acmespaceship (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acmespaceship) wrote2009-10-25 06:28 pm
acmespaceship) wrote2009-10-25 06:28 pm
Adventuring in the Auto Industry
In which e_m_b and your humble correspondent go to Elmhurst to test drive hybrid sedans and manage to escape from a black hole into the 1950s, meanwhile learning a few things about the auto industry that aren't exactly surprises.
First stop, a Ford dealership silent and forlorn, utterly empty of customers. A classic cuff-shooting middle-aged made-guy type of car salesman showed us the only hybrid Fusion on the lot. Heated leather seats, fancy sound system, rear camera that displays in the rear-view mirror (but is impossible to see in the sunlight). Automatic sensors beep when pedestrians are near. Name an expensive feature and this car had it. It handled like a ton of bricks on casters. Smooth casters, but bricks nonetheless. Was that a cloud of despair hanging behind us as we fled the dealership? Are we back in the 21st Century yet?
Second stop, Honda dealer. Busy, busy, busy. Diverse clientele. Free coffee of unknown provenance. Nice 30-something guy in casual clothes shows us a hybrid Insight. The dashboard display looks like a video game. You can switch to Eco Assist mode, but not while the car is in motion. The Insight is an inexpensive car, and boy does it drive like one. I have their brochure here next to me. Cute round pages held together with a single grommet (yes, until spellcheck caught me I called it "gromit") -- adorable and clever brochure, but you can't separate the pages enough to read it. Perhaps if I were 20 and more interested in a cool dashboard interface than being able to drive in comfort.
Third stop, Toyota. Palatial showroom, packed with customers who might be at a sushi bar. Highway themed decor with mock asphalt roads leading visitors to the free Starbucks coffee. A large crowd at the other side of the showroom proves to be a group of current owners here for a free lunch event. A salesman who looks like an SNL Da Bears Fan (but with better clothes) thinks he recognizes us since he knows a lot of customers from Oak Park. He shows us a tricked-up Prius but is careful to explain which features (leather, GPS, moonroof, Sirius Radio...) would not be included on the basic model. He does not know how to shut up the GPS lady, who seems determined to make us go to Portillo's for Italian beef. Eventually we figure out the GPS menu and achieve blessed silence. The drive is fine. If you happen to enjoy acceleration, there's a mode for that. Unlike the Insight, on the Prius you can switch modes while in motion. The Prius brochure is sleek and classy, and you can read it. Oh, did I mention we didn't stop to get a Ford brochure?
So... are we smug enough to drive a Prius? Why, yes, I think we are.
e_m_b and your humble correspondent go to Elmhurst to test drive hybrid sedans and manage to escape from a black hole into the 1950s, meanwhile learning a few things about the auto industry that aren't exactly surprises.First stop, a Ford dealership silent and forlorn, utterly empty of customers. A classic cuff-shooting middle-aged made-guy type of car salesman showed us the only hybrid Fusion on the lot. Heated leather seats, fancy sound system, rear camera that displays in the rear-view mirror (but is impossible to see in the sunlight). Automatic sensors beep when pedestrians are near. Name an expensive feature and this car had it. It handled like a ton of bricks on casters. Smooth casters, but bricks nonetheless. Was that a cloud of despair hanging behind us as we fled the dealership? Are we back in the 21st Century yet?
Second stop, Honda dealer. Busy, busy, busy. Diverse clientele. Free coffee of unknown provenance. Nice 30-something guy in casual clothes shows us a hybrid Insight. The dashboard display looks like a video game. You can switch to Eco Assist mode, but not while the car is in motion. The Insight is an inexpensive car, and boy does it drive like one. I have their brochure here next to me. Cute round pages held together with a single grommet (yes, until spellcheck caught me I called it "gromit") -- adorable and clever brochure, but you can't separate the pages enough to read it. Perhaps if I were 20 and more interested in a cool dashboard interface than being able to drive in comfort.
Third stop, Toyota. Palatial showroom, packed with customers who might be at a sushi bar. Highway themed decor with mock asphalt roads leading visitors to the free Starbucks coffee. A large crowd at the other side of the showroom proves to be a group of current owners here for a free lunch event. A salesman who looks like an SNL Da Bears Fan (but with better clothes) thinks he recognizes us since he knows a lot of customers from Oak Park. He shows us a tricked-up Prius but is careful to explain which features (leather, GPS, moonroof, Sirius Radio...) would not be included on the basic model. He does not know how to shut up the GPS lady, who seems determined to make us go to Portillo's for Italian beef. Eventually we figure out the GPS menu and achieve blessed silence. The drive is fine. If you happen to enjoy acceleration, there's a mode for that. Unlike the Insight, on the Prius you can switch modes while in motion. The Prius brochure is sleek and classy, and you can read it. Oh, did I mention we didn't stop to get a Ford brochure?
So... are we smug enough to drive a Prius? Why, yes, I think we are.