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Page 20, Whltby Free Proe, Wechiosday, Fobruary 15.1995 .......... ..................... ............ . ................... ... ........ .... by Jil'Mclntosh Out-of-touch ads .Aftor beer commercial%, what liner' advertising is there than automotive? Watch television or look at magazine ads. Ites nothing but miles of open, windfing roads with a powerful car and not another driver in sight. I really think that car companies could make a lot more money if thoy offered "fantasy phono Uines" to fruatrated commutera. Can yo u imagine it? Dial a 1-900 numbor and for $10 a minute, people stuck in' traffic could put their car phonos ta their ears and hear. a sensual voice say, I can see for miles ahead and there's no red lights anywhero . I've been driving for three hours and there's no one else on the road.' I don't think any soi lino could top that one. Wachig sonie recent ada, it does, seeni that advertisers are a little out of touch. I saw one for a cellular phono company that shows a child in the bock seat looking ont the window. Suddenly the scenery spins around, and the camera pulls out ta show the car on an angle, deep in the ditch. Immediately, thora is the sound of the phono dialing, and thon a woman's voice says, "Hi, Roadside Assistance?" e'Ws so calm she sounde like she'a ordering pizza. Maybo Wes juat me, but if Fd just apun ont and was almost perpendicular ta the asphalt, my voice might sound just a bit more concerned. Came to think af it, though tho id in the back doean't seem the least bit worried either. 1 often wonder wýhy commercials show cars zipping from on. end of the acreen to the. other at exaggerated speeda, or why tho zero-to-sixty figures are o important. They are in tonna of performance, but why are wo shown fast cars when everyone's concerned about photo radar? I wonder about the commercial that shows a woman going on and on about the car's .safety features. She loves the dual airbags and the. antilock brakea, and it even bas those "aide impact thingios." In other words, this woman wants a feature she knows nothing about. I krnow it's meant ta ho cuto, but I don't like ta 5sS women portrayed as addled consumera. The four-wheel-drive-vehicle ad showing other makes aliding oïdewaya on glare ico, is quite amuaing. Their product may outperform in snow, but what the manufacturer doesn't tell you is that on ioe, their own vehicle would élide just as nicely as tho competition does. Lest you think Ihate all car ada, though, let me state that Chevy's 'Iàke A Rock' truck commercials are great. I love tho way the little Neon spins around, and I have the whole set of Dodge truck posters on niy garage ceiling. (Yes, the ceiling. Thore's too much Étuif on the walls.) But my very favourite? When I'm stuck in traffic, inching and stopping and looking at red lights ail thé way into the sunset, that long, 'winding and very empty road bas ta ho my a]l-time fantasy. MInI van stili 'm ost wanted For the second year in a row, the vehicle Canadians want most ta purchase next year is not a car -- it is a mini-van, according ta the Canadian Automobile Association'a Autopinion '95 Annual. In CAM' annual nation-wide vehicle * durability survey, Canadians were asked what Toyota owners Mnost loyal Vehicie owners are more loyal ta their manufacturer than they have been in five yeara, according ta the resulta of the Canadian Automobile Associationsa 1994 vehicle durability survey. According ta, the 1994 survey, 55.6 per cent of motorista said they would buy another vehicle frm the saine manufacturer, up from 54.2 per cent in the 1993 survoy. Làoyalty of owners of European and Asian naine plates remained virtually unchanged from the previaus year at 53.2 per cent and 54.3 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, loyalty of North Amorican name plate owners bas increaaed from 51.7 par cent ini the 1992 survey, ta 54.3 par cent in the 1993 survey ta, 56.2' per cent in the 1994 survoy. Toyota retains the highest overall loyalty of its customers, at 62.6 par cent, followod by Volvo at 58.8 per cent. Goneral Moor comand a 56.9 par cent loyalty level, and is closely followed by Honda, Chrysber, Ford and Volkswagen. model car they planned to buy noxt, With more than 200 modela ta choose fromn, the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth VoyageriTown and Country Wagon tops CAA'a "most wantod." Fully 6.3 per cent of respondents nanied- this mini-van as the vehicle they were "moat like1yto purchase" next. The top 10O most wanted list is doniinated by Ford (three modela), Chrysier (two modelai including the number one choice) and Toyota (two modela in the top five). Two newcomers to, the liat at the Ford Escort and the Chrysler Intrepid. Those most wanted include: 1. Dodge Caravan 2. Toyota CaLmry 3. Honda Accord 4. Ford TauuMorcury Sable 5. Toyota Coroila 6. Ford Escort 7. Chevrolet Cavalier 8. Ford Crown Victoria 9. Ford Intrepid 10. Buick LeSabre According to OAA acting preident Richard Godding, the results of the survey clearl;y show how Canadians have changod their view of what a "car la. "The trend we saw bat year continues and that is ta make doznostic vehicles, with emphasis on space and pi'ce," ho aaid. CAA bas been pressing the federal governinent to extend automoile safety standards to al lightý trucks and vans, bocause an increasing number of Canadian fanilies are being transported in these vehiclos. And lat year Transport Canada proposed an extension of automobile standards for ignition locking safety systems, headrests and roof intrusion protection to mini-vans and light trucks. Vehicle odometer readinga have reached a 1-year high, according ta the reportsai 26,192 reported in the Canadian Association's Autopinion 395 Annual. The average odometer reading reported in CAA's 1994 vehicle durability. survey is 90,032 ilometres, the highest recorded since the 1984 survey. This haa occurred despite the very low annual driving distances reported in recent years, which niight otherwise De expected ta result in lower average odomoter readings. Annual vehicle driving distance was recorded at 18,313 Imetres in the 1994 survey, juat 76 ilometres about the ail-time low set in 1993. Another sign of the aging fooet is the record 15.2 par cent ai vehicles that are agedlO0 or aIder, compared ta 14.5 per cent recorded in the 1993 survey and 13.8 par cent roported in the 1992 survey. Motorists keep vehicles l onger Il