05-17-2014, 08:24 PM
Well, I got called to Atlanta to give input into a new sales training program so I missed the F Type Coupe event 
It's probably for the better honestly :lol:
Car just ticked over 19,000 miles today. This is the least amount of driving I have ever done in a year, which is a nice change.
In typical me fashion, I stopped by a few dealerships today while I had my car dropped off to fix some tint that had bubbles that hadn't worked their way out. After a conversation with my brother in Arlington who traded in his prestige package S4 on a Grand Cherokee Laredo, I started to agree with a lot of the arguments he made for not having a high performance car in a major metro area. Traffic and the roads down here have gotten significantly worse, I have found that it is really hard for me to open up my car anywhere and I am having to pick my routes to avoid construction traffic & potholes. I have been tossing around the idea of picking up a truck or SUV, potentially trading this car in at some point but not necessarily serious about doing it any time soon. We may also look at one when my wife's car comes off lease.
I stopped by the Toyota dealership and checked out a 1792 edition Tundra. It is very nice but there is nothing that really stands out about it for the price. I also looked at the Land Cruiser, which at $80k is a serious LOL. I guess that is the reason why you never see any new ones on the road. We then popped into the Ford dealership and checked out the F150s after having driven my buddy's '13 HD F150 that was pretty sweet. The Ford trucks were superior to the Tundra in pretty much every way. The Platinum trim had an incredible interior (we had the wood grain, off-reddish color) and I actually took it for a test drive. It drives fine, just like a truck but there's no wow factor really. I do miss driving a truck and it was very comfortable. They didn't have any Raptors to drive but the GM of the dealership stopped by and he had a black on black one. If anyone remembers, I actually looked at Raptors as an option before I narrowed it down to the XF. Definite wow factor, not quite as sweet of an interior but they have a luxury package now that makes it a little nicer. After looking at a bunch online, it is crazy how well they hold their value. 2010-2013, 200 or 20k miles, all of them are almost exactly the same price...$53-55k which is what you can spec one for with a bunch of options brand new. Apparently they are really popular for use in Baja racing and that has kept the price all across the nation pretty high on them. Still, would be a tough pill to swallow going from my car to a Ford truck for more money and less performance / features.
I had the guy run numbers on my car just out of curiousity to see what trade in offer they would make, and predictably they used the lowest of the low end of NADA which was almost insulting considering the condition and milesage of the car. I got a call and email from the sales guy when I got home an hour later offering I am not even kidding $8000 more for my trade in if I bought a Raptor. They have a black on black spec edition with the luxury package on the way that I want to take a look at for the future, but there are a few creature comforts that would be tough to live without at that price point (heated/cooled seats).
If nothing else I ruled out the Tundra for the future. I would REALLY like to see the Ecoboost engine show up in the Raptor which it may within the next year, or they may be discontinuing it altogether apparently. Ford is moving to an all aluminum frame next year so I am curious to see how that translates to their spec edition trucks as well. My wife was completely sold on the Platinum edition and it was extremely nice but...it didn't excite me to drive it and that's one of my top 3 important factors for a vehicle.
In the Jag world, another company across the pond just released a tune pulley combo for under a grand (tune without pulley would be a little cheaper) that can be uploaded through an Android tablet or phone. Sweet! They are also mapping economy, valet maps, etc. like the Accessport had for my Subarus. The list of reasons not to get a tune are shrinking rapidly, especially since I can swap back to the stock map if necessary with my cell phone.
It's probably for the better honestly :lol:Car just ticked over 19,000 miles today. This is the least amount of driving I have ever done in a year, which is a nice change.
In typical me fashion, I stopped by a few dealerships today while I had my car dropped off to fix some tint that had bubbles that hadn't worked their way out. After a conversation with my brother in Arlington who traded in his prestige package S4 on a Grand Cherokee Laredo, I started to agree with a lot of the arguments he made for not having a high performance car in a major metro area. Traffic and the roads down here have gotten significantly worse, I have found that it is really hard for me to open up my car anywhere and I am having to pick my routes to avoid construction traffic & potholes. I have been tossing around the idea of picking up a truck or SUV, potentially trading this car in at some point but not necessarily serious about doing it any time soon. We may also look at one when my wife's car comes off lease.
I stopped by the Toyota dealership and checked out a 1792 edition Tundra. It is very nice but there is nothing that really stands out about it for the price. I also looked at the Land Cruiser, which at $80k is a serious LOL. I guess that is the reason why you never see any new ones on the road. We then popped into the Ford dealership and checked out the F150s after having driven my buddy's '13 HD F150 that was pretty sweet. The Ford trucks were superior to the Tundra in pretty much every way. The Platinum trim had an incredible interior (we had the wood grain, off-reddish color) and I actually took it for a test drive. It drives fine, just like a truck but there's no wow factor really. I do miss driving a truck and it was very comfortable. They didn't have any Raptors to drive but the GM of the dealership stopped by and he had a black on black one. If anyone remembers, I actually looked at Raptors as an option before I narrowed it down to the XF. Definite wow factor, not quite as sweet of an interior but they have a luxury package now that makes it a little nicer. After looking at a bunch online, it is crazy how well they hold their value. 2010-2013, 200 or 20k miles, all of them are almost exactly the same price...$53-55k which is what you can spec one for with a bunch of options brand new. Apparently they are really popular for use in Baja racing and that has kept the price all across the nation pretty high on them. Still, would be a tough pill to swallow going from my car to a Ford truck for more money and less performance / features.
I had the guy run numbers on my car just out of curiousity to see what trade in offer they would make, and predictably they used the lowest of the low end of NADA which was almost insulting considering the condition and milesage of the car. I got a call and email from the sales guy when I got home an hour later offering I am not even kidding $8000 more for my trade in if I bought a Raptor. They have a black on black spec edition with the luxury package on the way that I want to take a look at for the future, but there are a few creature comforts that would be tough to live without at that price point (heated/cooled seats).
If nothing else I ruled out the Tundra for the future. I would REALLY like to see the Ecoboost engine show up in the Raptor which it may within the next year, or they may be discontinuing it altogether apparently. Ford is moving to an all aluminum frame next year so I am curious to see how that translates to their spec edition trucks as well. My wife was completely sold on the Platinum edition and it was extremely nice but...it didn't excite me to drive it and that's one of my top 3 important factors for a vehicle.
In the Jag world, another company across the pond just released a tune pulley combo for under a grand (tune without pulley would be a little cheaper) that can be uploaded through an Android tablet or phone. Sweet! They are also mapping economy, valet maps, etc. like the Accessport had for my Subarus. The list of reasons not to get a tune are shrinking rapidly, especially since I can swap back to the stock map if necessary with my cell phone.
Posting in the banalist of threads since 2004
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks