Croc

My main issue with the cupholders are that the bottom of them doesn't catch condensation, so they can drip, and they drip right on the heated seat buttons. Otherwise I like the design...though if you have two full drinks in them, the cupholder mechanism does have a tendancy to flop back and forth a bit at acceleration/braking. Agreed on the interior storage...that center stack storage is CAVERNOUS!!! And the coin holder box under the trip computer/dash lighting dial is a great touch. I actually sought out the V6 for fuel economy reasons, and also because it drives better than the 4.0 due to weight distribution issues. Not only do you get more front weight from the 4.0, but to reduce weight, the 4.0 got the lighter, cleaner-looking aluminum decklid, as well as a 1-gallon smaller fuel tank...all of which further shifts the weight distribution to the front. And IMO, the V8 doesn't offer a significant performance upgrade at all over the 3.5. My father has bought various Devilles over the years, and I swear my 3.5 is just as fast as his Northstars have been (I know this is likely due to weight), but it is still one hell of an engine. I also like the throttle progression of 6s over 8s in general, too. ------------------------- gm4life: If you go with the Bonneville, you're still getting a great car. The 2000+ Bonnevilles are very similar in interior layout to the Aurora, so you can't go wrong with that. Both are excellent cars.

I actually don't really have the highway vibration issue, just read about it. I'm also in LA, so all the freeways have vibration. She rides pretty smoothly overall, though. I agree, it is a beautiful car, and a fantastic performer as well. So much thought went into the interior and ergonomics (save the cupholders) that it is such a satisfying car to drive. Question: does your armrest still have the spring in it? Apparently broken armrest replacement parts did not include the spring, so my armrest does not "catch" open. Previous owner replaced it. And are your interior buttons scratched? Oh the joys of an early model...mine was built November 1999, what about yours?

Sweet, so you can have an excuse when it comes to not using deodorant, but you still have a unibrow problem.

Yeah, but you're not Scandinavian or British.

No I'm a member, and I've read up on a lot of those. That's how I figured out I needed a new solenoid...what, you think I'd go to a dealership and trust THEIR diagnostics? No way. Really, the main issues the car has are the Secondary Air System (design defect), window regulators (design defect), PCS solenoid (hard-to-access sensor), and an out-of-the-ordinary need to keep the alignment near-perfect. The trunk leaks affect V6 models and 2003 V8 models, as it is caused by the plastic insert on the rear decklid, same issue Caddy CTS had in 2003. Steering shaft just needs to be lubricated periodically, and I'm not aware of widespread air shock problems. I know the load leveling system can get out of calibration after the car has been lifted, but otherwise I don't know what you mean, nor have I seen it over at ACNA.

Hmmm your mileage is really close to mine, Brougham-Holiday. Honestly the only non-standard maintenance I've needed to perform was the solenoid replacement. All the other work I've had done to it was either collision repair, or due to personal anal-retentiveness about my car. I got the car pre-owned, so initially I had to do some upgrades to get it running well, but that's kinda to be expected with a used car.

I'm resigned. This isn't good, but I'm not going to let the economy get me down. As long as the CTS coupe is available as a graduation present May 2010, I'll be happy.

Thank you, I'll give it a shot...yea that wasn't intended.

Dude, shave the unibrow. That's almost like not using deodorant or brushing your teeth. C'mon.

Point taken. I will say, though, that in my travels abroad, particularly in Europe, I have seen nary a Chrysler or Dodge branded vehicle. Exports may be their only source of growth, but what kind of growth is it? Is it the kind of growth that Cadillac has seen in Europe? By that I mean, is Chrysler's growth the result of having little else to go but up? Kinda like Suzuki in the US...sure, they have a presence in the physical sense...but they have no real presence in the marketplace--Suzuki definitely goes in the "Wait...they still sell those?" column.

I think it will be Brasil. That's my prediction.

Really? Are you sure you want to stand by that statement? Say what you will about The View, but Barbara Walters has won more than enough awards for her investigative journalism to be considered one of the greats, and she was quite the pioneer for women, too. Don't belittle her work. And she still does put together the occasional special report for 20/20.

I honestly think this whole thing is just absurd. At this point, I don't give a $h! what happens because at the end of the day I'm still going to be in LA, driving my Aurora, and there will be a bottle of Maker's Mark and some cigarettes waiting back at the apartment. I'm not surprised Chrysler's going out; that's been a long time coming. They have no presence outside of North America, they have had to partner up with Mitsubishi for decades to develop bread and butter product, the quality has been $h!eous, and the whole thing with D-B was just a huge clusterf@#k. GM is a whole different story, except it isn't. I just don't see the actual value of two incompetent companies joining...it's almost like the worst of both worlds.

+1

No, Stossel's delivery is pretty lacking. I've yet to see anything of his that had much substance to it...he tends to approach topics with more of a slant and more of an outcome in mind, and then talks about conclusions without getting into the details of why. As an investigative journalist, he sucks. Add to that I find his persona off-putting. Now if Barbara Walters were doing the segment, I'd be more apt to watch because I feel she takes her job VERY seriously and tries to actually explain the details to viewers. She isn't as sensationalist as Stossel (vast understatement), and as far as her persona, I find it pleasant.

Tell me about it. LA is everywhere. You want to know where that car commercial was shot? If it's in a tunnel, it's the 2nd St. tunnel downtown (Cadillac CTS). Several of the recent Saturn commercials? 2nd St. tunnel, 4th St. "freeway," 4th St. viaduct, 6th st viaduct. Ford Edge was shot downtown, too...but I forget which street. One of the biggest tell-tale signs of LA is the presence of red curbs. LA paints their curbs red for no parking zones, yellow for loading, green for permit parking only, and blue for handicap only. Other cities do this too, but LA has a LOT of red curbs...sometimes blocks and blocks of streets. Also, LA curbs tend to be a bit higher than usual (consternation for front passenger unloading), especially in older areas. The biggest nitpick for me, though, is CSI: Miami. Not only is "Miami" really LA (they look nothing alike, especially with the predominant design aesthetics of the housing stock), but the whole show is filmed with a yellow filter on the picture. Honestly, why is everything so damn orange in "Miami"? Trying to turn smoggy skies into "sunny" ones? Or is "Miami" stuck in a perpetual twilight? Anyone who has ever watched Miami Vice (TV show, not the awful movie) knows what Miami looks like, and how bright and vivid everything is, especially the BLUE sky.

That really is pretty hot.

Yeah, I was gonna say...I mean you wouldn't be the first gay man to hit on me, but no dice.

What polling data are you looking at?

I actually thought this debate was more of a draw. I watched on CNN, and overall, undecided women in OH were overwhelmingly more in favor of Obama's stances on issues, though there were several times they liked what McCain said. OH undecided men didn't seem to show much of an overall preference for either candidate, but if I had to pick one, I'd say they were more in tune with McCain, especially regarding Sarah Palin. Duh, go figure.

I just love hearing a lot of conservative arguments in black and white...they tend to get comincal real quickly. To paraphrase: WORLD IS IN BLACK AND WHITE...NO GRAY. X IS BAD BAD BAD TERRIBLE AWFUL MUST STAMP OUT!!!!! well, except in case Y, because that would be bad if we did that, but...OTHERWISE X IS BAD BAD BAD MUST KILL OUT!! but then case Z comes around, so we recognize that, but OTHER THAN Y AND Z, X IS BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!! It's like there's this cleaving to a false reality where no gray exists on any issue anytime...instead of admitting ambiguity can exist, we get these convoluted arguments of NO THIS (except in this situation or that situation). It's just so funny...

Of course...I majored in Business Administration. I was just pointing out the absurdity in comparing "Joe" to a real, everyday-working-man-type plumber.

On a superficial note, McCain's whistling every time he pronounces an "S" sound is getting beyond irritating. It's like he isn't enunciating or something.

When discussing Federal policies? Yeah, pretty much. Companies can jump from state to state for more favorable business climates far more easily than they can jump nation to nation.

I love the unofficial name of this debate as coined on dKos: "Love and Death on Long Island." Sheer genius.