regfootball

it would be nice if the impy had the HF v6 and a much better interior at least. GM not correcting that is pretty sad.

simple starbucks with one or two espresso shots added are fine for me. jitters, i can relate. sometimes caffeine overload makes my arms shake. i read a report today that said coffee helps reduce chance of heart problems. YEAH baby.

I've lived through some floods up in the grand forks area before so i know how much it sucks for you right now. but its definitely a story to tell for you for years. re: cars.....next car probably should have black interior and i would like leatherette. you almost want plastic doors too. Maybe I should pay off the aztek and drive that not worry about how trashed it will get. Get the wife a DSG jetta wolfsburg to have ruined in the urban environment, and me to drive the piss out of on the weekends.

fiero meets supra. SHAWD! SHAWD!

my sister got me a panini press for xmas.....WHO NEEDS ONE? i am guilty of getting a smoothie blender from walmart last year. made in china, use #3 i fried it and burned it and now its garbage. we have like 4 coffee / espresso makers, but only use one. LOL by the way, the coffee press is the best way to make coffee.

i've changed most of my cars on a 3k schedule.....and even if i can extend it, i dont mind getting the car up on a hoist more often. Plus, in winters, the oil is BLACK and thick by 3k so I am still gonna change it at 3k in the winter, sometimes it needs it before that and you can audibly hear a difference in the motor (much quieter and smoother) after you get it changed. As a result, none of cars really ever burn oil.....which is part of the whole point. Ford did tell me recently they changed their interval to 5k so I may feel comfy with that when the climate is warmer. As far as 'wasted oil', recycle it, DUH.

thanks for the TIP. no pun intended. I think i will try that. the fords doors plastic is soft touch but fragile at the same time. i.e. i think marker can absorb into the surface of the plastic. if it were a sharpie or permanent wide marker, i'd be toast. She got more of the vinyl on the seats than the leather parts so i am somewhat fortunate there. Here is my luck with that car -gouged the rear bumper plastic with the snow blower -left one meter scratches in white on the side of the car with the trash can that the buffer at the body shop even couldn't get out -front fender replaced this january after xmas accident -new windshield in feb due to stress crack -recent hail damage -big massive ass door ding on the passenger rear even more recently. i worship those that restore cars for sale and make them look so new. Mine may be toast by the time my lease is up in Oct at this rate.

thanks for asking. It was a standard issue red felt tip, left in the car from being in transit to a meeting. the kind you use commonly for 'redlining' I know you know what I am talking about. Windex took care of most of the damage this morning and I do have to admit the drawings in particular on the windows were pretty cute. Still, the car's a lease. GRRRRRR

saturn fans dot com forums is where i read about it

cruiser, those HHR pics were nice. The orange one is a dandy.

I've been seeing that some folks have had problems with their 3.6HF engines in the outlook and stuff. Possibly problems with the crank or camshafts. What does anyone know on this?

yup. we haven't even had it 4 years. its up to about 90k. haven't had to fix anything on it. GM replaced some wheel bearings on it and I've done tires and brakes and that's it. Its completely trouble free. Time for another radiator and tranny flush soon. The thing holds so much gear it swallows more stuff than....well. I am itching for something new but its been good to us. I just think I should get rid of it while its still saleable. I bought it new for 16k. I might be able to find a sucker to still give me 8-10 grand for it. That's spending 8,000 bucks to drive 90,000 miles. Not too shabby.

my car, 500. tan leather and dash. 4 year old. In my car. red marker. seats, windows, dash, trim, doors. patience.

i have not driven the element but have ridden in one.....it is not at all a comfortable vehicle to sit in. It feels every bit like a truck and not a comfortable car. i will give chrysler major kudos for this....the magnum, charger, 300, all comfortable for passengers and drivers. too bad chrylsers v6 is outdated and their is no 6 speed for the v6. our success as a domestic industry will be to preserve those comfort traits while embracing more the fuel economy etc. want to know what else is comfortable? the front seats of the lambda and tahoes / yukons etc. but why is the second row seats so low on the lambdas? the press is something else. edmunds raved over the new maxima, but man go look on canadiandriver.com first drive....the maxima is indeed fugly as sin right down to its altima trunk. how can you gush over something that is a disaster like that?

i'm pretty tired of the audi look, although the TT and R8 wow me. Audi does enough with the quality of their execution to make their basic design themes come off real well. bmw, its getting old.. mercedes too. I'm a ford fan, but i admit they are not off the ropes but at least they are trying.

regarding the 500 trunk (of which i drive one) the hinges don't seem to be an issue here and the size of the trunk is ginormous. I can get stuff in the trunk of that car that you can't get in just about any other sedan, and i can outhaul a lot of the cute utes like rav4's and sportages, etc. My cargo area is bigger and more useful than the one in the rabbit with the back seat folded. I am able to get a kids bike plus a whole fam worth of luggage for a long weekend and still have room for other things like a cooler and such. I looked hard at the element before i got my 500 and i can tell you there are some instances where you can haul things in the 500 you cannot in the element. The elements cargo area is not very wide, its tall i must say that. I think the current outlander can outhaul the element. The outlander has the most useful cargo bay of all the cute utes, with the seats folded and tumbled. what kills me about domestic brand avoiders, they may not have driven or owned one in many years, if at all, and yet they will be totally open to drive unproven stuff like Kias and Hyundais, or spend a premium to drive expensive euro cars which don't always have big reliability themselves.

deep MOAN, you mean my 3.4 in my aztek is covered up by sound deadener but it still hints at vacuum cleaner. LOL

yeah but the 3.5 is a growler and doesnt redline like the ecotec.

well, detroits cars are damn good today but the fact that so many people think they still build crap pisses me off. japan's cars are not really much better if at all yet the press and public opinion is that japan inc is gold and us stuff is feces on the sidewalk on a hot day. there is not hardly that much difference in most price classes.

if you can make money off union dues..... unions need to be GONE or at a minimum they need to shape up and get it.

jan 2001 was when everything started sucking and ruined a lot of our country. jan 2009 cannot come soon enough. 8 years of dark hell everyone wants to forget.

keep in mind larger cars have cheaper insurance. smaller cars may save some gas but cost more to insure. likewise, fords, dodges, etc are often cheaper to insure than japanese yuck. i have seen new taurus and chargers as well as impalas drift dangerously close to that 17.5k range. the aura i drove today new i am pretty sure you could get close to that number and THAT will get nice mpg. do malibus have the same discounts yet?

year old chargers and magnums are great buys and new chargers are well discounted. the interior updates for 08 are nice. if RWD only is acceptable and you can stomach the looks of the charger its a screaming deal on a nice ride.

well, i had wanted to take out the astra today, but the sales guy practically pulled me out of the astra in the showroom and said 'try the aura'......here's why, the aura has a 20k sticker. So does the Astra. He was trying to say how good a value the Aura is. Since it was really close to close I am like, why not? I have driven the v6 model XR before and liked it, although it was awhile ago. I did buy into his idea. The Aura was an XE with a sticker somewhere between 20 and 21k. There is incentives on it too, i think. Well, i am not small so wedgning into an epsilon car is always a little bit gymnastics, but i think i have it down now. You have to limbo under the roof The Aura seats are nice, maybe a tish blocky and narrow. I wish the cabin was a couple inches wider, but for most people this car will feel plenty wide. Leg room front and back is great. The Aura has nice armrests. The gauges while small, fall into view nicely. The center stack is a bit low, but is convenient to use, if cheap looking. Interior plastics are quite good for GM but average on the whole. The Astra has better materials. I do like the seat cloth A LOT. It's not the mouse fur. Its a nice knit cloth that feels durable and not that grippy....looks good too. The rear leg room in this car is the superstar. It feels limo like even if the front seatback cutouts are not wide enough to allow you to splay your legs. You can get your feet under the front seat. Rear passengers would feel coddled despite a little less headroom that should be. Trunk space is not bad. Not a very tall trunk but it is right there with the competition. Exterior styling is nice and the base wheelcovers to me look wonderful.....never thought i would say such a thing but its gotta be easier to clean brake dust from these than real aluminum wheels. The tires could stand an upgrade. Engine....2.4 l 4 cyl ecotec. I have liked every ecotec car I have ever driven. This is no exception. The engine is smooth in the Aura. SOme minimal vibration is felt at idle but at high rpms the ecotec smooths out wonderfully. No coarseness, it rev like mad and all the sins are damped out. Steering is decent (steering wheel was not leather, needs a little more touch to it).....ride is pretty good. There is some tire noise, and some cabin noise but its not a lot. The exhaust sound of the ecotec revving is like a little race car and is wonderful. I bet the 260hp turbo would be wonderful in this car. The engine is mated to a 4 speed. In 09 we get the six speed. The 4 does well for what it is, but you really need the 2 more speeds.....well, i do. As a commuter, the 4 speed is well matched and uses the engine well. It needs more punch off the line and from stoplight to stoplight.....but above 50 mph this car comes alive. The ecotec will cruise silently at 80mph all day and I bet it gets great mpg doing it (salesdude said 35mpg highway is not improbable). As a road car, this car would do well, lots of passenger room, good mpg, attractive cabin. FOr most people who like sportier cars, I think this would be a great commuter car. Its a great value. You can get a power seat and a bunch of other goodies cheaply. Previously when i had tested an XR 6 cylinder i had felt the chassis was flexy and that front end was heavy and that the cabin noise was a bit much. I think i will need to retest the XR to see if I still feel that way. Thing is, the 4 cylinder I think is a great car by itself. I would spend extra for the 6 speed if i could, but the 4 speed is alright. The car needs more stoplight to stoplight punch, but aside from that you wont hurt for power. I would hope GM can provide like a 200hp 2.5 base 4 and the 260hp direct injection turbo as an option. The turbo with a DSG would be so prime in this car and if it meant keeping the heavy v6 from being under the hood i would maybe be ok with it. Will i get one? I'll keep it on the list. It lacks the Ford Sync feature I like but depending on the pricing at the time I may purchase, if there is a deal, I could see this car being in the running. As an aside, I should try the Malibu. I like the Aura just as much, but i see some things here why the Malibu gets good reviews as well. I think this is a great car for a first time purchaser, someone out of college, new married or partner couples looking for a spacious family car........or for someone downsizing from a larger fuel sucking car. As soon as the 6 speeds get in the showroom and if GM would fix the interior, then I think this car would get an A-. I would maybe call this a olid B or B+ as it is now, especially because of the value proposition. As an aside, of other 4 cylinder contemporaries I have driven and can rank this against...... I would get it over a mazda6 and the fusion (except for 09 fusion gets new powertrain and it already has sync). Its way cooler than the 08 accord i drove and felt more sprightly, although the accord has size. The galant 4 cylinder is not bad but the aura is more stylish and more nimble. I didnt like the sebring so the aura blows it away. I havent driven the altima yet or the malibu. I hope saturn sells a lot of these 4 cylinder auras, they are a nice car and a great way to lure new saturn buyers into the fold. If i can smartbuy this thing cheap i may do it....lol of course base taurus are under 20 grand now too....

i just took out an Aura XE 4 cylinder. nice car. 20k. were you thinking sedan at all? big savings on that over the sticker too i think.