’d help if I emailed him documentation, so I sent him a copy of the cancelled check, front and back, with the routing number and account number cropped off. Didn’t work. I had to wait the full ten days (I presume so the dealership could sit on the sales tax longer and get a bit more interest).
Here’s the weirdest thing. The finance department sent me an email saying the paperwork was completed, but that I should wait a few days before contacting the local tax commissioner’s office since it would take a few days for the state to get the sales tax (that includes the plate fee, registration, and ad valorem tax in Georgia). I called the tax office five minutes after I read the message. Their response? Come on in, you’re good!
Does anyone know why the finance people would lie to me like that?
Aha! You have just solved my depression problem. My previous car was silver, but was a VW GTI with the turbo. A total blast to drive. My current car, a 2014 Mazda CX5 performs well but is without personality and is also silver. I named it after Totally Androgynous Pat; it’s that dull. It performs fine, but it is not amazing. No wonder I’ve lost the will to live.
A friend of mine many years ago said there are two kinds of vehicles: cars, and transportation appliances. The former are fun. The later, like dishwashers, are simply a chore to load, use, and unload over and over and over and … .
I have not owned a transportation appliance since I was in high school. And don’t intend to ever again.
I hear you, but having kids and a relatively tight budget have reduced me to ‘appliance mode’ for the time being. I have an 11-year-old Mazda CX-5 and it is indeed worthy but dull. At least it’s the 2.0 petrol (I despise the sound and smell of diesels) so you can rev it a bit for some power - but it’s a heavy, clumsy beast compared with my previous vehicles. I miss my old Mazda 3 MPS (Mazdaspeed3 in the US), in which you could floor the throttle in any gear and instantly smile. Yeah, I know, a diesel would give me more of that low-down torque, still can’t stand the smell (I know, you can’t smell the exhaust while driving it, but as I’m also a cyclist and pedestrian I refuse to buy one on principle).
As soon as finances allow I’ll be looking for something stupidly sporty.
Heh, it takes all kind. For myself, I want a dependably boring transportation appliance that gets me where I need to go when I need to. Also, I hate handwashing dishes.
There are two uses for vehicles: entertainment and function. I get my entertainment elsewhere (although I don’t dislike spirited driving), my cars are to get me from point A to point B reliably and economically. Some of those locations are remote and difficult to get to, so I need a set of features in my vehicles that don’t particularly lend themselves to spirited driving.
I didn’t intend to buy a total appliance but had need of one, plus with injuries galore, it was getting very difficult to raise myself up out of the driver’s seat. When the VW went, the VW I wanted was expensive and I would have had to wait to get the right vehicle. Mazda had one that was ready for me the next day. Boom. Mazda.
