ShadowDog

Pointless, overtly arrogant-looking, and something no sane person would consider doing to their own truck. But since it's a manufacturer that's doing it, and it's made in the U.S., it'll sell like flap-jacks and bullets.

The Aveo's design was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. It was a world-market design to offer appeal to a broad group of mixed nations, not just Americans.

My decal is still on the car for two reasons: 1) I don't give a $h!; 2) Neither does anybody else. My wife works at the dealership we bought our car from, but nobody there would care if we ever took it off. My car is in mint-condition for being three years old. I just completed a cleaning and even shampoo'd the mats. The interior is absolutely spotless. This should serve well to go against the notion that just because people don't take dealer decals off their car that they don't care about their purchase. Rediculous. Sometimes, there's just being a little too anal about insignificant things that the average person wouldn't give a second thought to.

It's up to the employees, and Toyota will get no love from the government if they try to prevent their organization. In the end, I think that the employees will get half of what they want, and will become disgruntled and annoyed. This will promote unhealthy working conditions that might provoke lower standards of quality-care. It's either this, or Toyota executives will be comfortable with the additional operational expenses of employee benefits against their bottom-line ...LOL yeah...RIGHT! My take on unions is that they had their place before my time. Now, I have to deal with employees who feel entitled to their sick time as regular days off, and take "holidays" whenever they feel like taking a day or so off. This is usually if they don't feel like working a scheduled Sunday or busy long-weekend sales week. If I request a doctor's note, I get a phone call from the union saying that requests for doctor's notes cannot be made of a sick employee until after three consecutive days off the job. Guess what happens on the third day, a MIRACLE occurs and the employee shows up for work with no trace of illness. Granted, particular rules, like the one above, have been negotiated for and agreed upon by both the employer and the union; however, it doesn't help when employees vote to strike in order to gain the right to do the $h!ty things they do (such as the example above). Provide proof that an employee willfully neglected his duties and lied to his superior regarding being able-bodied to perform his/her job and you have to NEGOTIATE their discepline; which means, both parties meet in the middle, between a slap on the wrist or dismissal. So, even though a union handbook would specify discepline for such a situation to be up to-or including dismissal, the utmost an employee is likely to get is a letter of reprimand and a one-week suspension. What does this do? We're forced to retain $h!ty employees, and morale is given a hit because good employees see it as an inability of management to get rid of or properly train the mentally and employably useless. When somebody says, "Well, you hired him!" I want to snap rubber bands on their forehead while shouting, "PEOPLE WILL SAY ANYTHING JUST TO GET A PAYCHECK, DUMBASS!" "Attitudes of Entitlement" are my biggest pet peeve in life, and I have unions to thank for it.

As far as I'm concerned, there is risk in death for a great number of people in the accident conditions they test in any vehicle. Use a crash test to indicate a vehicle being poor at survivability as an absolute really only matters to the two types of people: 1) people who only buy a car considering safety the highest priority; and 2) people who would never buy a small car to begin with and use this information just to bolster their opinion that ALL small cars are death traps. Really now guys, there just has to be something more imporant in your lives to spend your time on? I should add that the negative crash-test results on the Forenza is actually something that comes back to haunt GM, since, GM-Daewoo is the manufacturer of the Forenza/Reno (Optra/Optra5 sedan in Canada), so don't be so quick to bash Suzuki for agreeing to use GM's vehicles in their lineup (which I should add they are removing from their lineup due to quality concerns). Regardless of these results, a lot of people just don't care since the Forenza has made up a lot of the U.S. sales for Suzuki. I'll save the time it will take for some of you to reply by closing with, "It's a shame all those stupid people who bought Forenzas are too stupid to realize they drive in tin-can death traps." Yes, yes, they feel your pain. They really do.

I'm glad that my world knows nothing of what you're all talking about.

It sure looks like a Tonka toy, doesn't it? What bothers me is the stupidity out there with the general public still unwilling to educate themselves about the fact that these versions of Hummer are NOTHING like the gas-guzzling SUV's and Army Personnel Carriers they started out as. I would think that GM could do better by marketing these with more fuel-economy facts in mind...not that the market the Hummer caters to really cares heaviliy about gas-mileage. Still, I would think that the negative shadow (regarding fuel-mileage) Hummer casts over the automotive consumer market must affect their consumer perception of the entire company. I hope I'm wrong and it's just not the case.

If you think about it, aside from the quirky front-end, the profile isn't all that different from today's cross-over vehicles. While the Aztek wasn't the most attractive thing on wheels, it's certainly versatile, if not one of the most user-friendly of the SUV/van market. A co-worker bought one (basically because the dealer was trying to unload them and it was uber-cheap), and they are completely satisfied with it. I would never knock another person's purchase, even if they bought it because it fit the pocket-book so well. Still, the Aztek always had me wondering just how the heck it even managed to get off the drawing board. Look at all the concepts sitting in GM's garage that could-have been? Not one of them had prospects for a future that approached the Aztek? It confuses me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the development of the Aztek mirrored the Simpson's episode when Homer was asked by his long-lost brother to design a vehicle, and what came out was a complete disaster. I know the Aztek is anything but a disaster, but its ability to confuse an on-looker with an expression typically found on a baby having been fed something extremely sour is unparalleled.

Just say 'no' to compression deceleration. It does affect the engine/transmission/drivetrain in a negative way over time. Brakes are for slowing and stopping, while gears are used for acceleration. The difference is on hills, but I should make something clear: Holding a gear, using the engine compression down a hill is to prevent the vehicle from speeding up, allowing less use of the brakes to prevent them from overheating. If you notice, a trucker stays one consistantly slow speed using the engine to compression-brake. They don't allow the truck to speed up at all. Some people hold a low gear, allow a vehile to speed up, then slow it down again with their brakes, and repeat the process down the hill. In truth, the RPMs should remain consistant to reduce wear-and-tear, and not climb with the vehicle speed. As mentioned, neutral-coasting is a less-favorable practise, as I've always been instructed anyway. It's probably worth noting that downshifting for race-car driving isn't for rapid deceleration, but to rev-match in order for the transmission to even allow the driver to get into the favorable gear needed for the quickest acceleration out of a corner. By rev-matching and braking, the engine isn't even using cmpression-braking at all. In fact, compression-braking would likely kill their engine at some point.

Bush: "I've f@#ked things up fo y'all. You need to fix it yerselves." Big-3: "...?!"

I'm not going to say with absolute certainty that the UAW is responsible for the current state of the financial troubles within the North American auto industry; however, when a company loses profit for every vehicle sold, and attached to those loses is high legacy costs for pensions and healthcare with the American auto industry driving a very high labor rate for vehicle production, there certainly should be some eyeballs reviewing the numbers to see where these cost-cutting measures can be made. Certainly, an auto-maker must be responsible enough to understand that a union still has its place. Nobody can tell me that, without a union, on a regular bases, management won't decide to lay-off senior-level employees in favor of hiring younger, lower-paid labor. Without basic groundrules set out by a union, treatment like that is likely to happen to employees. The UAW could probably do well in the face of the political aspect to understand that their costs represent a huge amount of savings for an auto-maker to compete. I suppose I'll just say that, in my opinion, the unions represent one of many hurdles in the path of a company that slows them down while other companies race alongside and pass them by with fewer of these challenges to deal with. What's the answer? Short of starting from scratch, there really isn't one, clear answer. It's going to take strategy and planning between management and the employee unions to realize a path for success. Certainly, it's pretty much been up to the companies to deal with cost-cutting measures that have affected a great deal of the work-force for the worst. My only question would be if the employee union had taken a few concessions earlier on, would all the work-force previously laid off still have jobs right now?

I may be out of line here, seeing as I mostly read instead of post anything; however, one thing I am always in search of is reports and database information that lists various important details. The search function seems to freeze up on me on a regular basis, and wading through Google has become a royal PITA. Might it be possible to have a section dedicated to the charts and information related to quality control databases and manufacturer recall tallies? I don't mean to suggest that it be put together as a kind of score-board, as I just know people are likely to reference the content with just that in mind; rather, I figured it would simply make things a tad easier with related information right at everyone's fingertips. Thanks for the read. Always enjoying the material presented.

Update: My wife's mother produced receipts from the sale of the car, and the return of the plates to the insurance bureau. It appears as though these plates 'somehow' found their way back onto the street, since they should have been removed from circulation and destroyed once they were returned. That's why my wife got a ticket for a photo radar violation, as they were attached to a vehicle they weren't registered with. Even after all of the information I mentioned earlier, it took the receipts showing the sale of the car, the refund for the plate return and cancellation of insurance, her previous license number and transaction history of insurance and this odd-ball violation payment history to prove her innocence. The next kicker? While we submitted these documents through a fax, she was told that she still may have to produce this in court to have the violation thrown out. Edmonton is practically a seven-eight hour drive from here. I said to her that I would first like to get my satisfaction by bitching out anybody who answers my telephone call before paying the $123, rather than wasting the same amount of money driving there just to clear a violation from a license number and a plate that hasn't been attached to the vehicle my wife hasn't owned for over five years. We haven't received a call back since the documents were faxed, so hopefully we're in the clear, finally.

Russia has an extremely high rate of prostitution, where the mafia and general underground are rampant. Why, even knowing personally what it was like, in 1995 we had dinner among a group of a couple dozen, well dressed, shaven-head mafia members who told the house band to stop playing their crap and more of what they usually liked. Not long after, women came, sat in laps, drank, smoked, laughed, etc. On my way up to my room, I held the elevator for one gentleman with a girl in each arm. I faced the door while he kissed them and said how much he loved them, then got out and rustled them off to his room. I thought my story was unique when I told the others at the party after the next day. Nearly half of the entire group (14 of us) had a similar story. What we didn't know was that this was practically a nightly affair, and not only at this particular hotel, but all over Moskow. It doesn't surprise me after just looking around at their night life and current state of the free-will economy where the rich got richer while the poor became poorer, and the democratic nature of the new-country was just great for criminal organizations, including prostitution rings which grew at astounding rates due to the amount of money being made, and when you put diseases next to money ...well, you get the picture.

I'm going to tell you a tale about the experience my wife has just been thrust into. It involves a letter she received from Revenue Canada that states: ...notice is to inform you that Canada Revenue Agency may withhold income tax refunds... to recover debts owed to a provincial or territorial government. ...you have an outstanding debt under the following legislation or program: Fines Enforcement - Traffic Jurisdiction: Alberta She was given a contact for the apparent debt, so she called to discover that there was an unpaid photo radar speeding violation from 2001 under her name for $123 that was delivered to her address in Alberta where she wasn't even residing at that time for over a year. They said it was the last known address and no payment was issued. SO, I then learn of this situation as my wife called me at work, spewing more profanities over the phone than a dirty hooker. It was apparent that my wife was about to go on a head-hunting mission at this point. The facts were that she sold the last car that was ever registered to her in the year 2000. She wasn't even driving during the time this photo radar violation was issued. She had her address changed from the location the violation was sent no less than a month after she moved back home for the short time before she moved to her friend's place no less than a month later before moving again to my place in B.C. in May of 2001, all this, a full three months before the ticket was even issued. I advised her to call my sister in B.C., working as an insurance adjuster, formerly performing auto insurance duties. We lived in my home town of B.C. from May of 2001 to Sept 2003, so my wife's history was checked from, both her Alberta and B.C. licenses, and no photo radar speeding violation came up; however, B.C. has done away with their photo radar program, so they don't track previously issued photo radar infractions due to their laws that required all photo radar violations to be personally served to the registered owner of the vehicle. At this point, her record was still clean, but she still was at a dead end. She called the court house back, and upon challenging the debt based on the fact that nothing shows on her past or current record, and no ticket was ever delivered to my wife, the lady at the court house told my wife that it wasn't in her records that anything was ever done about the payment of the ticket, and that she required a receipt as proof that my wife's record was clear. Yeah... how does one provide a receipt for a traffic violation they never received? Apparently, the lady at the court house didn't seem to understand the nature of the paradox she was reciting into the telephone. My wife then called me back to tell me what she was left with, virtually stunned and emotionally drained due to the kind of intimidating nature all of the people she'd spoken with were producing to her. Considering options, we decided to call her friend in Alberta, also working at an insurance agency, who might be able to check her previous license records. I was soon receiving an interesting fax at work that detailed transactions for my wife to suggest that a journal voucher for a ticket was issued on August 21st, 2001. The first glaring piece of information was that she was told by the court house clerk, you know, the one operating in the twilight zone, that the violation was delivered to the address in December. So, it took four months for a ticket to be sent in the mail? ...whatever. Anyway, the second piece of information was even more interesting; that, on August 15th, 2006 there was a journal voucher credit issued as an adjustment to my wife's license. Whether this meant that somebody paid the violation, or the mistake was found and adjusted seems irrelevant, because the company going after her by wanting the Government of Canada to withhold her rebate didn't have the correct information, and now it was up to my wife to prove that there are just far too many stupid people in the world without the intelligence to operate in positions of authority. Ain't that the way it goes? The government is going after somebody for something they weren't even responsible for. I told my wife that if she wasn't up to the task, I'd absolutely love to handle this one, even going so far as to enjoy threatening legal action. Sure, it's only $123, but isn't this just one of those moments that has "Priceless" written all over it?

I find it far more attractive than the current design. It has an edgy appearance I appreciate.

Congrats... I guess it's your right to have a cell phone. It doesn't matter to me. Personally, I've "accidentally" driven over my business cell phone twice. Pity, since it's just so tough now for people at work to reach me when ever they want me. Bummer for them, yay for me. Cell phones are just another convenience for others to bother me. Anyone can do without them just fine. My personal phone is only used as it is needed, such as when we're on the road (I use a headset or speakerphone because I hate trying to hold a wafer to my ear while driving). I've done the next best thing to making the cell phone work the way I want it to. I actually have my prefix in another province through Telus Mobility, just so local people will avoid calling me and getting long distance charges against them. My wife and I both have out-of-province numbers and a long distance plan to call each other for free with 500 additional minutes from outside lines. We're frequently in Calgary visiting family, and Alberta is our prefix, so when in Alberta, all of our calls are free to make and receive. Oh, and for the record, the grand majority of the time I encounter a dimwit driving terribly around me, there is a cell phone against their head. Sure, there are plenty of people with the aptitude for driving while talking on a cell phone; however, there are plenty more other people who give the good multitasker a bad name. Bad drivers ruin it for the rest of us, so cell phones while driving is a bad thing. Deal with it.

But this is about pimpin' a Buick to capture the attention of playahs and hos.

So, it's not safe to assume that the donation could have been directed to far more significant causes? Oh well, it's not my money, regardless of its pointless use. ...and nobody would have an opinion if it weren't for the fact that people consider this worthy news.

Yeah, exactly... "Wait...what does that sign sa...*BANG*!!!" ... ... ... "Oh. Well I would have been watching if it weren't for the f@#kin' SIGN!"

Inanimate objects rejoice.

Sigs just took me longer to scroll through to get to what I come here for, so I just turned them off. If avatars ended up really making an impact on my viewing experience, those would just end up being turned off as well. As I see it, the grand majority of additional personal features are within reason for size and speed. Sure, limits on other forums are typically set to keep things that way, but common sense from people can also help. Reflecting on how things go here, I have fewer problems with the load times of the personal features as compared with the errors and screwups of the site in general.

Business-wise, it could be a smart move like any other corporate marketing angle; however, reality-wise, it's the stupidest thing to do because it's catering to a here-today-gone-tomorrow trend. Unless they're looking for a short-term sales boost, they really will have to work harder to keep the image fresh for it to even appeal to the particular segments and age groups for the long term. If they want it to become appealing, lose the damn fluff and soft-on-the-eyes comfort appeal. Everybody knows that if something is in the 'must-have' category, you could paint the dashboard in the color of dog-feces and 'trendy' people will still want to buy it to look cool. This brings another subject to my rant, that a 'trendy' car is hardly ever the best car. Sales never indicate whether or not a car is particularly the best on the road, so steering the marketed image toward coolness-appeal and diverting from anything to do with quality could end up alienating the people who actually do buy Buicks for good reason. (I mean, really, what hip-hop artist or sports-star gives a $h! about quality when they're going to tear everything off the ex/interior install aftermarket gizmos and gadgets?) Maybe I don't like the idea because I don't like hip-hop; but still, heading toward bling could end up being a crash-and-burn if nothing changes from how the cars are designed. It'll end up just being an attempt at trying too hard, inevitably becoming a laughing stock. THEN who does GM turn to for sales when even the seniors won't want to come back?

...would have? Don't hold your breath. I don't know why they would even bother.

Like that, 'maybe', with the rest of the styling to have a cohesive nature, but a pizza box on a nice hood does not make for an attractive Corvette.