Drew Dowdell

Your Nissan Versa is trying to kill you, with interior toxins The Ecology Center, a non-profit environmental group, performed tests utilizing an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device that can measure "the elemental composition of any material" and came away with the ten best and worst vehicles to be stuck inside. The Chevy Cobalt, Chrysler PT Cruiser and Honda Odyssey take top honors for having the fewest toxins, while the Nissan Versa, Chevy Aveo and Scion xB are the worst offenders. The tests isolate toxins like, arsenic, bromine, chlorine and mercury, found in everything from the carpet to the dash board, but the Ecology Center didn't identify what the degree of risk is while sitting in start and stop traffic. Link to Autoblog article

For laptops, the Lenovo/IBM Thinkpads are where it's at these days.

ya the divorce has made me bitter and cold

I believe that my Onstar upgrade letter that I received yesterday said that if I decided not to upgrade to digital, my onstar service would end in December of '08. I'll check it again tonight, but that's what I think it said. look, any car that can't be upgraded is going to be an '01 or earlier. At the end of 2008 when the shut down might begin those cars will be a minimum of 7 years old with most being much older. Even a top of the line '01 STS is worth, what, $8,000 now on the used market and probably $6,000 at the end of 2008? People who buy those cars won't care about the Onstar. People who have those cars probably let it expire already. Worst case scenario is Grandma with her 1998 Park Ave who never shut off the OnStar service after Granddad died. I know mom stopped subscribing to onstar on her '01 Aurora years ago..... and she's one who really needs it.

I got my Onstar "upgrade" letter yesterday. $15 to upgrade to the digital equipment if I subscribe for another year. My lease is up in February, but the discount on a yearly rate is enough to make it not matter. I may do the upgrade just to get the better signal as I've had the "remote horn and lights" feature fail on me in a parking garage <4th floor, open sides> before. They couldn't get signal through to the car even though I was parked on the outer rim of the garage. I park downtown a lot, often in multiple garages per day, so sometimes I forget where I put the car.

Miranda from Devil Wears Prada

Bigger and blander than ever?

I have always hated "cab forward" design.

My new persona

this is a case of an idiot dealer..... the 2.7 litre turbo <only engine> takes 9.5 quarts not 12.

I wish my lawn was emo so it would cut itself.

I didn't think Allures migrated that far south.

Another possibility..... Alternator. Sometimes the electronics on them can go out and start causing "power spikes". Sure the inverter <or whatever it's called> is supposed to take care of that, it doesn't always work. If the electronics can't get clean electricity, the computers start shutting down and you get into the situation you described. What is especially telling is that the electronics seem normal when they're running on battery, but not normal with the engine running.

mmmm jelly beans... tasty

make sure you rub your ass on the dash to make sure it's Charmin soft.

is that a compliment to the glovebox or an insult to the trunk?

should have been named BM

am I the only one who finds it interesting that the car most derided at Cadillac was voted #1 more than once?

Pontiac Custom-S wins.

I hold GM stock long term. I stopped purchasing when the stock was in the mid-30s and just held my positions. I purchased most of my GM stock when it was in the high teens, so I have a lot of wiggle room.

If it's a Toyota? Nothing.

no OCN. Michael Jackson's favorite town, Dubois.

Ski day tomorrow.

They didn't break the mold.... they ripped off the Jag S-type

It was too good and they started liking it more than an X5.... so they sent it to an undisclosed location. :AH-HA_wink: