For the past three years or so I’ve been meaning to take a trip up to the local convention center when they host their annual auto show. Circumstances forced me to abandon those plans. Just kidding! I’ve simply forgotten the date and missed it several times. But fear not! I attended this year. And the amount of vehicles I shot will enable me to focus more on new vehicle debuts and concept cars when I head to the Javits Center next month.
A bunch of debuts at the 2018 New York show are currently sitting at dealerships nationwide. Chief among them was the new Silverado. The front end is quite a departure from the previous generation and the other trucks in the segment.
General Motors caught a bit of flak over their new trucks. The controversial styling, ho-hum interior, and non-innovative powertrains haven’t done any favors for the Silverado and Sierra.
Is the new Silverado a rolling dumpster fire? No. Sure, the new turbo four is a spectacular flame out, and the exterior is not for everyone, but that doesn’t mean the truck is a dud. Far from it. The Chevy has those nicely integrated tail gate steps. And the bed is substantially larger than the competition. There are compelling reasons to buy this truck.
But what of the interior? Its not at the level of the Ram and its slightly behind the F-150, but not enough to be a deal breaker. Material quality may not match its rivals, but it’s really not a bad place to spend time.
The center console is absolutely gargantuan and can definitely hold a gallon of milk and another half gallon of milk. And in case you were curious, that is in fact a USB-C port. They’re all over the cabin.
The GMC Sierra is a slightly more attractive truck.
The big news with the 1500 is the addition of the MultiPro tailgate. Can it do a bunch of truck stuff? Yes. This configuration is the one you want if you’re a short dude like me who needs a little more of an assist to get into the bed. You can also close the main tailgate while keeping the bottom step unfolded, which then doubles as bed extender. Neat!
Compelling tailgate aside, there is no reason for GMC to exist. This interior is essentially the same as its Chevy counterpart.
Okay, now back to Chevy. GMC doesn’t have a Blazer clone yet. But if they get one, it probably won’t be as compelling as this two row crossover, at least visually. Yes, this is a good looking vehicle. It’s a nice blend of contemporary Chevy and Mazda styling.
That Mazda inspired styling extends to the rear end of the Blazer as well. Also of note is the recessed area around the license plate, which takes up a substantial portion of the tailgate. Ford has used this design trick many times in the past, and it results in vehicles that tend to end up looking pretty good. Chevy was wise to emulate them.
Occupants in the back of the Blazer get their choice of a USB-A port, USB-C, or a regular 120V household outlet. If your laptop or mobile phone can’t charge itself using any of those, you probably aren’t from Earth, and definitely should have logged on to Space Amazon to buy the universal power adapter before visiting.
The general consensus on the Blazer is that it has very good driving dynamics and an underwhelming interior. Again, I don’t think the interior is a deal breaker, at least when it comes to material quality. Although you’ve probably already noticed the most glaring issue inside the Blazer: that completely bonkers HVAC setup. It sits entirely too low for anyone taller than an Ewok. I am baffled as to how they thought those vents were a good idea.
The Blazer has another problem: it can get seriously expensive at the top end of its lineup. Base MSRP for the RS trim is $43,500. A quick visit to Healey Chevrolet’s website shows several white Blazer RS models for about $50,750. Obviously this was one of them. That is a ludicrous price for a two row crossover. For comparison purposes, a base Ford Edge ST starts at $42,355 while a Ford Explorer Sport can be had for $46,625. Incentives and rebates can be used to lower the price, but the Blazer boasts a starting price that will probably scare a lot of customers away before they even sit down to talk numbers with a salesperson.
The current Traverse debuted several years ago and I’ve seen them at the auto show in New York, but never got close to one until now. The Chevy deserved a look due to its membership in the ultra competitive three row crossover segment. It’s an attractive crossover that probably came about when General Motors captured a Ford Explorer and Dodge Durango and forced them to breed.
Like other vehicles under the General Motors umbrella, the Traverse suffers from a positively drab interior. There are options for more expressive interior options but they’ll cost you. Does your family truckster need to be decked out with an upscale interior if it’s just meant to shuttle your kids around? Maybe not. 2018 was the best year ever for the Traverse, with 146,264 examples finding a home.
Because of the poor lighting at the show, my rear end shot of the Traverse came out quite blurry. So here’s one from the 2017 New York show. The Chevy is the longest three row in the segment. At 204 inches, it is six more inches than the 2019 Explorer, and it will be longer than the redesigned 2020 model as well. The Traverse and its Buick Enclave sibling basically occupy their own niche in an expansive segment.
By contrast, the GMC Acadia is right in the thick of things. General Motors decided to go for a two pronged approach with their three rows: the Chevy and Buick are at the larger end while the GMC is available for those seeking something a bit smaller. And by smaller I mean 194 inches in length. That is on the shorter side of the segment, but again, GM thinks a two pronged approach is the best. The upcoming Cadillac XT6 will by slightly larger than the Acadia, coming in at about 198 inches.
Although the Traverse and Acadia differ in size, they are quite similar in terms of interior quality. To reiterate the point I made earlier: there is no reason for GMC to exist. There’s not enough differentiation between it and Chevy.
To make matters worse, the current Acadia has an “All Terrain” package. Does this confuse people into thinking they’re looking at or sitting in a Terrain? If my experience is anything to go by, the answer is yes. I definitely heard a salesman correct a prospective customer who thought he was inside a Terrain.
I’ve been quite skeptical of Cadillac lately. They’re not fielding an exciting lineup right now. And future products seem to be just as underwhelming. Does the XT4 solve any of those problems? Not really.
That being said, I do like the exterior of the XT4. It keeps the Art and Science look fresh without being too busy.
Unfortunately the interior is a huge letdown. Like other vehicles in the GM lineup, its interior cannot compete with the competition.
Nissan hasn’t cancelled any of its sedans yet. Will it happen? I can’t imagine the Versa hanging around for too much longer. The Sentra probably moves enough volume to stay in the game for now. As for the Maxima, I think it has overstayed its welcome even if it is a pretty decent vehicle. With the latest Altima, the Maxima has become even more irrelevant. The new mid size has sexy styling, compelling features, and decent driving dynamics. You’d have to really fall in love with the Maxima in order to pick it over the Altima.
The big news for the Altima is the addition of an all wheel drive variant. Like Subaru, you can get four wheel traction with the entry level trim level and the standard powertrain. At $25,250, a base AWD Altima is a decent value. It’s probably about ten years too late though.
The Altima’s cabin does exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. It’s a bit more spartan than a Camry or Accord, but not enough to be a deal breaker. And I’m sure that the Nissan comes out a bit cheaper when directly compared to its Japanese competitors, making the slightly less premium interior a bit more palatable.
Nissan has touted its Zero Gravity seats for several years now. I must not have been paying attention to these seats in previous cars for some reason or another. Maybe they weren’t as good as they are in the new Altima. Then it happened: as soon as I plopped my butt into these thrones I was impressed. Without any adjustments and a fully deployed lumbar I felt extraordinarily comfortable. And I generally dislike lumbar adjustments. I highly doubt any of the other mid sizers can match those seats. They are definitely worth checking out.
In terms of value, this particular Altima probably makes a good case for itself as long as it comes with some decent incentives. The SR trim doesn’t have all the premium interior enhancements of the higher tier trim levels yet it still pushes 30k. Then again it seems like all the other mid size sedans are priced similarly now.
The Altima may not have as rich of an interior as the Accord or Camry, but it does boast some compelling features that make it worth a look. And if we’re witnessing the last generation of the Altima, it will at least have gone out on a high note.
2018 saw the introduction of several subcompact crossovers that had been available in international markets for at least several years prior to their introduction in America. The Nissan Kicks, along with the Ford EcoSport and Hyundai Kona, entered the market and did pretty well for themselves. Ford moved about 54,000 EcoSports while Hyundai sold just over 47,000 Konas. 23,000 Kicks found homes in 2018. That doesn’t sound terribly good at first, but it’s important to keep in mind its availability was extremely limited until the second half of the year, which means its actually been quite competitive with its fellow freshman.
I was able to sit in a Kicks last year at the Javits Center. My conclusion at the time was that the interior was poorly put together because I was able to move the entire assembly area around the floor shifter with great ease. That now seems like just a fluke, because this specific Kicks didn’t exhibit any glaring fit or finish issues.
This is still a subcompact crossover though, with hard plastics everywhere. Obviously, no one is buying the Kicks for its interior. They’re getting it for its low price and attractive tech options.
It will be interesting to see if other automakers introduce multiple entries into the same segment like Nissan did. The subcompact crossover segment as a whole grew by a staggering 31 percent in 2018, so there is certainly room to do so.
There is also another automaker that currently sells vehicles with a cut rate interior, and it’s not one you’d expect. Yes, you’re reading me correctly: The Acura lineup is full of vehicles with extraordinarily disappointing interiors. The TLX is one such vehicle.
This is actually the interior of an MDX. But my point still stands. Their interiors don’t justify the inflated price tag of a luxury vehicle.
I’m also not sold on the modern Acura look. In the mid 2000’s an Acura had a distinct presence and gave off a very premium vibe. Contemporary models don’t really do that. This RDX looks nice, especially with its blue paint job, but is it worth the extra coin?
And is it worth it to splurge for the A-Spec trim? I don’t think it is.
Sure, the trim gets you some fancy seats and better overall handling, but you’re still paying quite a bit for a product that just doesn’t feel like it’s worth the prices that Acura wants to charge you.
With the ILX, it seems customers have agreed with what I’ve had to say about the brand. Consumer Reports has consistently found that ILX owners quickly become dissatisfied with the sedan soon after their purchase. It’s not hard to see why.
What does this car accomplish that a 2019 Civic EX-L can’t? Sure, the Honda lacks the 8 speed dual clutch auto and the 201 horsepower 2.4 liter four cylinder of the ILX, but the 1.5 turbo isn’t substantially slower. And the CVT will most likely feel far more refined than the DCT. The ILX still rides on the previous generation Civic platform, so chassis dynamics probably come up short of expectations. And last but not least, the Honda sacrifices nothing in interior quality when directly compared to the Acura.
Consider this: For the roughly $31,000 MSRP of this A-Spec ILX, you could instead buy a Civic Touring and save about $4,000. Heck, an Accord EX-L is $1,000 cheaper and more fuel efficient by 4 MPG highway. The ILX sold just over 11,000 units in 2018 and a decent portion of those buyers will come to regret their purchase. It’s simply too expensive. This is a sedan that no one will mourn when it inevitably gets cancelled.
My scorching hot take on Acura is largely due to circumstance. At the Javits Center, all the luxury vehicles are in their own little section, away from the non-luxury brands. In the Mid Hudson Civic Center that was not the case. The local Mazda dealer set up shop right next to Acura, and I suspect that was completely intentional. See this 2019 CX-9? Its interior is noticeably more premium than the MDX, which is roughly the same size as the Mazda. Same goes for the RDX, which is closer to the CX-9 in price.
And the CX-9 wasn’t the only Mazda that boasted a better interior than its more “premium” counterpart. The brand new 2019 Mazda 3 is here and its better looking than ever, inside and out.
And I really mean it. The material quality in the 3 is excellent and a step up from the 2019 Civic. It puts the Acura ILX to shame. Aesthetically the case is less clear. But this is without a doubt a high quality interior that punches above its weight.
Oddly enough, Mazda doesn’t even list the new hatchback as being available currently. Oh well. I highly doubt Route 9 Mazda will have a hard time selling this sexy beast. And now that the 3 can be optioned with all wheel drive, they’ll probably have an easier time selling all the other ones too. My PSA to all you curbivores is to stay tuned for part 2 of my local auto show coverage, and to recommend the Mazda lineup to any friends or family that are leaning towards a new Acura.
Great post; I haven’t been to a show in a while, so it’s nice to get a wide view of what’s out there. The new Mazda 3 does seem intriguing, but I wish they’d enlarged the windows and dropped that massive C pillar. As for those vents on the Blazer…hmm. GM always did like that little Groin Breeze (TM) duct under the steering column, though, so perhaps they just like cooling occupants’ lower halves. Gotta stick with corporate tradition.
I test drove a new Mazda 3 a few weeks ago. Great interior, loads of soft-touch surfaces, knobs that look and feel like they were sourced from high-end home audio gear. Nicely nuanced steering feel, and kudos for offering a stick shift (and partially red interior) on highly trimmed hatchbacks. But… I could barely see out of the thing. The beltline is reeeealy high in this car, and the rakish windshield only exacerbates the sitting-in-a-deep-bathtub feel.
Get in shape for Spring with the new GMC Sierra Everest Stair Climber Edition! We’ll throw in some kettlebells as a dealer add-on…
On another note, it seems that the GMC used to have the busier face than the Chevy in decades past. Now, it’s the other way around. Nice write up.
I have not been to my local show in awhile, so I appreciate your reports.
Interiors seem to be a big thing today. I can recall a time when there was no way to confuse the interiors of a lower priced car and a higher priced one. But today, who knows. Everyone seems to offer a similarly feeling leather and plastics with interesting finishes in their cars, no matter what the price level.
I am starting to find Nissan interesting again. Though purely anecdotal, my mechanic tells me that his shop’s experience with recent Nissans has been quite positive, putting their cars among his top two or three choices. With all of the upheaval in their corporate boardroom, I wonder if new leadership will change the flavor of the cars.
If Nissan can kick the Renault fox out of the Nissan henhouse, I think that would be a Very Good Thing ™. They were ‘saved’ by Renault but lost their way. Since they’ve acquired Mitsubishi, they may well set up Mitsu as their low cost division like Hyundai did KIA. One sign of this is that in April, they will no longer make the Versa Note which competes with the Mirage hatches. Since the Sentra and Versa sedan are so similar in size and styling
2019 Nissan Sentra
Dimensions: 182-184″ L x 69″ W x 59″ H
2019 Nissan Versa
Dimensions: 175″ L x 67″ W x 60″ H
I think Nissan will play to tradition and strength by keeping the Sentra and dropping the Versa altogether.
I used to be a big Nissan fan as a kid (’90 Maxima, ’92 Pulsar were some of my faves) but now precious little they make – GT-R excepted – interests me. And Toyota, the brand I mocked for being bland and boring for so many years, is now putting out products I genuinely like, including the new Camry and Corolla.
I’d like to see more of those USB-C ports in new cars; their advantages are (a) the cable can be inserted in either direction and (b) they charge newer phones about 2x faster. The tech feature I really want to see though, and is strangely rare, is the wireless version of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Most new cars offer CarPlay and AAuto but you have to plug in the USB cable before it will work. Several aftermarket head units support wireless; it’s time for factory infotainment systems to step up their game. This feature is best paired with a Qi wireless charging surface so your untethered phone will still juice up.
GM has full blown relapsed into pre-2008 design and interior philosophies. Those red rings on the Blazer HVAC ducts have to be part of some red themed special edition package, right?
I hear a lot of praise directed at the new Mazda 3 but I’m clearly missing the appeal, the old one looked way better to me. This has tiny gunslit windows a gigantic bloated quarter panel(which looks to host the worst blind spot ever) and it’s slab sided.
I haven’t really had a chance to sit in a lot of the latest GM products but I’m concerned. At the beginning of this decade, they were introducing lots of really distinctive interiors with higher-quality materials (second-gen LaCrosse and CTS, for example) but their latest cabins are often criticized for being blander and cheaper.
That is especially concerning for luxury products. The CT6 interior is still nice but the shift paddles are no longer magnesium and the lower parts of the door panels are hard plastic, unlike in the outgoing CTS. At that price point, I wouldn’t be too happy. Pretty much all the luxury brands do it for their cheaper products but at that price point…
At least at the time of the bankruptcy, GM’s argued that their market research told them GMC buyers were more likely to choose Ford than Chevrolet if GMC were not available. That’s head scratcher, but maybe that’s more a statement about Chevy dealers than badges on trucks.
Maybe GM should kill off the Chevy versions of all those trucks instead? I would be reasonably sure most Chevy buyers would move to GMC before Ford or Ram.
The one problem with that is without trucks, in about 3 years the only Chevy vehicle left would be the Corvette.
Here’s another thing to consider regarding the Acura ILX vs the Civic Touring in your comparison, Ed…
The Acura ILX is STILL on the 9th generation Civic Platform.
The current Civic is in its 10th generation, and has been since 2016!
Why pay more for the older platform?
Also, why hasn’t Acura moved on with the ILX to the current platform?
This baffles me. Perhaps Honda is just phoning it in until they cancel the ILX.
The ILX interior is not a lot different than my 2014 TSX wagon. I’m pretty sure Honda is just waiting for the car to die off. Just like they did with the TSX. Question is will they introduce something new? Or just abandon the car for another SUV?
They have a sub-RDX crossover in China. Watch, the ILX will be gone soon and they’ll bring that (or a new version) over.
GMC essentially replaces Olds, Pontiac, Saturn, etc as a “step up” from Chevy. Seems that there’s upper class buyers [lessees] who “refuse to drive a Chevy”. See many white/black/gray late model GMC UV’s around Chicago’s North Shore suburbs.
So, GMC does have a “reason to exist”, profits.
I couldn’t have stated it better.
I would say also that GM has done very well at making a difference between models in the last fiew years.
Agreed, although there’s still work to be done with interiors. At least in distinguishing between Chevrolets and GMCs.
The other reason for GMC to exist is that, without the marque, a lot of Buick dealers are going to go broke real soon now.
I still can’t get used to the idea that Lincoln and GMC are competitors. Makes my head hurt.
Old saying… a GMC is a Chevy with lock washers.
Quite the nice collection of gape-mouthed, squinty eyed vehicles.
Great write up. The looks of these rigs and the prices make me love my 2000 Saturn SL2 even more. Hard touch plastics, a great aftermarket audio system, 33 mpg and a $1500 purchase price became very endearing once I started looking for a new car.
GiMmiCk is nothing but a sales ploy for higher prices on a pig, and they don’t even try to put the lipstick on it any longer.
Did they ever in the past?
At least today’s GMCs have different sheetmetal instead of the simple badge switcheroo shtick they did for decades.
Thanks for spreading the good word on Mazda, criminally overlooked by Americans. To see how popular Mazda is in Australia, just basically swap it in the sales rankings with Honda. That also tells you where Honda sits. Mazda is the #2 brand here and they deserve it – fun-to-drive, well-built, reliable, stylish. What’s not to love?
I think they’re trying to take the brand upmarket, perhaps to eventually charge higher prices and get larger profits. If it helps them survive, I support it. And as you said, they already do a good job against Acura, a brand which I don’t really feel bad about not getting down here.
Mazda had a very serious rust problem for a very long time, which could explain why it’s not as popular here as in Australia (do they use road salt there at all, anywhere in the country?)
Move along people. Nothing to see here, or get excited about.
Speak for yourself, Phil. I’d love to get a 3..
Me ‘n’ all.
I have to say I’m liking the Nissans. The Kicks seems like a tremendous value; I looked at one over Xmas and was very impressed with what’s included for the money and the range between bottom and top of the line is not very large at all.
The Altima also looks good and if I were shopping for a midsize would be on my list. The AWD is a huge plus, as the Legacy is kind of off the radar and the Fusion costs way more due to the required engine with its AWD. Maybe Nissan should make an Altima wagon either with or without cladding and really go Subaru hunting.
As far as the others go, I’ve been seeing a few of the new Chevy trucks around and they aren’t as bad as the pictures make them out to be, I’ve seen a total base work truck trim in white that looks rather good as well as a high-zoot in a dark gray that worked too. The interior is another matter though, one look at a new Ram (or even the old version of Ram) and the Chevy is seriously outclassed IMO.
That Mazda3 is, I don’t know, looking a big “thick”? I’m seeing a bit of lowered/chopped Pacer from here (sorry, Will). I haven’t seen one in person but yeah the rear three quarter visibility looks to be atrocious from inside the car based on what’s visible from outside.
Anyway, looking forward to part 2!
The Kicks is an interesting proposition in that it seems an extremely good value as a mini-sized crossover (since it is styled like one, after all), but it really is aimed right at the Kia Soul, which people associate with boxy foremost, not crossover. That’s where lines start to blur, and fuel economy and cargo room are the only two trump cards it has. Backseat room is nowhere near the Soul, and it’s nearly two grand more to start. Not as attractive a proposition then, if you can get past the Kia intentionally trying to look different.
Very good weiteup.
One minor thing: the new Cadillac XT6 is actually in between the smaller C1XX crossovers (Acadia, Blazer, XT5) and the larger ones (Enclave, Traverse).
Fixed. Thank you!
Holy baloney, Batman, these things are UGLY. The trucks, Altima, and most especially the Acuras with special mention for that Cadillac. People rag on the bloated and overdone Brougham era cars but these things are just as overdone like there is no end. I look at them and wonder what kind of Transformer they will be. I assume the trucks would be Fortress Maximus Titans.
+ a gazillion!
I’ve always found GMCs much better looking than Chevys.
Mazda is very interesting to me right now. Nice interiors, good seats, geared transmissions in both manual and automatic, reduced road noise and a 2.5-liter turbo instead of the usual 2.0. I was highly impressed with a basic Sport trim Mazda6 two years ago and if I’d been able to find one that wasn’t a prior rental I may have gone with it instead of our Camry.
My parents swapped a 2005 Acura TL A-Spec in summer of 2017 for, you guessed it, a Mazda. It wouldn’t have happened if I did not insist they at least check one out. “A Mazda?” Mom exclaimed, thinking why on earth would I want that? The parchment white perforated leather paired to black lacquer and aluminum trim throughout swiftly made them realize it was the real deal. Every other phone call I get from them now involves that CX-5, and is still a thank you for saving us so much on something so nice. I think it was $34k out the door? The TL in 2005 was $46k….
Great comprehensive write-up. Modern vehicles have gotten so far away from anything tasteful or classy that I don’t think we will ever see those qualities again. It all looks vulgar, tacky and mean, like our overall culture has gotten. I’m surprised this is how so many people want to present as.
My lawn is open to everyone. I give up.
Ooh, may I park a new Mazda 3 on it then? They don’t seem to be angry and mean, in fact, I think they’re rather sweet.
Chin up, lad. Even if I might share your views, the good that was always in most folk when cars looked nice – and their progenitors thought THAT stuff flash and crass – is still entirely there. Just a bit drowned out, for now.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only person who’s changing their mind a bit about the newer Nissans. I’ve rather come to like the styling of the new Altima and Maxima. The SUVs don’t do a lot for me, but few of them do. I’m a car guy and even though I can see and understand the appeal of SUVs, I have little interest in getting one.
I think it was Principal Dan who said a while back that Nissan would take Pontiac’s place in the US car world. His prediction seems to be coming true, at least by my observation. My Pontiac is now 10 years old and developing rust and at some point I will have to replace it. But, who knows what will replace it; my wife likes the new Jeep Compass, I’d like another Malibu instead. Stay tuned. I may end up with the FWD Mercedes for all I know… LOL!
Great writeup! I still do not see how Acura is in business anymore. How irrelevant are their cars these days?