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For many families, buying a car is among the most expensive – and emotional – purchases they’ll ever make. But while many astute shoppers may come to the table fully prepared with reams of reviews and pricing information on the makes and models of their dreams, they could well face a rude awakening at the hands of a shady, even unscrupulous salesperson or new-car dealership.
“People can get into trouble because no one has ever taught them how to really go about buying a car,” says former car dealer and current consumer advocate and radio show host Nicole Markson. “People are not skilled at negotiating because they do it once every three to five years, while dealership personnel do it all day every day. The field is not level from the start.”
Over the past few years Lexus has been referred to as a Japanese Buick, with the number one reason being the ES front-drive luxury sedan a car that drew direct comparisons with the not-quite-Cadillac GM premium brand. To erase those comparos the new 2013 ES gets a more stylish exterior with a GS-themed front nose and a profile more like the flagship LS.
Swapping its Camry underpinnings for an Avalon platform it has, however, grown even more in size a notable Buick trait. Plus, to challenge the eAssist mild-hybrid LaCrosse, there's finally now an ES300h hybrid system getting 39 mpg average.
BMW i8 Concept Spyder plug-in hybrid brings the future closer
What's most stunning about the BMW i8 Concept Spyder the German automaker revealed today isn't the 350-hp plug-in hybrid technology, the laser-powered headlights or the auto-show touches such as folding electric kickboards. It's that BMW plans to build something with most of these features, in a car looking much like this, within a few years. This is not a dream.
The latest evolution of BMW i-Series concepts expected at this week's New York auto show wears an exterior that while still futuristic, represents a viable look at what BMW will build in two years. When BMW chief designer Adrian von Hooydonk told us in Detroit the production i8s would strongly resemble the concepts, this -- the layered bodywork, the laser headlights and the tri-tone accents -- was what he meant. Even the i8 Concept Spyder's scissor doors look less showy than purposeful here.
Like most auto show concepts, the i8 Concept Spyder moves thanks to a combination of battery and engine -- namely a 96 kW electric motor tied to a 223-hp turbocharged three cylinder engine, for a total output of 354 hp. Unlike most concepts, BMW pledges hard performance targets of 0-60 mph in about five seconds, some 19 miles on electric power alone, a top speed of 155 mph and fuel economy of 94 mpg in European testing.
That kind of performance was made possible by BMW's engineering efforts around the body, mating a carbon-fiber passenger cell to aluminum subframes for the engine and battery. Doing so, BMW claims, allowed it to eliminate the extra weight a plug-in hybrid system usually carries while maintaining the 50/50 front-rear weight split for handling that BMW owners rejoice in. And BMW has programmed the system to choose front, rear or all-wheel-drive as it sees fit.
Inside, BMW's promising a welter of intelligent software advancements that would anticipate drivers' needs, such warming the batteries before departure or finding charging stations along a route. It claims the batteries can be recharged in under two hours from a standard household outlet, and while at your destination the i8 Concept Spyder has two folding electric kickboards -- essentially Razor scooters with mini motors -- which the automaker touts as "perfect for relaxed cruising along promenades and paths or around city squares."
Those won't make it off the auto show floor. But the rest of BMW i8 Concept Spyder appears tantalizingly close, although rumors from Europe suggest the i-Series will match their high goals with high prices, possibly above $100,000. Even then, if BMW can produce something with this performance and design, the future will have a new classic.
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