trinacriabob

Buick will hopefully make the right decision. We are all presenting different opinions, and I am sure what will finally happen will be some blended decision of what we all want. I need to sleep easy at night, so I will be rocketing to the showroom sometime next year to snag me a 3800 V6 + 4 speed automatic combo. My Regal crosses over 230,000 tomorrow during my morning commute and I am awed by the very low thus-far repair bills and the car is somewhere between 14.5 and 15 years old. I want another one of these engines (purchased brand new again) one more time in my life.

Only because they choose to make it this way. Their current government is not designed to oppress people, though it is not really up to the task. These people are reinforcing the stereotype that this corner of the world is full of unruly people incapable of going about life in an orderly manner. I don't know where all the sickness of haphazard killing based on religious fanaticism is going to take them. It's very sad. That entire area could, and ought to, be able to enjoy a lifestyle that is found in other more progressive Muslim areas such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, for example.

How would you say that in Portuguese:"uma pessoa que siempre va dizer 'sim' " ??? Are they STILL married?

I agree with most of what you said, particuarly the reintroduction of a stunning Riviera coupe and the release of the Velite. I do not agree with you on the 3800. I think this powerplant could have been modernized instead of tossed out. However, the LaCrosse and the Lucerne could benefit from those things you mention in terms of better creature comfort and fit/finish. I find all the column mounted shifter LaCrosses and Lucernes I see at the dealerships to scream "Buick of yesterday...or 2 decades ago." Simple line up: LaCrosse FWD Lucerne FWD "Zeta" RWD Riviera RWD Velite RWD Enclave AWD I think Buick could handle 6 vehicles in 6 niches, though I do wonder how Lucerne/Zeta will overlap.

Car totals (what I care about) are down. Truck totals (what I would never drive) are up. Major hits to the W-bodies. LaCrosse is down somewhat but GP and MC are down by larger chunks. Is retirement imminent or can a facelift help some? I mean, some of us amateurs have suggested good fixes for these vehicles. Within the competitive mid-size market, you can't afford to be clunky and they need to be cleaned up. The Impala seems to hold on to the big numbers, though. Why such a dive in the Malibu? It's a novel concept on a great platform...the decreases are disturbing.

How about a novel called "the Lesbian from Lisbon" ... about a bitter and repressed Portuguese girl who removes the Catholic and chauvinistic shackles of her environment and goes nuts... just thinking...because when I went to Portugal for the first time by myself (besides as a teen with my parents), there were 2 lesbians (not dykes, but nevertheless hard) at a table next to me in a trendy part of town, being loud, obnoxious and when the dude selling roses came around, they went into overdrive theatrics as the man motioned that I ought to buy one for them! Now that I am somewhat versed in that language, I could muster some kind of a comeback. "The Lesbian from Lisbon"...you like that, razor?

I've always had this replaced at a tune up. This time around, I bought the $ 3.49 item. There is a label on the shroud that says PCV valve, so I pulled off the shroud cover. With the intake manifold exposed, I do NOT see where the spot for the PCV valve is located. Do any of you guys know where this is on the transversely mounted 3800 V6?

Buick is obviously trying to balance risk and reward, so to speak. It is trying to venture toward that zone you speak of (risk) but wants to be loyal to its core market (reward). While I am not the traditional Buick buyer in demographic terms, I am awed by the reliability of their vehicles and will buy another. Yet, I don't want to pony up $ 40K for a car since I don't have it...I'd rather be in the $ 25K range. Maybe the Buick line could handle a little bit of bifurcation with Olds being gone...that is, expanding it to anchor the Buick segment and the upper end Euro-touring sedan/crossover. Also, where do you strategically stop so as to avoid cannibalization between this and the Cadillac brand? That needs to be looked at. Let's not be so harsh on the LaX and the Lucerne. They are very competent vehicles. However, the execution could be better. The LaX has some interior quirks that are old school (the mousefur, yikes) and the Lucerne, in my mind, has poor ergonomics up front which don't involve the driver the way that a touring sedan would. Still, they are leaps from what preceded them, so Buick needs to keep going. More provocative and innovative styling combined with the current levels of reliability would serve them well. By the way, I had a LaCrosse for 1 week and 2200 km (1400 miles, more or less) in the Montreal area about a month ago and it was a very likeable car. Except for a couple of shortcomings (the fabric, the mousefur and that stupid ass grille up front), this is a great value for the money...that's my opinion.

Thanks for the correction. You're right: Guaraldi has a faster pace whereas Benoit is a little more relaxed. And Charlie Brown music has a little bit of that brisker pace he typically showcases.

I'm paying $ 830 on the Regal per year. For as clean as my record is thus far (knock on wood) and how old the car is (14.5 years), I feel that's a little high. However, to save $ 100 and lose the guaranteed renewal feature (been with this company for at least 15 years) just doesn't seem worth it.

"Rooty Tooty Fresh 'n' Fruity" breakfast special

And you didn't "line up" for this? C'mon, it sounds very "no strings attached."

maple syrup

Well, I think you need to move to the West Coast and I need to move to the East Coast.

I have that plan with Cingular. I love it. It's $ 39.95 and I have about 3,500 rollover minutes because I hate talking on cell phones...I much prefer a land line. My land line is on flat rate - $ 55.99 for anywhere in the US, all you want. It's cool.

Pierre (you know, Pierre L'Enfant, the man who master-planned Washington DC)

What, dammit, didn't they feed you? I would have been chanting: BOOOFET...BOOOFET....BOOOFET...Ours is in mid December. We were asked if we wanted to trim down the Christmas party in lieu of bigger bonuses. The answer was: . Therefore, we are having a Christmas luncheon, without the fancy hotel ballroom and without the significant others, which added to the cost. A builder I used to work for in Seattle threw a nice Christmas party, though it was formal and uptight....they were such an uptight company and some of the management didn't particularly like me because I wasn't as uptight as they were. All of the nice people in that company transplanted to Seattle from somewhere else. The raciest thing is that this one girl from Connecticut ... very nice and fairly attractive...plants a big one smack on the lips right as I arrived for the party one year and was hanging up my coat....I was taken off guard. And, yes, I say my Hail Marys and Our Fathers for my Christmas bonus...it's LaCrosse money...that's where all my bonuses have gone....into the savings account for that purpose.

donut hole

Something tells me David Benoit, but I can't be sure...does that sound familiar?

"stage left"

Ditto...like the lyric "put them together...that's a fine looking Jew," among others. He is obnoxious, but that's what makes it funny. "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" - once had 6 business school grads in a rented Bonneville driving to a mutual friends' December wedding singing along to this on the radio since we had been making fun of everyone and everything we saw and were in one of those irreverent moods. Others: Considering I H-A-T-E country, Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas." Beautiful voice. Are her projectiles sagging by now? "Christmas in the Northwest" - regional song, kind of country I guess, but as the refrain says "Christmas in the Northwest...a gift God wrapped in green." Corny but quaint.

locker room

Stars Fell on A-L-A-B-A-M-A !

Yeah, baybay (a la Tom Leykus), then folks: talk about hard-charging women you've worked with that (1) have an edge, (2) might have penis envy, and (3) want to put you in your place, given that you are a man.

Pantho, you have a corporate job now? I remember you posting something about heading off in a new direction...what's up?