Jonny Lieberman, your carbon fiber-clad chariot awaits!
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Category: Ask the Best and Brightest
TTAC commentator greenblood has a question for the group:
Since our first child was born, we don’t have time for everything we used to do. So my wife has been taking her ’09 Escape to a Valvoline instant oil change location nearby. They have been pushing fuel injector cleaner every 3,000 miles. Although we aren’t dumb enough to pay the add’l labor charge to dump a 1/2 qt of cleaner in the fuel tank, I am wondering about the benefits of fuel injector cleaner in general and the need to use it periodically. Something tells me every 3k is ridiculous, but I would like to know what the Best & Brightest have would recommend.
That’s Porsche-sha. And how hard is it to say VW? Jeez.
GM’s “May The Best Car Win” campaign is beginning to take shape, and it’s turning out to be every bit as gimmicky as you might guess. In a conference call with the motoring press, GM’s Bob Lutz challenged all comers to beat him around the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Lutz will be driving a Cadillac CTS-V, and he promises to beat any production four-door sedan as a way of proving that Cadillac does build world-beating cars. Jalopnik‘s Wes Siler has taken up the challenge, and will be facing Lutz in a Mercedes C63 AMG. So we’re curious: what unmodified sports sedan would you mount up in to send Lutz back to the RenCen with his tail between his legs? Myself? I believe water skis are the traditional conveyance for shark-jumping competitions. Meanwhile, TTAC would like to take this opportunity to pit our own Jack Baruth in this competition for the ages. Do we have a deal, GM?
To put it simply, Honda’s Insight sold 4,226 units last month while the Prius sold 18,886. Through August, Toyota sold 93,810 Priora while the Insight motivated only 14,045 buyers. Honda has tacitly admitted that the Insight is not up to snuff. But upgrades could take years. Honda could just as easily have the long-rumored Fit Hybrid ready in the same time. Would it be a better Prius fighter? Or will Honda Hybrids be stuck wandering the desert until, say, the CR-Z arrives?
[Click here and then click on HQ under the viewing window to see the scene in hi-res]
I’m not so sure if I’d add this humongous Anglo-German two-door to my fantasy garage. It’s just not . . . something enough. And a little too . . . you know. More to the point, a nice 1935 Auburn Boattail Special can be had for roughly the same money. I know, I know: at that level it’s not either or. Still, I’d rather go motoring in something with more pizazz or, alternatively, less likely to attract the wrong kind of attention (e.g., Mercedes CL65 AMG). You?
Old GM Liquidator-in-chief Al Koch tells Detroit News that there exists some unknown level of interest in The General’s cast-off assets. But he’s only saying that the level is greater than zero. “It’s not possible, until the process unfolds for a little bit, to tell the shoppers from the buyers,” Koch enthuses. “These are very, very large facilities. So the likelihood of finding a single user at any of these industrial sites — it’s not impossible — but it’s a relatively small buyer universe.” Universe? Wouldn’t it the list of buyers for outdated factories in perma-union states in an oversupplied market be more . . . sandbox-sized? A list of analyst-approved GM plants “for interest/sale” and an opportunity for wild speculation after the jump.
Omnicom Group Inc.’s BBDO is Chrysler’s ad agency. At least for now. The Wall Street Journal reports the ailing automaker “has grown dissatisfied with the agency’s creative output.” The semi-nationalized automaker’s looking elsewhere for someone who wants to take on the sisyphean task of convincing Americans they need to buy cars from a bankrupt automaker with stale inventory that’s owned by another automaker with the one of the worst reliability ratings on the globe. Of course, marketing being what it is, all that’s needed is a catchy slogan akin to Toyota’s “What a feeling,” VW’s “Think small,” or Chevy’s “Like a rock,” right? That’s where you come in. What slogan or catch phrase would convince you to buy a Chrysler product? “Most smartly different?” Or what?
Caution: The sycophancy and silicone in this paint-by-numbers preview may make you want to hurl. Note to Mr. Piven: those who went before salute you, albeit with a single digit. Yes, the silver screen (or flat panel HDTV) has a long history of amoral, blood-sucking, lying, cheating, scumbag car salesman. As Slate’s Matthew DeBord points out, “Don Ready” isn’t the usual sad sack salesman. A distinction without a difference? Anyway, DeBord has a nice little rundown on nine (I’ve subtracted four) automobile-selling assholes. So which one was your fave? Any additions? And have you ever met a real world car salesman to rival any of these?
The “Toyota is the new GM” meme is a provocative one. After all, prior to GM’s decades-long unraveling its dominance of the industry put Toyota’s tentative top-dog status to shame. GM’s decline proved once and for all that no make, model or brand can coast on being “number one” alone. Which is why I want to believe that Lexus is shaping up to be the new Buick, as Mark Phelan insists at the Freep.
Why a duck? Why no chicken? Hey, Ford asked the question. And by God, Ford’s answered it. On nationwide TV, the most compelling rational for sending your hard-earned money in Dearborn’s direction proffered is: “Why not?” [NB: “most compelling” does not necessarily equal “compelling”.] On the Why website, the Glass House Gang has another go. Why Ford. “Ford has the most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedans in America with quality that Toyota and Honda can’t beat.” Why Mercury. “Mercury Milan is the most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedan in America and Mariner Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient SUV on the planet.” Why Lincoln. “Lincoln has the luxury vehicles you want with the technology you need.” Like . . . an engine. Brakes. Rear window power sunshade. A 10GB hard-drive for photo storage. That sort of thing. So now I ask you, our Best and Brightest, to grade their answers and, perhaps, provide alternatives.
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