Originally Posted By Christi22222 >>I'm seeing this lack of quality in EVERYTHING that's sold these days, to the point where I don't want to buy anything because I feel I'm just throwing my money away.<< Totally true. And even if you want to pay for quality, you can't! It isn't there. So you end up looking for cheap cheap cheap like the businesses all believe we do anyways. Sick cycle and I'm tired of it. Geez. Just make something that isn't crap. Anything. A good #2 pencil would make me happy for goodness sakes.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Maybe VBDAD will come in here since he is a cars guru and we always seem to talk this subject once annually ... but I have a Mercedes and love it. I've also had numerous Hondas and they've always been great too ----- I have a number of friends with Benz's and it really is a mixed bag- from outright love to disdain like you have. C class to be avoided from feedback I get- go with an E and will be much much happier. AS for me I traded my BMW 3 series for an Acura TL and enjoy it much more ( especially car for the money ) and I am a Bimmer fan- my Bimmer was solid though - no issues, just the TL provided me with 5 series size and luxury/equipment for a 3 series price. Only American cars ( and I have owned 35+ cars in my lifetime-many of which were US e) I would consider today are the retro muscle cars - Challenger SXT , Camaro SS , Mustang GT/Cobra..as I have never found that same experience in anything but US cars. The new Caddies are nice- but car for car $10K more than my TL--I don't think so.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Absolutely. We just threw away an 18 month old, midrange ($100) LG brand DVD player. I'm seeing this lack of quality in EVERYTHING that's sold these days, to the point where I don't want to buy anything because I feel I'm just throwing my money away. ------------- industry term 'planned obsolescence'- and it is meant to avoid issues like I just read about regarding point and shoot digital cameras. Practically giving them away now because over the past 5-7 years people have bought a $150-$190 Nikon/Canon etc. point and shoot and they work today just like when you bought them So the view screen might be slightly larger and they may be 12-15MPX instead of 8 ( like that matters for most photography)- and they don't break. Now they can't sell new ones and have discounted the others to no end. Product was actually too good.
Originally Posted By avimagine Then again it's also how companies run lean these days. Back in the day our Toshiba TV was made in Southern USA (I think Tennessee) and our Panasonic TV was made 2 hours from here. Both plants were owned by said companies. Panasonic made all their VCRS and DVDs in house in Japan. Dells were all made in Texas, in house. Now those companies simply bid out to supplier factories (mainly in China etc), once the supplier is outbid (read undercut in price) for the next product, some of them continue making the product under a new name. For example you can get monitors that suspiciously look like a couple of generations out of date Samsung monitor as a VUCO. The current Durabrand food processor looks alot like a circa 2000's Black and Decker (ok the buttons are now grey instead of green). Also for the Toyota faithful out there consider this. Toyota's redesigned Corolla has a 4 speed transmission; alot of the competition is 5/6 speed, CVT or Dual Clutch (think like a motorcycle or supercar). Compared to a planetary gear transmission a dual clutch is basically like two transmissions back to back, when your in first, second is already selected so there is no "burp" in power as the tranny shifts. Also a 6 speed tranny may have 2 overdrive gears instead of one (in the case of economy vehicles), this allows the car to get better fuel economy and drive quieter (lower rpms while crusing). Now the Sienna has a brilliant design. But lets look at the brakes those calipers are undersized! Alot of midsize sedans have better stompers. Ok for those of you with older Toyotas touch your dash and your door panels. Notice the plastic is "soft and squishy" now do the same thing with the brand new Sienna. Yep the dashboard feels like a Rubbermaid dish strainer. The design of the new Sienna is top notch, execution is downmarket. A few things to note, notice how alot of new cars don't have glovebox or underhood lights, notice how "gooseneck" hinges on trunks are coming back (Those big metal C things that crunch your luggage), there was a period when they used little "pistons" for the trunks to save your luggage. Now Hyundai for example in the Equus (a 50to60k car) did put those gooseneck hinges into little "tunnels" at least. Also our cars in the 90's and 00's had 2 sunvisors per side so you could swing one to the side and one down in front of you. (I actually installed some on my Highlander from a 2000ish Taurus heh). This for me is a major safety feature, you don't have to swing your sunvisor between front and side everytime you change directions. Just my .2 cents in as a redneck.
Originally Posted By avimagine Also I find no one car company has a complete line up that's head and shoulders above the rest. For example for me Full Size SUV - Toyota Landcruiser Full Size Pickup - Ford F-150 Diesel Truck - GMC Sierra Duramax 5 Passenger CUV - Ford Edge 5 Passenger unibody SUV - Jeep GC V6 Muscle Car - Ford Mustang Cheap Family Sedan - Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Sedan - Ford Fusion Practical Sports Car - Porsche 911 etc, etc, etc.
Originally Posted By avimagine okay your mileage may vary, but unlike the brand loyal sheeple each of these vehicles are on the list for a very good reason (to me). Full Size SUV - Toyota Landcruiser - This vehicle has hands down the best off road prowess of any, its got luxury and quality oozing out of its crevices. Its long lasting, its ride height is adjustable, its air conditioner will chill all of Scottsdale. Full Size Pickup - Ford F-150 By far the biggest frame, least bed bounce, trailer controller (much less sway), a V6 that outperforms some of the V8s (2011 and up) while delivering better mileage, the most customizable vehicle on the planet - want lava red and black harley seats no problem, want power running boards, no problem, want Chaparral leather (think tannery/saddle smelling) no problem! want the most capable dessert runner from a factory oem no problem! (Raptor) Diesel Truck - GMC Sierra Duramax People put this engine in competitive vehicles, enough said. (along with the Cummins diesel) but the Sierra is a better truck. 5 Passenger CUV - Ford Edge My Touch Ford and Sync, build quality that matches Toyotas old build quality. Not the garbage they sell today. Soon available a supercharged engine. 5 Passenger unibody SUV - Jeep GC extremely capable off road, huge touch screen, loaded to the gills luxury. 270 plus HP out of base V6 on regular gas V6 Muscle Car - Ford Mustang Fuel efficiency, 3 roof options, ambient lighting, powerful as sin, rwd goodness. Cheap Family Sedan - Hyundai Sonata Extremely affordable, you can get a factory nav version for under 25k, available turbo Hybrid Sedan - Ford Fusion drives well, operates on batteries alone at far faster speeds then the Prius, amazing dual LCD instrument panel in Full colour, green only instrument Prius eat yer heart out, you can tell how green your driving at a glance Practical Sports Car - Porsche 911 Has a boot, has ground clearance, reliable for a sports car, can handle well in rain
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Practical Sports Car - Porsche 911 --- a car I love but have never seen the word practical as a modifier for it...$100k - 2 seater-- and handle in the rain-maybe OK but not good, and forget snow. But a great car
Originally Posted By avimagine vb - relative Term, would you consider an Italia or R8 practical in relativity? Ok maybe I should have said can be used a a daily driver sports car. Besides used ones are cheapish. Besides it doesn't have a huge chrome beak on it
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>industry term 'planned obsolescence'-<< But 18 months? I don't expect things to last forever. But there are stories out there about $1000+ TVs giving up the ghost after 3-4 years.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 One of things that you have to love about discussion boards is how a thread on free dining can become about cars. The other great thing is to see how many of you have such a diverse knowledge base. Continue.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Besides it doesn't have a huge chrome beak on it ---- my dealer 'paints' part of the beak to match the car color ($400) and changes the look completely-- the 2012 TL being introduced next week at Chicago Auto show- I hope they follow this lead
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Besides used ones are cheapish. ------------- different issue- residual is weak comparatively and one reason for very high lease rates
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <a href="http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/water-cooler/123357-09-tl-painted-grill.html" target="_blank">http://www.8thcivic.com/forums...ill.html</a> check out the difference-- mine is painted
Originally Posted By avimagine I'm actually a fan of chrome and wood trim he. But for a "edgy" modern car it just seems out of place in a swath that thick. Isn't the TL a JDM/Euro spec Accord? Why not the RL it's a huge seller And think of this 7. It's also been facelifted (somewhat pathetically) for the new year.
Originally Posted By avimagine Oh and in Canada there's less write-offs for leasing. If you want cheap feeling you can always get a Yaris or Versa or '11 Jetta or If you want cheap you can get an Aveo or Versa or Accent
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS What does any of this have to do with the topic? We called to book our Oct WDW trip and the CM advised us that there would be no free dining this year. I know they say that every year, so I asked him if that was really true. He said that last year they lost money over it. A) I don't think he was supposed to tell me that B) How in the heck could that be true? So, long story short, we opted to choose quick service dining and just pay out of pocket for Le Cellier. We can pay $50 to change our reservation if the free dining becomes available. To answer the OP, the posiblility of free dining did get us talking about booking even though it wasn't offered to us upon booking.
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt <<What does any of this have to do with the topic? >> That's the beauty of WDW General... after 25 posts it's completly derailed!
