Car "Shopping"

Not my photo - Subaru BRZ

I went car "shopping" last week with one of my friends just for fun. We were just looking for an activity to kill some time on a Saturday afternoon.

I thought we would start at the Toyota/Scion dealership on Steeles Avenue a bit east of the 404. I was interested in seeing both the Toyota Prius C and new Scion FR-S there.

The C is the smallest version of the three Prius models. It's great on gas, but a tad too small as far as I'm concerned. The standard Prius, while a decent size, is pretty ugly looking. The V is the largest one. It looks reasonably good, gets good gas mileage, but is probably too large for my needs.

I sat in a few Scion models while I was there too - the iQ, xD and tC. The iQ is the smallest one. You could compare it to the Smart Fortwo. It is tiny. If you never had any passengers or never had to go buy groceries or anything it would be a fun car to putt around the city in. I never actually considered buying this car. My friend and I just sat in it because we wanted somewhere to sit while discussing what we were going to do next (after we left the dealership).

The xD is about the size of a Volkswagen Golf. According to the Scion website it starts at a very reasonable $17,280. But, being a Scion (which is like a poor man's Toyota) the interior finish seems a little chintzy. You get what you pay for.

The tC, starting at $20,940, was pretty sporty looking. The interior space was good too - both for the passengers sitting in the front and back seats.

Still the only Scion I really find appealing is the new FR-S, starting at $25,990 manual and $27,170 automatic. It's super sexy. They didn't have any in the showroom. But, my friend and I saw one in the parking lot as we were leaving. A couple of guys had just come back from a test drive and parked it there. It looks amazing.

Toyota and Subaru collaborated on this new car and came out with similarly styled models. There are a few slight differences in styling. But, as the Subaru salesman we talked to later in the day explained, the biggest differences were in the tuning and interior finish. He claimed the Subaru's were higher quality.

Following our trip to the Toyota/Scion dealership we went next door to the Lexus lot. There was only one car there I was somewhat interested in - the CT 200h (2012 model starting at $30,950). It's a hybrid. A few thousand dollars more expensive than the comparably sized Prius with fuel consumption rate slightly higher. But it's a Lexus which is considerably more luxurious.

After that we headed to Yonge and Steeles to check out the Acura dealership. There weren't any cars I was really interested in seeing there. But, we had some time to kill and couldn't think of anywhere else to go.

My friend thought the RDX, starting at $41,000 (according to the sales person), looked nice. A couple I know have one. It's a nice looking vehicle. Though the new one is larger than the older model. Too big as far as I'm concerned.

I sat in the TSX, starting at $31,890. It's a handsome 4-door sedan. I'd never seriously consider it though. For the same price I'd rather have the fuel concious CT 200h or sporty Subaru BRZ... which brings us to our final dealership... The Subaru dealership on Yonge (south of Drewry).

There were a couple of cars there I was interested in seeing - the Impreza, starting at $20,895 or $22,1950 for the automatic, and the new, flashy BRZ, starting at $27,295 or $28,495 for the automatic.

I have to say, the base Impreza is kind of plain looking. The Touring or Sport Package will set you back $23,895 and $26,095 respectively (for the automatic models).

So you have a conundrum... the Subaru Impreza with Sport Package for $26,095, the BRZ for $28,495 or the Lexus CT 200h for $30,950.

The Impreza with automatic transmission (CVT - continuously variable transmission) uses 7.5/5.5 litres/100 km city/highway. The 5-door model I'm interested in is very practical.

The BRZ has no fuel consumption numbers available on the Subaru Canada website. It's just a sexy beast.

The Lexus CT 200h only comes in an "automatic" version. Out of the three cars it has the best fuel economy using 4.5/4.8 litres/100 km city/highway. Yes, it uses less fuel in the city which is backwards compared to typical gas engines. That's because the electric engine is in use at slower speeds (in the city) so it uses less fuel then.

On top of the base price for all the cars you have to add between $1,500-$2,000 for delivery (which I find is ridiculous). Do we pay 79¢/lb for bananas plus 20¢ for delivery? Why not be upfront with your pricing and include all the charges?

When you add the HST and all other fees expect your bill to balloon to $5,000-$7,000 more than the base amount.

I'm not considering buying any time soon. My current car is still in reasonable condition. I plan on holding onto it until it's not worth the upkeep. Only at that time should I consider looking into one of these other cars.

New Car Shopping (Part II)

My friend and I went out again to look at cars. Again it was after lunch. This time at Congee Queen.

After we ate we headed just down the street to Toyota on the Park to look at the Prius. I thought it would be a good idea to continue looking for fuel efficient cars in light of the recent price hikes on gasoline.

When we got to the dealership we wandered around a bit. Similarly to many of the other dealerships no salespersons approached us. I'm not quite sure why that was. Though I suspect they might have to take turns trying to sell cars to potential clients. So you have to approach the front desk and ask for help and they'll assign someone to you.

Anyway, we were assigned Sylvain when we asked to look at the Prius. Since there wasn't one in the showroom he had to get one for us to look at. He found one and brought it to the parking lot out in front. We got in the car and took a look. Sylvain got in the back and told us about all the features. One thing I didn't like that much was the instrument panel. Instead of the traditional one with the speedometer and everything right behind the steering wheel the Prius had it on a long, thin strip on the dashboard. It seemed a bit strange to me.

The best thing about the car, of course, was the gas mileage. Though I believe Sylvain got the numbers wrong. His estimated fuel usage in the city was too low and for the highway was too high. On Toyota's Canadian website it's quoted at 3.7 L/100 kms City; and 4.0 L/100 kms Highway.

My friend and I were about to leave when this fellow came up and started talking to us. I thought he was an employee at the Toyota dealership. He saw us looking at the Prius and, I believe, had some nice things to say about it. He also mentioned that we should look at the Lexus CT 200h at the Lexus dealership next door because it was only a bit more expensive than the Prius, but much nicer.

He said he had compared both cars and was going to look at CT. He also mentioned he worked for Honda as a technician. His current car was a Toyota Camry though. As for hybrids, he said that Toyotas were better than Hondas. The Lexus salesman, Jim, who we were assigned echoed that sentiment.

They also didn't have a CT 200h in the showroom, so Jim brought one around for us to look at. We sat in it and he told us about all of the features. I have to say it's much more refined and stylish than the Prius. And it's base price is only about $3,000 more at $30,950 (plus freight and dealer costs, plus HST 13%).

Jim even suggested we take it for a test drive. He was the only salesperson we spoke with in the couple of days we were out looking that said that. For the rest we'd have to book an appointment. So that was kind of nice. I think they're quite customer-oriented at Lexus.

The CT 200h was a nice car. I drove it the same way I drive any car. In a pretty slow, steady way. I'm not one of those people who pushes a car hard and accelerates quickly from a standing start. So if it was a high performance car, I couldn't tell. It was just a decent car to drive. I liked it. It's fuel consumption rate is quite good too - 4.5 L/100 kms City; and 4.8L/100 kms Highway. Far better than any gas only engine.

It's something else to think about when I consider purchasing my next car that's for sure.