Drew Dowdell

What's more rebel than a 30-something married guy buying a MinicooperS to try and be a kid again? Have you seen the commercial with the two suburban house husband neighbors trying to one up each other with their Mini mods? BMW is about as rebel as a beige Camry. Especially in gayland. Hell, I was a rebel gay for buying a CTS and not a Jetta/Passat/3-series.

I'd send a G8 also..and a G8 ST.. and a Vibe...and a Tahoe. The point is that GM makes great cars of all sizes, for all pocket books, and for all needs.

Malibu Hybrid, Vue Two-Mode, Aura Hybrid, Malibu 4-cylinder LTZ, You always find some way... any way... to bash GM in every post. Pray tell, which European gassers of the Cruze's size get 40mpg? If you have a problem with the lack of diesel choices in the US, take it up with the EPA. Even emissions queen Honda couldn't get their diesel to pass emissions tests for the US.

I think the money going to Citi is a complete sham, however they did just lay off 50,000 people.

Best condition + highest mileage.

If I had one of the new GM vehicles, I'd join the caravan and follow along to DC. edit: Hell, if I had one of the old GM vehicles with 200,000 miles on it, I'd follow along also to disprove the myth that the old stuff was crap.

There is what the brand targets and who actually buys them. Just observe all the bluehairs behind the wheel of Scions...... but there I go again with facts. Scion is just a separate brand to hold Paseos, Echos, and Tercels. I'm not saying that Pontiac couldn't be a "rebel" brand, I'm just saying they haven't been. The rebel brand I'd like them to emulate in marketing style is Mini.

That joined rebels like Olds who had a 250hp 455 Rocket in 1975 or the 250hp 455 Buick

Well. You don't want my opinion then. Pontiac has no essence. It's not a performance division, never has been. Sure it had a few performance cars, but it was primarily a family car division for people who didn't want a Chevy but couldn't afford an Olds. There is nothing rebellious about buying a Pontiac GTO over a Nova SS or Cutlass 442 or Buick Skylark GS just the same as it isn't rebllious to buy a wirespoke wheel, landau roofed Parisianne instead of a Caprice, LeSabre, or Eighty Eight. You will not be branded a trouble maker for driving your mom's old 6000 STE to school. A Sunbird is not a cop magnet. James Dean would have never EVER driven a Fiero. Solstice, maybe, but he could have gotten a better dealership experience over at Saturn for the same car. I see that Pontiac needs a complete reboot. I see Pontiac as a niche brand. 2 platforms, 7 models. FWD, turbo 4, hatch, sedan, and HHR like vehicle and Alpha based coupe, sedan, and convertible 2x2, and roadster. Make them fast, fun, and cheap. Scion but with style and torque.

When I was about 2 1/2, I became fascinated by my grandmother's 1979 Custom Cruiser diesel. I loved the sound it made and it was my job to tell her when the wait to start light went out.

That spy photographer also stated that it was likely a diesel.

I would never buy anything as small as a 3-series. My CTS was the smallest car I have ever owned.

The Mercury Marauder failed because it didn't actually have any performance advantage over a V-6 Accord. Camaro has 2 doors, G8 has 4. That alone will be the decision point for many.

You have to remember that SMK only cares about dollars spent v. acceleration times or vehicle weight or seat positions. He doesn't care if BMW puts out a tricycle that does 0 -60 in 4.8 seconds and has 19 way power seats, he's willing to pay $20,000 more for the tricycle even though the Pontiac does the same thing in 4.9 seconds in a larger, more comfortable package. BMW sells more 3-series than G8s because in Europe they sell 320dis that make a mid level Passat seem like a step up.

GM: Wagoneer leads off with the CTS followed by Tahoe Hybrid, Enclave, Equinox Fuel Cell, Sierra with "Joe the Plumber" decals, Malibu, Camaro, Cobalt XFE, Vibe, Aura Hybrid. Ford: MKS, Mariner Hybrid, Sable, F-150, Focus, New Mustang, Edge, new MKZ, Econoline with "Joe the Plumber" decals, Milan Chrysler: 300c, Journey, Caravan, Grand Cherokee, Patriot, Avenger, New Ram with "Joe the Plumber" decals, Challenger

The Enterprise was built for the defense of Earth and the sister planets of the Federation. I fully expected the ship and bridge to change from the original, however, it is still a military vessel.

That's actually an even better idea than I had. I was just thinking a caravan of black 'burbans. How about Wagoneer and pals each drive one of GM's top new vehicles back to DC. Assume an entourage of 10, which Ford/GM/Chrysler vehicles would you recommend to the execs to be driven down to DC?

I still think they all pile into Suburbans and Expeditions (respectively) and drive... slowly... to D.C. with many stops along the way.

And what would your response have been if Cadillac had released a double clutch transmission that needed a recall?

The 1964 GTO was based on your grandmother's Lemans..... why would the 2004 GTO not be a true GTO if it looked like your grandmother's Grand Prix coupe?

I drove a bustleback 1985 Continental for 3 years so the line really jumped out at me.

Carbiz, you're smarter than this. Demand was nearing maximum supply capacity, since there was little slack in and inelastic market the initial spike in price occurred. The initial price spike fueled fears and a buying spree <sprinkled with some corruption> shot the prices up to that $147 market. People reacted surprisingly quickly, shifting to lower mileage vehicles, carpooling, flooding public transit. That killed demand at the retail level. Many of those users aren't coming back. (Anecdotal: I went from a full size SUV and Sports Sedan to no vehicle at all using public transit, car sharing, and borrowing my BF's car with no inconvenience) At the same time, the people who were still driving lots could no longer afford to both fill up their vehicles AND buy goods and services. That, combined with the mortgage crisis and credit crisis, is killing the retail sector. No retail sales means no shipments via truck, train, ship. No shipments means factories all over the world close. The demand has been killed in the commercial sector. Since supply is relatively fixed, even a 10% drop in demand would cause huge pools of surplus to form. The U.S. consumes about 7.6 billion barrels of oil a year. A 10% drop in demand means that there are an extra 760 million barrels out there on the market that were expected to be sold but weren't. Since last November, American driving has dropped by over 90 billion miles. At an average fuel economy of 20mpg, we saved 4.5 billion gallons of gasoline. In this perfect storm we've had a huge drop in demand, not 50%, but enough to cause this cascading effect on oil prices.

Waiting for SMK's outrage at BMW in 3...2....1....

BMW M3 recalled over new double-clutch gearbox From AutoBlog Dual clutch transmission... sounds complicated. And it is. Case in point: BMW's new DCT on its latest-generation M3. This new transmission from Munich is so complicated that apparently even BMW couldn't get it right the first time, so they're issuing a recall. The problem, as concluded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is that under hard braking the transmission's software is prone to initiate a multi-stage downshift, which could cause the car to stall. The solution, however, should be fairly simple, as BMW is asking all owners of 2008 or 2009 M3s equipped with the DCT (about 2,500 in the United States) to come in for a software update, free of charge, at their local dealership. After the software update, M3 owners can perform all the panic stops they want in smooth-shifting bliss.