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Had to get something to replace the Malibu lease end

Fun trip. I've been to Oshawa before when they were building the Camaro.

Too much comedy involved in being the guy who buys a 2.7t Silverado. However, it could be a Goldilocks situation in the midsizers. Colorado/Canyon buyers have proven they accept a DOHC V6 (a hurdle in the beginning for me and a lot of the internet), so a turbo 4 would less likely be seen as a joke than it is in the big trucks. I still wish GM would treat their light duty diesels as utilitarian and economical by offering them in all cab and trim configurations, more like Ram does. Instead, you are forced to pay bigger bucks in the Colorado for a crew cab, or a ZR2 extended cab, to get the diesel engine. It's the same over with the Silverado... uplevel trim packages, etc. are a requirement.

So a young coworker who is a bright red recent GLI driver the other day, saw my wagon and couldn't stop raving. He thought it was so Euro cool. I can't tell you how many people thing the car is sleek looking. I told him i wanted a red one like his red GLI but the dealer wouldn't cut me a deal on it. He likes my smoked pearl one just fine. THen i asked him if his Jetta was a stick or an auto. He said he has a dual clutch auto and he hates it. He said never again on the dual clutch. Mine is an Essence with package 1 and 2, Bose/NAv and moonroof. All the big package options you can get. But still, its a GM, it doesn't have rainsense wipers or the whole surround view camera. I think too the car should have heated rear seats. I might have sprung for cooled seats in front as well. I am impressed with the interior though. The Regal has taken flack for having a cheap interior by some accounts, but honestly everyone who has been in it says it is very nice. I agree. The plastics are nicer than the Malibu i last had. It's not as noticeable at first but after a while you see the dash top is nicer, the doors are nicer. It's not Audi nice, sure but honestly I think the interior is pretty ok for the price, and matches the character of the car. I am very fine with the plastics. I am glad i got the new 2019 with the new infotainment 3 system instead of the old system. The graphics and ease of use of the new system and gauges are well worth it to get vs a used one without if you have to make that choice. The simple gauge faces and the crisp legibility of the info screens and the simplicity of the system is amazing. It's about as easy to use as our chrysler van uconnect. But imagine if you had an old cadillac CUE system and came into this. It would be so much easier to use. The GM navigation still i think not quite as easy to use as carplay but it is nice to have the real choice now. Sometimes you don't want to plug in your phone. This is where this new system excels also. You can leave your phone hooked up without cable via bluetooth but use 'Hey Siri' with the steering wheel command button to dial up music on Apple Music, if you don't want to keep plugging and unplugging the phone. It has a wirless charger under the armrest but like before the slot is not wide enough for a larger phone and its case to slide into so that is a waste of money. The biggest issue i have so far is the seat bolstering is over aggressive and the seats are too narrow. That said, i am getting old and could lose a few but the seats would still feel tight. The real isssue is once you wedge yourself into place between the bolsters perfectly, the support of the seats is very good. The backrest support is so much better than my Malibu. Learning how to crawl in and out over the side bolsters is the annoyance and is truly a first world problem. I could have alleviated that by settling for the Preferred with the cloth non bolstered seats. But then those would not have been heated seats. I have my leftover snows from my Maliibu last year but they are 17 inch. The buick is 18". I may have to buy some wheels soon. I'm looking at some OEM Malibu wheels from 2019 on Ebay to possibly use. I want to learn how that marketplace feature works on the infotainment. I want to order a latte over my car screen soon.......

Chevy has build and price on the 2020 Blazer now. So, for 2020 you can actually get the moonroof and nice 20" wheels on the LT trim (3 LT). In 2019 you couldn't get the moonroof unless you stepped up to the RS trim. So at least you can save some dough that way. Also, the 2.0 AWD LT is also a nice option. It helps keep the price for a cloth LT under say, 38 grand sticker. Still there are tons of unsold 2019 Blazers out there. GM will really have to put the cash on the hood to get those into circulation. Just more proof they pad the MSRP's like crazy. They pad the MSRP and hang on to their inventory as long as they can before they sell them at more of what the market says they should be.

Some of the 18’s are going for more than 10 grand off sticker, but I was fortunate to find this 19 at about 10k off, so about 31,600. Plus my GM card dollars !. The demo discount helped. But here is the caveat. You basically will find almost none with adaptive cruise, or with all the packages in one car. There is a preferred 18 with blind spot package, moonroof, and Bose that they have almost 14 grand off list right now which is the one I should have bought, it’s at 24,600 right now. But that doesn’t have dual zone climate or heated seats or an armrest in the back seat. Maybe if they put heated seats in an all wheel drive car being marketed in a northern state maybe it wouldn’t sit on a lot for 2 years waiting to get sold. Im not sure why GM loves to introduce new models, roll them out slow with no advertising or incentives, then they sit for 1, 2, even more years in bunches on the lots. It is amazing how many blazers and xt4’s have been sitting on lots for a year or so now, I have no idea when they are ever going to get sold which sucks because they are nice rides. There are a shit ton of Made in Mexico blazers out there with stickers north of 50k and I struggle to understand where those are all going to go.

I have a pretty good feeling the C-class is going to be better than CT4 or CT5 based on Cadillac not having build a sedan better than the Germans in the past 40 years. I'm not sure they all of a sudden found the secret sauce to build a world beater. They are killing the CTS and probably the CT6, unless they import CT6's from China next year, and the CT5 is priced below a C-class because Cadillac knew they had to cut prices. Which I think is the best strategy for them. Cadillac should be targeting Acura, Infiniti, Genesis, Lincoln, etc, not the Germans. An Escalade Platinum with options is about $101k, and that is their most expensive product. A Mercedes GLC 63 Coupe costs that, Porsche has cars that cost 3 times that. Even at GM, the most expensive car is at Chevrolet, it isn't even a Cadillac.