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Pleasant Hill, OR Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Compare Honda CRV vs Vue Hybrid [chmsomm]

by kipk on Sat Nov 08 17:23:33 PST 2008

>"I get crammed into his CRV like a sardine. I sit comfortably in my Vue. I am 6'2" and weigh 225" Here are the inside dimensions of the 08 GL VUE and the 08 CR-V Vue Front Head Room: 40.2 in. Front Hip Room: 52.6 in. Front Shoulder Room: 56 in. Rear Head Room: 39.3 in. Rear Shoulder Room: 55.9 in. Rear Hip Room: 52.9 in. Front Leg Room: 40.7 in. Rear Leg Room: 36.9 in. Luggage Capacity: 29.2 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 56 cu. ft. Maximum Seating: 5 CR-V Front Head Room: 38.9 in. Front Hip Room: 55.9 in. Front Shoulder Room: 56.9 in. Rear Head Room: 38.5 in. Rear Shoulder Room: 56 in. Rear Hip Room: 54.6 in. Front Leg Room: 41.3 in. Rear Leg Room: 38.5 in. Luggage Capacity: 35.7 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 73 cu. ft. Maximum Seating: 5 The CR-V is larger in every dimension except head room. Possibly the reason you don't feel cramped in your Vue is because you are driving.. My next door neighbor is 6'3" and brags about the room in his wife's CR-V. Of course when he is in it, he is in the drivers seat. >"Please note I have a good opinion of the CRV as a smaller SUV." And you obviously have a good opinion of the even smaller VUE. ;) The Vue is a pleasant looking car and will likely give you good service. To me the exterior has more eye appeal than the CR-V does. The question at hand is how long and how many miles is the "break even point", and how will todays Hybrids fare in the future. Whether it be a Vue or any other hybrid. >His Honda CRV can only crawl up a moderately steep hill on the way to work. My Vue GreenLine holds its speed". Maybe your co-workers CR-V is an older, smaller model with a smaller engine. . I have yet to experience a hill, on the street, that our 03 4WD CR-V doesn't go up with enthusiasm. My wife averages around 21mpg and I get about 24mpg real world, local driving. Trips usually less than 7 miles one way. Fuel mileage has got a lot to do with the driver's foot. :) Kip

Re: I messed up spelling Chrysler(can't fix it> tried!) [rockylee]

by myershift on Thu Oct 16 13:18:13 PDT 2008

I personally feel that Chrysler's best interior execution ever came with the Pacifica. Even MotorTrend stated that it approached that of Volkswagen/Audi in perceived quality of interior materials, and I would agree with that. The upper dash pad is very soft touch with a matte finish and surrounding materials are attractive and mostly pleasant to the touch as well. However, LX cars (300, Magnum, Charger, Challenger) aside, Chrysler's interior finishes, materials, and styling inside and out took a dramatic plunge over the far more attractive and aerodynamic "cab-forward" cars that Honda seems to have modelled the new Civics after. Chrysler's recent descent into stylistic abortion is most likely what has led to their current woes. As we have seen, great styling and innovation if not actual quality and reliability made Chrysler the most profitable mass market automaker in the world in the 1990's. Then Robert Eaton and Jurgen Schrempp masterminded the takeover of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz and it basically went down hill from there. The hardest hit products in their lineup seem to be the compacts and midsizers. Chrysler went from the sleek and fun to drive Neon to the heavy, bulky, and unpleasant looking Caliber. Even the new Caliber SRT-4 is slower than the previous Neon SRT-4 despite the additional, what, 55 horsepower and also lacks a limited slip differential. Worse looking are the new Sebring and Avenger. Compared to the previous two generations of cars Stratus/Cirrus/Breeze and Stratus/Cirrus, the new midsize models look more Korean like what Hyundais used to (especially the Sebring) than what Hyundais do now. I feel it's a sad day to realize that my favourite player on the home team is now turning out less attractive AND generally inferior cars to a Korean outfit that even just ten years ago was the laughing stock of the industry. I hate to say it, but Chrysler could now really learn a thing or two from Hyundai/Kia about vastly and swiftly improved perceived and actual quality. I myself no longer own a Chrysler product (previously a 1993 Chrysler LeBaron Cabriolet and later on a 1996 Plymouth Breeze) due to mainly the styling. Had the Neon been available to me in a new and improved form back in January 2008, I would have purchased one of those instead of my 2008 Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit). I had never experienced something horrible enough in one of my Chrysler Corportation products to warrant not ever wanting one again. Coupled with their unique style at the time and generally fun to drive nature, I was won over. For instance, the Chrysler 300M (which was to be the new Eagle Vision don't you know) could go head to head with any comparable car around the globe with no apologies. [Visit link title for a road test of the 300M where it placed second only to an Acura TL and link title for more information if one is skeptical.] So, overall, what Chrysler needs to do first and foremost is dramatically improve the styling of its products to be similar in greatness to the of the cab-forward era and improve quality, reliability, and NVH. My Breeze was quite the noise maker! Chrysler also needs to dump unnecessary models such as the Dodge Nitro, Jeep Compass (what an abomination to the brand it is!) and produce a new compact sedan at least for the U.S. market because hatchbacks aren't big sellers here and a new compact Chrysler sedan with good styling would go a long way to helping them out. Chrysler; what you need most are style AND substance. -S. Myers

Re: Money [lemmer]

by gagrice on Thu Aug 14 07:02:36 PDT 2008

I moved from super flat Florida to super hilly Birmingham, AL. That is exactly right. A small gas engine is fine where it is flat as a pancake. Where I live the terrain goes from sea level to 4500 foot pass in 35 miles with lots of up and down. Just my jaunt to Costco takes me from near sea level to my home at 2060 feet. With one grade that my Ford Ranger V6 cannot keep up with the 75 MPH+ traffic. Neither can the Prius and many others. It causes traffic issues that are not pleasant. I usually drive on the old highway 80 that winds through the hills rather going straight over them. I found my diesel Passat handled those speeds with ease. Better than my gas guzzling Sequoia. So first real opportunity I will buy a diesel SUV and sell the Sequoia. They are still very popular around here.

one more data point

by stephen987 on Sat Jul 26 17:29:20 PDT 2008

I just got back from a 400 mile day trip in a rented 08 Milan Premier I4 (Hertz rental, 19k miles). I found the car very pleasant, but I did notice that it seemed to have to drop a gear or two on what I considered to be modest hills. Here's a summary: Terrain: mostly hilly (New Hampshire and Vermont) Roads: 3/4 freeway, 1/4 country roads Traffic: moderate but flowing, some stop & go in Montpelier & St. Johnsbury Speed: usually near the posted limit, with cruise control used when practical Weather: temps in the low 80s (A/C on all the time), slight crosswind for about 30 miles but otherwise calm Fuel economy, as measured by the vehicle display: 32.0 MPG It's better than my '02 V6 Accord would have gotten under similar conditions. But it's no better than I got nine years ago with a 3.8 V6 Olds Intrigue under roughly the same parameters.

Re: I had a narrow escape... [fezo]

by andre1969 on Tue Jun 10 05:03:55 PDT 2008

Like a 55 DeSoto.... Actually, the '55 doesn't really turn me on the way the later years did, especially '57-58. Still, a pleasant enough car. Something that Mr. Roper might drive on "Three's Company". Actually, now that I think about it, they showed him driving a '56 in one episode, where he sold the apartment complex and moved to Cheviot Hills. He bumped the real estate agent's Seville with it, and I think he also backed over a fire hydrant. Oh, I filled up the Intrepid this morning on the way into work. At first I thought that 32.1 mpg I got on the trip up to Carlisle was a fluke, like maybe the pump had shut off early. If so, I figured it would correct itself the next time I filled up. Well, I made the trip back home, about 110 miles. Roommate borrowed it yesterday to drive up to work to get his schedule (I guess the thought of using this marvelous invention called the telephone never occurred to him. :confuse: ). And then there was the maybe 2 miles to the gas station this morning. Total mileage on that tank, 121.3. Gallons to fill up: 4.082. So I figure 29.7 mpg overall. If it only got 20 mpg on those local miles, I figure on the trip miles, it had to have been getting 31. So, that 32.1 probably was accurate on the trip up. Anyway, as much as I might get tempted to get into something new, or at least something different, I think financial prudence is going to prevail here, and I'm going to stick it out with this thing until something catastrophic goes on it. Wouldn't make sense to do it for improved fuel economy, because as little as I drive the fuel savings would never offset the monthly payment. I wonder what kind of fuel economy that '55 DeSoto would have gotten on a trip? My '57 would hit about 16 mpg. It weighs about the same, around two tons, and has a larger engine, a 341 with 270 hp. But it also has a 3-speed automatic, compared to the '55's 2-speed, so that would make the '55 less efficient. Plus, they had to use a shorter axle ratio with the 2-speed.

Re: IS250 + NAV + PREM $32,499 [srev]

by eshang on Thu May 01 21:42:22 PDT 2008

MSRP was $38,314. So I presume invoice was $33,877. We had a good repoire with Hiro and specifically went back to him over going to Vista Lexus in Woodland Hills (which was closer) or to other dealers because of the courteous, respectful and non-pressuring way he treated us. I know he did his best to get me a good deal. Although I wanted the best deal possible, I also wanted it to be a fair deal to both sides and believe we achieved it. He did mention that they normally do not operate by "haggling" over price. I know that I had a very pleasant experience with him as well as the rest of the staff.