How many of you have aftermarket wheels?  I googled aftermarket wheels and couldn’t get over how many different choices you have to choose from.  It’s a HUGE market.  I thought I’d give some quick facts in case you didn’t know about aftermarket wheels.  Elementwheels.com offers tons of aftermarket wheels for every make and model. You can even get these wheels for your minivan! Another aftermarket wheel company is rims-n-tires.com.  They offers a large selection of custom aftermarket wheels. These wheels are very competitive, so do your homework before buying them.

I thought I’d explain to you guys a few different wheels, so you know what is what when and if you are looking for aftermarket wheels. 

Roderick Wheel - Elementwheels.com offers these for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Japanese luxury vehicles.  This wheel was designed to target luxury vehicles.

Staggered Wheels - this means that the rear wheels are wider than the front wheels, giving you what is known as a larger lip in the rear.  Sometimes you can even get front and rear wheels the same size and still have the larger lip in the rear. 

Black/Machined Face (with Chrome Lip) - these wheels give you the look of a 3 piece wheel without the 3 piece price.  Some of these wheels are the Vertini wheel, Vossen wheel, and the XIX wheels.

So, here is the basic, and I mean basic details of aftermarket wheels. There is sooo much information out there about these wheels it’s incredible.  Take a look when you get a chance if you are interested.      

I’d love to hear from some people that have aftermarket wheels and if you have always bought them or if you are a first timer! 

Toyota has a couple of nice green vehicles in the works right now.  Unless you live in a cave (and therefore probably wouldn’t have the internet,) you know about the Toyota Prius.  Well, the Toyota Prius is not going to come in a plug-in version.  The plug-in version will be available for sale in the U.S. within three years.  Originally, Toyota was going to bring some plug-in versions of the Prius at the end of this year, but now they won’t be available for a few years.  I’m still not sold on the plug-ins, but some people must like them or these automakers wouldn’t be spending the money to make them. 

Also, Toyota will be launching another hybrid-only model car, the Sai sedan.  The Sai is based on the Lexus HS 250h hybrid and will go on sale in Japan on the 20thof this month.  There has been no mention of whether the Sai will be sold in the U.S. Geez, why not?  The Prius is doing great!  

Toyota just keeps on trucking through the auto industry downslide and all. Sure they have probably been hurt alittle, but doesn’t seem to be much.  Toyota is a good company with quality products. 

So, Mike Hanley and Joe Wiesenfelder of cars.com have come up with what they call the “Worst Cars of the 2000s.”  Of course this is just their opinions, but I think I agree with them on most of the worst cars.  How you become the worst car could be because it was “poorly executed, ill-conceived, or downright dreadful to look at.” 

10.  Pontiac Aztek - ugly is all I have to say

9.  Daewoo - didn’t matter which model, the crash tests stunk, the cars were ugly, and the makes of them had a lot to be determined as well.

8.  Isuzu VehiCROSS - It was an expensive 2-door SUV, that was ugly, not a lot of interior room, and not a good drive either.

7.  Jaguar X-Type - it was poorly made, too small, not very sporty sedan that Ford (who bought Jaguar) tried to cut corners to make a cheaper car and it didn’t work out for them. 

6.  Pontiac Sunfire - bad crash test ratings, not a good engine were just a couple of its problems.

5.  Cadillac Catera - came out of the gate poorly and wasn’t able to recover even with upgrades and many discounts.

4.  Toyota Echo - Hanley and Wiesenfelder feel that the Echo was ahead of its time. When it was made in 2000-2005, high seating position and center-mounted instrument panels were new and not received well by customers, though people love them today. Oh well for Toyota.

3.  Jeep Compass - The brand Jeep is known for its good off-roading and the Compass does not fit into this category. Not a worthwhile Jeep vehicle.

2.  Chrysler Sebring - This car is still around today and still selling, but the guys think that this car has never had a chance to be competitive against midsize sedans, because it has uncomfortable front seats, poor interior quality and the style doesn’t have much to offer either.

AND the worst car of the 2000s is………

1.  Smart ForTwo - there isn’t a lot of passenger room, it has a tendency to roll over as a SUV does, and it has a manual transmission.  Not so good.

So, I agree with these guys on the top 10 worst vehicles of the 2000s.  Sad to say, but quite true, though I probably could have gone on and on with other vehicles that could have topped the list as the worst.  For every good, quality vehicle that has been sold in the 2000s, there have been at least 2 that have sunk.  Part of the auto industry.

There are some crazy new/old concepts that are popping up these days that are worth noting. 

First, there is the Toyota FT-EV II:

 www.dailytorque.com

This is an all-electric concept that will be making its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.  Supposedly you can fit 4 people in this car (where I’m not sure.)  This is a city-use vehicle because it’s range is only about 56 miles with top speed of 62 mph.  It has some neat features, but not sure when the vehicle, if ever, it will be available.

Another concept that is old (2000) but coming back is the BMW C1.

  www.connect.in.com

This scooter concept originally went on sale in Europe in 2000, but there were quality problems and the sales weren’t good, so BMWpulled it.  Now it’s back (well sortof.)  It’s not for sale in its current form, but possibly will become available in the future.  The BMW C1 concept has a 27-horsepower electric motor that uses energy by a plug-in 125-volt lithium-ion battery. It can reach 50 mph in less than 7 seconds and has a top speed of 62 mph.  You will get about 55 miles between rechargings.  Definitely another city-use vehicle.  It has a steel frame and seat belt, so you don’t have to wear a helmet. 

Small is in for concept or not.  Everyone seems to want and produce small.  I guess I should start looking beyond the exterior. I just can’t stand the look of these small cars.

There is a guy named Ron Amadon that writes an article called Financially Fit-A Guide to Saving Smart and Living Well.  A recent article he wrote was the 5 best low-cost, high mileage cars out there in his opinion. Amadon says that he constantly hears the question: “What car would you buy that is well made, gets good gas mileage, and doesn’t cost much?”  So here is Amadon’s top 5 cars with these criteria. 

1.  Volkswagen Jetta Diesel - base price $23,169 and gas mileage between 30 and 41 mpg.

2.  Toyota Prius- the Prius has been updated substantially for 2010, especially on the inside that in my opinion desperately needed it.  The gas mileage is fantastic - 51 mpg in the city and 48on the highway.  The Prius starts at $21,000.

3.  Ford Escape Hybrid - Base price is $20,515 but you definitely will probably spend close to $30,000 at least once you get a few options.  The gas mileage is 31 mpg on the highway and 34 in the city.

4.  Kia Soul - The Soul is cheap!  The base price is just under $14,000. The gas mileage is 24 city and 30 on the highway.  It was named the top-safety pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and there is a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty.  Sounds pretty good to me. 

Rounding out the top 5:

5.  Honda Insight- The Insight gets 40 mpg in the city and 43 on the highway.  Amadon tested the top-of-the-line EX with a navigation system and is was only $23,770!  Base price is $19,800.  A sister/brother of the Insight is the Honda Fit, which starts at $14,900.

I am a big fan of the bigger cars. I don’t know if I will EVER be interested in these smaller vehicles.  I know that the gas mileage and price are good, but I can’t really get past the look. I just don’t like the look.  Maybe they will grow on me, who knows.

So, silver is still the world’s favorite car color for the 9th straight year.  White is second, black third, and red a distant fourth. 25% of all US vehicles are silver, 35% in Europe, and 34% in Asia-Pacific region.  Geez, this really surprises me. I would have thought that black would be number 1.  I guess what do I knows?

Car sales fell sharply in September after a nice summer for sales and Cash for Clunkers. Sales fell 41% from August. Yikes!  GM and Chrysler were the biggest losers. 

Chevrolet will be announcing a new rear-drive police car on Monday that may resemble the Pontiac G8.

It’s been a sad week for Saturn.  They announced this week that due to the following out with Penske, who was to buy Saturn from GM, the Saturn brand will be done with the last models coming out in 2011.  It’s really too bad. You hate to see a automaker go down like this, but it’s definitely been on the chopping block for awhile.  They have worked very hard to try to market themselves for others to buy, but it just couldn’t happen. Saturn is known for its’ terrific customer service, but mediocre cars.  My neighbors own 2 Saturns and LOVE them.  They think that the service is fabulous and their cars have well over 100,000 miles on them and no major problems.  Saturn is also known for no haggling salespeople.  There isn’t a lot of negotiating and offers, the price they give you is the price you get. That can be good and bad. Good if the price is right for you, but not so good if you are looking for better and know they can probably do that for you.  I guess there is always 2 sides.  I’m just sad to see Saturn and its 350 dealerships and approximately 13,000 employees be out of work.  Who knows, I guess a lot can happen between now and 2011, but it sure doesn’t look good for Saturn.