CARBIZ

I, too, give the Camaro a big shrug (the old one never sold, why would this one be any better?). If it leads to a large, RWD Buick and Chevy sedan, then I say it is a good thing, but the minivan is a much more important segment to the Canadian market than it is to the American. Case in point: the Caravan/Voyager twins were the #1 selling vehicles in Canada for years; whereas, in the States it has been the bigger, gas guzzling pick ups. Leaving Chevrolet without a competitive (other than on price) minivan for another couple years is only going to significantly contribute to the continued erosion of GM's market share in Canada. I would have been far more excited about the Camaro if it was planned 3 years ago and was on the market this year.

And from 1993 on, GM made ABS standard on every single vehicle, something that nobody else bothered to do. You can pick a point that matters to YOU and chip away at GM, or at any manufacturer, for that matter. What car lines didn't have 4 spd automatics, BTW? I do know that GM was myopic with respect about what Japan Inc. was doing until about 5 years ago. For example, because Chrysler did not offer a 4 spd on the Neon, GM never made the 4 spd standard on the Cavalier until 1999, although it was available earlier than that. However, the large and mid-sized vehicles all started getting 4 spds in the late '80s, about the same time line that Ford and Chrysler were following.

Ontario - and Toronto in particular, has the highest insurance rates in North America, possibly the world. Who do you think is paying for those fancy insurance buildings downtown - you know, the ones with the marble lobbies and the golf course lawn. I had a 53 year old male client who was Canadian born but had lived outside the country for 12 years and he was charged $530 a month for a Venture minivan! The insurance companies cannot descriminate based on race, so they nail every new driver, regardless of age. I had a higher up insurance rep tell me that Toronto has the highest amount of fraud and losses because of new drivers.....what he isn't allowed to say but indicated with a shrug is that it is the "new Canadians" that are the problem. Now, I am not going to get on an anti-immigrant rant, but let me say that when I was in Sao Paulo and Rio last year I thought the drivers there were crazy, but the key thing is that they are all crazy in the same way. The driver's there anticipated each other's zigs and zags because they all learned to drive the same way. Here in Toronto, where half the population was not born here, you get people from all over the world, many of whom developed habits (both good and bad) elsewhere. If you've ever driven in China, for example, there is absolutely no respect for the rules of the road. Signs are merely suggestions. Mix all these people up and put them in a city where the government has hated the car for 30 years and you have a good recipe for disaster. Remember: Toronto is only 5 milliion and LA is 10, but the 401 handles more traffic in a day than the Santa Monica Freeway. It is no wonder we pay such outrageous rates!

GM was way behind in using 4 spd trannies????? My '91 Caprice had a 4 spd automatic, standard ABS and a driver's air bag. What are you talking about??? I'm not going to bother to look it up, but I know GM had 4 spd automatics in the mid-80s. As GM replaced platforms, they made air bags, ABS and 4 spds available, all through the late '80s and early '90s. Just like every other car company did. Are we going to condemn a company because of how many gears it has? That is plain silly. Every damned article I read bitches about how many gears GM's trannies have. Let's focus on the negative while ignoring all the things that GM is doing right, like OnStar and having the most RELIABLE trannies out there. I don't work at GM but I have always noticed media bias, not just in the car industry either. I view the media with the same opinion I do politicians: mostly liars. GM has made real mistakes, to be sure, but this assclown yammering that Toyota has outsold both Ford and Chrysler last month is just "piling on." In fact, that appears to me to be the POINT of the article, to let this jerk trumpet those sales figures yet again so that anyone even thinking about buying a GM because GM is #1 would think twice because it is inevitable that Toyota will over take it.

Am I the only person here who thinks ALL this religious stuff is just whack? My God is better than your God - phhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The root of all this is nationalism and power. Religion is just a tool. The Tigris/Eurphrates rivers are the cradle of civilization and the winds of history have blown across that area for 5,000 years. While the Christians were slaughtering each other in Europe, Persia was a civilized, educated society. Then they tried to expand into Europe and the Christians finally got organized. The Crusades. There has been hatred ever since. Enter the 20th Century and the Brits made a mess over there, which the Americans have mostly gotten the blame for. Tribal rivalry has spilled over into blaming the West for everything bad that has ever happened in the Middle East. As the evolution of society goes, the Western world (read: white, northern European, Christian) has far surpassed anything the Muslim world ever did. Are they merely jealous? Do they have real grievances? Yes, to both counts. Unfortunately, they were blessed with half the world's oil; otherwise, nobody would have ever given a damn what happened over there (Darfur, anyone?) Let's face it, from the Suez crisis to the redrawing of national boundaries that ignore religious lines to the support of the Shah in the 1950s, the West has its fair share of guilt to go around. It is a mess that I don't think anybody knows how to clean up. Besides, it is just so damned hot over there.................

..........but who saved $10,000. Deal with it. We had 3-2003 Venture minivans left (all hideous red) that were still on our lot in November 2004 - they'd all had birthdays on our lot. We sold them for $19,999 (they were loaded extended vans) for a LOSS of $7,000 on each one. A YEAR later, a woman called me up and whined that the brakes were gone and the mechanic told her it was from sitting on our lot for more than a year. Possibly, I agreed. But, lady, ya saved $10,000! A new set of brakes is $1,000. It was still a deal. Some people are never happy.

I read this National Post piece on Friday and it was quite favorable. Even the Toronto Star liked it yesterday, although they did nitpick about all those things you just said. I'd say kudos to GM. Looks like they have a winner. Guess I'll have to dust off my resume and apply at a Saturn store because with the Sky, Aura, Outlook and all the Opel product Saturn is getting next year, Chevy will be f'ked in the Toronto market.

Well, I agree that the girls who buy the Tundra would be worried about the 0-60 times to get to the beauty parlor, but to anyone else it doesn't matter. By the SS Silverarado if that is important. That'll blow the doors off any pick up from Toyota - even the Turd, I mean TRD edition! LOL If ride/handing is more important than buy the Avalanche. The characteristics are different and that truck handles/rides nicely when empty because of its different rear suspension, etc. To sell a million vehicles a year in the world's largest market, ya gotta step up to the plate with something for everybody and the GM pick ups have done that better, longer than anybody so far. Toyota has wised up, but they aren't quite there yet.

The dealer has no control over when the brochures show up! If you think still NOT having brochures for '07s are a crime, how about not having brochures or any pricing information when the vehicle is sitting in the show room? That's what happened to us when the '99 all new Tracker came out: we had the vehicle in the show room and absolutely could not tell anyone how much they were. The pricing stickers for the window had not been printed. We had no order guides (paper system back then) and no invoice yet. How's that for looking stupid? I had our dealer principle tell one of my customers that the new Tahoe cannot be ordered with a middle-bench seat. Why would he say that? Because he would never order one without the middle row buckets and has never seen one that way. (Keep in mind we only have two on the lot and have only sold a couple so far) Salespeople will cringe from a factory order the same reason they will cringe from someone who is "buying in a couple months." The guy/gal may be under pressure to deliver NOW or the person is fired. They aren't worried about being around in 8 weeks when your CTS shows up. Short-sighted, I know, but did you ask how long these people have been selling cars? Sounds like they were fairly new. And a lot of times the dealer will have huge "flats" on current model year to clear them out: he may get $750 to sell you the 2006 in-stock, but on the factory order (after you haggle him down to no gross!) he/she will only get $200, for example. A lot of behind the scenes crap goes on before a customer steps on the lot. It all depends on the quality of the management, like anywhere else. Maybe the guy is in a bad mood because he just got "scooped." (Scooping is when a customer can't be bothered to show up for an appointent or simply shows up and another salesperson gets the deal after the first guy spent 2 hours with the customer.) Maybe he/she needs to deliver one more car (this month!) to get some huge bonus. Or maybe the last customer spent 2 hours haggling and then the salesguy finds out they already have a deal somewhere else (highly illegal in Ontario but some customers think signing a bill of sale is like notes on toilet paper.) Walk a mile in another man's shoes. I've been in retail all my life. NOthing surprises me any more.

This is a good move for Saturn. GM has done this too many times and it hurts the brand. The Cutlass was discontinued a year before the Intrigue was ready and that undoubtedly hurt Oldsmobile.

Yeah, I know, but which came first - the chicken or the egg? For every dishonest/sneaky salesperson out there, there is an equally unscrupulous customer who has no respect for the dealer's time or resources spent to offer the vehicles for sale. I am all for GM buying the dealer network and using the sales people as trained, paid advisors. Then, the price on the sticker would be the price, no dickering and no games. But the conspiracy theorist in me believes the current situation benefits the manufacturers because they can sit back and let the dealers eat each other alive and claim to be out of it because they can't dictate price. It is short-sighted of them if they don't think the adversarial sitatuation between customers/sales staff isn't hurting them. When GM had 50% market share people may have been inclined to tolerate the crap, but at 25% there are too many choices for them to put up with what some dealers are putting out. But when 41 GM dealers are selling the same volume of vehicles as 11 or 12 Toyota stores, then you know a blood bath is in the future.

Federal/state laws that protect the consumer against price fixing, also prevent manufacturers from dictating prices. It works both ways, guys. NObody ever complains when a dealer loses money on a car that has sat on their lot for a year.

First of all, in this area GM offers all kinds of training. They pack us off to Markham (north of Toronto) two or three times a year for hands on training with the competition. They have live satellite broadcasts of upcoming models and changes, plus comparisons with the competition. They even have a new system that archives past shows on a hard drive connected to the satellite. The dealers literally pay THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars for these toys. Most salespeople don't use them. The average customer is even more stupid than the average salespeson we are talking about here. I've seen guys on the floor totally make things up, using BS language like "this car has the new Beukanheimen seat package with Pamela Anderson twin turbos" and the customer nods knowingly. I think it is safe to say that most people on this board are quite a bit more informed and knowledgeable about all things car related than the average person on the street. Walking into a dealership and using "factory-speak" (GMT-800s and all) is like mugging an old lady: no challenge at all. Why would any salesperson know this, or care? Jerks aside, there is no way in hell a customer is going to go for a joy ride in a vehicle at any dealership that I know. With all the thefts going on, we'd never get the cars back! And have you ever seen a car with dealer plates going side ways on a turn - would you buy a car, knowing it may have been treated that badly? Guys, a dealership is a place of business. Not a place to hang out and joy ride on the car of the moment. Rent one, if you must. Those salespeople out there who are trying hard to be professional are becoming a-holes because of customer's attitudes. Our training tells us NOT to pre-qualify a customer by asking about their financial status, budget or if they are ready to buy today, but as salespeople become more abused and cynical they would be crazy not to pre-qualify their customers. Unfortunately, this has been turned into an adversarial game by many on both sides and I wish it weren't that way. The most rewarding sales experience for both sides is when the customer is seriously ready to buy, does not lie or mislead the salesperson and just treats the salesperson as a human being. Try it, you might be surprised.

Well, David Booth writing in the National Post today just raves about the Aura. Other than lamenting about the absence of a 5 or 6 spd auto in the base model, he finishes by saying: "the Aura is definitely the class of this class, which includes the Camry, Accord and Mazda6." High praise, indeed, from a paper that idolizes all things imported.

That is what I find so frustrating about selling the best pick up in the world (Silverado) when Ford trumpetted their improvements (like hydroformed steel frame sections in their last go-round 2 years ago) when GM already used that technology in 1999! Ford plays catch up and Ford loyalists think it is all new. The easiest way to sell a Silverado is to park a F-150 beside it!

Maybe we should carpool! LOL Bayview is a mess because of Bayview Village - too many shops. They would protest anything happening to their precious parking out front. I actually drive through the million dollar homes of Rosedale when I know the DVP is a mess. The real trouble with the city is that the idiots in charge back in the '20s and '30s had no foresight. As older buildings were being knocked down along Danforth/Bloor, Yonge St., etc. the city should have allowed for 6 lanes of traffic. Just think about how much smoother things would go if Kingston Rd., Bloor-Danforth, Yonge St., Bayview, Bathurst, etc. were 6 lanes instead of 4!!!! Instead, you have 4 lanes, with two perpetually blocked by delivery vans, taxis, parked cars etc. Vancouver, for example, works much better. All of their "suburban" streets, like Kingsway, Hastings, Renfrew, etc. are 6 lanes. Yet Vancouver has the reputation as being controlled by the eco-freaks! They have no highways but they do have a well-laid out city street plan. I just shake my head as I see more and more 50 storey condos going up, situated on narrow, one way streets emptying onto 4 lane thoroughfares plugged by delivery vans. This city is heading for a crisis and we will make Hong Kong's traffic look like a village stroll, mark my words.

I wrote to Mayor Miller recently. To his credit, his henchman did reply and rebutted me, point by point; however, there were no surprises. When I pointed out that (by the Star's own numbers) 76% of the people in the GTA DRIVE to work, while 16% TTC it and 6% bicycle/walk - why would the city spend $1billion on a subway to nowhere (Sheppard) that nobody uses (50% capacity), yet won't even consider spending $10 million just to STUDY the possiblity of widening the DVP because "too many people will use it." WTF? What kind of logic is that? The DVP was built in 1957 when Toronto was maybe 1 1/2 million. Now, the GTA is 5 million and the only way to get anywhere in the entire eastern half of the city is the DVP - which is 3 f'ing lanes in each direction! Madness. But the Commies that run city hall (into the ground) hate everything automobile and would rather build bicycle lanes (what? is this Amerstam?) that nobody uses for 9 months of the year while slowly strangling the lifeblood of the city by not building ANY new roads/highways in decades. When the DVP is stopped dead on Xmas day, you know there is a problem that reaches way beyond commuters during rush hour. There, my rant for the day.

My sister became a robot after she had her kids. We used to party together. She used to be fun. She used to have a life and hobbies and friends. Her husband left her because she was cold (probably unfair, but it happens.) I took her to a New Year's Eve party two years ago and she was on the phone half the night to the sitter. I know kids are a commitment, but c'mon! It has happened to a lot of my friends from 20 years ago. Married with kids. Very spooky. They either become fat and bitter, or just lose themself in their kids. I am afraid for these people because when they hit 45 (my age) and the kids leave home, they will have nothing in common and no life. I hope these people can change into something else, for their sakes.

Well, let's see: we've sold 2 of the new Tahoes in 6 months and we sell about 15 or so Uplanders per month. GM isn't "market pricing" the Tahoe any more. There just aren't many takers at $60,000, but the Uplander is being pushed to death at $18,999 around here. It's the only 7 passenger we have left that won't bankrupt the family. At $1.10 a litre, the Tahoe doesn't make sense for this market.

This is an example of badge engineering at its finest. The Aura is a great looking car on its own right and looks NOTHING like the G6, Malibu or Saab. Now, if the next gen Malibu looks as good as this, GM will officially be on the road to undo the '90s.

But since there is no way of telling how many of the Torrent sales are cannablized from would-be Equinox sales, how can we be sure that, over all, this is good for GM? As the Equinox goes into its 3rd year without any major changes and Chevy has nothing to combat the Pilot, new Rav4, Acadia, etc., could it not have made more sense to have spent the money from the Torrent development on making the Equinox a better over all vehicle? I realize most of the guys on this board are American, but if you look at the Chevy numbers for Canada, they show a very different picture: the Sierra outsells the Silverado and the Tahoe numbers (which are probably keeping some U.S. dealers afloat right now) are nowhere near "proportionate." Chevy kicks ass in the States, but in Canada it is just another name. The P-B-G merger in the States has been a reality here for decades. It boggles my mind that the Acadia and Enclave will be sold in the same dealers, yet Chevy has no 7 passenger vehicle left - other than the gas guzzling Tahoe which is not selling in Canada. I don't know why the Pontiac dealers got the Torrent in the first place, especially when the P-B-G merger must have been in the works, as were the Enclave and Acadia. They already had the Vibe and Rendezvous - all the while Chevy stores in Canada were losing Oldsmobile. As we've discussed elsewhere, the Uplander/SV6 are dogs and should be euthanized; however, for us Canucks that is all we have that is selling. Remember, this is the land where the Smart Car has already sold a few thousand, mostly on our doorstep (Toronto.) Not that I will get much sympathy for dealers on this board, if GM does not have a healthy Chevrolet dealer network in Canada, it won't be good for the company either. Many GM stores in Toronto are losing money; more still will soon be closing. GM needs to stop this badge engineering and start spreading models around that make sense in the new P-B-G reality. I have no illusions about the importance of the Canadian market to American companies. When Texaco went down it was its Canadian subsidiary that was offered up to the Gods of Wallstreet as a sacrifice.

This has been my major point about GM's lack of a 5 spd or 6 spd auto: GM's 5 spd WORKS. It is smooth. It is reliable. It can be programmed either for great fuel economy (Malibu) or into a bit of a rocket (G6). You can reliably go 150k+ miles without wondering if it will blow up. Whenever I rent something else, like a Camry, the shifts are noticeable and often harsh. I hope GM makes the newer trannies as reliable and smooth as the 4 spd because GM can't afford to have these same horror stories that are coming out of Toyota these days. The media won't cut GM the same slack, that is for sure.

Wow, the whole thing looks like it was lifted out of an Impala. Parts bin engineering at its worst....................

Or increase the supply so dealer's won't have to wait 5 months to get one and, therefore, be tempted to over charge. I wouldn't be eager for GM to price itself out of the market. The '06 was already $90k (Canadian). The Corvette is rapidly becoming a rarity in the Toronto area as (snobby) people with $100 grand to spend would rather do it on a Porsche or BMW.

Sorry, but I'm dealing in Canadian dollars and the Sedona is $25k and the Uplander is $18,999.