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Of course you know I tend to look at this from the vintage perspective. Walk up to a given car and there's zero bundling- no way to expect Option B because it has option A. Much more configurable / individually custom. That's 'luxury' right there. Cadillac should move to ala cart options on upper tier models : CT6 / XT6 and above. Would blow the luxury consumer's mind.

GET IN HERE

^ Agreed. But along the same lines, they don't "have" to bundle a sunroof, heated steering wheel, power trunk & light up grille ornament together when they have nothing to do with each other.

Great news! Just 3 days ago ... On November 26, 2008, the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) arrived to Dubai to become a centerpiece hotel at the entrance to Palm Jumeirah, the palm shaped development in Dubai's harbor. We lapsed into a serious global recession shortly thereafter and the ship remained idle. The ship went into disrepair. It was moved around a few times. A British consortium wanted to buy her back and dock her on the Thames. The Chinese were said to be interested in her for scrap. Well, out of the blue, we learn that the QE2 has survived. It has in fact become a hotel, all of the tacky things they wanted to do with it, including removing the trademark Cunard funnel, did not materialize, and the interiors are very tasteful, blending aspects of both the ship and a hotel. The ship looks a little strange without its lifeboats. The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, also a floating hotel, retained hers. The ship will stay in the harbor at Port Rashid, near the cruise terminal. It was not moved to Port Jumeirah. The ship's history is long and she sailed for some 40 years, if you count sea trials. It officially left Southampton on May 2, 1969, arrived in New York on May 7, 1969, and then "retired" in Dubai on November 26, 2008, so that's almost 40 years in actual commercial service. That's impressive. In people years, that's like living to be over 100! This is great news. Fans of the QE2 are relieved that the ship lives on! I first saw the ship in the port of Los Angeles when it arrived to dock for its first annual world cruise.

This...deserves a frowny face. Nothing this hideous will make ANY automaker copy it. Not even the Chinese or the Koreans...

One of my biggest gripes with Buick is it appears the competition (and often cheaper cars that don't compete) have a lot more content, and better packaging. I have to jump up 3 trim levels or even go to the top trim to get certain features that are standard on a Corolla. Sure, the LaCrosse is a much nicer, larger car, but I can't help but feel at this price and time, some things should just be standard like Blind-zone monitoring. Then there's the gripe that in order to add one feature you often have to add several other expensive packages. Anyone else get frustrated? I know I have another year before I need to get my next car, but I want to start looking now so I'm ready to go right before my lease is up.

Not necessarily focusing on you Balthy or on Paolino with my 1st world problem statement... Just a general statement that 1st word people like to complain about...in general. But as you and Paolino have stated in these posts, and how you even said: Yes...1st world problems. Manufactures in the USA have collected enough data over the last car buying century, have conducted many focus group meetings, that they have more or less stream lined the options available in their offerings... Pay up and shut up it shall be. And that means that the way these options are being offered is just to facilitate the money coming in for these companies...you know...profit. Profit is the driving force of a 1st world country. I understand what you want out of cars as I have a feeling we both want the same thing out of our cars regarding these safety features. I always buy the top of the line trim model, yet I hardly use the features that come with the car. I pay up and shut up...but that is how I want it anyway. In Paolino's case, either he pays up and shuts up with a higher trimmed Buick that he doesnt want, but living in the 1st world, he has options to buy somewhere else other than Buick. It is NOT frustrating because we, North Americans, are free and rich enough to buy almost whatever we want, whenever we want it. Look at his statement... He has another year to go to get another car. He KNOWS he will get another car. He just does NOT know what he wants yet. He is frustrated with a false sense of not getting what he wants. Yet what he wants is available somewhere no doubt... He WILL find it. He WILL acquire it. There is no doubt that he will find it and acquire it. Next year. Its a guarantee. In your case. You want the option to de-option. But your fellow American citizens want their cars to do their laundry for them if it was possible. Your fellow Americans are now even tired to wait in a drive-thru window to get their coffee that they would want their car to place an order through their car's internet connection and their restaurant of choice and they want their coffee to be ready as soon as they arrive... And these features are a must today... So...maybe not a 1st world complaint you have Balthy, but your complaint resides with the North American market DEMANDING these 1st world options to be available at ANY price point. So...you and I have no other choice but to pay up and shut up as WE are in the minority... So yeah...1st world problems where we have these options at our feet, we either complain because we dont want them, or we complain because we want them offered a certain way... Yet in other parts of the world... OK...less grim... That would be asylum seekers in a country that is thought to be paradise... Yes..that would be Greece... And lets look at Greeks in Greece. Forget that...lets look at Detroit Michigan... So yeah...1st world problems complaining about being frustrated at the lack of features on a Buick... Like I said. Buick offers no features you like. Do not buy Buick. Buy something else. In America, we still have plenty of choices to choose from. This aint an angry rant. Just a defensive post defending my 1st world statement.

I certainly don't see or would classify what I said as "1st world problems". I would greatly prefer unbundled options, and further; the choice of choosing (or, as in my case; not) some 'safety' features in the same manner. Where can I buy that??

1st world problems are nice to have. Buick does NOT offer you what you want in a car. Dont buy Buick. Buy something that offers you what you want at the price you want it for.

Things I'd like to get in a car mostly aren't available, then other things I don't want, are standard. Nobody can ever be happy, it seems.

The front doesn't really do much to make me think "Buick". It looks like a Prius was turned into a wagon and had a Buick wing/insignia thrown on it.

The original Queen Mary was "rescued." She found a home in Long Beach, CA. The original Queen Elizabeth, of roughly the same vintage as the first Mary, did not fare as well. Its last stint was as "Seawise University" in Hong Kong, and it then suspiciously caught fire and capsized in Hong Kong harbor. The hull remained there for quite a long time before it was removed. Also, I was able to sail on the QE2 once, out of Manhattan, so it's nice to know it's conceivable that I might be able to see the ship again, even though that's a stretch. A trip on the QE2 is an unforgettable experience. I only wish Fort Lauderdale had bought the ocean liner to put it in its harbor. It would then be much easier to see it (hello Southwest!) and make for sort of a "symmetrical" situation with Cunard and Long Beach, CA!

I KNEW BLU would downvote!!! You are soooooo phoquing predictable!!! You scream and shout and whine about liberal Californians. YOU SHOVE SHYTE MY way about how EVs is NOT your thang... How phoquing conservative YOU are... Yet when someone has a differing opinion that yours...you downvote away... Typical! Like I said...good luck to you out there in Lancaster. Or as a Motor Trend forum poster used to say about places like Lancaster. Bubblephoque, USA.

Good to hear...love these ships. I've visited the Queen Mary in Long Beach many times, stayed on it at least 1/2 dozen times (would always stay there when I drove over for the Long Beach Grand Prix).

https://www.investors.com/news/tesla-gm-joined-in-1-million-ev-sales-race-by-japanese-rival-nissan/ As of March 23, 2018... Nissan, Toyota, Tesla, GM, Volkswagen all want to sell 1 million EVs by as early as 2022 and as late 2026. These are sales targets... Tesla wants 1 million by 2020. They dont have to production knowledge to do so. I keep on hearing that people dont want EVs... Well...maybe in certain parts of the United States of America. But other parts of this phoquing planet...they want EVs... Infrastructure and range anxiety are all of the bullsyte argument variety. If one wants change....change DOES happen... I have NO DOUBT that each and every one of these automakers WILL succeed in selling 1-2-3 million EVs a year EACH by 2030. Not here though. Not in North America. As long as people like you, BLU, who lives in a bubble...will NEVER happen! MONTREAL is currently hosting its 2nd annual EV autoshow. Like right now! Like April 20, 21 and 22. Like this very week-end. SEPARATE from the Montreal Auto Show and a lot smaller. But it is growing... https://svem.ebems.com/home.html Its fine to NOT want EVs... Just dont snicker at the fact that the phoquing planet is MOVING away from gasoline engines... In China and in Japan for instance...the infrastucture for EVs is being built RIGHT NOW by LEAPS and BOUNDS... Yes...I know...the United States of of America people, much like yourself, dont want that change... Its cool... Dont phoquing complain when people from OUTSIDE of the United States of America make fun of you... Just like you folk made fun of others outside the USofA...its payback time if you folk do NOT go with the flow... From the late 1970s... From 1985... Just before this scene...DOC makes fun of Japanese electronics... from 2018... Its not nice to laugh...but the Smokey and the Bandit laughter at Japanese cars was told in blindness. The Back to the Future laughter was satirical and an eye opener. The Trump thing was just flat out backwards and catering to the folk that are simply...simpletons...the simpletons of America dragging your beautiful country down... All this to say...America IS falling behind... America is NOT the world leader it once was... NOT because America has lost it completely. Its because the WORLD itself has had a chance to catch up to America. Yes...thanx in part to America...but that is the thing. The world is such a smaller place right now... Other world powerhouses do influence the world, including America. If you dont evolve with the times, be prepared to fall by the way side. Take that as you will BLU, but change only happens if you want it. Success happens ONLY if you STRIVE for it. Hoping for the best and NOT doing ANYTHING about it will ONLY result in failure. You see, other engineering brainiacs and innovative entrepreneurs ELSEWHERE on the planet get to dictate what is the future going to be and if you living in Lancaster Pennsylvania can not see that and still see China and Japan and Korea as rice patty places and Germany and France and Greece as 3rd world countries devastated by war...yes Greece...Greece still has the brain power to reverse severe austerity measures...then you living in Lancaster Pennsylvania will be the one to be what those countries were in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s... Laugh...but that horse and buggy will be coming to you soon if you dont adapt... Laugh...but what Greece is experiencing right now, what the USA experienced in 2009, will happen again, but PERMANENTLY if you Americans CONTINUE to live a life on credit but FAIL to MODERNIZE!!! Yes...MODERNIZE!!! Fossil fuels are coming to an end...be it 20 years from now or 50 years from now... Change needs to happen to YOUR country NOW... EV infrastructure needs to be built NOW...and not at a slow sloth pace its at...at the the rabbit pace its happening in China... California, Washington...its got it! Lancaster Pennsylvania...I feel sorry for you!

Wasn't there a commercial sometime in the 1950s or 1960s that said you want a sports car but you marry an Oldsmobile? (Or was it Buick?) But yeah... Aphrodite: Greek Goddess of beauty, love and fertility. Eros: Greek God of love and SEXUAL DESIRE! No need to commit. One could have flings! There is nothing wrong with that. One could have lustful desires and one could indulge in them without the burden of love and commitment...if its between 2 consenting adults that are NOT committed with other people in a bond of holy matrimony. If one could have strong lustful desires and love with a wife or husband, then that is awesome... I know...Christianity does not allow for lustful desires outside the bonds of holy matrimony. Its a good thing for us Greeks that there is loophole for us as Aphrodite and Eros allowed us that for a minimum of 3500 years BEFORE the Holy Trinity took it away from us...and...the Holy Trinity is only bossing us around for ONLY 2000 years after that.... With THAT being said... Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW also have HORRID emotional problems. The thing is, long term relationships with those 3 are at a minimum...people lease those cars, non? Actually, people lease faithful Chevys, Hondas and Toyotas. People just dont want commitment today! People lust over those buxom blonde Germans, yet they are aware of the long term problems so they dont commit long term. They dont marry them.... Same for Alpha Romeos. One could EASILY have lustful flings with Alpha, as long as one takes a 3 year lease term. And then one moves unto another conquest. To frolic naked in the Garden of Eden with a lover doing all kinds of nasty and dirty things to said lover...

You know what, Moltar has said... because of my place of residence, I'm stuck in a time warp... but honestly, I would rather transport myself in THIS than THAT! ? trinacriabob should like this because it has an upright, formal roof. And look at the wheels-to-the-corners stance... so hot right now... there's like NEGATIVE overhangs... PLUS, it uses no gas, so dfelt should be pleased as well. It's a WIN-WIN!

I think he is confusing loudness with harshness. GM (and others) cheats on some of their Turbo-4s in Buick and Cadillac by putting active noise cancellation in. My Encore has it and is very quiet, though the engine isn't as smooth as I'd want it to be. I drove a Trax which doesn't have Active Noise Cancellation and the racket was horrible. I have weird hearing though, it is difficult for me to hear at some frequencies and I have higher sensitivity to higher frequency harsh sounds. Most turbo-4s in cars without active noise cancellation aren't very pleasant for me. It's not the volume though, it's what the sound "sounds" like. With ACN, the engineers can change the interior sound quite a bit, so while a turbo-4 might be at a lower dB than a V6, the sound might be irritating (I'm not saying that is the case in the ATS T4 v. ATS V6, I'm just using it as an example). I think that is what @dfelt is trying to say.

An Eagle sedan or wagon would be fun to restomod w/ modern Jeep components..

Well...we've seen this styling before... From Mercedes... And we all know the PT Cruiser was throwback styling to these... Yes! American cars from the mid to late 1930s just before America entered WW2 and the US automakers shut down automobile production... This a Buick. 1938. With running boards for a SUV look. These are high off the ground. They actually DO have a trunk. They got today's high beltline styling. They look aerodynamic... Ive actually said this before...if we are gonna go down the SUV craze for a tad longer...I want my SUV to look like this. Now...take that monstrosity rendering from Mercedes. Which one would YOU like to be seen in? Id take the 1938 Buick Special please!!! The design is more coherent. More fluid. More elegant...and dare I say it? MORE MODERN!!!! Even with those fenders and the upright windshield!!! So...like I said, NOBODY would be copying that M-B. Its UGLY! If anything...automakers would be looking to Harley Earl's designs from 80 years ago for inspiration...

Seems Mercedes-Benz Maybach SUV photo's leaked in China and while some in China are saying Daring and beautiful, I have to say GROSS! https://jalopnik.com/the-vision-mercedes-maybach-ultimate-luxury-suv-is-way-1825413827

I would agree with you that they are not grand or perfect, but since both Ford and Chevrolet seem to feel they need an EV version for their pony lines and it needs to be a CUV, I can see why they are doing it to capture and retain their customers. Remember, some peeps here have said Corvette needs a CUV version too.

Madness.. keep the Mustang and Camaro as they are. If they want to make sporty SUVs/CUVs, create some new identities.

Easily the most visually offensive Buick... ever. Putrid.

OMG my wheel is smoking again. And I thought I sawr sparks.

Now now mister, I am more than delighted to downvote baloney, BUT that doesn't mean I'm trying to stop you. I will get myself a kevlar scrolling wheel because ain't nobody got time for dat. If I answer you word for word all of us will go deaf and blind from age trying to read all of this STUFF.