Schmosef's new car

[KvHagedorn]

I agree.. teeny SUV = flaming queer. The potential for life-ruination is not to be underestimated here. If you like these vehicles, you should hide this opinion deep.. only to surface when complimenting that college chick on her cute car.

Toyota Tundra= over 25 with lots of testosterone
Toyota Tacoma= under 25 with lots of testosterone

This is all you need to know, gra$$hopper.

[Nowhere]

I really want to know how you came to deduce this.

everyone I know who owns an escape is very happy with it.

Yer just talkin out yer biased a$$ as usual.

I don't think he means that nobody can't be happy with it, just that companies sell old, rebadged, tech as new shiny thing...

[schmosef]

Oh shit. You're REALLY in love with this "tiny SUV" thing, aren't you?

I thought you said you wanted to pick up chicks in this vehicle? That owning a station wagon would ruin your social life?

Here's a hint - any car which screams out "lookie me! I'm GAAAAAAAAAY!" will also have a negative impact on your heterosexual social life. The RAV4 is driven 99.99% by women and gay men. "Small SUV" is a codeword for "our smallest car raised up on stilts".

Volvo has milked their own designs for years now. The XC90 is a Volvo-only design, Ford had nothing to do with it. The S60 and V70 are just refinements of the 850, which is a Volvo design from 1990. The S80 is based (loosely) on the 960/S90. And the OLD S40/V40 were European Volvo designs brought to the USA.

But the NEW S40/V50... well, they're just Fords. Ford Focuses, to be exact. With Volvo logos and higher sticker prices. And that sucks. This rumored Volvo micro-SUV will, in fact, be a Ford Escape with a Volvo symbol on the front.

Oh, did I mention that the Ford Escape is just an Escort? Yes, an ESCORT. ARGH!

Give up on the micro-suv's already. THEY ALL SUCK DONKEY COCK.

I think I know what's going on here.

When I was reading on-line reviews of the X-Trail, one of them said that one reason that Nissan hasn't brought it to America is that there's really a very small market for compact SUVs in the US (this doesn't sound like the reason that the sales guy told me yesterday but I'm going to run with it). In Canada the market for compact SUVs is huge.

The market perception in the states might very well be that compact SUVs are wussified gay-mobiles but that's not true in Canada. I guess if I was after American chicks I'd have to consider getting something more full sized. Lucky for my pocket book, I'm not. In Canada compact SUVs are everywhere. Granted the RAV4 is considered by many (including me) to be a "girls" SUV. I've already said that I'm not really interested in it. I am interested in getting a Toyota because of their notoriously good build quality and the fact that, in Toronto, I know of reputable dealerships. I don't want to spend more than $40K on a new Highlander though. And I don't want to buy used. Now this new RAV4 might just be as big as an X-Trail or Element. I wouldn't buy one without getting the opinions of the automotive press. But, depending on when it becomes available, I will consider it.

Let's establish one thing. I'm not getting a Volvo this time around.

[Nowhere]

And the thing they're everywhere should be the reason for dismissal of them from consideration when buying new car. Uniqueness matters - why the chick should like your miniSUV when there's virtually identicall...everywhere? But Volvo...style...evil look in the reflectors...the symbol of manhood on the grill...you get the picture

edit: oops, somehow last sentance escaped from my attention. Hmm...interesting to say the least
oh well, until next time then

[schmosef]

The stand-out factor isn't what I'm going for. Besides, the X-Trial, being more expensive, isn't that common.

[Nowhere]

Anh, I wasn't thinking "stand-out", more "not blending in"...not sure if I menaged to describe the difference...

Anyway...should I still try to make the world a better place by trying to "create" next Volvo owner or not?

[schmosef]

you can stop now. or buy a volvo for yourself!!!!!

[schmosef]

I agree.. teeny SUV = flaming queer. The potential for life-ruination is not to be underestimated here. If you like these vehicles, you should hide this opinion deep.. only to surface when complimenting that college chick on her cute car.

Toyota Tundra= over 25 with lots of testosterone
Toyota Tacoma= under 25 with lots of testosterone

This is all you need to know, gra$$hopper.

I just saw this.

Sometimes, the cultural divide between Americans and Canadians is STAGGERING.

[Gurm]

*sigh*

Ok, look.

You're used to driving a Jeep. Mechanical problems aside, you've spent years now driving a vehicle that you can do the following with:

- Go over curbs
- Haul lots of stuff
- Use and abuse on a daily basis without really thinking about it
- Get through muddy patches
- Bump into things without destroying it

Nothing on your current list has ANY of those characteristics.

Miniature SUV's aren't just "not a big market in the USA". They're just stupid. They're compact cars on stilts. They are neither "sporty" nor "utilitarian" making the entire name a misnomer.

Let's talk about the RAV4.

If you try to go over a curb in a RAV4, you will DESTROY IT. Rip out the undercarriage. End of vehicle. Wanna haul lots of stuff? Good luck - more than a few hundred pounds and the shocks in the RAV4 will give out in short order. It's designed to carry passengers and luggage only. Stuck in the mud? Yup. The RAV4 has the off-road capabilities of... well, the Corolla it's based on. Bump into stuff? The RAV4 is one gigantic crumple zone.

You would WRECK that vehicle doing any of the things a Jeep owner does without thinking every day.

As for the American market... well, a lot of us fail to see the POINT of a small SUV. Nobody has ever built one that's actually rugged. If there were actually RUGGED small SUV's, people might buy them. But small SUV's are really mid-sized station wagons with tall suspensions, whether you care to admit that or not. You can tell yourself all you like that the RAV4 is an SUV, that it's tough... but at the end of the day it's a Corolla hatchback with oversized tires.

As for my insistence on Volvo... it's simply that it fits your bill. I'm having a hard time trying to come up with vehicles that do what you want:

1. Hauling stuff
2. Rugged
3. Looks good
4. In your price range
5. Not problematic

None of the vehicles you've test driven, with the POSSIBLE exception of the X-Trail if it's built anything like the XTerra, fulfill points one and two there. None of them. An as for "not problematic"... you're looking at an entire market segment filled with bottom-of-the-barrel vehicles with overinflated price tags. That RAV4 costs thousands more than the Corolla, but it's the same car only more problematic due to its shitty suspension and poor design.

If you want to re-organize your priorities for us, we can make more pertinent suggestions. A Subaru Wagon is also going to be an excellent choice for you, but you don't like wagons. The Dodge Magnum is a KILLER choice for you, but you don't like Chrysler. See our problem here? You've essentially created a situation where you're trying to not-so-subtly get us to just "yes-man" your initial list of choices, and sadly your entire list is filled with dog turd.

[Gurm]

I really want to know how you came to deduce this.

everyone I know who owns an escape is very happy with it.

Yer just talkin out yer biased a$$ as usual.

And everyone I know who owns an Escort, who CHOSE an Escort, likes that too.

As for how I deduced that... are you so naive as to think that Ford would design an ALL NEW PLATFORM on which to put its little shitmobile? Seriously? You think that? All their OTHER SUV's are built onto existing platforms... why on EARTH would they invest the obscene amounts of money needed to design a tiny SUV platform when they could do what everyone ELSE did and just raise the suspension and slap a taller body onto an existing platform? Maybe it's the Focus platform instead of the Escort - although the Escape predates the Focus, IIRC. Maybe it's one of their OTHER shitty tiny platforms. I dunno. Regardless, my point stands.

[DukeP]

Two moons in the sky?

Black rabbits?

Once again I completely agrees with Gurm.


As a jeep owner and driver, I feel like entering a porcelain store in a divers suit whenever I drive other types of cars...



~~DukeP~~

[GT98]

And everyone I know who owns an Escort, who CHOSE an Escort, likes that too.

As for how I deduced that... are you so naive as to think that Ford would design an ALL NEW PLATFORM on which to put its little shitmobile? Seriously? You think that? All their OTHER SUV's are built onto existing platforms... why on EARTH would they invest the obscene amounts of money needed to design a tiny SUV platform when they could do what everyone ELSE did and just raise the suspension and slap a taller body onto an existing platform? Maybe it's the Focus platform instead of the Escort - although the Escape predates the Focus, IIRC. Maybe it's one of their OTHER shitty tiny platforms. I dunno. Regardless, my point stands.

FYI the Escape is based off a Madaza 626 Platform and is considered to be the best Small SUV on the market. It came out about 6 months after the Focus hit the market

In regards to the the S40....the new S40 based on the C1 Focus Platform (which we dont get here in US and Canada) is much better then the POS Mitsubishi charisma platform that the previous S40 was based off of. The previous gen S40 was one of the worse Volvos ever sold. You just can't get over that Ford bought them, you should feel fortunate that they didnt get bent over and ****ed like Saab did by GM, by getting a Trailblazer SUV with a Saab front end on it and a WRX wagon with a Saab front end and then getting degraded with all the discounts GM offers on their cars.

[Elie]

And the thing they're everywhere should be the reason for dismissal of them from consideration when buying new car. Uniqueness matters - why the chick should like your miniSUV when there's virtually identicall...everywhere? But Volvo...style...evil look in the reflectors...the symbol of manhood on the grill...you get the picture

edit: oops, somehow last sentance escaped from my attention. Hmm...interesting to say the least
oh well, until next time then

LOL, YES Uniqueness matters... this is why I am hanging on to my 1987 Maserati Biturbo Si for dear life!!!!!

[Gurm]

LOL, YES Uniqueness matters... this is why I am hanging on to my 1987 Maserati Biturbo Si for dear life!!!!!

You LIKE paying $50 for a oil filter and $250 per wheel for brake pads, huh?

I'm kidding. I loved my pal's Maser (he too had a biturbo - 1984 IIRC), but it got to be obscene the amounts of money he had to sink into it to do really NORMAL stuff like brakes, oil changes, shocks, etc.

[Nowhere]

And all this time I had wondered why Elie has some old VW Jetta in his av