The O.C.

"Kid?" I must be the oldest "kid" around.....I don't know what your comment was supposed to entail.... BUT....I have a corporate sales & marketing job, am NOT rich, but live in Southern California in a townhouse worth $675K. HOW? Because I've lived in California for nine years and this is the fifth house I've owned here. I've done VERY well in real estate here and that has helped me to live a more-than-comfortable life here. Many Nissan employees HAVE lived here for awhile and if you do it smart, you can build a good lifestyle off of real estate "fortunes" in this state. Sure....as I said in my post (if you read it carefully enough) there ARE people that can't afford to live here, or havent' had the benefit of buying and selling homes here....or rent and can't afford to buy....and those people likely will move.....and I can understand that totally. And all those "attributes" I mentioned about living in Southern California? You are damn straight people DO care about those things....or they wouldn't put up with the exhorbitant prices and traffic to stay here. Many factors weigh in....but there's no question the buzz in southern California is that many of these Nissan people DON'T want to leave and will be in a very tough quandry....

What's pompous about my remarks? Do you not agree? ^_^ And if you don't, I'd LOVE to hear your comments as to why...... P.S.....Nashville is not that hillbilly....

I got the chance to borrow an '06 Passat with the new 280hp V6 for a couple of days and have a few comments about it..... I really like the new Passat...! The car I'm driving has an MSRP of $36,400 and is the V6 with leather, navigation, 6-speed auto, and the DynAudio sound system. This is one hell of a classy feeling and driving car. When taken in isolation, it feels worth every bit of its $36K price tag. On the other hand, there's lots to choose from out there in that price range. The car handles better than the old Passat and has a firmer feel to the chassis and suspension. The car looks good on the bigger 17-inch wheels and tires. The engine is simply outstanding......smooth, eager, and REALLY torquey. The engine is certainly NOT Lexus or BMW quiet...it seems like VW has tuned in a bit of aggressive V6 roar. However, it's not objectionable and sounds pretty aggressive. It quiets down, obviously, when you are not deep into the throttle. This car is a rocketship.....and in the light green color of my car, quite the Q-ship. I'd estimate a 0-60 of at least 6.0 secs flat....it simply feels really fast. From 50-80, it's scary. In fact, this car really needs RWD or AWD. Torque steer is surprisingly minimal, but in fact you get a slight tug to the right when heavy on the throttle, but no steering wheel yank like old Saab Turbos, etc. Torque steer isn't the problem....it's the fact that the front tires break loose so easily even on part throttle. IN fact, you can do a "C&D 5-60mph" launch and get into the throttle after rolling and it STILL breaks loose. This thing will smoke the front tires like an old RWD musclecar. Part of the reason is that the ASR traction control doesn't kick in until WAY late. It's one of the least-instrustive systems I've experienced. If I'm gonna have traction control, I want it to be FAST acting....THEN you can allow me to switch it off when I want to. The 6-speed automatic SUCKS in aggressive driving though....too indecisive and easily confused if you vary your on-and-off throttle movements. At very easy throttle and relaxed driving, it's okay. The BMW 6-speed auto is STILL the best "more-than-4-speeds" auto I've driven yet. The interior fit-and-finish and quality of materials is top notch. I LOVE the "Alfa Romeo" style bucket seats covered in glove-soft leather. The plastics are a mix of soft and hard.....but the hard stuff on the lower dash and lower door panels is grained to match almost exactly the soft stuff above and alas you can't tell the panels are hard UNLESS you touch them. Finally, switchgear and HVAC controls are beyond reproach. This car has the aluminum trim on the dash and I prefer that to the masses of woodgrain I've seen on other Passats. The combination nav system/radio controls are extermely intuitive to use and one of the easiest systems to use as far as easily accessing radio/CD controls. Overall? At the extremes, if I was paying the money, I'd still pick a modestly-equipped BMW 325i 6-speed manual over this Passat....or on the other hand, a loaded Lucerne V8 CXS looks mightily attractive. BUT...I'd choose this Passat over an Acura TL...due to it's more germanic feel, and I'd definitely choose it over an Infiniti G35 due to it's classier feel and higher-quality interior. I'd also choose it over an A4. You get more room, a more stylish interior (IMHO) and a stronger V6....but no Quattro.

Just announced in the news......Nissan is moving their N.A. headquarters from Gardena (L.A.) to the Nashville area where they have an assembly plant (Smyrna, TN.) 1,300 jobs will be transferred from Southern California to the Nashville area. Personally, I think this is a MAJOR mistake for Nissan. Why? 1) The car culture in Southern California is second-to-none in this country. 2) Trend-setting is also second-to-none (maybe along with New York) in this country. 3) Southern California is an automotive dynamo with numerous different manufacturers having their N.A. headquarters here and most also have design studios here (GM even has one in North Hollywood.) That's not to mention aftermarket guys such as Saleen, Brabus, etc., that are all headquartered here. 4) Southern California is much closer to Asia for Asian import manufacturers. It's one of the reasons that german manufacturers such as BMW (New Jersey) Porsche (Atlanta) and VW (Detroit) are all on the east cost time zone. 5) A good majority of the Nissan employees here have indicated they do not want to move to Nashville and many will search for new jobs and quit Nissan instead of accept a transfer. Why? 1) Many love living here and 2) IF they move, they will most likely never be able to afford to return because this area's real estate market appreciation is forecasted to remain very strong....far outpacing the market in other areas such as Nashville. 6) Nashville's not a bad town at all.....but if you've lived in Southern California for awhile, and can afford it here, why would you want to leave the beaches, the palm trees, the mountains, the lack of humidity and bugs, the great weather, the excitement of L.A. and Hollywood, the great restaurants, and the great nightlife, etc.? This predicament has been all over the news here lately and apparently Toyota received SO many resumes as of late, they called Nissan and asked them to please ask their employees to stop forwarding them over there. Sure there will be some people that will HAVE to move because of their longevity and their retirement interests....and some will move that have struggled here with the high cost-of-living. BUT....what will be the overall effect of morale on Nissan's employees? Those that quit because they don't want to move....but more importantly, what about the morale of those that DO move but don't really want to?

Wrong-O..... I forget what movie it was, but Roger Moore drove a C4 Corvette while he was in San Francisco....

Nope....same guy the Benz store uses to fix wheels..... $30/wheel.... A Benz alloy wheel is no more expensive to repair than a Chevy alloy wheel. Alloy is alloy (at least as far as basic scratches and scrapes go.)

I like it! I'm glad they made some minor changes to the greenhouse such as on the trailing edge of the rear door windows. I'm thrilled about the new 6.2L/6-speed combo too.... The interior is BEAUTIFUL! Looks to be the nicest Cadillac interior so far. One thing REALLY pisses me off.... That EFFING column-mounted shifter is TOTALLY out of place in this beautiful interior. How nice would it be to have a classy, wood-topped gated shifter in the console.... This thing is going to, for the FIRST time, appeal to people usually used to Range Rovers, Lexus LX450s, and even the Cayenne/Toureg duo. The column shifter just shouts "OLD SCHOOL GM." It's a major shame.... Kinda makes the Yukon/Denali twins totally redundant to me. I think the best lineup would be Tahoe/Z71 and Escalade. There is very little business case in keeping GMC and their badge-engineered Chevy-copies around..... Any production and sales from GMC could easily be rolled into Chevrolet. It's the same old problem of "too many divisions and too many models" at General Motors and there's no way you can argue against that.... Other than THAT......way to go GM!

My friend Rich purchased a Tundra.....and LOVES it....! He tows two seadoos and trailer, about 3,500lbs total (not alot, I realize) but says he can't even tell they are back there.....(and he has the V8 before they increased the power this year.) He used to have an S-10 pickup, so he looked at the Silverado but didn't like the quality of it (interior, etc.) and says it felt too cheap. He didn't want an F-150 because he has a bad feeling about Ford quality. He almost got a Ram, but it was "too" big to drive around town, etc. His wife likes the Tundra because it's so smooth to ride in and to drive, she says it feels like the "Lexus" of trucks. NOTE....my friend is a non-automotive-enthusiast. He came out of an Isuzu Trooper 4X4....and his wife has an '06 BMW 325i.

First of all, I'm assuming that most hybrids are probably leased.....that takes long-term maintenance costs and battery replacement costs out of the equation for the consumer that leased it. Additionally, a lease payment is going to lessen the impact of the increased MSRP over a comparable non-hybrid version. A hybrid may not achieve the EPA ratings in realistic driving, but they seem to definitely improve upon the conventional-powered version (say Prius to Camry....or Highlander Hybrid versus regular Highlander.....or Accord Hybrid versus EX V6.) In some cases, the consumer is also getting an increase in performance (Accord, Highlander, RX Hybrid.) Some people (not me...) probably like the unique style of the Prius....whether it's a hybrid or not.... So, considering all of the above, I think for many people a hybrid IS a justifyable decision.

I have no doubt the Colorado is a better vehicle than the S-10....it's a MUCH newer design. And I'm glad you are happy with it. However, engine alone doesn't dictate one's success in the marketplace. If Colorado is the best selling small pickup, then the numbers don't lie. ('Course I wonder what impact GM's massive incentives have had on Colorado's sales bragging rights....?) That doesn't change the fact that the I-5 is uncompetitive IMHO in terms of power, smoothness, and NVH (compared to its V6 competition......Tacoma, Frontier, and even Ridgeline if you want to throw the Honda in.) Even the 4.0L OHC V6 in the Ranger has a much torquier feel.....and even THAT engine is smoother and quieter at least from my drives. I'll tell you I don't see NEAR as many of those here in California as I do Frontier and Tacoma....which tend to be the popular choice in this part of the country.

Well, I like Buick personally.....but I'd have to disagree with you about Buick having a "secure core image." I don't know where you live, but outside of Michigan, or parts of Florida, Buick has NO core image. Even out here in Cali....old people (65-70+) are more likely to drive Camrys or Accords....at least that's what I see when I drive around Leisure (Seizure) World in Laguna Woods.

I agree.....and in reality, it's NOT that expensive to repair alloy wheels anyway. My partner accidentally curbed both right-side wheels on our S500 (not typical of him....) and we found a wheel guy that fixed them.....for $30/wheel.....and you can't tell they were ever dinged.... I'm sure a whole alloy wheel is more expensive to buy than a steel one with a plastic cover....but minor scratches/scrapes on an alloy wheel isn't necessarily that expensive to repair. I'll stick with the real deal.

The EPA sets the official mileage estimates......not the manufacturers. Toyota doesn't "lie" about it's MPG numbers.

I just got into a Maxx yesterday as a rental car in Reno......and I'm way underwhelmed. I kinda like the exterior profile of the Maxx compared to the sedan, but the interior was a huge disappointment. When I opened the hatch to stow my luggage, the luggage compartment (with the seats up) was WAY smaller than what I imagined it would be....certainly seemed much smaller than the trunk in the sedan. Also, thanks to this "tray" that was covering the luggage space, I could almost not fit my luggage underneath it. I'm sure the tray comes out somehow, but in a hurry, I couldn't figure out how to lift it or move it so that I could slide my big suitcase underneath it. Plus, the rear bench seat looks awkward, contrived, and uncomfortable (thanks to the compromise I'm sure of allowing the seats to fold/slide, etc.) Plus the fit-and-finish of the various plastic pieces that fit to the back of the front seat and around the bottoms of the rear bench seat lent an unfinished look to the interior of the car. The beige interior with the contrasting, darker "brown" accents on the dash top and door panels looked better than the all-sea-of-grey interior on my sedan I rented. However, the driving experience was as disjointed as I remember the sedan being....with poor, uncomfortable seats, a thrashy (but quiet at idle and light throttle) V6, rattles inside the car, and a suspension that feels less-than-solid with minor quakes and shivers as you go over bumpy roads (even though the overall structure seems solid.) Plus, I kept pushing the "up/down shift" buttons on the side of the shifter to manually move the shifter instead of the acutal button on the backside.....really inconvenient and who EVER decided to do THAT on the shifter? I can now totally see why GM won't be continuing the Maxx. Other than an attractive exterior look, I see no real useable advantage to this car over the sedan.

.....or the new LS....which looks HOT

.....also, you don't have to manufacture products to have a powerful and vibrant economy..... In fact, the states that are more vibrant economically right now are the ones OUTSIDE of the midwest "rustbelt"

"Blue" state? That's HARDLY representative of California. Maybe the majority of the population statistically voted democratic, but that doesn't changethe fact that 70% of Orange County (where I live) is republican....and that the majority of the Central Valley cities (Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, etc.) are primarily republican...and there are NUMEROUS republican strongholds within primarily-democratic Los Angeles County. Even in the Bay Area, REALLY-democratic San Francisco and Oakland are bordered by republican-led San Jose and the East Bay cities in Contra Costa County. "Red" Orange County is where the high-end imports tend to do best.... You can't really relate anything realistically to whether a state is a "blue" state or a "red" state.

You're right...! I AM in southern California. (I also lived in Flint and Detroit for 7 years, grew up in Oklahoma and Texas, and lived in Philadelphia for 2 years so California is not my only sense of perspective on the auto industry.) I know this is gonna cause a stir-up again, but people seem to think that the midwest is an accurate representation of the country. Well, let me tell you, if you go by population, number of cars and trucks sold, and where business and industry is growing and prospering, the midwest is not really an accurate representation of this country's auto buying tastes STATISTICALLY (key word here.) When talking cars, the west coast (especially California) and the east coast are driving automotive buying trends. AND, places like urban centers in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and the rest of the south are quickly following in the coasts' footsteps. You REALLY have to spend time and live in an area that is NOT dominated by the domestic auto industry to see what people really choose to drive when employee, retiree, supplier discounts, and employer loyalty are taken OUT of the picture. AND, also open your eyes to exactly WHY those consumers have such loyalty or perception of import autos versus the majority of domestics. Yes....I enjoy living in California....and yes I'm a big L.A. and Orange County fan....BUT, here's some factual statistics I've thrown about before......southern California is the #1 largest automotive market in the country...even out-retailing the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area. California is the 5th largest economy in the WORLD. In the greater L.A./Orange County/Inland Empire metro area (NOT including San Diego) there is a population of over 17 million people in a built-up urban area that extends well over 100 miles north-to-south and east-to-west. That's more people than the STATES of Michigan and Indiana combined.... The #1 and #2 volume Ferrari dealerships in the WORLD are in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa/Orange County. The #1 Lamborghini distributor is in Santa Ana/Orange County. The #1 and #2 volume Mercedes-Benz (Newport Beach and Laguna Niguel) and BMW (Santa Ana and Irvine) dealerships are in Orange County. You may have visited California before....been here a few days or a week, or maybe gone to Disneyland or the beach....but you really have to LIVE here for awhile to get a true understanding of why this automotive market is so interesting and so relevent to the rest of the country. Does this all make California "better" than the rest of the country? NO, of course not.....not everyone can live here or likes living here. But that's not my point. My point is that I really wasn't able to see the whole auto industry picture until I moved out here and lived with it (now going on 9 years.) Sorry for off-topic, but I really wanted to respond to BrewSwillis' comment about CA being a "totally different automotive universe."

GM and their outdated bureacracy continues to amaze me......sure glad I snagged my '06 C6 before it all goes to hell-and-a-hand-basket.... :unsure:

LMFAO....! The thing does look pretty cute though, eh? I saw the Fiat Panda in Frankfurt and it's amazing the room inside....the innovations....and how small it actually is in person.... :o

It wasn't smaller....it's still the same size....I was there in person. But you are right that the European version has 4cyls and TDs.

Evok's point is......GM's got their minivan plant tooled to do $200K some-odd minivans.... Honda only PLANNED to build upwards to 60-70K units......Odyssey, Pilot, and MDX fill out the rest of that plant's capacity. THAT's why it's considered more of a success.....Ridgeline is selling far closer to the forecast that Honda originally developed for the truck.

Jeezus BrewSwillis, if you are THAT embarrassed about your comments on this site that you don't want others to read them, then what does that say about your posts on here? Maybe that many on C&G are ACTUALLY the ones that are unfavorably dissing OTHER manufacturers? Ya think? Personally, I think Evok's idea was pure GENIUS and it shows some really solid reasons as to why those owners purchased the Ridgeline. It adds a real sense of reality to this post. Too many people on here follow the mantra of "Blind Loyalty" to GM that I saw all too often when I worked there......the constant unrealistic bashing of Toyota/Ridgeline/Honda, etc., adds a childish tone to this whole site that I don't think the site, or the posters on here deserve.....JMHO. You can be a GM fan and still have a more open mind about the automotive market and about GM's competitors. BUT, like Evok said, everyone is allowed to post their opinions as long as they follow the basic C&G guidelines.....so I may be ranting here, but I still wouldn't try to actually stop people from posting their opinions....

I've driven it, and I dismiss the I-5 because it's rough, noisy, and sluggish....5-cylinders or not....

Are we sure that's not the NUMBER of Lucernes ready to ship? e.g....."the first 1,996 of them have been built and are ready to be shipped to dealers....?"