Drew Dowdell

Try to find an Altima Hybrid... but I see what you're saying. People weren't trading in their paid midsize cars for Pruises... they were climbing down out of Explorers, Trailblazers, Durangos, and the like. The idea that the Pruis is a midsize car is laughable at best. I could see people climbing down out of an RDX, MDX, or SRX(old) to buy a premium compact.

Your way makes more sense to a rational person....but that's also precisely the way the argument fails. People will react in even more irrational ways during the next price spike.

Keep in mind that gas prices are going to shoot back up again. There will be a market for small, fuel efficient, premium vehicles.

Steering wheel controls FTW.

Exactly how far into the passenger's lap does one have to reach in order to use the nav in the Toyota?

I wouldn't do the hatchbacks as Buicks, but the 4-door, Wagon, and the Twin-top could be good.

295 ft/lbs of torque will give a Passat a lil bit of scoot.

Who here said that Chevy could not put the Turbo-Ecotec in the car? Remember they have a version of the Ecotec that puts out 300hp and they have the BAS-II Turbo Ecotec that has an amazing torque curve. Chevy isn't done yet.

The Camaro V6 gets better milage than the Genesis Coupe V6.

Stick to the recommended interval. Dexcool is generally considered to be good for 100k miles.

leave it alone. the Dexcool issue was with older cars in the 90s that weren't originally designed for it.

the shamwow guy?

go for the lightest weight body that suits your needs.

Raid 10

Why is a Zeta v. Taurus an invalid comparison? Just because the Zeta is RWD? Think a NG Taurus and NG Charger/300c aren't going to get cross shopped?

That article fails to look at other aspects in the economy that are looming. What that article is doing is equating "stock market" with "economy". Yes, the stock market will improve slightly over the next 9 months, but the economy will not. The sub-prime mortgages are mostly done imploding. Commercial real estate is just getting warmed up and Prime/Alt-A mortgages are back in the green room getting changed. Even if all new housing starts stopped today we have 3 years of housing inventory that we know of. There is an estimated 30% of bank owned housing isn't even on the market today. Housing prices are going to continue to fall well into next spring at least.

you think it's going to get better over the next 9 months?

I'm excited to see what happens with this move. This will be the biggest server C&G has ever been on.

That I do not know. When Toyota doesn't import and more cars to the US and builds them all here, then I'll care.

Do you really know why Ford is doing well today? Seriously? They mortgaged EVERYTHING just before the credit markets imploded even though they didn't need the money at the time. They have solid platforms to put their cars on... but so does GM. Anyone here think the Fusion is that much better a platform than the Epsilon? Anyone? How about the Taurus being a better platform than the Zeta? Bueller? Bueller? How many out there are going to find the MKS to be a better car than the CTS?

It's not a matter of the Japanese general population favoring japanese cars. Detroit doesn't even get a chance to compete. Cars imported to Japan have to pass tests and examinations that domestically produced cars do not. The Japanese LOVED the B-bodies and Chevy Astros. They had an active gray market import program to bring these cars to the island. It cost them a fortune to do because of the inspections.... the same inspections GM would have to go through.

WE had to abort. The downtime will be fairly short this time around.

We should be protectionist because the Japanese are.

If what you mean by "spreading the wealth" you mean "returning to Clinton era tax rates" then sure.... I'm all for it. And no, it's not the same thing. I am all for global trade on a level playing field. We are not on a level playing field in terms of currency and trade restrictions. We'll let just about anyone sell here in the US but US is not allow to sell in substantial quantities to other countries. If General Motors were allowed to compete in Japan and they failed... well then that's their fault.... but General Motors isn't even allowed to compete there. The best they could manage was a rebadged Cavalier sold at Toyota dealerships. When the Asians open up their borders to trade the way we have, then I'm all for globalization. That said, I have no problem parking a battleship in Tokyo Bay in order to do it.

In it's final decade AMC was decidedly the vehicle for people who couldn't afford something from the big three. Cheap imported cars are what really put the nail in the coffin for AMC. No the Gremlin and Pacer weren't great cars, but consider this. The Civic sold 100,000 copies in 1975, the Pacer sold 145,000 and the Vega sold 204,000. I couldn't find numbers for the Pinto and Dart but let's just guess them at another 300,000 combined. In 1975, Honda had 1/6th of the compact market the domestics had...... in 1975!! Throw in the Datsun B210, the Toyota Corolla, the VW Rabbit.... You don't think that year after year, that made a difference in the fortunes of the domestics?