bowtie_dude

Saw a 07 Camry in the Kroger parking lot earlier. Saw a Toyota YARIS north-bound on I-75 yesterday on my way to my wife's parent's house. Near London, of all places. I've seen several Tahoes, Yukons, and Escalades already, those vehicles are HOT sellers.

Word. I wish we could have made it an Equinox, but I get Ford vehicles at dealer invoice and that combined with 0% financing just made it too good a deal to pass up. I'll probably be getting myself a Mazda3 5-door or Ford Fusion within the next six months. I sat in a Charcoal Beige (BEAUTIFUL color, btw) Fusion SEL V6 and it is NICE on the inside. The dash materials are fantastic, I came away VERY impressed.

Me and the wife just picked up our brand new 2006 Ford Escape XLT to replace her aging 1997 F-150. Redfire Metallic, gorgeous color, with the 3.0L V6 and 4WD. 6-CD disc changer, power everything, and they're having a moonroof installed next week. We got it for just over $24,000 with my discount through CompUSA. And with 0% financing for 60 months our payments are only $407 a month!

D'oh! GM just got a low-blow on Today on NBC. When talking to "Mad Money" guy, when asked if GM's $10 bil loss should worry people he said "GM is no longer big enough to affect the economy..." and went on to say "...we should really start considering Toyota and American company." Talk about kickin'em when they're down.

Can anything be done to rectify this? As an insider, are you of the opinion that GMs future product is good enough?

Because, when someone goes to buy one, KNOWING what the price should be, they'll walk away empty handed because the dealer knows another idiot will come by that will be more than happy to pay the dealer's asking price and won't sell it to the more knowledgable customer.

Upon second reading, it appears to be a loaded model. Leather and lots of options, according to the ad. So maybe its just a $5k tack on.

http://www.courtesyonwheels.com/big_ed.php Take a look at the top-right-hand box. A new Solstice for $29,999, plus tax and license. Why is it that dealers feel the need to circumvent GMs efforts to sell an affordable, desirable roadster by tacking on $10k+ onto the damn sticker?! I've got half a mind to go down to Courtesy, ask how much one is and make a point to laugh in the salesman's face. I really hope no one has bought a Solstice at that price. Ugh!

Take some night-time interior pictures with the dash and gauges all lit up. =)

I was actually thinking that the current Accord interior needs more color. Some aluminum trim running the length of the middle dash where the upper and lower section meet would be a nice break from the all-black plastic wasteland.

The SE model without the grill insert looks like a toothless grin. What an ugly car.

What does being expressive have to do with anything? I prefer organic, flowing interiors, ala Acura and Lexus. I like symetry. The Civic interior is none of that. Its WAY too busy, IMO.

I hate the interior design of the Civic. HATE it. And that first picture of the G6 interior is terrible But the G6 suffers from the same thing the STS suffers from. Poor design.

I'm not denying that the G6 doesn't have flaws, it does most certainly. I just have a problem with the way the Lienert's present their criticism, those both grounded in fact and in their opinion. And I was just speaking from experience about the Saab owners. Most of the owners of Saabs that I know are, well, old, and don't seem like the BMW types. One happens to be the CEO of the company I work for.

Uh, yeah, actually it would.

Saab has its own fans, people that likely would never buy a BMW or Acura. Regardless, I don't think yuppies are the buying majority, nor are they trend setters, but trend followers (thats why they're yuppies). And you're right, Pontiac doesn't often get mentioned in the same breath as BMW. But should it? When a friend of mine speaks of Pontiac, he compares the brand to Mazda or Honda, as he should because thats its competitors. Ponchos don't compete with Bimmers. How could they? A brand whose MSRPs range from $15k-30k should really be compared to a brand whose prices range from $33k-120k. And I never denied BMWs were fantastic cars, they are. I love BMWs (Bangled models excluded, sans the 6-series). But what I said was that BMW being a fantastic car has nothing to do with the purchase decision of a yuppy. The yuppy buys it because there's a BMW badge on TOP of the hood, not because of what is UNDER the hood. Therefore, the opinion of TWO yuppies is not only subject to little consideration (despite their criticisms being well-grounded, if poorly presented).

That is COOL!!

Being educated, moneyed, and trend setting doesn't make you a yuppy. Hell, I'm edcuated and moneyed (sorta). And I LOVE well thought-out reviews with detailed criticism, which is why I prefer to read C&D and R&Ts reviews to anyone elses. While I won't often agree, the writing is WAY better and tactful most of the time. The Lienerts, on the other hand, have neither good presentation or tactful criticism. They say "This is bad," without giving reason and criticize idiotic things like a door being heavy and big, when its no different than every other coupe door. I stand by my opinion of yuppies. The Lienert's are the kind of people that drive a BMW because its got the blue and white badge on the front and rear without regard to why BMWs are damn good cars.

I'd rather have a good MODERN-design car that doesn't break any sales records and performs like a marvel, then a retro-ized pig, ala the Mustang. Let it be said that I HATE late-model Mustangs. And I'm not the biggest late-model Camaro and Firebird fan either. The only good muscle car, is a classic muscle car. Give me a modern, high-quality, tastefully designed 2+2 coupe with bitchin performance please. Not some retro-modern thing meant to pander to the 35+ crowd.

Colorado's two big, and really only, issues are the atrocious interior and the lack of a 250+ hp powertrain option. V6, I6, V8, whatever. Just put SOMETHING with power about the I5. That new 300hp 5.3L V8 in the Impala SS would be VERY nice.

Not it isn't. Mostly because their presentation is ridiculous. Like I said, two yuppies at a Starbucks.

From Road and Track's review of the GTP Coupe just last month: They had a few of the same issues with the "feel" of the nobs and buttons, but apparently are genious's since they found the "complicated stereo system" easy to use. Its fast, too! From the same review: And about the G6 GTP's direct competition, the Accord EX V6-coupe: I think R&T hits the nail right on the head. Like they, many of us, and FOG say, only slight tweeking interior-wise and some powertrain tweeks, and the G6 GTP is a solid competitor. Almost forgot, here's the link to the whole article, G6 GTP Coupe, by R&T And here's a nice profile shot of the coupe. Looks really good, IMO.

When REAL car people were asked to review the G6 GT, here's what they said of the interior. Car and Driver, January 2005 Asking the Lienert's to review cars is like asking me to review a John Deere tractor. How the hell do I know what makes a good tractor? And they obviously don't know what makes a good car. And keep in mind that C&D editors aren't the most GM fanatical people on the planet, so their compliments on the interior hold A LOT of weight.

I hate these two. Why? Because I read their "review," which this article barely qualifies as, and I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation two yuppies are having in the local Starbucks. Ugh!

Please, God, don't let it be retro-ized.