After reading the last blog, my wife pointed out her two requirements and asked that I add them. First, she would like to be able to sit high enough so that she can see out of the car. Second, she would like the gas cap to be on the driver side. She realizes that this is largely up to chance, and it's not a deal-breaker.
This past weekend I managed to convince my wife to attend
the Rhode Island Auto Show with me. This is a smaller show, sponsored primarily
by the RI dealers association and Motor Trend. It’s mostly current model cars,
though I saw at least one preproduction model. There may have been more, but if
so they blended in with everything else. This isn’t the sort of thing I would
normally attend, but since I’m in the market for a new car it was a good chance
to look at a lot of things on the list without dealing with sales people. I did
have to contend with other people trying to do the same thing but they
generally weren’t bad. People letting their kids play in the cars was mildly
annoying, however. I also found the teenage boys taking selfies in the high end
cars mildly amusing.
The RI convention center isn’t huge, so not every model from
every brand was represented, and there were a couple of makes that were absent
entirely. Still, I was able to check out a majority of the cars on the long
list and get my wife’s impressions. We agreed on two overarching points. First,
there is very little diversity of design, even across brands, particularly in
the midsize sedan and small and midsize CUV categories. I find this to be
especially true with the CUVs. They all tend to be vaguely egg shaped high
riding boxes of bland.
Second, control layout, particularly the center stack in
most cars is in serious need of UI engineering. It’s like everyone is so
fixated on cramming as much tech into the car as they possibly can that they
forgotten to make it usable. The potential for distracted driving is really
high with some of the layouts and options. It’s no wonder they’re starting to
pile on assisting breaking and lane departure warnings as a standard.
Like I said above though, I did get a chance to take a look
at several of the cars on the list, plus a few more, and get my wife’s opinion
before she got too burned out and just responded to everything with “meh, car.”
It altered the long list pretty significantly. My notes are below. I will say
first, that after looking at the crew cab pickups, they’re out. They just feel
like a compromise in every direction. Anyway, on with the notes:
Mazda CX-5: The wife says it’s practical and too cute. “A
kindergarten teacher’s car”.
Mazda CX-3: We both liked the way it looked, but it’s really
tiny on the inside.
Volvo XC 70: The wife said “I like this” but Volvo is really
the first place we took note of the crazy center console design. The dial pad
in the middle is weird and dated. I didn’t look at an XC 90 to see if it still
existed in a newer offering. Maybe I should have.
Audi A3: it’s too small. Incidentally, the wife pointed at
the A3 avant, laughed, and said it was a total kindergarten teacher car. So
there’s that. I’m not sure why she hates kindergarten teachers so much.
Hyundai Tucson and Santa Fe: bland, inoffensive, boring,
forgettable. They blend right in. My actual note was “meh”.
Honda Pilot: Not originally on the list, I was on the fence
about the Pilot. I still am, but the wife liked it, so it bares a closer look.
I usually have a problem with the seats in Hondas being too firm, but they
weren’t awful in the Pilot we sat in. Also of note, I didn’t see an HRV. It may
have blended in with all the other Hondas. If so, not a good sign.
Honda Civic – they had a 2016 on the floor. I’m really
impressed with it. It’s big enough that I initially thought it was an Accord.
It’s really nice looking, and the wife thought so too. It’s not AWD though, so
it doesn’t get added to the list.
Ford Flex: The wife really liked the Flex. I want to hate
it, but I don’t. I’m adding adding it to the list. It wouldn’t be the first
time I’m surprised by something I think I’ll hate.
Ford Taurus: For as big as this car is, there really isn’t
much room inside.
Ford Fusion: The Fusion made realize I should have been
taking pictures all along. It, along with its cousin the Lincoln MKZ had what
my very well be the stupidest design “feature” we saw the entire day. Forward
of the gear selector, right next to your knee in the spot where in most cars
there’s a little tray or a bin where you chuck your phone and your extra bits
and spare change, there’s this impossibly deep hole with open sides. W.T.F? I
don’t think I’ve ever been turned off from a car by a more minor, but
significant detail.
 |
| This is by your knee. How is that useful? |
Ford Explorer: They had a Platinum trim model on the floor.
It was very nice and Crissy really liked it. I still on the fence about them,
they’re big, and they get expensive quick when you start adding options. Also,
it’s sitting on the same platform as the Taurus but it still wants to pretend
it’s a truck. I have a hard time reconciling that.
Lincoln MKZ: same as the fusion. The 2017 is probably the sexiest
Lincoln I’ve ever seen though. Or maybe I’m just getting old.
Fiat 500x: I think Fiat probably has one of the best
marketing media groups in the industry. On line these looked neat. They gave
the impression of being bigger and a little more rugged, almost like a rally
car. In person they’re almost indistinguishable from the other versions of the
500.
Chrysler 200: I had read the warnings about how small the
rear passenger openings and back seat are. I still managed to hit my head
trying to get in. Who designs this stuff? How does it get past QC?
Jeep Patriot: This one caused a little confusion, and I
admit some frustration for me. My wife has laughed these off repeatedly as
“wannabe jeeps” in the past. I ran with that opinion in my mind, and, added to
the consistently poor reviews these have received, I didn’t consider it. My
wife pointed it out at the show, said it was neat, and refused to hear my
objections. I may have to drive it before I’m allowed to dismiss it entirely
again.
Jeep Wrangler/Unlimited: I knew my wife liked these, I just
didn’t realize how much. There were all sorts of alternate driving arrangements
proposed, and after sitting in both a 2 door and a 4 door, both in Sahara trim,
she was spent. I still question the practicality of the Wrangler as a daily
driver.
Mercedes GLA: Mercedes also has a great art department, or
at least good photographers. On line, the GLA looks like a slightly lifted,
sporty little hatchback. In person this thing is a toad on wheels.
Lexus IS: In particular, an IS 350 F AWD. Lexus takes the
cockpit feel to the extreme. It was a neat car. I’m not an overly large man,
and my wife is on the petite side. When we both got in the car the word she
used was “smooshed”. I’m guessing the backseat is there for show.
BMW 2 series: This is the only realistic car BMW had at the
show. It’s tiny like a go cart. There was an M4, and I wanted to take a look to
get an idea of the interior room. It was surrounded by teenage boys taking
selfies. I couldn’t get close to it.
Toyota 4runner: This thing is truck in all the right ways.
It still might be too big.
We also looked at several other things on list but they
received reviews of “acceptable” from my wife, or at least “meh, car” which I
take to mean “acceptable, but I’m tired of looking at cars, and we’ve been here
two hours and I’m hungry.” As I may have mentioned previously, cars are really
not her thing. For those of you keeping score, we’ve eliminated all the Mazdas,
the Audi A3 and the Hyundai CUV. Also gone are the Fusion and the Taurus from
Ford ( I thought these would be top contenders), The sole Lincoln on the list
as well as the lone Fiat. Rounding out the eliminated pool are the Chrysler
200, the GLA from Mercedes, the Lexus IS, and the 2 series BMWs.
I also added a couple cars. I will definitely be taking a
close look at the Ford Flex, and I haven’t ruled out the Explorer, but again, I
think it’s too big, and too expensive when you start adding options. I’ll also likely
be taking a closer look at the Pilot when I go to find the elusive Honda HRV.
Finally, I don’t think I can satisfactorily dismiss the Patriot without a test drive.
All in all this was a worthwhile trip. Admittedly it was a
lot to take in, and even I got burned out by the time we left. The next step is
probably some dealer visits and some hefty review sifting. I probably won’t
start that for a couple of months to give the weather a chance to stabilize and
to be closer to the lease end date on the Kia. As always, if you have a comment
or a suggestion, let me know.
