Automobile Retailers

After recuperating from the incredible convenience of Scion’s “Build Your Scion” feature yesterday, I’m finally ready to move ahead and start adding some special features to my 2009 Scion xB base model. The $17,320 price tag is in American funds, of course, and has me pretty excited about the prospect of juicing this little baby up with some bells and whistles.

The estimated monthly payment based on a 60-month plan, with “excellent credit” of course, is $330.83. There’s a “disclaimer” to click on near the price tag, but who cares about that at this point? Let’s have some fun!

I have six colours to choose from: super white, classic silver metallic, black sand pearl, blackberry crush metallic, stingray metallic, and hypnotic teal mica. I go with the bluish stingray metallic and click the “next” button to head to select my exterior features. Yes!

A notation lets me know that installation is not included on some of the exterior features, but there is nothing to tell me which ones that notion applies to. I search through the list of exterior features and find everything from a carbon fiber engine cover to LED tail lights. The most expensive feature is a rear spoiler, pricing in at $423. No word on if installation is included, but I select it anyway and add a $76 exhaust tip for good measure.

I click forward again and I’m greeted with the new price ($17,819) and the new monthly payments ($340.36). Time to select my interior features!

The menu is the same as the exterior features menu, but the list of features is longer and there is a complimentary scroll bar (at least I hope it doesn’t cost anything to use the scroll bar!). I venture into the unknown and scroll down, having a glance at the interior features available. There’s a cargo liner, floor and cargo mats, sport pedals, and even an overhead console box. Fancy.

The technologically-forward person I am discovers that by hovering my cursor over each item, a description and a picture of the item shows up on the right hand side of the screen. Wow, this would have come in handy when selecting the exterior features. No matter, I stand by my rear spoiler and exhaust tip.

After picking the sport steering wheel, the remote engine start, and the cargo cover, I’m ready to move on towards the car’s sound, wheels, and performance options. Stay tuned tomorrow as I continue to work up my perfect Scion xB and come up with a final appraisal of the “Build Your Scion” experience.

Everybody knows that the Pontiac G8 V8 is a quality vehicle with plenty of horsepower and a substantial engine. But did you know the automaker also created a V6 version of that popular vehicle?

The folks at Kicking Tires were finally able to get one of these models to test it out and see how it stacks up to its larger predecessor. How did it do? Not bad.

The reviewer first noticed that the V6 model of this car has a base similar to the V8 model. Both cars also have a similar body style and some of the same characteristics, including wide fender flares and slits in the hood.

The V6 model also has some minor differences on the inside of the car. Once the reviewer got in, he noticed that the GT, or V8 model, had two-tone leather seats whereas the other model didn’t. He also noticed that the gauges were slightly different.

But the major difference is between engine performance, of course. The V6 version didn’t have nearly as much “kick” as the V8 version. That’s to be expected, though. While the V6 still had an impressive amount of power, it didn’t quite match up to the V8. According to the reviewer, the extra power didn’t really have a negative effect on the gas mileage. That’s unusual, but it’s a good thing to know if fuel efficiency is one of your major concerns.

All in all, the differences between the V6 and the V8 are only minor. That means that the only limits are your preferences. Visit your local Pontiac dealer and test drive them both to get the one that you prefer!