G. David Felt

G. David Felt www.cheersandgears.com 2013 Nissan Altima S - Success or Failure? This review starts off sadly, with my 2008 Trailblazer SS AWD being hit in the drivers door and needing a complete replacement. SS is awesome and all fixed, but for the 3 weeks I was out of an auto, I was in this rental. Short Answer for those that want to know what I think, DO NOT BUY! Everything people complain about of 1980's and 1990's American cars is what you find on this car. Yes this is a long term rental fleet car as it had California plates and 42,785 miles when I got it. My rental allowed me to add on 1,137 miles by the time I returned it. This did include a 300 mile day trip with the wife who at the end said she was so glad to not be in the car anymore due to the constant sewing machine grind of the engine. The POSITIVE about this car. Lovely red metallic paint job, roomy interior for a 6'6" tall guy, though no one could sit behind me. Push button start, Information LCD screen in the middle of the dash with 8 options of info to be displayed. Easy to read dash and logical layout of the radio system and hvac system. Seats were very supportive and comfy. Bright open Green house. For a 4 banger engine, it seems to move the car efficiently. The NEGATIVE about this car. Lack of knowing your 4 corners. Most auto's you can quickly tell where your 4 corners are on the car, not the Altima, it leaves you guessing. B Pillar HELL, For tall people the drivers seat needs to be all the way back, this puts it behind the B pillar and makes entry and exit a pain in the ass. Storage and cup holders are tight around the center floor mounted shifter. This causes issues when you are trying to shift the transmission. Dash controls, while easy and simple to use, has a very 1980's feel to it for a 21st century sedan. Noisy sewing machine type 4 banger engine. You have to increase your own voice at highway speeds to talk as this car seems to have minimal insulation and all road noise and engine noise invades the cabin. Fuel mileage is terrible for a sedan, Dash infotainment system recorded average of 35.7mpg and yet in keeping records of miles driven versus gallons filled, I averaged 27.2mpg. Yes I did reset the auto system when I filled up the tank the first time. Not sure how Nissan figures out their gas mileage but it does not match real world driving. The biggest shock was that the wife's first time in the car she asked why the interior cloth was all short rat like fabric. In looking around, it does remind me of the cheap fabric that American auto's have been raked over the coals for using in the past. The dash was very hard plastic and left much to be desired. The worst part it that the steering was beyond vague, to non existent and the ride was for those that like the lazy boy float ride. Not a driving machine, but one that should have auto drive mode as it puts one to sleep if you are not inner active in talking with your passengers. Interesting is that you truly need to hold the Start Stop button to truly turn off the car. The wife drove with our daughter and went to Starbucks. She pressed the start/stop button got out and went in and looked back out and saw the car was running. Went back out and held the button long enough to truly turn off the car. It finally did turn off. I tested and found that I could go 255 feet from the car before it turned itself off by not sensing the fob. Crazy as some one could snag the car even though they would not get very far. Over all, if it was cheap enough I guess someone that believes all things Asian is the only way to go with a car will be happy, but for this tall American, I was disappointed in the lack of refinement and over all quality of the car. In today's market, there are far better options than the Nissan Altima.

Very cool, sounds exciting, looking forward to seeing your pictures.

Let's not forget the Range Anxiety all Electric auto's have. Run past their very limited range and boom you have a 4-8hr sit time to wait for it to charge if someone is nice enough to let you use their 110 outlet.

Hopefully GM will realize half baked auto's hurt it more than help it and will change this sooner rather than later. I suspect allot of these could end up in the rental fleet area which is not good for building GM awareness of awesome auto's which GM has many of.

Lambo's and Ferrari's galore, Seattle Auto show this coming week so they are already lining up the cars in the north parking lot for the show and showing them off as today is the Seahawk / Cowboys game.

He has become the NEW IDIOT of Auto Executives and the Compact below ATS is an IDIOTS DREAM! They need a Man or Woman who loves America, Loves Cadillac and sees cadillac as only a Luxury brand not a German Knock Off of MB or BMW! It is amazing to see how he has failed at his last two jobs and is making the same mistakes again here at Cadillac. What Idiots on the Board gave into what ever black mail he had on them and gave him a job. What a waste of resources and focus. ATS - Convertible, Coupe, Sedan and Station Wagon CTS - Convertible, Coupe, Sedan and Station Wagon XTS - Convertible, Coupe, Sedan and Station Wagon Names for the New Top End Luxury version. Eldorado - Coupe and Convertible comes in RWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition. Brougham - Sedan and stretch version, comes in RWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition. QRX - New smaller Luxury CUV, comes in FWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition. SRX - Existing version in comes in FWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition. ZRX - New Larger Luxury CUV, comes in FWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition. Escalade - Standard and ESV comes in RWD, AWD with Standard, Sport and V edition.

They do exist. Two weeks ago, Tesla hit the 200 mark, and they're growing at the rate of one new location per day. http://insideevs.com/tesla-opens-supercharger-200/ To be honest, a CNG range extender is a horrible idea. Probably the worst idea in the world, no offense. I tried searching for CNG filling stations, and they're located at bus depots, dump truck yards, gas company lots, taxi co-ops, and ports. None of these locations are convenient to the public. Talk about range anxiety! I will have to go out and take a picture next time I am in the area, Tesla has signs talking about stations coming in the future but they do not exist today. Marketing Fluff of BS. Seattle has CNG stations all over and they are very easy for the public to access and use. Prices are half what Petro costs and is very clean as to why it is a Green Fuel. Plus with Bi-Fuel Auto's like the Impala, Cruze, Civic, Ford Transit and all the full size trucks, no need for anxiety unlike spending 4 or 8 hours of sitting on your ass waiting for your over priced car to charge.

Yummy, Add Cream Cheese and it is amazing. I usually crumble up cream Cheese and add it to the pie filling, blend it and then back it and you get the best of both worlds. Creamy Cheesy Pumpkin Pie. Nice Job Ocn, Looks Yummy!

That map is a nice pipe dream, most of those dots still do not exist. I can find more CNG filling stations than these vaporware tesla charging stations.

Course we all know how that worked out for them the first time when they tried with Chrysler. BMW is also doing the same thing. Look at the lost sales with the over amped Mini products and lack of diversity plus their own worthless over rated 1 series cars.

The CNBC story is a joke, 13,000 is a small pool and clearly it is the rich buying the car regardless of age. Also 16.2% of the buyers are age 65. That ups the average age that Balthazar states. Once these boomers die off, it will be interesting to see if he can still keep sales or if they dip. Also with Supercharger stations in only select areas, he also still has limited appeal due to price and long charge times. Nice cars, but limited appeal. Add a CNG generator to allow longer road trips and you have a winner winner Kobe Beef dinner!

Assuming you used a grease cleaner on all those new metal parts to make sure the paint job sticks on the parts, what did you use and what was your prep work?

WOW, that is some amazing rust. Awesome start on the project and THANK YOU for pictures of all the work and parts. Really appreciate it and very cool to see.

So they finally admit what the world was telling them from Day one. This first attempt at a CUV is a DUD!

All that Boomer Money floating around down there.

That is what you always say they should do.

Awesome Pictures, Love the interior on this bad boy. I have to say looking at the pictures, the exterior Wheel Wells remind me of the GMC Terradyne.

G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Ledcor Converts Fleet to CNG http://www.ledcor.com/news-events/news/2014/october/ledcor-to-own-one-of-canada-s-largest-natural-gas Using FortisBC's incentive program, Ledcor has committed to taking 200 CNG Ford Transits to replace their service fleet. Currently they already own 15 Class 8 LNG trucks giving them 215 alternative fuel vehicles. Scott Lyons, COO Ledcor Technical Services states; "We estimate we'll reduce our annual fuel costs by about 30% and reduce our green-house-gas emissions by approximately 23% or 2,000 tonnes of CO2e per year. Ledcor states the CNG auto's significantly lower emissions. 70 - 90 percent less carbon monoxide. 75 - 95 percent less nitrogen oxides. 20 - 30 percent less carbon dioxide. CNG vehicles see less corrosion and wear in engine parts, allowing for a more durable, productive and reliable fleet. Ford Fleet Sales was thrilled to have one company change their whole fleet to the new Ford Transit Connect CNG mini van.

WOW, Impressive Engineering statistics, course still a toy for the Rich. You also cannot do a long road trip like a Fuel based auto, but this is better. I clarify for those that say you can, while we might have what I consider a wasted electric highway. I do not see spending 8hrs or 4hrs at the 120V or 220V charging stations as viable for doing a true road trip out of state or around a large state. Wasted time for charging and Tesla does not have their swap stations in abundance yet to change this. Makes me excited for the VOLT II and what GM will bring to the game.

It will be interesting to see if he actually comes up with a long term plan for all the auto lines, or just what he does over the next 4 year wind down of his career.

Very cool, I love the exterior look and from what I have seen on the GMC web page the interior looks really nice. I think over all one of the best trucks on the road. Any pictures of the interior of this tester?

Finally!!! We disagree. I see his strategy and I for the most part (90%) like it. With exception to the FWD sub-model I think his plan is sound. I kno, from reading your posts, that U hate the new designations/names, but it is not an issue for me as the current names were no better, no less. Furthermore the XTS apparently not dying, but spiritually moving to Omega via the CT6, probably soldiering on in an Impala Limited fashion for fleet the Omega platform will underpin not only a possible 2016 Cadillac CT6, but a CT8 and 9 in 2018 or '19. C/D speculated this as far back as 2013 saying that the CT6 (at time thought be LTS) its styling will morph from notchback to a sleeker fastback like the Audi A7. Also I don't see how Audi was screwed up. They are the golden boy of the Luxo makers these days. Infiniti is not "Cadillac." Many I kno only see them as an upgraded Nissan. Their styling is disgusting and their sales have NOTHING to do with the names. Anyone who walked into an Infinti dealer and couldn't find a G sedan/coupe simply didn't ask the salesman.. or hell receptionist... on the floor that day. I look at his record while at these two companies. Sales increases did not happen on his watch, new product did not happen on his watch as far as I can tell unless you want to say re-badging names and tweaks to be new. I know I could be wrong but as a leader, both times at Audi and Infinity, sales gains did not come to the lines till 2-3 years after he left and others corrected or brought out truly new products. I just do not see him bringing anything that truly is leadership to the job. He just wants to be a lemming clone of the Germans and take his fat over paid paycheck home.

This man is showing to be the same loser who messed up Audi and Infinity and did nothing for sales. He must have blackmailed people to get this job as he is an idiot.

They at least saved the Black Beauty!

Yup, Just like Casa said, the Terradyne should have been a Hummer or better yet like we agree on the start of the Alpha Line for GMC Off Road Rally's.