Flybrian

Kia fails at English.

Its a sad fact that much of the switchgear and handles/glovebox latch/etc that's perfectly fine and fitting on a Dakota pickup is exactly the same here.

I could say the same of this... and really say the same of this... Whoring. Like None Other.

True. In pretty much every case, a 'new' platform seems to be almost always derived in some way from an old platform. For Nissan to use a 100% from the ground up new base for the 2007 Altima after an authenticly all-new platform was engineered for the '02 would be absolutely retarded, especially since there is nothing wrong with the FF-L.

You could always have this... And staying true to its Fiero roots... Laugh as one may, alot of work was done to this thing. Very interesting read. More details

Same guy who did this? 2002 Pontiac Sunfire That's a good place for it.Don't like blue? How 'bout red? 2003 Pontiac Sunfire Really? Must be one of those tiny Williams turbines.Though, the gauge cluster treatment is cool...

For the record, the car does ride on Nissan's 'D Platform,' which is differentiated from the '02 Altima's FF-L by a wheelbase that's 1-inch shorter along with suspension improvements. That's the party line. However, practically, I have no knowledge that tells me that is any different than something like GM's G-body platform, which was shared by the Riviera, Aurora, and Park Avenue, then as an improved and 1.6" shorter platform for the LeSabre, Aurora, and Bonneville in 2000/01, and then lengthend to 115.5" for the 2006 Lucerne, except that General Motors refers to all cars collectively as G-bodies. I suspect the same condition exists here, except the 'improvements' warrant a new platform designation.

Whatever platform it rides, I'll look forward to renting one...

And this is where they as a service provider broke down completely. If my car wasn't simply so full of my personal junk that they couldn't really box it all up, my car could have ended up God-knows-where and I wouldn't have known for a whole 'nother day. I know this because the adjustor himself told me he wasn't planning on calling me until tomorrow afternoon, which would've been late Friday. Again, I don't understand how I could search a national database and find a large number of parts in my area and they could not. But, in whatever case, this figure quoted by my adjustor kept changing even though he "had the paperwork in front of him." First, on Thursday, the "repairs alone" exceeded the value of the car, then on Friday, it was "just on their 80% threshold", but the "cost of my rental over the repair time pushed it close..." what is it? What baffles me is how the three different people representing Progressive seemed so hell-bent and simply taking that car from me regardless of what I wanted to do with it. I understand its status quo to simply junk it, cut you a check, and try and sell you a new car through their referral service (something I also didn't appreciate), but when I specifically verbalize to them, "I intend to keep the Olds regardless of anything," and they keep telling - not, suggesting, but telling - that the rational and 'better' thing to do would be to let them have the car so I could an additional $350-400 on my payoff is insulting to me. And everytime I said I wanted the car back, you could hear that frustrated sigh before the person reiterated to me what their advised course of action would be.Also, you should've heard how much static they gave me over the title branding, insisting that a Certificate of Destruction is the only thing that could be issued, not a rebuildable salvage title. Why the hell do they care how its titled, especially since I'm taking posession of the car? Either way, its still uninsurable and legally undrivable until I get it fixed. And if I get the car back and spend my money fixing it professionally and it passes a state motor vehicle inspection, what business is it of theirs? Yes, they aquiesced, but only after we filed a complaint with the national office. What happens to people who don't fight and people who don't visit the Department of Motor Vehicles to find out for themselves? That's the thing. The girl who received my car made specific mention of my dashboard panel coming unglued and a loose piece of windshield molding on the passenger side in reference to that being 'prior damage' as if I were really expecting them to fix it. Nothing else, though.Bill, I hope you and everyone else reading this understands that my anger here comes from a true love of my car and frustration at the ever-changing story and outright lies I keep hearing from Progressive combined with all these little events and "should've"s slipping through the cracks. Again, a straight-forward resolution as I had described would've been met with little resistance from me because I do understand its all about the money. But I hate the feeling that an ol'-fashioned country tool shed consumer ass-f@#king is looming behind me and I intend to avoid it.

Google, Saturn explore new ads Search engine giant goes beyond text ads with help from new media. Stuart Elliott / New York Times Link to Original article @ DetNews Auto Insider Just as Madison Avenue once helped convince consumers that orange juice is "not just for breakfast any more," Google is turning to Madison Avenue to help convince marketers that Google is not just for text advertisements in tiny type that appear adjacent to the results of searches on google.com. Google is teaming up with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, an Omnicom Group agency known for offbeat creative work, on a project for one of the agency's largest clients, the Saturn division of General Motors. The project began Friday with a test of a campaign for Saturn, bundling together several Google products and services like clickable video clips, the Google Earth satellite mapping tool and geographic finding of computer users. Visitors to a variety of Web sites in six cities around the country that are home to 22 Saturn dealerships will see what look like typical banner ads for Aura, a new Saturn midsize sedan. Clicking on an ad will produce a view of the Earth that zooms in on the dealership nearest to the computer user. The doors to the virtual dealership fly open, revealing the general manager, who introduces a brief commercial about Aura. After the spot ends, the general manager returns, standing next to an Aura and offering choices that include spinning the car 360 degrees, inspecting its engine, printing a map with directions to the dealership and visiting the Web sites of Saturn (saturn.com) or the dealer. The project is intended to stimulate demand for Aura test-drives with a twist: the dealerships will deliver the cars to the homes of consumers. The theme of the project is "Take the 250,000-mile test drive." The push for change Sellers of online advertising are seeking to persuade mainstream marketers to devote more of their ad dollars to new media. That mission took on added resonance this week when a Google competitor, Yahoo, disclosed an unexpected softening of ad sales in two major categories, automotive and financial services. Of course, some forays into the online media go more smoothly than others. For instance, the Air Force this week decided to take down a profile it put up last month on MySpace, the social networking Web site (myspace.com), partly because of concerns about inappropriate content that could be linked to the profile. The decision was reported by AirForceTimes.com. Col. Brian Madtes, strategic communications director for the Air Force recruiting service, said Thursday that the Air Force would probably continue to run banner ads on myspace.com but was unlikely to run profiles again. The profile was intended to generate interest among computer users ages 18 to 24 in new Air Force commercials created by GSD&M in Austin, Texas, also owned by Omnicom. Creatively diversifying Google is known for its expertise in what is called search engine marketing, epitomized by the text ads that appear next to results from online searches. Google sells the rights to present the ads onscreen when computer users type in keywords. Google now wants to call attention to its more elaborate types of online advertising, like click-to-play video, and encourage marketers like General Motors to buy those as well. "We've been out there meeting with a lot of agencies and clients so they understand at a brand level, at a creative level, at a media planning level, how they can use the palette we have," said Tim Armstrong, vice president for advertising sales at Google in Mountain View, Calif. Out of those meetings came the idea to "let the creative brains at Goodby look across our suite of products and services and think about ways those could work for specific clients," he added. In addition to General Motors, clients of Goodby, Silverstein include Anheuser-Busch, the California milk producers ("Got milk?"), Comcast, Emerald Nuts, Frito-Lay, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola. Rich Silverstein, co-chairman at Goodby, Silverstein, said the decision was made to have Saturn take part in the test because the local nature of its dealerships meant the brand would be a good guinea pig for the geotargeting elements of the campaign. "Google wants to prove it's an effective way to market," Silverstein said. "Saturn wants to sell Auras. And we want to show how we can tell good stories in a 21st century way. "The world doesn't need another area to run a commercial; we've got plenty," Silverstein said. "I am so excited," Silverstein, who is usually not given to hyperbole, said of the project. "I feel 10 years younger." Saturn takes test-drive The 22 Saturn dealers involved in the test are in Buffalo; Dallas (Irving is a suburb); Harrisburg, Pa.; Indianapolis; Las Vegas; and Raleigh, N.C. The six markets were chosen because they, and the dealerships, are among the best performers for Saturn. "We have a key focus on digital this year," said Dave Smidebush, marketing director at Saturn in Detroit, "and when Goodby approached us with this opportunity after Google approached them, we thought it was a very innovative initiative. "Seventy percent of all new-car buyers go to the Web for information," he added, "and the Google Earth technology takes you right through the dealer's front door." The test will run for a month, Smidebush said, and after that Saturn executives will evaluate "how it drives traffic and how it affects sales, and then we'll decide next steps from there." One possibility would be to roll out the project to the 25 largest markets, Smidebush said, and another would be to introduce it nationally. The project may be used, he added, to help Saturn bring out another new model, Outlook, a midsized sport utility planned for 2007. Details kept quiet Saturn is paying Google for the test, but Saturn and Google executives would not discuss the budget. Teams of employees from Goodby, Silverstein visited all 22 dealerships to obtain the video clips of the stores and the general managers. "Some were ready for prime time," said Guy Seese, a creative director at Goodby, Silverstein. "Some nailed it in five takes." "One poor guy kept us after hours and did it in 22 takes."

I have a Buick Roadside Assistance sticker on the window of our Bonneville...whoop-de-doo.

So...is this a theory or is this a rumor?

My apolgies...Voting will begin today!

There has been a noticable declining in general quality with the Camry as its popularity has grown. The pre-'97 models were supurb and well-assembled. A friend of mine had 192,000 on her '94 when she finally pitched it and the materials held up very well. '97-01 models were still rather well-assembled, but anything above '02 is mediocre at best. The plastics are hard, the assembly quality is simply not at those hallowed levels, and the entire car itself was nothing short of 'merely acceptable.'

That scuff is actually a preexisting condition, one they failed to ask about or recognize. Also, what it was from was a painted surface, so I think 30 minutes with some Mothers would've removed/covered up 80% of it at least. In any case, I've seen worse on 2004 models that people simply don't care to fix and it still doesn't rationalize the godawful mangling. If they were going to replace it anyway, it needed to be removed, not chopped. I could've cut the bumper off better than that if I were so stupid as to not realize I could've removed it with the retaining clips. I'm just pissed knowing that I could've taken it to a shop and left with a fixed car and a $2052.26 bill instead of doing it the 'right way' and having a torn-up car with a salvage strike and the hassle of having to retitle and inspect it. Also, I still have no estimate. Again, if I were stupid, my car would've been in some salvage yard being raped by every junkyard dealer right now with me having no real knowledge of what even caused it to end up like that and without seeing the estimate or having a chance to take it to my choice of bodyshops. That alone pisses me off because there are alot of good, honest, and trusting people whose naiivity could cost them tremendously simply because they're not car people like we are. It sickens me to remember that I had to insist upon being showed an estimate, that it wasn't made available to me right away. I also am disgusted about how their story keeps changing; first, the total cost of repairs were about $4600. Then, it was really about $3900, but the "additional cost of the rental car" would've pushed it "really close" to $4095, my car's value. Then, they cannot obtain parts "anywhere" through their "vast salvage yard database" and that a fender alone costs "$1100." If it were as simple as, "Mr. Dreggors, we cannot financially justify repairing your car. Here are your options. If you want to keep the car, here's the payoff you'll receive and here's the rebuildable title. We had to remove the headlamp cluster, but we put it in the trunk if you wish to keep it or thow it away. We used 1/4 tank of gas. We'll tow your car to your house, simply return the rental to the nearest Enterprise within 72 hours after signing the papers. Here is the estimate we came up with for your reference. We apolgize and good luck with whatever you wish to do," I would be disappointed, but accepting, and I'd deal with it. Their attitude, their amateur 'inspection,' and their general disregard for me as a customer disgusts me. My car will drive again, no doubt. But this isn't over.

If you mean that foam protecting the impact bar, no, not at all. Thank you. Expect it, sir.

The H-body SSEis had button overkill due to column of five ride control and that cluster of nine seat control buttons. The 2000+ simplified it with a simple TRACTION CONTROL button and intuitive seat controls.

I'll be getting the car's title with a SALVAGE branding instead of a Certificate of Destruction. This means I can (and will) rebuild it. The fact they would even tender a concept such as UNSALVAGABLEto me is appalling and pisses me off even more. I'm not even speaking with my adjustor anymore apparently; now, its his boss. She told me she'd e-mail me the estimate (still waiting...) - that's right, they were about to seal this whole deal without me even seeing an estimate. She mentioned one of the biggest problems they had was parts availablity and the to get a left front fender from GM directly would cost $1100. ORLY? Went to GMPartsDirect and shopping-carted one for a hair under $400 including shipping. She also said they "searched their extensive salvage yeard database" for LKQ fenders and bumper covers and could find none in the entire Southeast. ORLY? Found 10 bumper covers, 9 left-hand headlamp assemblies, and 14 left-hand fenders, several of which were actually Silver Teal Metallic after fifteen minutes of searching online. All, by the way, in the Southeast - unless Georgia and South Carolina moved recently. I enjoy the bull$h!, but not as much as I love the LIES... More pictures of how Progressive's Express (dis)Service Center treats your cars...

Wow. Two peas in a pod. I know exactly how you feel. I'm fighting mine, though. Good luck and let me know if you want to drown shared sorrows...

Canada sucks.

Not really. just a slight crack. I've seen worse driving around. Thanks for the support, guys. I need it this time...

Trunk space and that awful green color you may get stuck with.

Some background... Totaled. I get a call at 3:30PM today from some guy at the Progressive shop in Tampa. He asks me if I want to come by and get the rest of my stuff from my car or what since its being totaled. "Uh...what?" I ask. Yeah, totaled. He says they can tow it back to my house, I say, "yes I want it home." Immediately, I call my adjuster. Voicemail. Four times. So, I call the 800 number and they direct me to the St. Petersburg office where my adjuster is it. I talk to his boss (apparently) and explain the bull$h! presented to me. Eventually, I get to talking with my adjuster at 4:45PM. I tell him straight out, I'm going to want my car back and I'll fix it my damn self. He tells me all this stuff, "Oh, you'll never be able to drive it legally again, get it titled again, get it insured, get tags," half bull$h! and I know it. I say, well, I'll let it rot here. That's bad enough, but I get home, tell my father. We figure out we'll have the car sitting here until it gets fixed and I'll just carpool to work, hitch rides for a month or so, save up enough for a down payment on a new car or pay outright for another Classic Aurora. The only new car I'd accept would be a Buick Lucerne CXS. Call me silly or spoiiled, but its the closest thing to my car that's currently being made and if I can't have a nice, lower-mileage Aurora, that is the only thing I'd go into debt over. Around 6:30PM, a knock on the door. Its the tow truck driver with my car. My dad stares out the door and says, "Brian, that's not your car...is it? Jesus f@#king Christ." I put on my shoes, go out, look. Sure is my car. Except now some cocksucker took a chop saw to the bumper cover and cut it across the entire car. He must be autistic, too, because he cut it all the way to the right side where there is no damage. The pink marker even reads “NO DMG” with an arrow pointing there. In addition, they ripped out the operating headlamp cluster that had a small fissure in it and chucked it along with a perfectly functional and undamaged maker/cornering lamp. That's not an inspection; that's a mutilation. Here’s what I have now... Oh, here’s what was wrong with it – headlamp cluster, fender, bumper cover, hood, radiator, coolant boilover, and frame damage. There’s no damage at all to the hood. Period. I don’t have the estimate right now, but over the phone, the adjuster told me the radiator “may be damaged, but it seems to be working fine.” Yeah, I drove for 150 miles after the accident and not a single degree above normal and no leaks. Thanks. Also, this “frame damage,” I saw it. Wanna see it? It’s that. A dent less than a square inch in behind the headlamp. I know that’s what they’re talking about because he read it to me and I saw it indicated with their stupid little marker. That equals $4600? That equals totaled? Bull$h!. In addition, my new $450 Sony digital camera is gone. No where in the car at all and I noticed they tried to box up most of my stuff. They’re not going to shuck and jive me. My father and I called the national number and lodged a scathing complaint. You don’t take saw off the wrong half of the bumper cover; you remove it with the eight retaining screws that hold it in place just like the Buick dealership did when they fixed it after my first accident. You don’t throw away a headlamp cluster and vital parts to the car and then say you’re not going to fix it. You don’t sit there and tell me this outright bull$h! about how the car is unfixable, can’t be titled, and how I should just sign the car over to them and take the big money payoff. You don’t try and convince me its better off not to buy the car back and have it sit here. And you don’t have your ‘Total Loss Assistance’ department call me forty-f@#king-five minutes later trying to refer me to a dealership so I can buy a new car. And you don't steal my property out of my goddamn car. Progressive's "body shop" claims $4600 in damage versus my car's value of $4100. $3100 was the total from my Mustang accident, the one that busted a tire, a tie rod, and half the air conditioning unit as well as the fender, bumper cover, headlamp cluster, a foglamp, a horn, and an ABS unit. I’m not standing for this crap. My car is not salvage. She will be fixed, she will be retitled as a rebuild, and she will prowl the roads again. I’m not giving up my Aurora, not after what I saw they did to her for no reason. She will be back.

Awwww!

Guys, please lay off the political comments in a completely apolitical topic. Thanks.