CarSeek Blog

Day before yesterday I was finally able to fulfill my wish and get a real look at a Smart Car. Since we have a dealership in the metroplex, in Dallas, I’ve seen one or two of the little beauties tooling around town here in Ft. Worth. Monday I stepped out of my car at the grocery store and there was a Smart, parked, just begging to be ogled.

I wish a word other than “cute” would come to mind when talking about a Smart, but the appellation is inescapable. I drove a Ford Pinto in high school and next to the Smart, it was a land yacht. At the same time, however, I didn’t feel as if I were standing by a toy car. There’s a solidness to all that Smart compactness. “So what do you think?” asked a voice over my shoulder. Turning, I encountered the woman who was the proud owner.

While we visited she opened the trunk and I was surprised by the amount of room. Ditto for the interior when she opened the single side door. I didn’t get in, but I did have a good look around and although I’m just an inch under 6″, I didn’t have the claustrophobic reaction I was expecting. She’s getting 40 mph around town with careful driving and as she pulled out, the motor humming in a pleasant way reminiscent of the little engine chugging, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” I couldn’t help thinking — there’s our future.

The Smart ForTwo is offered in three models: Pure ($11,590), Passion Coupe ($13,590), and Passion Cabriolet ($16,590).

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: design, economy, lifestyle

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Volt Price Change

Times, oh my, how they are a’ changing. SUV and truck sales plummeting. Automakers scurrying to announce more fuel efficient models and hybrids. And Chevy determined to get the futuristic Volt hybrid electric on lots by 2010. The bad news? If you want a Volt, with it’s promised 40 miles on a single charge, it just got $10,000 more expensive.

Yep, just this week Bob Lutz of Chevy pinned a $40,000 price tag on the long-awaited Volt after previously implying it would go for $30,000. He did hurry to point out that the company would lose money on the vehicle’s first generation and that you’re likely to get a $7,000 tax credit for buying one. I guess that mitigates the “ouch” factor a little bit, but I’m still not sure it’s enough to make me want to take on car payments again. (Six dollar a gallon gas, now that would do it.)

Saving the Dinosaurs?

And what about the demise of the SUV? GM may be cutting back production, but they’re also considering moving their full-sized trucks and SUVs to a smaller, more fuel-efficient platform. It’ll be 2012 before we see any of them on the market, but it sounds like they’re looking for a way to save the dinosaurs by putting them on a diet. There’s no denying the form factor has been wildly popular and apparently GM is loathe to give it up. But 2012 is a long way off and a lot can happen between now and then to change the driving public’s preferences.

Americans Driving Less

Just this week the Department of Transportation announced the figures on miles driven nationally for April 2008. In one month alone Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer miles. That’s a bigger drop than in the 12 months between March 2007 and March 2008 combined. Here in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex a number of school districts are citing teacher resignations based on the cost of the commute involved and realtors are reporting the beginnings of a reverse migration toward the city center rather than away from it for the same reason.

What does it all mean for car buying? Go into a holding pattern. Will you probably wind up with a different kind of vehicle in the next year to 18 months? I’d say the odds are high. But I’m waiting to see what shakes out before even thinking about it. (And I’m seriously looking at a Vespa in the meantime.)

Posted on June 20th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: lifestyle

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With some of the news coming out of the automotive world this week, it’s hard not to feel as if we Americans are, as a society, poised on the brink of a significant change in how we approach personal transportation. I’ve never been a fan of the SUV, although I have driven picks-up (two Fords) in my lifetime and loved them both.

In one week, however, GM has announced plans to shut down four plants that make trucks and SUVs because the company sees no way to get back on a profitable footing with those vehicles. Their new concentration will be on fuel efficient models and on the Chevrolet Volt gas/electric hybrid scheduled to reach showrooms in 2010. With a potential range of 40 miles on electricity alone, the Volt could well revolutionize daily driving in urban areas.

At the same time, after a run beginning in October 1991, the Ford F-150 fell from the top of the bestseller heap in May, losing ground to four sedans — the Corolla, Camry, Civic, and Accord. While Ford hasn’t come right out and made any statements as drastic as GM’s, the VP for marketing and communications did say the decreased sales figures were a “significant development.” No kidding, Jim.

The rapid change is boiling down to what the consumer can and cannot afford to feed — the kids or the big SUV parked in the driveway. I read a story on CNN last week about a man who is commuting 42 miles to work on his bike. He decided to give it a try for a month to see how it would work out. Of course, he has to leave the house at 5 in the morning and it takes him three hours (and he lives in Bakersfield, California), but he also saved $500. That’s not chump change and to families already struggling, cutting down on driving, changing to a more fuel efficient vehicle, and looking at alternate forms of transportation has shifted from PC dinner table chatter to real world necessity.

With the national gasoline average hovering at $4 and prognosticators pointing out that one severe hurricane in a season already predicted to be intense could drive it to $6, the best advice at this time would seem to be wait and see what happens. My own vehicle will be paid off in February and the last thing I want is to face more car payments. Fortunately, I don’t have to do a lot of driving, but I’m already looking at biking to handle some of my errands and $6 gas would definitely make me take more drastic measures. Yes, there will be a lot of incentive deals being offered in this climate, but I’d hold off. The dominant consideration in car buying right now is not whether you can afford to purchase it, but whether or not you can afford to drive it.

Posted on June 4th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: business, lifestyle

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Okay, let’s be honest, we all have too many credit cards. I know I do and I know I struggle to keep a handle on the balances. My Depression-raised late father would not be pleased. That’s why I’m not sure Toyota Financial’s launch of a Toyota-branded credit card is that great an idea — even if it does follow the established pattern of the 50,000 Lexus credit cards floating around out there. I mean come on. If you can afford a Lexus in the first place, you’re probably safe with that card. For most of the rest of us, however, one more piece of plastic is one more temptation to spend money we don’t have.

Here’s how the thing works. You make purchases, you get points. You redeem the points for discounts on parts and maintenance bills or toward a vehicle down payment. The company is looking to issue 140,000 of the cards during year one, starting in October. The balances will be carried by U.S. Bank with Toyota maintaining all the customer data and such. (The customer info is confidential, but Toyota can use the data to take a look at purchasing trends.)

We’ve made no bones about the fact that this may not be the time to buy a car, especially if you have shaky credit. Yes, there are going to be good buys out there as automakers work to move their sluggish inventory, but the first question you must always ask yourself is can you afford that car? Can you afford to keep up with the payments? And the second questions is, what will I have to give up in some other area of my life to accomplish that? And this business of a Toyota card or one from any other automaker? My advice would be to think twice. If you already have weak credit, it’s not going to be strengthened by one more card in your wallet.

Posted on May 21st, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: business

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If I had $35,000+ to spend, and didn’t have such a sense of responsibility about more practical things, I might be tempted by the 2008 Shelby Mustang GT. No matter how you shake it out, the Mustang is an icon, and a Shelby Mustang is a performance lovers dream. My Dad was in the Army Air Corps with Carol Shelby and he always said the man drives a car like he flew a bomber. All out. But honest to God, is there any other way to drive a machine with a 4.6-liter V8 putting out 319 hp and 330-lb. ft. of torque?

The spec list is just drool-worthy from start to finish:

- high-flow exhuast with X-pipe crossover
- five-speed manual with a Hurst short-throw
- special-tuned dampers
- custom way bars
- rear axle at 3.55:1
- 18″ polished wheels
- P235/50ZR18 BF Goodrich gForce tires

And the fact that they’re only going to make 2,300 of these babies just ups the lust factor. (There’s also a new paint scheme for 2008; Vista Blue with the standard Shelby silver racing stripes.)

Think I’m kidding? Check out the photos posted to Flickr.

Posted on May 7th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: new cars

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