G. David Felt

That sure screams BMW X5 ish to me, plus it looks like a corner foot hold in the bumper on the last photo like Chevy has on their avalanche. Not bad looking, be interesting to see the finished product.

Interesting, I just noticed the letters VO on the silver heat shield. So I guess GM is stamping VOLT all over it.

So HOW MUCH GREEN HOUSE GAS gets produced to build one of these battery packs. It was amazing to see that the older style battery pack in a Prius creates 10 years worth of green house gas for each battery pack produced. This is based on driving a normal gas powered eco box for ten years. So I hope they are doing better in keeping the warming gas from going out, course with all the cold weather people back there might want a little warming gas.

Pacific NW

So I spent the last two weeks of Dec 2009 in Kauai. Upon my late arrival at the airport with the family and kids in tow, I headed off to the Hertz Rental desk. Being a large group of people getting off the bus and pulling luggage, I told the wife and kids to get everything and I would go grab the car since I had a gold membership, so it should be instally ready. WRONG, Some how HERTZ LOST my info and did not have a car on their reader board, so off to the desk I went to talk to the lady. She reviewed the reservation, due to budget I had taken an Impala for the 5 of us. All adults she realized as the wife and kids walked in with the luggage in tow. Since things were messed up, she appologized and said they had a Ford Explorer ready and would give that to me instead plus it would be more roomy for us with our Luggage. Once the paper work was done, I left with the keys in hand and the license plate number and the parking slot number. Was supposed to be right outside to the left she said. I walked out with the family and of course my wife and kids said they did not see an explorer anywhere. I looked at the license number and looked up to see that the first slot matched the number she gave me and so did the license plate number and it was a white diamond AWD Ford Flex. My wife was not sure at first as she was looking forward to the explorer, yet we opened the door and to quote my daughter "This smells brand new". Yup, the vehicle I ended up having for two weeks was a brand new 2010 Ford FLEX AWD with only 8 miles on the speedo. First thing noticed was the third row seats which only left enough space for 4 full size luggages, but once I figured out the straps, was able to fold the seats into the floor and BOOM TONS of space for everything and no blockage of the rear window from the drivers seat. Once in the car, I took a few minutes to get aquainted with the lay out. 2010 Ford Flex AWD White Diamond Paint job 18" Rims with basic street tires Leather interior MSFT Sync Stereo From what I could tell, it had everything except the nav with backup camera and the big sky roof. Otherwise power everything and the kids loved that the back seat would recline. They took numerous naps after a busy day from snorkeling to surfing. For the first time in 20 plus years, this ford which had not grabbed my attention for exterior style did grab my attention due to the large amount of room inside and over all easy to use layout including the Sync system that kept track of 3 Zunes and an Ipod. Great that I could plug in any of the devices and it remembers where each one left off. Plus have to love the voice control, great way to change around music depending on mood. Positives: Large interior room Reclining 40/60 middle seat Fold into the floor 50/50 third seat. Power up and easy push button close on the rear door. Great part is that you can open it via the fob and grab stuff, close it and walk away as it stays locked. Gas Door is also suction sealed so no gas cap to remove, easier to fuel and cleaner. Wife and daughter loved it. AWD Performed amazing and especially on sand as we took it out onto the dunes in the west side at Barking Sands which is a 7 mile long beach and we did not get stuck ever. Adjustable steering system was very flexible to adjust as being 6'6" tall I had the seat all the way back and still had a complete clear view of the dash. Best yet is the rear room with the seat all the way back allows even me to sit behind the seat and still have about 3 inches before my knees hit the back of the chair. Due to no sun roof / sky roof I had tons of head room. Rear Climate control was loved by the kids who are always colder than me so they controlled their own heat and AC as needed. Steering wheel controls are great, easy layout and user friendly. Bottle / pop can holders in each door plus two in the center section for both front and middle seats. Third row only has them on the outside, no middle. Ton's of places to stuff things. I doubt anyone will not find a handy place to store things. Engine, was wisper quite except under hard acceleration, then you have a pleasent growl. Avereaged 18 MPG for this new baby. Negatives: Over all fit and finish is better than past fords but still needs help. While adjusting the wifes seat belt loop on the side B Pillar, the plastic cover popped off in my hand. Took a few minutes to get it back on. Very cheap looking and poorly designed. Brakes, For a brand new car, it always stopped for me, but I believe it either had a warped rotor or one of the calipers what not properly clamping down as you braked as the car pulsated the whole time when ever you braked. We were not sure what it was the first couple days but clearly figured it out as we drove it. Since they were short on auto's, I drove it as is and wrote up a ticket on it upon turn in so it could be addressed before they rented it out to another person. Rear Backup sensors. They do a great job, but there is no clear backup lights or scale or anything other than the noise to indicate how close you are. The beeps get faster as you get closer and end with a solid wale noise to indicate you are 12" from hitting something. As the wife pointed out, if you are deaf, you will always hit something as you can not hear the noise. Final over view: Over all my family and I were very impressed with the car. It served us well, took care of our music needs and was roomy so that no one ever complained. There are many small touches that I believe were designed by female engineers that my wife liked. From the gas door seal to the low fuel notice that tells you how many miles you have left before you run out. You will find plenty to like about this car. My kids all wished it was about 3 to 6 inches higher. Hopefully someone will look at designing a lift kit as this car in AWD is an amazing vehicle. Due to some of the poor fit and finishes, I do not know if they have a luxury version in Lincoln but I would look there to find something as I would want a bit nicer interior for myself and the wife. The kids thought it would make a great basic car for going to the beach and up to the mountains to snowboard. I am sure there are other things I will remember about the experiance and will post it as I remember. If you have any questions fire away. Very Tan and back in Seattle!

Happy New Year everyone, Glad to be back. Love the new look and software. Nice Job to the new Owner and those that manage the site. Way to go folks.

Hey Olds, How tall are you? In regards to one of the other questions posted, the fit and finish is excellent. I test drove an AWD version at the Dougs Northwest Cadillac and Hummer dealership yesterday here in Seattle Washington. It drives great, they had added on the OEM Roof Rack to this one as you need it for skiing. Sadly, if you are over 6 feet tall, NO ONE can sit behind you. I am 6'6" tall and the seat had to be all the way back, this left a measured 3" of room between the front seat and back seat. No way anyone can sit back there. In regards to 3 adults. If they are all around 5'10" tall and narrow shoulders then yes, you can fit 3 back there. In my family everyone had broad shoulders and so only two people can sit back there. Love the extra storage capacity in the floor board in the back. Like Olds stated, very good visibility. Surprising for such a large D pillar. This car will be perfect for young families as well as established families as long as no one is long legged and over 6' tall. Otherwise there is NO room for people to sit in the back. My observation of the back seat is that Cadillac should have had the seat about 3" more back which would have given it proper leg room. Otherwise, the 3.6 AWD CTS Wagon is great, my test drive included freeway driving and passing and it moved very well. Since OLDS said the RWD handled very well in the snow, I will imagen that the AWD if I had gotten a chance to drive it in snow would have stuck like glue to the road. Have a safe trip Olds, way to go on the test drive. :smilies-38096:

About time a tree hugging Prius moron hit one of the bigger moronic bike riders that think they own the roads. When they start paying a license for the bike to be on the public roads and have to have licenses that say they really do know how to drive their bike then they can have some of the road with their own bike lane. Till then they need to get the hell out of my way and off the roads that I helped pay for with my tabs and other vehicle fee's.

Slate

As has been stated, sad that GM wasted so much money on Saturn when they could have focused on their core brands way back then and had something even better today. Over all the Saturn line just never had any passion nor did it stir anything in me to want to go out and buy one of their auto's. Sad to see so many loose jobs and those that built dealerships with millions of dollars loose out, yet better to do it sooner and get it over than to wait and drag things out. Just proves our depression is far from over here in the US.

I will take a wait and see attitude.

Sweet Ride, would be worth it to get and keep with the charger kit. Clearly the boys father has a talent and the kid needs to learn to smile.

EXCITEMENT!!!

woman

Go here to see each persons photo and a little Bio about themselves. Kardashians info web page!

After thinking about all the woman, they are all beautiful in their own special way, but the one that really stands out is Kim. Totally a Venus Goddess. Her latest beach pictures are just amazing!

What a waste of metal, this is a tool auto with no real usability other than to drive. It will sell due to Honda's name but it will be their Aztec as after the initial demand is met, it will die off. Sadly more and more CUV and SUV's are loosing interior room for some kind of Art statement. I love the look of my 94 GMC Suburban and the room is amazing. I can drink a can of pop and empty it with tilting my head back where my newer 2006 Escalade I cannot as it does not have the head room. Come to think of it, just about any of the newer auto's I have I cannot drink in them like I can in my suburban except my H2. Big and Roomy and sadly will be the last of any real full size SUV's. So I think I will end up driving older auto's do to the lost of room so that some Engineer Art student can make or try to make stupid art statement. Over all this auto is Ugly

I actually can see circle LED tail lights on a properly done Eco box car. No reason to have bland single bulb tail lights. His teacher does want him to think futuristic and wild.

Sea Food

Personally, there is no reason in my mind that you could not take the awesome agressive look of the CTS-V and make an Econo box size auto that would grab peoples attention. So that means the following list of must have to look mean. Fender flares, Hood bulge or Hood scoop. Dual exhuast in the back HID Head Lamps or LED Low profile tires, not run flates, but instead of 13" rims with really flexible tires, maybe 17 or 18" rims with a tire that only has a 2" side wall. Turbo 4 banger under the hood Racing style tail lights 3 1/2" ground clearance I hope you get the Idea of what I think would sell well in an Econobox size car.

Sorry to rain on your thoughts of possibly buying this lux SUV, but they still are FORD, Fix or repair Daily. Unless you can afford the extended warranty from the Land Rover dealer and make sure it is a bumper to bumper, you will get nickeled and dimed to death as they have a high failure rate for so many things. You can do better with a Escalade or Navigator, they both are far better SUV's than the Land Rover and yes I do realize that Mercury is part of Ford, but they still are more reliable and lower cost of ownership. If you feel you must have a European then look at the VW Tourage that is much better and find a diesel as they rock, you can also go to BMW or Mercedes as they are a bit better in the reliability department compared to Land Rover but they are very expensive to repair and to do the basic Maintenance on. I strongly suggest American SUV if you want reliable, inexpensive to repair SUV. My Escalade, Hummer and Suburban Rock!

This Thread is too Funny! DF nice work on what you have done for others.

Toy

Country Road

PORT Yes the Portuguese have nice cheese, but even better Port's. For those that do not know what a PORT is, this is a Dessert wine that is amazing to sip.