Toyota Camry/Corrola Sales

[PoorBob]

I must say I did like the instrument cluster of the Fusion. But the rest of the interior was like a well written math equation. It was very angular, didn't have any warmth. Now that's just my opinion mind you, I'm sure plenty of people look at the interior of the Fusion and like it.

 

Interesting point Sixcav. I really wonder how much things like that influence buying decisions.

 

About two years ago, I was shopping for a minivan. For nearly a month, I tried to convince myself that the Honda was the one for me despite being $8,000 more expensive than the Chrysler that we eneded up buying.

 

The thing that I liked about the Honda? It had a beautifully easy-to-read IP, especially a crisp, vibrant display on the spedometer.

 

I absoultely loved the way the numbers just popped out at me when I looked at the dash. For a piece of the car that doesn't really affect the driving experience, I absolutely loved that readout.

 

But, I ended up buying the Chrysler because it came loaded with cool features (dual power sliding doors and liftgate, safety features that were almost up to the Honda's level, a 6-CD changer, those great fold-down second row seats) for about $8,000 less than the Honda.

 

We made the right decision. The Chrysler's a great van, and its IP is fine. In retrospect, I can't believe that I almost threw away the extra cash for a good IP. I wonder if other people are drawn in by things like that.

 

Bob

 

PS -- The Ford IP on the Freestar was adequate, but the pricing on the thing was crazy. At Chrysler and Nissan, I could get a van with two power sliding doors, a power liftgate, side-curtain airbags and other bonuses for the $25,000-$28,000 price range. At Ford, to get those features, I also had to get leather seats, upgrading air conditiong, more chrome that I wanted, etc... driving the price into the $35,000 range (still the $30k+ range after X-Plan). The guys in Dearborn can complain all they want about the market, but their product wasn't price competitive at any point in the market. Kia and Dodge killed it at the low end, Chrysler and Nissan had better deals in the mid-market, and Toyota and Honda had better premium offerings.

[Edstock]

"Kia and Dodge killed it at the low end, Chrysler and Nissan had better deals in the mid-market, and Toyota and Honda had better premium offerings."

 

Right on! The Mull mentioned recently that he found that Ford had no business plan when he came on board. This is a good example of what resulted.

[Guest Sixcav]

Yeah, price plays a big roll in it PoorBob. Anyone that's been around here awhile can tell you what I think about the price of new cars. You made the rigth choice I'd say. With respect to the Fusion and Camry comparison I was observing cars in the same price range within 1000 to 1500 of each other. You can get a V6 Fusion for what you would pay for a 4 cylinder Camry, that's true. I actually prefer the 4 cylinder so to me that's not a selling point. I would end up in the Camry. For some people though, the V6 would make the difference and they would prefer the Fusion. On the other hand, if the Fusion offered an interior that was as pleasing to be in as the Camry does, I'd probably get the V6 Fusion. :shrug: But then again, my Ford dealer here has made me so angry I don't really want to reward them with more money so I'd have to go 25 miles down the highway to buy from his competitor. But then the same goes for the Toyota dealer here who are also just terrible and I don't want to reward them either. Once again I would have to head 25 miles down the interstate this time to his competitor. To make matters even worse, our local chevy dealer is one of the Bill Heard chain and I've seen so many horror stories about them both on the net and from friends around here I seroiusly doubt I would buy from them. I'll tell you what, this Mazda better work out or I'm really screwed. lol

Edited November 3, 2006 by Sixcav

[bec5150]

Yeah, price plays a big roll in it PoorBob. Anyone that's been around here awhile can tell you what I think about the price of new cars. You made the rigth choice I'd say. With respect to the Fusion and Camry comparison I was observing cars in the same price range within 1000 to 1500 of each other. You can get a V6 Fusion for what you would pay for a 4 cylinder Camry, that's true. I actually prefer the 4 cylinder so to me that's not a selling point. I would end up in the Camry. For some people though, the V6 would make the difference and they would prefer the Fusion. On the other hand, if the Fusion offered an interior that was as pleasing to be in as the Camry does, I'd probably get the V6 Fusion. :shrug: But then again, my Ford dealer here has made me so angry I don't really want to reward them with more money so I'd have to go 25 miles down the highway to buy from his competitor. But then the same goes for the Toyota dealer here who are also just terrible and I don't want to reward them either. Once again I would have to head 25 miles down the interstate this time to his competitor. To make matters even worse, our local chevy dealer is one of the Bill Heard chain and I've seen so many horror stories about them both on the net and from friends around here I seroiusly doubt I would buy from them. I'll tell you what, this Mazda better work out or I'm really screwed. lol

A little more of this kind of treatment and you might have to walk. Nothing surprises me these days though.