Mr.Krinkle

its like dillinger is gonna jump out of that thing.

i dont disagree with that, but even so, its only a "step down" if yourre switching from a benz or similar price bracket change. theres a wole confluence of reasons people buy a car. i cant tell until i see them in person, i mean i have an idea but...they dont look so terrible. if that combined with a few more reason to consider, i might. too bad some people were soured, it takes a lot to regain trust and approval. maybe why lexus is giving away i-pods. its a shame to sully a good name and rep. i usually find interiors bland or sterile to begin with, just not very inviting especially in sub 25-30,000 cars. as the price range moves up its another story. i might be more picky.

i think thats supposed to be funny. crickets and tumbleweeds, crickets ehh, nevermind. you know what else i just noticed...they have four wheels and a motor. that lutz is a genius.

its one of those things when you hear a song on the radio. and yourre like, wow i was just thinking of that song...and it could have been before, or yesterday or two weeks ago. theres a term in pscy for it, the recency effect maybe. dont quote me on that one. you just tend to remember certain things and apply them randomly. but aside from that, the media bashing is somewhat real so dont kid yourself otherwise. maybe not all products are sparkling but most have a big ladder to climb, unfairly so i think. for instance the new tahoes. everbody liked them and praised the polishing up even though the previous version always sold well. now they get two the thumbs up. they must have pulled the other from out there ass. i just think about the response to the electric car gm put forth years and years ago. it was ugly as sin and laughed out of the realm of possiblility. it was hideous no doubt about it and the only people who did like it were the whale kissing tree hugging hippy groups.(not that theres anything wrong with them.) fast forward a 10-15 years a new batch of ugly monstrosities that hits the world and everyone has fallen in love them, and their concern for the world. the fits, and insights and priuses are eyesores to me. but so what. there will be a backlash at some time. people will get sick of this crappola. --the other day i saw an for subaru from 1978. they were bashing toyota. standard features, power steering, fwd... and what not. oh well.

most people buying these cars dont whip out the fine tooth comb and examine every little detail.--which you are doing by looking at pictures no less. and you let it fly. dude, you nitpich the sh$t out of every little thing. i wouldnt take your word on a single blessed thing. what do you want from a car? ill tell you what...nothing because it wont matter. you do it with cars that are 3x more expensive too. so what gives? just one question for you--has there ever been a car you were happy with that didnt have some kind of imperfection that damned it? "You are spot on, toyoguy........ SKY, while fun and attractive and a good value, will not be a volume product. ION is still subpar. AURA, while handsome, breaks no new ground.....either for GM, or for the midsize segment and has an interior that is actually barely competitive now with what's out there.....not to mention an uncompetitive base drivetrain. RELAY.....also uncompetitive in its segment. OUTLOOK......could do really well. Really the only entry in Saturn's lineup that seems to be pretty-much fully competitive inside, outside, and powertrain-wise with the segment leaders." wait, theres more. people who want a pontiac dont look at chevies or saturns- for the most part. chevy/saturn might see some more overlap. toyota created "scion" because younger buyers dont give a rats ass about the camry and CANT afford a lexus. hence "scion" is born. great name by the way, (or perhaps because they were looking at the civics and subarus. which im sure are all fine cars), but they arent a toyota. so as far as you being spot on, id say you are close, but way, way off. none of you guys have even seen them and you are all so quick to judge and throw your two cents in. by the by, the greenline nonsense is just gonna draw more people to the brand, regardless.

as far as being respected, yes, im sure she is. but when yourre right 52% of the time, your wrong 48% of the time. its lots easier to look back and see where things went wrong. its a lot easier to say i told you so. the point is much of what she states is stating the obvious. now, i hardly disagree with most of the points that have been brought up but its hard to deny that this upcoming crop isnt crap. the others, lets face it, werent so hot. i can honestly say that this new stuff is finally looking up and going in the right direction. how come it took so long? id bet wed all like to know. '08 -- thats fair. there should definately be some clear signs if everythings going ok. product is always the first step. thats a no $h! sherlock response. getting people to know what you have plays a huge part. thats marketing. focus on the future. see its easy. i even learned that from the muscle car era. what happens when the sh*t hit the fan then?...same thing some 30 almost 40 years later when the hurricane season hit. the most appealing product become not so in a very very short time. and yourre stuck. the point now is to not only focus on crossovers and import replica looking things. whats next. propably hydrogen but hopefully thats not all--at the rate its going, anyway. its easier to analyze and editorialize than it is to lead and come up with ideas. not everyone gets it right. heres to hoping the right people are in the right places right now. "We've never been in a market like this, where gasoline prices are cheap. It's a world that's very hostile to small cars.” m. keller "This is a brutally competitive market,”m. keller “(GM and Ford) have now sucked up all of the available customers through year-end with their employee pricing scheme. And with gasoline, even though it has come down from its highs, at current prices people are sufficiently concerned about heating their homes and putting gas in their car that they're going to buy more sensibly, and they're NOT going to buy big sport utility vehicles.” m. keller “It seems like the rest of the world has figured it out. When are they going to figure it out? When are they going to declare a crisis and start running a company as though it is in a crisis?” m. keller. the answer...Now being respected, yes, im sure she is. but when yourre right 52% of the time, your wrong 48% of the time. we all need to think for ourselves once in a while.

i just traded my citation for a brand new suziki and got money back. you believe that $h!?

i think its safe to say that the proper steps are staring to take effect. bullet no #3 for instance. market share wont go up until better products for the money are released. i cant really remember a "push" for new products like theyve been hawking this my and next--across the entire board the article did acknowledge that spending for development is up 7 fold from when it was cut more than 10 years ago. if it took this long to have the effect we are seeing now, then i dont think its unreasonable to take a few more years to get things back up and increasing. perhaps 2011 is the first honest attemp at predicting the winfall. reaping what was sown for good and bad. maybe, this is pure conjecture, but just maybe keller sees some changes, for the better this year and is presenting a "tough love" type of straw man argument. or i might be giving too much credit. yeah, we havent seen new products even though they say every year, but honestly does anyone not see that these, for real, might be those better products? and they stretch across, not just cadillac either. saturn, buicks, the holden playing their part, the trucks...

photo shops rarely do a car justice. im glad to finally see the real pictures with all the shiny metal and glass. i say it looks a hella lot nicer. maybe i will stop by after all and check em out in person. the wing doesnt even look as bad as some of the attrocities that are out there. not exactly my style but i think it works. i just wonder how most feel about the scoops. personally, i like em. i even prefer the sedan over the coupe but this looks more "right" to me for some reason.

Wow! a limited natural resource will become more expensive as the supply dwindles. who is she, kreskin? i wonder how she is at picking the mega ball. at least its nice to know that if a reputation can be based on such a prophetic vision as that, we all have a shot at becoming an "analyst" maybe a 50/50 chance (but only a 10% chance of that).

correct me if im wrong, but, wasnt a few billion dollars just invested in buick over the next few years. pontiac is another story they will have to stand on their own feet it looks. thats the typical love em or hate em brand with a high loyalty fan base. if you like them youll be back, if not you wind up hating them. i think theyll be playing that by ear for a little. i happen to love pontiacs so id rather see them stay put. buick-, nah they arent going anywhere. maybe up if anything. yeah, i know that sounds corny. f it. its good thing bm isnt pm, then hed really be bitching.

i almost always enjoy this guys writing. he has a way of covering all his bases while still knowing where his best interests lie.(or is it lay? who cares.) hes obviously well versed. his write up of detroit was damn good, too.

the market in asia cant be ignored. it shouldnt have come at the expense of our own economy but nevertheless, what could happen in th "japan inc." got its foot in the door first over there. its widely recognized as the "place to be". i was thinking that too as i was reading that. but so it goes. lutz is a tough 'sum bitch. the trade agreements here dont necessarily favor our side. sure, the end result is a more affordable product for consumers but thats about it. even the labor they do use here is still pretty cut rate. i dont know this for a fact but theres probably a bunch of loopholes too. did you know english is primarily used for contract purposes. theres something about this language that simplifies the way to lie. thats a fact jack. the globalization doesnt change the fact where the headquarters of a company is and where the majority of the profits and benefits will wind up.

this has gangsta written all over it. now little hoody punks and g-money gangstas can cruise in steel-o. one thing about toyo, they can really identify their market and target it rather accurately. for some strange reason it reminds me of an old school modded merc. i really dont know why that is-- but also a similar direction to the mazda kubira(?) for what thats worth.

yup, its 2.86 up each morning, sometimes afternoon again around here, ny. and will only go up higher for the summer driving season. lousy bastards. the popular mechanics this month had an article about alternative fuels. cure alls are still pretty far off but they did mention ethanol at length. in order to completely replace oil as a main fuel it would take a dedicated crop of corn in the range of 71% of the total crop. if thats the deal, it goes on to say we'd all be relying on foreign corn imports.

more doomsday scenarios... whoopie! most companies have contingency plans. part of being effective. i think most of us would crap our pants if we saw the pentagons doomsday plans. every horrible scenario that can ever be dreamed up ususally is. gotta know just in case... as far as economics and markets go--its way, way over my head. however i do know for the most part the worrying is for nothing, but it must be though of in the least. if GM didnt sell gmac now when would they. they need money, and they got a pretty stout deal. too bad it was "cash cow" as its been called--but cant the trucks and cars start to make the money for them again. is that such an outrageous concept. it could happen in our lifetimes. i bet al these things are tied to eachother to create a vested interest of others for the success of GM, but what do i know.

maybe robert walberg should be singing and acting like his brothers mark and donnie. this is basically a rehash of one of delorenzos rants, only whinier. its the same old rehashed nonsense only more so. its the chicken little syndrome.

hah! my thoughts exactly. not so much about glenn miller but the rest.

this is turning into a bad episode of the old tv show batman with adam west. guess whos playing the riddler. not to turn this political but this was foist upon him, most likely the same way the next president of the USA will have the war on terror and the war in iraq to deal with. wags comes off in interviews with a genuineness about his goals, and methods. for christ sake he plans on cutting 8 billion BILLION billion dollars in a year. talk about a tough road. i for one wish him luck and have confidence hes making the right plays.

if this was the boston tea party hed be yelling at everyone to throw the tea off the other side. i dont think some people can tell when others are agreeing to be polite or because they feel awkward.

umm, i wanted to buy a toaster and saw they also reviewed cars. not very good, might i add. oh, the glove box is too small, but the leather feels nice against my ass. very reputable.

this may be old news for some of you and im sure websites like this exist for every car or product thats out there but its particlarly painful when people pay 70k, 80k, 100+k for a car. almost gut wrenching. one poor bastard had a catastrophic failure of his air suspension whil according to him cruising down the highway trying to pass a SEMI. http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/index.php so do you always get what you pay for--or pay for what you get.

yup, no sign of giving up.

what else exactly would they say?

i was having trouble posting the other night for whatever reason and wound up writing this a couple times. then "josh" got on my case. not to beat a dead horse, but i think croc pretty much nailed it. how much longer before the masses recognize the general lack of credibility. with each issue it creeps up more. their "gripe" with the caddy goes back to '03 when they made some complaints and to their utter shock havent been changed yet. boo hoo. "niggling" was the exact word. the hierarchy of cars is rather strained in my opinion. it defies logic but perhaps to the casual observer gets the point across. essentially dont buy american. 2 hondas in the top 3, only one of them a "sports sedan" honda hybrid accord give me a figgin break-- despite the the lexus' "lack of a sporty feel", ride, headlights which is always a big concern (esp. in american cars) and the rear seat room. ill concede that because really who cares about the passengers in a sports sedan. now despite all this it still managed 4th in front of the bimmer. even the passat beat the bwm. the caddy nothing but praise agility, ride steering, tranns, reg fuel. 11th of 18., yet is still "recommended" along with 10 others. not the bmw or benz however. the hierarchy becomes more clear but what does this mean anyway. the only people who truly care about cr buy japanese anyway and german loyalists will pay through the nose and think they have the best simply because of the cost. some. not all. and they dont listen either. so who does this magazine cater too exactly? every car has a niche. why rank them? just go out and try it yourself, see what you like--does everyone need everything spelledout to them. and if you do rank them at least make it a level playing field. they also tested golf balls this issue. what stood out was they described the complete testing process and how they got to their results. perhaps they should try the same with the cars.