GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So when I bought my Buick LeSabre on Friday, the sales guy mentioned that it had a Fuel Injected engine in the car. A few other dealerships I have gone to over the past 6 months (including Carmax) have had sales people tell me that the car I was looking at had fuel injection as if it was a noteworthy feature. A look on a dealership website shows each car that they are selling as having fuel injection.Is fuel injection a selling point for a car in 2011? Last time I looked the last car made in the USA (Caprice and Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser) to have a carburetor was in 1990. The last foreign made car for the USA market was the Subaru Justy in 1991. The last pickup truck for the USA market was the 1994 Isuzu and the last SUV to have a carb was the 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer So the last Domestic made car with a carb was made 21 years ago, the last foreign made car and the last SUV were made 20 years ago and the last truck with a carb was made 17 years agoSo is fuel injection even a relevant selling point now? I had a few late 1980's and early 1990's cars and trucks that had EFI badges on them(GM vehicles) but FI was new in those days.

Personally, I like the ads on TV that show a new car, pushing it's 45mpg fuel economy, then the fine print at the bottom indicates it's the model with a gerbil cage, no doors, and you stick your head close to someone else's car to hear the radio, the model shown costs $15K more and gets 12mpg.So yeah, I can see them pushing FI. Then again I was in Microcenter the other day and I don't think the salesmen's understanding of technology is always there as well. Salesmen will push anything...

The first generation of Corvette began in 1953 and ended in 1962. Highlights of this first generation include the addition of an optional fuel injection system in 1957. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------My 1st vette was a 58,it wasn't fuel inj tho

Even my 25hp outboard boat motor is injected now (and direction injection at that!). Next thing you know, they'll be advertising "pneumatic tires" as a selling feature - or maybe safety glass...I wonder how many of the younger croud on here are even familiar with a choke - unless they're had a bike or boat (or similar small engined toy). Last time my daily driver was carbureted was in 1999 - but I was driving a 20 year old car at the time. My "new" car I bought to replace it was a 1987 Buick Century - and even that had TBI and distributorless ignition.I've contemplated converting my '65 Valiant to injection - but it's really too original to mess with like that. As it sits, it's like a little time machine - almost museum material. Only 26K miles on the clock. Not really the kind of car to start modifying. One day if I pick up something similar but not so well preserved I may tackle that project though...Still seems awful silly to be mentioned as a "feature" these days.John

That valiant got them push buttons for the trans on the dash & the slide arm for park ?

A couple of years ago when I was looking to buy an old Fiat Spider 2000, I looked at one at a used car lot nearby. I had the hood open and was checking it out and the sales guy points to the distributor and says "don't see too many carburetors anymore!" Car salesmen, Sheesh!And to top it all off this was an 84 Spider with Bosch fuel injection, there was no carb.I swear this is true.

Did you get radial tires to go with your fuel injection?

And AM/FM radio!

...fuel injection--as a 'selling point'--is defintely "...old hat...", because our 1987 Astro Van had throttle-body (fuel) injection (TBI), and that was 24 years ago!...today, ALL engines use fuel injection (FI) of some manner, although most are "manifold" fuel injection, where the fuel is injected inside the intake manifold onto the backside of the intake valves....the "newest" FI system is Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) or Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI), which is where the fuel is injected 'directly' into the cylinder, similar to diesel engines.

that's kind of in the same ballpark as "tilt wheel" and "adjustable seats", isn't it?

Hey - my 2002 Sunfire didn't have a tilt wheel, nor does my dad's 2004 Focus. I'm pretty sure everything has it now though.My Valiant does not have the push button transmission - thanks to the U.S. government. For 1965, the government mandated all automatic transmission shifters to follow a standardized shift pattern - which made the push buttons obsolete unfortunately. Everybody who sees the car looks inside to see if they're there.As for the mentioning of the GDI and SIDI, those are essentially just descriptions for any gasoline engine with direct fuel injection - as diesels clearly won't require the spark. My boat motor is a 2 stroke with DI. About 50% more efficient than my old carbureted one - and much more responsive with no visible smoke. Terrific application for that technology. Less gas + more power puts a smile on my face every time.John