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SUVs Crossover SUV Comparison
7127 messages, Last post on Nov 28, 2009 at 8:31 PM
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Replying to: raezmom3 (Feb 22, 2008 4:49 am) Luke warm customer response. Slow sales. They will have the Flex and the new unibody, car based Explorer on the lots. All three would be similar in size (within a few inches of each other probably) and would never survive together, therefore one has to go. I like it too raezmom and wouldn't hesitate to buy one now if my wife liked it too. But we're in the minority and Ford sees it fit to move on. |
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Replying to: volkov (Feb 21, 2008 9:20 pm) I believe I've seen some minor improvements in finance/lease terms but the adjustments have been primarily applied to cash purchases. The car co.'s know exactly what they are doing. The currency certainly plays the major role in all of this but there are some economy of scale factors as well.
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Replying to: raezmom3 (Feb 22, 2008 4:49 am) Like someone else said, the Taurus X is a slow seller, even after Ford spent so much money on upgrades over the Freestyle for it's midlife cycle freshening. SO if you want a similar vehicle that is up to date, I'd suggest the Ford Flex (it's similar sized and comes to the market soon). Or you could just buy the Taurus X. They'll still make parts for it after 2010.
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Replying to: albook (Feb 21, 2008 7:26 pm) I'll 2nd that suggestion. It's the single best place to check out competitors back-to-back, without any sales pressure to boot. Hit an autoshow first, to establish a short list. Then test drive just those. The auto show will really help you narrow it down though, in terms of what is comfortable for you, fits all your stuff, etc. PM just did that article with a beach cooler - but so what if your cooler is a different size? For me it was a stroller, anyway, not a cooler. I wanted enough floor space to fit the stroller and still have floor space without piling things on top.
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Replying to: cjsb (Feb 22, 2008 5:58 am) But you are missing some of the points that bother me most. Although many brands claim to have adjusted prices, many simply offered cash discounts but only for cash purchases. Financed or leased vehicles did not see any price changes. c.f. GM for example. The reason they did this was that only Canadians with cash in hand could buy in the US. This ploy removed any advantage for those individuals, but the majority of car buyers finance in one way or another, and they see no benefit. In most cases, the new pricing is really a pittance offering a couple of thousand dollars for a $10k difference. cisb Correct. I believe I've seen some minor improvements in finance/lease terms but the adjustments have been primarily applied to cash purchases. The car co.'s know exactly what they are doing. The currency certainly plays the major role in all of this but there are some economy of scale factors as well. You're right. All I did was scratch the surface of car pricing. I was simply showing how at one point Canadians were getting bargain car pricing, due to an undervalued currency. Now that the currency has appreciated so dramatically, we are overpaying for cars, in spite of lowered prices or big discounts. Canadian car salespeople would love to be able to sell their vehicles at even lower prices (which generate more sales), but the Canadian dealers are stuck paying the parent manufacturer a higher price than American dealers pay. I subscribe to a web service that gives me Canadian dealer costs. A base Buick Enclave msrp is 40895, and the dealer cost is 36949. American msrp is 33505! Why does the Canadian dealer have to pay so much? The Canadian dealers have responded with an advertising blitz saying how they are making "adjustments" to prices, offering cash back, and lower finance rates, to imply that they have corrected the situation. While this is true for a small number of vehicles, it is mostly just "smoke and mirrors" to give the impression that something has been done, when really Canadians are stil overpaying for the vast majority of vehicles. The dealers are simply trying to put the best light on a bad situation, until the manufacturer begins to adjust their cost prices down to more reasonable levels.
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Replying to: hoser0eh (Feb 22, 2008 8:06 am) It's a tough situation. For social and political reasons we wanted to keep our dollars out of the U.S. but those savings made it awfully difficult to resist. I'm happy we found a deal that allowed us to purchase here in Canada without much of a price difference compared to south of the border (cash buyer).
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 22, 2008 8:00 am) To me the outside of the car is by far the least important aspect. It's like when I'm online looking for photos I completely ignore the exterior shots and I really wish they'd have interior shots with people in the seats to give some perspective. And even then the interior photos are designed to trick you. They'll give you a shot of a 3rd row with the 2nd row slid all the way forward to make the 3rd row look roomy. Then they'll give you a shot of the 2nd row with the 2nd row slid all the way back (just look at the tracks) and the front row slid pretty far forward (just look at the center console stick back versus being flush with the back of the front seats). The Mazda5 webpage does the best job because it has photos with adults sitting in all three rows of this little 3-row car. Sure the adults aren't big, but at least you get some idea. The same with videos. Edmunds videos (as well as from other car review sites) are usually worthless because they mostly just show the car from the outside driving down the road from different angles...who cares?!? Then they just have some quick interior video clips and of course there's no-one in the vehicle when they're shooting the video clip. For 3-row vehicles, they should show in the video some adults climbing and sitting in all three rows and throw some stuff behind the 3rd row to get perspective. Not just show you different exterior views of the car driving down the road. Anyway, enough of my pet-peeves to online photos/videos from car review websites. But it's good to know you can get inside some of the cars at a carshow.
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Replying to: albook (Feb 22, 2008 7:45 am) Similar sized but not similar price.  2009 Ford Flex order guide 2009 Ford Flex price guide It seems to have a lot standard which follows Ford's recent announcement that they will be packaging trim levels similar to the Asian mfrs. But I think it's still kind of pricey. Competitively priced, yes. But I expected it to be closer to the TX in price myself.
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Replying to: bobw3 (Feb 22, 2008 4:09 am) Bingo. Many models used are size 0. Did you know that Honda sold a 10-passenger (yes TEN) CR-V in the Philippines. Not stretched, by the way. No, seriously. It was actually done to avoid taxes, I believe, but they pulled it off!
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Replying to: ateixeira (Feb 22, 2008 4:12 am) oh, I just figured it out, stacked like cordwood in the back with the seats folded down...that''s it. |
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