rivieraranch

Fargo; Vertigo; White Heat

I have had a dish since December 2002 and the service went from around $37.95 to now up to $52.00 total with all the taxes and phony fees thrown in. I live in Southeast Florida. What other cheaper alternatives exist for decent programming that includes kid channels, Turner Classic Movies, History, A&E, TNT, etc. I understand that they have to start offering a la carte channels instead of loading up stupid channels that nobody watches.

Will March Madness affect Lacrosse's lease rates?

Thanks Ven, but I have already used the calculators. What are the lease rates like in the real world?

Was told that March Madness would not affect Lucerne lease rates. Lacrosse lease is more advantageous because the residual is higher than Lucerne right now. What should a lease payment be for Lucerne CXL V6 MSRP $30K

One reason I won't do the CXL is because of the leather interior. Shorts + 100 degrees + leather = yikes! That's why people use sheepskins; warm in winter, cool in summer.

You were down here and didn't look us up! Shame on you. Seriously, everybody drives what they like and if somebody wants a white car, be my guest, but personally I do not like them. I like the lighter metallics because they are forgiving about not showing every chip or mark on the finish and they hide dirt. A white car that is not washed begins to show trails of dirt and grime. White with a gray interior is a typical government car color combination. Why don't you look into a Lacrosse CXL nearly new, demo that somebody else has taken the hit on depreciation. If you read the comments on the Edmunds site, EVERYBODY complains about the fuel economy of the CXS with the 3.6.

What is the total cost of ownership per month? That is the problem with all these phony lease payments; they distort the actual cost of the vehicle. If the people who devise these lease schemes were honest about it, they would have to say it will cost you $500 or $600 per month to "drive" this car, so they disguise it by deceiving somebody into believing they can drive a $35,000.00 car for $299.00 per month (but with $6,000.00 down in fine print, of course). I hate leasing, but it seems the best alternative in this present climate; they've got you, to an extent, but you've got them, too.

What are you going to buy, Bob, a G.P? You should look into a base Lucerne.

Thanks for your moral support. I am looking around but do not see anything that motivates me.

How do you make the card earnings work hardest for you?

Leasing a Lucerne is one of my options at this point. It strikes me that a better use of the GM card earnings is to help with the down payment (if that is possible) and some of the initial payments; using them against cap cost could water them down. What the H. is a deal sweetener? Equal is the only sweetener I know.

Are card earnings redeemable towards a GM lease? If so, how are they credited?

There are no special lease deals on Montego right now, only a grand off.

My test ride of a CXL V-6 was wholly positive. The engine was quiet as was the cabin. This V-6 model lacked the funny feel that the CXS V-8 I drove a few months ago had. It was a solid, well constructed car that was very comfortable. I like the green, gold, moonstone, light blue and dark garnet. I hate WHITE CARS, regularly rail against them whenever and whereever I can, including on the dealership floor. You are an IDIOT if you pay a thousand dollars extra to drive a white car, whether they call it "white diamond" "white lightning" or "white pearl flash tri-coat". I see more and more Lucernes on the road and they look good on the road. I believe that a lease will protect early purchasers against heavy depreciation. With their problems, GM is all too willing to devalue their cars by holding a fire sale at the end of the year like they did last year.

I sold the Park Avenue Ultra shown in my signature. After 2 years and 40,000 miles it was time to let somebody else enjoy it before pushing it over the 50,000 mile mark. I never intended to keep it forever. One reason is that when it was originally offered to me I was led to believe that it had a shale interior; when I drove from Florida to North Carolina and saw it, the interior was gray. Despite realizing then I had been had by this country-boy dealer, being the good sport that I am I took the car anyway and made the best of the situation. I have been shopping around for another vehicle and can't make up my mind what one to drive. I was offered a lease payment (39 months, 12K miles/yr.) of $411.00 on a new light green Lucerne CXL V-6; with luxury package, driver confidence, MSRP $30,130.00. The capitalized cost was near invoice, around $28,400.00 with around $1,500.00 at inception, which included the first payment, tax, tag and some junk dealer fees. I was offered a lease payment (36 months 15K miles/yr.) of $399.00 on a Volvo S60 with metallic paint and premium package, MSRP around $34,000.00. This deal, too, had about the same junk fees requested at inception. Volvo credit is giving great lease rates and also $3,500.00 dealer cash on the vehicle. That brings the capitalized cost of the Volvo down roughly on par with the Lucerne. The greedy folks at GMAC are not offering advantageous rates so the Lucerne lease is higher than the S60, despite the 2 cars costing the same. GM also maybe lowballing the Lucerne's residual value. The problem with the S60 is that I did not like the way it handled. I drove 3 of them. The first one had a horrible front end vibration problem. The other 2 were still not as smooth as a comparable GM car when you get to highway speeds. Some of the wheel weights I saw on these brand new S60's were 3-4 inches long, much too heavy for new tires on a factory wheel. I think they are using lousy tires on these cars, too. If I can't get a decent lease deal on a car that I like I will buy a gap vehicle. Is the lease payment on the Lucerne a good deal?

It is worth paying $495.00 for a red car but it is NOT WORTH paying extra for a gray or white car. Gray and white are geriatric colors, not worth having in the first place, much less paying extra for them. Especially white, the most boring of all colors, bland, vanilla, nothing, call it diamond white, white lightning, white flash, it is still WHITE!

GM has been monkeying around with MSRP's and things. As of 1/12/06 they lowered the base MSRP a few hundred bucks and they have an official window sticker to that effect. I would think that the window stickers that detail the equipment packages are authoritative. I usually ignore the dealer's add on stickers with all the junk. Why do you need COOLED seats anyway? The heated seats are more important. I would really wait until you see how much they are going to dump on the hood because later on if they cut prices by $2000 or $3000 that exacerbates your first year depreciation.

I believe that the heated seats are part of a luxury package on CXL V-6, and that a couple of the colors are $495.00 extra. Heated AND cooled are a different package. Don't go blowing your lid. I would not pay $995.00 to drive a white or gray car, respectively, so I don't know how they think they are going to get enough fools to pay nearly $1,000.00 extra for these 2 colors in particular. Look extensively on GM Buypower and find a dealer that you feel comfortable dealing with. Get all the documentation, and go in there with all the ammunition, so to speak, on the last day of the month and make your best deal. You would be wiser to wait until the next round of pricing games begin, even if you have to rent a vehicle for a while.

I pointed out this whole issue a long time ago. It was a stupid, stupid decision to put the chrome grill on the base model. Now it will cost $$ for somebody who buys a CXL or CXS to undo that.

The argument could be made that Buick should have revamped their line from the top down, not from the bottom up.

My advice is to wait until GM puts some incentives on the car or holds another fire sale at year's end.

You all have missed my point entirely. The cars are not sold because they were stupidly optioned.

Were these cars worthwhile they would have been sold already.