Cars And Such...

Yesterday, Faye and I succumbed to an auto advertisement that came by mail... "snail" mail, that is... from our local Toyota dealer (owned by the same guy who owns the local GM dealership, the local Kia dealership, and the local Ford dealership and a few others in other towns nearby and as far away as Tampa... the guy's a car mogul) to look at Camrys and Avalons and, it turns out, Highlanders.

I have to admit, I was impressed by the hybrids. Toyota, of course, is the leader in hybrids and have a lot of experience with them. I just wish they were cheaper. You pay at least a $5000 premium for the hybrids. And they are getting better, with longer (8 years/100,000 miles with Toyota) warranties on the hybrid drivetrain alone. What was especially surprising (though it shouldn't have been) was the peppiness pulling out from a stop light. This is due to the superior low end torque of electric motors.

The ride, however, wasn't all that good. Of course, I am comparing the ride of Faye's Buick to these cars and that isn't fair. When I pulled out onto the street to go to the car dealer in Faye's Lucerne, I realized how stiff and noisy my little Ford Focus is. I had forgotten about that. Instead, I remembered the floating sensation Buicks have and luxuriated in it. And it made me look forward to our annual trip to San Diego.

But the vehicle I liked best was the Highlander Hybrid SUV, I just didn't like the price. The Highlander (we only drove the conventionally powered model) rode well, the seats were soft enough (Faye's major requirement) and absorbed quite a bit of the bumps, making the ride only slightly worse than the Buick and much nicer than my Focus.


When did cars get so expensive? My old rule of thumb was a new car price was equal to 1/3rd of your annual income and houses were 3 times that annual income but that's true no more, eh?

Important note: This was not an endorsement of Toyota or any other automobile!