Unfiltered Car Talk

Some say the money and effort a car maker spends on auto show promo materials, brochures, and etc. are a good indication of how they are doing financially at the moment. Which is very true because marketing and promotion is the last thing you want to skimp as a car maker. Having said that, Toyota, this year did a one-pager fold up for their entire car line up. Nissan had nothing. Mercedes as always is too god damn cheap and arrogant to provide the visitors with any kind of printed material for their ugly ass pieces of crap. Following are my brief impressions:

Nissan
It is bluntly obvious that Nissan didn’t want to be in the show. The low rent confined space all the way back where they displayed what seemed like 8 or 9 cars at most with no booklet to boot was just pathetic. Nissan might as well have just pulled out of the show. That’s what they’re good at. Not many would’ve missed them anyway.

Buick
Buick’s fit and finish seems generally better than other GM cars. However, on one Buick (can’t remember which model) I noticed the driver seat cushion sinks down far lower than the power switch cluster which is attached on the outside edge of the driver’s seat. The hard plastic cluster is the first thing that pokes into your thigh or butt as you enter the car and position yourself onto the seat which is quite painful. Bad design. On the interior door panel, otherwise an elegant design is ruined by the carelessly designed and positioned door lock/unlock switch.

Hyundai
Hyundai is the big winner. The quality of fit and finish has officially surpassed most American car makers and many of its competitors including Toyota and Honda. Once the ridicule of car industry has now transformed completely into a properly desirable brand. Checkout the upcoming Sonata or the Tucson. They are beautiful.

Chrysler/Dodge
Hopeless as usual. However, the Sebring earns my vote as the “most appropriate rental car.”

Jeep
I love the Wrangler Unlimited. I just wish they’d do something about the plasticky door handles and cabin.

Toyota
We should no longer blindly assume that anything Japanese means quality because that is no longer the case. Apparently, the quality is running thin at Toyota. One can clearly see where they’re cutting corners judging by the cheap materials used on the dash and doors on many of the models. You can actually hear an empty echo when you tap on the inside door panel of the Venza.
Many Toyota models have on the center console, a compartment covered by a lid on which you can put little stuff like coins or what not. If the open button is hit by accident (and this can happen very easily), all the stuff on top of the lid slides off. Very inconvenient and annoying.

Ford
The atmosphere at Ford was very upbeat. And they should be very proud. I was amazed at how tight and consistent the panel gaps were on the Ford Fusion. There was definitely a sense of quality in their latest products.

Cadillac
We all know attention to details is important. Not only on what can be seen but also in places where we can’t readily see. Good car makers are smart enough not to leave sharp plastic edges or pointy protrusions exposed where it can potentially harm owners. This may sound like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how many car makers overlook this. Sharp edges can be found under the bin/compartment handles, under the switches, around the trunk area or tailgate in many Chrysler and GM products and some Japanese cars as well.

Inside the Cadillac CTS, while inspecting how well the gauge cluster was fitted I almost cut my finger from the very, very sharp edge left around the inner edge of the speedometer hood. I’m sure many owners will eventually discover this razor sharp edge as they clean the interior of their CTS. Possible lawsuit is what I’m thinking.

Honda
I generally have not many bad things to say about Hondas. Maybe because they’re usually pretty good at what they do. But here is one: I know this is nitpicking especially on the cheapest car they make, the Fit. Here goes: the Fit is all about getting more for less. One of the nice touches around the dash is the second glove compartment. This is good. Two glove compartment is better than one in any car. The door for this compartment swings open upward. But it doesn’t open quite far enough. The door seems to stop where it kinda feels like it’s in your way. Just a little more effort would have earned a big plus.
Accord CrossTour: this thing has no headroom for the rear passengers. I’m not quite 6 feet tall but I had to crouch.

Porsche
Why didn’t they just pull out of the show? It’s was obvious they didn’t want to be there.

Chevrolet
I looked into the trunk of the new Camaro and there was a wire going from the trunk lid to inside the car. It wasn’t a loose wire. It was nicely wrapped and I suppose it has a purpose. But it was just ‘there’ hanging. Very thoughtlessly placed with no apparent effort to hide or beautify it in any way. That is just careless.

Scion
First, it seemed like Scion had something going for them. Now it’s plain ugly.

Suzuki
I really liked the mountain bike that was mounted on the roof of the XL7. Good job Suzuki, on the bike selection!

Lexus
LS, supposedly the perfect luxury car deemed by many apparently isn’t designed for someone who wears a short sleeve and likes to rest their arm on top of the door panel. They ran a thick stitch right along where it would scrape your elbow if you did that.