So I wandered around a new car lot today

"winterlegacy, here 'till the end" (winterlegacy)
06/25/2018 at 00:24 • Filed to: mindless rambling, dealership

... and discovered just how miserable it is to try and find a compact or sub-compact that lets you row your own on a dealer lot.

Instead, you find (from American automakers) luxobarge trucks occupying about 40% of the lot, crossovers occupying about 30% of it, SUVs occupying about 2 0% of it, and sedans and other such vehicles filling any left-over gaps.

From the Koreans and the Japanese, it’s 70% crossover and 30% anything else, excluding Toyota since they’re essentially taking the same take as the Americans.

However, I did find something amazing. Not one, not two, but three Regal TourX wagons on the lot of the Buick dealer. One of them had a decidedly almost-brown paint color. It appears they might be shifting some of them here in Maine.

DISCUSSION (10)

jasmits > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/25/2018 at 00:41

Is there a reason to not go for a performance model? At least when I was shopping in Oregon like 6 months ago Focus STs, Fiesta STs and GTIs were not hard to come by, all of which either only come in a manual or are healthily stocked in a manual. Relatively speaking they aren’t that much more expensive than their regular brothers considering what you get

atfsgeoff > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/25/2018 at 00:42

Check out the Yaris iA (Mazda2 to the rest of the world) . There are several on dealer lots within 50 miles of my town that have the 6 speed stick. Fun to drive too, since you pretty much have to wind it out to get any power.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > jasmits
06/25/2018 at 00:49

The only “ performance” cars I saw up here were ecoboost 4-cylinder Mustangs and a lone RS version of some Chevy hatchback or liftback, probably the Cruze - and a Miata RF.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > atfsgeoff
06/25/2018 at 00:50

Unfortunately, not even the local Toyota dealer had one floating around. Mostly trucks and crossovers. There was a few iMs they hadn’t managed to move yet, though...

Steve in Manhattan > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/25/2018 at 00:56

Remember in 1988 it took me going thru about 60 of them to find a Camry wag0n with a 5 speed. Gray w/ gray cloth interior and a base model w/ a few options. Still, one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.

jasmits > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/25/2018 at 01:03

Weird, regional differences maybe? The Ford dealership I went to had a good selection of STs, a new RS, a CPO RS(that I was very, very, very tempted by) and every variation of Mustang you could want to see including a Shelby. Chevy dealership had lots of Camaros, even a lots of manuals and a smattering of 1LEs. The VW dealership I went to had plenty of GTIs, I wasn’t really looking at Miatas but the VW dealership also sold Mazda (and Volvos as well as Audi and Porsche like you’d expect , quite the O ppo dealership now that I think about it) and I saw plenty of Miatas around .