Chevy Has a New Car But It's Probably NOT For You

Chevy Has a New Car But It's Probably NOT For You



It seems like just yesterday that General Motors was making more cars than it could sell, forcing it to unload them to rental car companies at cut rate prices in order to keep them from filling up the parking lots outside of its many soon-to-be-closed factories.
Not anymore.


Sales of the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox crossover are so strong – nearly 13,000 were sold in February alone – that the factory where it’s made literally can’t build enough of them to keep up with demand. The solution? Bring in a pinch-hitter.


Chevrolet has announced that in the fourth quarter of 2011 it is adding the Captiva Sport to its lineup, a front- or all-wheel-drive crossover that’s one notch smaller than the Equinox. Made in Mexico and sold in 50 markets around the world, the five-door will be available with the same 2.4-liter four-cylinder and 3.0-liter V6 engines found in the Equinox. Pricing has not been announced.


But how could Chevy reengineer a car to meet strict U.S. safety and emissions standards so quickly? Well, if you look not-to-closely enough you might notice that the Captiva Sport is very similar in appearance to Saturn Vue, which was discontinued along with that brand. That’s because it’s basically the same car.




Interested? Well, unless you own one of those aforementioned rental car companies, or are the purchasing officer for your company or local government you’re out of luck. Chevy is only making the Captiva available for fleet sales, allowing it to keep raking in the more profitable retail sales with the Equinox.
Incidentally, this isn’t the only car that Chevrolet offers that is restricted to fleet sales. The Caprice PPV is an Australian-made, full-size sedan that it is currently shopping around to police departments across the country, but will not be offering to retail customers.

"Desperate" Toyota Offers Zero Percent Auto Loans

The 2011 Toyota Highlander can be leased for $279 a month in March.

"Desperate" Toyota Offers Zero Percent Auto Loans



Toyota's March new car incentives are mostly similar to what was offered last month. Toyota is still offering 0 percent auto loan rates in March. Discounted lease deals are also still available this month. Complimentary maintenance comes standard on all new Toyota vehicles.


Toyota's 0 percent auto loan rate is good up to five years on the Tundra, Highlander Hybrid, Matrix, Camry Hybrid and Camry in March. For four years, shoppers can buy the Venza interest-free. A three-year, 0 percent auto loan rate is available on the Prius, Yaris, Corolla, Avalon, RAV4, Highlander and Sienna in March. Higher auto loan rates are available on select models for longer loan lengths.


Select Toyota vehicles with low auto loan rates also include a no payments for 90 days incentive. No down payment is required on most models. Shoppers will most likely need a credit score of about 720 to get Toyota's 0 percent auto loan rate. The 2011 Camry has $500 in bonus customer cash on top of the 0 percent interest rate this month. Buyers can put the $500 toward their down payment or receive a check for the amount.


The 2011 Toyota Yaris is the only model with a $500 cash back offer in March.



Toyota is offering shoppers 39-month lease deals on 13 different vehicles in March. Monthly lease payments range from $139 to $469, depending on the model, and you'll need anywhere from $2,138 to $3,268 at lease signing. All the lease deals require a credit score of 720 to qualify, except the Matrix, which only requires a credit score of 650.


The 2011 Camry LE is the only model with a sign and drive lease deal in March. The Camry can be leased for $249 a month and it has $500 in bonus customer cash. The $500 can be used to lower the price of the car or shoppers can receive a check for the amount.


Toyota's two-year complimentary maintenance program comes standard on all new Toyota vehicles in March. You'll get a coupon book for all scheduled maintenance, which includes things like oil changes and tire rotations, but doesn't cover things like brake pads and wiper blades.
Incentives listed are for the southeast region. They may differ depending on where you live. Check Toyota's site to find the incentives in your area.

Not the Microbus Volkswagen of America Needs

Volkswagen unveiled the electric-powered Bulli concept at the Geneva Auto Salon last week. The buzz on this side of the pond is that the new-age Microbus that America has been awaiting since the first New Beetle is finally here. VW’s North American chief, Jonathan Browning, has said he’d love to have a T1/Microbus-style minivan to sell here.

Browning needs all the North American-friendly product he can get. Wolfsburg has charged him with the goal of selling 800,000 Volkswagens in the United States by 2018. Last year, VW sold just under 257,000 vehicles, fewer than either Subaru, the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Browning’s first shots at the goal are the cheaper, decontented 2011 Jetta and Tennessee-built 2012 Passat.

Bulli, even with an internal combustion engine replacing the concept’s electric motor, is no Jetta or Passat. If sold here, it would fit in with other lower-volume, Euro-centric VWs already sold here like the Golf, CC and Touareg. What Browning needs, for volume, is a minivan with the Bulli’s styling stretched over the new, 110.4-inch wheelbase Passat’s large midsize platform. VW of America needs a Microbus roughly the size of the concept shown here at the 2001 Detroit auto show. That one used the T5 platform.

With two rows of fold-down bench seats, the Bulli is ostensibly a six-seater. Really, it’s more of a four-seater, for young couples or people with dogs, instead of kids. The seats fold down 50/50 front and back, and the rear windows roll down on conventional (not sliding) doors. There’s very little rear cargo space.

The Bulli, if sold here, would compete with the Soul, of which Kia sold 67,000 last year, or the Fit, of which Honda sold 54k. A good, Microbus-style Routan replacement would have to compete with the Honda Odyssey (108k in ’10), Toyota Sienna (98k) and the Chrysler twins (about 215k, combined) to be a significant contributor to VW’s ’18 goal.

VW’s Bulli is smaller than the Kia Soul. It’s about 4.6 inches shorter overall, on a 2.7-inch longer wheelbase. It’s about 1.4 inches narrower than the Soul, though three-and-a-half inches taller. It’s designed for the European market, not ours, unless and until gasoline hits $5 per gallon and stays there. It’s maybe closer in size to the Ford B-Max, which isn’t going to be imported here.

Bulli’s styling is encouraging, though; a good, modern interpretation of the vans that used to follow The Grateful Dead from concert to concert.

If VW can stretch the Bulli’s design language onto the North American Passat platform, and maybe add half a dozen small windows in the roof, they might have the kind of minivan that would draw consumers who need minivans for the space, but hate them anyway.

I’m sure Browning is pushing for exactly that kind of Routan replacement. That, and a three-row, $30,000 crossover/utility also off the Passat platform. I mean, c’mon; we are Americans, after all.

As Gas Prices Rise, Toyota's Hybrid Sales Pass 3 Million

As Gas Prices Rise, Toyota's Hybrid Sales Pass 3 Million  

Sales ofToyota's (TM) gas-electric hybrid vehicles have passed3 millionunits worldwide, according to Nikkei Business and several other media accounts. The company's Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car, was introduced in Japan in 1997 and launched in the U.S. in 2001.

Most major car companies have introduced hybrids of their own, but there is no evidence that any of these models have come close to matching thePriusin units sold. By way of comparison, about 12 million cars and light trucks will be sold in the U.S. this year. In China, the world's largest car market, sales should be about 14 million.

Automoblogsummed up the success of the Prius: "As expected, the Toyota Prius makes up the lion's share of the brand's hybrid sales. Accounting for 72% of the world sales of Toyota hybrid vehicles, three generations of the Prius popularity is set to gain more product diversity this year when the Prius V and aplug-in hybridversion arrive for sale."

The Prius's success contrasts with early attempts to market electronic cars. The Prius has the advantage of a price comparable to gas-powered cars. Mostelectric carmodels cost more than gas-powered cars of the same size and passenger capacity. There are also concerns about how far an electric car will go without a charge. Auto industry research firm JD Power recently reported that electric car sales will be very slow for the next few years and will only account for 7.3% of all light vehicles sold in 2020.

Toyota's recall andearningsproblems, which began 14 months ago, hurt both the company's sales and reputation. But neither seems to have undermined the ongoing rise of the Prius as the dominant alternative energy car in the world.

The Three Worst Things You Can Say to an Auto Lender

Heading to the car lot to pick out a new ride can be a lot of fun. Talking to the auto lender, however, can feel a bit like a hostage negotiation. After all, you're trying to get the best car you can get for the best price, while the dealer simply wants to make as much money off you as possible.

And unless your bottom line is truly bottomless, you don't want to leave the lot knowing that something else in the budget -- like groceries -- will have to be sacrificed in order to afford that new, monthly car payment.

So before you go car shopping, be forewarned. These are the three worst things you can say to an auto lender.

1. "I can afford to pay $X dollars per month."

Bad idea, as we've mentioned before on WalletPop.

Granted, it seems logical that you would tell an auto lender what you can afford to pay. Why on Earth wouldn't you tell them how much you afford to spend each month on your car?

Because, says Jimmy Williamson, a member of the National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, "lenders and car dealers will then hit you with a loan paid out over 72 months or longer at exorbitant interest rates. Instead, negotiate the best cash price for the car before you even mention monthly payments or terms."

There are other factors you should be thinking about beyond your monthly payment, according to Gary Pierce, general manager for the auto division atLendingTree.com. "It's important to also look at the total cost of the vehicle, the interest rate and the cost of borrowing over the life of the loan," Pierce says.

Another reason not to quote a price that you're comfortable paying every month is that the car salesman will likely get you to nudge yourself to a higher price, says Phil Reed, the senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com.

Reed worked as a car salesman for several years, and when he was being trained, he says he was taught that if a customer said they were comfortable paying $400 a month, the salesperson should say, "$400 up to ... ?"

The consumer would then likely stammer and say, "Hmm ... $450."

"So you've already gotten them to negotiate with themselves," Reed says. "They've agreed to pay $450, and then the salesperson comes back and says, 'Well, we couldn't do $450, but we can do $475.' That sort of thing goes on all the time."

So how do you avoid talking about what monthly payment you can afford? "What we always recommend is that you get pre-approved for a loan before you walk into a dealership, even if you're possibly going to borrow from the dealership," says Reed. "If you can walk in there and say that you have pre-approved financing, that you don't want to talk about the monthly payment, and that you only want to talk about the price of the car, you've completely disabled their main tactic."

What's more, you're more likely to get a better deal because once you're in the room with the finance guy, he'll ask about the interest rate you've been pre-approved for, Reed says, and quite possibly the conversation will go like this:

Finance manager: What's the rate you're approved for?
You: Six percent.
Finance manager: I can offer you 4.5%. Are you interested?

And that, says Reed, is when you say, "Of course, I'm interested."

2. "I've had a few financial problems, but my credit is okay."

Hey, what's the problem? You're just being honest and preparing the salesman for whatever they're already going to see on your credit report, right?

It would seem so, but Reed says that car salesmen is likely to adopt a position of, "Your credit is weak, and I'm going to help you out." As Reed explains, "Immediately, the consumer feels as if this guy is trying to help them out, and so they can't bargain with them."

But there is plenty of room to bargain, from the interest rate to the extended warranty -- should you decide you want one -- to the add-ons that the dealership will try to get you to purchase. But from the moment the salesman is "helping" you and doing you a favor, you can pretty much be guaranteed he's going to do you no favor at all.

3. "I don't care how you do it, just get me into a car."

"That's exactly what the people at the car dealership want to hear," says Reed, "and believe me, they'll do everything they can to get you into a car."

If you make the comment as soon as you arrive on the lot, you're pretty much saying you've already given up. And if you make the comment in the middle or near the end of the negotiation, the dealer knows just how desperate you are. By admitting you want them to do anything to get you into a new car, you've signaled that you're willing to take whatever they can offer you.

But if you're really that desperate, you should probably stick to either buying a car through the Internet, or at least bringing in a friend or relative to help you negotiate.

"They have a name for those customers," Reed says of the consumer who waves the white flag. "Salespeople will come into the back office and say, 'He was a 'get me done' sale."

And while you may not have a lot of room to maneuver -- "Your credit score will usher in the final decision, and there's only so much tap dancing you can do," Reed says -- you certainly don't want to take a weak position from the beginning.

BMW Aims For Cars to Take E-mail Dictation

BMW has developed a prototype system that allows drivers to compose full-text e-mails and text messages using voice commands. Unlike voice-activation options in existing BMWs, the technology relies on speech-recognition algorithms that offer drivers, as well as passengers, freedom to dictate original messages from over a million recognized words in the database.

he main novelty is that you can compose e-mails with the same ease of use that you would have with a PC in an office setting--without taking your eyes off of the road or using your hands. You respond to e-mail by dictating out loud what you want to say while using voice commands for editing functions, such as deleting, moving, or replacing text. For millions of workers who otherwise waste a large percentage of their time driving every day, being able to send and receive e-mails safely while commuting would represent an obvious boost in productivity.

The system, which could be sold as an option in production models within three years, as part of the company's plans to develop voice-activated commands to operate any function that drivers must otherwise activate today by hand. For example, the German luxury carmaker expects eventually to allow drivers to enter search queries on the Internet and to hear search results read out loud by using voice commands as well.

Does it look like he's working?BMW's voice-to-text e-mail technology complements options that BMW already offers. With BMW's ConnectedDrive, for example, you can connect your Blackberry to the dashboard console with a Bluetooth connection and the audio system reads e-mail or text messages out loud as you drive. When the car is not in motion, it is possible read the full texts of the e-mails from a Blackberry inbox on the car's dashboard screen. For the iPhone, BMW will offer an app with which drivers can open and lock their car remotely.

Other carmakers are seeking to widen their in-car communications options as well, of course. In the mainstream car sector, Ford's Sync infotainment system allows for selected smartphone applications to run on a dashboard console. With Ford's MyFord Touch for Sync, drivers can select routes for GPS-guided navigation and music. Ford also plans for Sync to read e-mail and text messages out loud and to allow drivers to dictate messages in three to five years time, although it has not yet demonstrated a prototype that does this like BMW has.

GM says it is developing a voice communications app for Android mobile phones that will let drivers send and receive text messages and Facebook updates using only their voices. GM said it plans to offer the system with its OnStar in-car system and service during the first half of the year and will offer the compatible smart phone apps through Android Market.

A main issue with any of these technologies is safety, of course. In theory, anybody can type and receive e-mails in their car with an Android, Blackberry, iPhone, or other smartphone while driving.

But in case it is not already apparent; texting, e-mailing, or even talking on the phone while holding the device to your ear is extremely dangerous, distracted-driving behavior. Distracted driving was involved in the deaths of 5474 people and 448,000 injuries in car or motorcycle crashes on U.S. roads and streets, according to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis.

In the best-case scenario, technology that allows for hands-free e-mailing and using other office applications in the car may save lives while allowing you to continue to work while driving. It is also likely that driver distractions may one day become irrelevant in the not-so-distant future, when and if cars drive themselves as many futurists expect them to.

However, in the meantime, I remain cautiously skeptical that even voice-to-text e-mailing and texting is totally safe, so I look forward to in-depth studies to clarify just how safe or unsafe it is.

Ford Continues Short-Term Lease Deals

Ford Continues Short-Term Lease Deals

Ford is continuing its auto lease deals in March, as well as low and 0 percent auto loan rates on 2010, 2011 and 2012 vehicles and cash back incentives.


Certain remaining 2010 Ford vehicles are being offered with 0 percent auto loan financing in March. Cash rebates are also available on leftover 2010 Ford vehicles for shoppers who prefer to finance through their bank or credit union or pay cash.


Select 2011 Ford models have low car loan rates of 0 to 6.9 percent, depending on the vehicle and length of the loan. In lieu of the low auto loan rates, Ford is also offering customer cash on select 2011 models this month. Some of Ford's commercial vehicles have higher auto loan rate deals than the regular retail offers.

The 2011 Ford Fusion can be purchased with interest-free financing for five years with $1,000 in trade-in cash in March.

A couple 2011 Ford vehicles have 0 percent auto loan rates for 60 months, plus $1,000 in trade-in assistance bonus cash. This offer is good on the 2011 Ford Escape and Fusion.


The 2012 Ford Mustang is available with 1.9 percent financing for 36 months, 2.9 percent for 48 months, 3.9 percent for 60 months and 5.9 percent for 72 months in March.


Auto lease deals are available for two years on nine Ford vehicles in March. The 2011 Ford Edge, Escape,Flex, Explorer, F-150, Fiesta, Fusion, Mustang and Taurus are all included. At less than $200 a month, shoppers can lease the Fiesta and Fusion. The Edge, Escape and Mustang are available in the $200 to $300 a month range. The Flex, Explorer, F-150 and Taurus all fall into the $300 to $359 a month range. You'll need anywhere from $1,829 to $3,878 at lease signing, depending on the vehicle.


Incentives listed are for the southeast region. They may differ depending on where you live. Check Ford's site to find the incentives in your area.