Say it Ain’t So: Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce Among Clunkers Casualities?

Clunker?

The official Cash for Clunkers website has released a list of cars that were traded in on the program, and some the vehicles on the list are downright shocking.

Most are not… there are at least 60,000 Ford Explorers on the list, most of them from the early to mid-90s, though a couple of 2008 models were turned in.

But check out these cars that were on the list, and keep in mind that the law requires the engines of these vehicles to be permanently disabled. Try not to weep:

• 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante (I found one for sale here for just $69,500. )
• 2006 Audi A4 Cabriolet Quattro (OK, so it’s not a supercar, but still…)
• 1992 BMW 850i (For sale here for $24K.)
• 1987 Buick GNX (Only 547 were ever built.)
• 2007-2008 Chrysler 300 AWD (There were 3 of these.)
• 1987 Excalibur Autos Phaeton (No joke, but still hard to believe.)
• 2000 Jaguar XK8 convertible (I would’ve gladly paid that guy 5 grand for his car rather than see it killed just to get $4,500 off a Hyundai.)
• 1985 Maserati Quattroporte (You just don’t junk a Maserati.)
• 2005 Mazda RX8 (Still worth about $15K)
• 1997 Rolls-Royce Continental R (Ever heard the words “Rolls-Royce” and “clunker” in the same sentence?)
• 2008 Scion xD (Wait a minute. This thing is rated at 29 mpg, for one thing. Secondly, it’s still worth about $16K. How’d this one slip through?)

You can see the full list here, but I’m warning you, it’s got everything. Corvette and Camaro fans may want to stay away.

Would you have taken any of these cars off owners’ hands before they were sent to the crusher?

-tgriffith

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How General Motors Is Already Screwing Up

GMC Acadia: Coming next year as a Denali

One of the great things about being an auto blogger is that I get to pick apart what companies are doing wrong without having the responsibility to come up with a way to make it right.

That said, I have had my share of great ideas and am pretty sure I’d do a reasonably good job of running a car company, mostly because I seem to have something GM lacks: common sense.

Here’s my proof: I read an article today saying that GM is planning a Denali version of the Acadia.

At first that might not seem so odd, since there was also a Denali Envoy. But dig a little deeper and find out that the Buick Enclave is based on the same platform as the Acadia and serves as the more luxurious sibling.

So an Acadia in Denali dress will be a fancier Acadia… just like the Enclave is a fancier Acadia.

Umm… so much for consolidation, I guess.

In other wacked-out GM news, the company announced a concept that would serve to compete with “boxy” entries like the Honda Element and Scion xB. While it’s only a concept, GM officials have indicated they feel the need for a “premium” offering in the segment.

But there isn’t a need for a premium boxy vehicle. They are called “econoboxes” for a reason. Making a premium econobox would be like offering a premium version of Chiclets - utterly pointless and equally as ridiculous.

Is GM going back to old habits, or have you seen evidence of a real turnaround?

-tgriffith

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How Are the Green Bay Packers Like General Motors?

Sen. Alexander plugs in his Prius

It’s not every day that one of our blog posts gets the attention of a U.S. Senator.

A post yesterday mentioned Sen. Lamar Alexander’s Auto Stock for Every Taxpayer Act, a plan to distribute GM and Chrysler stock free to American taxpayers. That post resulted in an invite to a conference call with the Senator this morning to discuss his plan (the full 16-minute phone call is below).

At the beginning of the call, Sen. Alexander got my attention by likening his plan to the Green Bay Packers, an NFL team owned by its fans. Under the Senator’s plan, the 120 million Americans who filed tax returns for 2008 would become owners of GM and Chrysler. Or as he put it:

120 million Americans who have a vested interested in their success.

While this proposed act is mostly a gimmicky political stunt, it’s a nice thought.

When I first heard about this plan, I was all for it, though admittedly only for the slight possibility that I might get some monetary gain. I have to assume the majority of Americans would be like me, since most of us were against saving GM and Chrysler in the first place. Give us free stock, and we’ll sell it as soon as we can to generate some free cash.

Of course a mass sell-off of stock might cause the value of the companies to plummet and could lead right back into bankruptcy court, only this time as a natural consequence of the free market rather than being forced into it by the government.

As a right-wing Republican, letting the free market decide GM and Chrysler’s fate is Sen. Alexander’s ultimate intent.

Getting back to the Senator’s football reference, here’s the difference between the Packers and GM/Chrysler: Packers stockholders are passionate and dang-near rabid supporters of their team. I’m not convinced American stockholders of GM and Chrysler would feel the same.

If you had free stock in GM and Chrysler, would you hang onto it or sell it as soon as it was worth money?

-tgriffith

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The Most Satisfying New Cars

What makes a car satisfying? According to AutoPacific’s recently published 2009 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards, a car is deemed satisfying if the owner would recommend it to a friend. Makes sense to me! They surveyed 25,000 new-car buyers and asked them that question. The results are below. If your car’s missing and you want to recommend it to your fellow CarGurus, let us hear it!

Most satisfying cars

Most satisfying trucks

There you have it! There are a couple of winners that make me wonder if someone, somewhere got paid off. The Dodge Nitro? Seriously? I rented one once and was tempted to drive it into a river and claim it was stolen, just so the next person would be spared driving it.

What car(s) do you drive? Would you recommend it to your friends?

-tgriffith

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Will Toyota Cut Prius’ Price or Let Honda Insight Be Cheapest Hybrid?

2010 Honda Insight

Looks like Honda is changing the dynamics of the hybrid wars.

The new Honda Insight, priced in the States at just over $19K, comes in well below the Toyota Prius’ starting price of nearly $23K.

Rumors are beginning to circulate that Toyota will cut the price on the current Prius to match the Insight’s, but there has been no confirmation of that from the bigwigs at Toyota.

Is a lower price on the way for Prius?

A price reduction sure makes sense to me, as the Prius’ reign as king of the hybrids is being challenged by the Insight and the new Ford Fusion hybrid. The other option Toyota has is to stuff all the technology it can into the Prius and hope buyers see the value and fork over more money for it.

That’s a tactic we know will happen, as the third-generation Prius is expected to offer, among other things, a solar panel on the roof that will power fans to keep the car cool when parked in the sun. I’m guessing that’ll be a popular feature among celebs in Los Angeles! (You can check out the third-generation Prius here.)

It’s also possible that Toyota will offer the Prius in two versions: one that is essentially the current model with a lower price that matches the Insight’s, and one with technology and safety upgrades priced at a premium.

One thing is for sure: Selling hybrids is going to become more difficult as competition stiffens and more diesels enter the market.

What do you think: Buy a hybrid or skip the hype?

-tgriffith

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Who Makes the World’s Fastest Street-Legal Sedan?

I’m all for fast cars, but seriously, this is getting insane. How fast do we need to go on the streets?

German tuning specialists Brabus and G-Power are in a back-and-forth duel for the bragging rights of holding the title of World’s Fastest Street-Legal Sedan.

G-Power did it first, with the tricked-out 225-mph Hurricane M5, which is a BMW M5 with a V10 and 730 ponies.

Then Brabus came with their jab in the form of the Rocket, a Mercedes CLS with a bored-out, twin-turbo V12 that was clocked at 2 mph faster than the Hurricane.

Naturally, the folks at G-Power couldn’t let that stand, so they went back to work and built the Hurricane M5 RS, lifting the power output to 750 horses and gaining 1.3 mph over the Rocket to reclaim the World’s Fastest Street-Legal Sedan title.

Now Brabus is back to work as you’re reading this to try and eke out a half mile an hour so the title is again theirs.

Anyone else think this has crossed into insanity? A sedan that can go 230 miles per hour serves no point other than flattering the ego of those who built it. Yes, there are people who will say that pushing the envelope like this can discover new technology for future use in production vehicles.

All Brabus and G-Power are looking for, though, is speed, and every car on the road right now is capable of going fast enough for the needs of ground transportation. Maybe there are some racing applications here, but then these cars shouldn’t be created under the guise of being “street legal.”

You wanna go 230 miles per hour? Get on an airplane.

Do you think Brabus and G-Power should keep duking it out to create faster sedans?

-tgriffith

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Found on eBay: the opportunity of a lifetime!

I love eBay motors.

While I’ve never bought a car through eBay, I scroll the offerings on a regular basis. I do it to check prices and see what’s out there, but in the back of my mind I’m always hoping to stumble across something truly amazing.

Boy was I treated this week when I found an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. (After digging a little deeper, it appears there were actually THREE Competiziones up for auction at once.) Talk about a stunning car! Only 84 came to the U.S., and I would’ve thought they’d all be snatched up by the time they were put on the boat in Italy. 

Yet here we have one of the most beautiful and exclusive new cars in the world, up for sale on the auction site available to all of humanity. Of course there’s still the sticky little issue of the Buy it Now price: $329,995. On the positive side, that price includes floor mats, so you won’t have to stop by the auto parts store on your way home.

On the other side of the exclusivity scale, I had a friend who found a minivan on eBay with a price that couldn’t be matched locally. He snatched it up and had it shipped, only to discover later that it had been flooded in a hurricane. Awesome.

eBay Motors is really just like any other car lot, except it’s worldwide and has everything from Alfa Romeos to Z28s. Like any car lot, you need to be careful with what you buy. I never felt too bad for my friend because it’s idiotic to buy a car without researching it, especially when the price seems too good to be true.

Had he bought a car like the Competizione, though, I’d probably still be friends with him, whether it was water-damaged or not.

Would you consider buying a car on eBay?

-tgriffith

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