Autoblog

Click above to view high-res gallery of the Volvo C30 R-Design

Following up on our story about the Volvo C30 R-Design at the New York Auto Show, Volvo announced pricing today for its sporty hatchback tunerish trim level. MSRP will be $25,700, plus destination charges of $745. Doing simple math, you can put one of these hot turbocharged Swedes in your garage at a base price of $26,445. Of course, most of you will want to add available goodies such as the DVD-based navigation, bi-xenon headlights, or the Dynaudio premium sound system...and they'll cost you extra, which will balloon the price into what many consider too dear for a Swedish hatchback.

If a cosmetically-enhanced C30 is just your thing, however, we suggest you act fast. With a production run limited to just 400 examples, the exclusive R-Design will probably roll quickly out of showrooms starting in April.

[Source: Volvo Cars of North America]

To go with its newly trimmed styling, Nissan has treated the Murano's price to a nip and tuck, too. The 2009 model has had $1500 removed from the MSRP across all trim levels, and a new dual panel moonroof makes the options list along with three new exterior colors. Inside, the seats and instrument panel have been redesigned to improve the atmosphere. Among the multitude of luxury and convenience options, a hard-drive equipped Bose Music Box stereo is available if you opt for the navigation system.

The Murano now rides on the new D platform that underpins the Altima, and the mighty VQ serves up 265 horsepower from its 3.5 liters, a 25 pony increase. The sole transmission is the XTronic CVT, sending torque to either the front wheels, or through all four. The revised platform is solid and sure-footed in our experience with recent Altimas. An S FWD model will buy you entry to the Murano club for $26,330. AWD bumps the price to 27,930, and you can keep adding stuff until you've got the pretty much loaded LE AWD, which starts at $35,910. It's still a Murano, with all of the polarizing style that comes with the name. You might end up with a "tastes great, less filling" type of argument when talking with owners of the original Murano, but this one sweetens the pot with a lot of revisions and a better chassis, new fascia haters be damned. Press release after the jump.

[Source: Nissan]

Gallery: 2009 Nissan Murano

click above for high-res pics of the 2008 Lexus IS F

Lexus announced today that its super sedan, the IS F, will hit the market with a base price of $56,000. In exchange for your money, Lexus will give you an IS sedan stuffed with a 5.0L V8 producing 416 horsepower and 371 lb.-ft. of torque at 5,200 rpm, with which you could reach 60 mph in 4.6 seconds if so inclined. Attached to the muscle car-like motor is an 8-speed automatic with lighting quick 0.1 second shifts, and Lexus has fortified the car with a suspension tuned in Germany on the Nurburgring and Japan on Fuji Speedway. There's also bigger brakes, larger wheels and boy-racer bodywork that has yet to grow on us.

Let's get this out of the way first...

• 2008 BMW M3 Sedan: Pricing N/A, 414-hp 4.0L V8
• 2008 Mercedes Benz C63 AMG: Pricing N/A, 507-hp 6.3L V8
• 2009 Cadillac CTS-V: Pricing N/A, 550-hp 6.2L V8
  
• 2007 Audi RS4: $66,910, 420-hp 4.2L V8

It would seem that the MSRP of the Lexus IS-F, while high by any Average Joe's standards, compares favorably with at least the Audi RS4. We'll have to wait on pricing for the rest of these next-gen super sedans before we can tell you which one's the best value. The IS F's engine, meanwhile, falls short of only the indomitable AMG 6.3L V8 and a detuned version of the Corvette ZR-1 engine, and there's no shame in that.

[Source: Lexus]

Using a formula that takes into account what a buyer actually pays for a vehicle, J.D. Power APEAL Survey results and the Consumer Reports Owner Satisfaction Survey, Forbes has come up with the 15 vehicles for which you'll probably pay too. The most overpriced vehicle will cost you $7,158 more than it should. For some reason we couldn't see the 15th and final slide, so all we can tell you is that the 14th most overpriced vehicle will run you $2,447 extra.

The number one slot is held by the $37,105 Dodge Ram 2WD Laramie MegaCab, and the penultimate place was occupied by the $27,470 GMC Colorado. The list is dominated by domestic trucks and SUVs -- the only car on the list is the Mercury Grand Marquis (over by $6,480), and the only import is the Nissan Quest SE (over by $3,441). All of them are long in the tooth, on their way out, or about to be replaced. So if you're in the market for any of them, it's buyer beware time.

Since the Forbes equation factors after-purchase survey results that are of the touchy-feely subjective variety, the list is less a rundown of overpriced cars than it is of cars that have inflated purchase prices and with which buyers weren't totally happy. After all, is there anyone who doesn't think the Lamborghini Reventon is grossly overpriced? (But make no mistake, we'd buy all 20 of them if we had the money.)

[Source: Forbes]

The 1-Series has officially joined BMW's line up in the United States, having finally been added to the brand's official website. Along with its place among the Ultimate Driving Machines online, the 1-Series also gets officially pricing, which turns out to be exactly what we thought it would be. The 135i will have an MSRP of $34,900 plus a $775 charge for delivery and all the whatnots involved with a purchasing a car. The 128i, meanwhile, will start at $28,600 and carry an identical $775 charge for destination and delivery.

The 128i is powered by BMW's 3.0L inline-six producing 230 horsepower, while the top shelf 135i is motivated by the superlative twin-turbo 3.0L inline-six producing 300 HP. Both are, of course, rear-wheel drive, small, and relatively light weight at around 3,200 lbs. - the purest coupes from BMW we've seen in a while. We optioned up a 135i with everything and arrived at an MSRP of $48,995 (that's it above - how you like the Cashmere Silver Metallic?). Frankly, that's ridiculously expensive for a car this size, regardless of what wheels are being driven or the engine under the hood. Do you think they're worth the high asking price? Answer in our poll below.


Thanks for the tip, Boris!

[Source: BMW]

Click on the image above to view in high resolution

The new Tiguan cute-ute factored big into Volkswagen's press conference at this year's LA show. And no wonder, as Vee-Dub is hoping its new small sport-ute sells big, especially in the all-important US market, and especially in California where nobody needs a truck yet everybody has one (and parks it next to their Prius).

Volkswagen of America revealed that Tiguan is priced to sell with a starting MSRP of just $22,490. With just two sport-utes in its lineup, that gives VW a huge price-point spread that stretches all the way up to $68,320 for the bigger Touareg 2 with the jumbo-jet-pulling V10 TDI.

Volkswagen is evidently hoping that the Tiguan will become the Golf of the sport-ute market after it hits US dealers this coming summer. Check out our gallery of the US-spec Tiguan below, and VW's official press release after the jump.

[Source: Volkswagen]

click above image for high-res gallery of the 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser

The all-new 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser unveiled yesterday will arrive next month in U.S. dealerships with an all-new price tag that's a hefty 12.4% more than the model it replaces. With a base price of $63,200, the '08 Land Cruiser will ring in $6,985 more than the 2007 model. As we guessed yesterday, the U.S.-spec Land Cruiser will be sold with the Tundra's 5.7L V8 producing 381 HP and 401 ft-lbs. of torque. Power will be divided by a six-speed automatic transmission and this decidedly full-size ute will be able to tow a max of 8,500 lbs., a full 2,000 more than last year's model. That's great, but is it worth an additional $7,000?

But wait, there's more. The '08 Cruiser also has a new suspension up front, a high-mount double-wishbone independent system with a trick Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System that can disengage the stabilizer bars for more articulation. Unfortunately, the rear is still a live-axle, and thus the third row doesn't fold flat, nor does it look very comfortable hovering mere inches off the floor. Both the second and third rows do swing out of the way to reveal a flat cargo floor, their presence even when folded up consumes a lot of useable space.

Toyota has released a full 75 high-res images of the 2008 Land Cruiser, which we've assembled for you in the gallery below. As the tipper pointed out to us, it's interesting that Lexus hasn't announced pricing for its version of this vehicle, the LX570, especially considering the sizable increase in the Toyota's price. How much higher will the Lexus version go?

Thanks for the tip, Woody!

[Source: Toyota]

click above image to view gallery of the 2008 Ford Focus

Styling aside, the 2008 Ford Focus is a better car than the one it replaces, and Ford announced today that its pricing will begin under $15,000. For 2008, the Focus S Coupe will start at $14,695 and the Focus S sedan at $14,995. Up-level models like the Focus SE coupe and sedan will add $1,000 to those base prices, while the top shelf SES models that come with Ford's new SYNC technology standard (normally a $395 option), start at $16,695 and $16,995 for the coupe and sedan, respectively. All of these prices include a $620 destination charge, mind you.

Comparing those prices to the 2007 Focus lineup is difficult, since the less expensive hatchback, which had a base MSRP of $13,715 in 2007 (not including destination), has been replaced by the new coupe body style. The sedan's base price, however, has increased from $14,040 in 2007, or $14,660 including destination charges.

As we said earlier, anyone considering the new Focus will likely need to put its styling aside and focus (ahem) on the car's new strong points. Chief among them is the availability of Ford's new mobile connectivity setup developed with Microsoft called SYNC. The new Focus is also 30 pounds lighter accord to Ford, is 10% quieter and produces 3% more horsepower from its 2.0L Duratec four-cylinder. The interior is also much improved, at least design-wise, over the old car, and now comes available with ambient lighting. Is it all enough to overcome the new car's oddball design, fake fender vents and all? We're waiting to get one in the Autoblog Garage to answer just that.

[Source: Ford]

Toyota's revamped Highlander has been trickling onto dealer lots for about a month now, and Toyota's released details of the new hybrid version of the thoroughly improved midsize CUV. There are two trim levels available: base and Limited. Both will have the 3.3 liter V6 along with the 4WD-i system kicking out 270 horsepower. There are a couple different modes now, like ECON and EV, which should boost fuel economy in some cases.

There are now three rows of seats available, with a trick center position for the second row seats that can hide away. The Highlander has grown a lot, adding four inches in length, and three in width and height, too. Limiteds add nearly full-boat details to an already well-equipped base model. Things such as leather seats, six-disc changer, a power hatch, third-row bench, and more become part of the deal. Even with a newly designed vehicle carrying more standard equipment, the base model has seen a $190 price drop, to $33,700. If you must have all the goodies, the Limited increases in price by $3400, ringing up a bill of at least $39,950. The last Highlander Hybrid we had in the Autoblog Garage was $37,000, and failed to feel like such an expensive vehicle. The new Highlander Hybrid's appearance and equipment should help it pull off the crushing weight of its sticker price.

press release after the jump

[Source: Toyota via The Car Blog]

click image above for high-res gallery

Despite unveiling the 2009 XF just yesterday, Jaguar has announced that it's new saloon will start at £33,900 in the U.K. For those who think conversions can be helpful, that's $68,267 USD. That kind of poundage will get the Brits their choice of either the 2.7L V6 diesel or 3.0L V6 engines, neither of which will be available in the U.S. Stepping up to the naturally aspirated 4.2L AJ V8 that produces 300 hp will raise the price to £44,500, or $89,614 USD. The top of the line SV8 model with the supercharged 4.2L V8 producing 420 hp will start at £54,900, or $110,557 USD. Keep in mind that these conversion to USD don't necessarily indicate what the 2009 Jaguar XF will be priced at in the U.S. The car hasn't been given an MSRP in the States, but we expect some fiscal clarity on this matter by November.

[Source: Jaguar via Jalopnik]