What’s Going On – December 2013

Published 2013/12/032013/12/06 by G

I know it’s been a while since I posted a new message. Some of you are probably wondering if I went MIA again. It is safe to say that I’m still checking my messages and watching for website activity. If you have questions, feel free to ask them and I will do my best to answer them.

Lately…

I have been in the mist of at least 10 concurrent projects at work, so it’s been tough to sit down and find time to write to you all. I haven’t had much time to car shop either which really sucks because I only have until month end to take care of things. The good news is that I made some progress today by sending off a few quote requests. With that in mind, let’s move into my next topic…

My Holiday Wishlist

So I went to the LA Auto Show last week with the family and spent a solid 3.5 hours there. My little girl tagged along and hung in there like a champ. Unlike past years, I didn’t take any pictures because having a stroller and family members tagging along really makes it tough to take photos. The good news is that there really wasn’t all that much new stuff. For those of you intrigued by the MBZ CLA, I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t all that impressed by it. The interior really disappointed me because it did not scream “Mercedes-Benz”. On the flip-side, I was really impressed by the Audi A3 sedan. Fit and finish was impressive. I can only imagine how the S3 variant drives…*drool*. Unfortunately for me, these cars are just WAY TOO SMALL. Very tight quarters. Maybe I’m just getting old (and large), but it’s not all that easy to get in and out of those cars now. Anyway, going back to the real point, this auto show was really an opportunity for me to check out vehicles on my “lease” list and hopefully get some feedback from the wife. Without any further delay, here’s what I’ve been working towards…

Top Choices (in order)

2014 Chevy Volt (quoted)
2014 Ford Fusion Titanium
2013 Infiniti G37 Journey Sedan (quoted)
2014 VW Passat TDI
2014 Honda Accord EXL V6
2014 Volvo S60 T5 Premium
2013 Lexus CT200h (quoted)
2013 VW GTI Wolfsburg
2014 VW Golf TDI

The hope here is to get a real low payment, most bang for the buck and lowest operating cost (in that order). Fuel efficiency would be nice since the Pilot isn’t exactly a gas-sipper, but not crucial since my commute is only about 10 miles each way.

VOLT Update

In any case, I got an initial offer for the Chevy Volt tonight that looks like this:

MSRP: $35, 156.00
Your Price: $31,156.00

US BANK LEASE
3-years/10,000-miles
Drive-Off: $774.06
Payment: 361.26 (includes sales tax of 9%)
Rate: 0.00091

$500 Costco Cash Card (This promotions is going on for many GM vehicles through early January 2014)

Dealer “forgot” to disclose the residual, but I’m not too worried about it. As I said, it’s an initial offer so I’m just going to bring down the hammer after I test drive the car. No sense getting into the nitty-gritty if I end up disliking the car, right?

Got my hands on it…58.245%, not too shabby. So the key now would be to obtain the full $9000 credits ($7500 FED + $1500 CA) and they can sell the car for MSRP for all I care.

Stay-tuned folks! It’s going to be a busy month of December 🙂

G37 Update

Got a quote for the G37 Journey $811 at signing, $375 a month tax included. 62% / .00084 at 36mo/12k. Looks like there’s a lot more wiggle room.

CT200h Update

Received the quote with no lease rate information, but I was able to estimate the possible numbers…$550 at signing, $395 per month tax included. Based on those payments and the assumption that the residual hasn’t changed much since Oct (61%), I calculated the MF being about .00033. I will get confirmation tomorrow.

S60 T5 Update

VOLVO December numbers are in so check them out! I didn’t get a quote yet, but they look good! I will ask for a quote next week. Check back for an updated.

2011 Orange County Auto Show

Published 2011/11/212011/11/21 by G

I know this post is a bit late since the LA Auto Show is in town and in full swing. I still think it’s a good idea to get some pictures and info out there so you can take a look at what’s new this coming year. The OC Auto Show isn’t exactly the best show in SoCal, but it’s good enough to get a feed for what’s currently out there. Most people hold out for the LA Show because it’s a much more “comprehensive” show than the one in OC. This show seemed more like a giant dealership more than anything. To avoid being repetitive (since I will be posting the LA Auto Show pictures right after this), I will just post the more “unique” photos from this show.

Acura

TL – Small revamp in styling, improved, but not quite the “prom queen”.
TSX – Limited Edition is mostly cosmetic changes. A sedan with sport aspirations.

Audi

A7 – Great looking sedan. Top notch interior quality and very unique design. Not sure of I like this one more of the CLS. I really dig what Audi has done with the Nav by integrating Google’s Navigation system. If you have ever used Google Nav on Android phones, you will know what I mean. If you haven’t, then you are really missing out.

Chevrolet/Cadillac/Buick

Cruze – If you haven’t seen the interior of the Cruze, you’ll be surprised. This car was at the show last year too, but I can’t get over how well Chevy has done with this car’s interior. If you have ever rented any Chevy, you’ll notice how terrible GM has been when it comes to interior quality.

Corvette – This is one way to get people to buy American…

CTS-V Coupe – My favorite American car. Just love the way the seats just hold you and never lets you go.

Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep

Charger SRT8 – The interior quality has really stepped up significantly. I’m still not crazy about the lines on the doors, but the front and back just looks mean! If I had to pick though, I would probably go with the 300. Less racer boy, more rap mogul.

300 SRT8 – Beats by Dr Dre is truly a sick audio system. It boosts my street cred just sitting in the back seat.

Grand Cherokee – Best looking 5-passenger SUV in my opinion. Quality is still suspect (my friend got one and it has been in the shop twice in less than a year), but it’s not surprising since it’s a first year model.

Hyundai

Veloster – Better looking in person…barely. From what I hear, it also looks much sportier than it drives. I would consider one, but only with a Turbo. The interior is nicely laid out, with good ergonamics. It is also feature loaded which makes it that much more attractive. Clearly targeting the 18-24 year-old crowd.

Toyota

Camry – I am NOT a huge Toyota fan right now. Their cares are uninspiring and feel like appliances more than anything else. The incoming Camry is slightly less hideous than the outgoing model, but I still don’t see how they will outsell the Sonata.

Volkswagen

Beetle – Redesign and less girly. Still not as iconic as the original.

GLI – It’s here and the lease rates on this puppy are decent (not great though). Interior quality is still “bleh”, but the red-stitching helps.

Tiguan – It got a nose job to fall in line with the rest of it’s siblings.

Jetta Star Wars Edition – From a performance perspective, this feels like this….If it were a GLI, it would be more like THIS!

Lexus

GS350 – I’ve seen enough of the LF-A to last me a while, so only new thing to report here is the newly redesigned GS350. I barely notice the difference except for a more “linear” design and the Audi-wannabe LEDs.

Honda

CR-V – If only they would actually sell this concept and give us an optional beefier engine (turbo4 or small displacement 6) then the 2012 would be forgiven. I guess that’s asking for too much innovation.

Nissan

Leaf – If you were wondering how the Leaf looks like inside, here are the pics. If you were wondering how the interior materials feel; it’s all hard plastic.

MINI

JCW Cooper Coupe – One thing is for sure, MINI knows how to milk the living crap out of the MINI brand. I am waiting for the MINI Van (pun intended) to show up any minute now.

Land Rover

Evoque – It looks great for a compact crossover. Not sure how comfortable rear passengers will be with such a low roofline, but it really makes owning a crossover cool. I’m not sold on the 2-door model though. The whole point of getting a crossover is to have more practicality, otherwise, I’d get a coupe.

Volvo

S60 – This is the first time I’ve been so pumped about a Volvo as a lease. I’m not all that crazy about the schnoz of this sedan, but the rest of the car looks great. It is also a very good lease for those of you who are willing to give Volvo a try. I haven’t always been open to driving a Volvo (my sister has a few of them and they haven’t exactly been reliable), but as a lease, if the car looks good and the numbers look good, any manufacturer is worth a try.

2009 OC Auto Show

Published 2009/10/192010/11/04 by G

I was on hand at the OC Auto Show this weekend browsing through the latest and greatest from a handful of manufacturers. It was somewhat disappointing to see that some big name brands didn’t show up, but then again I can’t really blame them. Come November, the Los Angeles Auto Show should be in town, so there isn’t much of a spending that kind of money to promote your vehicles twice in the same market. Nevertheless, the OC Auto Show was solid because it was not too crowded and I got to hope into practically every single car. Hopefully, you took advantage of the free ticket I posted on the previous OC Auto Show post. I ended up realizing that the ticket was only FREE for Thursday and Friday. For Saturday and Sunday, it gives you a 50% discount for up to 4 tickets; still a pretty good deal.

For those who have never been to the OC Auto Show, this is a much smaller venue compared to the LA Auto Show. The most notable absentee was Mercedes Benz. I found that to be somewhat strange considering BMW, Audi, Infiniti and Lexus put up some seriously strong showings there. Now the highlight of the show was probably Saturday’s Hawaiian Tropic Bikini contest. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the crowd had gotten pretty big and it was hard to see much of anything. I also happened to be with my wife, which pretty much explains why I didn’t get to see anything as well. Nevertheless, I did bump into some rather attractive booth girls and there were a few bikini models did roam around the show taking pictures with attendees.

Now lets go back to the cars shall we! 🙂

Acura: The fellows from Japan had the usual lineup, TSX, TL, RL, RDX and the MDX. They also brought in the production ready model of the ZDX, which looks looks like an oversizedd futuristic sports car with 4 doors and a big trunk. My biggest complaint? The color. Why on earth would you debut a production ready vehicle in a crappy brown color?! Great car, crap color.

Audi: Audi brought in all of their cars in glossy white and left the LED lights on to add to the COOL factor. Too bad they put the price tag on these cars too. Talk about sticker shock! One of the most surprising things about the A5 is the trunk space, its freaking HUGE for a coupe.

BMW: The BMW section was a bit bland. I didn’t spend much time there, but I did get the wife into a M3 and she loved the supple leather seats. Her direct words “wow, the leather feels nice”.

Buick: Buick showed off the new Lacrosse and that’s about it. It looks very Lexus-like. Why not just buy a Lexus?

Cadillac: They showed up the CTS trims and their new concept coupe, the Converj. They had this lady presenting the vehicle and talking about design philosophy, etc…then she asks “Do you have any questions? Like when its coming out or how much it will cost? Well it’s not coming out, so there’s no price for it”.

Chevy: Chevy brought out the big guns by displaying a full-sized version of Bumblebee of the Transformers. They even brought in an Autobot-branded Camaro to post next to it. Then my wife and I stood next to them and posted with them. LOL. It was quite entertaining. GM also brought out some of their high-end Corvettes and Camaros and displayed the Stingray Concept; VERY awesome looking as you can see.

Chrysler: Yawn…

Dodge: Double Yawn…

Ford: Probably the biggest disappointment for me was 2010 the Ford Taurus. That center console is freaking MASSIVE! I felt claustrophobic in there and that’s a pretty big car. Not only that, the plastic interior panels reminded me of BouncewithB’s company car, the Dodge Nitro. I could literally PUSH some panels in exposing huge gaps between them. You won’t see that in an Audi A6. I spent about 5 minutes sitting next to this British guy inside the Taurus and all we did was whine about how Ford has disappointed us yet again.

GMC: Nothing too exciting, just the usual suspects.

Honda: The only “exciting thing” was their hydrogen powered car that I’ve seen three times already.

Hyundai: Wife really liked the Genesis Coupe and proceeded to diss my G37 as having a “BIG BUTT” compared to the Genesis. How RUDE!

Infiniti: Wife, again tried to make me feel good by telling me the Moonlight White on the EX35 is much better looking than the Ivory Pearl on my G37. Gotta love her. 🙂

Lexus: New HS looks like a bigger more expensive high-tech Prius. Sat in the IS-F and I have to say that that car feels way too cheap inside for a Lexus.

Mazda: I noticed all 2010 model have the massive fish-lip that the 2009-2010 Mazda3 and Mazda6 came out with; yup, that includes the RX8.

Mercedes Benz: A no-show. Lame.

MINI: Sat inside the Clubman with the wife at the wheel. She proceeded to feel claustrophobic (like I was in the Taurus) and jumped out. Looks like we’re not getting a MINI after the TSX.

Nissan: I don’t think I made it there.

Subaru: Took a few pics of the STi. Good looking hatchback if I do say so myself.

VW: The new Golf / GTI are out and they look much better in my opinion. I would probably consider a 4-door GTI as my weekend car since its compact yet has more cargo room than my G37. I spent some time looking at the Tiguan as well. My folks recently picked one up so I wanted to see what it was like. Its not the most luxurious car out there, but its well-built and has a nice interior.

Volvo: The new S60 and the C30 looked better in person. Their new crossover SUV XC60 looks wicked with dark tinted glass. I still wouldn’t lease one yet since I still remember my sister’s horror stories about her S70 back in the day.

Anyway, I would go on and on about the show, but I’m sure you guys want to see the pictures, so here you go!

A “Beef” With General Motors

Published 2009/05/122009/08/21 by G

Recently, I received an email newsletter from my local GMC, Pontiac, Buick dealership. Looking over the “deals”, I decided to pay their website a little visit. Here is what caught my eye:

pontiac-ad

Sweet deal isn’t it? I mean, 0% financing for 60 months for most 09 Pontiac certainly does get me excited about the possibilities of getting a G8 GT or maybe GXP. You know, like the one on this ad. But wait!!! Did you read the fine print? It says “Offer EXCLUDES the newly designed 2009 G8”. So tell me, WHY ON EARTH IS THAT CAR PICTURED ON THIS AD!?!? Who’s the smart Marketing Director that approved this ad? What’s sad about this whole entire fiasco is that no Pontiac, besides the G8, is worth owning.

Word of advice to General Motors, if you do not want your reputation tarnished any further, stop being such boneheads by putting out stupid advertisements like this. It’s not like you need this kind of bad PR right now anyway.

05/14/09 UPDATE! JAS, you don’t happen to work for GM do you? LOL. You are correct by the way, the fine print DOES in fact say G6 instead of G8. Upon closer inspection, you can sort of make out the 6, so the ad IS in fact correct. I will go on record to say that GM actually did not falsely advertise the “TOTAL CONFIDENCE” promo. So we should have “Confidence” in them, for now anyway. Now indulge me with the opportunity to constructively critique this ad for a second. From a design standpoint, I would commend that the snippet about the G6 be placed near the “60 months”, maybe go with “0% for 60 months on 2009 Pontiac models (except the G6)” instead. I think this would clear up any possible misunderstanding since the 6 would be much larger and more prominent. Again, bad call on the poorly designed ad and marketing direction. The good news is that at least the info isn’t wrong and you can in fact get yourself into a G8 GXP for 0% over 60 months. Good deal!

Here’s a closer look at the fine print:

2009g6

Tough call, but you can sort of make out the 6, so GM wins. LOL. Thanks again for pointing this out JAS. And here I thought nobody reads my rants. LOL.

LeaseCompare Covers Consumer Payments

Published 2009/04/222009/04/22 by G

Cincinnati, OH – April 22, 2009. LeaseCompare.com, a leader in online direct-to-consumer auto leasing and financing, today announced a program to help protect consumers with car payments who lose their jobs.

LeaseCompare.com’s Guaranteed Payment Program is the first of its kind that covers any new or used vehicle model, from any dealer or private party. Customers are automatically enrolled in the program at no additional cost when they finance, lease or refinance a vehicle through LeaseCompare.com.

The program pays a customer’s monthly car payment up to $600 per month for 12 months of coverage. Payments are made directly to the lien holder.

“Consumers who are unsure about their current employment situation are hesitant about buying a new or used car,“ says Tarry Shebesta, President of LeaseCompare.com. “Our Guaranteed Payment Program gives them peace of mind knowing they’ll still have their vehicle should they lose their income.”

“Programs like these can help spark auto sales and the economy by giving consumers confidence in buying a new or used car,” Shebesta added. “For many, owning a reliable vehicle is critical to earning a living at all.”

Details of the Lease Compare.com Guaranteed Payment Program:

Have peace of mind knowing you’ll still have your vehicle should you lose your income.

The program pays the monthly payment up to $600 per month for 12 months. Payments are made directly to the finance source.

PROGRAM DISCLOSURE

The Involuntary Unemployment coverage has been provided in conjunction with the finance or lease of your vehicle by LeaseCompare.com for the protection of your loan or lease should you become involuntary unemployed. The job loss protection may provide for payments to the Lender toward the loan obligation for a maximum monthly benefit of $600 per month for up to 12 months in the event of Involuntary Unemployment.

Eligibility resulting from a borrower’s involuntary unemployment may qualify for amounts equal to the number of days of qualified unemployment. A ninety (90) day Vesting Period applies from the loan closing date in which no benefits are paid for an unemployment occurrence during this period. A thirty (30) day waiting period from the date of Involuntary Unemployment applies before any payments will be made. Borrowers of covered loans have no third party beneficiary rights, individually or jointly, under the terms and conditions of the Dealer or Lender Policy. The Purchaser of the Vehicle/Borrower has paid no consideration with regard to this coverage. The Purchaser of the Vehicle/Borrower may be requested to cooperate to provide certain information necessary to determine the payment eligibility.

In order for payment benefits to be paid, the Borrower of the Covered Loan:

* Must have been continuously employed for wages or salary for twelve (12) consecutive weeks prior to the date of unemployment on a full time basis (minimum 30 hours per week)
* Must not have knowledge of any impending Involuntary Unemployment as of the Effective Date.
* Must not be self employed, work for a family member or own greater than ten percent (10%) interest in their Employer’s business, be an independent contractor, or active military.
* Must be of legal age.
* Must file for and be eligible to receive State unemployment benefits.
* Must provide four (4) weekly copies of Unemployment Benefits payments. Failure to provide this information on a consistent monthly basis may reduce or void eligibility for future payments.

This program does NOT cover loss of employment due to: (1) Voluntary resignation; (2) Insubordination, performance-based separation, willful misconduct, a transgression of some established and definite rule, a forbidden act, where such transgression is willful, improper or wrongful behavior, which behavior is not mere negligence nor carelessness; (3) Normal seasonal

My Take: In terms of duration and coverage amount, this program tops GM’s and Hyundai’s, but not Ford’s. If you plan to lease a GM, it may be better off going with LeaseCompare for those two reasons alone. What’s even better is that they probably offer leases than GMAC (since GMAC isn’t providing a lot of lease support these days). Of course, you can also use them for any manufacturer that is currently not offering good lease support and doesn’t have a payment protection plan.

Ford and GM Step It Up, Hyundai Style.

Published 2009/03/312009/08/21 by G

In an effort to bring back some customers in this recession, GM is introduction the “Total Confidence” program for the next 30 days. Essentially, GM will pay up to nine payments (of $500 each) for customers that lose their jobs. In order to qualify for the program, you must be eligible for state unemployment. The program begin April 1st, 2009 and will run through the end of April.

In similar fashion, Ford will make payments of up to $700 per month for up to a year on all Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicles. This program will run through June 1st, 2009.

Compared to the Hyundai Assurance+ program, the American manufacturers’ program run much longer, with Ford’s program being the better of the three.

Not a bad time to jump into a Ford. Factor in all the great incentives PLUS government assistance for domestic auto purchases, the time to buy is NOW. Or should I say, April 1st!

Lease Calculator 2.0 and other News…

Published 2008/12/042010/03/05 by G

Lease Calculator 2.0

I know, you are all probably eagerly anticipating December’s lease rates and the best thing I got for you right now is an updated on the Lease Calculator. Well, don’t be too disappointed! The new lease calculator is rather nifty. I added some new fields such as “Sales Tax Paid in Advance”; “Previous Balance” (for those who plan on carrying over some negative equity from their existing vehicles; monthly payment calculations assuming you roll in all fees into the lease; and monthly payment calculations assuming you pay inception fees in advance. Cool huh? I thought so. I based it loosely on my own lease contracts. I still haven’t exactly decyphered their system yet…but it’s only a matter of time.

Lease Rates

Patience…if you haven’t noticed, they usually surface around the 2nd week of each month, while some (Audi) will carry over through a good portion of this month since they just released last week.

Buying

It is a good time to buy since we’re looking at year end right now. 2008 model clearance is on! You waited all year long to buy a car, this is as good a time as any. Lot of “Winter” promotions with low APR going on right now. I said it before and I will say it again, no lease will beat 0% financing. If you are looking to lease a car that offers 0% financing, consider buying it. Specially since a lot of those 0% financing deals are for 60 month terms.

Auto Industry and the Economy

GM builds 4 similar SUVs (Acadia, Enclave, Outlook, Traverse) across 4 different brands…WHY!?!?! Need I say more? If they can’t learn to manage their company, they don’t deserve a bailout. That’s what I mean. I hear a lot of the “if the gov’t isn’t going to bail us out, the economy will end fall into a depression, etc…” That may be true, but that’s a half truth. It sounds more like someone is trying to save their own skin.

Downtime

I will be away on vacation starting Christmas until January 10th. That means I will be MIA for approximately two weeks, most likely with limited internet access. Hopefully you can all survive without me for that time period. 🙂

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