You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

8666 messages,  Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 7:53 PM

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires

What is this discussion about? Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, smart fortwo, MINI Cooper

#7769 of 8666 Re: Tire weights... [kyfdx] by oregonboy May 30, 2008 (7:42 am)
Replying to: kyfdx (May 30, 2008 7:30 am) That would be an interesting study: speedometer vs odometer accuracy It does seem that the manufacturers would be at risk of a class action lawsuit if it could be shown that their odometers read consistently high.   Actually, I think that even with mechanical speedo/odometers, they could be easily set to read independently high and/or low.   james Replies to this message: lemmer (May 30, 2008 8:00 am) kyfdx (May 30, 2008 8:06 am) thegraduate (May 30, 2008 12:10 pm)
#7770 of 8666 Re: Tire weights... [oregonboy] by lemmer May 30, 2008 (8:00 am)
Replying to: oregonboy (May 30, 2008 7:42 am) A lawsuit. They have to feel darned if they do, darned if they don't. If the speedos weren't slightly optimistic people would complain that they weren't protected from speeding tickets.
#7771 of 8666 Re: Tire weights... [oregonboy] by kyfdx HOST May 30, 2008 (8:06 am)
Replying to: oregonboy (May 30, 2008 7:42 am) I vaguely remember something about Honda settling such a lawsuit over odometer discrepancies...   I'm not really into the mechanical side of things, but when I used to drive an Econoline for a living, there was a plastic piece in the speedometer/odometer bits that was sort of like a screw... If you were reading too fast, you changed from a 16 groove screw to a 17 groove screw (in this case, you = our mechanic). And, both speedometer and odometer were directly tied into the same system..   I complained once about the reading, and the mechanic went the wrong direction with it.. I was running an indicated 60 mph, but the mile markers had me doing 74mph!! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it Replies to this message: thegraduate (May 30, 2008 12:10 pm)
#7772 of 8666 Re: Tire weights... [kyfdx] by thegraduate May 30, 2008 (12:10 pm)
Replying to: kyfdx (May 30, 2008 8:06 am) I vaguely remember something about Honda settling such a lawsuit over odometer discrepancies...   Yep. And because of it, my car's 3/36k warranty (2006 Accord) has been extended to 38,200, I believe.   Whatever; I'm sure this suit was another kind of case where the lawyers got millions, and each claimant got 30 cents in the mail.
#7773 of 8666 Re: I think it's cars like [andre1969] by podred May 30, 2008 (2:55 pm)
Replying to: andre1969 (May 27, 2008 1:11 pm) Wasn't dealer-installed a/c a common thing with Japanese cars in general, and Honda in particular, until fairly recently?   Here is the honest, if somewhat hard to believe answer. I know because I worked for Toyota Motor Sales at the time. They are in Torrance CA, and the distributor of all Toyotas to each dealer in the US.   As much as we (the US distributor) asked for factory installed A/C, the Japanese arm of Toyota just didn't get it. They simply could not believe it was that important. Even when we were purchasing over thousands of AC kits from them through the parts depot for the dealers to install in the cars. Interesting.......
#7774 of 8666 Re: Tire weights... [oregonboy] by explorerx4 May 30, 2008 (3:37 pm)
Replying to: oregonboy (May 30, 2008 7:36 am) ok, i get it. i am referring to the odometer and you are comparing to the effect on the speedometer. i only care about the effect on the odometer. nobody asks about the average speed when you sell a car, but they do care about how far it has travelled.
#7775 of 8666 hot off the presses by nippononly Jun 03, 2008 (12:48 pm)
"Yaris reported all-time best-ever sales of 14,397 units (in May), up 26.6 percent over the year-ago month."   WOW! It's hot. That's almost half as many sales as Accord and Ford's F-series. Subcompact sales are ballooning so rapidly it's hard to keep track.   Get this: Camry, Corolla, Accord, and Civic ALL beat the F-series truck to be the top 4 selling vehicles in May. And were the midsizers on top of the list? NO! The two top sellers were Civic (#1) and Corolla (#2)! The market is finally downsizing, or as I like to say, appropriate-sizing.   With regard to Yaris specifically, it is now selling at the same rate as the RAV4 and the Sienna van, and selling at a ratio of almost 3:1 vs the Avalon. That puts it at the same sales rate as most of the best-selling compact and midsize cars from other automakers, and well above some. Replies to this message: thegraduate (Jun 03, 2008 1:02 pm) oregonboy (Jun 03, 2008 1:08 pm) british_rover (Jun 03, 2008 1:16 pm)
#7776 of 8666 Re: hot off the presses [nippononly] by thegraduate Jun 03, 2008 (1:02 pm)
Replying to: nippononly (Jun 03, 2008 12:48 pm) I read that the Accord had 43,728, so technically, the Yaris had just under 1/3rd of the Accord's record-breaking sales.   But, i AM just nitpicking.   If I were not 6'5", I'd be driving a Civic right now. As it is, I drive a 30+ MPG Accord. I figure that's not too bad for a guy my size, right? I really wanted the room of a full-size truck, and could've gotten a nicely equipped Silverado for less than my Accord EX, but I went the green-way and got the Honda.
#7777 of 8666 Re: hot off the presses [nippononly] by oregonboy Jun 03, 2008 (1:08 pm)
Replying to: nippononly (Jun 03, 2008 12:48 pm) It's funny how prices and availability of USED vehicles have been affected by fuel prices. I was out driving yesterday and within just a few miles of home, I saw five full-sized 4x4 pickups and/or SUVs parked on private sites with for sale signs on them.   How many small cars did I see for sale... ZERO. (Yes I know, small sample size, statistically insignificant.) But I would wager that one would find similar results with a larger sample Replies to this message: british_rover (Jun 03, 2008 1:16 pm)
#7778 of 8666 Re: hot off the presses [oregonboy] by british_rover Jun 03, 2008 (1:16 pm)
Replying to: oregonboy (Jun 03, 2008 1:08 pm) I started looking for a used Focus hatchback stick a while ago for a run around car and there are NONE around. The few that you can find have a ton of miles on them.

You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?