the_yellow_dart

Forget the Chinese cars. That's the worst crash test I've ever seen.

from supra forums Sad that just sliding off the road would do that - but understandable, considering the speeds that were probably involved. For those of you cryin' - I warned you.

When have you seen glam shots of GM employees like this? She IS being marketed, as much as they can without being pervs about it.

Sometimes I like to pretend like I'm not a car buff and go to dealerships just to diss products like this. The last car I did it with was the new CR-V. I went into the dealership saying I was interested in one and when I saw it I said, "THAT'S the NEW one? It looks like it has a toothless grin... I'm not buying that!". I realize it makes little difference to diss these products to dealership staff, but it's still fun.

I'm glad to hear somebody say that. As much as I want GM to succeed with the new CTS, Escalade and also the Malibu - I'm just not feeling the designs. In fact, I like the previous CTS and Escalade better, and I'd have to say even the awful new Sebring is better than that Malibu. Yeck. I don't know what people are praising, but I'm glad somebody gets it...

I have 5 good friends who are chronics. Used to be that every time I would see them I would smoke up, maybe a couple times. I decided to stop that, since we now live in different cities which means I have to drive home after visiting. Now I make the odd exception when I don't have to drive, but I probably smoke up about once a month now.

I know what you mean Croc. I would never ask someone else either (for fear of belittling or offending them). The only people who would ask me are my parents, but I would tell good friends if they asked too. I don't really take money that personally.

Yeah... ummm... deja-vu man Wook at my wecked Bwazer... or maybe this? These are products GM was selling in... what? 2000? So the Chinese are 7 years behind GM now. The Japanese were a lot further behind than that when they entered the US market...

You have some interesting priorities Croc. I'm more comfortable telling my parents about my finances than telling them about women.

Why does this bother you? Yes, my mother asks questions like this, and I answer her because I think they're reasonable. I'm not a rebellious teen anymore so I see no reason to withhold information from my parents.

This is the only Scion I like, and now I like it better. This is what the Tiburon used to evoke, before they wrecked it. I actually really like it.

Oh by the way... it could always be worse. Long-range forecast for Winnipeg, Manitoba:

Yeah, having no front plates would be nice. How often are you going to only see the front of a car you want to indenify anyways? Most of the time the person will be leaving the scene, or you will be chasing them. Both situations mean that the rear plate is the only visible one.

Oh ya, and it was -17C without the wind chill when I drove home yesterday. The Cobalt suspension really makes noise when it's that cold... that stupid little squeak I get when it's freezing only gets worse when it's this cold. Plus the suspension never gets warm enough for it to go away, so it's noisy the whole trip. Sound like the springs on a really old mattress.

I'd say go eff yourself for that little comment, but then I think maybe getting crashed into by Toyotas all the time is the payback Fly gets for Florida weather.

The only problem I've ever had with my parking brake was having it freeze in the 'on' position after washing my car and leaving it in sub-zero temperatures.

If you want a trunk, buy a Cobalt. If I was looking to replace my Cobalt right now, I'd buy this, assuming it was priced similar to the Cobalt. I'm not sure if I'd buy the 3 or 5 door. The 5 door is not as bad as the 4 door Cobalt. I would have bought the 4 door Cobalt instead of my 2 door if the design had been better.

The center mounted gauges I'm talking about are not on the Civic, but on the Ion and Yaris.

I'm not saying they don't suck. Just that people would buy them. Unfortunately there is a big difference. 80's Hyundais sucked, but the fact that people bought them gave Hyundai the capital to make themselves better... and look where they are now. Yep. expect some people's national pride to fly out the window like an angry bald eagle when those $7500 Chinese compacts hit the market. Suddenly there will be people with new cars who could only ever afford used before.

Interesting to note though, the Passat wagon seems to have taken up the slack for the cancelled Jetta wagon.

How about a little Darwinism? Bigger sales numbers get you lower factory prices?

Let's get out that scorecard... Digital speedos. Done by GM, 1980s. After a few years, uncool. Dropped. Done by Honda, 2005. Cheers all around. Center mounted Gauges. Done by Saturn, 2002(?), Ion. Panned by auto mags as "annoying". Will be dropped with Ion. Done by Toyota, 2004. Cheers for "intuitive and innovative". Bias? Maybe. Better timing and execution? Maybe. Who knows why GM innovation gets kicked in their face?

I could see these flying cars needing lots of little rubber bumpers all over the place to give them traction and keep them from scraping things. Guess who would probably build those?

A QQ is your argument? They're cute, like more practical Beetles. The fact that they could make a workable car with a 800cc engine still blows me away. You don't think young women would buy these? If GM giving the Chinese as little credit as you close-minded posters are, I fear for the future of GM.

Why does she have to be planted? She could really be a Chinese car fan. I mean, if you like something about them, or grow up in a family that drives them... It's not totally ridiculous! I mean, people still post at Blue Oval News, right? So, if we can have Ford fans, why can't we have Chery fans?