Superbowl Sunday– LAS VEGAS sports books had a winner this Sunday but the car makers SUPERBOWL ADS were 3 for 11.
#1. DODGE CHARGER SRT. A bit sexist but certainly spot on the demographic. Not that women don’t get excited when the supercharger in the V8 6.0 liter Hemi kicks in. I know a few women who agreed the garage space is an easy throw-away to some of the items on the list. And could you pick up some milk on your way home?
#2. Audi GREEN MACHINE. It took awhile for the horsepower to kick in on this story-line, but eventually we got it. A thinking-WOman’s commercial, but really, the A4 AVANT wagon was too pedestrian for the typical Audi owner, and the cop with the Styrofoam cup was overkill. I wanted the supercharged $150K R8 back. MISSED: Mental test drive/cool factor.
#3. KIA SORENTO Clever use of the family/urban SUV with the Monkey getting a tattoo. MY test drive review of the Sorento tells alot more about this ride, but who hasn’t left their favorite toy in the back of the family car? Missed: price, warranty and weblink CTA.
#4./5.6.7. The Hyundai SONATA story got long, when all we really needed was the price. The car is good looking. The warranty is well-known. Are there any on the dealers lots yet? Hope so, cause the Call to Action could be a million dollar waste come Monday.
#8. Honda Cross-tourer animation fell far short of the hip factor one would expect from Honda. Maybe the truth is Honda is starting to show it’s age. MISSED: Price
#9. CARMAX. Really lost the focus while waiting for the animals to do something cool. Did anyone even catch the pitch? MISSED: everything.
#10. CARS.COM The guy is super-human until he gets to a car lot, really? This had so much more potential. Previous year Superbowl ads so much better. The BUDWEISER Clydesdale’s beat this one. Missed: the point.
#11. CHEVY-GM. OH yeah, lets throw our awards at the viewer as they clean-up the kitchen. The only reason this got any eyeballs was the desire to see NO QB Drew Brees make a humble acceptance speech. Missed: YAWN.
The only car company missing was Toyota with thier apology ad.
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Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com
Many people are asking, including national radio show host LARS LARSON, (listen to my interview here); “Is this non-stop berating of Toyota nothing more than the current administration trying to deflect consumers to BUY AMERICAN?” I start to wonder why Transportation Secretary and NHTSA head, Ray LaHood felt it was necessary to say anything more than; “Toyota is well on their way to treating every car,” when asked by the investigating committee. A committee quickly assembled by…politicians in an election year.
Is it fair for OUR government to denounce a company that makes a product similar to the one the US TAXPAYERS just spent $70 BILLION buying? I know Chrysler and GM still owe us (the US taxpayers) money, but is this the way we want our government “marketing” the automotive industry.
Is this what we want them spending their time on?
I think astute Americans know two things for sure…
#1. If their car isn’t operating correctly they should take it to the dealership to be fixed.
#2. If the government tells them to do something, they need to ask more questions.
The truth behind the recall. Less than 1% of 1% (16) of all the cars sold last year (11 million) are involved in this recall. No deaths reported. The Toyota company has been out in front of this issue before NHTSA investigated any complaints. Toyota has done everything to maintain calm and even refrained from responding to the hyperbole caused by the government’s assault on their integrity.
LaHood says he MIS-SPOKE during the committee hearing. I learned, “Think before you speak,” in 3rd grade. What LaHood should have said was; “If YOU own one of these vehicles with this problem, take it to the dealer.” Yet when asked specifically by a Senator, “how HE would stop a car experiencing this problem, i.e. put it in neutral and press on the brake hard,” LaHood couldn’t explain what to do, and dismissed the point with “I believe that information has been disseminated”.
Of the thousands of Toyota’s sold in LAS VEGAS in the past three years, not one customer has reported an issue to his/her dealership. REALLY? Yup. As a matter of fact, the local Toyota dealers in Las Vegas have more parts available for this 15 min. fix than they have customers asking for it! Not to mention that all the affected models that were “no sale” last week are already fixed and available for immediate delivery. I am still selling Prius’ and all the other models as if nothing was happening, which is exactly my point…
Except that Toyota stock dropped huge today. Thanks Ray, I may make more money on Toyota stock than on my car deals this week.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com
Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS
AUTOMAKERS carve up TOYOTA with increased deals in wake of RECALL.
Mazda extended their 0% financing on 2010 Mazda 3’s to 60 mos. OAC.
Kia boasts about their 10 yr. 100k power-train warranty and $399.00 lease or 0% for 48 mos. on the all-new 2011 Kia Sorento.
Chevrolet dealers are offering conquest money to dump your Toyota or assistance to get out of your lease early.
While not all Toyota models are affected by the recall, customers are returning recent purchases in record numbers across the country. Afraid to drive them and concerned about resale values, consumers are turning to Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Kia and Hyundai dealers in hopes of finding a suitable replacement amid the confusion about parts and service for the still unknown cause of the faulty accelerators. The competition prepares for a boom in business, and import factories are releasing port-parked stock as soon as car haulers arrive.
Meanwhile, Toyota dealers and their Customer Care Hotline take calls and struggle to quell their clients fears. How bad will the lasting effect be on Toyota’s brand image is anyone’s guess?
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Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com
Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS
I remember watching the movie; “Who Killed the Electric Car?” starring the infamous EV1 made by GM back in 1966. The story goes on to show how successful the cars were in creating their own demand and devotees. Ten years after the project began and as the leases ended, the cars were rounded up and destroyed much to the chagrin of their owners. The obvious conspiracy theory prevails and now we have THE VOLT.
It looks like a fat Prius. Promises the future of driving and 0 emissions. The public is ready. The question is, how ready to spend $40k, ($32,500 after the $7500 tax credit) on a GM model that gets 40 miles between charges? If GM can deliver a stable, reliable, quality product in the VOLT, (it looks nice in the fit and finish department, but it hasn’t had the 20k mile squeak and rattle test) with a price tag close to or under the $33,000.00 loaded Prius, then I’ll be doing handstands to own one.
The Volt is scheduled for release late 2010 as a 2011 model with a 145hp 1.4l 4 cyl engine. Aside from the price, travel range is the big issue, at only 40 miles between charges (cost .50), depending on weather conditions, (I’ll do the Death Valley test drive in July if they’ll let me) ; this is purely an urban transporter. The internal combustion (gas) engine takes over as needed, throwing an extra 25hp into the mix and keeping the battery from exhaustion. Near exhaustion because the philosophy is to leave 30% in reserve, thus extending the battery life to 150,000 miles or 10 years. The ability to charge from a home outlet will offset additional costs for charging units, which can range between $3-4,000.00, (some tax credits available) for propane or LNG terminals in the family garage. Meanwhile, public facilities and valets on the Las Vegas Strip are already suited-up with PLUG-in stations at curbside.
The Volt has been a regular at the Detroit Auto Showsince 2007, continuing the hype of GM reborn. GM needs this car like a runner needs oxygen, not only to justify the bail-out but to reinvigorate its dealer body, defuse the CAFÉ quota limits on its big, bad-boy trucks but also to ignite the youth market. The Volt can’t come soon enough, as gas prices creep toward $3.00 a gallon and their new car line-up is looking old. Ford has successfully breached the social network world with Fiesta YouTube/drive-a-thons and Focus-hybrid love-fest events, fast forward to the latest SAFe driver technology in Sync 3.0. Welcome to MAC world GM, this year the Volt’s North American Auto Show-stopper is an APP’d up series of smart phone Applications guaranteed to charge the Volt owner with touch screen overload.
All-in all, the CHEVY VOLT is the most exciting product from GM in a decade, let’s hope it delivers after all the auto show hype.
Check out this quick peek of the 2011 CHEVY Volt caught showing off at CES last week.
I’ll report on the Volt again, as soon as I can do a MYCARLADY TEST DRIVE review.
Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com
Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS
AS Americans we like to BUY stuff. SO in the midst of the greatest economic crisis of the past fifty years, we are tired of being tired.We are also tired of driving cars that continually breakdown, have to share or no longer fit our needs/lifestyle.
Welcome to summer selling season in the auto industry. If it was ever time in the last two years, it’s a great time to go car shopping. Pent-up demand is driving car customers to dealerships hoping for half-price Jeeps and deep-deep discounts. You may also want to RE-consider buying a soon to be discontinued make or model: SATURN, SAAB, HUMMER, PONTIAC and some Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models; Chrysler Aspen and PT Cruiser, Dodge Durango and Stratus, Jeep Commander.
However, BUYER BEWARE. The car market has changed and you need to be prepared for some surprises.
Salesmen/women. The salesmen still stand outside, but there are far fewer of them. That may work well for browsers, but those ready to make a deal are going to find less product knowledge and willingness to trot around on long test drives.
Less Inventory. The dealers have pared their inventories to all time lows, so be prepared to be flexible, to get a better deal now, or wait 10-12 weeks when ordering a car to meet your specs. SOme HOT models are selling for higher prices now, than they were in January. During model year change over, you can also expect to pay more for the new year model, as the first ones delivered are usually the most in demand=higher price.
Financing. Perhaps the hardest thing to understand about auto financing is the higher the score doesn’t guarantee you an immediate approval or the best rate.Cash down, over and above rebates, are considered in the loan application, along with trade-in values and how many other cars notes you have signed for.The auto banks are looking hard at car loans vs. debt and income. While mom and dad make great co-signers, if sister and brother have already tapped them, the next in line may need to ask another relative.
TRADE-IN.When trading a vehicle with a payoff, you may be better off to make the payoff yourself, to be assured the closing dealership will, in fact, pay off the existing lease or loan. As dealerships are burdened with closing, employees are let go, and title payoffs can slip through the cracks. Having your trade paid off before the next payment is due, is crucial to keeping your credit in good shape.
Incentives. You can have rebates or low interest rates but not both. Don’t expect to buy a car for half-off sticker. The biggest discounts I’ve seen are $6,000 off a $40,000.00 car. Multiple rebates for everything from loyal clients to military and first-time buyers often cannot be layered, so pick the highest reward for your car, in real time. By REAL TIME, I mean NOW.If you take a lower interest rate and payoff the car early, trade-it or it gets stolen/totaled, you have lost the full value of the interest saved. Sometimes cash in your deal as down payment, is the better deal because you have lowered the amount borrowed, and should a better rate be offered by another bank, you can move the loan. Note, low interest rate incentives do not allow for negative equity from a trade-in.
If you are really interested in buying a new car this summer, look to a broker or car buyer’s agent to get the bottom line before you start kicking tires. They can help you figure out the REAL price on the BEST DEAL and find you the car you want, saving you hours of hassle, and aggravation driving from dealer to dealer. The fee you pay a broker or buyers agent more than pays for itself in time and savings you would not realize on your best day of negotiating.
Superbowl Sunday– LAS VEGAS sports books had a winner this Sunday but the car makers SUPERBOWL ADS were 3 for 11. 
The car is good looking. The warranty is well-known. Are there any on the dealers lots yet? Hope so, cause the Call to Action could be a million dollar waste come Monday. 
Many people are asking, including
2011 CHEVY VOLT –
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