z28luvr01

Anytime you need some help getting that Prius up a hill, I do carry bungee cords on my road bike and can give you a tow for a small fee. j/k Now would be a perfect time for Fly to drop in and express his opinion of Toyota drivers.

Happy Birthday, Big Guy.

Me in full riding gear, on Saturday morning just before a Century. No spandex, though. Certain things need to be left to the imagination :AH-HA_wink: You'll also notice my beloved Schwinn that my dad pulled off the scrap pile at his job and gave to me. I brought it back to life with modern running gear, and it outruns lighter, fancier bikes costing thousands of dollars.

It's no secret that GM's in a precarous position right now, and the decisions it makes over the next couple of years will determine its future and, ultimately, its survival. With that in mind, there's never been a better time to play armchair CEO. C&G is pleased to unveil its newest feature, one that'll give all you who fancy yourselves in Rick Wagoner's chair someday a chance for your voice to be heard. For this feature, titled "C&G Wants to Know", we'll take a hot button issue concerning GM and ask the question "How would you address this issue if you were running the show at GM?" Since we'll be running this in the "To General Motors" section, you may just be fortunate enough to have your ideas implemented by GM, since we all know that Rick and Bob read C&G over their morning coffee :AH-HA_wink: And now, for the red tape: Since this is in the "To General Motors" section, all responses should be mature, well thought out, and unbiased. We understand that you're all passionate GM fans and have different ways of showing it, but it's important to not let your passion overcome you sense of good judgement. We don't want GM execs wading through pages of profanity and personal attacks. Keep it civil - we'll be enforcing this strictly in this forum. When we pose an issue, we'll set up a few parameters within which you'll have to work if applicable, and any posts that don't adhere to the parameters may be subject to deletion. Hopefully, the parameters we set will help stimulate some creative responses. Basically, we're really just trying to prevent a situation like this: TOPIC: Okay, so what should GM do with Hummer? post two: Kill it. post three: Kill it post four: Die Hummer Die! post five: Kill Hummer. ..... So stay tuned to the "To General Motors" section. We'll be unveiling the first edition of 'C&G Wants to Know" in a couple of days. In the meantime, go out and buy yourselves a snazzy tie, 'cause it's time to play CEO.

So the million-dollar question posed by this thread is: "Can GM afford to appeal to abandon both GM enthusiasts and general automotive enthusiasts in favor of bread-and-butter import shoppers?" I think not. If what the critics say is true, that only GM loyalists would ever buy a GM car, then logic states that if they lose GM loyalists that they'll have nobody. Face it: it's in GM's best interests to keep the customers it has while attracting new ones. Falling in line and trying to emulate someone else won't get that done. Innovative, unique cars that still push the limits of design and performance while meeting the various environmental challenges will.

Pontiac's biggest problem is that GM operates as if it honestly doesn't know what to do with it. It seems some in GM want the brand to thrive once again while others see it as a dying branch that needs to be pruned from the tree. You can see that in the dichotomy in the current lineup, as illustrated by thegriffon. G8, Solstice = yay G5, G6, Vibe, Torrent = nay Heck, you could even see it in the naming...um.."scheme" It really is in GM's best interests to revive Pontiac - as I've said a number of times, Oldsmobile's demise proves to us that a dead brand's former customers won't just flock to other GM brands; they'll more likely leave the company for good. Sadly, the current perception of the company is that people are all but looking for a reason to justify jumping to the Japanese, and axing another brand would accomplish that and then some. Now before the whole GME vs GMNA vs GMH argument rears its ugly head in this thread, as it does in just about every other thread about Pontiac, I'm going to say this. GM's greatest strength has been its ability to cater to ALL of the needs of each of its local markets, and right now the company's survival depends on it. Shunning that in favor of a one-size-fits-all brand structure across the globe is a recipe for failure. Each of the internal factions need to get their heads out of their collective asses and proceed as follows: 1. Figure out what vehicles best encompass the needs of the market in question, and how to sprinkle them throughout the market's EXISTING brand structure 2. Figure out how to build those vehicles efficiently and profitably using resources available globally If GME, GMNA, and GMH can't put aside their personal agendas and do what's best for GM global, they're doomed, and that's that. Rant over.

The Focus is an eyesore, but the people I know tht have them love the way they handle. OC's not entirely bluffing about the Cobalt interior. Its overall design is nice and vintage Chevy, but some of the parts used could stand to be more substantial, as I've had a few pieces replaced under warranty - probably more than I should have (although it's important to note that my car is a first year '05 and that GM has since fixed a lot of the problems with said parts in subsequent model years). A decent sized storage bin in the center console would be most welcome. Why they went with the tiny armrest/console is a mystery. Good thing I normally don't carry much in my car anyway. Still, none of this is stopping me from entertaining moving "up" to a turbo SS sedan when it comes out.

Tacoma: Only Half as Good as a Real Truck

It'd be more fun to buy one, and take bets on how much you can throw in the bed before it collapses on itself.

I'm talking about Smithtown Saab. It's on that stretch on Jericho Turnpike, west of the Rt. 347 intersection, where there's nothing but dealerships.

Agreed. I'm not sure if Epsilon itself is a modified previous-gen Vectra platform or not, but the 9-3 was the first Epsilon, followed by the Vectra, Malibu, G6, and Aura. You're spot on with Saab's dealership network. The nearest Saab dealer to me is about 15 miles away. The second nearest one is on the other side of the Long Island Sound. I'm sure that in less populous areas the situation is even worse. Pair them with Cadillac and/or Hummer. That'll a) increase their dealership network, b) help restore their "premium" image, and c) allow each brand to remain in its niche (no FWD Caddies, no BOF Saabs).

You know what helps a lot - the keyless entry. I almost always lock the doors with the remote as opposed to the buttons on the door panel. If you have the remote in your hand to lock the door, that means you won't be leaving it in the car. For my previous cars, I kept a spare door key in the wallet.

Don't the Impala and LaCrosse have the super stalk with the wper control on the left? In all honesty, it takes about a day to get used to having the wipers on the right side of the steering wheel. It's not a big deal.

Buy the '79 Monte, then hang out with 68 and XP for a weekend - you'll get your beater

Someone please explain to me how a RWD car weighing the same as a similarly sized FWD car with the same engine will get so much worse mileage. An EP-II G6 is unnecessary with at least one EP-II Buick in the same showroom. Just make it on Alpha already and stop screwing around.

Yeah, GM sucks. I mean, how could any manufacturer do something so cheezy as share platforms between entry level and luxury brands? They'll never get it. Oh, wait:

Polygamy is wrong. Period.

This is so true - we even referred to our N-body, 2.4L powered 4 door Skylark as "The Buick". Sadly, I got the news on Monday that the person my father sold it to totaled it. I like Invicta the best out of all the names in this thread, but I won't complain if Regal comes back, or if they just call the car Allure like they do in Canada. The car makes the name, not vice versa.

Happy belated to the both of you

I've been in a couple of '02-07 Corollas. I wasn't impressed. My Cobalt feels more solid all around, and even Hyundai's interior quality puts it to shame.

Some lady dinged dinged his Aurora while loading her kid into a RAV4, and he just lost it. He slugged her and destroyed the RAV with a sledgehammer. Now I think he travels cross country sprinkling acid on the frames of 95-00 Tacomas and stealing third and fifth gear from every unattended Camry he sees. Seriously, though, I have no idea.

No blingy side vents please. Though I think they could pull off everything else you say, Croc. I think that the Corvette's basic design has reached the point where designers just don't need to mess with it in a major way. It'll just need some tweaks here and there to keep it fresh, a la the 911.

As for the car - I hate to say that I'm let down by the exterior. It has that melted, slightly bloated look of the Avalon coupled with the overall droopy look of the CLS. And the side scuplting does nothing for the car. Inside, it's "generic European car interior in a can". Not my cup of tea, but it is nice. I'd much rather take the Invicta/LaCrosse/whatever-they-call-it.

Guys, cool it with the personal attacks. You know who you are. Don't make me break out the