Wednesday, June 13, 2012
2011 Cadillac DTS Review
Eras end. Driven by changing tastes and the aging of customers, Cadillac will stop making and selling the big DTS sedan (the modern-day version of the Sedan DeVille) at the end of the 2011 model year. It will be replaced by the XTS, a car that will almost certainly be targeted to the tastes of Baby Boom luxury car buyers...and thus, at Lexus, Audi and BMW.
It's easy for Boomers to ignore and even ridicule the DTS, a car you're most likely to find in retirement communities, parking lots of restaurants serving the Early Bird special dinners and the occasional rental fleet.
But it's also wrong.
At a base price of $46,680, Cadillac's biggest sedan is $3500 less than the BMW 335is coupe. Apples and oranges, you say? You're right. Let's put the DTS against the least-expensive big Bimmer, the 740i sedan.
The Cadillac is $24,000 less. It has more room, costs less to insure, maintain and license and the highway fuel economy difference (23 mpg for the Cadillac, 25 for the BMW) is negligible.
So what's it like to drive? I hadn't had the opportunity in 7 years (even GM's press fleet folks have been treating the DTS like a stepchild), so I rounded one up for a week. No, it's not meant for blasting through winding mountain roads (newsflash: neither is any Lexus save the IS-F).
What it is is quiet, smooth, responsive, and, given its size and lack of cutting-edge handling hardware, remarkably agile. The people who've eagerly shelled out $65K for Escalades but wouldn't give a DTS the time of day would think they're driving a sport sedan by comparison. They'd also find they and their passengers are as or more comfortable and they could make a nice dent in the power bill with the money they save on gasoline.
Something I learned programming popular music radio back in the day: There is such a thing as out-hipping yourself, walking away from things of value to a mass audience in the pursuit of image. A week in the DTS has me strongly suspecting that we'll miss it once it's gone.
(review vehicle courtesy Lund Cadillac)
Toyota Recalls 1.5 Million Cars
Just when the hysteria over unintended acceleration died down for lack of any evidence, Toyota has a real problem on its hands...a huge recall of a million and a half vehicles worldwide for brake fluid and fuel pump issues.
Details from the Associated Press via The Detroit News.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV Review
About 20 years ago, before my TireKicking days, I worked at KTVK in Phoenix with a reporter named Jay DeDapper. Jay seemed even in those pre-cyber days to have his own Bluetooth and Twitter connections in his brain. He'd know about the best new restaurant in any major city 30 seconds before it opened. He'd have read the latest book about...well, anything...cover to cover while the Barnes & Noble staff was unpacking the boxes.
Needless to say, I listened.
So when I found out that Jay refused to rent anything on out-of-town assignments but Nissan Maxima SEs from 1989 until he went to WABC, New York in 1992 (a refusal that was so vehement that on one occasion the Hertz crew at LAX surrendered and gave him one with a bashed-in trunk because it was the only one they had), I figured I should see what was so great about it. Having had the previous generation '88 as a rental, I couldn't imagine.
Well, Jay (no surprise) was right. Hertz now had two finicky reporters from Phoenix to deal with.
Nissan called the Maxima "The Four Door Sports Car" or "4DSC" in those days. And they were very nearly right. For the times, nothing came close, unless you wanted to up the ante to maybe a 5-series BMW. And our expense accounts, even in those free-spending days for TV news, had limits.
Nissan wandered away from that very successful formula after 1994. It's been 15 years of Maximas that really were just big Nissans: "The Four Door Car" could have been the ad campaign, if Nissan had put any promotional clout behind them (they really didn't).
2009 brought a new Maxima (the top of the line is now the SV instead of the SE), and the return of the "Four Door Sports Car" label. And while size, weight and complexity (find a car that hasn't added all three in the past decade and a half), it's very close to the old one in spirit.
A 24-valve V6 makes 290 horsepower, but with a Continuously Variable Transmission, manages to get 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway. It rolls on 18 inch alloy wheels. Moonroof, fog lights, leather, power everything and a nine-speaker audio system are all standard.
Base price: $31,990. The tester I drove for a week added only a cold package (heated front seats, steering wheel and outside mirrors), Bluetooth, floor mats and a rear spoiler...resulting in a bottom line with destination charges of $33,900. A real bargain for what you get.
Is it as good as the '89-'94? Not in terms of sheer driving pleasure. But it's a great base to work from. If Nissan's engineers are allowed to evolve and refine it, this one could be even better.
UPDATE: Everything above still applies, except the base price...now up to $33,530. And the most recent tester sent our way was much more highly optioned...a rear spoiler ($370), floor and trunk mats ($180) and the Premium Package ($3,230), which adds a dual panel moonroof with power sunshades, HID Xenon headlights, premium leather-appointed seats, a climate-controlled driver's seat, heated front seats, a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel, which is also heated and wrapped in leather, paddle shifters, an automatic entry/exit system, driver's side memory for seat, mirrors and steering wheel, an auto-dimming driver's side outside mirror, heated outside mirrors with reverse tilt-down, rear bucket seats, eucalyptus wood-tone trim, a 7-inch color monitor and rear camera, AUX, USB and iPod jacks and a 2.0 GB Music Box with 800 MB of storage.
Bottom line (after $750 destination charge): $38,060. If it were my money, I'd probably go with the more lightly optioned one from before and, even with the base price increase, come in at or under $35K. But the loaded one is so well equipped and so nice to live with, that I wouldn't talk you out of going for it. This sedan, this well done, with this much equipment at under $40,000 is one heckuva deal.
The Showroom New 24 Year Old Buick
Boulevard Buick in Signal Hill, California has probably seen its share of slow-moving units over its 50 years in business...but why has this brand-new 1987 Buick Regal GNX stayed on the showroom floor for almost half that time?
The fascinating story from the Los Angeles times via The Detroit Free Press.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Lincoln MKT Review
From the back, in black, it looks like a 1940's hearse.
For several thousand dollars less, you can get a Ford Flex...which is what this is based on.
The above two lines are the sum total of the downside to the Lincoln MKT.
There's a ton of upside.
First of all, for better or worse, Lincoln's breaking some styling rules and creating distinctive automobiles. And since the new family grille is a modern interpretation of 40s Lincolns, I suppose the "40s hearse" rear-end isn't a surprise.
Number two, 16 city/22 highway (the EPA estimate, which, for the first time in a long time in a Ford Motor Company product, we didn't achieve or exceed), while not great, is also not bad for something this big, with this kind of power. The MKT packs the twin-turbo EcoBoost engine...and, in fact, 16/22 is the mileage cited for the Flex when equipped with EcoBoost.
And as for the MKT/Flex comparison, well, Lincoln deserves a major pat on the back for putting distance between the two vehicles. This is shared-platform as opposed to "badge engineering". You could drive the MKT and Flex back-to-back (which Ford was brave enough to allow a group of journalists, yours truly included, to do around the fall '09 introduction of the MKT) and spend the next few minutes remarking on how they really are completely different vehicles.
That price difference? Well, it's there...a base MKT starts about where a loaded Flex leaves off ($44,000) and it's not difficult to load an MKT beyond the $50,000 point with 2nd row bucket seats (in place of the standard bench), a 2nd row console with a built-in refrigerator, and Active Park Assist. Put simply, it parks the car automatically. Yes, Lexus got there first, a couple of years ago, but the system wasn't flawless. We've used the Lincoln's ourself. It is.
But here's the thing: It's that distance between the two vehicles I mentioned two paragraphs up. You have to have X-ray vision and a set of blueprints to know that there's commonality with the Flex. The Lincoln is a cut above in style, luxury, percieved quality and cutting-edge tech...including voice-activated navigation. Save home, say "home" and you're guided on your way.
Our most recent test vehicle came courtesy Sanderson Lincoln/Volvo in Phoenix.
Here's a very cool promotional video about the MKT from Lincoln and Ford Motor Company:
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Infiniti M37 Review
It's all about the curves.
No, you haven't logged on to Playboy's home page by mistake. But words like "sexy" and "voluptuous" just might get used in the next few paragraphs. Infiniti, the near-luxury division of Nissan that originally tried to sell us cars by showing us pictures of trees and running water in its TV commercials (just no cars), has finally realized that cars, at their best, are tactile, emotional, exciting...and sent the stylists to the drawing board with just that in mind.
A great leap forward? Well, yeah. Click here for a reminder of what last year's Infiniti M looked like. We've gone from mildly upscale vanilla Japanese design to "somebody has a Maserati poster on their bedroom wall" in one model year.
What's great about it is that the beauty isn't only skin deep. If you read the review of last year's M35 linked above, you know we liked it a lot. But the M37 in its gorgeous new wrapper turns up the heat when in motion. Last year's 303 horsepower becomes 330. 262 pound-feet of torque becomes 270.
Wanna know the really hot part?
It's cheaper.
The fabulous curves, the big boost in power...is accompanied by a base price that's $1,700 lower than the last model.
And it gets better mileage. 16 city/22 highway is now 18/26.
Wanna talk more about curves? Fine. It handles them like a slot car. Like it's on rails. Find a twisting, turning road and you'll be grinning like an idiot.
You'll steal glances over your shoulder when you park it and walk away.
Your wife, girlfriend or both will be jealous of this car.
Yes, it's that good.
Wherever Infiniti found the $1700 to cut, it wasn't the interior. Better than ever, with virtually everything standard at $46,250. Our tester had exactly four options: The trunk mat, trunk net and first aid kit ($195), illuminated kick plates ($350), the Sport package (which swaps the standard 18 inch alloys for 20-inchers, and adds sport suspension, sport brakes, paddle shifters, 4-wheel active steer, plus sport seats, steering wheel and shift knob) for $3,650, and the Premium Package (hard drive Nav sysstem, color touch-screen, XM NavTraffic and NavWeather, Zagat Survey restaurant reviews, voice recognition, an upgraded Bose 10-speaker audio system, with Bluetooth streaming audio and a 9.3 GB hard drive to store your music, climate controlled fron seats and a heated steering wheel) for $3,350. Add $865 for destination charges and the total is $54,660....$255 less than the similarly loaded (but less powerful and less beautiful) 2010 model.
Sure, the bottom line is a bargain only in relative terms. But drive it. Then tell me you don't want one.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
2011 Lexus RX 350 Review
The shape is instantly recognizable. It's the vehicle that started the whole luxury-crossover segment more than a decade ago...looking much like it does today.
Sure, there have been refinements. That's what's kept the Lexus RX 350 at the top of its game...but the fact that the basic design is within walking distance of what it was in the late 90s is testament to just how right Lexus got the RX.
RX 350s are everywhere. In traffic this afternoon, I was behind three of them, all white. But familiarity and popularity have done nothing to lessen the status. This is THE luxury crossover. A lot of people wouldn't drive anything else (note to self: a piece on people who're on their fourth or fifth RX might be very interesting).
A big factor in the RX's favor is price. Base is only $37,975. That gets you a 3.5 liter 275 horsepower V6, a 6 speed automatic transmission with "snow mode", 18" aluminum alloy wheels, a raft of safety features, a premium audio system with a six-disc in-dash CD changer, Bluetooth and a 90-day trial to XM Satellite Radio.
Ah, but we're not done. Also on the standard equipment list is an auto dual-zone climate control system with rear vents, a power tilt and telescope steering column, 10-way power driver's and front passenger's seats, height-adjustable headrests for all the seats, genuine wood trim and a bunch more.
And the cockpit is one of the nicest, most serene places you could spend your commutes and vacations in. If it sounds like you could stop with just the standard equipment and keep the tab under $40,000, you could. And you'd have a very nice piece. But the one we drove also had the Comfort Package (rain sensing wipers, High Intensity headlamps, Adaptive Front Lighting (the headlights turn with the front wheels, helping you see around corners), and heated and ventilated front seats. That's $1,950.
It also had the Luxury Package (semi-aniline leather trim, a moonroof, retractable outside mirrors, wood and leather steering wheel and shift knob, a wide-angle backup camera, an upgrade to 19" alloy wheels, a USB audio plug, power rear door, memory for the seats and mirrors, illuminated scuff plates and headlamp cleaners. Add $4,900.
That's not all, though. The Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound system with a 6 disc DVD changer and 15 speakers was also on the list ($1,610). And then there's the navigation system with XM NavTraffic and NavWeather at $2,465.
Oh, and a cargo net for $59.00.
Tack on the delivery fee ($875) and you're at......
$49,834. Which (and you won't hear me say this too often) is actually reasonable for what you're getting. The quality of the vehicle itself and the upgrades makes the experience of driving an RX 350 equipped like this one exceed the sticker price. It feels like $60,000 (in fact, it feels better than some $60,000 vehicles we've driven) and it's a shade under $50,000.
Not many cars can say that, and it's probably a huge chunk of the reason the RX 350 continues to be the leader in its segment.
EPA mileage estimates: 18 city/25 highway.
One more thing: Especially when buying a luxury vehicle, the dealership experience matters a lot. One of our recent RX350 vehicles came from Bell Lexus in Phoenix. Sales Associate Anthony Covington spent half an hour acquainting me with the finer points of the vehicle before I left the lot...and pointed out things the Lexus PR department hadn't...like how finishing the insides of the wheel wells helps keep the exterior cleaner, the ride quieter and reduces the risk of long-term damage and/or corrosion. Or how, since the redesign, the edges of the doors extend all the way to the bottom of the body...protecting the doorsills, which means you don't get road grime on your trouser cuffs as you enter and exit the car. It's a pleasure to deal with people who know their product that well.