The O.C.

My ex got a nipple ring......and he described it as painful as $h!.....but only for that few seconds that they pierced it.......the only downside was that for a few weeks after getting it, you have to be very dilligent in spinning the nipple ring around and cleaning the dried puss off that naturally builds up after the piercing. If you aren't dilligent about cleaning it, the puss builds up, dries, then your nipple DOES hurt like hell. The good side is that my ex tells me the nipple piercing/ring made his nipple EXTREMELY sensitive.....in a good way.....

Hmmmm.....well from a gay man's perspective I'd first wonder what kind of body do you have. If you have nice/muscular arms, the tatoo could come off quite hot. As far as the nipple ring.....I wonder what women think of them? On a guy with a nice chest, I don't think there is anything sexier.....I love 'em.....but if you aren't particularly defined, or if you have man-boobs, I don't think the nipple ring would come off as nicely..... Why don't you send me some photos of your naked bod and I'll tell you what I think..... :gay: (lol)

The vast majority of (old) people that buy the DTS is for it's roominess. Cars don't have to be floaty and boaty to ride smoothly and soak up bumps.

Many of the elderly people I've sold the new CTS to would disagree with you.......

Well, I say "EFF" GM......if I'm an independent dealer, I'm not going to "drop my pants" over the internet and give the customer all pricing and payment info over the 'net..... Of course there will always be those certain customers that you HAVE to quote prices to......but as the dealer (or internet manager) I'll be the one to make that decision on whom I'm going to quote to that extreme.....I'm certainly not going to let General Motors dictate to me how I manage my internet leads......

Drove by the local BPG dealer here in Las Vegas last week......and saw.....ta-daaaa......a G3 5-door being unloaded from a car carrier......

......yeah but only thanks to Enclave.....that's it......

I disagree, Ven......the platform is ancient, and feels like it. Even taking a DTS with the 1SE Performance Package out (the firmest setup) it still feels too floaty and boatish compared to any other Caddy.....even base-suspension STS and CTS models. And this is my impression at low-to-moderate speeds (as I don't expect it to be a "sport sedan.") On the flip side, no DTS, even the base suspension car, seems to really float over the road and soak up bumps like it should. There are just too many quivers and shudders now. Plus, I don't think I've ever been in a vehicle with such a VERY poor turning radius as the DTS......(thank you front-wheel-drive and wide tranversely-mounted V8 engine.....) I do agree that the interior is roomy and, at least in the DTS, has pretty fine finishing and materials. But that's little consolation for a car with such a dated powertrain and chassis.

Did you at ALL read my post that you responded to? I simply refuse to believe that internet shoppers in Canada are really any different than internet shoppers here in the States. My whole point in my post was......that I've sold units.....and held decent gross......and made a nice paycheck for myself......and good profits for the dealership (at least complementary profits to what floor traffic brings in)......all on internet business. It can happen.....can be successful.....can make the dealership money......and can give an internet salesperson a nice paycheck.

No. We just got pricing for it......$75K or $76K depending on if you have extra cost paint (white diamond, etc.) and the Hybrid only comes loaded. However, we have four on order, all sold, all at window sticker........but we currently have no names on any sort of waiting list. I'm not expecting us to get many of them at all.......for example, we have 65 Escalades in stock, and only have 4 Hybrids coming.

As a whole package, the STS-v is arguably better executed than a bone-stock STS.......but look at how (un)successful that car has been. We've had a gorgeous black-on-black STS-v in the showroom for 5 months.....can't even get anyone to LOOK at it..... On the other hand, we have a HUGE waiting list for the CTS-v......and the customers on THIS list include a very fair share of AMG and M-series owners, younger import-driven guys, and so forth..... CTS-v will be the biggest conquest/halo car that Cadillac will have ever had.....that's my prediction.....(especially with the performance numbers coming from road tests from edmunds.com and Road & Track....)

I would agree with almost all of 97regalGS's comments....... CTS is doing fantastic! Escalade is also doing fantastic (even with gas like it is) but only the shorty. EXT and ESVs are VERY slow. Driving the big Escalade IS a very nice thing.....GM has done wonders on the suspension tuning.....and it also doesn't ride to badly on the 22's. I wouldn't call it nimble, but it's as good as you could ever expect. The only bitch about the Slade, and it continues to be a HUGE turn-off to customers, is the lack of power-folding-into-the-cargo-area third row seats. The only customers that don't complain are previous Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade customers. DTS is slow.....but still sells much faster than STS. But it is ONLY an older person's car unfortunately.

No offense, but I think your "can't do" attitude is what is souring your impression of internet deals. The reason I'm doing this at Caddy is because our GM offered the internet department to ANY salesperson that wanted it....and no one took it. Last month, I had the second HIGHEST gross in the dealership from the highest number of units. I also made the second HIGHEST commission for the month. AND the guy that beat me in gross and commission was lucky to have a few HUGE pounders during the month.....so even though he beat me, he didn't beat me by much. THIS month, I'm second highest in unit count (one unit behind the leader) and also second highest in gross....and in commissions. All I do is internet deals....no floor ups. So clearly......there is gross and profit to be made in the internet. The difference is.....I believe in it.....and I work it.....and I know how to get people in and still hold profit. It's all in attitude. (Edit: The VAST majority of my internet customers, maybe 85%, don't even work numbers with me UNTIL they get here to the store. Maybe only 15% of my customers actually negotiate numbers over the phone/email. Most internet customers are internet researchers.....not internet buyers, per se.) (A good internet manager/salesperson knows that the biggest importance is to get these people into your store before you work numbers. If you do that, you kill the chances of them shopping you. I truly believe that's what has helped me be successful with it.)

Online sales are growing at a fast pace for vehicle purchases. Last month was my first full month here at Caddy and I sold 16.5 cars in one month......all from online business (I don't take floor ups or phone pops....unless they are internet-driven.) I was top salesperson here at the store too. Not bragging.....just trying to make a point about the potential for online business (and this was in a down market right now too.) I've got 11 out this month and working a bunch that I hope to close by Saturday. People do SO much research online now, that a vast majority of the work is done over the computer and phone. SURE they still have to end up coming here to seal the deal and take delivery, but by the time they get here, they are somewhat committed, have started to build a relationship with me, and feel like the time spent purchasing the car was much less than if they just walked in off the street (even if it's really not much less time.) Back again to Employee Pricing......those of you in GM stores, have you seen a great increase in new-car business as a result? We haven't at all.....in fact our new-car business is off dramatically this month......used is still strong though. (I've got 8 used but only 3 new out.) A prime example I'm dealing with is a customer coming out of an '05 CTS lease.....trying to get her into a comparable '08.....with the lease rates now.....and EVEN WITH GMS pricing.....her payment doubles.....DOUBLES. I have no where to go with her. She'll have to either move into a pre-owned CTS on a purchase, or go lease something much less expensive to replace it.

Conservative, yet classy......that should be Buick. This car appears conservative, allright.....but hardly classy at all (IMHO.)

Get real.....WILL YOU? Let's talk about the retail-side of the equation. How many retail, customer-sought-after-and-purchased Camrys are sold? Yeah...that's what I thought. How many retail LaCrosses are sold? Yeah....that's also what I thought...... I see you put alot of intelligent thought into your post above before you typed it....didn't you?

$500....? Absurd....and spoken like someone that knows nothing about the dealer side of the car business. (Do you know what "overhead" is?) GM could have taken another route.....which would have sparked traffic....AND allow the dealers to make money. As so many people have said, the dealers need to be just as successful as GM itself if GM is going to survive.

AND another thing.....while I'm blowing off steam....... What ever happened to incentives that help build VALUE in the product? I thought GM was supposed to get away from this "...let's drop-our-pants on the price because our cars will never sell unless they have a huge discount..." mentality....! The 0% (or 1.9%, 2.9%....whatever....) financing was GREAT because what the customer saw was a HUGE savings in interest fees........allowing us to still build and sell the value in the product without having to resort to huge discounts to get the consumers into the cars. Or what about more trunk money? You know.....dealer cash that allows the dealer to offer a larger discount on the car.....without it seeming like (in the customer's eyes anyway?) A large dealer cash incentive helps the dealer also build value in the car.....and is far less damaging than a "consumer rebate" because the customer doesn't see the dealer cash as such.....they just see it as a dealer-led discount on the car. Whereas a "rebate" is the company, GM, saying "we need to give you money to buy our car." Anyways.....

I, on the other hand, think this is a horrible promotion. GM is so boneheaded at times, it really pisses me off. Why? Let me tell you........ * Great....we have "GM Employee Pricing." That means that IF we take advantage of that, we HAVE TO adhere to that for EVERY new car we sell.....not just "aged" units. Guess what our dealership makes from doing a GMS deal? About $400. That's it. But GM says we get the "memo" amount.....(which is around $2,200 for a loaded CTS.) BUT what GM ALWAYS forgets is that after dealership "packs" (which are held aside to pay salespeople and cover other assorted costs, etc., etc) we are left with only around $400. * Guess what else they did? ALL zero-percent financing WENT AWAY. * Also, our customer cash on Escalade and DTS was reduced by around $1,000 each. * AND you can guess what happened to lease rates? Our buy-rate on a GMAC CTS lease went up TWO percentage points from July to August.....and effective with this promotion, the buy-rate goes up ANOTHER 1.8 percentage points.....effectively taking Cadillac OUT of the leasing market (even with a low GMS price to work with....payments are now way too high.) This huge increase in rates was across the board as well....DTS, Escalade, you name it. * All these people coming off lease and wanting another car back when GM last did employee pricing are finding out that, due to the $h!ty incentives we have now, they can't afford to get into another car (unless they want a payment $300-$400 more a month now.) Last time GM did employee pricing, they had much more aggressive incentives (and really not just incentives, it was the way more aggressive finance and lease rates) to combine with the employee pricing. So I want SOMEONE....ANYONE tell me why this promotion (synchronized with the loss of 0%, customer cash reductions, and dramatic increases in finance and lease rates) even remotely positive? ONE thing I will say positively.....it WILL drive alot of traffic. AND, as an Internet Director, I will capitalize on that. But I bet what you'll see is a HUGE increase in pre-owned business at dealerships due to the increase in traffic and not nearly as much uptick in new car sales as what GM is hoping.

Well, I think, IMHO, any "premium" car that is at 21.4% fleet penetration is a fleet-queen of sorts........ .....especially when even the ubiquitous Camry is at only 8.6%.

This may have just been an '08 with the '10 front end put on there......he may have been testing the new front-end for airflow and that sort of stuff......

If anything, I think "LaCrosse" is already more tarnished than either Century OR Regal. The Century and Regal names go way back......LaCrosse was just introduced and instantly became Buick's rental-queen, and was a new name applied to an old car (W-body that is.)

Century only had 3.1 only. Also, leather was available (I had a few as company cars.) Maxima didn't share a single exterior panel or interior piece with the Altima. Avalon also shares no exterior or interior pieces with Camry. LeSabre/Park Ave and 88/98 shared the vast majority of their exterior body panels and interiors with each other with minor trim differences.

Those highrises in Summerlin, right at Rampart and the Summerlin Parkway, are called Queensridge. Those condos start at about $1MM apparently. I live just a few blocks from there (but not in anything that expensive....LOL) I'll still take the heat over the humidity.... As far as the people here, well yeah, you go to the older areas in Las Vegas, and there's a ton of white trash. But then again, same holds true for any city you go to I guess. Every city has it's different classes of people, etc. Therefore, I keep to my little, clean, master-planned community....where there are more pretty people....LOL. I will say this.....regardless of who they are, or what class of people they are.....people here are by-and-far quite a friendly bunch. Even something as little as the attitude of the cashier at the gas station, etc.....they are always friendly. There are nice housing areas in and around Henderson......but Summerlin is just that little bit nicer and more upscale. Henderson is too close to the white-trash areas....so alot of that spills over......but that's just the (usually hidden) elitist in me. Henderson is kinda like the "Inland Empire" of the Las Vegas valley. Lots of new homes, new strip malls, yadda, yadda.....but not nearly as desirable as other areas (like the I.E. versus coastal O.C.)

Why don't we just skip all this......and get back to the original meaning of the thread.....and congratulate Hyundai for making such dramatic improvements in quality! For a second forget about where it's made...... I still remember those early days of the Kia Sephia and Sportage.....and what abominations those were. I'm glad to see them react so (relatively) quickly in order to meet the demands of the market over here. It's taken them, what, 25 years to morph into a major player here? AND with renewed quality of fit-and-finish, design, and now, apparently, reliability! (What have the Big 3 accomplished in the last 25 years?)