gmcbob

I got quietly excited this afternoon, that in an uppety part of the city I saw a brand new Malibu LTZ - only to see the bar code stickers on the back door windows. I was slightly bummed.

So I ask now to all ye GM faithful, hahaha; how do they get people back in their showrooms as if it's 1970 again?

It was related to the company, it was poorly done and in many regards, quite inaccurate and one sided, and I thought it would be interesting to see everyone's reaction to it. No more, no less. It's the same old BS in a different forum, but it's out there and it's kind of irritating to see. This Yahoo! article (and the many like it floating around out there) should give GM's media relations people a huge wake up call. Despite the whys or the hows as to why GM gets so much negative attention, they should put "warming up to the media" very high on their list of priorities - because clearly a lot of the media, especially in the "left of center" world (read "Wired" Magazine for example) thinks that GM is an antiquated, slow moving mess with awful product and a complete lack of vision or direction. If GM can get a foothold into media outlets like Google and Yahoo!, etc, and get them to stop putting $h! like this out on the internet, then I think they have a better shot of selling Joe San Francisco Computer Programmer an HHR as opposed to a Scion. I'm being dead serious. I don't think GM really quite "gets it" when it comes to marketing their product to the right people. Like I've said a million times, GM does poorly outside of the Midwest and it shows big time in large markets like where I live. They MUST figure out how to correct his, and media relations is an incredibly smart place to start. The product is there really when you start thinking about it - but they need to get the rags on their side or they'll continue to be an easy target for these people.

Hahahaha! This was so amateurish and silly I just couldn't believe what I was watching. I didn't see totally eye to eye with my late Dad (ex GM management BTW) on too many things, but he was right about one thing he used to say all the time; "we're turning into a nation of ass holes". :rotflmao:

This makes me wonder about something? Are GM's media and PR people totally asleep at the wheel? GM needs to really get serious, especially on the Coasts, about sucking up to these types of people at companies like Yahoo!, Google Reuters, Wall St Journal, Forbes, LA Times, etc, etc - because they're clearly doing a terrible job of it. I'd be willing to bet that if GM's media relations folks had better relationships with those companies, we wouldn't see this kind of sh*t floating around out in cyberspace for the whole car buying public to soak into their tender little brains.

One thing I find funny about the internet - it gives me a chance to find all of the douche bags of the world and watch them open their word holes and have diarrhea come pouring out at just the click of my mouse. All from the comfort of my own home! http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/artic...,yhoo,msft,goog

All right, you can tell what it is after I give someone the hint that it's a car, outside of a window, called a Hyundai Genesis.

One thing I want to add about Caddy : they need a really good car that can compete with the LS460/GS460. They don't have that. The STS is nice, but it's not as nice as the LS or GS I'm afraid, and I won't even talk about how foolish the DTS seems to me. The DTS should have been taken out back and shot 10 years ago. The DTS is a perfect example of GM just churning out outdated product until the machinery breaks to maximize the amount of profit they're making on each unit. GM needs to bring out a really proper big rear driver (Zeta based) for Caddy that simply blows away an LS or 7 Series in the technology/luxury/feature department. Caddy has the name to pull this off and get $75,000 for it if they really wanted to. They'd be making so much profit on one of those it would be silly. In fact, why this wasn't done instead of bringing out the G8 is sort of a mystery to me to be honest. But I guess that's good ole GM just doing things that boggle the mind.

Yeah, I'm really surprised I don't see more of these new 2008 CTS' on the road. I see them here and there, but not in the kind of numbers I see for all the import luxury cars. Although I do think Cadillac sort of holds its own around Houston, especially in the older money sections of the city, I think they're falling out of favor amongst the younger, hip crowd (where BMW, Lexus and Infiniti seem to be the most popular luxury nameplates). Every once in a blue moon I'll see a new Caddy out in front of a wine bar where 30 somethings hang out, but it's usually an Escalade (although I did spot a pearl white CTS and a new Vette out in front of a trendy 30 something wine bar a few weeks back, I almost thought I was in Detroit or some Midwestern town for a minute, hahahahahahaha!). What's interesting is when I talk to some of my wife's attorney friends about their cars (mostly Bimmers and the like), they all tend to say they like or would consider a Cadillac too. I don't know, Caddy is that one brand at GM that I think has really surprised me the most. The last generation CTS (and current STS in a way) has sort of given this brand some real clout in the market place. They need to keep nurturing it, I think this is the one brand from GM here in the US that still has a somewhat positive image. This all said, the 2008 CTS should be selling a lot better I feel, especially considering the rave reviews it's received in the press. I think the biggest problem with the new CTS is price. My wife and I (it's my wife's daily driver) bought an 08 G35 back in April, and for the money it packs way more features than the CTS did. If we wanted to equip an 08 CTS the same way we equipped our G35, (NAV screen, upgraded stereo, 304 hp V6, etc) we would have had to pay about $5,000 or $6,000 more than what we paid for the G. That's a lot of money. I looked at a CTS that was about the same price as our G35, and it didn't have the direct injection engine and NAV - and my wife really wanted the Navigation system with the XM traffic. It really disappointed me because I wanted us to have a Caddy at the end of the day. I was a little bummed honestly - I really thought having a new CTS would be cool, but it would have been way more expensive to have one with all the same features. And as much as I hate to write this, the G35 does have a little bit better seat of the pants driving experience too. I loved the Cadillac - in fact I think the new CTS is simply a beautiful, compelling design that is one of the best to come out of GM since their glory days of the 60s - but at the end of the day, it's just a little too pricey. I'm sure GM is making (or will make) money on the new CTS, but I think the strategy should have been to make the DI V6 and the $8,000 technology package as standard equipment and made the car sticker for $36,000 or so (like our G35). They'd probably be selling a lot better that way honestly. Seeing that $43,000 sticker probably makes a lot of buyers (like us) who are cross shopping G35's and Lexus IS' walk away unfortunately.

I really hate to admit this, but I actually did find it to be a pretty nice looking car (especially from the angle I was looking at it from). The front end looks stupid though, I'm not sure what they were going for with that grille. But it does look too much like an Infiniti.

Never really thought I'd be posting this, but I saw my first Genesis last night at a "Bistro" here in Houston. It was backed against the valet parking wall (along with all the other nice Toyotas, Lexus', Infinitis, Bimmers, etc, hahahaha!) and I could see it outside the window we were standing by. This is a bad photo - it was taken at night with a camera phone, but you can tell what it is. I couldn't help but think as I stood by the window more or less inspecting this car; how in the world did Hyundai pull this off? Hyundai, maker of copy cat, lackluster Korean cars with a somewhat laughable reputation in America, has designed a rear wheel drive V8 luxury sedan (that is an obvious knock off of an M45), built it, marketed it, shipped them in droves to America, and bamboozled someone into paying $40,000 for it.

I sometimes get this impression that GM has absolutely NO idea on how to properly market their cars. They KNOW, or must know at this point, that their products, despite being really good lately, resonate VERY poorly with people. I know so many "non car" people in my circle of friends and family who simply won't step foot on a GM lot because they still think of the old GM that built nothing but junk. GM has to work on undoing this with totally out of the box advertising - but they're so screwed up right now they don't know whether they're coming or going. You know guys - this all started happening when Olds was killed off - seriously. It can be traced back to that BS I think. Lets kill off the one division that sells cars (hmmmm...like Honda does) at that sweet spot in the price/profitability/volume range. Yeah, that's what we'll do. Nobody wants cars anymore. Lets funnel all that money we'll save towards more marketing for Tahoes. Yeah, that's the ticket. DUMB DUMB DUMB! I remember when they did it and I remember talking to Pops about it a lot back at that time. We both thought it was the single biggest mistake GM could possibly make, and that it was the start of the company going totally down the $h!ter. And look what happened - all those people are now driving Camry's and Accords. Were they smoking opium??

I know sales for big trucks are down (and becoming less important) for all the big car companies, but I still think GM could have swayed a few more Tundra buyers over the last year if it would have put a little bit stronger drive train in their new trucks (like offering the 6 speed and the 6.2L right out of the box). I see A LOT of Tundras here in Houston (mostly the 5.7L versions)- and I mean A LOT. Granted, F-150s, Silverados and Rams have always been popular here in Texas, but the new Tundras are popping up in my line of sight constantly now. I'd be willing to bet this (and maybe Los Angeles) has to be Toyota's biggest market for the Tundra. It's actually quite insane guys - GM management would be really disappointed if they drove around Houston for a few days (well, not just because of the Tundras either though I'm afraid .) On my way home from work it's nothing for me to see 2 or 3 of them in traffic around me at any given time. I notice they're very popular amongst the young guys in their late 20s who may have either owned a Tacoma (or maybe even a Z71 or something) in college and just like driving big trucks, and either didn't want a domestic or just liked the Tundra more. I test drove one back to back against a new Sierra (just to see what all the hoop la was about) last fall and I hate to admit this, but the Tundra was definitely pretty nice and in certain ways, a little better - (ah, note to GM, you may want to give your dealers at least 1 or 2 6.0L engines on the lot, and not load up an entire dealership with 4.8 and 5.3s). Don't get me wrong, if I'm getting a full size truck, it's either going to be a GM or a Ford, but still, I could definitely see why someone who didn't have his heart set on only driving a domestic named truck would like it. The over the top styling and the fact it's built by the single company that wants to see Detroit die a horrible death aside, it was a nice truck. At the end of the day though, if I had to get another truck (I had two Sierras, an 01 and an 04 that I both loved), it would be a domestic - I just had to get this off my chest on the Tundra. I don't like that it's so hot, but then again, I really can understand why it sells like it does here in truck country - it's a pretty competitive vehicle. But, I think this and the Big 3 trucks are going to become less relevant for guys (and a select few women) to have as daily drivers. Even the rednecks here in Houston are starting to drive their wives cars to work (at least the ones in my office) and letting their "pick em up" trucks sit at home. Either way - I like when Toyota suffers a crappy sales month.

I actually do have some pictures of it (I think). But I'd have to scan them and put them on the computer. I need to find that photo album. I'll keep you posted on that one. My Dad worked for Buick Motor Division back in those days so he took home tons of really cool company cars, but a few of them he bought, and they were pretty memorable cars I thought. Included in that fleet of personal Buicks that I recall was a forest green 75 Regal with the cool looking Buick steel "road wheels" (I remember that car, I'd love to find one in good shape now), a 74 LeSabre - yellow - that I believe rusted within a year or two. hehehe. I remember a silver 79 LeSabre with - get this - a Turbo V6. Tons of cool cars my folks used to drive, I'll have to scan some photos if I can find those albums.

Hey Guys - thanks again for all the great comments. I actually do have a set of period rally wheels for the car - they're sitting in my shed with a set of old tires on them. I guess I've just been lazy about getting a set of tires for those wheels and putting them on the car. The original 14 inch hubs look okay, but I think the period rally wheels would give the car a much more "proper" look/stance. One thing I'm a little worried about is how hot this thing runs and just how bad the rear main leaks. It even runs pretty hot when it's only 60 or 70 degrees outside. After about 20 minutes, I feel quite a bit of heat down by the pedals. I think if I don't get the original 396 re-built and put back in the car, I'm going to go ahead and make this thing run right with the engine that's in it now (the 454), I'm just not sure if I want to put the original motor back in it or not. I may even get air conditioning installed, if I decide to keep it for the long haul. Under the doors I've noticed the sheet metal is beginning to rust. I think it's probably going to need some fairly extensive body work done to make it right, but I'm not sure how much that's going to cost (it could get pretty expensive I'm afraid). I love looking at this thing in the driveway, and driving it around on the weekends when I can - really makes me think how cool it must have been to be a car guy in the 60s. Knighfan26917 - those mid 70s GM convertibles were sweet! My Dad restored a 73 Buick Convertible a long time ago (white with white top) - car was absolutely cherry.

I remember my auto enthusiast life back in the 90s - when I simply just liked good cars (ah, to be young) hahahahaha! - I didn't really hate any car company. Now I hate Toyota. As I've watched the Big 3 turn into proverbial has beens, I feel that Toyota is one of the main culprits. But I digress... However, before I hated Toyota, I really thought the early to mid 90s Turbo Supras were really pretty cool cars. In fact, I still think they are. Gulp.

Okay, maybe I see more Silverados than Tundras - but not that many more.

I saw one today (black) going down I-10. Thought it looked pretty sweet.

Toyota is more than making up for it in Houston. I swear, ever since all the buzz about the Big 3 being in deep poop again I've really been sensitive to how many imports I see around me in traffic. It's funny because I don't really care about any other import manufacturer other than Toyota - they just simply piss me off. I don't even understand it anymore. I see soooooooo many of them, I swear they outsell GM in Houston - they must. I can't go 20 feet without seeing one of their products - doesn't matter what it is. I think I even see more Tundras than I do Silverados (I'm talking 07 and up Silverados vs. new Tundras). I see more Lexus than Caddy. It's like Toyota essentially took over the Houston market. I see tons of 4-Runners - they're everywhere. And lets not even talk about how many Camry's I see - they're like stink on $h!. GM is frigging screwed here - nobody wants GM anymore in Houston. Maybe I"m just being overly sensitive to it, but it's absolutely insane how GM (and Ford and Chrysler) basically just handed Toyota all of their business. What a bunch of bozos. I know Toyota kind of cheated over the years - but still, it's absolutely nuts. My dad was right - GM was going to end up being a shadow of themselves, and they don't know how to stop it. Sorry, in a foul mood.

Thanks everybody for the good comments. Yeah, I really wish it did have power windows, that would make things a lot easier when you want to put the top up and down.

These are pictures I took of my Impala back when the weather was actually bearable outside. I have the original 396 in my shed, but the engine in the car now is a 454 out of a 70 Chevelle (I think). It runs pretty good, but the rear main seal is shot and the transmission doesn't shift correctly (might be a faulty solenoid or something, not sure). The heads on the 454 are actually off the old 396. I think if I keep her and do a proper restoration, I'll rebuild the 396 and sell the 454 to someone who wants to build a hot rod or something.

Nice little SUV actually - I like them. Man, I really miss the Mountain West.

Sounds good to me! I'll bring the Shiner Bock - you bring the Opel girls. Seriously though, whenever you're down let me know.

This is a really nice car guys (for the price). I'd be willing to bet that the V6 version will give a $39,000 G37 a good run for it's money, not only in straight line performance, but probably on a track too. All the while looking totally muscular and clearly American doing it (which is just really cool IMO). The current V6 Mustang can't run with a $35k + V6 performance car - but this Camaro will - with a fully modern suspension, taut body panels, etc, etc...that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment for GM. I'm very excited about this car. For whatever reason, I'm glad to see that GM's "base model" V6 is actually going to be a truly stout performer. I'm on the edge of my seat for the first road test from the major mags to come out. I'm thinking the V6 will run to 60 in the mid 5s and I'm hoping the V8 will get there in the mid to low 4s with a mid to low 12 second 1/4 mile. Although I have a feeling that some of the best times we'll see might be more like 12.8 or so, which will still be really sweet.

Ah, what's going on in that picture PCS?