Lamar

At the present, my commute is about 60 miles (suburbs of Baltimore -> NW DC). I would sooner go for the TL or something. And much of that $85K would just as soon go to dealer scheduled maintenance before gas. No matter what kind of deal you may be able to find on a car, you have to factor everything else in as well. For that reason, although I've seen some VWs that I would love to get into, I cannot see myself paying all that money for maintenance and parts at this moment... daggone Germans.

No, I hear you. I like big luxury sedans myself, but a twin-turbo V12 as a commuter car in this day and age? My Pathfinder gets the same mileage as the MB that smk was talking about, and I'm seriously considering trading it in because I'm tired of buying gas for it twice a week. But come later days, and I'm in the market for a big luxury sedan, and I'm not commuting forever to work... oh, it's on.

It's called trying to attract a younger customer base.

I was there as well yesterday. My ramblings on the GM wing: - Agree with everything you said about the GM cars. - Turned my wife on to the Acadia, especially the spec'd out SLT AWD. - Overheard two older gentlemen marvel at the fact that the LaCrosse Super is FWD but has a V8 engine. - Three guys in front of me, younger than me, were marveling at the Camaro much like everything else. One of them kept wondering how the production version would look. I wanted to school him, but didn't get the chance... - They even had a Cobalt Sport I liked, except that it was yellow. - Sat in a Saab 9-5. I don't much care for the interior. - I don't care what anyone else says, the STS is still a sweet-looking car, especially in V-Series trim. They could do better on the interior. Elsewhere: - Loved the Lincoln MKS. The Ford Flex still looks like it's too short. - My wife enjoyed sitting in the Volvo S40 and Acura TL. - When did BMW's turn signal lever begin to not hold its place on its own? Seems counterintuitive to me. - Loved the Jaguar XF concept. - The Ford F150 Platinum Edition looks much better in person than in pictures. - I didn't even visit the Toyota section. My wife wanted to look at the Lexuses though. I have pics too, but they're on Facebook and MySpace.

I was about to that idea until I looked up some specs... the G35 and Maxima are actually similar in wheelbase (G35 is actually a bit longer). Maybe not decontented and restyled, but at least using that same platform. It's flexible enough... already underpins the Z and the Infiniti M as evidence of that. But back on topic: My wife really likes the current TL. For her sake, I hope Acura doesn't screw up on the '09. I want her to have what she wants when it's time for her to upgrade her car.

New Caliber SRT4 and used 300C SRT8 on the same lot.

Traverse/OUTLOOK/Acadia/Enclave, if you think about it, is eerily similar to the Uplander/Relay/Montana/Terraza. But if GM must keep all four, it could possibly work if the OUTLOOK, in an MCE, were made to line up more with the Traverse, which, as stated, is the largest of the Lambdas. Make it have the same dimensions, market it more as a minivan replacement than the Acadia and Enclave, and you can at least create the perception that the four are different. Traverse/OUTLOOK as people movers, and Acadia/Enclave as premium large CUVs.

Which I don't mind, actually, as long as it's involving to drive, unlike the Avalon.

It's not so much a "lost cause" as it is overlapped by other models. I'd like to see the Maxima reestablished as the flagship Nissan sedan, because the new Altima went the Malibu route (or vice-versa) and caused competition within the brand.

Granted, it's still a Legend... outside of North America, that is. Japan's Honda Legend = our Acura RL. Speaking of which, I wonder how the updated Legend will look in Japan. It seems that Acura's focus shifted away from its flagship sedan to its other products. Shame that only two of those products, the TL and TSX, are worth looking at. My mother leased a '90 Legend back in the day... one of the best rides I remember from being young. It is a shame to see the way the car has faded into irrelevancy...

Can anybody chop a different set of taillights onto the Traverse? Like most have said, that's the only visible flaw of the exterior design.

Yesterday: Lexus IS300 Sportcross. I didn't know Lexus had ever had any kind of wagon, so I thought someone had taken a Hyundai or something and rebadged it.

That was the first thing I noticed, that it looked bigger. Makes it more minivan-like than the other Lambdas, although it's still a CUV. Did anyone notice that this engine is slightly more powerful than the others?

:lol::lol:

I knew what was gonna happen, and I STILL went

Ah, gotcha. Then I agree with you.

Oh yeah... and about 5 Tauruses since Friday.

You sound like Gene Wojciechowski after he realized that his 15 reasons the Patriots would win didn't result in the Patriots winning. Like what was already said, the Giants' front 7 made the Pats' offense look anemic.

Base Mustang starts at $19,490. Mustang GT starts at $26,080. Price premium for the V8 engine = $6,590. Ford set a precedent GM can and should have no problem following. That is, if GM doesn't set the starting price of the base Camaro too high.

I was driving home from church and saw a REAL vintage car... unfortunately, I couldn't tell what it was. Oh yeah...and on Friday, a gold Oldsmobile Aurora V8.

Apparently, if they're not here, they don't matter.

Kuga from the side reminds me of one of the Acura CUVs...

I like how they had the GS 350 and GS 450/460h separated, as if they were any different besides powertrains... Guess they wanted to show a positive gain SOMEwhere in their cars...

Looks to be history repeating itself. Oh yeah, about the Sebring... I saw a weird sight as I was leaving class on Wednesday night. It was a girl around my age bracket (early to mid 20s) driving a Sebring. A new one. Usually I see older people driving Sebrings that aren't rentals.