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Wheels of car-crazy celebsThe cars that celebrities choose to buy sometimes border on the eccentric.
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I am not sure why they would be "itching" to drive the new Mercedes. I have an SL55 AMG that has 69,000 miles on it and the engine block cracked last week making the engine a total loss after so few miles. I took it to Mercedes for repair and all they want to do is charge me five figures for a new or used engine. So I'm certainly not itching to drive any more of their vehicles unless Mercedes steps up and backs their product far better than they are now.
Where were the cars you can use? Do you really think a production car the average guy can buy is truly "fast"? When your tires run $2500 a set and your engine pumps out 500 or so ponies, maybe then you can begin to imagine you have some claim on performance. Ahh...but then you'd have to actually drive such a beast...on public roads...sheetmetal doesn't make you fast.
It is amazing to me that you can get all of the $60,000 diesel engined 15 - 25 mpg vehicles you want, but are not allowed to even look at the current production really nice $20K or so 45-65 mpg TDI cars and trucks that Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler, etc. sell everywhere else in the world. What is it about low mark up, better-than-hybrid economy, small turbodiesel cars that makes them such an anathema to corporate sales groups? Maybe the lack of 10 years of dealer only maintenance that follows the trendy hybrid like a remora?
The article had a lot of "Oooohh, so shiny!!" going for it but little to make me get rid of my 3.slow powered 1994 Toyota Pickup or its friend the asphalt-shredding 100BHP 2006 Scion xA. I put a lot of windshield time in, and the thing I notice about powerful cars is that mostly they aren't driven any faster that the speed limit. Maybe driving around in a ticket-sucking device wears on you - I dunno. What I do know is that there is a difference between wants and needs. If your wants start cutting into your rent and food money, maybe it's time to rethink your priorities. It seems to me that every car in your selection was primarily built to lull folks into believing that they were buying a lot more than was actually there, that the car was really doing something for them. I have a good laugh every time I blitz around an 600 HP Mercedes AMG running along at 65MPH in my Sky-on; why not just get a Corolla and invest your money instead?
At the end of the day a paid-for vehicle with good tires and an empty curvy road do more for you than a $400-a-month status-symbol you're afraid to scratch up or drive hard. Nobody will ever walk up to you and give you a $100 bill because you bought a new 2012 XYZ. Never impoverish yourself over a vehicle. One of the funniest things in the world to me is seeing an $80K car waiting in line for cheap gas. One of the saddest is seeing someone sell their car at a big loss because they couldn't afford the insurance or license fees.
It is disturbing to me that you (MSN) would make it sound weird that "Detroit" and "sexy cars" could be in the same sentence, as your headline implies. Where have you been for the last 100 years? Odds are you, and certainly your parents had your butts in a Detroit made car, at least from time to time. I also find it strange you seem to highlight 'imported' cars rather than "Imported From Detroit" cars. These cars, especially Ford cars have been rated as good as or better than imported cars, so why not entice your readers to Buy American. If you don't support you country, your country won't be able to support you. Of the few american cars you do mention, very few , again, are Ford's. This is the company that is successful enough not to have had to borrow billions of your tax dollars to stay afloat, as GM and Chrysler did. It also did not go bankrupt, as GM, and Chrysler did. The North American International Auto Show will only be in a handful of cities in the world. Chances are it won't be in your city, but it is in mine...Detroit! Do you think there might be a reason for that? Please sound a little more supportive of the American initiative on the advancement in quality of our 'domestic' auto products. Chryslers motto "Imported From Detroit" is a great one. If America would buy more quality cars from there, instead of from Korea, Japan, and the like, we would all be in much better shape!
