The O.C.

The point is.....he's trying to bash the Camry by ripping something off the dash and taking a picture of it. That's all. All of you should know the abuse ANY car in an auto show is subjected to.....this could have happened to ANY car on the floor.....be it GM, Toyota, or otherwise.

Here you go..... The air vents have a cheap "clicking" sound when you move them (spin them around??).....cheap and brittle. The center stack controls (radio and HVAC), which are shared with Malibu, are substandard and feel (and look) cheaper than anything I've seen in any recent Korean product even. Here's where even GM has shown how to do it better (Lucerne and Impala, etc...with the new "corporate" HVAC and radio controls.) The center stack doesn't flow into the center console (why...? when there's no column shift/bench seat option.) Why? Because it's CHEAPER to design and engineer it that way. It looks unfinished and doesn't look like it matches center stack-to-console. THAT being the case, the rest of the G6 interior, IMHO, is one of GM's better efforts. Dash and door panel plastics/graining/feel are as good as any imports. Seats seem to be pretty comfortable. Nice steering wheel and GREAT gauge cluster execution. Ergonomics are fine......and even the overall styling of the dash and door panels is quite attractive. But my previous rants above indicate to me that GM simply refused to "sweat the details" in those areas with the G6....and unfortunately, those are things that stand out in a BIG way to people comparing this car to Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan.

Couple of points...... Can they overcome domestic loyalty? On a smaller scale, YES. My friend went from GM and Ford trucks to Toyota because of his perception that the Toyota would be more reliable (he had numerous problems with his Chevy S-10) and that it was much more luxurious to ride in and drive than the Silverados and F-150s he test drove. I'm sure he's not the ONLY one out there with those experiences.... Do they expect to sell 900K Tundras? NO. Toyota isn't out to outsell the domestics. They do expect to make an impact, however. Toyota has a business plan for this truck that shows them how many they need to sell to make an appropriate R.O.I. for the program. That, more than likely, is their real concern. Will current Tundra owners be turned off by the bigger and more macho look? Time will tell that as Turbo alluded to. However, when I showed the new Tundra to my friend with the current one, he liked it....but was really attracted to the increased size and towing ability (he's looking to upgrade to a bigger boat.) He actually loved the fact that it looked kinda like a Ram.

......BrewSwillis has a great point...... You could argue this either way......

Check again and I think you'll find that the blue trim is soft vinyl, not actual leather. The top portion of the Charger's door (darker color) down to the armrest are soft-touch plastic....the hard portion is the light color that's BELOW the armrest. The GTO has hard plastic on the lower portion too (below the blue.) But we are really picking nits here.....I find the Charger's interior attractive and nicely trimmed out.....not to say the GTO isn't, just that they are different. MY only beef was with the comments that the Charger's interior is "garbage" or "not befitting it's price" and stuff......

EXCELLENT article and truly spells out one of the examples of the differences between Toyota and GM. (The article forgot to mention the 2.8L HF V6 though.) I'm assuming that Toyota is still keeping the 4.0L V6 "truck" engine though. The article seemed to be referring to cars and car-based SUVs. It's no coincidence that I've had a BIG (and proud) smile on my face every time I've gotten in and driven a CTS or LaCrosse CXS.....and a big frown accompanying my major disappointment every time I've gotten into anything else from GM with their pushrod V6 engines.

Remember that the majority of the Buick sales at this dealership are to GM employees, retirees, suppliers, or "friends n' family." I don't consider this any sort of significant "sales" achievement.

You really don't want to start this discussion about the Camry's trim pieces..... ....because I could go on an hour-long rant about all the GM vehicles that have interior bits that are so sloppily designed and installed, that they can "easily be pulled off..."

Have.... You.... Driven.... BOTH????????

I'll take the Azera's interior ANY DAY over the Lucerne's interior (although I'll keep the Lucerne's exterior styling.) I'll ALSO take the Azera's powertrain over the V6 Lucerne's.....

There's nothing laughable about Charger's interior.....WTF are you thinking? Take a closer look and feel next time.... The seats are AWESOME (so are the GTO's) and the Charger dash has about the same amount of soft-touch dash and door panel trim as the GTO....and the GTO has just as much hard plastic on the lower part of the dash as the Charger does. I find Charger's switchgear, however, superior to GTO's.

Better yet.....read the recent C&D comparo of the CLS55/M5/STS-v and then look at the sidebar where they tested the Charger SRT-8 for $30K+ less money than the other three....look at it's track times compared to them too.....

Sorry....but in this case, GTO is WAY outclassed by the SRT-8..... We were at the usual Saturday Crystal Cove car show and there was a GTO there....and 2 Charger SRT-8s....and the SRT-8s had WAY more visual appeal....the front end looks "meaner" and you gotta love the huge wheels and tires. I agree with BrewSillis....there's nothing to really compare it to at $42K. AND, there's nothing "crude" about the Charger (or 300, or Magnum) SRT-8.

Wow....I didn't realize this had happened..... Those numbers are WAY scarier when you consider GM and Ford's (relative to Toyota) dependence on rental and fleet sales.

The Ranger may be ancient....but the uplevel 4.0L OHC six WAY overshaddows the Colorado's I-5.

Yeah....SOUND better. Every time I start up a Colorado and drive it, I grimace at the coarse sound and rough feel of the I-5 What happened to 5-cylinder engines having a unique, off-beat, 5-cyl warble? Volvo 5cyls are decently smooth and nice-sounding.....

OK.....now take the car, turn it sideways, and look at it again.

It's interesting to note that Corvette isn't even branded under the "Chevrolet" banner in Europe.... It's simply branded a "Corvette" and is sold alongside Cadillacs in shared showrooms.

Try Martin Cadillac in Laguna Hills/Laguna Niguel, California. We went there to test drive a CTS and they were very helpful....non pressuring....and although we won't be getting a Cadillac, the sales person has been very thorough with his follow up.

Your post entirely misses the point of why Pontiac will never be compared in the same sense with BMW.....no matter how strong the Pontiac performs...... It goes WAY beyond horsepower, acceleration times, or handling numbers..... If someone is seriously shopping BMW, I almost guarantee you that person is way more likely to spend $35K for a 325i with 215 horsepower than they will even step foot in a Pontiac showroom with it's $33K GTO with 400hp. They aren't buying high-horsepower.....they are buying the nameplate, image, styling, design, luxury, driving feel, etc.

Well, I pretty much like the GTO....but don't know if I'd buy one.....don't know if I wouldn't either....I'm kinda neutral... I think it's too high-priced.....especially against (people hate this..) the Mustang V8 coupe. Styling.....too bland. I know this is subjective, but the car just doesn't excite me. It doesn't offend me either, but it's just kinda there. Great engine......crappy shifter. Why can the C6 have such a nice 6-speed and the GTOs is so vague and sloppy? Still......no sunroof option....? (although Mustang doesn't offer one either...but at least you can choose the ragtop.) The car was a rush to market. I think in the end, the compromises that we had to accept due to the speed Lutz brought it to market probably conspired against its success.

.....uh...he's GAY..... LOL And he's not a "moron." He's just an example of one of MILLIONS in this country that (unfortunately) agree with him.

You obviously haven't driven both cars....maybe haven't even sat in both cars.... The 300C has WAY more of a "sense of occasion" when you sit inside it than STS....and that comes from the style of the interior, the gauges, the materials, seats, everything. AND the STS is no more refined than the 300C.....you'd see that if you have driven them both. It's certainly worked for Chrysler in the marketplace.....I would say much more than STS has for Cadillac.

An update to my post....someone correct me if they've heard differently.... Security will still be handled by the U.S.A...... What I've heard is that the U.A.E. will handle all shipping, loading, and unloading....as well as overall management of the port. Another friend of mine said that U.A.E. will only handle the shipping, loading, and unloading of their OWN shipments. IMHO....I don't want a middle-eastern nation handling ANYTHING at one of our ports...whether it's their own shipments or not. ALSO, the Port Authority of NY/NJ controls the three major NYC airports.....Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK. Does THIS mean that the U.A.E will have some control over those airports as well? (because they are run by the P.A. of NY/NJ?)

For all of you still debating this....I'll refer you to my previous post (attached.) Evok KNOWS (for many good reasons) what he's talking about. And yes...there are numerous employees/engineers at GM that don't have an inside track as strong as Evok's....I know it sounds strange, but it's true.