Out in the AZ Wilderness
Posted by Keith | Filed under Adventure, Places to See, Posts
No Cars, No Motorcycles….Just our feet to carry us out to this view. This photo was taken about halfway through a 14 mile hike in the White Tank Mountains of Arizona.
Tags: Arizona, Hiking, Phoenix, White Tank Mountain
New 7 Series Launch Party–Phoenix
Posted by Keith | Filed under Posts, Shows/Events
We were invited to attend the Phoenix premiere of the all new BMW 7 Series (F01/F02) at a local art gallery (Bentley Gallery). I guess BMW must have checked the records and said it is about time for them to upgrade.
Two cars were carefully tucked under white covers on the floor of the old industrial building. Art work and sculpture filled a few different wings of the building but we were constrained to the main gallery. After the crowd had gathered, the covers where pulled off and the people were allowed to climb in and investigate. BMW NA had brought a 750Li and a 750i to show off the new model’s design.
This car design is a big improvement over the Bangle butt versions before but no where as sharp as the old E38 of the late 90’s. That car was the epitome of driving, performance and style in the "The Transporter" movie.
Toward the end of the event we were shown one of those inspirational BMW movies about the car and heard a few words from the regional BMW rep. It was a nice way to spend an evening but barely enough to make me think about opening my wallet on a $80K-$90K car.
Tags: 7 Series, Bentley Gallery, BMW, BMW NA, Chris Bangle, E38, The Transporter
Auto Bailout Plan #1 Saturn
Posted by Keith | Filed under Posts
Times are tough if you are an American car manufacturer. GM has already said that Saturn, Pontiac and Opel must go "potentially". No amount of US backing can save them.
Saturn started as the different kind of car company in the 1980’s. Ready to set the automotive world on fire with plastic car bodies, no-haggle dealers and union-free manufacturing. I guess the last ditch effort to save the company is to slap a Roundel on the back and hope for buyers.
Got a good photo of a Roundel on a non-BMW–Send it in.
Tags: Add new tag, Bailout, BMW, GM, Roundel, Saturn
Along the Apache Trail-Let the Adventure Begin
Posted by Keith | Filed under Adventure, Jeep, Posts
Jeep’s slogan is “Have fun out there”. We adopted that motto this summer in Arizona.
Last year was spent adjusting to the house, pool, landscape and did I mention the HEAT! 110 degrees at 10am is not normal on the East Coast–Arizona is different. The theme for our life starting this summer was much like Jeep’s. Our adventures included hiking, running and 4 wheeling in the Jeep. We decided that our website needed to include those adventures. Look for articles and photos as we have more of those adventures.
The first adventure to get included is on the Apache Trail. This is the only scenic highway in Arizona–although even the most mundane roads here have wonderful views beyond the PUDs full of homes. The trail is partially paved but mainly dirt that connects Apache Junction to several lakes and a major dam to the North. Some sections of this road remind you of the Alps with awesome cliffs just feet from the side of an unprotected road. Most sites will tell you that the road can be traveled by automobile but do not believe them. If you care about your car–go rent one.
OPPS–Not all Mini owners care about there babies. Believe it or not we had cars ahead and behind us on most of this trip including a BMW 335 and a Mini Cooper. The cars will make it but will surely suffer rock chips, suspension issues and possibly other horrendous problems.
The road is filled with great views of the Arizona landscape. One narrow portion forces cars to pass on a one lane road hundreds of feet above the canyon floor. Sure enough cars have gone over and can be seen on the decent to a permanent resting spot below.
After 20 plus miles of travel you find yourself below the huge Roosevelt dam that was originally built in the early 1900’s as a government project to help provide a growing Arizona region with water. The dam was later heightened and improved to better serve the growing state’s requirements. The dam rises out of the deep valley and dominates the horizon as you approach.
Once you reach the top of the dam and look down into the canyon below you wonder how different the landscape might have looked 100 years ago. Beyond the dam lies a vast lake for boating and swimming.
Visit the Photo Gallery to see all of the photos from this adventure. Keep coming back to see and experience more of the Southwest through our travels and adventures.
Tags: Adventure, Apache Trail, Arizona, Jeep, mini cooper, photos, Roosevelt Dam, scenic views
Hyundai Genesis Driving Event
Posted by Keith | Filed under Posts, Shows/Events
Hyundai is in the process of trying to move upscale. No fancy branding exercises like Lexus and Acura. Just design and build a better car, slap a V8 in it and try to sell it for $40K.
To market the car to the population they created a traveling roadshow to let you see it up close and drive it against the competition. The show is down to its last two stops, Phoenix and Chicago. You can visit, Drive Genesis, to get an appointment at the driving event. We have done this type of event a few times before with Lexus and Mercedes and had a good time.
The real question is–Can Hyundai erase my memories of the 1988 Excel that I use to drive to work daily in the early 90’s?
Tags: Acura, Driving Event, Hyundai, Hyundai Excel, Hyundai Genesis, Lexus
Vindication on the Jeep Buying Experience!
Posted by Keith | Filed under Jeep, Posts
Within days of posting the story of our Jeep buying experience I found a news story highlighting the Best and Worst cars to purchase based on customer satisfaction.
Jeep set the bar high–they were dead last.
BMW was the second best–no surprise there.
Next time you are thinking about buying something major (like a car) you should visit this website and do some advance research. The American Customer Satisfaction Index only focuses on the customer satisfaction aspect of the product–not the quality.
Tags: American Consumer Satisfaction Index, BMW, consumerist, Jeep
Buying American-It’s a Jeep!
Posted by Debi | Filed under Jeep, Posts
It is a Jeep. Yes, you read correct a Jeep. Perhaps not the Ultimate Driving Machine, but as Jeep proclaims, one that will allow us to Have Fun Out There. And, fun it has been on a recent trail crawling along at a snails pace and stopping to wave at a caravan of various 4×4s as they passed us. But, hey we’ve been driving Bimmers and Minis now for the past 11 years both on and off the track and its going to take a bit of getting used to this new higher wheel base and dirt.
For some time now since my youth, I’ve always wanted a Jeep Wrangler, but for some reason or another never took purchasing one serious. It would have been the Ultimate Snow Plow in Pennsylvania, but instead I chose to slide sideways in my classic 1972 Pontiac Firebird it was always about speed I guess. It took a move to beautiful Arizona from the Southeastern US to finally take purchasing one seriously. And so that leads me to our purchasing experience. This is the first American vehicle Keith and I have bought in some time and this was our worst buying experience by far.
We always start out by emailing local dealers to see what they can do with regards to price and once narrowed down we make our choice, finalize the transaction via email and briefly visit the dealership to take care of the paperwork and payment and we are out the door. The purchasing of this Jeep took many emails and 12 hours of time at the dealership on a recent Saturday. It should have been simple–the dealer was suppose to honor their advertised AutoTrader .com price of $2,000 under invoice, which did not show two add-ons of $399 each. Instead, I still cannot believe that we had to argue from MSRP down with every Manager at the dealership?not only about the price, but that we didn’t want to use Chrysler Financial because we had our own financing. In the end it did result in $1,200 under invoice, a poor survey response and an immature email from our salesperson stating we were not deserving of another tank of gas promised to us because of our poor survey response to Chrysler. I caught myself laughing out loud as this reminds me of the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld no gas for us.
Ok, so most folks would of told this dealer to take a hike much earlier on in the day, but amazingly in this turbulent economy no other local dealer wanted to move much at all off MSRP. I find this funny because our 1999 BMW E36 M3 was built in the last month of production. The Atlanta dealer gladly sold us our car with seven miles on the odometer for $4,000 off MSRP no add ons. This was an extraordinary deal considering that the E46 M3s would not be released until a year later. In 2006, the newly released unibody pick-up, the Honda Ridgeline, was taking a while to gel with the American public. We were able to purchase one for $6,000 under MSRP at a Charlotte dealer and when we sold it just last year, the cost of ownership was close to nothing.
So in concluding I ask, Is this an American thing? The pricing games and long hours spent at the dealership, or is this a left coast game. We’ve all heard in the enthusiast world that many of our west coast counterparts have far out spent us when buying a car. I almost want to believe it is indeed what goes on in purchasing an American made vehicle and I say this because last year I had a very pleasant Mini Cooper S buying experience with Brecht Mini of San Diego, CA. I even received $500 off MSRP and free floor mats on this top ten seller. But, maybe it’s just a Phoenix thing after all I had to go to San Diego to purchase a Mini.
Tags: Bimmers, BMW, Brecht Mini, E36, Honda, Jeep, M3, Mini, Pontiac Firebird
What Could It Be?
Posted by Keith | Filed under Jeep, Posts
Faces in Places Car’s Edition #2
Posted by Keith | Filed under Faces in Places-Cars, Posts
Radiator caps…that’s is as simple as it gets. The hood ornament or mascot found its humble beginnings in the radiator cap. Manufacturers wanted to make even this simple cap a unique feature of their brand. Individuals and artists also used the hood ornament as a way to personalize their cars. These mascots could embody a variety of forms including, human, animal and abstract shapes and could be made from chrome, brass and even glass.
Sadly, these mascots have disappeared from the modern automobile as aerodynamics and crumple zones have become more important. The Rolls-Royce’s, Spirit of Ecstasy, is one of the last holdouts and even she neatly tucks herself away at the flick of a switch to protect her from vandals and thieves in the latest generation. If fact many enthusiasts collect original and replica mascots as a way to enjoy the thrill of automobile collecting without the space or expense.
Below are a few small faces from female mascots that we have photographed over time.
Keep your eyes posted–Faces can be found everywhere.
Tags: Faces in Places, mascots, Rolls Royce, Spirit of Ecstasy
Let’s Mini 2008 (www.LetsMini.de)
Posted by Keith | Filed under Mini, Posts, Shows/Events
A quick post on the upcoming “Let’s Mini 2008” event in Hildesheim, Germany this next week; July 4th through the 6th. This event has been around a?few years and looks pretty amazing with over 700 Minis (new and old) gathered to party, race and bond.
The event is modeled after the Mini United event held in various locations around Europe over the last few years. Here in the USA we have Mini Takes the States.
If you are heading to the event in Germany and are willing to collect a little memrobilia–I would love to work a deal to get some merchandise. Long story short; we own the www.LetsMini.com domain here in the USA and have owned it for almost 5 years. It would be cool to have official merchandise for our collection.
Drop me an email to work out a deal–Please!!!
Tags: Germany, Lets Mini, Mini, mini cooper, Mini United, www.LetsMini.de
We are big car/motorcycle fans and even BIGGER BMW fans. We fell in love with the the marque in 1996 and have been dedicated since then.