mustang84

Very thorough site with breakdown percentages my manufacturer. Link On the very first link on the page, they show you fleet percentages for certain cars. Here are some surprising ones. Chrysler Sebring - 72.4% fleet! Dodge Stratus - 72.2% fleet Chevy Impala - 62% fleet Kia Amanti - 64.7% fleet Pontiac Grand Prix - 52.2% fleet Here's a breakdown by manufacturer of some of the largest fleeted cars. GM was easily the worst...the Impala and Malibu percentages are disappointing. They didn't have any Cobalt figures. Ford had high percentages on the obvious ones like the Crown Vic and Taurus, but they're doing a good job keeping the new cars out of fleets. DCX has high fleet sales even for the 'hot' items like the 300 and Magnum. Toyota is fairly low and Nissan is moderate. I didn't bother typing out trucks but there is a link at the site. GM Chevy Aveo - 27% fleet Pontiac Sunfire - 37% fleet Pontiac Vibe - 26.6% fleet Chevrolet Malibu Classic - 99% fleet (obviously) Chevrolet Malibu - 47.9% fleet Pontiac G6 - 17% fleet Pontiac Grand Am - 71.5% fleet Chevrolet Monte Carlo - 36.1% fleet Pontiac Grand Prix - 52.2% fleet Buick LeSabre - 38.7% fleet Chevrolet Impala - 62.1% fleet Cadillac DeVille - 32.7% fleet Ford Ford Focus - 30.5% fleet Mazda 6 - 27.6% fleet Ford Taurus - 76% fleet Mercury Montego - 4.2% fleet...kudos to Ford for keeping this one so low Mercury Sable - 51.2% fleet Ford Crown Victoria - 79.6% fleet Ford Five Hundred - 10.6% fleet...good numbers again Mercury Grand Marquis - 32% fleet Lincoln LS - 25.6% fleet Volvo S60 - 23.3% fleet Lincoln Town Car - 41.4% fleet Jaguar XK8 - 20.7% fleet Ford Mustang - 10.6% fleet Ford Thunderbird - 10.6% fleet DaimlerChrysler Dodge Neon - 62.2% fleet Chrysler Sebring - 72.4% fleet Dodge Stratus - 72.3% fleet Dodge Magnum - 31.7% fleet Chrysler 300 - 21.1% fleet Toyota Toyota Echo - 22.5% fleet Toyota Avalon - 12.4% fleet Toyota Camry - 14% fleet Toyota Solara - 11.4% fleet Toyota Celica - 18% fleet Honda's fleet sales were all pretty low percentages, so I didn't bother typing them out Nissan Nissan Sentra - 22.9% fleet Nissan Altima - 12.2% fleet Nissan Maxima - 18.7% fleet Infiniti G35 - 8.8% fleet Infinti Q45 - 22.7% fleet

That is cool as hell...it sure beats the E-Z-Go carts that litter every public golf course around the country.

Detroit has such large suburbs because most of the population left during the 60s and 70s. I've seen aerial pictures of Detroit where entire blocks are filled with crumbling or razed buildings. Even parts of downtown have fallen into disrepair; when you ride the elevated People Mover, the second levels of some abandoned buildings are all nice and painted with shades in the windows, but the first floor (below the People Mover) is decaying and falling apart. It's that bad. But when you lose half of your population, what can you expect? Touch up done to the second floor of the Statler Hotel in the 80s to give People Mover riders a more pleasant view of downtown Detroit The old Michigan Theater turned into a parking garage The abandoned Cadillac Hotel, once a premier Detroit hotel

Don't believe everything you read. Seriously, Lexus ain't going nowhere.

Welcome Drew...I'm just as big of a Ford fan as I am a GM fan, so no worry. We even have some Toyota, Honda, and Nissan enthusiasts. We're a friendly, diverse community here...hope you enjoy your stay!

It's not awful, but it's not as stunning looking as the silver one captured from video that we saw months ago. Those pics got the best angles of it; now that we're seeing it from standard 3/4 angles, the car looks much less aggressive and sporty. And someone needs to give Toyota this memo: they make some of the most generic rims of any automaker. Wheels can do a lot for even a bland car, but Toyota never does anything special with them. IMO, it's bad when your rims look like wheel covers from a distance. Overall, it looks a little better than the last generation, but after all the hype I read at other boards about how great the '07 Camry would be, I don't see much greatness except for the interior. It'll still probably sell like hotcakes though.

There's a guy in my building that owns a late 90s Ford Escort ZX2 and took off all the Ford emblems and replaced them with plastic yellow Chevy bow-ties. He also did a half-ass job at painting the car blue. On the front and rear windows it has vinyl graphics that say "Chevy Power." :P

The front of it could use some work, but IMO the rear is pretty stylish. Those taillights look good. Hyundai/Kia are really improving their exterior designs as of late.

Yep, which is why they're not selling at full steam yet. Just look at the Five Hundred/Montego...sales were slow for the first few months and now it's been selling at a steady 7000-8000 units, with some months even up to 9000 units. The Five Hundred is just a hair short of its 100,000 sales goal a month early. Some flop.

Ford Media DEARBORN, Mich., December 1 - U.S. consumers purchased 201,711 new vehicles from Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo dealers in November, down 15 percent compared with a year ago. Car sales were down 7 percent and truck sales were down 18 percent. November sales were 1 percent higher than October as sales to individual retail customers were up 5 percent. The month-to-month improvement reflects higher sales of the company's all-new mid-size sedans (Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr) as well as higher sales for Ford's F-Series truck. "Recent economic data and higher November auto sales are encouraging," said Steve Lyons, Ford group vice president, North America Marketing, Sales and Service. "It suggests we're moving beyond the payback period following last summer's record sales. We expect December sales will show further improvement." In November, combined sales for Ford Fusion (5,337), Mercury Milan (1,874), and Lincoln Zephyr (1,652) were 34 percent higher than October. Ford's F-Series truck posted November sales of 62,878, down 5 percent compared with a year ago, but up 16 percent versus October. Sales of traditional sport utility vehicles, like Ford's Explorer, continued to experience sharply lower demand than a year ago, but sales were stable compared with October. Land Rover dealers reported record November sales (up 18 percent) on the strength of its two new models – the LR3 and Range Rover Sport. ---------------- Car sales are up 9.8% for the year for the Ford brand, but the SUVs are still tumbling. The Fusion is going strong for only its second month available. The Zephyr is selling just short of the Milan.

But that still doesn't make sense. When I'm sitting in my car facing forward, the speedo is right below my line of sight. Moving it over to the center would mean that I would have to look toward the center stack, in which case my line of sight will be toward the edge of the road. Unless the increased distance between you and the gauges means that you tilt your head down less, I don't see how placing them in the center is any more ergonomic than simply having them right in front of you. Personally, I would find it more distracting. I'm betting the easier conversion is the main reason they do it.

What is it with automakers placing the gauge cluster in the middle of the dash? How unergonomic can you get? Do they not want old people will buy this car? I'm sure an elderly person doesn't want to be craning his or her neck over to check their speed, especially if they have bad eyesight. So stupid...

Wildmanjoe hasn't loaded up the Javelins and Ambassadors onto his car carrier yet.

I like the new one MUCH, MUCH more.

GM should shine a spotlight or hang a huge neon sign from the Renaissance Center touting how many gallons its hybrid buses have saved. Or even better, work out a deal with US Bank and advertise from the Library Tower in LA so that Californians will see it from miles around. If that's too much of a hassle, just put a ticker on the GM website.

It's sad what he did to the '61, but the rest of his Cadillac collection is actually pretty nice. He even has a '94 Roadmaster Estate.

I don't think I've ever checked my car for people hiding in it, even at night. Of course, this is Iowa...the chance of someone breaking into your car is about as high as being abducted by a UFO or a hurricane wiping out Waterloo. I didn't regularly start locking the doors on my car until I got to college.

Last March when I was in Chicago for the arch trip, I was with some friends at a coffee bar in the Magnificent Mile and we ended up sitting across from a late-20s, early-30s couple. We started talking and the woman mentioned that she was a laser eye surgeon. Somehow we got to talking about famous people she had worked on, and one of them was Oprah. She said she has never met anyone so conceited and demanding in her life. I think Oprah's "concern" that she displays on her show is all just an act. Personally, I think millions of housewives across the country have been brainwashed by her. I've never really cared for her or her hype.

GM - Cadillac DTS Luxury III package Why?: I've always been a fan of DeVilles, and I like the DTS's new clean angular styling. Ford - Mustang GT Why?: Obviously I'm a Mustang fan...not much explanation needed. Chrysler - 300C SRT-8 Why?: Classic American styling with HEMI V8 power. Mafia meets muscle. Euro: BMW 330Ci Coupe Why?: Hasn't been Banglized...and it's a Bimmer...nuff said. Asian: Infiniti G35 Coupe Why?: One of the few Japanese coupes that doesn't look overtly Japanese. Infiniti has put out some good stuff lately.

That Mr. Mister album is called 'Welcome to the Real World.' I have it on CD. Does the Cameo one you bought have the song "Candy" on it? I've heard that song on GTA San Andreas and really like it.

I've never heard of Vector before either...must be a generation gap thing. When were they made and how many? The design looks like it was from the early-mid 80s.

Uhh...what?

Plymouth may have been reduced to just rebadges in the 90s, but I'm not happy that it's gone. Imagine what it could be today with the LX platform...a new Barracuda? Hell yeah. I also like the Volare coupes from the 70s.

Looks like a bastardized Maxima clone with a badly done Infinti grille. Can't the Chinese do ANYTHING original?

Here's one with a Fiero and a shop class