Just returned from the vancouver auto show

[coastal]

Of the new cars on the market, here's what caught my eye:

VW Toureg: Very very very nice, but I can see a lot of people having problems with the price tag. Cayenne was there too, but was roped off so we couldn't get a close look. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sly.gif

Lincoln Navigator/Aviator: The best interiors I've EVER seen from the big three, nice to see the Americans giving more attention to the details. Judging by the number of people wanted to get a look at these things, I'd almost call them the crowd favorites. Seriously. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Infiniti FX45: Very nicely finished. Especially liked how the instruments tilt with the steering wheel, and the subwoofer built into the center of the spare tire in the rear. Dang small though.

Jaguar X-Type: OK sure, everyone calls this "just a repackaged Ford Taurus", but overall it's quite impressive. AWD, really nice exterior lines and interior plus one of the safest vehicles on the market... I'd say it's easily worth the premium.

Mercedes Benz C-Class Wagon: Was reasonably nice, guess the main thing that was surprising was the price at around $46K CAD in AWD wagon format, hence the most comparable AWD wagon I've seen (in price at least) to the XC70. Of course, it's much too small and nowhere near as inspiring... but interesting none the less. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Art]

Plenty of eye candy for sure Taylor! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Caught a glimpse of some of the cars on Cdn. Driver's site.

Vancouver Auto Show - Day 1 (http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/03vancouver.htm)

[coastal]

Hey thanks for the link Art. I was going to bring my camera, but decided I'd be able to find the same photos online. I'm sure there will be more as we move along too http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Oh yeah, and after seeing all the new toys on the market this evening, I'm still 100% stoked with my XC.  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Art]

See anything inspiring at the Volvo booth Taylor? I s'pose Docksteader was well represented at the event. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[coastal]

They actually had a relatively small display, up on the top level in a section called "Lap of Luxury" http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/huh2.gif. The nautic blue XC they had on hand had an interesting blue tint to the windows. Kind of nice but I think I still prefer the black.

And I probably should have mentioned the XC90, it was extremely popular, people were mobbing it like a fans to a rockstar. Hence, I didn't even bother to take a look as I'd already seen it at the dealer.

The XC70 was pretty popular as well., especially for a car that's going into it's 3rd year of production. At the time there was 3 or 4 other couples checking it out, and two talking to salesmen about it.