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My kid has been working on this for about a year. 1998 Chevy 1500. He worked for a few years cutting grass and doing odd jobs to get the money for a truck and all it would need. So far he has put a new engine in it all on his own (me observing and advising when needed) He is now replacing all brake lines and brakes. Once that is done itll be road ready. His plan is to then save for some body panels for new paint and some interior work As far as finance goes his mom and I could pay for it all, but he is willing to put the work in to getting his own and wants to know how to fix stuff. So it's a win win

I don't think I have 75 years left in me to see that happen.

Must be the 1970s in a parallel universe.. nothing about this looks 1970s to me. Late 70s cars were very square and upright inside and usually had bench seats. The Nautilus doesn't seem retro to me, just an update to the MKX... I like the berry red seats and trim.

'42 Cadillac trunk emblem ~

The REAL question is how many 60 000 dollar priced vehicles (and over..but not less than 60 000)does Mercedes Benz really sell. (Not city buses and Freightliner 18 wheelers) But honest to goodness 60 000 dollar REAL luxury cars and SUVs. Because we DO know that Cadillac is at the 400 000 unit level. OK...minus a few ATS cars...Cadillac at 350 000. Not that real luxury cars should be measured by how many units sold...but since our resident M-B fan likes to hear his own voice on this, Im curious...

DRIVEN: 2019 Chevrolet Malibu 1LT 1.5 with CVT, cloth, MSRP just a little over 29,000 my previous review of current gen Malibus are here, where I cover a lot of the highs and lows. https://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/topic/86223-2016-chevrolet-malibu-1lt-15-update-2-hybrid-20-2lt/ Also in reader rides is a link for my lease experience with a 2016 Malibu LT 1.5 to date (now pushing about 40,000 miles). Therefore, I will try to address what is fresh / different on the 2019 car, most specifically the odd decision to swap out the 6 speed traditional automatic for an all new, in house, GM designed CVT transmission. NEW HIGHS: -Revised new front end clip is a legitimate style enhancement from the 2016-2018. It may look like a bigger gaping fish mouth, but it every line about it fits well with the design of the vehicle. Also, in RS trim, when blacked out, looks more like it means business too. -Available RS appearance trim package (more on this later). -Dual zone climate control now standard on LT model. Too add to that, heated seats with cloth are standard on LT as well, now. (to see what you lose off LT standard equipment, read below) -If you have to put a CVT in a car these days, this CVT actually seems to do a good job in comparison to past CVT's I have driven and other CVT's currently out there. It has the simulated stepped gear effect that most have adopted now, and it responds about as quick as most CVT's are wont to do these days. It doesn't have so much of the rubber band or catch up effect as older CVT's. I think it is just the state of the breed these days that some of the real performance agitators from the older CVT's keep getting lessened all the time. The fact that this is an in-house GM designed and manufactured unit is even more impressive, especially considering the disaster in the mid 2000's with Saturn's CVT's the first time around. So despite all of this..... (read below). NEW LOWS: -This all starts with the absolute tool move by Mary Barra and GM to fix or replace what was not broken. The 6 speed automatic was a great match to the 1.5t motor, and together the engine and transmission made the most of not a lot of power in the small displacement motor. The transmission was never a reason to consider the car less than capable, or loud, or unrefined. The 6 speed, despite only having 6 speeds, got the most performance and refinement it could out of that fuel economy conscious powertrain. The powertrain was not a source of excess noise or unwanted refinement. The Malibu WAS a fairly quiet car for its price and class. So the new CVT by my sampling should be among the good CVT's out there today. BUT IT STILL RUINS / CHANGES THE CAR. Roll on acceleration at speed is still responsive and good. But starts and stops, yes, now you have the loud drone. And you really gotta pound the gas to get the turbo kick, where with the six speed it is nice easy throttle foot. Even the lesser doses of all the traits that make CVT's annoying still tend to be highly annoying. When you step on it with the 6 speed, the car kicks down and it doesn't DRONE the same as the CVT does. And it really is just less refined, and MORE LOUD CABIN NOISE. To the point that it changes the car and I think many people will not be on board with it. I am sure more miles with it may help the uncaring get used to it, but to buyers on a 4 mile test drive, this doesn't bode well for GM to stoop to other carmakers level here. -LT cloth trim (most popular trim) of Malibu gains dual climate, and heated cloth, but now Chevy takes away your standard leather wrap wheel. BUT WAIT, you get a leather wrap wheel on the RS (but you don't get remote start, heated cloth or dual zone on the RS). WTF Chevy. And, no moonroof available with RS. WTF. An RS with dual zone, remote start, heated cloth, audio upgrade, moonroof (and no CVT, why not the higher HP 1.5 and regular 9 speed from the Terrain too?)...wtf Chevy that would sell to the young buyers you want to court here. You probably spent more than 200 bucks on that tacked on trunklid RS spoiler you can't delete, and many wouldn't want with the lines of this car. OR, hey, why not a 2.0 engine option on the RS? -Still no shut off for autostop. -still hard to get Chevy to move away from these drab, all black, everything black interior trimmings. Mix in more lighter tones in contrast please! -The salesguy made a great point. Unprompted he talked about how if Chevy had an all wheel drive option for the Malibu it would help it to not lose sales to CUV's or other sedans. I had noted even the Altima had AWD now and that's when he said people look at the Malibu and when they find out the Malibu doesn't have AWD option, they immediately turn and move on to something else. So the Malibu is getting interest and maybe it's time to think about that AWD option. (Right now Ford has a Fusion SE AWD package with a big discount for the 2.0 and AWD that you can spec out one for about the same price as this Malibu 1.5's MSRP). SUMMARY: Well, a CVT is something a person can always get used to. But here, Mary Barra and GM and their beancounters did something that they didn't need to do, and shouldn't have. They tried to change what was working and in the name of what? Virtually no change in EPA ratings. So what, then? Well, I believe i read somewhere and I will have to dig this up where it said that by using the CVT in lieu of the regular automatic, that GM was saving 200 bucks per car by switching to the CVT (which is made in Mexico). This was a matter of fact change that in this article even, no one from GM could seem to endorse why. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a22835282/2019-chevrolet-malibu-rs-cvt-driven/ https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/malibu/2019/2019-chevrolet-malibu-rs-first-drive-review/ It really is about the money, and just wanting to force a new tranny into use that they may need for future models....except into an existing model that worked well enough, and better! with what it has. There is no improvement and in fact it hurts the car. An absolute tool move by GM. They will need to put more than that 200 dollars a car in extra incentives to try to keep a buyer interested after they hear the drone of that CVT.....especially GM fans who are among the most CVT averse buyers in the industry. In the showroom was a new 2018 with the leather and moonroof and the 1.5 with the six speed automatic. If you want one of those, get it before it's gone!

If ATP (what people are actually spending on an automotive purchase) is "pretty meaningless", without question base MSRP is 'completely meaningless', yet you mention it constantly. I read that Cadillac already built out all 2019 2.0T CT6s before the end of last year when such was announced, so basically your oft-touted "$50K CT6" is non-existent. It's also very likely how you mislead yourself as to Cadillac's ATPs being so close to MB and exceeding BMW & Audi.

Yet mercedes & Cadillac ATPs are shocking close, and running #1 & #2 of all volume luxury brands.

They don't want you to buy a Malibu anyway. They want you to pony up an extra $5k to get into a Blazer or loaded 'Nox

Great project for a kid of any age. Hook them young and they won't have any money for drugs.

You know that "entry level" luxury is an oxymoron, right? You know that is not a thing, right? Like...even if the word "luxury" is in the phrase "entry level luxury", you know that is not real luxury, right? What Mercedes sells is zircon to folk. So a better way of putting that is Mercedes Benz has fooled millions into buying zircon. I hope you also know and understand that Chevy also sells a ton of "entry level" price tagged vehicles. Or as you put it...luxury priced... Because if you tally up all the HD Silverados and Tahoes and Suburbans, Chevy actually sells MORE of those 3 than what all of Mercedes sells... I wouldnt be tooting that too loudly, buddy. That Mercedes sells lots and lots of C Class and A class cars and YOU try pass those as 1%er vehicles...

Not my future. Feel pretty safe in saying not the majority of any of our futures, either. Just price checked a ride from an old address into town to the shopping area- 26 miles round trip, $56-70 dollars (plus tip) via Uber. My truck costs me on average $7/day for insurance & fuel. Add ownership cost WRT depreciation, and it's $7.11. I'm saving money hand-over-fist owning my own vehicle.

Cadillac is not a mainstream, full-line/taxi/fleet/cargo van brand. They're not trying to "catch up".

I just got a crazy idea. Instead of creating dumb ass commercials trying to convince that Buicks are not for old people, why doesnt Buick build cars and CUVs tht are NOT for old people. Because even if the Cascada was a convertible, it sure looked and smelled like moth balls, if you know what I mean. I dont get it. Even in China, Buick should have at least attempted to bring back the Riviera nameplate... It would have been better if Buick actually gave the Chinese and the Americans a bloody Riviera... There is soooo much youthful exuberance in that design that no no words need to be spoken to tell people what Buick is all about... It even out-Musks Elon Musk by making bolder doors... Its even a Hybrid... The one in 2007 was similar and just as jaw dropping gorgeous. And in my honest opinion, This next one works better as a Buick than it did a Chevrolet...a cop car Chevrolet at that... I mean, its a Buick therefore a high price tag would not have caused a heart attack because Buick. Park Avenue at that... And the Chevy SS was different enough in the looks department that Chevy wouldnt be afarid to advertise the SS and sell some copies to make...you know...money... What were they afraid of with the Park Avenue? That it was the 1st generation Zeta platform? That didnt stop Pontiac in getting the G8 nor did it not phase the Chinese that bought the Park Avenue by the ton. Its not as if Buick had such an incredible image in America back then that the Zeta Park Avenue would be an embarrassment. Au contraire, it was light years ahead of what Buick was peddling back then. The Lucerne was just a re-badged Olds Aurora that was uglier...and had grandpa driving characteristics as opposed to the Aurora and especially to the even sportier Pontiac Bonneville. Its a bloody shame that Pontiac, Oldsmobile and now Buick have been mismanaged to oblivion.

Went to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum at the Cleveland History Center today...they have a nice eclectic collection, incl. a group of brass era cars, some of which are brands that were built in Cleveland like Peerless, Jordan, Chandler, Baker. A little bit of everything, incl. airplanes, a Goodyear Blimp gondola, a couple small boats, etc. They had a Hemi Satellite and a '65 GTO: Some 40s-50s cars:59 Chevy, Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special, 57 T-Bird & Mercedes 300SL Some pre-war cars:Airflow, '39 Lincoln-Zephyr, Auburn and a Cadillac A couple stainless steel Ford one-offs:36 Ford & '66 Continental Some concept cars:AMX, Dodge Avenger, and Jeep Compass An 80s-90s exhibit... And a couple early Baker electrics and an EV-1.

Mercedes A Class interior is a complete POS trainwreck of a design. But the fanbois will go for it

ATP of the Escalade early last year was $87K. CTS was almost $59K. ATS was at $41K. LAst year Cadillac sold about 376K vehicles in US, China, Can, Korea, and Russia

Yeah, the newest Lincolns are American style to me, not retro. Love 'em.

The issue is that the auto pilot and super cruise type systems are only for use on the highways, which by their very nature have fewer accidents per mile traveled. The only thing that helps in the city is the automatic emergency braking.

Found these two poor babies on the way home from costco today.

Awesome, job, Love the work you have done so far. Consider using plastic wheel well liners, this will reduce the rust issue and make it a bit quieter. Excited to see this progress. Give us a little video if you do not mind with your long range plans for the truck. Keep up the great work. This is how I did my first auto which was a Chevy Truck. Complete tear down and rebuild back to factory spec in 1983. Auto Projects Rock!

I will assume they care about money though. In my example above, I could make the same trip 6 or more times a day for the same initial price of $7, whereas Uber would cost over $400. It's the same thing WRT almost all EVs- do I care about 'saving' $150/mn in fuel costs when I have to spend $30,000 more to do so? That's 200 months, or 17 years to break even. I've been Jonesing to get into a new truck for a year now, and I've got 13 years behind it's wheel this summer.

Fantastic. Looks like it will be a good truck done.

Mercedes sells the A-Class, B-Class, and SMART. They certainly do play in "Chevy" markets even if they're priced outrageously for the content. And don't try to tell me the A-Class is "worth it" either.

Depends on what profit level it will be- if GM makes more money on scooters, Wall Street may not take kindly to them wasting money on niche products.......

Watching what GM is doing now, it starts to make sense that Buick simply becomes a china brand and caddy simply just goes away. In a future where electric cars and scooters become your main focal point- there’s no point in keeping the shiny things around...... I keep preaching that the car is dead....and at some point-the SUV as well. Trucks live on due to work demands. But between the cost and the lack of interest in vehicles in general- Uber, electric and public transportation is your future.........

Japanese imports grew notably with the gas crisis, but it took the germans a few decades longer because they weren't competitive for so long. And Cadillac sold 395,000 vehicles last year.