>I appreciate the economic necessity to re-use various bits of h/w by
>car assemblers and lord knows, there is a bit in my B6 A4 that started
>as a VW product (mostly in the engine, I believe)

Audi/VW do this quite a bit. The Golf, Jetta, New Beetle, TT and A3 are all on
the same platform. The B5 A4 and B5/5.5 Passat were on the same platform and
shared *2* engines, the 1.8T and 2.8 V6. Not to mention that Seat and Skoda
models are really just VWs with new badging. The 4.2 litre V8 is used by Audi
in the A8, A6, S4 and Allroad and by VW in the Toureag and Pheaton. The 2.7T
started in the B5 S4 and ended up in the (outgoing) A6 and Allroad.

>So why would I buy a G35X if I can
>get a Maxima (RWD) for a bunch less?

The Maxima is FWD, actually and the G35 is built on the Altima's platform, not
the Maxima's. Plus the G35 is nicer inside and (oddly) more reasonablly priced
for what you get. The G35 is getting a new interior for 2006 models, looks
nicer.
Steve Grauman

 

>I appreciate the economic necessity to re-use various bits of h/w by
>car assemblers and lord knows, there is a bit in my B6 A4 that started
>as a VW product (mostly in the engine, I believe)

Audi/VW do this quite a bit. The Golf, Jetta, New Beetle, TT and A3 are all on
the same platform. The B5 A4 and B5/5.5 Passat were on the same platform and
shared *2* engines, the 1.8T and 2.8 V6. Not to mention that Seat and Skoda
models are really just VWs with new badging. The 4.2 litre V8 is used by Audi
in the A8, A6, S4 and Allroad and by VW in the Toureag and Pheaton. The 2.7T
started in the B5 S4 and ended up in the (outgoing) A6 and Allroad.

>So why would I buy a G35X if I can
>get a Maxima (RWD) for a bunch less?

The Maxima is FWD, actually and the G35 is built on the Altima's platform, not
the Maxima's. Plus the G35 is nicer inside and (oddly) more reasonablly priced
for what you get. The G35 is getting a new interior for 2006 models, looks
nicer.
Steve Grauman

 

>I appreciate the economic necessity to re-use various bits of h/w by
>car assemblers and lord knows, there is a bit in my B6 A4 that started
>as a VW product (mostly in the engine, I believe)

Audi/VW do this quite a bit. The Golf, Jetta, New Beetle, TT and A3 are all on
the same platform. The B5 A4 and B5/5.5 Passat were on the same platform and
shared *2* engines, the 1.8T and 2.8 V6. Not to mention that Seat and Skoda
models are really just VWs with new badging. The 4.2 litre V8 is used by Audi
in the A8, A6, S4 and Allroad and by VW in the Toureag and Pheaton. The 2.7T
started in the B5 S4 and ended up in the (outgoing) A6 and Allroad.

>So why would I buy a G35X if I can
>get a Maxima (RWD) for a bunch less?

The Maxima is FWD, actually and the G35 is built on the Altima's platform, not
the Maxima's. Plus the G35 is nicer inside and (oddly) more reasonablly priced
for what you get. The G35 is getting a new interior for 2006 models, looks
nicer.
Steve Grauman

 

>And the Foucs has such good optics. Not too many recalls, the
>work is not that shoddy, the final assembly is pretty OK, fit and
>finish is ... Ford-like.

I hope this is sarcasim. The Focus holds some ridiculous record, something like
12 recalls in 3 years, mostly for electrical problems.
Steve Grauman

 

>And the Foucs has such good optics. Not too many recalls, the
>work is not that shoddy, the final assembly is pretty OK, fit and
>finish is ... Ford-like.

I hope this is sarcasim. The Focus holds some ridiculous record, something like
12 recalls in 3 years, mostly for electrical problems.
Steve Grauman

 

>And the Foucs has such good optics. Not too many recalls, the
>work is not that shoddy, the final assembly is pretty OK, fit and
>finish is ... Ford-like.

I hope this is sarcasim. The Focus holds some ridiculous record, something like
12 recalls in 3 years, mostly for electrical problems.
Steve Grauman