Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[J N Winkler]

My experience has been much as Formulaone and Max Rockatansky outline above--quality and reliability have different meanings in the upper price echelons.

It might be different for the German makes, but my experience with Toyota and Lexus has been that the latter is usually the first to receive technical advances, and often does so before the bugs are fully worked out.  For example, electronically actuated throttles were used on Lexus models (including the LS) beginning, if memory serves, in the late 1990's, and did not begin appearing on Toyotas until the early noughties.  Even as far back as 1994, Lexus was using an electronically actuated second throttle in the throttle body to cut off air to the engine when the drive wheels hit a slick patch and traction control has to activate--less elaborate designs (such as in my 1994 Saturn) relied on the ABS system to clamp on the brakes to restrain wheelspin.  Back in 2015, when I was considering buying a 1994 LS as a hobby car, the owner had just gotten it back from the shop after having the second throttle repaired.

A Lexus, even from the mid-nineties, does offer a premium experience.  But a well-equipped Toyota ten years newer typically offers a similar feature complement (the only one I can think of that is missing is memory seats), is at least comparable in reliability, runs on unleaded regular instead of premium, and is better engineered for service owing to greater maturity of the underlying design.  OEM parts are also significantly cheaper.

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

[Tonytone]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

I would still contend even a small truck with a transverse mounted engine and unibody construction is a flawed design, but at least looks the part after about a decade. 

[Takumi]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

I would still contend even a small truck with a transverse mounted engine and unibody construction is a flawed design, but at least looks the part after about a decade. 

This is Honda we’re talking about, a company that has long refused to follow conventional wisdom on many things. Never made a road car with more than 6 cylinders, only done a longitudinal layout 3-4 times in the past 40 or so years, etc. Kinda makes sense they’d make a truck on a chassis that was once an Accord.

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

I would still contend even a small truck with a transverse mounted engine and unibody construction is a flawed design, but at least looks the part after about a decade. 

This is Honda we’re talking about, a company that has long refused to follow conventional wisdom on many things. Never made a road car with more than 6 cylinders, only done a longitudinal layout 3-4 times in the past 40 or so years, etc. Kinda makes sense they’d make a truck on a chassis that was once an Accord.

Yes but their refusal to give the truck market what they want hasn’t helped their volume.  The Ridgeline is declining in a booming small/mid-size truck market.  The competition offers what truck buyers tend to want, even if it is only a nominal difference in reality.  Apparently the Ridgeline is a profitable line though despite the low volume. 

[CoreySamson]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Looks kinda like they stuck on a Tacoma's grill and gave it Honda looks. At least it doesn't look like a Pilot anymore.

[Takumi]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

I would still contend even a small truck with a transverse mounted engine and unibody construction is a flawed design, but at least looks the part after about a decade. 

This is Honda we’re talking about, a company that has long refused to follow conventional wisdom on many things. Never made a road car with more than 6 cylinders, only done a longitudinal layout 3-4 times in the past 40 or so years, etc. Kinda makes sense they’d make a truck on a chassis that was once an Accord.

Yes but their refusal to give the truck market what they want hasn’t helped their volume.  The Ridgeline is declining in a booming small/mid-size truck market.  The competition offers what truck buyers tend to want, even if it is only a nominal difference in reality.  Apparently the Ridgeline is a profitable line though despite the low volume. 

Makes sense that it’d be profitable. All they did was retool the Pilot a bit. Was it declining before the Ranger came back?

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like Honda finally figured out the Ridgeline should at least look like a truck:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2021-honda-ridgeline-debuts-finally-191500874.html

Ok honda! You are getting into the groove now.

Honda can easily make good trucks that last as long as their cars & make a killing. People loves trucks, especially good ones.


iPhone

I would still contend even a small truck with a transverse mounted engine and unibody construction is a flawed design, but at least looks the part after about a decade. 

This is Honda we’re talking about, a company that has long refused to follow conventional wisdom on many things. Never made a road car with more than 6 cylinders, only done a longitudinal layout 3-4 times in the past 40 or so years, etc. Kinda makes sense they’d make a truck on a chassis that was once an Accord.

Yes but their refusal to give the truck market what they want hasn’t helped their volume.  The Ridgeline is declining in a booming small/mid-size truck market.  The competition offers what truck buyers tend to want, even if it is only a nominal difference in reality.  Apparently the Ridgeline is a profitable line though despite the low volume. 

Makes sense that it’d be profitable. All they did was retool the Pilot a bit. Was it declining before the Ranger came back?

Slightly before, although it looks like they are a gradual decline through the 40,000 range rather than a plummet. 

[Takumi]

Were I looking for a truck, I’d at least cross-shop the Ridgeline with a few similarly sized trucks: the Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado, and maybe the Frontier are all about the right size I’d want in a truck. Outside of a short bed single cab, an F-series-sized truck is too big for me. I recently drove an F150 briefly at work, and found it to be much too large.

[1995hoo]

Saw a new Corvette for the first time last Thursday on I-79 southbound somewhere between Weston and the exit for Corridor L. At first I wasn’t sure what was coming up behind us in the other lane until I made out the Corvette logo at a distance. It was then instantly obvious what it was. I’ve never been a Corvette person; if I were to look at that sort of car, I’d be more likely to look at one of the European models, likely the Boxster or Cayman. But the new Corvette looked sharp. It looked a lot more like one of the European cars; initially at a distance I wondered if it might be a Ferrari approaching, though I figured that was very unlikely in the middle of West Virginia. This model could open up a whole new market for the car. I once saw something distinguishing between Porsche people and Corvette people and suggesting if you like one, you’re not likely to buy the other. Fair enough traditionally, but I suspect that could change to some degree with the new model.

The guy driving it obviously realized I was checking out the car in my mirrors and as he went by because he flashed a peace sign as he passed us.

[Takumi]

I’ve seen a few C8s now. It does sort of look like a cross between a Ferrari and a C7.

(For those unaware, the new Corvette is now mid-rear-engined, which had been rumored to happen for years if not decades.)