cdayton

Ho-hum to Ford, my big question is whether I should trade in my Jag XK8 for the newer F Type. IMHO, the only interesting car in the Chrysler line up is the Viper, Ford doesn’t have a single interesting car and Chevy still produces the best bargain super car - the Corvette.

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

anderzander

I have owned 27 cars in my life starting with a 1930 Model A which I restored to approx. 50% then sold the car. The best overall car was a 1965 VW Beetle, for practical purposes. America Has alway's made great cars, the best (sedan) in the world is a Bently if you can afford one. SUV's are popular because they are the new sedans, the old classic sedans were designed to slide in and slide out of with great visibility. Then a new generation evolved, we need sex appeal in our cars not functionality, Fisher Body ran a contest once a year for futuristic car designs and that contest started the trend for low riders, that is fall in and climb out. I prefer climbing in and falling out. As a truck owner, used for construction purposes and off road work like camping, most people buy trucks today because they can intimidate other drivers on the road, they don't work in construction, just look at their hands and the cloths they wear, its an image thing. I'm retired I don't need a truck anymore but it still comes in handy for a dump run, I would love to have a nice sedan, and Detroit still makes them, they just need to raise them off the ground like in the sixties when most cars you could look underneath to see if something was wrong.
Sex appeal and identity are more important now, if you need a Corvette for sex appeal fine, if it is a second car to go have fun in fine, I drove a Corvette Convertible from NYC to Las Vegas, on the open road the car was great, that was in 1973, I was young and getting in and out wasn't a problem, but now I wouldn't own a Corvette even if I could afford one. I had a 1970's Chrysler Cordova, if I remember right, this was a great car on the road, to big for the garage, I sold it because of lousy gas mileage not because it wasn't a good car. You could sleep in the trunk. Great back seat for when I was young and in love HA HA. There are a lot of seniors out there that the car industry is ignoring raise, the sedan off ther floor and it will sell again.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

Correction FORD has the mustang and Shelby mustangs are some of the most potent cars out and they out sell most other sports cars

Eddy Vortex

The single biggest reason that SUV's sell so well is that women feel safer in them than cars.

anderzander

Bentley, sorry for my mis-spelled words but I think you get the picture. Detroit makes cars in China, so do Eurpoean car makers, the cars are made for the Chinese market, the fear is when they start arriving in the USA, because we can't compete against cheap labor and we still make a lot of cars here, just not in Detroit, most companies have relocated do to better weather conditions and new facilities for streamlined assemblies, we started the robotic revolution, other countries have taken over, that is nothing more than good old competition. The coal industry is dead because of polution issues and natural gas is taking over, it is cleaner and easier to process. Detriot is still around just not in Detroit, we will still be a leader in car design and manufacturing, just look to where the industry is and buy American and complain if you don't like the new trends, that's what I do. I would love a brand new truck, but for what, I can't afford one and I don't do construction anymore, so the truck would be an image thing, not practicality and functionality. And an SUV is what I need because I would rather climb up and fall out that to fall in and climb out.

htbrown Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

One aspect of this is profit margins. SUVs and light trucks don't have to meet the same safety standards as sedans, which makes them marginally cheaper to build, but they sell for more money than a sedan does. That makes them much more profitable than a sedan, which makes the car companies much more interested in selling them in lieu of sedans.

cdayton

I’ve owned 3 Mustangs over the years starting with a 1966 2+2 V8 and a 1968 convertible. I like the early ones and I’d love to have an original Shelby GT500KR.
I suppose for really fast, you’d have to choose a Tesla with Ludicrous mode (60 in 2.28 secs by one report - faster than the Bugatti) but they are truly boring to drive. I’ve owned Jags since 1967 so I may be a bit biased.

therwol Loc: USA

Every time I go to the UK, I rent a car and arrange my own itinerary. It's the only way to go for me and my wife. The only place where I won't drive in is London.

Our first trip was on 2009. Our sixth was last year. I've noticed a trend toward larger cars, or should I say SUV's, 4x4s etc. I have NOT noticed a trend toward wider roads and parking bays. The car rental companies are always trying to do me a "favor" by giving me a car that is larger than the one I booked. "We don't have that car, but just for you, we'll give you this estate car over here." The last rental was "upgraded" to a minivan. Now I realize that the laugh is on us. Have you ever squeezed into a parking bay with great effort, only to find that you can't get out of the car on either side? Have you ever had to move over on a narrow road to let someone else pass with the result that you're wife is screaming that you're going to hit the wall? Such is driving in the UK.

We don't have this problem in the US, but in both countries the trend toward larger cars is somewhat disturbing. (We've had it forever over here.) I get mad when I see single drivers taking monster sized pickup trucks to the supermarket to go shopping. The next generations may actually need that wasted energy.

Redleg john

I was in Italy a few years ago and everyone drove small cars, except the police ( they had Mercedes'). The reason is two fold - 5.00 - 6.00 gasoline and three thousand year old streets. Our obsession with SUVs began 20 years ago with the tax shelter scheme to protect GM production in Texas of the Suburban !

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

True enough: Garbage in, Garbage. out.

The best assembled crap is STILL crap.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

My neighbor made some snarky comment about how much we spent on our Lexus GS350 eleven years ago. We still have the Lexus but I don't know how many cars (used) he's been through. I liked the LeSabres we had (the old style, not the shorter style) that were as big inside as a Park Avenue, but got tired of the maintenance problems. I'd rather pay double for a car that will last more than twice as long than have a car that is undependable.
The Lexus looks and runs like the day we bought it.

One day my daughter turned on the ignition in our first LeSabre. There was a loud bang like a .357 going off. I rushed outside. She was ok. Gasses had built up somewhere and exploded in some thick plastic tubing leading to the engine. Scary as heck.

She recently got a new set of tires for her Durango. Afterwards it pulls to the right. He dealership told her that was normal.

Tom DePuy Loc: Waxhaw, N.C.

Its the tires

Redleg john

It probably is the tires, or could need an alignment, but how can the dealer say with a straight face that's "normal" ? Most people don't realize you can buy a highly rated brand from a dealer who has a poor to mediocre service department.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I've never had a new set of tires pull to the right....esp. after an alignment. She does need an alignment.