A thing rarely seen

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
05/18/2016 at 07:38 • Filed to: Alfa Romeo, Spider

Alfa Spyder

It’s the openable version of the Brera.

DISCUSSION (18)

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin
05/18/2016 at 07:52

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I fixed it for you, I don’t know how common it is in Ireland, but I haven’t seen a Laguna III in weeks over here.

MultiplaOrgasms > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/18/2016 at 07:55

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Haven’t seen a Corolla sedan at all, ever.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/18/2016 at 07:56

They are really uncommon, although I see one daily because we own one.

duurtlang > MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2016 at 08:02

Exactly. That Corolla is rarer than the Alfa and certainly rarer than the Renault in my perception. That generation of Corolla never had a market share over 0.1% here, even in its first full year. The nameplate died with that generation. I literally never see >2007 Corollas (nor <1997 ones).

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2016 at 08:04

Yeah, but that one wasn’t sold over here in the Netherlands, so it’s not weird I never see them. I know some of Europe, like Ireland and Belgium, got them, but I’m not sure about Germany, maybe you also didn’t get them.

duurtlang > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/18/2016 at 08:13

They actually were offered here. Only as a sedan though, until 2010. But because noone buys sedans in this segment and the Corolla sedan looked even more homely than your average sedan in the segment it sold very poorly.

Here’s a link to the number of Corollas sold in the Netherlands. Note that the Auris replaced the full-lineup Corolla some time in 2007, so 2008 is the first full year of the sedan-only Corolla.

Having said all this, I’d actually consider buying a Laguna of that generation or an Alfa 159-based Alfa when it’s time to retire my 406 coupe. They can keep the Corolla and the Clio.

Nauraushaun > MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2016 at 08:30

All 3 are plentiful in Australia. 95% of the cars on our roads are Brera Spyders, Lagunas and Corolla Sedans

MultiplaOrgasms > Nauraushaun
05/18/2016 at 08:36

Presumably equipped with Roo Bars.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > duurtlang
05/18/2016 at 08:39

Oh, I didn’t remember them being in the showroom when my dad had a Toyota around that time.

About that Laguna, you should totally get a Laguna Coupe 2.0T to replace the 406 Coupe when the time comes.

Nauraushaun > MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2016 at 08:48

Literally every single car #straya

Cé hé sin > MultiplaOrgasms
05/18/2016 at 09:21

They’re sold (or so I read somewhere once) in Ireland and nowhere else in Western Europe. Once you go east of the old Iron Curtain they reappear.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang
05/18/2016 at 09:24

The Corolla is no 7 in the sales list here for Q1 of 2016 with a market share of 2.64%. At one time it was something like no 2 or 3.

To put that into context, the Corolla outsells the entire Honda range by about 2:1. It also outsells Merc, Mazda and Seat.

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/18/2016 at 09:26

You see them occasionally. Its replacement isn’t sold here at all.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Cé hé sin
05/18/2016 at 09:28

That is the nicest mechanic’s parking lot I’ve ever seen.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin
05/18/2016 at 10:01

Yeah, I guess they aren’t making a RHD version of the Talisman and Espace since both of those cars are not for sale in the UK or Australia either.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin
05/18/2016 at 10:03

That must be a real sedan and Toyota country then. Having said that, the Auris was at 2% market share here as well in 2014 and 2015 (1.98% and 1.99% respectively). Mostly because due to what can be described as a tax loophole the hybrid Auris was exceptionally cheap. Loophole closed for 2016, and the Auris is at 0.41% market share now. The Corolla isn’t offered here at all since 2010, and had been utterly marginal since mid 2007 when it became sedan-only.

duurtlang > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/18/2016 at 10:13

My 406 should be good for a lot more kms due to all the newish wear parts (belts, brakes, tires, exhaust), but when I do get something else the mk3 Laguna will be on the shortlist. I’d probably go for the V6 though, as the lack of a turbo will make it a much better candidate for an LPG conversion. It’s a Nissan VQ35DE engine, which I believe is rather common in other markets (US) and should be easily tunable as well. It’s the (detuned) engine from the Nissan 350Z.

Or, when hell freezes over, my employer will finally realize that offering a company car for an additional €0.22/km on top of the ‘bijtelling’ for privately driven kms is a horrible deal.

edit: apparantly the 2.0T will do LPG as well. Oh well, we’ll see.

KnowsAboutCars > Cé hé sin
05/18/2016 at 11:15

They are sold in Finland (and probably in most other Nordic countries too). I wouldn’t call them rare here but they aren’t very popular either.

In 2015 752 Corollas were sold where as 3370 Aurises and 5832 Skoda Octavias (the most popular new car) were sold.