Ok so the boyfriend and I went to the Philadelphia Auto Show on Friday and were there for 8 hours. Not bad for only $10. Plus, we signed up for two test drives in which we'll both receive $75 gift cards from Visa. So we came spending $20 and left with a gain of $280. Not bad. I only keep a car for about 2 years. I love cars and am constantly wanting to change up my driving look and experience. It was by far the best auto show I think I've been to in awhile. The cars that are coming out are very nice, from many brands. Now I've never been one to gush over Hyundai, but the new Genesis they have coming out is a very nice car. The Hyundai rep who gave the presentation said that they have been flooded with interest over the car since the Super Bowl commercial ad. I must say it is a very nice car. Hyundai's biggest problem, which they are very well aware of, is its brand name marketability. I've already heard people say that yeah its a nice car but at the end of the day its a Hyundai. For the price tag they are going to put on it, its a very luxurious car for those who aren't interested in status symbols and looking for something practical. Hyundai started out with pretty crappy cars, but they really have molded themselves into a respectable car company. Their 10 year/100,000 mile warranty is better than any other car company offers.

Another car that I was impressed with was the new Honda Accord. I've always known that Honda was a good car company, but was never really interested by any of their cars. The new Accord sedan though is also very nice. I'm about 6'4" so every sedan I get into I'm always checking for how much space there is in the back. Honda delivered on that. In addition, there safety standards are impressive as well. The guy made the point of saying that most airbags only stay deployed for about 3 seconds before they start to deflate. Honda's airbags stay deployed for 5 seconds. He made the point of saying that it was criticial if someone is involved in a rollover that they have those couple of extra seconds of protection to help survive a rollover. Again, another reliable car that is practical.

Lexus is a car company whose cars have never really impressed me, but their LS 460 is pure luxury. They have electronic seat adjustors for the back seats for the back seats to recline. Definitely plenty of room in the back for us tall folk. But, if I were going to go for something like that I would just get an S-Class which to me is just the ultimate in luxury.

Jaguar has a new sedan coming out called the XF. I've always liked Jaguar, but ever since they were taken over by Ford and I heard some people refer to theirs as "RAGjuars" I had my doubts. But, the new XF combines the style and performance of a sports car with the space and elegance of a luxury car. It has a base price of around $50,000 and I predict it will be a hot seller for the successful young yuppie types. That is one I will have to test drive.

BMW has a new 1 series couple coming out that is definitely a girly girl car. Its like a smaller version of the 3 series coupe which is also a girly girl car to me (unless you drive an M3). The 1 series has a base price of $29,500. The coupe I absolutely love of BMW's is their 6 series coupes. Talk about a hot car. But, I like Mercedes CL coupes better because for one I've always preferred Mercedes over BMW, and the windows in the back of the CL go down as well which give the car a more sleeker look. The BMW does not do that.

The car that I have been interested in and am already on the waiting list for is the Audi S5. I never thought I would get a coupe, but this thing is HOT!!!!! Unfortunately, the car is so popular that they are pretty much all sold out for 2008; particularly the S5. The wait list for the A5 is shorter, and of the many dealerships I've called I only found a couple that were available, but they were automatics. If I get a sporty type car, I want a stick. So, I'll have to wait for that one. I was turned on to Audi after my boyfriend bought an A8 last year. It really is a great driving experience. Audi is another car company that 10-15 years ago I thought was kind of blah, but they have really stepped up their game in the past several years. A couple that I know recently bought one of the new Audi Q7 SUVs and I was very impressed. I've always driven either a sedan or an SUV. We're definitely going to keep my SUV because we do a lot of weekend road trips and travel to the beach many weekends during the summer, but I want something sportier and something with speed that will be my every day driving car. Its also a coupe that like the BMW 6 series and Mercedes CL series is long enough to where I can really be comfortable and have some space in. So, if I don't have to wait too long I could have my first coupe later this year.

So all in all, it was a great car show. I got in some really pricey cars, mid ranged priced cars, and practical cars. Some of the concept cars that were shown range from the absurd to the amazing. There were some real interesting concept cars on display. The main thing that I took out of the auto show though was that the lower end, practical car companies are stepping up their games to compete more with the Mercedes, Audi's, BMW's, and Lexus' of the world. Not so much to keep up with the Mercedes S-series, BMW 7 series, and Audi 8 series, but the mid ranged Mercedes C and E classes, BMW 3 and 5 series, and Audi A4 and A6 series. Pontiac is putting out a G8 that is replacing their older flagship Grand Am. Its a very nice, sporty looking Sedan with great curves. Nissan is debuting their 2009 Maxima at the New York Auto Show in March and there is a buzz about its new design. Maxima is supposed to be their flagship sedan, but the Altima has the same engine and costs less, and the Nissan owners I know say that its a better car. So, it will be interesting to see if the Maxima regains its status above the Altima. I just absolutely love cars and that was 8 hours that was well worth the wait. Plus, we ran into former Eagles player Darwin Walker who was with his GORGEOUS wife. Very nice, big guy, with a big butt. Good lawd there was no hiding that thing. So if there is anyone interested in buying a new car soon I hope you've had a chance to check out or will check out the auto shows that may be coming to your area.

Glad to see there's another car nut on the board. I had to miss this year's DC auto show, which was moved from its traditional timing between Christmas and New Year's to the end of January a couple of years back, because of business travel. I normally never miss one. In 1994, when I was looking for a new car, I spent 7 - 8 hours comparing cars at the show. I did it again last year before buying my own Hyundai, the Elantra, last March.

I am not surprised at your praise of the Accord. I have a good friend who is a pretty big executive with Honda Finance, and she has the inside scoop on a lot of stuff with the company. She told me last year the new Accord redo would be a stunner, and she was right. The coupe especially looks smoking hot for a midsize family car.

I heard a lot of scoffing about the new Genesis during my watching of the game last week as well, which makes sense because I was watching the game with a bunch of lawyers and other yuppies who are big on status cars. Of course, when the Mercedes Benz ad came on, I had to point out that MB came in dead last in one ranking of car quality last year. I would never have considered the Hyundai until I rented a Sonata in 2006 on a business trip and was stunned. The Elantra cost me about $17K and I have leather interior, 6-disc changer, AC, power everything, heated seats and fantastic gas mileage. So far, the only quality problem was a faulty sensor in an airbag.

I rent a lot of cars for business, and am also impressed by some of what GM is putting out, including the new Saturn Aura and Chevy Malibu (which share a lot of components). They are both a little big for my liking, but the fit and finish, as well as engineering, seem strong from my limited drives.

My partner and I really liked the redesign of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. It is a really hot. The car I wanted to see was the Audi A4 Convertible, but Audi wasn't even at the St. Louis Autoshow. Every other car company was there except for Audi and Porsche. I'm not ready to buy an Audi yet. The 98 Honda Accord I drive only has 108,00 miles on it, and the best part is it's paid for.

I heard that seth. There is nothing like not having a car payment. But I like cars so much that I want to constantly change it up. Honda's are very reliable cars and if you've only got 108,000 miles, so long as you are keeping up with the maintenance you should be fine. The New York City auto show is March 21-30. I'm gonna have to go up to that one because I'm sure it will be better than even the one in Philly. I really want to see the redesigned Maxima for 2009, and I'm sure they'll have some concept cars that weren't available at the Philly show.

Well I see I didn't have much luck starting a car thread but I had to dig it up again to write about this. I don't know who was behind the remodel of the Land Rover LR3 (now the LR4) but they should get a super sized bonus. The LR3's were ok, but they were just not Land Roverish enough for me. The new ones however....love them. The whole Land Rover line of SUV's are not huge like the Escalade ESV's, Expeditions, and Navigators of the world. The Range Rover is the biggest and I wouldn't at all call them huge SUVs. I've been looking for something just like this that isn't huge, is still an SUV, and that speaks to my personality and I'm diggin this truck. Its either going to be this or the Range. I do like the Audi Q7s though and those are bigger than the Range and LR4. I don't know. Unfortunately, the LR4's are so popular that they are not going to have any in my area until February.





Compare that to the LR3 below. There's also some great interior changes that I like to the LR4.

Nice box, but where's the truck?

Ha Ha...very funny. I'm not much into monster truck rallies so I'll leave all those Ford F-150 extended cab type "trucks" to that whole foam hat, plaid shirts crew.