Mule Bakersdozen LS

Differewnt sheetmetal? What? A black B-pillar is not going to distinguish this Escalade enough from Tahoe and Yukon. Absolutely pitiful. This better have an actually unique interior. I'm really disappointed, and trying to be a modern-day GM fan is getting to be very difficult.

Automobear's always had great articles-I don't know why I never check that site out more often. Buick needs to get its act together aznd now. The G6 convertible, among other things should have gone to Buick in the first place. Retractable hardtop coupe-convertibles just seem to fit Buick more than say, Pontiac or Saturn.

The Commander has ONE cubic foot more than the Grand Cherokee! And (Commander) is just awful from my experience. I think the Grand Cherokee and TrailBlazer are equal style-wise, sorry. They look perfect (almost) for respective Jeep and Chevy trucks, but while TrailBlazer has a lousy interior and even worse standard equipment-to-price ratio, it wins on cargo space (80 cubic feet vs. GC's paltry 67 cubic feet).

Judging by the Ram Mega Cab and that Tundra Crew Cab, GM is doomed.

Not only that, but when the TrailBlazer was redesigned for 2002, it GAINED cargo room, unlike the 2005 GC (one of few things I don't like about it).

Just regrille and rebadge and send it to Buick as the Velite when its ready. It doesn't belong at Pontiac anyways, IMO. And unless its a V-8, I'm anti-OHV as well-the G6 as a whole had so much hope in it until GM and Pontiac screwed it up, by shorting outlandish, sporty styling, passenger and cargo room, and equipment at the MSRP's they're at on most models. And the engines are all wrong, period, 4-cylinder included.

I think the next Malibu should add 2-door notchback coupe and 5-door station wagon body styles, the latter of which would seat up to 8 passengers via a third-row seat. I also think the Maxx should continue-they're very popular in the Rochester area, but they do suffer the many shortcomings of the current Malibu, such as a crummy interior, and the V-6 that never should have made production, along with the confusing and unnecessary decontenting/shuffling of trim levels for 2006.

Good to see you again Jensen! Sorry about your Equinox, I remember you were into those types of products too. So I guess I can't recommend the Equinox to my friends anymore...

Still looks lame-they really need to take Torrent's styling AWAY from Equinox, and that sure doesn't mean chroming the identical license plate bar on the liftgate.

No offense, but those doors look exactly the same as the tepid Tahoe and Yukon clones. The side vent looks interesting, but the block lettering is exactly the same as Tahoe's, the chrome, or rather bright-insert bodyside moldings look like they're also cut from the same cloth-I'm not impressed with what I'm seeing from these GMT900's so far. GM really needs something daring and groundbreaking, and styling/designwise, these ain't it-they're the polar opposites-they need to shock and not bore like what we see here. Still slightly better than Ford's upcoming Expedition/Lincoln Navigator redo's I bet.

That gold color looks really nice.

I like ocnblu, except of course, for the Gran Sport Stage I, lol. But why did they replace the Rendezvous name with something like Enclave?

Just take the Impala. Vastly roomier, more poweful, and superior car for not much more. Malibu is kind of cramped, a poor equipment-to-price ratio, and it is too small compared to other mid-size cars. Even though its still the aging W-Body platform, I believe the Impala to be the superior car in almost every single way as opposed to Malibu.

I don't see Honda, Mazda, or VW in the same competing category-Honda seems more mainstream, a la Toyota and Chevrolet, just overpriced and overhyped, understyled and underequipped in volume DX/LX-model cases. Mazda seems slightly more premium, taking on Dodge and Pontiac in terms of affordable sportiness/performance-something Dodge and Pontiac don't seem to be doing too well on. I think Buick should compete more with Volkswagen-the Passat has a lot of features that LaCrosse doesn't-and should. I say that because they both have premium reputations to them-not full-blown Cadillac/Audi/BMW/Lexus/etc. luxury, but more than Chevy/Ford/Toyota/Honda. Acura might fit in the Buick/VW category as well. Saturn-honestly, I really don't know where they should be competing. European-based products (except for Relay and Outlok) is fine, but I just don't know where Saturn fits without overlapping Chevy, Pontiac, and Buick. Maybe its just me, but personally, I think more emphasis should be placed on those three aforementioned brands ahead of Saturn.

My Impala lineup: Base-Same as current LS, but with the 3900 V-6 engine standard, standard ABS and other equipment, keep the front split-bench seat standard since that's what sells the most, and make aluminum wheels optional. LS-More luxurious than Base, same 3900 V-6. LT-Luxury, leather front bucket or split-bench seats. LTZ-Current SS, just called a more appropriate level.

Yeah that's definitely the Acadia, and it looks like it has a long wheelbase. And since these Lambda's are rumored to seat 8 (kudos to GM!!), I'm thinking this will replace the Envoy XL. Personally, I think it should be restyled and sent to Chevy and also replace TrailBlazer EXT in the process, and give Equinox potential buyers a step-up and Honda Pilot a run for its money. I'm also questioning how this will affect GMC as a brand-I really don't think what essentially is a front-drive car is going to help GMC as a TRUCK division, but as of right now, its a little late now.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103446 $17,000 or so to start-aluminum wheels better be standard, along with that 2.4. for that price-a 1.8-liter I-4 just won't cut it regardless of whether or not it has 130hp-this isn't Europe, and they should've learned something from Chevy with the 2.2-liter HHR models. Have fun losing sales Dodge without a real compact car.

I'd like to meet ehaase because he's a Christian and likes bigger American cars but knows his stuff, the insiders (also thegriffon), Blackviper-to see what he's really like, Ninety-Eight, everybody-what am I saying? Meeting everybody would be awesome or anyone! I used to talk to one guy who was on the old boards-haven't heard from him in a while, and Cadillacfan85, who lives in the next major city to mine.

Its better than the previous 2001-05 model, but that's not saying much. I checked one out at summer's end, and the base model, which has hubcaps, virtually no options, no stereo standard or optional or even optional wheel covers, is priced more than an Aveo SVM, which has wheel covers and a stereo (but no CD or cassette-they should work on that) standard. The Rio may have supposedly slightly more passenger space than Aveo (I don't buy that for a minute), but it has nothing on Aveo, or Scion xA for that matter. Why isn't the Chevy Cobalt on there again? Does the word, overpriced mean anything? And the Cobalt really doesn't have a whole lot for its $14,000 pricetag, plus they made bodyside moldings optional for 2006 on the LS (formerly Base) model.

I have yet to see a Lucerne-I've passed by the local Buick-GMC dealer lately and I still have not seen a single Lucerne. And in the Cobalt-Solstice-Torrent-Lucerne package I've been waiting for and finally receieved yesterday (real, full brochures, no half-hearted fact sheets), only the Lucerne was still the teaser. That just puts this Buick barely ahead of the tiny, non-informational promos I've been receiving for the Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr. I want to see the Lucerne do well, but its not even remotely what I think of when I think of/want to see Buick, and it seems to have a lot of factors working against it. And if the $22,000-28,000 Chevy Impala has real cloth upholstery, the Lucerne better have real cloth as well-velour actually for that price.

Partially because Equinox is a car, not a truck. How about a sporty LTZ trim level with the 3.6-liter DOHC High Feature 250hp V-6 engine as standard? Ditch the 3400 V-6 engine and don't even think of putting any High Value engines in there. Also, expand LS-trim standard equipment to include aluminum wheels and deep-tint rear glass, but take some equipment out of the current LS to make a new Base CS trim. Otherwise, I think Equinox is fine as is. And how about some other special editions, like The North Face Edition? And how about optional two-tone paint (and not just cool grey-aka fake silver). And also, I got my Torrent brochure finally yesterday-other thann the steering wheel and two-tone interior door panels, the Torrent has absolutely nothing on the Equinox. As wasted, if not more so an effort than the Jeep Commander.

Amen ehaase-it works for me-I just need to read more-last week I was really busy and I didn't read as much as I should have, but this week I hope I'm on track and to grow even more.

WELCOME BACK NINETY-EIGHT!!!!!!!

Actually, a Velite Epsilon might not be a bad idea-for now, just transfer the G6 convertible to Buick and apply 2004 concept exterior styling and design cues onto it, and make it more Buick-like around 2012. Now will all LaCrosse's or just Super receive the front end change? Any word on the uninspired rear end to become inspired-looking?

From what I'm seeing so far, probably not. They lack the innovation and bold styling and design of the Nissan Titan; they lack the bruteness of Dodge Ram and Ford F-150 and F-Series Super Duty. They can't get by on engines alone like the current models, but from the spy shots I'm seeing, its looking that way.