Week of January 7th

1/7/13

• 2010 Ram 1500:  New interior is leaps and bounds better than the old truck. Otherwise it's a truck.
• 2005 Volvo XC90 AWD: Drives ok. Comfortable, but from the inside it feels Bigger outside.
• 2010 Lexus ES 350: If your first priority in buying a car is how nice the interior is, this is your car.

1/8/13

• 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0T: Power is much better in two wheel drive with the 2.0 Turbo engine. It drives well, but it's just too high.
• 2004 Honda Element: Great cargo box, not so great to put people in the back what with no roll down windows or anything. Honda makes better trucks than cars these days.
• 2010 Jaguar XF: Forget the ES 350, you want a GREAT interior get the XF, Huge slabs of real wood, leather everywhere, and it's damn fun to drive to boot. Look at one of these before buying a German.
• 2005 AUDI A4 Cabrio 1.8T: Lots of cowl shudder, Engine is ok, but this is still just a slightly nicer Passat. 
• 2003 GMC Sonoma: It's little, It's a Pickup, um.....yea.

1/9/13

• 2004 BMW 530i Sport 6spd: At over 100,000 miles this car still drives like a dream. This may be a perfect car. It's a shame the new 5er isn't as fun to drive as this.
• 2011 Toyota Prius: This car is just flat out cool and compitent. No it's not sporty, or cushy, but man this is what Toyota used to be about. 
• 2005 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 5spd: Great power with the 2.5 Inline-5. Exhaust tone is strange but not raspy. Cruising on the freeway at 3000 rpm however the exhaust note gets tiresome.
• 2009 Toyota RAV-4 Sport: Lots of power but for no good reason. 
• 2011 Toyota Prius: As cool as the instrument display is, I still don't like it in the middle of the dash so far away.
• 2008 Chevy Impala: It's an average car for an average american. At this point i's basically on par with the Camry. Not sure who that's damming to more.

1/10/13

• 2007 Kia Sedona LX: It's an ok minivan, no frills or fancy entertainment systems, but it will move 7 people around with minimal bitching.
• 2006 Mazda 3 2.3: Zoom-Zoom! Fun and dynamic with lots of power for cheap! Also Mazda understands you pull BACK to Upshift!
• 2011 Ford F250 Powerstroke Slam-Eagle: Every once in a while you come across somebodies  custom labor of love. Be it the bitchin van with the wizard fighting a robot dragon painted on the side and a built in water bed, or a Mustang tuned to an inch of it's life for the 1/4 mile, or in this case, a low profile towing rig pickup that has no pretension of being used anywhere the tarmac ends. All trucks for towing should be low like this. Drives great, and you don't need a drop hitch. 

That's as tall as you ever need to tow stuff.

Oh yea and wicked custom paint work UNDER the clear-coat helps too. 

This guy alone adds 200 pounds of towing capacity!

• 2005 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder: It's nice to be reminded of what cars used to feel like all low to the ground and sporty. Sure this one had no power steering, but I needed the upper body workout.

1/11/13

• 2004 Toyota 4-Runner V8: Taller and less solid feeling than the old blocky 4-Runner. Very thirsty. Still love the big, mitten workable climate controls though!

Week of December 17 through the end of the year

It's the holidays, which means lazy car salesmen have given up for the year and I'm lucky if I even get called in for a full day of work. It's OK, I have a new arrangement with my Mortgage company that I can start paying in good intentions.

12/17/12

• 2010 Subaru Forester: Steering is light and drifty on center so don't look away from the road on the freeway. Overall good feel and as usual great low center of gravity like all Subaru.
• 2006 Lexus IS-250 Sedan: Good dynamics, but it just feels too small above the belt line and especially in the foot wells, How big is that transmission?
• 2009 Saturn Outlook XE: Solid CUV feel. Ending Saturn was a bad choice.

12/18/12

• Work? Hah nobody needs cars. 

12/19/12

• 2009 Volkswagen CC Turbo 6spd (long trip): Great powertrain, good turn in, but controls are numb and pedals are skewed too far to the right. Great shiftier feel.

12/20/12

• 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 w/Plow: Plows on the freeway are a pain. Overheating, horrible mileage  and boy do big bumps have new meaning when there's that much weight forward of the front bumper and nothing in the back.

12/21/12

• 2010 Jeep Patriot: Too tight inside, brakes are needlessly stiff. This is just too primitive for its price.
• 2000 Ford F-350 Lariat V10: This isn't a truck, it's a land borne tug boat!
• 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5: This is a really great simple small sedan. Get it as a stick and just drive it.

12/26/12

• 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser: The novelty of these just doesn't seem to wear off. 
• 2006 BMW X5 4.4i: It's big outside, but small inside. Not super great as far as AWD traction goes. Too reliant on the traction control to fake it.

Also just say no to soft touch plastic. Sure it looks nice in the show room, but it just doesn't hold up.

12/27/12

• 2008 Chevy HHR: Great little hatchback. Doesn't try to be "retro" too much. Drives very well. If this is what Chevy needed to to do in order to make a nice 5 door then so be it. WAY better than the PT cruiser was.
• 2009 Kia Borrego V6: A GREAT full size SUV that looks like, but isn't, a crossover. Stylish and comfortable, but not trying to be "Luxury" Kind of like what BMW used to do. If you can't bear to just get a great minivan, this is a good choice. Sadly it was sold here for only one year before being replaced with a CUV. http://www.edmunds.com/kia/borrego/

12/28/12

• 2010 Ford Fusion SE: Fantastic sedan, comfortable, roomy, dynamic, the layout and interior design is top notch for it's class. Soft surfaces wherever your legs/arms rest. Sync controls are logical and smart. The steering wheel especially is well done, with radio/infotainment controls on the right (same hand you reach to the radio with.) and Cruse and dash info controls on the left. Also AUTOSTICK is the RIGHT WAY AROUND!!!! (Forward to Downshift, Back to Upshift, as Racing God intended.) More people need to love sport cloth seats; grabby, warm, and tough! And you don't need to feed them like leather.
• 2009 Kia Borrego V6: Yes sometimes they sell that fast. When they are good,
• 2009 Mazda CX-9: Responsive and well appointed, but still too tall, Autostick is the right way round.
• 2005 Chevy Equinox LT: Sits tall, compromises interior quality to pay for the extra sheet metal, but hey, you aren't driving a wagon right......

Week of December 3rd

12/3/12

• 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350: Smooth and luxurious. Overall an ideal competent car. The only issue is the brake by wire system needs a very gentile foot.
• 2011 Lexus RX 350: Big and soft, I can't compliment the style and materials of the interior more, but it can't hide that it's just a Toyota CUV.
• 2009 Lexus ES 350: Aside from the interior there is NOTHING that makes this car stand out as worth the price premium over a Toyota or Honda.
• 2002 Chevy Avalanche: If you need to tow, but don't want a Suburban or a Pickup, it's sorta there for you.
• 2008 Toyota Sienna: Real good utility, and lots of space.

12/4/12

• 2002 GMC 2500HD with a 36' race trailer: seats make it about 8 hours but after that they just loose all their support. BIG 454 V-8 doesn't even notice a 5000+ Pound trailer. Allison transmission is a MUST for towing. 24 hour round trip run, no problem, and only used 2 1/2 tanks!

WATCH out for the overhang swing!

12/5/12

• 2003 Mercedes-Benz E500 Sport: This feels more CAR than other cars. M-B has been making cars longer than anyone else, so it figures. Sport trim however seems to be a relative term.

12/6/12

• 2012 Honda Pilot: This feels like a really nice and useful SUV. Generally feels good and sturdy.
• 2011 Mitsubishi Galant: It's ok, but it doesn't stand out at all. For '11 no drive off door locks or a locking fuel door.
• 2006 Lexus RX 400h: This sits just way too high.
• 2004 Mazda 6 5Door V6: Tight and responsive, nice interior, fun to drive, auto stick goes the right way around. back to upshif, forward to downshift.

12/7/12

• 2003 Ford F-150 5sp: No A/C, no tach, 5-speed. Pure Basic TRUCK. It's refreshing to be reminded what cars were like before the standard option list exploded.
• 2009 Ford Flex Limited: Big and solid, tonnes of space, but you feel like a little kid sitting in it. It's just TOO big.
• 2007 Kia Rio LX: Great simple ride, comes bone stock empty. But, it feels better than some more expensive cars in its segment.
• 2004 Jeep Liberty: Stout and tough feeling. It does feel a bit crude however.
• 2008 Chevy Equinox Sport: HAH! "Sport"

Week of August 27th

8/28/12

• 2002 Ford Escort SE: Still like the old Escort.
• 2004 Ford Explorer XLS: Can't decide if it should be a truck.

8/29/12

• 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon: Nice but the new transverse engine layout still is noticeable.
• 2008 Kia Spectra: Good ride, not sporty but not rough either.

8/30/12

• 2009 Lexus ES350: Toyota Avalon with a nicer interior.
• 2001 Honda Civic LX Coupe: Tight and Fun.
• 2004 Cadillac SRX: Utter crap. Not luxurious, and not worth the money.
• 2005 Hyundai Tucson: I don't even remember it, CUV's are that dull.
• 2005 Chevy Equinox: Competent but seat is too high, why isn't it just a wagon?

8/31/12

• 2008 Nissan Sentra SL: Strong Pull, good turn in dynamics.
• 2006 Toyota Highlander V6 4WD: Fantastic execution of a unibody SUV.
• 2011 Kia Soul: Good head room, but a bit gutless. Rather a Spectra.
• 2004 Dodge Stratus SXT 2dr: Poor Gearing, but it's nice and low.
• 2002 Buick LeSabre Limited: Lux everything, even a GM HUD! Feels a bit old for an '02, but nice on the highway. 
• 200x Mini Cooper S Turbo: Pure tiny car FUN!

WHAT?

This was my first week at the job, I was still working out format and how much I wanted to say. Also found a cache of Hearing Aid batteries in the '02 LeSabre. Really says it all for Buick.