oldshurst442

Clearly they are German lovers extreme like SMK as the whole write up is very negative and they compare the XT5 to auto's that it does not really compete with. Also comparing the top of the line auto to mid level auto's also just reaks of a writer who is lazy and again biased to an extreme for the german brands. Many of their nit picking was laughable and what I consider to be inconsistent. Even people on their own forum disagree with the writer and his review. Having driven an XT5, I have to actually disagree with many of the writers complaints. I do have to wonder what condition this XT5 was delivered in if it was having slow shift issues and non responsive controls as I never experienced that. Funny that Car and Driver has blasted about the complexity of going through the menu system on the Germans and how hard it is and going one step on the Cadillac system they said it would be better for a basic knob on the dash. How Toyota can you get to default to a knob on the dash to replace the electronic system when the germans have what is known to be one of the most confusing interfaces around. Clearly a very biased review and lack neutral comparison to like products. Most of the writing is also personal taste in what was pointed out and there was never given any examples of real value about the vaunted German brands. I wish more often than it really happens that the writers would remember to be neutral about the auto's, give facts of clear comparison and what it was to lead them to the feeling one thing was lower quality than another. An example would be the writer's comment about lower door interior panels seem to be part bin material harder plastic and never really states what the germans are, but having been in the GLC and the X3, I can tell you they use a hard plastic so why do they get a pass but not GM for the area that usually gets hit by dirty feet. O'h that is right they are superior cause they are german. That line right there....reminded me of something.... Then I saw the latest William Maley thread and and it hit me like a ton of bricks! I think Im gonna hang my washing on the Siegfried line Right after we sink the Bismark right to the bottom of the sea! Then when alls is said and done, Im gonna finally find my way to Tipperary!

I want that Jeep Wrangler! General George S. mother#u&k@ng Patton! I salute you!

I noticed my original link that Germany urges EU to tighten Diesel Emissions is not exactly there....the news article is not there....well here is another link where the EU snubs Germany for that plea... http://www.dw.com/en/eu-snubs-germany-on-tighter-emission-rules/a-19312389

Yup...you are right! You build cars...just not diesel powered ones.... Lie. Cheat. Steal. That is what any sane company should do? Price of beef is sky high where Im at in my neck of the woods... Ive got government regs up my ass to conform to hygiene and food safety...(I own a hot dog joint, it makes good money) Ive got rules to follow concerning employees, their salary, their employment and their well being... According to you...I should just skip any law that I deem to be over-reaching and unreasonable? (Because there are many....) So...I should get my meat from roadkill and stray dogs and cats so I could boost my profits....Because the price of beef is sky high...(the air that you breathe is just as important...) You could argue all day long about airplanes and boats and factories spewing all kinds of crap in the air while I could do the same for all the crooked bankers and CEOs out there.... Laws are NOT meant to be broken....and if they are....DONT GET CAUGHT!!! VW got caught. End of story. Sure mate, it's the American way. Tax on tea went up a penny, we revolted, threw the buggers out. And it's been that way ever since. It isn't as if VW built naturally aspirated diesels with open exhausts. The engine was clean just not California clean. No harm, no foul. It really is more important that automobiles remain cheap enough for common people to purchase. Otherwise we risk the government taxing autos out of existence or into the hands of the very rich. And I wouldn't like that very much. Only in California? http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/south-korea-to-ban-some-volkswagen-models-amid-emissions-probe And this link is from their own home country.... Germany tells the EU to tighten loop holes so there is no cheating... https://next.ft.com/content/a07dcd3a-2bf3-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3c95 And so Germany is not going to be lenient with VW and their CEOs... http://fortune.com/2016/07/11/german-prosecutors-volkswagen/ http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-prosecutors-seek-punitive-damages-from-volkswagen-1468263979

VW dealers here in washington have reduced staff due to the lack of sales. There is one tiny dealership that I wonder if it can survive past this year as they have few auto's on their lot and you never see anyone there and they are located in what is considered Green Central for people. As long as they were marketing and selling their super Green Diesels, the place was busy, but now the perception is one of a lying two faced car company and the place is now closed on sundays and mondays and open 9-5 tuesday to saturday. I personally think it will be gone by the end of the year. Yes Mr. DFELT....I hear you loud and clear!!! Just a reminder for all of us not to forget how VW chose to lie to us...the consumer.. The Green Police From 2010... 2010....6 years they knew they were cheating and lying to us!!!

Yup...you are right! You build cars...just not diesel powered ones.... Lie. Cheat. Steal. That is what any sane company should do? Price of beef is sky high where Im at in my neck of the woods... Ive got government regs up my ass to conform to hygiene and food safety...(I own a hot dog joint, it makes good money) Ive got rules to follow concerning employees, their salary, their employment and their well being... According to you...I should just skip any law that I deem to be over-reaching and unreasonable? (Because there are many....) So...I should get my meat from roadkill and stray dogs and cats so I could boost my profits....Because the price of beef is sky high...(the air that you breathe is just as important...) You could argue all day long about airplanes and boats and factories spewing all kinds of crap in the air while I could do the same for all the crooked bankers and CEOs out there.... Laws are NOT meant to be broken....and if they are....DONT GET CAUGHT!!! VW got caught. End of story.

They are drowning in their own made undertow. Their hometown government tried to give them a life preserver but they too, decided to limit the line thrown to them as its hard to justify the criminality of it all. Plus, the arrogance may be too much... The only thing that is left is public perception. And by the looks of things, in North America, VW sales are on the down since this news broke out. And every time bad news likes this makes it publicly...the sinking and drowning feeling is intensified...IMO.

yes. Let us start comparing this to Tesla. Shall we?! So...is GM Hitler in this scenario? Or how about more bad press and still loving it? I know. I know. I could be a stinker of a troll when I wanna be.

Paypal... Yeah....lets laugh at Elon...(another rant that should be directed at another area in this website...) (I gotta go...doctor's appointment...but Id like to continue this rant with you....Im having fun....) PS...Im listening and actually agreeing to everything you and Drew are saying...I just hate UBER!

Yeah....but a flat plane crank is a flat plane crank... Marketing takes over... THAT is what the article is all about. There are many other fantastic things the Voodoo engineering does (I havent read the article in detail yet)...but strictly marketing the Voodoo as a flat plane crank diminishes all other aspects of it... And the faux pas I made earlier is what Balthy is trying to convey to me....and SMK... I dont know how to post that link any other way CCAP.

wear and tear on the vehicle... It seems very few people factor that in... But then again, we are living in the leasing era, leasing cars badges on the front of the car way beyond what we are supposed to be affording. We justify that by conveniently calculating our budgets on a monthly basis and we fool ourselves in thinking to squeeze in the payments based on a monthly calculation. Then we try to find secondary sources of income to fuel our make-belief dreams that we are richer than we actually are to prove to our closest friends, family and neighbors that we have made it... Here is another rant I did on UBER. https://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/87102-industry-news-hertz-makes-deals-with-lyft-and-uber/ If you cant tell...I HATE UBER! Listen...I aint denying that it may be convenient or fast or cheap or easy to use...

400 RPM? How does that sound like? Does it sound like the engine is about to stall? Does it sputter? Does it kinda lope like a big block? Choppy kinda? I dont think Ive ever heard anything like that before.

Yeah. I figured as much 1/4 of the way through the article. And the article says that exact same thing at the end. The marketing geniuses have worked their magic undermining the rest of what makes the 5.2 liter great. I need to read the whole thing slowly though because the article seems to underline the real engineering feats of the 5.2 liter Voodoo.

Pretty sure I never heard of her. Teenager's dream in the 1980s. The way us 80s teenagers had Samantha , you old fogies had Marilyn back in the day...

^ You may have just done that : flat plane cranks are commonplace. Guess what else runs one- the EcoBoost Mustang. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/flat-plane-silliness-how-crankshaft-press-release-duped-stephen-kim Thanx Balthy. Long read. I skimmed through it. Will read tomorrow at a much slower pace so I could process all of the info. Will you be requiring the same cut from the $24 000 difference like the author suggested too?

Meh. I like what I like and don't like what I don't like. That's never changed, despite all the whining it can engender from the peanut gallery. Adults talk about cars on car forums. Children talk about posters. I always liked this poster: My momma made me take it down.. I dont even know why to this day. Its not as if its a revealing poster. Had it been this one, Id understand Anyways.....Samantha Fox still rules! I so wanna touch her still today....it hurts!

Plus that GT350 has an exotic like flat plane crank V8.. Same like Ferrari. Only bigger cubic inches making it more exotic because even rarer. And that Mopar in the pic...is most definitely exotic for its day. Too many people equate exotic with foreign...

Just an opinion that somebody holds.... No big deal really... Just a good read. Something to think about... American self-hatred aside... From Road&Track. http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a29944/leave-tesla-alone/

WTF???!!! That seems like it was a close call... Yeah...I did some visuals of the movie "Duel" after you mentioned it while I was reading about your ordeal. Scary stuff...

Thanx Balthy. Great video. Great car! Banker's Hot Rod! I like it!

But the problem is Hyper.... Nazi Germany (Tesla)... had so much advanced technology (Tesla) that the Allied powers scrambled to copy and steal during WW2 and after WW2... The Atom bomb...Nazi Germany was working on one....some historians say had the war prolonged for another short 6 months, Nazi Germany would have had there own atom bomb. Don't forget....the jet age started during WW2, and 'twas Nazi Germany at the forefront of that technology... Rockets...Wernher von Braun...V1 and V2 and Messershmidt Komets The thing is...Tesla is giving that technology away...instead of Russian and American forces lying and cheating to get as many Nazi engineers and scientists as they can...Wernher von Braun and Nasa and the trip to the moon... Elon Musk has barely a decade under his belt as an automotive exec. Bob Lutz...his whole career is based on the fact that he is an automobile exec. And he is 80 years old. One could not argue the "what if" side of things if Elon will survive as long as Bob Lutz survived in the jungle that is the automobile industry... But...Paypal is nothing to laugh at... Bob Lutz has NEVER made a product as world changing as Paypal has changed the world in how humans do business... Today...in the automotive world...its nearly impossible to string out hit after hit after hit with many types of cars...and Bob Lutz is a testament to how great he was and how difficult it is... Like you said about how he turned BMW around... But...like I said...the Pontiac GTO, Pontiac G8, Pontiac Solstice were all duds...and yes...he did recognize that Pontiac was going down fast! But...after dabbling in the computer world and getting bored, Elon moved into the car world, and his mark on it is the Tesla Model S....not too bad for a rookie... However, this dick measurement contest was about business acumen initially... PAYPAL ...and it stops right there!

The moment you realize that computer animated kid's movies are more interesting, entertaining, funnier, than their real human counterpart movie...even the action scenes are dope!!! Tintin, Zootopia, Big Hero 6 are recent movies I just saw with my kids...and a whole lotta fun!!!

Paypal... THAT should be the end of this Dick measuring contest... And the cherry on top of the Dick... The Model S is what is making post-Maximum Bob BMW to go full tilt with EVs like the i3 and i8... Argue all you want....seems like sour grapes to me...

lol that's essentially how I went about it.. But I kept the van. It's a gnarly van...what can I say... So what would you buy with the 120k? He did say a nice little ensemble. A nice sexy black dress A nice sexy red dress and all the accessories that come with it He is a married fella....nothing is coming to him. He is one whipped boy. Why else would he use the term 'ensemble'? As long as he eats well at home...who cares? Right?!

That CAMARO looks HOT! That statement coming from me, it must mean something... I LOVE these choices, man!