Ask the Car People.SM


Cars You Hate/Cars You Would Kill - READ ONLY

137 messages,  Last post on Dec 11, 2006 at 9:38 AM

You are in the Automotive News & Views-Archives Forum.

What is this discussion about? Saturn ION, Infiniti QX56, Isuzu Ascender

Messages Page 2 of 15

#6 of 137 Astra by harrychezt

May 27, 2006 (7:21 pm)

From information floating around on the internet, Looks like we won't get the 3 door Astra, or the 3 door Vue replacement?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Antara
 
Says the 2 door from the shows won't come here, but will be replaced by a 4 door( I think they meant 2 door-hatch, 4 door -hatch?). The 4 door is not horrible, but the 2(3) door is 10x's more interesting.
Why do they do this? Take something that even import buyers would check out, and make it "Me-Too", thus....
losing potential customers/conquest sales?
 
Here's hoping someone over at GM reconsiders the 3 door, and put it out for sale Somewhere in one of their divisions( FWD , with optional AWD).
 
Same for the Ion replacementI was interested in the Astra 3 door, not a 5 door, and same goes for the Vue replacement.
 
At least Scion still offers the tC 3 door. Also, Hyundai( and Kia, I read) have/will have 3 door sporty cars.
 
5 door Astra-Ion replacement?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/04/ast- - - raf3-4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/18/is-the-opel-astra-the-ne- - - xt-saturn-ion/&h=243&w=450&sz=25&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=BsySvGHoxWEx6M:&tbnh=66&tbn- - - w=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DOpel%2Bastra%2Bto%2Breplace%2BIon%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3De- - - n%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN
 
Like I said, they aren't bad, but the concept(s) - to me, anyway- were waaay better.
 
It seems they want to garner attention, but they do what everyone else does. Maybe offer a 5 and 3 door Vue and Ion?
 
It seems that many makers are now showing excellent concepts, and then change them to "me-too", or water them down too much.
Have a good one.

#7 of 137 Re: . [fintail] by derrado1

May 28, 2006 (3:20 am)

Replying to: fintail (May 27, 2006 9:22 am)
Carriage tops look... I can't believe I'm saying this but almost... almost... acceptable - on SOME cars. A '97 Deville can pull off a carriage roof (it'll be ugly, but it'll pull it off). But an '06 STS? Or a Dodge Intrepid? People do it. It's scary.
 
The STS is probably one of, if not the, most attractive American sedans currently on sale. But the old-fogey Floridian golf-club-membership geezers insist on butchering it, and other cars, with carriage roofs and wire wheels and gold doo-dads. Honestly.
 
I noticed, today, too a big Ford F-Series Superduty. Now, not many of these are around where I live, but occasionally I'll see one. It just makes me think... what's the point? Sure, they may be essential for some uses but they are just so commonplace in America. Don't get me wrong, Australians are almost or just as lazy a people as Americans, and we love our big sedans and SUVs. But we get by just fine with our Falcon/Commodore Utes and Hiluxs (Tacomas), Navaras (Frontiers), Rodeos (Isuzu D-Maxs). So how is it that the Ford F-Series is consistently one of the best-selling vehicles in the US? Do that many people need them so?

#8 of 137 I think the key... by andre1969

May 28, 2006 (5:52 am)

with a carriage roof is that the car has to have crisp, linear, squared-off styling to begin with. If the car is too curvy or rounded, or has too many creases that kick up here and there, a carriage roof just doesn't fit.
 
I think an STS could pull off a carriage roof better than many cars could, but if I had my preference, these damned things would not have survived past the 1985 Seville!

#9 of 137 Re: . [derrado1] by gagrice

May 28, 2006 (7:40 am)

Replying to: derrado1 (May 28, 2006 3:20 am)
So how is it that the Ford F-Series is consistently one of the best-selling vehicles in the US?
 
Very simple. The Crew Cab PU is the most practical suburban vehicle on the roads today. You can haul 5 people and a load of manure, trash or whatever. If they made a midsize Crew Cab with a 4 Cylinder diesel it would be the most practical and very economical.
 
I would get rid of every small car on the road rated below average for safety by the IIHS.

#10 of 137 Re: . [gagrice] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 28, 2006 (6:46 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (May 28, 2006 7:40 am)
Anything with a "gold package"

#11 of 137 Re: Cars You Hate/Cars You Would Kill [derrado1] by prosa

May 28, 2006 (7:08 pm)

Replying to: derrado1 (May 27, 2006 5:47 am)
The B-Series (and Ranger) are not quite state of the art - to put it mildly! - but they're just about the only true compact pickups remaining.
Hasn't the Raider been killed off already?
As for the Ascender, if it still has any raison d'etre it's the pricing ... a local dealer has a new one right out in front on the lot with a price of $19,995 on the windshield. I doubt you'll find any other midsized SUV for anything like that.

#12 of 137 Re: . [gagrice] by 210delray

May 28, 2006 (7:27 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (May 28, 2006 7:40 am)
The [F-150] Crew Cab PU is the most practical suburban vehicle on the roads today. You can haul 5 people and a load of manure, trash or whatever.
 
LOL: Did you ever see a full load of people + manure in a pickup?

#13 of 137 My list by 210delray

May 28, 2006 (7:37 pm)

Buick, Pontiac, and Saturn clones of the Chevy Uplander (and the Uplander itself is dumb enough).
 
Mercury - any Mercury.
 
Pontiac Torrent (GM said they were done with "badge engineering," so what gives here?)
 
Isuzu - is this some kind of joke they're pulling with just 2 models on the market, and they're GM rebadges at that!
 
Saturn ION - I agree with all you've said before; fortunately this dies in December (with no replacement for a year -- way to go again GM!)
 
Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey - The 1995 Windstar lives!! (just barely)
 
Mitsubishi Endeavor - if the Outlander is growing for '07, why keep this loser?

#14 of 137 Re: . [210delray] by gagrice

May 28, 2006 (9:22 pm)

Replying to: 210delray (May 28, 2006 7:27 pm)
Did you ever see a full load of people + manure in a pickup?
 
No, but when I had to haul a half dozen bags of cow dodo in my Suburban, i decided to go back to owning a PU truck. Minivans and SUVs are limited in some areas of utility.
 
PS
Kill the Subaru Tribeca. It makes the Aztec look almost good.

#15 of 137 Re: My list [210delray] by derrado1

May 28, 2006 (10:50 pm)

Replying to: 210delray (May 28, 2006 7:37 pm)
Didn't the Endeavor win a comparison on Edmunds once? Nevertheless, it sells about as well as any other Mitsubishi... that is to say, not well at all.
 
I like the current Outlander but it seems they're going to suck the fun out of it for the '07 model year. Which leaves, what? Lancer? Rubbish. Galant? Nothing special. Montero? Dead after this year. Raider? Rebadge.
 
Mitsubishi isn't doing well anywhere in the world, it would seem. Especially down under, the 380 (Australianised Galant) was meant to save Mitsubishi's Australian operations and factories. It was replacing the Magna which stagnated for about ten years without any major changes, and ended up fleet-fodder (think... Taurus). Now, the 380, which Mitsubishi promised wouldn't be a special-edition-repeat-offender, is... just that. They've slashed a few grand off the price, they're hyping the "380 Series 2". I feel for the Mitsubishi Australia workers... they could be out of a job. The 380's a decent car, but it offers nothing over a Falcon or Commodore and has a cheap interior and front-wheel-drive.
 
Ha. And I totally forgot about the Mercury Monterey. The only minivan that sells worse than the Saturn Relay. Utterly, utterly pointless. Wasn't the Villager a better, albeit smaller, car?
 
The CSV's are a pretty tepid stopgap measure... and there never should have been another Pontiac minivan, but I must admit, the SV6 looked the best out of 'em. Now the Relay's the best-looking (maybe I have to see one in the metal, but from some angles it looks almost Volvo-ish). It's got the nicest looking interior too (no faux-classy-Terraza interior, no bizarro-fake wood like the Uplander). I suppose if you had to buy a GM minivan, a runout SV6 or a new Relay wouldn't be that bad. At least you're not in a Freestar.

Messages Page 2 of 15

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement