regfootball

glass half full, many cars have TWO trunk struts, the Cobalt has one on the trunk and uses the other one on the hood and saves money on the prop rod. Especially if either strut is the exact same part as on another GM vehicle and thus saves engineering and duplication costs, not to mention not having to engineer and schedule a unique part for the Cobalt. All while impressing the owner because they don't have to fiddle for the f*cking prop rod, especially in the dark. EXPAND YOUR MIND AND GOOD THINGS MAY APPEAR..........

if GM is truly going to change its thinking and become a relevant business today, they will have to have an epic housecleaning of execs and managers and lifers, in all honesty giving THE RICK alone the Heisman isn't going to do much.

nah, don't get me going on the Azera.....

good points but check out the newest Lexus' with space wasting goose neck hinges on the trunk before you cast too many stones......

PLPP product, labor, pushrods, and plastic

RWD only is not what will save GM. GM more importantly needs to build serious credible threats to market segment sellers like Camry, Caravan, Altima, Accord, Corollas, etc.

say bye bye to THE RICK! Buickman, enjoy yourself a cold one if that happens.

not soon enough! needs a real engine in it too!

a stick 4 cyl G6 would be a great entry level offing for someone who doesn't want to drop more money on a smaller car like a civic.

was Hyundai trying to mimmick this? i can see then where some of the attemtps at form are in the azera dash. the console becomes somewhat of a knockoff, but at least toyota attemtps to terminate it and not end it lumina style. Also, toyota at least fills the center stack with enough stuff so its not just bare plastic below the vents. note also that the floating mass of the dashboard is much more in proportion. The dash flows into the console some at least, where the AZRA does not at all. I'm not saying the AZRA's interior is like a 99 century. GOD NO. I just don't think it is a luxury car interior, nor is it as good as its being praised for in the press. Just like the new Civic. The new Civic's interior, aside from being bizarre is also mediocre. The Mazda 3's interior kicks ass all over the new civic in terms of design and interiors. Camry, Accord, both nicer. Why not get the real thing?

THIS IS SO MUCH MORE DESIRABLE AND AS MEDIOCRE THE NEW CAMRY'S interior is in a few spots its much nicer than the AZERA. the TSX and TL have way nicer interiors. the A3 does. the jetta and passat do. the silver finish on the azera console matches virtually nothing in the rest of the interior. i will say i haven't seen it in black, but go check out the tan interior ones, its nasty. especially with cloth, that's where the mismatches really stand out. another thing....they try so hard to integrate the design of the cabin with that 'wood' strip on the dash and door, but then nothing else at all about the doors relate to the dash at all. Likewise as i previously said, the console has no relation to the center stack or dash either. The style of the seats seems a bit lavish in relation to the sparse and grandpa styled dash. The console just zooms forward and the lone silver surface dies into what? nothing! the cutline on the door panels that separates the plastic from the soft trim is completely arbitrary. look below the center dash vents, there's nothing but bare plastic and a couple of small circular elements, not at all within scale to break up those floating globs of plastic. That's not how you catch someone's eye. The center stack is at a weird angle to the eye; its like its falling away from your eyesight visually. there's no connection. the scale of the whole 'floating dash' mass is not at all heavy enough in visual proportion. At least in the maxima the somewhat similar effect, the visual weight of the floating mass is within proper proportion, even if its shape is not pleasing. Let me also point out the really awkward gap between the upper dash and door panels. Its inconsistent and unresolved. It totally supercedes and breaks up the look of the floating dash which they kind of attemtp to blend into the door, but you can't get your eyes away from the gaping seam to have any attention on the blend. not even chris bangle could hose it up this much!

I SO LOVE THE WAY THE CONSOLE FLOWS NICELY INTO THE CENTER STACK. not! its like the two are not even connected! The only worse offenders in that regard are I do agree that the steering wheel is nice and thick and has nice wood trim but the airbag cover design is left over from my 95 Thunderbird. the seats we know are leftovers from early Catera production.

yup, agree 100% completely on that one.

oh, the Honda RL?

fly, you beat me to the punch. it also is slightly like a 95 riv boattail rear. what is up with mercedes and the rear wheel arches now? YUK. overall its pretty decent but with some hoky aspects.

Lucerne's cloth is ratty looking and not nice enough for a premium car, but at least its not really bad like the AZera's.

if the public ever does turn on CR, I hope they go DOWN. Still, the clueless yuppie liberal mondo urban bunch who always buy Toyotas and Hondas are so thick around here these days and they have all the big paying jobs and they are the ones who are dropping big coin like nothing on all the toyohondas etc. Between a CR backlash and a rise in Hyundai though could be what cracks away at toyota's position in the US. Seriously, folks spend 30k on used Camry's and 25k on 4 year old A4's........but won't buy a new Impala for 20g.

$h!, not enough time tonight to remember all my rides! one nugget, lots of SMOKY front wheel burnouts in my 89 SHO.

Let me just echo what i said in the other forum. The AZERA looks like hell on the outside and is subpar on the inside. The interior is a hodgepodge of lame design (did students or interns work on this car?) and mismatched materials and poor materials and unappealing design. The cloth on the seats are horrible and don't match the mediocre plastic at all. And I am being nice. If you sit in it for a long time like I did, you clearly begin to see how this car is really a generation or two behind in design. The Sonata is just as bad. Again, we are talking discount third world product here. The hardware has improved, but the design says to everyone 'I bought a cheap ass car!'. Fly, I liked your post here, but I would even get a LAVALON before one of these dungpiles. Like I said in the other forum, if you want a Camry or Accord, JUST GET A FRICKIN CAMRY OR ACCORD! The new Camry is a yawner but its light years more appealing than this THING. in 6 months when more new iron is out, the press will be panning this like everything else. Edmunds is a bunch of idiots. This car on the outside is one of the ugliest sedans available. Jesus, Mr. Lutz. PLEASE put the 3.6 in the base Lucerne (and improve the cheap cloth seats too) and set it off to compete against this horrid Hyundai. PLEASE!

in all honesty a lot of it is too many folks who are all about 'brand' and just trying to be popular. You can't tell me even half the bimmer drivers are auto enthusiasts. They buy BMW like they buy Ralph Lauren.

seeing the horseshit gas mileage on the Element made me all the more glad I didn't get one. 23 mpg for a 4 cylinder, HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's as lame as my buddy's passat barely cracking 20 and having to listen to him complain about how slow it is. As for 3400 pounds, nice that such a p*ssy vehicle weighs so much. Sorry, I'll take my Aztek, its better looking, gets the same gas mileage, is quiet and smooth on the road, seats 5 in total comfortm and i can get full sheets of plywood or dryall flat into it when i want to. I don't have suicide doors to navigate to get my kid in and out. To top it off, i saved 4 grand vs. the Element. I doubt that 23mpg was for the auto/4wd version. Edmunds users were mostly lucky to break 20 with that combo. I'll occasionally see 25-27 on trips with mine. In the worst winter months with lots of dead traffic and cold idling I still break the 20mpg. Not bad for an SUV that can actually hold something. In the same vein, that's how I see the FJ panning out is that its got usable space and real people comfort and will probably get BETTER mpg than the toy car Element.

yeah but 2/3 of Americans are clueless and buy things ONLY on price.

um, did you really think a big ass sunroof like that was going to be trouble free? i would never get a car with a massive roof like that until i know for sure its not a new thing anymore

#1 and #2 are the stereotypical CR readers. Maybe the Grand Prix is just darned reliable! GM makes pretty solid cars these days with some of their proven nameplates.

I know what you mean, my brother in law's father, a lifetime Patrolman raised on Ford's and Gm's bought a new Avalon. He previously had bought new Cadillacs. He might have been a good candidate for a Lucerne, but couldn't wait. That, and all his boomer friends told him he had to buy a Toyota. GM really needs to tap into the essence of why buyers like Toyos and such and break that code. Some of the answers are obvious, some are not.