Repair-It

kevm14 wrote:I meant a realistic engine that they'd actually ship the car with.

There have been rumors for a while of a factory turbo version of the 2L flat four.

Yup. Still no sign of it (aka it's not interesting yet) and half of the models on that platform are now gone.

When is this car going to become interesting?

I am sure this car would be a lot of fun to drive if you could get it for 3K. There are rumors of an STI version as I think was said above. A turbo 4 would be interesting considering Ford is making 350 HP out of theirs. That would be awesome in this car, and is a realistic possibility. What is stopping anything exciting is poor sales of the current model. When I was buying the RAV the guy at the dealer considered these a joke because they don't sell any.

For $3k, sure.

And I still have a view that $15k on a car (any car, new or used) is a lot of money, and have never spent more than that on a car. To be honest, I think it would be a good 10 years before I even entertain the thought of spending more than that. Even then, probably not. So I expect to be able to buy some used car for $15k or less that satisfies all of my desires. Which is totally possible, because none of my desires are to have a brand new car with 0 miles.

These being "underpowered" could be a blessing in disguise for future resale values. The 2 seat thing almost guarantees this to be more of a toy than an primary vehicle though, which is hurting new sales, and creating the low volume of future used prospects.