Point/Counterpoint: New Cars Suck.
Patrick: A bold statement to be sure, however I feel it is true. I make decent money in my position now and have a habit to browse for my next car (yes, I change cars like people change socks). I sat down with my most recent TopGear magazine and a few other car magazines and flipped through them. Decent cars are littered between the covers, but all of them have flaws. For example: Audi A4, looks like a big-mouth bass mated with a BMW 3 series. While I like the lights and engine, the exterior is atrocious. Plus, it makes you look like an actuary driving about. So it’s out. BMW 3 is alright. The flame styling looks nice, but aside from a 335i coupe, the rest are boring. Even the new M3 has too many bulges, baubles, and buttons for my taste.
Ferrari F430 then? Not so fast. Aside from the astronomical price tag, reality of owning one is horrid. I would get my exercise as I would have to park 250 yards from every other car and hike to my destination. Louts Exige goes well, looks nice, and is priced reasonably. The only problem is you end up looking like Schumacher every time you climb out at the gas station. Mazda’s perennially hailed Miata is pretty close. It looks alright with the Aero kit, but is too small and slow to be considered.
What I am getting at is that cars can no longer be good, they must be great to compete. The only problem is that the handful of great cars are bought up and hoarded. No one makes a proper driver’s car any longer. For the most part, they are lumbered down with electronic aids, airbags, crash bumpers, and safety equipment. People should have the option to buy a car unencumbered by these hurdles. A car that weighs less will also use less gas and have a lower inertia in an accident. The other major problem is the specialization and niche marketing approach. Manufacturers can make dozens of sub-par models rather than focus on a few superb models.
Take our recent feature car, a BMW 325 sedan. No yaw monitors, no 12 speaker DVD navigation unit, no massage seats, or lane monitor cameras. It is a car, very competent at being a car, not a computer. It handles well, is simple, and has character. This brings us nicely to 2 new coupes on the horizon to fill in the stop gap between the Miata and 3-Series. First is the Hyundai Genesis coupe. It will feature a 4 pot turbo, non turbo 4, V6, and eventually a Spec-R 4 cylinder turbo. Rumor has the Genesis’ V8 slotted in the bay in a few years also. This new budget sports car will enter the market poised as a catalyst to change the small sports car segment. In addition to the Hyundai is a new joint venture between Toyota and Subaru. This new coupe will replace the 2.5RS coupe and Celica and be produced by Subaru with Toyota’s financing and design, equipped with a Boxer engine and turbo model for the higher spec cars.
~Until then, I guess I will stick with my TT.
James: I think you’re being a bit negative. I tend to see all the positive attributes of cars, then the negative ones. Sure, the market is littered with cars that are just complete garbage. I would say 90% of everything Chryslerberus makes is complete junk. Sebring, Avenger, Journey, Charger, Ram, Dakota, Minivans, Nitro, Liberty, Compass/Patriot, Crossfire, Aspen… you get the point. But even brands that are complete crap as a whole have some good models. The Caliber SRT-4 (reviewed here) is completely, totally insane in the best way possible. The SRT-8 Charger and 300C offer a huge amount of bang for your buck (even if they’re a bit crude.) And even though I’d never own one, the Wrangler is very good at what it does.
Compare todays car market with that of, say, 1990. Back then, the majority of reasonably priced cars were just complete garbage. If you wanted something sporty, quick, cheap, and turbocharged you went out and got an Eclipse GS Turbo, which then promptly fell apart or blew up. You could also get a 5.0 Mustang which made a thundering 215 horsepower out of 302 cubic inches. Holy crap, a modern Accord V6 can put the smackdown on a 5.0 Mustang. Or if you had a ton of coin and wanted a nice full-size luxury sedan, you could spend upwards of $100,000 on a V12 BMW 750i that probably wouldn’t even be running in 10 years, and would be worth maybe 5% of it’s original price - if you were lucky.
So what would I get to replace my Jetta? Well, a year ago I would’ve said a WRX but the new ones are heinous - they look like body-kitted Corollas in Sedan form, and melted-up ugly Mazda 3 5-doors in hatchback form. Plus they’re not the quickest thing in that market anymore, so no. The MazdaSpeed3 is great fun, providing you don’t mind it breaking your arms off at the elbows from torque steer. Err, so no I guess.
I really wanted to like the new 1-series, I really did. The basic idea sounds brilliant - 2 door RWD BMW, pared down to the bare essentials, bringing back the basic enjoyable driving experience they used to be known for. Well, it’s all a lie. For one thing, the only way to get one under 30 grand is a 128i with no options - the base model, no turbos, no sports suspension, nothing. The 135i with it’s glorious 300bhp twin-turbo six starts at 36,000 and quickly goes up when you add options. The price difference between a 135i and a 335i winds up being between 4 and 5k, and you just get a whole lot more car with the 3-series. Plus, the 1 ISN’T that lightweight, minimalist car that BMW says it is. At most it’s 300 lbs lighter, so it’s not really that much quicker. Plus, it’s heinous. I mean look at it.
so what WOULD I buy? Well, I love my MKV Jetta, so a MKV GTI would be a good choice. Candy White, 6-speed, premium package. An R32 would be nice except they are DSG-only, and I like the aftermarket support the 2.0T provides. So that’s on the list. But they’re proving to be rather unreliable, so I’d have to think extra hard. I’d also love an Audi A3 6-speed - basically the GTI’s slightly classier (but not much more expensive) cousin. I could also definitely go for a new WRX STi. 305 horsepower, all-wheel drive, useful 5-door hatchback body, fancy electronic diffs, etc etc. But 23 mpg highway on premium gas is a hard pill to swallow. Plus, they break 40 grand if you get the BBS wheels and navigation, which is just simply way too much for a Subaru. The new Lancer Evolution is gorgeous and quite fast, but I’m not sure about long-term reliability, what with the switch to the brand-new engine with an aluminum block and head, fancy SST setup, etc etc. Plus, it’s a Mitsubishi, so there’s a certain element of “it’s going to blow up!” there. I could do a Civic Si if I could live with the complete lack of power below 6000 rpm… but I can’t, so I won’t.
I could also go for a Volvo C30 T5 with the 6-speed and the sports suspension. It would be an entertaining left-field choice, to be sure. It would be kinda hard explaining what you bought to people, though. A new Audi TT would be nice but the price tag has inflated into the upper-mid thirties for a base model, and you can’t even get a stickshift with the 2.0T any more, so that’s a no-go. Pontiac G8? No stick shift. Cadillac CTS? Meh. Passat 3.6 4Motion? Again, no stickshift. Mini Cooper S? No, I’m a Male. Honda S2000? I don’t fit. 350Z? What a turd of a car.
I suppose this doesn’t leave me with a lot of choices. I pretty much narrow it down to two cars, then: the BMW 335i Coupe, and the Infiniti G37S Coupe, both of which provide a completely sublime driving experience, explosive performance, quality and class at a reasonable price.
However, I think restricting yourself to new cars isn’t always the best choice; there are some truly great options on the used market. A nearby European Car Dealer has a 2004 Mercedes Benz CLK55 AMG for sale with 41,000 miles on it for $31,000. You can pick up Volvo S60R AWD (with 300 horsepower, All Wheel Drive, Active Chassis, etc.) for 25k all day long. A lightly used MazdaSpeed6 would be a lot of fun for not a lot of cash. Ditto an ‘05-’06 Pontiac GTO with the 400-horsepower LS2 and a six-speed - these routinely go for 17-19k on the used market. MKIV Golf R32’s are hovering around 20-22k now depending on mileage and condition, which is one hell of a car. I guess I’m just not as tempted by the new-car smell as you are, Patrick.
-James