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What else I've miled up since summer 2017... 2016 Chevy Cruze (green, drove it from Philly to Kentucky, then Pittsburgh, and Philly again. Great little car) 2016 Chrysler 200 with 47k miles. Smooth, not bad. Battery died...had to be towed... 2017 Nissan Altima SL (had a few), the 200 replacement. Always great mileage. Comfy seats. Terrible front end push on corners, and lack of grip. But 35 mpg+... 2017 Chevy Sonic Premier. Great visibility, nice little turbo. Rough, rattly, noisy, uncomfortable. Radio kept malfunctioning. Drove it LONG distance...and couldn't wait to give it back. 2017 Chevy Camaro 1LT RS. Red, 3.6L. Fun. Great cloth. Same hard to get in & out. But fun for a time, and good power/mileage mix. 2017 Toyota Camry SE 2.5L. Fine, not memorable. Long distance driving. Never got over 29 mpg in a 4 cylinder. Handled better than the Altimas, but not as comfy. 2017 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi. LOVED, LOVED. Cloth, no options. Burbling Hemi. I put 5,900 miles on it...drove everywhere, winter included. Long trips, Pittsburgh to Philly, averaged 29.8 mpg...better than the Camry every could. Didn't want to give it back. 2017 Dodge Journey SXT V6. 3.6L, quick 6 speed, nice sized package. Very little front legroom, but great size. Weirdest option combos ever. USB with little charging juice, but no bluetooth. Mix of old meets newer look. 2018 Dodge Charter SXT V6 RWD. Red. Smooth, crisp 3.6L, CarPlay, remote start. More functional than the Challenger. Easy to get good mileage. I love the FCA 3.6L, but it's not the most impressive in these cars, vs. the Hemi. (I think the reverse in SUV's). 2018 Chevy Impala Premier. Super well done car. Not a car fan, but great size, awesome look, decent 3.6L power. Clunky bad GM infotainment, but a nice sedan with power and size for people, that's solid. 2017 GMC Yukon SLT 4x2. Took this as a "can you take the big one?" for a while. Nice truck, but definitely an old and clunky design. Comfortable enough, and nice interior. Bad GM infotainment, and the useless can barely see it, and it doesn't beep or do a single helpful thing, GM blind spot. 2nd Enterprise I had that broke down...cruising from NY to Philly, on the turnpike, CEL triggered at a toll booth. Kept cruising, seemed fine. Next morning stumbled to turn over, shuddered, turned off. 2 more tries, it ran again, and I got it back to Enterprise. Had a bill in the glove box for "transmission shudders", before, and I noticed that too. But so has every full size GM SUV truck I've driven. 2017 GMC Terrain SLT 2.4L AWD. Know these well, after buying 2 for mom. Holy scary slow. GREAT package, size, and seats. SCARY slow. I enjoyed driving it, and the size, a LOT. But merging with the 2.4L onto highways was terrifying. I always recommended the 2.4L back then, but after long term in one, no way. Mom's 3.0L and 3.6L were monsters in comparison. Terrible mileage, too, always revving out hard to keep moving. But nice package, if it had power. 2016 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L. Thought I'd try it. Hated it, unexpectedly. Antithesis of the previous nice gen (2011+). Hard, flat seats, grainy sounds and feel, just reeked economy. Good mileage. Nice touch screen. I took it back. 2017 Kia Soul +. LOVED this little car. So comfortable, so smooth, so refined, seat height that doesn't kill your legs like a sedan, and functional. Tiny, tiny cargo space (have to be creative with suitcases), but was great. Always felt quick enough, but the mileage was never a standout in the high 20's. 2017 Ford Expedition XLT 4x2 Ecoboost. Who knew. Old school interior and tech, but the powertrain and driving dynamics the Yukon wished it had, and this was the old one. First time I merged onto the highway, I was shocked, after my last truck experience. Did about 4,500 miles on this one, and it was great. Mileage included. Advance to the more modern 2018+, and good choice. 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 Luxury II. LOVED IT SO MUCH. Leased mom one for a reason. Perfect size. Perfect drive. Perfect package. Old platform, that feels better baked, refined, powerful, and economical than other "newer things". Did 5,900 miles and wouldn't give it back. Never got tired of it. 2017 pre-Carplay, but great UConnect. The 3.6L that can feel doggy in the LX cars, is perfect here, quick, sharp, and crisp. Ideal modes, Eco for transmission and Sport for steering. Just too perfect, every day. I'd take one...any day. Filled the tank in Rochester, NY. Drove to Punxsutawney, PA & around town. Drove back to NYC...one tank...549 miles of range...unstoppable, in silent, crisp, comfortable trekking. Buy one. Skip the Hemi, no need, and just heavier. 2018 Chevy Camaro 1LT RS V6. Identical copy of what I had before. Rented in Arizona. Drove there, drove to California, and back to Arizona again over December. Fun, and comfy cloth. With 28k miles, the suspension was clunky, and it wasn't the smoothest. Felt worn out, slightly, but also just in the way the GM Alpha platform always feels too rigid and clunky. Still fun, every day, and nice 3.6L sounds. 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 Double Cab Classic. Holy titanic. GM truck powertrains...slurpy, shuddery, feel like rubber bands. Crooked tilted to the side (as every review says) steering wheel. Feels heavier than it is. Feels old. Oddly, the radio & Carplay worked well, old junk graphics aside. Had 700 miles on it to start, and after I hard throttled it a bit in Long Island, and longer trips, the transmission started smoothing out. 5.3L/6-speed in an empty truck always felt like you were trying to pull a cruise ship behind you from a stop...when in reality it was empty and just trying to get off the line. Gave it back after a week, and switched smaller... 2018 Chevy Colorado 4x4 LT 3.6L. Who knew, great truck. After the loafing, puggy, clunky, slurpy, boat anchor feeling Silverado, this drove like a car, sounded great, and somehow the 8-speed with the 3.6L makes it more of a Camaro truck. Great drive too, and no rear end leaf spring bounce liked I expected. Radio worked well. Great size. 2018 Dodge Challenger SXT 3.6L. Same package as my 2017 R/T, but with more stuff. The backup camera and 7" UConnect with Carplay were great. Comfy, smooth, solid, and liveable. Enjoyed it a lot. 3.6L, again, in these cars, doesn't feel as sharp or crisp as in something like a Grand Cherokee, but works well enough and the whole car feels relaxed. Only gave it back, when due for service. 2019 Ford Mustang Premium Convertible 2.3T. GREAT. After Camaros, and Challengers, this was a first. First day, I wasn't sure about the 2.3T, sounded like a tractor. More I I drove it, more I loved it. 2.3T/10-speed is perfect. Enjoyed it so much more than the Camaro 3.6L or the Challenger 3.6L. Always the right gear, perfect ratios, and endless power. Yet, oddly enough, also the best mileage no matter what I did. Philly to Woodstock, NY, averaged 31.9 mpg. Never reset it, and over the next 1.5 months of stop & go, back roads, NYC, etc. the my 2500 mile average was 26.9 mpg at turn in. Throw it in Sport or Track mode...and even better on a curvy road. Problem? Nasty seats and not enough legroom. Really bad. Seats and seating position like sitting in an Aerostar hurt my legs, every time. But it was so fun...and flawless in performance. 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 Classic Hemi Crew Cab. A lot to be said, for the classics. Picked this up with 4500 miles on it, and had never driven one for a while. It was worlds, and worlds, in a different league than that clunky slushy titanic 2019 Silverado Classic. Quick, crisp, smooth, on point, great steering, big mirrors, and bizarrely, easier to park than many cars. Huge 8.4" new UConnect, front & back sensors, and Carplay, with cloth, power folding mirrors and remote start. A combo package, of "old that's still good". Loved it. Even living in the city, loved it, and was always perfect. Best Infotainment and Carplay of any vehicle I've had...and day to day, refined, crisp, and great to drive easily. No negatives, other than I did confuse the rotate shifter with the volume once or twice, and the "old bones interior" would get a few random plastic clicking sounds over bumps. But Bentley vs. "what is wrong with this thing?" Silverado. And now....the finale...2019 Cadillac XTS base FWD. I wanted to keep the Ram. Enterprise asked if I'd help them and take 1 of 2 XTS's to get rid of them. 14k miles. No options. Gray on black, with 19" wheels. No blind spot, no cross path, no safety alert anything. Yet, standard, it has Auto Self Parking?!? Weirdest ever. GM way. $52k...and blind spot (GM's doesn't work anyway) is still an option. Power folding mirrors. Very smooth, very quiet. Infotainment turns on, but is awful. Carplay is clunky, and needs "are you sure?" confirmation every time. NO volume knob and the "slide massage here" CUE volume is terrible, as are the piano black push buttons that are slow to respond on the steering wheel. One of the worst, grainiest, back up cameras I've had. Soft seats. Lit details. Great looking inside. Self parking is glitchy, and only worked once. Why does a car like this self park itself, but have no other feature, safety, etc. at all? And why paddle shifters? 3.6L/6-speed is smooth...and thankful, a normal shifter. But... My last 2 years in rentals. Fun R&D long term tests...or "please, just take it back. I'll take anything else!" Ha. My company car awaits...

A new bubble forming. It makes the GDP look good, but it's not a good sign for the economy.

Saw an article on Japlopnik today about there being almost a record high # of unsold new vehicles.

Hmmm...

Point taken. The Italians have little or no reason to sell cars in the USA when better marques already exist in their own stable.

^ $1000 in 1899 equates to $30,500 today. - - - - -

Missed 2 more I had in the summer... 2017 Ford Taurus Limited. Great old car. Feature packed, Limited with everything including auto high beams. Ford 3.5L always feels crisper with the FWD 6-speed than a GM 3.6L/6-speed car, and mileage was good. Weird seats, and wide car, but worked well. Kept it for a while. Same weird "doesn't beep or do anything blind spot" like GM, but cross traffic worked well. But, for a $40k sedan...skip them. A crossover is more comfortable, more functional, and doesn't hurt my legs. Hence why this and the Impala are extinct. 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe AWD 2.4L. Kept this one for a while. Not much power, but efficient enough. Not high in features, basically base with AWD, but a great size, smoothness, seats, etc. Felt quicker than the Terrain, and much better tuning/etc, and day to day useful, quiet, etc. Kept it a while.

Because they're using that money to try and revive dead Italian brands. Something over a billion dollars spent on the Alfa platform, and what have they got to show for it?!?

Bob Eaton Sold Chrysler to Daimler because he wanted shareholders to cash out. Chrysler has largely suffered ever since. FCA (i.e. the Italians) HATE all Chrysler brands NOT named Jeep. The new CEO must ditch FIAT and Alfa Romeo as soon as possible (at least in the USA); otherwise we will see Chrysler and Dodge will die while RAM and Jeep will be bled for cash.

DRIVEN: 2018 Buick Enclave Essence AWD original MSRP about 49,000 HIGHS: -Stylish, understated looks, particularly for a rather large CUV. -Room and space, OMG what so many are looking for. And it has it a plenty. Simply put, leg room, hips and shoulders, head room. Easy to ingress and egress; just perfect for that! This is why people buy these kind of vehicles. OH I LOVE THE GIRTH. So comfortable is this vehicle. Nice driving position, for a CUV. -A very interesting interior design, consistent with recent Buick theming, with all the swooping and flowing curves and trim.....but probably best executed overall in this vehicle. The interior on this rig was 'dark galvanized', but if I were shopping hard on the Enclave, I would go for the tan / brown interior. Either way, a nice mix of softer touch and textured materials. A lot of nice touch points all over, the armrests, dash, doors. Nice layout and gauges / climate control. -Optional sunroofs were on this vehicle, and its just another nice feature that really makes the cabin grand. -Good trunk space, seats up or folded. The back cargo cover behind the third row flips up and sits in its detent to make the cargo floor a little deeper. Great for those Costco runs when you might run into the evil Mitt, and you share a conversation about how much toilet paper you can buy in one trip. -GM's 3.6 v6 powertrain has always been a complete Jekyll and Hyde performance to me on all the different vehicles I have driven with it in the last 2-3 years. In a recent 2017 Cadillac XT5 test drive, I found the powertrain to less satisfying than i thought it ought to be. Also, same with a Regal GS and LaCrosse. I must say however, the powertrain is spot on in the Enclave. Smooth, responsive, the transmission shifts wonderfully. And a nice, throaty (and not coarse at all) sound. The AWD system did not bring added heft or friction to the drive of the vehicle. I must say, GM engineered the Traverse and Enclave very well. I will say the v6 is still a bit shy of smoothness and noise vs. the Pentastar v6 in my Pacifica, but the difference is so minute, not really worth mentioning much. -Rather shocked....i really liked the quick direct steering and handling. Don't get me wrong, this is not a sedan or sporting vehicle. But it felt nimbler than something like this should. Again, not as carlike as my Pacifica....but not far off. And the suspension was not a rollover. This vehicle had the 18" wheels too. Well tuned vehicle dynamically. -Simply put, this is a classic Buick wagon for today's age. This is the perfect vehicle to eat thousands and thousands of miles. LOWS: -While the interior is quite good overall, there is actually plenty of spots where typical GM cheapness is evident. Seat leather could be higher grade and no so much looking like fine vinyl. Lots of plastic aft of the front row looks quite cheap in places you don't touch a lot but still do see, especially in the trunk. Even the lowers of the dash and doors, if they had nicer plastics it would really complement what is done so well on the other parts of the dash. We all know GM really hates to do a full knock it out of the park interior. -Well, ok, you want this vehicle for the room and space, and how big it is. But i will say, it's size can also be too much. It's of course your choice, and GM has the bases covered with smaller offerings like the Acadia and the soon to be XT6. The large size, and even with plenty of windows to see out of.... others in traffic can get hidden pretty easy in your blind spots and you had better spend time adjusting your mirrors. You just may not be seeing all you wish to see around and behind you in this large, high riding chariot. And it may be just large enough to challenge for space in your garage. -Latch for the sunroof cover up front is a bit testy to use and seems like down the road...will probably break. -not much else, as usual with GM, I assume pricing on leasing or buying a GM vehicle at any given day in the space time continuum can have a wildly varying influence on whether the Enclave is a good value in the market or not. With the eye popping crazy prices of well equipped CUV's in general these days, I tend to think the Enclave fits into a nice pocket...'near premium' perhaps.... where it is a better buy than the more prestigious marques. -At the end of the day, Buick still has an old person rep. This vehicle doesn't change it, it maybe continues to help that rep along. And the interior as nice as it is, can be perceived as dull, or 'old styled' in comparison to some of the crazy overdone CUV interiors out there nowadays. But hey, older buyers who like restraint and less crazy designs buy cars too? No shame in making elegant less flashy vehicles for those folks....even if others think its dull and for old people. SUMMARY: The vehicle will deliver as intended, you will get what you are seeking, and it's not far outside the realm of value. Along with the Traverse, one of GM's best executed vehicles. It's good that GM didn't fuck up this segment of vehicles because I am sure this is where GM makes a lot of profits from. If you want one, be sure to understand for yourself whether you really want a vehicle quite this big. A solid "A" for this thing. I sure hope the XT6 is somehow an amazing vehicle because I am not sure why you would spend the extra money on the XT6 over the Enclave.

"Whaddya mean - that Caddy just fit in!"

Driving north through Ohio to see a friend...I saw a lot of rail cars normally used for shipping new cars put into sidings normally only used for deep storage of things that will be out of service for awhile. Signs of an impending slowdown? I actually like some of each of their products. But nothing is really exciting me in terms of new product.

Nice review, thank you. We were considering it for my wife but it is just too big for our needs, my wife wants something smaller and nimbler. Otherwise I like it a lot.

I think they should still write obits this graphic ~

Hydro-Carbon System ~

Well that is a factory situation. VW slathers a similar stuff on their cars too.

They should kill off FIAT. Alfa Romeo and Maserati serve different luxury markets and that would be throwing profits away. Chrysler as a near-luxury brand can work if they are willing to invest the money into that.

reg, that is not rust. I am no BMW fan by a long shot... but that is corrosion protection material spilling out of the door drain holes. Fixed that for ya Balthy

I love the idea of this new LT1 model. I've been saying forever they need to do this. This car with a manual would be an awesome fun daily.

As for the topic, this is a stupid decision. As with most of VW's problems, they only have themselves to blame here. The Golf doesn't sell for 2 reasons- there's almost never incentives- they lease like crap; and they have constantly decontented thim and slashed trim models. Point one- A standard Golf lease with no money down or lease specials will run almost $400 a month after taxes. I've seen it too many times. Know what a Civic or Corolla with the same terms will lease for? $275-300. For what is such a cost conscious and frugal market, you can't compete if your car is $100-150 more a month to own. Point two- When they had a full a model spread, and were doing models like the Special Edition in 2016, they had fair amount of demand. But ever since the Mk7 came out, they have taken away equipment/features every year, cancelled trims, and generally made the car look worse, and a worse value. If they sold a Wolfsburg model with a bit more power (not GTI levels), some nicer equipment, and a better appearance, it'd have sold. Or an R Line model like other markets get. They should have made AWD an option. There's plenty they could have done. What's really stupid is that they are doing this at a time when numerous other brands are finding a business case for hatchbacks, and they are so established already. On top of that, they aren't bringing the the I.D. Hatchback here, so there is no replacement, they have no sub-Golf hatchbacks that could capture those buyers, and a compact crossover for the American market is still realistically 2 years away. They can try to spin this however they want with sales trends, skewed data, market monitoring; or like everything else, blame it on Millenials all they want, but in the end, this is a textbook example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. VW can thank themselves, and only themselves for the Golf's performance in our market.

Car shopping. Rust already on drain holes at door of a 2016 bmw 3 series

C-02 ~

If Zoyte is smart, then they will be a CUV-only brand when they enter the US market. Most of Buick sales (at least in the USA) are crossovers, NOT sedans. It was not that long ago that 40% of Cadillac new car sales were the XT5 (only). GM and Ford are shedding sedans at a fast clip, while FCA has largely abandoned mainstream sedans entirely (300/Charger aside). Apparently, even Honda and Toyota are struggling with sedan sales while neither can make enough CUVs. The American people have spoken: no more sedans please.

Overall sales for the whole US market were down 2.3%

They started the downward spiral of product degradation, from the half baked Crossfire to the POS Caliber. FCA had to clean up that dumpster fire and finally update the Charger and Grand Cherokee. I do agree about the LX platform though. It is still a solid platform to this day even if it is old as dirt (by todays standard).