2011 Honda Accord Crosstour,Reviews

The 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour gets a 1 mpg increase in fuel economy and also relocates the confusing climate-control buttons.

It's difficult to place the 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour into a category. When you compare the 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour to top compact crossover SUVs, its shortcomings are readily apparent. Only in rear legroom does the Crosstour hold a notable advantage. The 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour crossover wagon is available in EX and EX-L trim levels. The 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour is offered in front-wheel drive as standard, with all-wheel drive available on the EX-L. In Edmunds performance testing, a front-wheel-drive Crosstour accelerated from zero to 60 mph in a class-competitive 7.5 seconds. The EPA estimates fuel economy at 18 mpg city/27 mpg highway and 21 mpg in combined driving for front-wheel-drive models.

Standard safety features for all 2011 Honda Accord Crosstours include active front-seat head restraints, antilock disc brakes with brake assist, stability and traction control, front-seat side airbags and side curtain airbags. In Edmunds brake testing, the Crosstour stopped from 60 mph in a decent 131 feet.

The interior of the 2011 Honda Accord Crosstour is nearly identical to the Accord sedan on which it is based.

Like the standard Accord, the Crosstour benefits from accurate steering and predictable handling. The Crosstour is a fine highway cruiser thanks to a comfortable ride quality and a quiet cabin at speed.

The Honda Accord Crosstour has a couple of historical things going for it; it also has a big thing dragging it down.

First, it has the name Accord – one of the most successful in North America.

Here, it only lasted through two generations (through 1997, though the current European Accord wagon makes a comeback to North America as the Acura TSX Sportwagon). Around the time the Accord wagon was petering out in North America, along came the Honda Odyssey, which in its first generation was very much a tall Accord wagon (complete with sedan-like rear doors).

Handy rear seatback release handles in the cargo area sides make it easy to expand the cargo hold forward.

Other than that subjective roofline preference, Crosstour is a fine vehicle, offering up the traditional Accord room and quality inside and out, and delivering fine driving manners in all kinds of situations and surfaces (thanks primarily to our test vehicle’s all wheel drive system).

Toyota Venza,Reviews

NADAguides in its 2011 Second Quarter Car Buyer's Market Report selected six models from Toyota, Acura, Dodge, GMC and Hyundai as Top Recommended Current Buys. The vehicles that offer great values and good deals from the showroom floor are the Toyota Tacoma Double Cab V6 Manual, Toyota Venza I4 AWD, Acura TL, Dodge Challenger R/T, GMC Terrain SLE-2 and Hyundai Azera Limited.

There are numerous factors influencing car shoppers today and in some cases, car research and purchasing a vehicle has become unattractive to consumers," Snyder said.

The base price is $28,575 and there is a 12% first-year depreciation rate. A three-year, 36,000-mile warranty along with Toyota’s Star Safety System and a current days-supply of 53 make the Tacoma a great value. Dodge offers $1,000 bonus cash to Challenger buyers. The Hyundai Azera Limited has a 21% first-year depreciation rate, offers a $30,095 base price and comes with Hyundai’s Trade-in Value Guarantee. The NADAguides Car Buyers Market Report is the compilation of hundreds of thousands of new car data points and market information.

To determine the Top Recommended Current Buys, the NADAguides’ market analytics team develops a list of the top new cars in consideration based on first-year ownership depreciation value of 21 percent or less, competitive MSRP, manufacturer warranty, current financing incentives, safety ratings, additional product features and days-supply product availability.

The New Opel,Reviews

When General Motors entered negotiations to sell a majority stake in its long-time European brands, New Opel and Vauxhall, it worried those who remembered how Chrysler Corporation's Carter-era government loans forced it to sell off foreign interests and concentrate on North American production.

TERMS DESCRIBED IN THE MOU ARE:
Magna and its partner, Russian government-controlled Sberbank, will own 55 percent in exchange for about $500 million, $450 million of that in cash. Sberbank is proxy for Russian automaker GAZ, which is undergoing its own reorganization, and will take over as Magna's partner in 2010.

M retains 35 percent. The remaining 10 percent goes to Opel and Vauxhall employees.
German and/or European Union banks will extend a total of about 4.5 billion euros in loans to Opel/Vauxhall (about U.S. $6.6 billion at the time of the MOU announcement).

Any new Opel technology under development may have to be shared with the rest of GM after the deal is completed, only if Opel's new majority owners agree. Magna and GAZ will control technology and platforms that Opel designs and/or builds in Germany.