Columbus, OH Auto Show - observations
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:43 am
My first observation is there certainly are a lot of pretty girls that go to auto shows.I get the itch to trade cars after a few years and like to keep up on what is available. Somehow a new Vibe is like "same old, same old" though sometimes same old is good. (Example - my spouse.)I do not drive that many miles so mpg even at $3+ is not critical. If I wanted to go a little bigger I was impressed by the Nissan Rouge for the price. The seats were especially comfortable for me. The cargo area about 1.5x that of the Vibe. Other alternatives are the CRV and Rav4 but those are a little more expensive. Of those two, I lean toward the CRV as I do not care for the spare tire mounted on the back of the Rav4.I also like a couple models that provide a third row of seats - o.k. for the young grandchildren. The Mazda 5 and the Kia Rondo. I still like the Scion XB and the new model addresses some of the short comings of the original - though at a sacrifice in gas mileage. My spouse would probably veto that choice.I have sort of discarded going smaller than the Vibe, e.g. the FIT, Nissan Versa or the Scion XD. [Speaking of the Scions- the heater/ac controls are just like the new Vibe and Corolla Matrix.] Among the worst line-ups of the show had to be Ford - and I own 1,500 shares of that dog - worth 25% of what it was a few years ago. Looking at the new Chrysler Minivans as well as others I am very happy with my decision to replace my 2004 SWB T&C with an identical well equipped new 2007 (lifetime powertrain warranty) at the fire sale price of about $15,500 I was offered last July. That's our "traveling" car. I have now owned 4 of these similar vans - 1996 Voyager, 1998 Voyager, 2004 T&C, and 2007 T&C. The 2007 cost me very little more than the 1996 and has loads of extra options/features. This is a case where same old is good.