regfootball

The incentive was over on November 2nd. I can't imagine there were that many 2016 Volts even available at that point... it just started rolling out in October. There are 172 2016 Chevy Volts currently listed nationwide on AutoTrader and the 2016 is only being sold in certain states. The real test will be to see if Chevy can move the 2017s when those are rolled out to all states. And the Volt enjoys extremely high owner satisfaction, the people who buy them, love them. i would love a volt.......especially if it were malibu sized

http://blog.caranddriver.com/no-more-new-gas-powered-cars-by-2050-say-eight-states-and-five-countries/ No More New Gas-Powered Cars by 2050, Say Eight States and Five Countries

I was like you in item 1. They told me I knew too much about the product, basically the same things you said. You can't go too deep into features and specs. But its amazing how many people get wided eyed at stupid sht like how the rear seat folds down, etc. Most folks selling really are just getting by day to day in so many aspects as possible. If car sales folks were making 70k a year instead of half that YOU bet your customer service would go up. Nothing bad about it, just the way it is.

That's good to hear. No fw it can only get 20 in normal driving. Although I will say, on fuelly, the real world mpgs reported there for the current regal 2.0t and for that matter the non turbo 2.4 aren't that great. That said, the new Malibu is like 400 or more pounds lighter than the current Regal.

Car prices wouldn't be cheaper at a corporate store. Either being the only to buy the brand, or existing competing against franchised stores. The buyers market will set the price of the car. Dealers or manufacturers, it wouldn't matter. You'd still end up with a building with a lot of salespeople and they would be pressured to make sales because that is how the doors stay open. Those of us who frequent here are enthusiasts and we know all the little details of this and that. We think we should be able to build a config, click buy, and test drive it without assistance. 90% of the buying public isn't capable of weeding through the mud like that. I don't disagree that we don't always need to be 'helped' or pressured or however you take that. I would love to check in at a dealer, tell the receptionist to give me keys for 6 cars and leave me alone for half a day. To create something experiential like that I don't see it happening no matter who runs the retail outlets. If they open the doors, it does not matter who owns it, they will want deals, there will be pressure to sell. And then when the dealership closes and abandons you, then what happens? I totally get the being stuck with a particular salesperson, or at all. I think if a customer and a salesperson are a bad match, it should be such that either party can walk from the pairing up and there should not be repercussions. It's kind of like marraige, it shouldn't be forced or arranged. If that single issue alone was changed in the dealership experience that alone would help. Remember these people don't get paid a bunch so the skill in customer service sometimes correlates to what the people get paid. I had to lol at Drew and Best Buy. I have had lots of those experiences there lately too. But I just roll with it because there are so few places that have any knowledge or customer service with electronics. That and I worked for 4 years at a best buy in college. Didn't sell (managed music dept) but watched a lot of people have to sell vcrs and stuff. The customer service is much worse now a days because they don't pay much.

i still kick myself for not getting a new ipad air 2 from target on black friday. 150 dollar gift card and 5% off with red card. that's a deal you'll not get at the apple store.

too many things to reply to i can't till i go home. one thing i should clear up. I am not advocating anything on whether i think the law is boohickey or not. I'm really just saying dealer owned only or corporate stores won't really provide a net benefit like people are assuming. On a point regarding Apple products, I have purchased at least a dozen apple products in the last few years. Phones, tablets, etc. I can only recall three of those purchases being direct from Apple, and none were from the store. I got an ipod shuffle and my orig apple tv as refurbished off their website. I think I got my original Ipod (black and white 40gb) possibly direct from the web, but i can't recall for sure. In some way that's not a direct comparison as the places i got them from were chain stores and discounters. But since I dislike the experience in the Apple stores (tired, outdated decor, don't really like the staff that's all over you, never a deal) I would hate for the auto biz to evolve to something like that. People think the salesman make $$$ off car buyers. hardly. One guy i talked to who sold chevy said once it was tough to even make $150 on any new car sale. Big franchise one price places like i was at, flat rate on a car sale represented not even 1 tenth of 1 percent of the MSRP. Sure the dealer would make volume bonuses and the sales mgr would get a cut also, but one price places need to sell below invoice to move metal. Your volume steps make up for not making anything on the base sale of the car. You'll make money on finance and warranties as a dealer, but no corporate store is going to give that money up either. New car dealers might aim to make 1,000 bucks if they can average out on the base sale of a car, that's not a lot of profit margin ona 40k rig, and the MSRP's will never get knocked down on corporate stores. I am not sure why people get their shorts in a bind about auto profits. Look at what idiots pay for clothing at hip stores in the mall. You want to talk margin......

i would envision (no pun intended) that if something envision size were to add a third row, it would be roughly like the idea behind the Suzuki XL7, that was a stretched Equinox. back row was ok for kids on that one. The hyundai has the sante fe and santa fe sport, that might be an anology also.

Northstars have always been oil eaters. my moms DTS is drinking oil now too, runs great though. It's had its day, 2002 or is it 2003, she needs a new ride. ah yes, motivation to prod Mom even further. Her stability control system is leaving trouble messages on the dash now.

Buick needed this 5 years ago. The crossover market is huge, while i dislike that this is from China, this will be Buick's biggest seller once its up and running possibly. The aging population and people's changing preference to crossovers, Buick and GMC showrooms still won't have enough choices. Terrain and Envision can peacefully exist together for a long time.

regardless of the constitutionality of the dealer model, this much i can assure you, and working in car sales like i did for a short time affirms this for me Selling manufacturer direct won't save the consumer any money. And you won't get an improvement in sales or service customer service. The dealership owners or whoever, they have huge skin in the game, and i can guarantee they are always looking for the low hanging fruit to keep their overhead low. A corporate ownership won't give one single f--k about the dealership they have in cosenhocken, or the local employees. The good dealer chains too, know now that their empires are they size they are because of their rep on perceived customer service. Plus, the manufacturers with their surveys and all of that. The amount of staff to sell large amounts of cars is large. There are so many different roles I cannot begin to tell you. If you want the service you get now to stay the same or improve, there is not really a way to reduce the number of people involved. Shifting ownership and management of a dealership from someone who has skin in the game to a large corporation making decisions remotely, and willing to go into or pull out of a location at the drop of a hat, won't be as invested in maintaining their presence in your backyard as you think they would. This is not an apple store. Corporate stores won't pay more or entitle the employees more. Buying a car direct seems like a simple idea to be successful and to those with stunning credit, a decent income, and no trade to haggle over, it is. Most new car transactions are burdened by a number of factors, all of which would grind an online only process to a halt and render it inoperable. "come in to see our finance person' would be the most uttered retort. Most people can't pay rent, this is why the process of selling cars is so hard. Custom ordering a car would be more possible, or at least we might see innovations in distribution. For example, company stores might not send their whole inventory to individual dealers. They might ship them to large warehouses. If you configure a car exactly as you wish, and its at a warehouse instead of a specific dealer, it might be easier to get that way. If Tesla wanted to gain buyers, then why is the model X so ugly, so expensive, and why does it have useless stupid doors? If GM made the design like the Model X it would get hammered for making Aztec 2 (by the way my Aztec was ugly but it was a terribly functional car). Tesla needs to get with some designers who won't compromise form and who know how to make a good looking vehicle. At some point their cute little cult following is not big enough and their designs will be held up to scrutiny like all other mass market makers.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-drops-out-of-2016-detroit-auto-show/ Tesla pulls out of Detroit. First step to irrelevance IMO

until tesla can sell 250,000 cars at 35,000 MSRP they are irrelevant. they'll get beat in the higher price ranges no matter what they do. Give it time. Give them credit for making electric relevant. They will be a footnote. Standardizing electrics and developing an infrastructure will require nations and all manufacturers. Tesla cannot do that itself, but they can innovate. End game just won't be kind to them. Kit cars never make the big time. Some of their tech will survive. Go Volt / Bolt....those two models could have the chance to remake GM's relevance on the world stage, and return them to leaders....IF THEY BUILD OFF OF IT. While VW is beaten from the diesel scandal, GM could use that as a defining moment to go ape on electric, GM just needs to make one of their electrics family sized, next gen Equinox with a volt powertrain would change the game

^^^^^ by now they should have moved on from that little starter clique

oil change is a great time for a low cost inspection of your car on a hoist. my midas found a cv boot tear on my NEW van and otherwise i would not have known. any oil change under 30 bucks is dirt cheap

i've made peace with the de-Buickification and am glad they finally get this in their lineup, i've warmed up to this. this would be perfect for my mom

now GM diesel can succeed by playing it straight and not having to have big market share at the start. They can literally make the diesel offerings small volume and just build their own grass roots base over time. I really can't wait to see how good the 17 cruze diesel is. That car could lay the foundation to building a diesel following for Gm to grow over the years.

when gas is 2.00 a gal like it is now, i really would have no prob spending another 50-75 cents a gal in tax to fund new roads (not trains, bike lanes, or inefficient transit) but if you add a tax it never goes away. And in states like here, it goes into the general fund and gets raped and never makes it to new roads.

sure, let em sell their kit cars there!

by the way it says in that article, photo by brian williams..... does that mean he could say "i was there"

cars like this should go over well in California. Tesla will be out of the business before 10 years. This is GM's toe in the door to crack it open and lead EV's. speaking of 'floating roofs' GM already dun that. So did Ford Probe. and Intrepid Still love the cutlass BTW, the W body cutlass and Grand Prix were great designs that still look modern

nice retirement

agree, this Bolt looks more interesting than i thought it would be.

Volvo going back to a conservative shape for the F ship is a good idea. Car does have a tinge of Chinese feel in the interior, but at the same time it evokes the blockiness and boxiness of older Volvo interiors. Lots of sedans morphing into one or two box designs. This has a definite 3 box creased look.

Passat has S model, Wolfsburg, SE, SEL, and possibly the Sport and maybe one other. And then 3 engines. But thats what you get when you want big sales in volume segments. So does this mean manual trans will get cut on a lot? And will they consolidate their automatic choices? Gotta wonder if the Germans won't take to a little US backlash. The EPA busted this, at some point the German fans will go, 'is emissions and mpg really worth what has been done to this German company'.