RTS_04 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Is that company bankrupt BTW? What, Ferrari? They're (get this) fiscally stable and have years-long waiting lists. No matter how bad the economy, there will always be the rich who long for their Italian sports cars - and as such, there will always be a market for these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 a mWhat, Ferrari? They're (get this) fiscally stable and have years-long waiting lists. No matter how bad the economy, there will always be the rich who long for their Italian sports cars - and as such, there will always be a market for these cars. It is not an independent company - it is part of the FIAT empire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted October 22, 2008 Board Admin Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Hmmmm, I've seen few of those around as alot of young buyers love the design. So they are finally do come in Canada, I thought they won't be coming at anytime due to low market of interest. I like the coupe though, the Xc something.Yeah, Toyota just recently changed their mind on that. Just like smart took a while to come over to North America for a similar reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTS_04 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 It is not an independent company - it is part of the FIAT empire. Even so, the brand itself is fiscally viable. Yeah, Toyota just recently changed their mind on that. Just like smart took a while to come over to North America for a similar reason. Dunno why they didn't have 'em there to begin with - Canada has always seemed to be a strong market for small cars, and the original xB would have come into its own there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general682002 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 What, Ferrari? They're (get this) fiscally stable and have years-long waiting lists. No no, the one I showed you a clip. Dunno why they didn't have 'em there to begin with - Canada has always seemed to be a strong market for small cars, and the original xB would have come into its own there as well. They seem to be exercise their options to make sure if Canadian market will pickup the buyer or not. Look what happened to Mitsubishi after invading into Canada, not very many dealers now as several of them were closed down due to lack of sales. Seems to be their reputations has hit hard and so far they seem to be ok on the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM Classic 6247 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Hyundai Accent is $9995 too, but they at least say with delivery and stuff it's over $11000. The current Accent is still not bulletproof. The auto transmission on these cars is still not solid, often very slow to change gears which can lead to problems. We have sent a fairly new Accent for transmission work(2000 kms). Electronically a lot of our Accents have had their minor issues as well, they seem to show a check engine light every month. In the long run I suspect these cars will be problematic, they haven't been as bulletproof as the Elantras or Sonatas yet. I still say the Yaris and the Fit are the best of the subcompacts. The Yaris has only one weakness, a so-so interior. The Fit has only one weakness...price. After seeing a few Versas age...the Mexican build quality shows that Nissan didn't do a very good job inspecting the work done there. They also have some very weak starters, quite a lot of the ones I have to deal with at work no longer start on the first try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted October 23, 2008 Board Admin Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 My sister has a 2005 Accent, no big problems with it other than the battery died in the middle of winter. Yes it's a little weak for power but nto too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general682002 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 My sister has a 2005 Accent, no big problems with it other than the battery died in the middle of winter. Yes it's a little weak for power but nto too bad. I think it depends on the changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusMaxx Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 My sister has a 2005 Accent, no big problems with it other than the battery died in the middle of winter. Yes it's a little weak for power but nto too bad. I used to have a 97 Accent aka Pedro. It was a weak car, had a million things wrong with it (butsted pass side door handle, and window crank, tranny had two positions, park and drive, NO reverse ) but it was my first ride, and i loved every minute of driving it R.I.P. Pedro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTS_04 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 No no, the one I showed you a clip. Doubt it. A google search of what I think was the name mentioned yielded nothing. Another fly-by-night replicar. Glad we're past that era... They seem to be exercise their options to make sure if Canadian market will pickup the buyer or not. Look what happened to Mitsubishi after invading into Canada, not very many dealers now as several of them were closed down due to lack of sales. Seems to be their reputations has hit hard and so far they seem to be ok on the market. Yeah, but you guys have Toyota dealers, right? Most Scion franchises are owned by existing Toyota dealers - they're often even within the same showroom, so there's not a major investment in additional real estate required to launch 'em. Mitsu, I don't know - that may have been tricky. That brand's sinking fast - outside of the Evo, there's nothing really significant there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted October 23, 2008 Board Admin Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Yes, of course we have Toyota dealers. Though one of them here in Edmonton that used to sell Lexus from the same showroom no longer sells Lexus and is exclusively Toyota now. Lexus branched right off to a nice new dealership years ago now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTS_04 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Yes, of course we have Toyota dealers. Though one of them here in Edmonton that used to sell Lexus from the same showroom no longer sells Lexus and is exclusively Toyota now. Lexus branched right off to a nice new dealership years ago now. That's not so surprising - the brands are aimed at different demographics. I suppose Scion is too (though the Yaris and ultimately the iQ have a younger feel to 'em), but it's a small enough lineup that most outlets are just corners of toyota dealers - possibly with some unique signage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRT_BMT_IND Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Dunno why they didn't have 'em there to begin with - Canada has always seemed to be a strong market for small cars, and the original xB would have come into its own there as well. The reason why Canada never got Scion was because the existing Toyota subcompacts at the time (Echo and Corolla) were far more popular in Canada than the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mersar Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 After seeing a few Versas age...the Mexican build quality shows that Nissan didn't do a very good job inspecting the work done there. They also have some very weak starters, quite a lot of the ones I have to deal with at work no longer start on the first try. The starter issue is likely actually related to the fuel pump, Nissan issued a TSB about it a while back as there was a number that were faulty, and wouldn't start on the first try unless you really held the key. Aside from that there haven't been many major issues reported, and I've noticed there is a lot more of them showing up around Calgary, though I swear that they are only selling them in metalic grey since 9 of every 10 I see are that color (theres 3 others that park in the same parking lot as me at U of C, 1 sedan and 2 hatchbacks, and all of them are metalic grey). I have seen one blue and one of the silver, but no other colors outside a dealership. I've so far had no major issues with my Versa, already put 14,000km on it since I got it earlier this year and the only annoyance is the somewhat squeaky brakes. I have noticed my mileage has dropped with this cold weather, not sure if its just the cold or if its the gas (I believe we have similar regulations to parts of the USA in terms of formulation for gasoline depending on the season), though its still sitting around 38MPG, down from about 42 over the last few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM Classic 6247 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 My sister has a 2005 Accent, no big problems with it other than the battery died in the middle of winter. Yes it's a little weak for power but nto too bad. Power is actually decent in the current gen of Accents. The Yaris and Fit have less power in comparison, of course its not that noticeable. Its that terrible auto transmission Hyundai put in the car that has been giving it the majority of its mechanical issues. It just doesn't seem to like switching between D to R and back without taking its time. I'm not sure what's causing the electrical issues. I'd rather go for the 2009 Sonata since its a fantastic car. Its a rarity when a mid-life redesign improves so many things. From an objective standpoint...its been faultless, its even dumped the low quality Hyundai stereo for a proper one. The starter issue is likely actually related to the fuel pump, Nissan issued a TSB about it a while back as there was a number that were faulty, and wouldn't start on the first try unless you really held the key. Aside from that there haven't been many major issues reported, and I've noticed there is a lot more of them showing up around Calgary, though I swear that they are only selling them in metalic grey since 9 of every 10 I see are that color (theres 3 others that park in the same parking lot as me at U of C, 1 sedan and 2 hatchbacks, and all of them are metalic grey). I have seen one blue and one of the silver, but no other colors outside a dealership.I've so far had no major issues with my Versa, already put 14,000km on it since I got it earlier this year and the only annoyance is the somewhat squeaky brakes. I have noticed my mileage has dropped with this cold weather, not sure if its just the cold or if its the gas (I believe we have similar regulations to parts of the USA in terms of formulation for gasoline depending on the season), though its still sitting around 38MPG, down from about 42 over the last few weeks. The Mexican build quality is still the biggest worry I have with the Versa. Its possible if you don't trash the car that the pieces won't come apart or fall out within a year. Yet I've seen some of the flimsy pieces keeping other pieces in place on the Versa leading me to believe the interior needs to be reassembled if one wishes to keep it for a long time. The fuel door and hood release for instance are held by a plastic string, if they don't work you need to find the loose plastic string to open those. The big reason I'm still in major favour of the Yaris for this class is despite having so many of these vehicles in our fleet...absolutely none of them have any mechanical issues, none have any build quality issues regardless of how hard they've been trashed and they all drive pretty nicely while retaining the best fuel economy for a non-hybrid petroleum car. We were actually surprised to see a 2007 Yaris sedan being brought back to us on a tow truck, the woman made a big fuss over how we gave her a car with electrical issues. In the end the only reason the car cut out on her was...it was completely empty of fuel. Our branch is actually happy to keep Yarises primarily because they're good, and also we know its the car least likely to give customers reliability issues. Its ability to handle abuse is also outstanding, one wonders how good it will be under someone who gives it TLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Well i went and picked up my SUV today. what a nice vehicle to drive. I love it. i have to go back Saturday so they can etch the windows for security. oh man its nice. will post more pics probably later today / tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion VIII Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Well i went and picked up my SUV today. what a nice vehicle to drive. I love it. i have to go back Saturday so they can etch the windows for security. oh man its nice.will post more pics probably later today / tomorrow. VINning windows has got to be the most pointless cashgrab in the auto industry. If it's not too late, don't pay to have it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted October 23, 2008 Board Admin Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Totally agree with that. It would be maybe worth it if they didn't advertise it to everyone, and only the manufacturer knew which VIN had what etched in the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general682002 Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Well, it looks like indeed they are coming! This will be a booming marker for potential young buyers. Too bad I've already am a mature guy! http://www.wheels.ca/consumernews/article/423454 Toyota brings Scion to CanadaAutomaker is bringing its youth-oriented Scion brand to Canada in 2010 Michael Banovsky Toronto Star Oct 24, 2008 With more than 30 automotive brands in Canada and sales dropping across the board, it may not seem like the best time to introduce a new one into the market. But that is exactly what Toyota Canada is doing with the launch of Scion, its youth-oriented brand that debuted in the U.S. five years ago. The Japanese automaker said this week Scion will debut three models here in 2010, in showrooms initially located only in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Since Scion was introduced south of the border in 2003, Toyota has sold half-a-million units of the modestly priced, fuel-efficient compact vehicles, largely to younger consumers. The carmaker is hoping that the three models it plans to introduce to Canada – the subcompact xD, the compact xB and compact coupe tC – have the same effect here. "In Canada, six million people are what we'd call Generation Y – they're trendsetters in every way, and we need to speak to them in a language that's genuine and appropriate to their needs," said Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota Canada. Despite market conditions, Beatty said Canada is finally ready for Scion – and Toyota is clearly ready for the much-needed younger buyer the brand could attract. "The Scion brand has the youngest median age of any brand in the U.S., at 33 years old," said Jack Hollis, vice-president of Scion. "We also have the `youngest' single vehicle in industry – our tC customers have an average age of 24." The average age of a new-car buyer in the U.S.? Try 48. Part of the reason for the age discrepancy is Scion's approach to building vehicles. Almost everything is optional and customizable before delivery, from the radio down to wheels and tires. Each model has a number of exterior and interior trims, performance parts and colour-keyed parts that make each Scion unique to its purchaser. It also doesn't hurt that in an era of high gas prices the Scion models are relatively fuel-efficient, with estimated fuel consumption ratings of 9.7 L/100 km in the city and 7.2 L/100 km on the highway. Beatty said that since Scion's inception, the case to sell it in Canada had been under yearly review, but the brand would not have met the required sales threshold to make importation viable. "People's expectations are quickly changing in regards to fuel economy and size of vehicles, and they are looking for more choice in a smaller package," added Beatty. When introduced, the vehicles will be available at Toyota dealerships upgraded to handle a "store within a store" selling concept – similar to what Mercedes-Benz has done with its Smart microcar brand. The Scion brand represents about 10 per cent of Toyota's U.S. sales. Three models start at around $15,000 (all figures in U.S. dollars) and can swell to more than $25,000 when fully outfitted. Canadian pricing has not been announced. Could the trendy new models steal sales from established Toyota nameplates like Corolla, Matrix and Yaris? No, said automotive industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers. "I don't see them cannibalizing Toyota sales, because Scions are targeted to a narrow range of consumers. That way, both brands will see buyer demographics that aren't compromised by the other," DesRosiers said. He noted that current Scion models are finding their way into Canada without official sales. "One of the things you have to remember is that with Toyota having become so big in the industry over a number of years, you tend to get long-in-the-tooth buyer demographics. This is a really unique way to bring in a younger audience." Once the new brand is in place, Toyota will, in effect, have the demographic range covered – Scion for the young buyer, Toyota for the mid-range and Lexus for the older, more affluent crowd. Scion makes a point of pitching its vehicles at a younger demographic in the U.S. through grassroots marketing. Instead of using traditional media, Scion has focused on reaching trendsetters involved with online virtual worlds and urban music, film, fashion and art scenes. "We reach out and work with different companies, like small boutique jeans and clothing stores, artists involved with street films and street art – groups that show creativity of entertainment," said Scion's Hollis. "Even talented people yet to be discovered by the mainstream – those are who we're attracting and who we know are honest with feedback." Young owners are also attracted to the Scion because of the clubs. There are nearly 200 registered Scion clubs – independent of the automaker – across the U.S., and for Hollis it's "proof of our transparency and authenticity. Our owners come together, spend a lot of time accessorizing, socializing and customizing their cars." Despite the good vibes, the brand's image of appealing to younger buyers took a blow recently when it rolled out a redesigned xB and all-new xD model that were larger in every way. In response, Hollis said Toyota does not evaluate the success of Scion solely on absolute sales numbers. "It's about who we're selling to and how we're selling. We track every new buyer to our brand every month, and then how many we keep in our corporate family by transferring to our Toyota or Lexus brands," he said. "Right now, half of Scion owners switch to a Toyota or Lexus for their next car, and to date we've added almost 500,000 new people to the Toyota family that we don't believe would have come to us otherwise." In the U.S., every Toyota dealer is capable of repairing Scions, which are mechanically similar to Toyotas. Canada should be no different, said Beatty. If all goes according to plan, Scion will be the first new brand to be sold in Canada since Mitsubishi in 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pccstreetcar4549 Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 its about time really, ive seen a few around, obviously imports. i woud imagine don valley north would be the first toronto dealership after all they were the first lexus dealership in toronto i believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Demers Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 What does everyone think about the 2009 VW Routan? http://www.canadiandriver.com/buyers-guide...agen/routan.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2822 Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 What does everyone think about the 2009 VW Routan?http://www.canadiandriver.com/buyers-guide...agen/routan.php Does every auto maker need a minivan now? At least it's made in Windsor Ontario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted October 27, 2008 Board Admin Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 It's a typical Chrysler minivan with a revised front and rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Don of All Buses Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 2008 Xtreme XB500 electric scooterbike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid0920 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 2008 Xtreme XB500 electric scooterbike Nice to hear of another person with the environment on his mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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