Archive for the ‘Auto Trends’ Category
Monday, February 27th, 2012 • Posted in Auto Trends • No Comments »
This is becoming a familiar sight at gas stations in & around the LA area & from what all the ‘experts” are saying it’s only going to get worse, a lot worse. This pattern is very familiar to us as we’ve seen it more than a few times over the years. The rising cost of fuel & peoples desires for a smaller “carbon footprint” means fuel efficient &/or Hybrid car prices are about to go through the roof..again. Actually everyone here in LA wants everything either bigger or smaller depending on…well you get the picture (insert smiley face). If you’re considering a Hybrid or more fuel efficient vehicle there is no better time than right now. We are experts in Hybrid & alternative fuel vehicles we know what & where the deals are. Also there are many options right now that people don’t even realise what they are for example BMW, Mercedes now offer 4cyl options that are over 20mpg city. You don’t have to drive a Hybrid to be “green” there are many options & we are available 24/7 to discuss them.
Remember we are full service auto brokers new, pre-owned, lease, purchase, trades we handle ALL your auto needs from start to finish. We make sure you get the car you want with the equipment you want NOT what the dealer you’re at has in stock even if it isn’t what you want. We protect you from dealer finance departments we personally walk you through all paperwork at your home or office. It actually takes us about 15 minutes not 2-3 hours because we’re signing papers not trying to sell you unnecessary stuff at every turn. We ARE NOT A referral service like kbb, edmunds, truecar (or truescam as they are being deemed by customers, dealers & manuafacturers), autotrader etc. NONE of them are in the actual car business they are in the advertising business. NONE of them actually buy or sell cars they are ONLY referring you to a dealer where you’re on your own, PERIOD. Showing up at a dealer with a piece of paper from any of those sites you’re more likely to get a headache than the deal on the paper & yes that’s a fact.
Our service is free & for EVERYONE as everyone is a VIP with us. At PAL we will always be up front & never steer you in the wrong direction, we just don’t roll that way!
2012 Re-Designed Honda Civic Hybrid
Premium cloth bucket seats, bluetooth, premium sound, ipod/usb, alloy wheels, tilt and telescopic steering wheel w/ audio/bluetooth/cruise controls, the Civic as always is a solid car with a lot of standard features on the base car like power windows/doors, daytime running lights, turn signals in mirrors & 44mpg city/44mpg hwy PZEV (partial zero emission vehicle).
**ONLY $249MO**
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2012 Hyundai Elantra Sedan GLS
Premium cloth bucket seats, bluetooth, premium sound, satellite radio, ipod/usb, 16-inch alloy wheels, tilt and telescopic steering wheel w/ audio/bluetooth/cruise controls, illuminated vanity mirrors with driver extension, illuminated ignition, fog lights & 29mpg city/40mpg hwy PZEV (partial zero emission vehicle).
ALL colors & trims available contact us for info.
**ONLY $239MO**
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Again call us to discuss all your options there are great deals right now on Mini Coopers, all 4cyl Honda models, re-designed Toyota Camry (the SE is a cool car), BMW Clean Diesel X5/335i, VW TDI models, BMW 7-series Hybrid, Karma Fisker electric/hybrid etc…way too many to mention & all over 20mpg city.
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 • Posted in Auto Trends • No Comments »
Hello virtual & real life friends we hope all of you are well. We wanted to put together an update of the state of electric (EV) & Hybrid vehicles since things are changing so rapidly. First I think we need to correctly classify the cars like a Chevy Volt is a Hybrid by definition not an EV. A Hybrid is a car that runs on two power sources again by definition it’s semantics that it’s battery powered then gas/battery powered to us.
Let’s start with the Volt Chevy is advertising all over the place that they are “lowering the base price” of the Volt. Funny I don’t see in any of the ads that they took a lot of standard equipment out of the base car? Simply put you’re getting much less of a car for the lower price. We’re not big on this kind of BS. Also Chevy & Nissan with the LEAF are saying sales haven’t met expectations because of a lack of supply? WRONG every time clients have called for either dealers have had them in stock. These cars have not met sales forecasts because of one or more of the following reasons price, range, no carpool lane stickers, CA state refunds ran out about 3 months ago & did I mention price.
The Volt is basically a Cruze that’s twice the price which I unfortunately think will be the problem with the EV Ford Focus due in CA in approximately 3 months. This car has some cool technology that we’re really looking forward to checking out. Regenerative braking that a lot of Hybrids use to charge the batteries but this car has a more advanced system & “brake training” to show you on the 
navigation screen how to get the most out of it. I haven’t seen any sales projections but price, range & it’s a Ford Focus (pictured) will be a big problem for this car.
As we all know CA “ran out” of clean air stickers in July but the big corporate money got them to come up with a new designation ATPZEV “Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle”? So they will start issuing a new green sicker on Jan 1, 2012 so the people that buy these cars just to drive in the carpool lane will have more options. The new Plug-In Prius qualifies for this as Toyota has a lot of money & pull with the politicians. The car has an electric range of “approx” 13 miles before the gas/battery engine kicks in. Just like their sales forecasts NONE of these cars have gotten close to their original projections.
I’m going to pass on commenting in depth about the Fisker Karma Hybrid while the car is spectacularly beautiful there’s no mass market for this car at OVER $100,000. Their sales projections are off the charts? Nissan says they have sold “approx” 3,000 LEAFs this year that means they have sold less than 3,000 & Fisker will never sell as many cars or even close to as many as the LEAF
So exciting times ahead with almost an alternative fuel vehicle in all price ranges & gasoline cars becoming far more efficient over just the last two years. Everyone has a reasonable option to drive a car that gets at least 30mpg & has low emissions. Almost all 4 cyl & most 6 cyl cars sold in CA are now PZEV Partial Zero Emission Vehicles. This includes Mercedes C, E Class, BMW 3-Series & pretty much all Hondas, VW’s & Toyotas. Also don’t rule out the great Diesel options available out there.
This is not meant to sound negative we are actually happy go lucky guys who really care about the environment. Since we deal with these cars 24/7/365 we have to look at the big picture. We have to look at it as how practical & cost effective is this in day to day life for regular working people like us (sorry Jeff). We think that each manufacturer is essentially building the same car instead of moving the technology forward as we are very far from an end result. I’m not an engineer but the batteries are to heavy & that should be a main priority to change. Also we would love to see a combination of say a more efficient battery combined with a Diesel (we think Volvo is working on this?) or Natural Gas engine? Again we’re not engineers & there has been a ton of progress it just seems we can all agree that this isn’t the end result so we’d like to see someone step out in different direction.
Check our our Showroom or Contact us with any questions or information about the lease or purchase of a new environmentally friendly car.
We welcome your constructive thoughts & opinions?
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Monday, December 6th, 2010 • Posted in Auto Trends • No Comments »
Here we go — my recap of the much hyped Los Angeles Auto Show. I haven’t missed this show in many years and there’s always a lot of attention paid by the media to a few models. Some good examples are the 2011 Motortrend Car of the Year: Chevy Volt, which has been at the LA show for 3-4 years now, and the Nissan LEAF which I’ve driven a few times. Check out our earlier blog posts about these alternative fuel options.
There was plenty of hype built generally around the “rebirth” of the American car – and we all know the economy needs for American manufacturers to succeed.
I was excited to see the new Chryslers and Buicks. I really like the new Jeeps a lot but only time will tell about the long term quality of them which has been a problem over the past few years. The Buicks look good but even the “high end” models have plastic grills, laminate wood, and a lot of plastic in the interior which to me is a problem. They’ve spent billions restructuring concentrating mostly on fuel economy, aesthetics, and technology while you never hear a mention of quality. Even their own banks aren’t supporting them with lease programs. To me Ford is building the highest quality American car right now.
Very impressive was the all electric CODA and the Fiat 500. The CODA will be the FIRST all electric car with a 90-120 mile range. Built only one way: pretty loaded and pretty hi tech. The only option is a choice of 6 colors. Built in beautiful Santa Monica, California and they’re building a plant in Ohio. Local jobs and a lot of jobs coming to the Midwest. PAL is on board!
The Fiat 500 also impressed. It’s like a solid well made Smart car. It’s also built in the Midwest and I am impressed with the high quality heavy feel of the car, high MPG/low emissions, and nicely equipped in the low $20,000. This one will definitely be a hit!
The Karma Fisker a hi-end electric hybrid is also worth a mention. Stylish with an electric range of 50 miles will be out in January.
A highlight was definitely Lotus with a former GM exec at the helm and a ton of cash — they really shined. They say they will keep there cars at 80k or less and the concepts, which they said they are producing for sure, are very Ferrari like — especially the Eterne. Very cool!
Otherwise the concepts were just that and I’ll hold off until they’re produced. The other cars that stood out were the next gen VW Eos and Beetle, Audi A7 Sportback, BMW 6 Series a little more conservative but pretty hot, the Mercedes R-Class priced right was nice — I really like what they did with the interior. The other worthy mentions are the Mini Countryman and the Chevy Camaro Convertible priced right they will do well.
Basically we’re headed into an unknown exciting time over the next year or two, and I don’t know about you but I’m really excited to see what sticks!
