Local Car Dealership thread

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eomaha
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Local Car Dealership thread

Post by eomaha »

Dealership Thread Index

-B-
-  Baxter Auto - West Dodge Pointe
-  Baxter Dealerships (I-80 Harrison exit)
-  Bentley Omaha - Village Pointe

-G-
- Gregg Young Chevrolet (180 & Dodge)

-P-
- Plaza Pontiac GMC - 120th & L

-W-
-  Woodhouse - 144th and Giles




________________________________________
Performance to buy Ron Olsen

Tal Anderson, owner of Performance Automotive Group, has agreed to purchase the Ron Olsen Dodge dealership.

Anderson said he intends to consolidate the Ron Olsen Dodge dealership, 1010 N. 102nd St., into the new West Dodge Auto Plaza to be at 180th Street and West Dodge Road. The plaza is scheduled to open in 2005 and will include at least five dealerships on a 60-acre campus.

All 35 employees at Ron Olsen Dodge will be offered jobs at the new location next year, he said.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal does not include the Stan Olsen dealerships at Westroads.

Anderson also owns Baxter Chrysler Jeep, which also will be represented at the new plaza location.

The consolidation follows DahmlerChrysler's larger corporate strategy to consolidate its Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep dealerships under a single umbrella, Anderson said.

Gorges Volvo also has committed to building at the West Dodge location, and two other dealerships are expected to finish negotiations later this year.

"In time, it will be quite a draw for people to come out and see just a whole sea of cars," Anderson said.

Anderson said he expects each dealership in the plaza to have a 60,000- to 85,000- square-foot showroom in addition to lots ranging from 10 to 12 acres.

The decision to move farther west coincides with the rapid expansion of the west Omaha market, Anderson said.

Performance Automotive employs more than 500 people and will soon operate nine dealerships in the Omaha area.
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Brad
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Re: Local Car Dealership thread

Post by Brad »

Tincher Auto - Bankrupt, sold to Woodhouse and Others

I heard this 4th had.. one of the neighbors, doctor's kids teacher things... but Apparently Tincher Auto in Plattsmouth went bankrupt and was sold.  Most of it went to Woodhouse, and the Chevy store went to someone else.  No conformation yet.
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Greg S
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Post by Greg S »

When did Lithia Ford on L street close?  It seems like that place was just remodeled.

Greg
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Post by nativeomahan »

Greg S wrote:When did Lithia Ford on L street close?  It seems like that place was just remodeled.

Greg
This was in the newspaper a few weeks back.

I have read in business publications that in 2 years 70% of the "Big 3" dealerships will be closed.  Many other dealerships as well may fail, or be consolidated.  Rural areas may be hurt the worst, as many towns only have one dealership to begin with.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

nativeomahan wrote: I have read in business publications that in 2 years 70% of the "Big 3" dealerships will be closed.  Many other dealerships as well may fail, or be consolidated.  Rural areas may be hurt the worst, as many towns only have one dealership to begin with.
That's speculation, but they should close that many. There are too many Big 3 dealerships. As I pointed out in the Lithia thread, Toyota sells as many cars as Ford does, but with a fraction of the dealers. There are 3 Toyota dealerships in the metro and around 9 Ford dealerships. The Ford stores are cannibalizing each other, so a lot of them need to go. I personally predict Rusy Eck is next, but that's besides the point. I don't believe that rural dealerships will fail any more so than urban ones. As you pointed out, some places only have one dealership and while many rural citizens will travel great distances to purchase a car, you can't argue with convenience.

I also must point out that the manufacturers cannot force any dealerships to close. They can only offer buyouts as they do not personally own any of them, they franchise them. So if they go under, its from their own misfortunes and/or a strong manufacturer incentive to close.
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Brad
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Post by Brad »

How many of you actually buy new cars?  I just cant justify it.  I can't bring myself to buying a 15,000 car that is only going to be worth 10,000 as soon as you sign on the line.  I buy 2 year old lease turn ins and never had a problem.
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Post by Bosco55David »

Brad wrote:How many of you actually buy new cars?  I just cant justify it.  I can't bring myself to buying a 15,000 car that is only going to be worth 10,000 as soon as you sign on the line.  I buy 2 year old lease turn ins and never had a problem.
I agree. The only time I'd buy a new car is if it was something like a SVT Cobra or Corvette that I would be holding on to for awhile and wanted to be the only owner of.
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nebugeater
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Post by nebugeater »

Never bought a new car.  Most of the time it is in the 20 - 25,000 mile range that I look at.  Closest I can was the 06 Malibu that we have now.  It was sold as a used car and priced about 6,000 under what it should be sold for because there was a blanket insurance claim against a complete lot of cars at a distribution point in KC.  There was wind that picked up sand, etc and did some paint damage.  The car I got had four small rock type chips on it that did not break through the paint.  The in service date on the car was two months before I bought it.  IT also did not qualify for any new car incentives.  The car had 64 miles on it when I drove it home!  I will still consider it used but it was close.  It was also the best deal I ever got on a car!
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Post by RegisResident »

I always buy new cars and drive them until they are dead or almost dead- all of my previous cars I have retired from my use with about 140,000+ miles on them (some more, some less). I have a friend who leases cars and always has a new toy every couple of years- the way I look at it is I can pay on my car for 3-5 yrs, then not make any payments for another 3-5 years and spend the money on something else. I also don't like the idea of someone else owning the car and being able to charge me for additional millage, above average wear and tear, and anything else they choose. My same buddy who leases cars got a bad deal a couple of years ago when he had a car that went through 4 engines, 2 transmissions, and many other problems before 30,000 miles- the dealer wouldn't do anything, the manufacturer wouldn't do anything and he had to actually pay to get out of his lease so he could get a car that actually worked (and it wasn't a big 3 car). I would much rather own my car- get a good deal on something that holds its value (relatively speaking) and drive it until its either dead or your sick of it and get something new- at least you have something to show for the years of car payments. Just my 2 cents :)
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Re: Local Car Dealership thread

Post by Big E »

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10533672

Reagan Closing at 185th and Dodge
Reagan Buick, Pontiac, GMC at 185th Street and West Dodge Road is closing.

Ken Reagan, president of the dealership, announced the closing this afternoon.

The statement cited a "perfect storm" of conditions, including the economic downturn, a lack of consumer confidence and changes imposed by GMAC and General Motors, as the reason.
Stable genius.
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Post by Brad »

Metro Mitsubishi closes, joining another dealer

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10597703
JOSEPH BRENNAN WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Metro Mitsubishi closed its auto dealership near Westroads Mall this weekend, but the company does not plan to exit the Omaha market.

Tony Anderson, sales manager for Mitsubishi, said Saturday that the business will reopen under new ownership in several weeks.

He said the dealership will merge with an existing auto dealer he declined to identify. Anderson said he is working to place current employees with the merged dealership.

Mitsubishi has operated in the Omaha area for 16 years, Anderson said, including 13 near the Southroads in Bellevue before moving to 1010 N. 102nd St. in Omaha about three years ago.

The Mitsubishi lot was virtually empty Saturday, the doors to the sales office locked.

Metro Mitsubishi is the second longtime car dealer in the Omaha market to shut down this year. Reagan Buick Pontiac GMC Inc., 185th Street and West Dodge Road, closed in January after 31 years.

Anderson said bad economic news and "a fear factor" among customers are depressing auto sales.

He said Mitsubishi sales in Omaha steadily declined over the past year, down by about 90 percent compared to this time last year.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

Mitsubishi may be having trouble, but down the street at Stan Olsen Audi they seem to be feeling a bit more optimistic. I was down there looking around when I saw one of these in the showroom window...2009 R8 in Ibis White. Yours for $133,000

Image
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Post by Brad »

Auto dealer Anderson dies

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090814/NEWS01/908149994
Joe Ruff WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Anderson was the founder and owner of the Performance Auto Group, which includes 11 auto dealerships in Omaha, Lincoln and Kansas City. He came to Omaha in 1957 from Stanton, Iowa, to attend the University of Omaha on a partial athletic scholarship.

His first job during college was pumping gas at a Benson Texaco station owned by Johnny Baxter Chrysler Plymouth. Two years later, he began selling cars part time for Baxter. In 1997, the National Automobile Dealers Association chose Anderson out of 25,000 dealers nationwide as the "New Car Dealer of the Year."

Anderson was passionate about bettering education. He co-founded, with William M. Kizer, a local chapter of the Children's Scholarship Fund to help inner-city students attend private schools.
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Re: Local Car Dealership thread

Post by nebugeater »

Probably old news as I don't drive this part of Dodge too often but I was there this afternoon.  See that the reality sign on the old Reagan dealership has a SOLD on it?  anyone know who bout this and what is going on?



Big E wrote:Since this isn't the first and I'll bet anything you want it won't be the last, I thought I'd pre-emptively consolidate all the local car dealership news in to one thread.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10533672

Reagan Closing at 185th and Dodge
Reagan Buick, Pontiac, GMC at 185th Street and West Dodge Road is closing.

Ken Reagan, president of the dealership, announced the closing this afternoon.

The statement cited a "perfect storm" of conditions, including the economic downturn, a lack of consumer confidence and changes imposed by GMAC and General Motors, as the reason.
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Post by JPenny »

I think performance ford is moving out there from 120th and dodge.
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Post by Brad »

JPenny wrote:I think performance ford is moving out there from 120th and dodge.
According to Grow Omaha Radio Show, you are correct.
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TitosBuritoBarn
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

A lot of new car dealerships have opened in the west, but only a few of their former locations were immediately used for something less appealing. There was no ghetto-making with most of these moves. I'll go through every new car dealership that has been built in the last decade from west to east...

Infiniti of Omaha: their former showroom at 60th and L was extensively remodeled and is now Porsche of Omaha (heh)

Mitsubishi of Omaha (shares a showroom with Infiniti): their most recent showroom was in front of Westroads and was recently torn down for some reason. Their dealership before that in Bellevue is now Todd Archer Hyundai

Former Regan Pontiac GMC Buick, soon to be Performance Ford: their former showroom is now Saturn of Omaha at 144th and Center. Saturn of Omaha's former showroom was at 114th and Dodge and was never built to sell cars to begin with, its an office building. Regan's showroom at 144th and Center was exclusively an Oldsmobile dealership until Oldsmobile was killed. They moved their Buick franchise there from 60th and L and bought the Pontiac and GMC franchises from Stan Olsen after that. The former Regan Buick showroom is now Woodhouse Mazda and was just extensively remodeled to be more characteristic of other Mazda dealerships.

Baxter Chrysler Dodge Jeep: The former Chrylser/Jeep location is now Performance Ford. The Dodge franchise, before they bought it, was known as Ron Olsen Dodge and was located in what was Mitsubishi of Omaha's former showroom which has since been torn down in front of Westroads.

Gregg Young Chevy: Probably the most ghetto-making, their former showroom on Crown Pointe is now a used car dealership (which they own).

Gorges Volvo: Former showroom at 60th and L now sells construction equipment (also kind of a ghetto-maker)

Superior Honda: fromer showroom at 35th and Broadway in CB was a check cashing place, but has since been torn down and is now a Bucky's gas station

Acura of Omaha: former showroom at 84th and F still sells Kias as it did when Acura of Omaha was located there (they just separated the two brands).

Mercedes Benz of Omaha: Technically they moved east....they were at a former construction equipment dealership at Industrial and Center until they built their new place at 144th and L. Before that, however, they were sold at the former Lithia Chrysler aka Jim Earp Chrysler at 60th and L.

Performance Chrysler/Jeep: Used to be Grube Chrysler Jeep in downtown Papillion. Their former showroom now sells boats I believe.

Performance Toyota/Scion: Used to be Southroads Toyota off Fort Crook Road in Bellevue. Their former showroom went through the drastic transformation into....another Toyota dealership. It is now Bellevue Toyota. I think Bellevue Toyota used to be Bluffs Toyota, but I don't know where in CB that was located.

Other things to note:

The only empty car dealerships I can think of right now besides Regan is the former Rhoden Dodge in Council Bluffs and Lithia Ford.

Plaza Pontiac GMC Buick, which used to be at 60th and L with the Volvo dealership moved west, but to the former Sam's Club at 120th and L.

Performance Ford used to be Markel Ford. Markel traded the ford franchise for Baxter's Jag and Land Rover franchise. So, for what its worth, Jaguars and Land Rovers are now sold easterly of where they used to be (which is now Performance Ford at 120th and Dodge) in an extensively remodeled showroom at 102nd and California at the Westroads.

Stan Olsen Nissan/Hyundai is now exclusively a Nissan dealership (Nissan of Omaha). The Hyundai franshise was moved east to the former Stan Olsen Pontiac/GMC/Saab/Subaru dealership at the Westroads. Of those brands that were moved out of there, Subaru was built its own showroom on the Olsen lot, Saab is (was?) now sold in the Cadillac showroom at Huber, and Pontiac and GMC were sold to the now defunct Regan company.

Of the handful of new or additional franchises that opened up in Omaha recently (ie didn't exist previously somewhere else) only the CarMax used car dealership was built on a greenfield site. Huber Hummer used to be parking lot on the Huber campus. Mini of Omaha is in the former and extensively remodeled Markel BMW showroom (Markel BMW was moved to the main building with Jag and Land Rover). smart Center La Vista was built as an addition onto Performance Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Todd Archer Hyundai used to be Metro Mitsubishi. Performance VW could be considered greenfield development or infill depending on how you look at it.

That said, I do believe the former Regan store is a bit bigger than where Performance Ford is now. Their lot always seems to be crowded. This makes way for a prime-redevelopment opportunity at that corner. I highly doubt that showroom will be sitting empty or underused for too long.[/list]
Last edited by TitosBuritoBarn on Tue Dec 22, 2009 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by hockeyfan »

As I was driving by the former Lithia building on the south side of L at 50th I noticed a sign that said it was the future home of a high school.  I can not remember off of the top of my head which one but I am pretty sure it is one of the St. Peter Claver Cristo Rey Catholic Schools.  The old St. Mary's on 36th and Q is one as well.  I wonder if they are going to move it or if there will be two of them that close to each other.  I will try to drive by there tonight to verify.
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Post by nativeomahan »

I drove by H&H Chevrolet today and the car lots were virtually devoid of cars.  What gives?
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

nativeomahan wrote:I drove by H&H Chevrolet today and the car lots were virtually devoid of cars.  What gives?
I drove by Stan Olsen yesterday and things were similar. They might have put some of their cars up for auction. I believe that is something car dealers do if it doesn't seem like they'll be sold at a good enough profit. Usually that's for used cars though, so I could be wrong.
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Post by Big E »

Do dealers have to pay taxes on inventory if they hold on through 12/31/XX?
Stable genius.
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Post by RegisResident »

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
nativeomahan wrote:I drove by H&H Chevrolet today and the car lots were virtually devoid of cars.  What gives?
I drove by Stan Olsen yesterday and things were similar. They might have put some of their cars up for auction. I believe that is something car dealers do if it doesn't seem like they'll be sold at a good enough profit. Usually that's for used cars though, so I could be wrong.
The last few times I went to Beardmore for an oil change and they hardly had any cars... last time they had 4 used subarus, and 3 2010 subarus, plus almost every car that was being delivered was already claimed. They said that business had been very good and they were having a difficult time keeping cars on the lot. They were having cars delivered from other cities that had more inventory.
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Brad
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Post by Brad »

Right before it started snowing, H&H moved ALL of their cars off of the lot!
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Post by Coyote »

H&H Chevrolet acquires Kia dealership
Pat Waters WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:H&H Chevrolet at 84th and L Streets has purchased Kia of Omaha. Because Kia, at 84th and F Streets, is just a few blocks north of H&H Chevrolet, the two stores will share some support and administrative personnel. Hinchcliff said a combined Acura-Kia dealership opened at the intersection of 84th and F Streets in 1989. Acura later moved to its own building in west Omaha.
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Post by nebugeater »

hockeyfan wrote:As I was driving by the former Lithia building on the south side of L at 50th I noticed a sign that said it was the future home of a high school.  I can not remember off of the top of my head which one but I am pretty sure it is one of the St. Peter Claver Cristo Rey Catholic Schools.  The old St. Mary's on 36th and Q is one as well.  I wonder if they are going to move it or if there will be two of them that close to each other.  I will try to drive by there tonight to verify.

Driving by this lot occasionally and for some reason today I remembered that this was a supposed option for this former dealership.  I see that there is a FOR SALE sign up again and no note of any school going in there any more.  Probably been this way for a long time.  Anyone if anything changed other than the economy?
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Post by cdub »

What changed is that the school is closing down instead of moving!


Maybe known, maybe not -

Nissan going up east of 180th and dodge, Old Mill toyota looking at locations out west as well.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

Omaha will soon be getting its first Fiat dealership. Predictably it'll be owned by Performance.
Omaha World Herald wrote:Hull said Performance also will begin selling cars products by Fiat, the Italian parent company of Chrysler, when it completes a new dealership building in the auto plaza.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110803/M ... ealerships
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Post by iamjacobm »

Having Fiat enter the market is pretty cool.
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Post by Omaha_Gabe »

The Fiat Dealership is 1/2 way built. Grand opening is set for October!




http://www.facebook.com/pages/FIAT-of-O ... 7097366208
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Post by Stargazer »

Interesting... totally missed this.  Funny though, I saw a late model Fiat downtown a week ago... hadn't seen one in ages.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

America certainly got the better end of the stick with the product sharing between Chrysler and its new parent company Fiat.

Fiat is giving America these awesomely Italian little cars:

Image

While Italy and probably most of Europe get a rebadged Dodge Journey know as the Fiat Freemont:

Image

Although I have to say the Journey does look pretty good in its Fiat clothing.
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Post by OmahaJaysCU »

I don't think I've ever heard "awesome" and "Italian cars" in the same sentence before...
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Post by ThatGuy »

Ever seen a Lamborghini, Maserati or Ferrari?
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Post by HuskerDave »

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:America certainly got the better end of the stick with the product sharing between Chrysler and its new parent company Fiat.

Fiat is giving America these awesomely Italian little cars:

Image

While Italy and probably most of Europe get a rebadged Dodge Journey know as the Fiat Freemont:

Image

Although I have to say the Journey does look pretty good in its Fiat clothing.
I sure hope this was sarcasm.....
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Post by Omaha_Gabe »

As per the fiat Website these are the only car available for sale within the US, for now


The Fiat 500 and the Fiat 500 Cabrio

Starting base price of 15,500

The car only gets 27/34 MPG ... I dont think that is too good as the Cruze, Elantra, and Focus all get above 40.

Image
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Post by bigredmed »

ThatGuy wrote:Ever seen a Lamborghini, Maserati or Ferrari?
I was in Rome for a meeting last year.  I saw a Ferrari that was easily the ugliest car I have ever seen.  I was transfixed, it was a combination of brown body and a cloth top that was not quite wine colored, but not quite brown either.   All of the other Ferrari's I have seen have been beauties, but this one made you yearn for a Yugo to come smash into it, so it could get hauled away and removed from public view before it scares anymore small children.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

HuskerDave wrote:
TitosBuritoBarn wrote:America certainly got the better end of the stick with the product sharing between Chrysler and its new parent company Fiat.

Fiat is giving America these awesomely Italian little cars:

Image

While Italy and probably most of Europe get a rebadged Dodge Journey know as the Fiat Freemont:

Image

Although I have to say the Journey does look pretty good in its Fiat clothing.
I sure hope this was sarcasm.....
No...no not in the least bit. The 500's funky design kinda has to grow on some people, I thought it was a little odd at first, but given the choice I would never pick a Journey/Freemont over a 500. It's just a mediocre SUV (err...crossover) that isn't even all that great at what it was designed to do. Chrysler has been a disaster since the late '00s, especially compared to where they were in the mid '90s. They're on there way back to being a respectable car brand in many ways, but Fiat has their work cut out for them.
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Post by Seth »

I keep trying to talk my wife into a Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse, but she says it "looks like a roller skate."  Hey, if Top Gear gave it their seal of approval, it's got mine!

I do agree that they ought to get better fuel economy, but since the EPA recently updated their driving profile for the highway rating, everything went down, so you have to be careful not to make comparisons to the older ratings.

Mini Coopers have been criticized for their fuel economy, but mpg jumped noticeably with the new engines in the 2nd gen models.
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Post by Omaha_Gabe »

Fiat is almost done, cars are starting to arrive!


Image

Image
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Post by cdub »

Lexus working on a major overhaul of their site.  Probably beginning next spring.
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