Hey Cool Car Fans,

Earlier today, I got the following email from one of my buddies over at Nissan about their new Murano convertible that is going to be hitting the market in early 2011. If you haven’t seen this new ride, you can check it out at the following link – Nissan Crosscabriolet.  This vehicle is going to start out at around $46,390 according to their website.

Be sure and get in touch with me early if you want to secure one of these because I can’t imagine they are going to be easy to get initially and I can track one down for you.  After all, I am The Cool Car Guy.

Here’s what he had to say…

“John, as you know, Nissan is about to blow the roof off the Crossover market.

Murano CrossCabriolet, the first all-wheel drive crossover convertible. It’s a premium vehicle that offers the open-air exhilaration of a convertible, along with the crossover virtues including comfortable seating for four, easy entry and exit, ample cargo capacity, high ground clearance, and all-wheel drive.

Murano CrossCabriolet is based on Murano LE AWD, but has been redesigned from the A-pillar back. Sold only in the U.S., it stakes out a unique niche in today’s market. It offers premium amenities that will appeal to upscale convertible buyers and those who may have been unwilling to make the sacrifices in practicality convertibles traditionallt required.

Murano CrossCabriolet represents a breakthruogh in concept and design, and it will be available in a variety of color combinations ( top, exterior, and interior ) for people who want to express their own unique style.

Look for more details as it’s release approaches early next year.”

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Hey Cool Car Fans,

If you’re looking for an SUV as we head into the Colorado Winter months be sure and check out this 2005 BMW X5 with the 4.4i V8 motor.  It was owned by an attorney who purchased it new and it’s in mint condition.

It’s a one-owner, vehicle with a clean CarFax and AutoCheck and it’s loaded with heated seats even in the rear of the vehicle.  It’s green with tan interior and has the large panoramic roof for maximum light exposure on those sunny Colorado days and moonlit nights.  It has the Sport Package that allows you to downshift the transmission when coming down the mountains or steep hills, so that you don’t have to ride your brakes.

This vehicle needs nothing!  It’s in fantastic shape and extremely well maintained.  You may find some for less on the market, but wait until you go to see them and realize you have to put more money into making the vehicle what it should be.  Believe me, I look at vehicles everyday and no two used cars are exactly the same.  You get what you pay for on the used car market and this vehicle is priced to sell for the features and options it has included.

The 4.4i has standard 18’s, with 19’s available in tandem with the Sport Package. The Sport Package include firmer suspension tuning.

The V8 X5’s are super fast SUV’s for their size.  They are capable of going 0-60 MPH in 6.8 seconds with the 4.4l engine and are very fun to drive.  They handle really well too.  You really get a great deal of bang for your buck when you purchase these vehicles on the used market like this one. You can get this vehicle for half the price of what it originally sold for new with only about 10,000 miles a year of driving on it.

There are a number of BMW X5’s available right now, but the majority of them are the smaller 3.0 liter V6 with more miles and not the 4.4 liter V8.  BMW doesn’t make as many of the V8’s because of the additional cost involved and since they are out of the budget of many American’s who want to drive them.  Many BMW enthusiasts tend to keep their X5’s and drive them until they have over 100,000 miles or more, unless they have leased them new.  When they come off lease, BMW dealers usually sell them for more money with additional certification costs.

The spec’s on this vehicle are great too with the really low miles…

Body Style: SUV

I have driven quite a few of the X5’s and most people settle for the V6 3.0l motor, but the big engine has much more power while not paying much more for fuel economy. If your goal is to keep the vehicle for a long time, like many people are doing these days, you have 8 cylinders working compared to 6 cylinders.

This is a big deal that most people don’t think about long term because of the of effort that the 6 cylinder needs to put forth to push the amount of metal on this vehicle compared to the 8 cylinder engine is greater.  The motor has to work harder over time.  It just makes sense because you have two additional cylinders working in the 8 cylinder compared to the 6 cylinder.  You should be able to get several more years of use out of the 8 cylinder compared to the 6 cylinder and this is something that most people don’t think about.

There is not significant fuel savings between the 6 cylinder and the 8

cylinder engines either, but the horsepower jumps from 225hp in the 6 cylinder to 315hp in the 8 cylinder.  If you’re going up in the mountains or you live in the mountains here in Colorado, you definitely should go for the additional power.  You’ll notice it cruising on I70 and going on mountain passes.

City (mpg) 16
Highway (mpg) 22

Standard Engine: 4.4L, 315hp V8
Horsepower: 315 @ 5400 RPM
Torque: 324 @ 3600 RPM

Features: Air Conditioning, Alarm System, Alloy Wheels, AM/FM, Anti-Lock Brakes, Back Up Sonar, Bucket Seats, CD, Driver Airbag, Fog Lights, Heated Seats, Keyless Entry, Leather Seats, Owners Manual, Power Locks, Power Mirrors, Power Seats, Power Steering, Rear Defroster, Sun Roof, Tilt Wheel, Tinted Windows, Traction Control

Cool Car Guy Rating: Super Cool & A Great Value

Drop me an email or call me to arrange a showing and to find out if this vehicle is still available.
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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Hey Cool Car Fans,

I was going through my emails today, deleting the thousands of SPAM email that I get on a monthly basis and I came across this email that I had received from a friend of mine, Bruce Nelkin, a few months ago.

It included some really cool photos of bumper cars, of all things, that have been turned into street legal mini cars by a California gear head.  They come complete with custom paint and would be a great addition to any car collector’s personal emporium as a talking point.

The photos were so cool, along with the story behind how these miniature vehicles came into existence, that I had to share them.  So, I thought I would post them here at CoolCarGuy.com for my visitors to check out.  Enjoy the photo shoot and see what you think.

You have to love the passion of people when it comes to creating cool cars. Like this guy, who invented these neat little rides, out of old bumper cars of all things!  What a great idea and they really look awesome, plus they are fully functional and road worthy.

These are some super cool cars in my opinion and “kudos” to the guy who built them.  

Here’s what the story is behind them that came with the email and the photos.

“It’s easy for a gear-head to be discouraged about the state of the world, especially in times of Carpocalypse and Cash for Clunkers.

But occasionally a bright light of awesome renews the spirit.

Road-legal bumper cars do just that.

Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal. They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we’ve seen in too long.

There are seven of these little monsters floating around  California , and they’re all the creation of one man, Tom Wright , a builder in the outskirts of  San Diego  who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap. They were

originally powered by Harley motors but they rattled like hell and Tom replaces them with Honda or Kawasaki 750’s and a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH , which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.”

I would have zero interest in getting behind the wheel of one of these vehicles and zooming up to a speed of 160MPH. That sounds like a fast way to end up in the boneyard to me. However, the fact that they can reach those kind of speeds is incredible.  I don’t doubt that they can do it either because of the power plants found in Honda and Kawasaki 750’s, but can you imagine going even 100 MPH in a vehicle with such short of a wheel base, as the writer of the article mentioned?  Yikes!

I imagine that they get pretty darn good gas mileage too and with the bumper car component of the vehicle, they probably are a safe little ride. I wonder what they did to add seat belts to them or if they left those out of the equation?

They sure are very cool little cars and I’m sure they are a hoot to scoot around town in. Definitely a year round vehicle for California or the warmer parts of the United States where cold weather doesn’t come into the picture.

I always find it fascinating what people are capable of creating in their garages.

Cool Car Guy Rating:  Extremely Cool!
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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Hey Cool Car Fans,

It’s Saturday and I just met with a very interesting client that tracked down The Cool Car Guy to help him sell his Jeep for him. He works as a bodyguard for high-profile people and he didn’t show up with just any Jeep, but a totally decked out 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon that has $9,600 in upgrades.

I’ve sold quite a few Jeep Wranglers over the years and this one is sweet! He really put some money into making this vehicle look nice and as I said in the ad that I put online for him, “This Ain’t Your Mama’s Jeep!”. That’s for sure. Check out the photos and let me tell you a little bit about this Bad Boy.

All of the upgrades, including a 3 inch lift kit were done professionally by ScreamingLizards.com including an upgraded suspension with M-Force Shocks, Full-Traction sway bars an upgraded sound system with Infinity speakers and remote start for those cold Winter days that will soon be coming upon us in Colorado.

This vehicle came equipped with Navigation, the 3.8l V6 motor that has 202hp at 5200RPM and Torque (lb-ft) 237 @ 4000 RPM complete with a tow-package for towing.  The vehicle is also equipped with the Airaid cold-air intake and has the soft-top as well as the hard-top.

The standard equipment on the Rubicon is great by itself without all the additional upgrades that this Wrangler has, which is the high-end of the Wrangler series and this vehicle comfortably seats four people with four doors.    It came standard with the 4:10 Axle Ratio and the Next Gen. Dana 44HD Front Axle, plus the 4:1 Rock Track HD Part-Time 4WD system, along with Traction Control and Electronic Stability Control.  It also has the Rock Rails and Transfer Case Skid Plate Shield and a Fuel Tank Skid Plate Shield, which is why people love these vehicles for taking up in the mountains.

He’s been running synthetic oil in it and he’s really taken great care of this Jeep. It’s really an “urban” Jeep that has total off-road capabilities, but hasn’t been off-road because he didn’t have time to take advantage of what this Jeep has to offer with his job. I find this quite a bit with many of my clients. They can afford to have the great “toys”, but they don’t necessarily have the time to use them. Which is a great opportunity for the new buyer, whoever that ends up being to have a nice Jeep that’s ready to roll off the showroom floor without having to go and get the upgrades done on there own. This Jeep is a head turner for sure and it’s not one you’re going to find on just any car lot.

I really like the Navigation that Jeep put into this vehicle, which means you’ll never get lost if you’re out on trails that you’re not familiar with or when you’re cruising around a new part of town.  It has a touch screen feature along with Sirius satellite radio to take full advantage of this fantastic sound system that he has installed in it.   The tinted windows were done at the factory, which you don’t see very

often, but was part of the Customer Preferred Package 24R that came from directly from Jeep.

This is a very cool rig and somebody is going to get a great deal on it.  I expect I’ll get plenty of calls on this one because it’s the right color with the right equipment.

Cool Car Guy Rating: Extremely Cool

To see additional photos and if it’s still available, you can visit this link: Click Here