Drew Dowdell

false alarm

One thing I must say is don't judge the Equinox's maneuverability based on the W-body platform just because they're similar sizes. My '85 Lincoln Continental could get into places my smaller 1994 Cutlass Supreme never could. I'd say, take one home for a garage test fit. Don't let the people here talk you into the 3.6 unless you really want one. The 3.4 is quite adequate for daily wife duty and more fuel efficient at that. I test drove a friend's fairly base Equinox and I was fairly impressed with it for what it was.... and my daily driver is usually a CTS with the 3.6.

"Sportvan" no such thing

But GM does know how to do it right..... they just choose not to for production.

because right now GM, Chrysler, and Ford are fighting with one hand tied behind their back with legacy cost rope while the Asians and to a lesser extent the Europeans are fighting with one extra hand <their respective governments>.

sure do....

I've experienced a few big ass fans.... they are highly effective and somewhat mesmerizing to watch...... they move a huge amount of air.

+1 High healthcare costs. but in reality the true problem is "high legacy costs". The expectation that any company can offer a lifetime pension after retirement is insane in this day and age. All new GM employees should be offered a 401k program with matching funds just like the rest of us in the U.S. The pension system should be phased out entirely. The "lousy cars" is wrong also. For every lousy domestic there is an equally lousy foreign car.

Daimler mum on report it seeks Chrysler sale to GM FRANKFURT (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler declined comment on a German magazine report on Wednesday that it was in talks to sell its loss-making Chrysler division to General Motors. "I cannot and will not go into any further details," Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told reporters in Detroit when asked about GM. The news conference was carried on the Internet. Germany's Manager Magazin cited company sources as saying the talks were in full swing but still at an early stage. link

Range of 75-150 miles... what? "cost of the battery pack to GM was still in the $2-3,000 dollar region during the production phase of the EV1 program. Including delivery and installation, GM thought it unlikely an EV1 could be repowered for less than $6-7000 per unit)" from wikipedia....

Depends on mileage.... but no, assuming 10k a year, after 10 years on either truck, resale is really a moot point. You're talking a couple hundred bucks tops. Are those couple hundred bucks at the end of the truck's life really worth the thousands more you'll spend up front for the Tacoma? The Tacoma may have higher resale value, but how much extra did you pay <and pay interest on> just to get the Tacoma? Even if it's only $1,000 more for the Tacoma <which it's not>, you'll be paying interest on that $1,000 for the life of the loan. Factor in the 0% for 60 months on the Canyon and your decision gets a bit easier. This can be said for nearly all the domestic vehicles.

Good good.... now I need to see an Avalanche Hybrid

sticker to stop your ticker

Retail buyers don't even pay sticker on Camrys. Who said all 109k W-bodies went to Avis? City of Pittsburgh uses Impalas for it's police force. I'm sure we're not the only one. Generally, Police forces don't get much more of a discount than retail buyers do.

I don't see Toyota advertising that they sold 178,859 Camries.

Interesting... interesting.... So, the Camry, Camry Coupe, Camry SE, and Camry ES are outsold by the Impala, Impala Coupe, Impala SE, and Impala ES......

So, if you add in the GP, where would it put GM?

Fleet != bad. Sales to daily rental sales fleets = bad Sales to police, EMS, and cooperate fleets = good

Then you start to move into the realm of absurdity. The U-body minivans and Rendezvous and Aztec were all technically based on the W-body if you want to take it to that extreme. Honda/Acura would only have 4 platforms for it's entire lineup. s2000, Civic, Accord, Odyssey. Nissan/Infinity would only have 3 not counting BOF trucks.

The last time I saw a Solara was when I nearly hit one with the Avalanche on Sunday because the dumb, facelifted, blond behind the wheel was too busy flapping her gums on a cell phone to notice the huge green Chevy Avalanche coming towards her in the opposite lane she suddenly cut across. My point is that if the Solara <and it's marketed as Solara, not Camry Solara> is included in the Camry numbers then Monte Carlo should be included in the Impala numbers also. I would venture to guess that the differences between Solara and Camry are equal to the differences between Monte Carlo and Impala. Can someone answer this? Which number is larger? Impala + Monte Carlo + LaCrosse + Grand Prix or Camry + Solara + ES?

GM really needs to market this.

Not so much anymore. The wrangler is outselling the 300 now.

I don't know if this is what you're alluding to, but here's what I take from it: 1. This is precisely what Nissan did with the Altima and Maxima. 2. There is no reason a "world car" can't be a big car like the current Impala. Check out the Holden Statesman for proof. 3. Camry numbers include the Solara.

I know someone with a serious heart condition who has a handicapped plate. He's 28 years old and looks perfectly normal..... until you see that he just makes it into the store then has to sit down for a second,

You were driving the new Sierra, right?