Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

[Incandenza]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

I found out that Nicholas Winding Refn, the guy that directed Drive, did the McConaughey Lincoln commercials.

I really don't want to have a minivan, but fitting a 9-year old and two 3-year olds and their giant car seats in anything without three rows is difficult. They can all fit in the back of Mrs. Inca's CR-V, but the big kid feels squished. We have a minivan now. I dislike driving it, but I've resigned myself to it for a while.

We might trade up to a Pilot eventually. I've also read really good things about the new Mazda CX9, which has three rows.

[Reed John]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

WOM wrote:

Do they show those weird Matthew McConaughey ads for Lincoln in Canada?

My 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade has 100,000 miles on it. I'm hoping it will make it to 200,000. Then I'll buy another Jeep of some kind, I suppose. Or maybe a pick-up.

Yeah, those McConaughey ads seem to be everywhere. I like Jim Carrey's SNL spoof of them.

I have mixed feelings about Jeeps. I want to like them, but each one seems to have its own Achilles heel. The Renegade we had in Florida in March had the worst transmission I've ever experienced.

g'phile's Honda must have been the Pilot. It is indeed absurdly big.

I've never had a problem with the transmission.* My problem has been with bits of bullshit plastic like the rear brakelights that cost way too much to replace (because, of course, once you own the car, you can't really shop around for unique parts like that). The timing belt went wonky once and it has these shiny metal things along the outside bottom edge that I think are supposed to make it more "trail-worthy" but have rusted and just sorta look bad.

And now the drivers door lock doesn't respond to the key remote or even if you push the "lock all" button. I have to push the thing down manually. Like Rousseau's idealized man in a state of nature. Fortunately, car theft in this town is virtually zero.

* knock on wood

[caja-dglh]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

The biggest twatmobile is yet to come. The Q7 doesn't really get anywhere near the Audi intersect with the Suburb LT et al. Coming soon - the BMW X7. Fear it.

[Reed John]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

That will be the car NFL players show off on Cribs. (Is that still on TV?)

[Incandenza]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

caja-dglh wrote: The biggest twatmobile is yet to come. The Q7 doesn't really get anywhere near the Audi intersect with the Suburb LT et al. Coming soon - the BMW X7. Fear it.

I've seen a few of the new Teslas, with the gullwing doors. Those seem pretty twattish.

[Reed John]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Incandenza wrote:

The biggest twatmobile is yet to come. The Q7 doesn't really get anywhere near the Audi intersect with the Suburb LT et al. Coming soon - the BMW X7. Fear it.

I've seen a few of the new Teslas, with the gullwing doors. Those seem pretty twattish.

We suddenly have an influx of twatmobiles in town. Most of them are owned by students/gradstudents from Asia. I recently came upon a scene in the middle of a quiet residential street where there were three well-dressed young East Asian-looking people looking forlornly at a big dent in the fender of a Mercedes. They weren't doing anything but just looking at it and discussing it in low tones. There's a Maserati that I see around and a Tesla, but I think it's an S not an X.

Also, the son of the guy who founded AccuWeather (and runs it now) has a red Ferarri. But somebody just told me that he traded it in and got a Lambo.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

As big a fan as I am of both the Bricklin and the DeLorean, gull wing doors are just plain stupid. 'Scissor' doors marginally less so.

To Reed's point, corrosion is a big sore spot on Jeeps. In Canada, that's a deal breaker. YJ/Wranglers get absurdly rusty waaaaay too young.

[Reed John]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

It's just the one extraneous part that shows rust. The rest of the vehicle is fine.

Rust just isn't a problem like it was for the cars we had when I was a kid or the 1994 Mercury Topaz I had which lost two mufflers to gradual rust and corrosion in seven years.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Yeah, those side rails / steps or whatever are never as well made, painted or protected as the vehicle is. Same with any whatsits that hang on the back, like those swing-out tire holders and frame hitches.

[caja-dglh]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Even rust won't be seen in a Nissan Cube, amirite?

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

I've had both my cars rustproofed annually since new. They'll wear out before they rust out.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

You prick...

[caja-dglh]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Haha! Rust doesn't seem quite such a challenge here, but can be a concern. Prius' are basically made of plastic, which helps.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

L's car has the plastic all around, of course. Which is why it looks basically new at 13. The under-bits benefit from an annual oil-spray, though.

[Incandenza]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Speaking of Prii, I find the back of the newer Prius models to be ugly.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

These ugly chrome eyebrows on the Buick Verano remind me of an Angry Birds character. And now I can't unsee that.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

And now for something slightly different, Canada's 25 best / most trusted brands.

1 MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op / Outdoorsy stuff)
2 Home Hardware
3 WestJet
4 Tim Hortons
5 Cirque du Soleil
6 Canadian Tire
7 Loblaws (Grocery)
8 IMAX (Jesus-huge Films)
9 Roots (Clothing)
10 Saputo (Cheese/Dairy)
11 TD Bank
12 Jean Coutu (Drugstore)
13 Shoppers Drug Mart (Drugstore)
14 BRP (SeaDoo/SkiDoo/Spyder)
15 Sobeys (Grocery)
16 Canada Goose
17 McCain Foods (Frozen foods)
18 Bank of Montreal
19 Telus (Cell phones)
20 Metro (Grocery)
21 Rona (Hardware)
22 Great West Life Assurance
23 Cineplex
24 Videotron
25 Scotiabank

[caja-dglh]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Impressive showing by TD Bank there.

I missed Inca's comment on the new Prius. It is charitable only to focus on the back being ugly. I think Toyota basically treat it like a semi-concept car where they dick around with designs and see what people accept from it.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

True. Lexus has been getting away with murder, so Toyota figured it might work across the brand.

[ursus arctos]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

Do Canadians not like Porter, or it just that their network is much smaller than WestJet's?

I'm quite fond of Porter.

Also, no Little Chef / Boston Pizza / The Keg / St Hubert?

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

You don't hear many complaints about Porter, but WestJet has made a point of building a warm, fuzzy feeling around themselves. It's clearly paying off.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

The real head-scratcher there is Canadian Tire. I mean, for most Canadian men, it's their second home. But it can be fucking ordeal just to find a useful employee, and it's taken as gospel that you don't ever want your car serviced there.

[Ginger Yellow]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

I like the idea of Cirque du Soleil being a trusted brand. Not like those scam artists at the Blue Man Group.

[caja-dglh]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

I was wondering about the trusted part - I think the "best" part is higher in the weight (like some guess at brand goodwill).

That was I can get cirque de Soleil as a brand, but not as trusted as they reboot the same bloody fairground stunts to different music every year.

[WOM]

Canada Car Sales, with Commentary

ursus arctos wrote: Little Chef / Boston Pizza / The Keg / St Hubert?

a) Huh?
b) Shit.
c) Reliable but unremarkable.
d) Far too regional. Expansion efforts always fail.

Swiss Chalet, however, is a notable omission.