riviera74

45 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Nice interior.  Front is very similar to Buick’s new design language with the big grille and low headlights.  

Low headlights and a big grille DO NOT make a good-looking front end --- on any vehicle.

17 hours ago, David said:

Did I miss something that the 3.6L V6 is less reliable than the Newer Turbo 4?

To answer your question, I have seen videos on YouTube where the 3.6 required more frequent maintenance than any other GM engine in order to run for a long period of miles (say, 150K+ miles).  I suspect that this new Turbo 4cyl should have fewer problems (real or alleged) than the 3.6 High Feature engine.  Then again, the 3800 was bulletproof while the 3.6HF was less so.

The interior is very good and competitive in its market segment.  I really like it.  Good thing that GM replaced the 3.6 with a turbo 4, since the latter should be more reliable.

The new Enclave could do without the big mouth bass type grill.  It looks like it belongs on a RAV4 or some other Toyota.  As for the exterior, SAD.  Buick needs to go back to the 1st generation Enclave and make it curvy and Buick again.  I could mistake this version of an Enclave for an Acadia or Traverse.

21 hours ago, David said:

Agree, Fire Musk and see a considerable stock rise based on also getting a competent CEO that will run the company as a company.

Have you seen with the discounts you can get the Niro EV for $260 a month on Lease with the IRA rebate. Seems if you buy your looking at Mid-$30K price.

MId-$30K pricing is a little high for a KIA Niro EV.  At the same time, I would still rather see an EV like the Niro EV at about $27K, but a good start nonetheless.

On 4/4/2024 at 12:47 AM, David said:

This is too funny.

'He Can't Even Tell He's An Idiot:' Elon Musk Furious As Ross Gerber Accuses Tesla CEO's 'Toxic' Behavior For 'Crappy' Q1 Sales And Demands Board Overhaul (UPDATED) (msn.com)

If Elon Musk got fired from Tesla, Tesla stock would rise 50% within one year.  Elon Musk is literally a boat anchor to shareholder value at Tesla and elsewhere.

20 hours ago, David said:

Hard facts that show EVs give us the clean are we all want.
We've been promised that EVs will lead to cleaner air. This Bay Area study just proved it - Fast Company

OK, that is good.  Now if only EVs were cheap enough to replace a large chunk of the existing fleet of passenger vehicles in CA right now.  For the most part, brand new EVs are NOT CHEAP, and the median price of a new car is about $40K. The market is crying out for more affordable EVs if were are to reduce car-based pollution.

7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

There is zero proof you have that every one "sold fast". 

Half the engine options were extremely underwhelming compared to anything this competes with.  a 2.0T and an n/a V6? C'mon Cadillac! 

I find it interesting that the CT6 is no longer sold here in NA.  The CT4 and the CT5 are still sold here, but Cadillac is (from a sales perspective) mostly a crossover/SUV shop.

Very Nice effort for Infiniti.  Who would buy this SUV over an Escalade again?

How much is that Escalade iQ SWB again?  Cadillac needs to be careful NOT to overprice this brand new vehicle.

I find it interesting that the name Challenger has been mothballed.  Sure, if you look at history, the Charger was only a 2-door between 1965 and 1974.  The fact that Dodge made the Charger a sedan shortly after the debut of the 300 was probably meant to boost sales, while the Challenger took on the old Charger coupe role of the muscle car era.  Maybe Dodge can pull it off; only time will tell. 

As for an EV Charger, color me a little skeptical from a sales standpoint.  Since when would an EV buyer cross-shop a Charger with a Tesla or a Lucid or a Rivian?

Tesla aside, what car marque has been successful being an all-EV carmaker?  Also, since Jaguar's greatest weakness has been poor reliability (especially in electronics!), how will any of this work out for them?

It is so much easier to innovate when you have no legacy to hold onto.  Ford and GM would prefer NOT to build EVs under any circumstances if their CEOs were completely honest about it.  Stellantis too.

1 hour ago, David said:

I find this story very interesting.

‘Dirtier to build but cleaner to drive’: This is how many miles you need to drive an EV to reduce its carbon footprint, study finds - MarketWatch
 

The 'dirtier to build' articles are pretty much always FUD imho since they always scrupulously take into account energy requirements (and related fossil fuel impacts) of refining battery materials, but somehow conveniently omit the same impacts for mining/transporting/manufacturing the equivalent parts of a gas auto. Not to mention that the batteries are not suddenly useless after they've been aged out of EV use, they can be repurposed for use in home energy storage applications, whereas an EOL gas auto is pretty much entirely scrap.

And even if a case can be made for 'dirtier to build' it still omits that the supposed pollution is all generated in a few strictly defined locations (power plants, mines and factories) where measures can more easily be taken to corral and mitigate said pollution, whereas gas autos are roving around spraying it everywhere.

Still requires about 30K miles to shrink your carbon footprint with an EV replacing an ICE vehicle.  Why is it an individual's responsibility to clean up systemic messes?

Why is the new Tahoe able to tow more weight than a new Suburban?

Good video as always.  Pickup trucks seem to have the most brand loyalty of all passenger vehicles, but for a time the 1994+ Ram was the trendiest pickup around.

10 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Join me in wishing @riviera74 a happy birthday (per today's birthday list).

May you enjoy your day on a riviera of your choosing ...

Thank you very much, trinacriabob.

4 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

I have to say that the mobile version of this site has become more unusable due to the pop up ads and videos. I get the reason for the ads but the execution of them takes away from the usability. 

I understand, but for me to avoid those ads, I paid the membership fee so that I do not have to deal with them.  $15 a year is quite a bargain.

Why should FORD worry about EV sales if the sales are flat?  What if European buyers prefer ICE engines, or would rather buy EVs from VW/MB/BMW/PSA?  I fail to see why Dearborn should worry so much about EV sales there.

Passing the written test was easy.  The driving test was somewhat harder, but that was because the monitor insisted that 30mph really should be 25mph because he could not really see the odometer very well.  That took a few days, but I did pass that test.

38 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

No need to wonder. The big 3 would continue to not pay their workers enough while producing a subpar (at times) product. Sorry but if CEOs like Barra can collect $29 million last year (alone) to basically be a mouthpiece, then they can afford to pay their workers an actual living wage. Not saying the UAW is perfect because I have called them out many times in the past but  to act like these companies would somehow be better without unions is ignoring the reasons why they exist in the first place. 

Fair point about CEO compensation.

Apparently the strikes called by the UAW are over.  The UAW got their large pound of flesh from the Detroit Three, given the new leadership that called the series of strikes.  Makes you wonder what would happen if there was no UAW getting in the way of almost everything.

9 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

My ideal would be 4 months of summer (no highs over 80, low humidity), 4 months of autumn, 2 months of spring, 2 months of winter (no lows under 40). 

Good luck finding that anywhere in NA.  You either get mild winters and brutal summers OR you get the reverse.

18 hours ago, smk4565 said:

EV sales are 8% of the market in the USA, 25% in California.  EV’s are 14% of new cars sales in Europe and 31% in China.  Guess what the #1 volume market was for GM and VW?  China.  But GM and VW are bleeding sales over there.

You can barely get an ICE car for $20k, that won’t buy you a base Corolla, but let’s say $25k gets you a Civic, Trax, Kona, etc.

If someone builds a $30k sticker price EV in North America, the $7500 tax credit is applied point of sale starting in January, now we have a $22,500 EV that is cheaper than ICE.  If the domestics don’t figure it out, the Chinese already have.

Do the Chinese build EV cars to our government regulations for $25K (without tax credits)?  And are they exporting them to the US or Canada right now?  I don't think so (at the moment).

EV sales are only 2% of all NEW auto sales.  They barely exist in the used car market.  Here is what I wonder:  if EVs are the next big thing, why can't I buy a new one for about $20K?  Until that is addressed, then "the EV is the next big thing" is little more than a pipe dream, regardless of government regulations.

GM/Honda may NOT have enough scale to cut costs enough; they may have to pair up with Ford to really cut costs.

Tesla does need a 2.0 for all their current products since few NEW car buyers want something they could have purchased two years ago.

Do those credits and/or rebates apply when you lease an EV, buy an EV, or both?