Went to the Raleigh, NC Auto Expo...

[pacodiablo]

Quick rundown of what was there...

 

Colorado/Canyon - I was actually kind of dissapointed with these two. I really wanted to see them, and they were good looking trucks, but once inside, they left some to be desired. The plastic had a very cheap feel to it and was the most noticeable downside to these trucks. The seats were fairly comfortable, but you will not be fitting five people in the Crew Cab or four people in the Extended Cab. I will give GM credit for trying to use forward facing rear seats in the Extended cab, but they are very uncomfortable. The rear seat in the Crew Cab is decent. The Extended Cab's rear half doors were not very secure. When they and the front doors were shut, they shuddered very noticeably. They were not very inexpensive either. Like I said, they looked good and were reasonably comfortable, but I was expecting a little more.

 

Equinox - Firm seats, so-so styling...it just wasn't greatly appealing.

 

Malibu - The Malibu was a nice car. The seats were comfortable and the interior was well laid out. The price was a little higher than I expected though.

 

SSR - Popular and totally useless. This could be a hit or miss for GM. The useless "bed" was the downfall of the Blackwood, and the SSR has a useless bed too, so I guess we will see how well it sells.

 

Ranger - The updated for 2004 Ranger was nothing special; in fact it made me like the 2002 one more. The seats were too firm and the Edge package still doesn't look good. My opinion might have been different had there been an XL or XLT there...I never really have liked the Edge. All in all the entire Ford section was pretty much dead since everything new from Ford is coming out next year. The new F-150 was there, but out of reach (up on a rotating stand with the doors locked).

 

Marauder - Everyone that saw it wanted it. The car was very comfortable and looked good. They don't sell because Mercury wants over $35K for them.

 

Town Car - Very very comfortable seats, but what is up with the gold painted interior parts?! Talk about cheap looking.

 

Wrangler - The good 'ol Wrangler. One of my favorites. It was one of the few with manual windows and locks, an engine compartment without plastic covers on everything and a manual transmission. The Unlimited was on display. You could tell it was longer than a regular Wrangler, but there is no way that they will be able to make a Scrambler-like pickup out of it though.

 

Liberty - It was comfortable and had a well thought out design, but I still miss the Cherokee. It was popular among females aged between 18 and 28 because it was "cute."

 

Durango - What a POS. The doors rattled when closed and the seats were terrible. It isn't a good looker either.

 

Ram - Every idiot who saw the Ram Hemi commercials was drooling over these and pretending to be a Hemi expert.

 

That Infiniti version of the Nissan Armada - It's even uglier in person.

 

Kia - I was suprised by Kia. Their cars were actually kind of nice. It seemed like they actually tried to make them nice and didn't focus on cost cutting as much as some other brands. The Mercedes-like seat controls were nice on the Amanti (as were the seats as a whole), but they have got to lose the plastic covers under the hood.

 

Phaeton - This pricey WV was not very impressive. It wasn't very comfortable and was definately not worth the lofty sticker price.

 

Cayenne/ Touareg - Neither was very comfortable and both were very expensive. The 3.2 V6 looks strange.

 

Tacoma - I was hoping the new one would be on display, but it was not. The old one was still nice though. The plastics on the interior felt nice and the seats were comfortable, even on the base model. They were not overpriced either. Hopefully Toyota will make the new Tacoma equally or more nice.

 

4Runner - Very expensive for what you get. The 2WD SR5 on display was $28,000. The seats were comfortable, but the dash controls were a little confusing.

 

Tundra Double Cab - Not too bad. The rear seat was very roomy.

 

Land Rover - All of them felt very solid, but they were also awkward in design. Land Rover clearly thinks more about the materials used then ergonomics. The Ford parts on the Freelander were easy to find.

[chevy4x4trucks]

I agree w/ you on the colorado/canyon as i just stopped by the auto show today.

 

 

I thought they were going to be bigger than they are. The backseat of the crewcab will sit your average adult comfortably, but it was still pretty cramped (both drivers seat and back seat) for me, I'm 6'4". The interior had a "cheap" feeling as well.

[99silveradoz71]

the Edge package still doesn't look good.

 

Marauder - Everyone that saw it wanted it. The car was very comfortable and looked good. They don't sell because Mercury wants over $35K for them.

Always thought that "Edge" thing was odd. Do you get free shaving cream with the truck? The Merc looks nice...wish we could get a few at work...all black with a low profile lightbar...that'd work.

 

Speaking of which, I moved the supervisor burb off the back hill last night. Not bad at all, 27k, leather, they put 2 lightbars on it- 1 up front and a small cheap job on the back end. It's black and looks good with our gold lettering, only thing I think is stupid is that they put "supervisor" on both sides and the back. Now when's that promotional test again?