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I'm a single male in my mid 20's and from what they were saying i'm pretty much it's target segment and i must say it was god damn horrible. Even at 12k there is no way i would buy one - for that sort of money i'd look to buy a nice range rover.
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Wot Kev sed.
Actually I can kind of see that it'd be useful and I'd take one over a Freelander (or a Pontiac Aztek) but then I'd stay well away from them too.
In America they keep trying to reinvent the station wagon, because it has too many overtones of National Lampoon's Vacation, but actually if you want performance, handling and space, they're not a bad combination.
Not a bad, cheap alternative to a small off roader if you only get as far as the car park, but it'd be a niche car here, albeit one that couldn't hurt Honda's image as a mainstream car maker for the under 50s.
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It's $17k in the US, so once again we in the UK are paying top dollar (sorry) for imported stuff. It should only be about 9000 quid over here (10575 with VAT) so wouldn't be that bad.
I kinda liked it, and I'm in the target group.
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It's $17k in the US,
James May said it was 10 grand (presumably dollars) in the states, By the time you've faffed about importing it, it'll cost around £17k in Britain.
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They said it was aimed at the 22 year old graduate who had yet to get a job.
Is it just me, or can anyone else fail to see the logic in targeting at $10,000 car at people with no income at all?
And even then, it's about as cool as a Nissan Almera. Cool for young people is questionable bodykits, huge spoilers and oversized alloys. That is not cool, it's naff.
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I think you lot weren't listening properly. It wasn't supposed to be cool to Kev from McDonalds parking lot or a single office swinger or, god forbid, a replacement vehicle for Escort driving jobcentre camper on permanent vacation. It was supposed to be cool as a 20something family car. A couple with a dog, people that still go to Glastonbury and camping with a tent and are not too hot for the whole city MPV driving scene, can't afford local manufactured semi-luxury "fix a lot" offroader such as Freelander and are not ready yet to retire their youth to a salesman tie and a hush puppy shaped Mondeo.
Should it be £10,000 car I think it would exactly what UK needs. Certainly more so than fugly HR-V or Honda's latest misguided missiles such as Honda Jazz (was to appeal to 20ies, appeals to 50ies young at heart only)...
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Get an Element in red and you have the perfect Postman Pat van! IIRC Nissan do something similar thats hugely popular in Japan, its called the Cube or something like that.
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Is it just me, or can anyone else fail to see the logic in targeting at $10,000 car at people with no income at all?
22 year-old American graduates tend to have cash available in the form of loans (our worries about loans for university are pathetic by comparison) and they are the group least likely to remain unemployed. Honda are right to think that if they have a good experience with one of their cars at that age, they'll spend a whole lot more than $10,000 when they are earning $100,000 a year a couple of decades later.
I reckon the wipe clean interior makes this a Berlingo/Partner/Kangoo competitor, which is why £17,000 is a stupid price to pay in the UK.
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I reckon the wipe clean interior makes this a Berlingo/Partner/Kangoo competitor, which is why £17,000 is a stupid price to pay in the UK.
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The original range rover had a wipe clean interior!
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The original range rover had a wipe clean interior!
I'll bet it also had central locking and optional air conditioning, as does the Berlingo, but not abs/ebd brakes, reactive seatbelts, airbags, or a cd player, as does the Berlingo. How times change, huh?
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I'll bet it also had central locking and optional air conditioning, as does the Berlingo, but not abs/ebd brakes, reactive seatbelts, airbags, or a cd player, as does the Berlingo. How times change, huh?
Yes but does the berlingo have a lovely sounding V8 under the bonnet?
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Sadly no, but I'm sure somebody has tried it (I've seen pictures of a six-wheel Berlingo, so anything is possible). Actually I think a lowered Berlingo in black with blacked out windows could look rather good. I suspect the V8 would have to go in the "mid-engine" position though, which would be bad for luggage carrying ;-)
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>>Actually Ithink a lowered Berlingo in black with blacked out windows could look rather good.
Isn't that just a hearse?
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Isn't that just a hearse?
Hmm, but you could practically stand the coffins upright and they'd each have their own airconditioning vent and handy underfloor cubby hole.
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What an ugly car.
We've got a couple of those Nissan 'things' round our way - one of them even has Viper stripes on it...
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>> It's $17k in the US, James May said it was 10 grand (presumably dollars) in the states, By the time you've faffed about importing it, it'll cost around £17k in Britain.
He said £10,000 in the USA.
The basic LX model(2WD and manual gearbox) is about US$18k in USA including delivery but before any State taxes - which is approx £10k.
I would think an average price is US$20-22k 'on the road'(£11-12k)
The 'headline' price for cars in the USA(particularly the cheaper cars) is very misleading. There are a host of extras to add to come to the 'on the road' price.
Also many cars sold in UK as 4WD e.g. Hyundai Santa Fe are sold in the USA as 2WD and these are the biggest sellers.
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I thought it proved that the potential buyers had no taste as it looked ugly. And yes: iirc it's 2wd not 4wd to save costs..
Of course in the UK you NEED 4wd to drive in London, Chelsea and other rough road places:-)
madf
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I thought it proved that the potential buyers had no taste as it looked ugly. And yes: iirc it's 2wd not 4wd to save costs.. Of course in the UK you NEED 4wd to drive in London, Chelsea and other rough road places:-) madf
Just to clarify, you can get both 2WD and 4WD versions in the USA.
The point I was making is that when both options are available on a SUV the 2WD version normally outsells the 4WD model. Much as the optional Automatic gearbox is overwhelmingly prefered to a manual.
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That is interesting....Subarus used to be available to order in 2wd as well as AWD but this option was removed in late 1990s (in Oz at least) due to lack of sales and perceived wrong image.
StarGazer
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