anyone try one of these out yet? a employee of mine is looking at cars and likes the tax credits, thinking of trading in her surburban. I looked it over on the website and I personally love the look, I would never buy one because I do mostly highway driving and it'd never be worth the $. Anyone have one? real life mpg? Also what happened to the taurus? saw pics online and it looks swank.

7/15/2009 8:08:00 PM

i got a feeling that folks are gonna get burned in a few years when these hybrids start breaking down

7/15/2009 8:53:02 PM

^^It's the best mid-size hybrid available.

7/15/2009 9:06:50 PM

Saw a C&D review that rated the Fusion hybrid best in class also, beating out the Camry, Altima, and Malibu hybrids. Supposed to be quite nice.

The Taurus is a completely new design for the '10 model year, and supposedly also quite a good one.

7/15/2009 9:54:12 PM

the only good taurus was the first model that came out in the mid 80s

7/15/2009 10:07:36 PM

Quote :

"i got a feeling that folks are gonna get burned in a few years when these hybrids start breaking down "

$3500 hybrid batteries FTL



[Edited on July 15, 2009 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2009 10:38:07 PM

Have fun buying batteries.

7/15/2009 10:41:24 PM

smaller turbo diesels are the best option for fuel economy

7/16/2009 12:06:01 AM

Agreed. VW TDI FTW or any of the cool europian diesels we can get here.

7/16/2009 12:13:25 AM

my cousin's jetta tdi gets around 50 mpg on the highway, and its a couple years old, so they're prolly better than that by now...

7/16/2009 12:18:15 AM

the jettas have been great but I don't have much confidence in the new diesels, we have an 02 it got 55mpg then our new style one got less, more like 45 and with the new particulate filters and all that jazz, plus the high cost of german maintenance I don't see them as such a great value anymore, love them to death still but I don't think they're anymore reliable or affordable long run than a domestic.

7/16/2009 9:25:02 AM

06 jetta tdi gets ~49 hwy

the new ones (clean diesel) set a world record

Quote :

"The previous Guinness World Record for the lowest fuel consumption on a nationwide drive was 51.58 miles per gallon and the Taylors broke it by setting a new record of 58.82 miles per gallon"

http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/volkswagen_news/article_2508.shtml

[Edited on July 16, 2009 at 9:35 AM. Reason : ..]

7/16/2009 9:34:38 AM

i've got an 05 Passat TDI and it get 40 mpg.....when it's actually on the road.

maintenance on these blows hard. not to mention mechanical issues that were completely fucktarded.

7/16/2009 9:43:46 AM

1. Buy a BMW 330i Diesel
2. Free maintainence for 3 years
3. ...
4. Sell it, and profit.

Of course, they're about $50k

7/16/2009 9:59:27 AM

VW site says the new ones get 41mpg hwy, i'm sure you could squeeze 50 out of it if you're trying... heck I have averaged 41mpg out of my audiTT but I was trying. especially if diesel goes back up the diesels aren't worth it, now our great state could lower the diesel fuel tax for diesel cars and it would make a world of difference.

7/16/2009 1:54:36 PM

EPA mpg is just really a WAG, they're usually way off.

My car is rated 20/25 and in my daily commute I average around 23-24 and I've never gotten below 22, ever. On the highway I usually get 28-30mpg, and have topped 32mpg once. And almost all of those figures are with the AC on.

7/16/2009 2:07:44 PM

7/18/2009 7:45:41 PM

its got a rocket

7/20/2009 10:38:55 AM

Quote :

"plus the high cost of german maintenance "

On our '05 Jetta TDI we'ver done

oil changes every 10k miles.
draining the water separator every (i think) 20k miles

I think that's about it as far as maintenance.

The turbo shit the bed at 35k, and it was replaced under warranty, other than that, haven't spent a dime on maintenance/repairs.

7/20/2009 1:13:46 PM

imagine what that turbo replacement would've cost

[Edited on July 20, 2009 at 1:16 PM. Reason : h]

7/20/2009 1:16:25 PM

yeah that would have made my wallet cry.

7/20/2009 3:45:33 PM

I'm holding out for one of these for my I-77 commuter

7/20/2009 4:06:35 PM

looks like a good way to get killed by a soccer mama in a suburban

7/20/2009 5:29:19 PM

I really don't see many trucks or SUV's compared to a few summers ago. I don't know if it's just because I started noticing or what. There will be a few commercial trucks, but that's about it. The 18 wheelers stay away from Charlotte during rush hour.

7/20/2009 6:58:09 PM

only takes one

7/20/2009 7:51:40 PM

slight thread hijacking, but its Ford Fusion related (sorry if this is hard to read, trying to keep it short):

so I contacted a local ford salesman with 3 questions about the new fusions, they were basically:
do the incentives stack with the x-plan pricing (my job gets me x-plan)?
does the x-plan give me any discount on accessories (bigger wheels, spoiler)?
do either incentives and/or x-plan apply if you custom order?

the reply was basically "come on in and lets talk about it", so i ignored it. he emailed me again a couple days later saying to call him or stop in, so i again ignored it. then i received an email basically telling me that he took time out of his day to help me and that i lack common courtesy for not replying.

so if i did choose to buy a car from this dealership.... do i go deal with him and have the awkwardness, or go behind his back and buy from someone else?

[Edited on July 21, 2009 at 8:00 PM. Reason : ]

7/21/2009 7:46:50 PM

i wouldn't deal with a salesman who wouldn't give me a straight up answer

i also wouldn't just ignore his response. if nothing else, i'd send him an email saying that i wasn't gonna go talk to him specifically b/c he wouldn't answer my question.

[Edited on July 21, 2009 at 8:11 PM. Reason : that response that he sent shouldn't have taken more than 30 seconds to send lol]

7/21/2009 8:10:17 PM

the ol bait and switch

7/26/2009 9:27:33 PM

which dealership?

7/27/2009 9:09:37 PM

i, too, would reply saying that since he wouldn't give you a straight answer, you would prefer not to do business with him

i would also walk right in there and work with someone else (i wouldn't go so far as to complain to a manager, because being a car salesman is a cutthroat job...he's doing what a lot of salesmen would do)...it's not like he's going to know what you look like when you walk in, but you'll know his name and know to avoid him

7/28/2009 8:17:58 AM

(this is a dealership out in california)

i've since emailed him back explaining that i've been very busy with a 4 months pregnant wife (which is true) and that i'd let him know if i was going to stop in. he replied back asking me to make an appointment and giving me all his hours that he works (which, interestingly, has expanded every time he emails me).

7/28/2009 1:00:51 PM

he must be one sale away from being kicked to the curb

don't give him your business

7/28/2009 3:33:15 PM

so despite all reasonable logic, i went to the dealership on saturday (i still really like that car configuration the most) and tried to use that salesman. had to wait for like 15 minutes for him, only to hear that he's too busy and i should come back another time.

oh i'll be back again, but i will NOT be dealing with you anymore.

[Edited on August 3, 2009 at 2:44 PM. Reason : ]

8/3/2009 2:42:57 PM

wow that sucks

8/3/2009 6:22:54 PM

sadly, he's probably going to get 1/2 the commission when you buy from someone else if he's kept halfway reasonable records/notes. At my old dealership, we had 30 days. If we could show that we worked with someone in the past month, we got 1/2 the commission. Make sure that you tell the new salesperson the deal and that you specifically DON'T want to work with him. Hell, if you make a deal, go ahead and ask to speak to the sales manager.

8/3/2009 10:52:02 PM

duly noted. i was thinking about going back there after work today (that idiot salesman is off today) to test drive with someone else. i'll make it clear (while being somewhat polite about his coworker) who will not be involved at all with the deal/commission.

8/4/2009 5:58:34 PM

just go to a different dealership

8/6/2009 9:04:04 AM

went back there to test drive on tuesday after work. talked to their sales manager for a minute and he could not believe that the guy told me to come back another time b/c he was too busy.

the car was super nice to drive, i was very much impressed. worked out a pretty good price and told them i'd have to move my money out of savings before i could really buy anything, but that i'd be back. i'll most likely pick it up next week.

i let them take a look at my car to assess it for trade in and they offered about half what its worth of course. i've already told them the very lowest i could let it go for, if they can't meet that they're not getting it.

8/6/2009 6:03:03 PM

8/8/2009 6:27:13 PM