Croc

I, personally, prefer it without the wood and with the silver/piano black trim.

Though, on a design basis, it's a valid point. It's certainly brings nothing new to the midsize segment. It's a plain, simplified design we've seen before. It could be considered something Volkswagen has always done, though to a much greater extent with their two new mainstream offers, for better or worse.

It may not do Volkswagen any favors, but this segment has never really sold on style. The Camry and Accord have never managed to reinvent their interiors and the competitors who have tried, have never managed success.

Top 5 sellers:

Would you really rate any of these better?

In these forms, no. But the Malibu and Accord--with wood--are better. Yes, the Malibu has too many cutlines, but it's in its last year. Given the Cruze interior, I can't wait to see what the new Malibu interior looks like, especially versus the Passat. The LaCrosse, however, certainly has a better interior.

Malibu is new this fall, though I find the current interior adequate.

Honestly, when I look at the outgoing/incoming interiors for the Passat, I can't tell which one is newer. I think the new radio/climate unit is nicer with the metallic accents, and I think the shift knob is very slightly improved. The old dash, however, has far more personality, and the old instrument cluster looks more premium to me. The old interior also has some nice metallic accents on the door panels that are no longer there.

Insulting, inaccurate, and unpleasant as usual, I see.

You are simply wrong in your assertions.

That was clearly in response to reg, and obviously glib. Chill out.

Or, more simply, younger generations can be given a new gas can design and figure out how to use it without drama.

No, I understand that the VW fanboys will defend it to its death. To a certain demographic, the VW badge is a status symbol no matter what the objective truth is. That's fine, Mercedes-Benz was that way until people started getting tired of their crap falling apart starting in the late 90s through the mid 00s.

VW will sell a lot more of these, same with the Jetta, because the price points are lower and there is a reputation they are coasting on. VW has always sold/leased because of the fantastic interiors. This interior just isn't fantastic enough to last a whole generation, and in the case of the Jetta, its is a step backward in many ways.

It's the same thing as the Apple fanboys who will argue with you endlessly that the iPhone 4 is the greatest phone ever...because it's an Apple...even though it does a terrible job of, you know, dialing and maintaining calls, is outclassed by the Droid phones, and lacks the business-friendly features of th Blackberries. BUT IT'S AN APPLE SO IT MUST BE AMAZING.

Trust me, I get it. But honestly we can just agree to disagree instead of trying to discredit my contrary opinion as being the result of "just not getting it." If this interior is deemed "fresh" and "now" two, three years from now, then get back to me and I will eat crow. But this interior IMO is barely adequate now, and will be thoroughly outclassed in a MY or two.

No really, let's review:

1) You start your daily whine thread

2) You argue ardently with anyone who disagrees with you or tries to offer a workable solution to your plight

3) I respond to Satty's mocking of you with a "Really? Is this anything new?"-type answer

4) Now you're arguing with me over my perception of this thread's ridiculousness.

Seriously?

Just out of curiosity, what makes you say that? Color, trim, controls, seats, etc... Anything in particular?

It's a dated, cheap design, and looks even cheaper without the wood.

Why exactly, do you feel the need to call this thread "ridiculous"?

It just seems like such a trivial complaint in the bigger scheme of things. People figure out somehow how to use gas cans everyday.

^ Thanks for the clarification.

I still don't imagine any adults will be riding back there, ever, so I question the 'make or break' idea, but OK.

This is a luxury car. Practicality and pragmatism aren't relevant. If Cadillac did not want to put in a proper back seat, they could have made it a 2-seater with extended trunk storage and interior rear storage space. But you can't put a half-assed rear seat that has a 20k difference in perception from front to rear and expect no one to notice or care.

^ Aren't you in fact complaining about him complaining ??

I didn't complain; I simply stated an observation. I actually find the ridiculous threads (like this one) quite entertaining, in an Archie Bunker-sort of way.

Maybe I'm an overachiever, but I've never had a problem with one of them newfangled gas cans on either the cars or the lawn mower. After reading this, I'm starting to think I deserve an award for being able to move gasoline from a plastic container into the fuel tank of whatever needs fuel without spilling said fuel on the ground.

It wouldn't be a day on C&G without Camino starting a thread to complain about something.

^ Why in the world would door count dictate a different dash ???

Pointless, change-for-change's sake, esp when the CTS interior is as dynamic & nice as it is.

And the center armrest thing is way overblown. There's one in the wife's GP in back, and it never gets used when both my sons are there. I've been in the back of cars with armrests- sometimes I use it, sometimes I flip it up. But it gets harped on like we're talking power vs. crank windows.

Actually, the CTS coupe interior uses cheaper, Rubbermaid plastics in places the sedan and wagon do not. And while I personally think a full console should be a given in any 2-seat rear, a fold-down armrest is expected and mandatory for this class. YOU may not use it, but the vast majority of people like something to rest their arms on. This omission is especially egregious since it is the only Cadillac without one, the other two CTS variants have one, and even the Chevrolet Cruze has one. But a $50,000 halo Cadillac doesn't have one?

Here's the Passat SE with the faux metal, leatherette, and low line RNS-315 nav:

No pics yet of the base S model, but...

"The upper and lower instrument areas are visually distinguished by various decorative accents, depending on the equipment version. Decorative elements in "Titan" design are used in the S version; the elegant "Titan Silver Printed" decor is used in the SE version, wood décor "Autumn Nut Burl" is featured in the exclusive SEL version. The accents not only upgrade the instruments, but also the center console as well as the door trim panels.

The seats are exceptionally comfortable. Even in the base version, the driver's seat is adjustable eight ways, including lumbar support."

Automatic climate control will be standard on all models.

What is the base price for this, as pictured? I wouldn't pay more than 19k for this interior. If this is the base interior, it'll be sufficient for a couple years, but it won't age well relative to the competition, that's for sure.

Exterior's great, but the interior needs help. Lack of a rear center console/armrest in a bucket rear seat configuration is unacceptable in this class.

WELCOME BACK BOB!!

Yea I've been coming around here since...late 2001? early 2002?

Yeah GM really needs to improve their websites. The flash intros take soooooo long to load even on my broadband, and they serve no real purpose. Then the actual information about the cars is super-lacking. Since GM doesn't really print brochures anymore, you'd think that they'd spend more time on their websites since that assumedly is the intended primary source of information.

Honestly, California City is more of a car guy's paradise, between the street names, wide open boulevards, and...well pretty much nobody around.

Wow, VW seems really into the AutoCAD-come-to-life look with very flat, 2-dimensional designs. Seriously, that exterior looks like something from the original Sony PlayStation. Personally, I'm not a fan.

As for that interior, I'm having a nightmare flashback to my 2001 ML320 from high school.

I think I need an Ativan...

haha It's the new Oldsmobile concept!

I see all those years of frosted tips left some permanent damage if you're mixing up Suzuki and Oldsmobile.

Two things... first, I think due to the large number of items that could be voted on, it seems that placement in the list helped some entries.

Second, because people could vote for a large number of entries, I think people were more flexible with their voting... leading to many of us voting the same way... and therefore, lots of ties. In the future, I think we have to limit the number of entries one can vote for... or have a two stage election. Unlimited entry selection for the first round, one entry vote in the final round.

Agreed.

Looks good. Interior materials quality is my big variable.

All it really needed where a few more votes, or perhaps a restriction on how many could be voted for.

The field of nominations was huge, so the last thing I expected to see were so many ties.

The finishing positions of many of the nominations did surprise me.

Really? All but one were RWD or RWD-based. Of the actual Top 5/6, you have a Kappa, 3 Holdens and 2 uber-lux halos. Pretty predictable to me...

If it were a Top 10 list, then having 11 entries due to a tie would be acceptable. The rankings are just screwed up here...they should be listed as:

2. G8 ST

2. Sixteen

3. Nomad

6. Velite

6. Coupe 60

6. Torana

...which for a Top 5 list still looks silly, so maybe runoffs were necessary, or perhaps in the future the Feature's author should abstain from voting and only vote in the event of a tie, i.e. only voting for one of the 2nd place ties, and then voting among the 6th place ties to determine 4th and 5th place.

There is clearly going to have to be some election reform around here too.

+1

These results were super-predictable, and last time I checked 11 winners in a Top 5 is...bizarre. Why is the Jeep Gladiator or anything above it even listed? Due to ties, the "Top 5" would then only be a Top 6, far preferable to 11.