bobo

R.I.P. Chief. This is shocking considering how young he was. He was pretty moody, but when he was in a good mood, he was a lot of fun. He was blunt with his words and had nothing to hide. The posts I remember the most were those that dealt with Jay, the Bonneville getting totaled, and his kitchen remodel.

The LeSabre had a very plasticky interior. It's hard not to improve upon that. Almost all the interiors introduced since the Uplander came out have been fairly decent.

But the new engines really like to rev, and they're smooth. I'll take 306 hp over 215 hp any day.

The resemblance between the IS and the GP is probably why I dislike the styling of the IS so much. The GP has always come across as ill-proportioned, especially with that protruding bumper and oversized headlights. The coupelike C-pillar helps contribute to the inhospitable feeling in the rear seat. The IS also has an oversized face and weird styling flourishes like the GP has, but the overall tauter looks is a slight, and very slight, improvement.

Cadillac interiors beginning with the '92 Seville actually have been pretty decent. The newer ones don't come across as being significantly better to me. They're just more square.

Heh, I actually liked the styling of that car. Taking the era, the mid-'80's, into context, the car actually had some flair. This car brings to mind the late '80's Renault Alpine:

Light-duty trucklet along the lines of the El Camino or (horrors!) Ridgeline.

People are conditioned now to pay slightly below the invoice price and then take the rebate off from that. If GM lowers the rebates commensurate to what they've lowered the MSRP, the bottom line price will be a lot higher. That's great for GM if people will pay that much, but they won't. My point is that the invoice prices are too high.

Regarding the "Sentra" name, I don't think it holds a lot of baggage. The old model was kind of dowdy and unremarkable, but it wasn't a bad car. Also, Nissan has proved that you can take the name of a mediocre car, the last-generation Altima, and make the next generation successful. I hope Nissan continues going back to its performance roots and comes out with a NISMO or SE-R model.

If the invoice remains the same, this new pricing scheme does nothing to wean customers from the big rebates. Is this supposed to make people feel they are getting a better deal? Why would the dealers support this? You bargain less from the sticker, and then the rebates are also less. Who are they fooling?

Here's a comparison of the changes in prices for the Lucerne and LaCrosse: Lucerne CXS before/after: $35,265/$34,265 GMS before/after $31,637/$31,427 LaCrosse CXS before/after: $28,435/$27,330 GMS before/after $25,239/$25,081 The MSRP of the Lucerne is down $1,000, but I imagine the invoice hasn't gone down by much. The employee price is down by only $200. For GM employees, the LaCrosse price went down by only $150, but the rebate went down from $1,500 to $500, so now the car costs $850 more. This is seeming to be like more smoke and mirrors.

Here's the Sky: A few more show observations: The new Eclipse reminds me of the 2nd generation Eclipse a lot, including the feel when sitting in it, but I liked that car more than how I like the new one, which is not at all. The Hyundai Sonata and Azera were a lot better than I thought. I wouldn't pay $30K for the Azera, but I think others would pay almost that much. I disliked the squareness of everything in the Zephyr, but I think the Mercury Milan is very attractive inside and out. As for the Ridgeline, I like the functionality of the vehicle more than the execution, similar to how the Aztek was a functional vehicle yet so ugly. I wish GM would do a Lambda pickup.

Lexus will probably come out with an IS with a V-8 to compete with the M3. The consensus with all the IS350 reviews is that it has a great engine, an ok suspension that is too harsh for the streets and not sharp enough for the track, and a decent but not great interior. For being the entry-level Lexus, I don't have a problem at all with the interior. And it is a lot of car for the money. I'm not sure which way I would go--330i or IS350--if I were in the market today, mainly because I have problems with the styling of both. But I've been seeing tons of both of these on the streets.

As for the comparison of the interiors, I prefer the Camry for the cleaner looks, though I have no problem with the Accord's at all. I generally find Mazdas to be a little busy. As for the Sonata, that picture isn't very flattering, but in real life it isn't that bad. It certainly beats the Malibu.

These prices are a couple of thousand more than I thought they would be. The old trucks were ridiculously overpriced. However, I think they will sell very well for the price because they are class-leading, and people are willing to pay for that. But I can see rebates in the thousands in a couple of years. For now, GM will make good money on them.

My dad has a '71 Camaro. It's hard to believe that it's been around 35 years, almost as old as I am. For the last 10 years or so, it's been sitting in the garage, awaiting work. Because our family had a Camaro, it was one of my favorite cars, and what I wanted when I started to drive (though it had to be a new one), but there was always that insurance problem and my dad having a problem with me having a too powerful vehicle. My dream car at the time was a black '85 IROC-Z. One of my buddies had an '84 Trans Am, and I wanted a car that could run with it. In hindsight, it's probably good that I didn't have a 200+ hp car as a teenager, but I did use up every of the 110 hp in my GMC pickup and 113 hp in my Integra. After being enticed into the world of imports, I lost interest in overly large, rattly, low-slung cars. However, the Camaro concept has definitely reawakened my interest in Camaros, and I would certainly consider getting a new one.

Nissan played it safe with this design, and I think they pulled it off. And supposedly the the Sentra redesign was delayed because the original design turned out so bad. There are obviously a lot of similar styling cues to the ION, as the Maxima coincidently had, but the ION looks like it was put together with cardboard and scissors.

Lookswise, it's not really an improvement over the current model. The old Camry sold great despite being thoroughly mediocre. If the suspension and steering are tightened up, and the vehicle more responsive overall, it will be hard to knock this car. The dashboard, while conservative, is attractive and an improvement over the old car.

This thing is no beauty, but it's not exactly ugly either, like the Durango is. So this should appeal to the mopar fans who want a big trucky SUV and don't find the Durango quite to their taste. This also probably cost next to nothing to develop.

Here's the white Escalade on the floor. There was another black one that wasn't open. The STS-V: As for concepts, the showing was pretty weak. The L.A. show normally gets concept cars that have already been shown elsewhere. Here's the Ford Fairlane: Chevy had the Tahoe and Suburban, but they weren't open. Same with GMC and the Yukons. At the Pontiac display, the Solstice and the GTO got all the action. Otherwise it was pretty quiet. At Saturn, they had the Sky and the Aura concept we've seen before. There was a lot more action at Saturn than at years past. I overheard one guy explaining to his friend (boyfriend?) how Saturn was changing and moving up.

Yeah, I knew that. Gallardos and such. Brain-fart. I took a close look at the vents on the Escalade, and they're plastic inserts. Completely non-functional. I think they're cheesy.

I went last Friday, and I didn't find it terribly interesting, but here are a few highlights: Most drool-worthy: Four pearl white Maseratis. Exotic sports cars do not need to be red or yellow. Close second: Bugatti Vehicle with the Spokesdude...um...having most difficulty...um...reciting lines: Subaru B9 Tribeca. Also, it's a nice vehicle, but I don't know $40K nice. Most hopping exhibit: Mercedes. The new Mercedes S-Class looks better in person than in pictures. I'm still not crazy about the Kia-worthy pronounced wheel arches: Deadest exhibit: Suzuki and Kia tied Best water feature: Buick. There were no cloth Lucerne CX's to inspect at the Buick display. And yes, the LaCrosse has nicer dashboard plastic than the Lucerne. A few other observations: I saw the Ridgeline up close for the first time. I like the truck, and the interior is fine for a truck. I wouldn't hesitate buying this for my needs, though it gets lousy gas mileage. People were crawling all over the Toyota FJ. The interior is fine for a $23K back-to-basics off-road vehicle. The rear-seat doesn't quite fold flat. The Toyota Matrix was called the "Corolla Matrix" on the display, but not on the vehicle or on the literature: Every article on the Ford Explorer mentioned how terrible the door pull are, and I agree that they are poorly designed and allow little leverage. There needs to be a recess in the armrest right above where "Explorer" is embossed: The new Civic is a decent car. I didn't have any problems with the interior design or quality of the materials. The Hybrid model: The Solstice GXP: Volkwagen EOS with the retractable hardtop is a pretty cool car. All the new VW's came across as well-designed, if somewhat pricey. And if the regular Chrysler 300 isn't flashing enough: The new Escalade interior is nice, but unfortunately it's not in the same category as Range Rover. And what were people talking about granite earlier?

They're not messing with success. It's just subtly different from the current version, but it is sleeker.

I like the looks a lot, though the rear is stubby. My take on it, the Suzuki Forenza:

It is a feminine look. And the cabin is claustrophobic, so...no. But it does drive nice.