Drew Dowdell

Pauli, pay off whatever charges the highest interest rate. Interest charges are a tick sucking the life blood out of your financial health.

Bush thinks the American public will be going on a spending spree with the extra $600. I'm betting not. For me, it's going into the "Say goodbye to the U.S." fund...... a bit ironic isn't it? So, where is yours going?

I totally read this the wrong way.

Well the buyers are coming from somewhere else in the CUV market most likely. I doubt there is a rash of Cobalts being traded in on loyalty programs for the Enclave. The RX has been the best selling in the Lux CUV market for a while now... it has the most to lose.

It's a nice thought but one that isn't done cooking. Lexus is well above Acura in prestige, however Lexus has two faces. Should Lexus tackle the ES or the IS? What about the GS and LX? If Buick tackles the IS, where does that leave Cadillac? Lexus is having trouble gaining performance cred to compete with BMW. Nissan....*cough*... Infiniti has better performance cred because they dropped all the floaty models. Sure the IS has all the makings of a BMW buster, but Lexus is still fielding vehicles like the ES, RX, and LS. Lexus doesn't have a firm definition because it's vehicles are all over the map. There is no problem having both Cadillac and Buick in the same price tier. Cadillac goes more euro-sport and Buick goes more traditional luxury. It makes the brands much more focused than the muddle that is going on over at Lexus. GM is in a unique position by having all of these brands.... if they succeed at tightening each brand's definition there is no reason at all that Saab, Pontiac, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Saab, and Hummer couldn't all occupy the same showroom. By doing so, they'll make Toyota/Scion/Lexus even more "just a Toyota". The definitions are there... we can all see them... we just have to squint a little...

Only if they went the Lexus route and partnered it with a FWD model ala ES/IS If you think about the demographic of your typical ES consumer, the car almost has to be FWD. I know that no one here likes to hear it, but the ES segment is the segment I'd most likely to expect to insist on FWD. They are the 1985 Riviera drivers of yore... middle aged, upper middle class women with cushy jobs. I hate to keep using my mother as an example, but she is a good one for it. Once she gave up on the station wagons, she moved to an SSEi Bonneville in '94 then to an Aurora in '01. She looked at the '03 CTS but wouldn't buy it because it was RWD even though she loves the styling. Instead of the Aurora, she very likely would have ended up in an ES or S60 if I had allowed it. She has an aversion to RWD even though she lives in Miami. At this point there is nothing in GM's stable for her. Lucerne is too "old" and I can't in good conscious recommend a Lacrosse. I'm half considering a Saab 9-5 because it's premium enough for her but has a 4-cylinder and gets decent gas mileage. The Invicta is hot looking, but if it only comes with the 3.6 I'll steer her to the 9-5 out of fuel economy concerns. She is a very frugal person and justifies buying premium cars by keeping them till 160,000 miles or so. Back on point. This car would be excellent with a turbo-4 cylinder. If Chevy can make the Malibu 4-banger rival Honda in NHV than imagine what Buick could do by throwing Quiet Tuning in there.

If it's equal to or better... then yes. See Enclave v. RX350.

That was, in fact, his only beef that I recall. Once he got the motor mount and alignment thing that was causing all the noise fixed, it sounded like he was happy with it.

The Camry will have a louder ride than the Lucy... that's for sure.

and besides.... Pontiac is the red headed stepchild at GM. And he doesn't need a hybrid exactly. The Malibu 4-cylinder/6-speed combo has only 1 less mpg highway than the Camry Hybrid. I think I've seen him post before that he does mostly highway driving.... so in terms of long term costs, the Malibu is a far better financial decision than the Camry.

Make sure you write out an extra large check to the school districts around Hammtrack, the Department of Transportation of Michigan, and the IRS. That's what you have to do when you trade down from a Buick to a Toyota.... apparently you haven't been paying attention because Buick has the Enclave and the new Lacross is on it's way... and the Lucerne is getting a whole host of upgrades for '09 including bluetooth and a new V6 engine.

It looks like the 2.2VVT got pulled forward.

You mean that smoke stacks don't really create hurricanes?!! NO WAI! The movie was a presentation created in Keynote on an apple laptop in his spare time......the whole thing is an illustration. This isn't news. I am an environmentalist and I found the movie boring. It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know and I didn't think it would be that shocking to the general public either.

the first to go would be all the banks. They make their money on interest and transaction charges and they're already in it up to their neck.

uhm, wasn't the 9-3 the first Epsilon 1?

Let me at 'em Grover Cleveland style!

or pay fines... like BMW and Benz do....

gearing?

While what you describe is bad, that's not even my point. I'm referring to the disposable economy we have now. 1. How many rolls of paper towels to you <this is to everyone, not just moltar> go through in a month? Did you know that you can buy dishtowels from ikea for 49c each? You can re-use them many many many times...there is very little a cup of OxyClean or SimpleGreen can't fix to bring them back to new. 2. How many plastic or paper store bags do you bring home a month? Most of the big grocery chains will sell you a sturdy reusable bag for $1. Keep them in your car. They are far sturdier than any disposable bag and have excellent handles. Did you save all your old plastic bags? Bring them back to the grocery store to be recycled rather than thrown in a landfill. If you go into the store for one or two things, don't let the cashier bag them. 3. Do you automatically reach for the Fantasic when cleaning the kitchen? Why not try SimpleGreen? It's non-toxic and bio-degradable. Don't tell me it isn't strong enough, I've used it to clean up old paint spills and after some of the dirtiest tenants I've rented to. 4. Are you still getting paper cups at Starbucks? Many places that serve coffee offer a "refill mug". It keeps the coffee warmer and helps the environment. 5. Have you tried compact florescent bulbs lately? The newest ones are indistinguishable from incandescent. I'm not advocating throwing out perfectly good incandescent bulbs, however keeping a 4 pack of 60w equivalent CF bulbs that you bought on sale at Home Depot for $6.88would be a good idea for when an "old fashioned bulb burns out. If you need dimable or 3way CF bulbs, those are available to. I have a CF bulb that is over 10 years old. I bought it at the beginning of 1998 when I started college. It has outlasted the lamp that I bought it for and is now doing duty in the light fixture over my front door. Five very easy and very inexpensive steps to live "greener" that even save money over the long run. Some here may call it "cult like".... I simply think it is sensible.

You know, there are so many ways to be green OTHER than cars. Don't hate on an entire movement just because one of their agendas focuses on something you like. If I had the time, I would write a column here on non-automotive ways to be green. There are so many minor and unobtrusive adjustments that can be made in your daily life that can really green make you much more green than driving a hybrid would. I know I'm in the minority here in that I am an environmentalist and actually prefer taking public transit to work, but I'm also a automotive fanatic. As such I've managed to meld the two mindsets quite nicely. Gluttony has been a "sin" for a long time..... not exactly new.

not a bad start at all..

What are you guys making these in? I have one I wanna build.

Now waaaait a mullet!! That's MY truck!

Since you've obviously already driven an Epsilon II chassis, could you enlighten the rest of us as to it's dynamics? And the PRX and 9-4x aren't on the Equinox/Terrain/Torrent platform like you're insinuating.