oldshurst442

13 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Gotta get ready for that Model 3 for sure.  Not only does it clear space in the market, probably streamlines Model S manufacturing too.

Its just a software limitation.

The Model S 60 and 60D uses the same 75kWh battery to act like a smaller battery. Streamline the ordering process is more accurate.

@Drew Dowdell

Thanx for the info!

OK, about Costco.....

15 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

but only if you can actually use all of what is being sold, even if you can't, sometimes costco is still better

I totally agree with this. But, sometimes real estate in your home is at a premium. Im not gonna buy non perishables and store them for eons just because I got a good deal on them. Like I said, grocery stores usually end up putting everything that Costco sells on sale meeting or beating the price per unit advantage...without the hassles of OVER buying...

OK...I got the space for certain bulk items, that still doesnt mean I want to store it for eons either...

Let my few bucks that I saved sleep on on shelve somewhere in my home?

NAH!

Id rather buy what I need, cross shopping and ESPECIALLY PRICE MATCHING so I dont waste fuel going from one store to another and let  my money sit in my bank account collecting interest instead of dust on a shelf...why give it to Costco anyway? The buying in bulk makes you OVER buy in what you need and yes, you may not have to buy that item again for the next year, but the money is still sleeping on your shelf instead of earning interest on a higher interest account or investment...

I bought a large jar of mayo last June or July at Costco...great price, lower than we will ever see anytime at any grocery store, that is why we bought it. We finished it last January right after the holidays...

Mayo does not go bad in the fridge...but man! 6 months of digging into that same old jar from summer hotdogs and hamburgers to back to school brown bag lunch sandwiches to holiday Russian potatoe salads is a tad too long to keep just to save a dollar or two. In this case, and other similar cases concerning Costco purchases, Id rather just buy the smaller regular jar and finish it quickly and just buy another small jar when its done...MORE SANITARY that way!

If I need mayo soon, I know Ill need mayo soon, I will cross shop and price check and price match when Ill find the mayo at the lowest possible price I could get it!

Knowing what the price of the items that you consume regularly is the key.

Yes, sometimes Costco has it, sometimes it doesnt.

What Costco DOES make you do, is it makes you OVER buy what you need. That is just as wasteful as not price checking.

And with my trinkets comment.

Costco has an AMAZING amount of AWESOME stuff.

THAT part just feeds off our lust to consume. OVER spend!

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Costco by me, which is less than 2 yrs old, merely stuffs a single vehicle in the 'vestibule' where the shopping carts dock.

 

I see.

Costco here does the same thing.  Only its a FoMoCo product only. Advertising the Costco membership discount as you cant purchase the vehicle at Costco.

I just realized...Costco in the US has an actual showroom offering cars to buyers?

Cool!

Costco Canada just offers $500 or $1000, I forget what amount, on the purchase of a new Ford. I should say, Ford gives the discount to Costco members on a purchase of a new Ford vehicle.

4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Red Bull, 8.4 oz cans, retails @ $2.39-2.59 ea in convenience stores.
Costco RB 8.4 oz case is $32.79, or $1.37/can.

There definitely are deals to be had, but like ANY retail entity, there's going to be junk/Chinese junk also.

Yeah...and I need Red Bull like I need a hole in the head...

PS. Regular grocery stores put up sales regularly that meet or beat (price per unit) the buy in bulk advantage of Costco's 'deals' without the unnecessary buying in bulk procedure of Costco.

Also, the grocery store I go to price matches...

Listen, I go to Costco...I buy stuff there. I buy plenty of stuff there.

Great place...but I see past the smoke and mirrors of Costco...

I have a different perception of Costco.

Sheeple congregating at this place hoping to get a deal when in reality no deal is to be made and if there is a deal to be made, one has to over buy for whatever meets the sheeple's needs.

Costco also offers unnecessary trinkets. Nice, unnecessary trinkets non the less, but contributing further to the over buying and over spending experience...

And sometimes these trinkets are Chinese junk...I know this as I have a Costco membership myself and do shopping there from time to time...and not only have I noticed many items being returned at the return center area, I have been there myself a couple of times returning said Chinese junk that dont work...

Ive noticed sometimes that people have buyers remorse when shopping at Costco also...

So...because there are Chinese car makers wanting to pierce the American market, my Kirkland Signature Motors car line-up would simple be any one of China's biggest car makers...since most of their food and junky trinkets comes from China anyway...perfect fit I think...

Being in charge of  Costco's Kirkland Signature Automobile division, Id beat Walmart and Target to the punch sleeping with China with the cars....promising President Trump that Id be investing in a new factory building these cars in America... possibly New Mexico...(yes, New Mexico...you know...building a wall over Mexico...)

I read about this too at RoadandTrack and that article stated that Tesla is eliminating this 60-kWh version so as to not step on the Model 3's toes since the Model 3 is almost here.  The article states that to make sure it can separate its more cost-effective cars with its more premium one, Tesla thinks the 60 has served its purpose, and needs to make room so to do that, it will discontinue the cheapest Model S battery trim level...

Actually, the Electrek article eludes to that as well...

37 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Buick and GMC seem to exist today to give something for Cadillac dealers to draw in buyers that otherwise would go across the street to Chevy...filler brands. 

Yeah, it sure feels like that!

36 minutes ago, dfelt said:

@oldshurst442
GM New product flow

Chevy - every persons auto from eco ultra sub compact to full size truck / SUV.

GMC - Drops Buick name and everything is labeled GMC.

Cadillac - Luxury

Or were you also thinking maybe time to kill off GMC?

GMC is a toughie!

NO!

Id keep GMC only because all that is gold in today's automotive landscape is CUVs and SUVs  and GMC is EXACTLY THAT! A brand that SPECIALIZES in CUVs and SUVs so Id give GMC more SPECIALIZED CUV and SUV products!

I HATE the BMW X6...But if I was Mary Barra, Cadillac would be on its 2nd generation BMW X6 and GMC on its 3rd...

Im gonna steer the conversation in different direction.

Not because I want to, but because I had a conversation with @dfelt in the wagon only Regal thread and I philosophized this opinion somehow and I feel it became relevant for this thread...

So for better or worse...my opinion somehow became this about GM's downsizing as of late:

From this thought:

Quote

 

Here is a thought.

Maybe Buick  could do its Buick magic in China being all  conservative and such and GM just rebranding Buick as Oldsmobile here in North America while having no strings attached for having two different images for different markets for one brand.

No need to create new body panels, just a different name...

Oldsmobile (or Pontiac for that matter) could be that sexy and aggressive image North Americans crave and Buick could be that conservative luxury image they crave...

Oldsmobile AND Pontiac had life in them when they died, and both were starting to hone in their AGGRESSIVE but FOCUSED marketing plans and product lines....

Buick seems to stagnate in North America because there is no CLEAR North American plan.

 

I went to this thought:

Quote

 

To tell you the truth, I wont mind if GM kills off Buick...in North America, and never really replaces it other than with Cadillac and Chevrolet.

GM seems to be downsizing quite a bit, with announcements of even killing off low selling products and segments and leaving Europe as of now.  And I see and understand that vision.

Chevy wants to kill off small Segment A and B cars? No problem as Cadillac seems to want to embrace those segments..

It aint a problem as it seems sheeple prefer the badge on the front of the car.Is it really a death knell if BMW, AUDI and Mercedes are doing it?

It was in the 1980s, this aint 1980 anymore....2017 folk dont seem to mind this....adapt or die....and its working for the Germans so far....

If the pendulum seems to going against this sometime in the future, dont miss the negative trend and adjust back....EVOLVE to the CURRENT TRENDS is the answer...

So GM gets to sell small cars with Cadillac in North America if Cadillac gets that done right, because it seems that GM has NEVER been able to sell small cars properly...  go GLOBAL with Cadillac with the small cars as well, and be like BMW, AUDI and Mercedes GLOBALLY with the small cars...and also have Chinese small Buicks too GLOBALLY.....

Chevrolet does everything else in North America like FoMoCo does with....Ford.

Except that FoMoCo does small cars real good in ANY market...

Except that FoMoCo is missing the middle luxury segment. Platinum Fords are good, and Lincoln suffers for it!

So does GM as I think Buick is heading for a downward spiral. But Cadillac might have a leg up on both Buick and Lincoln in North America...

Interesting times going forward...

 

20 minutes ago, dfelt said:

@oldshurst442As much as I always felt GM should have gone this way, I suspect they will feel too much invested in Buick to name change. Realistically they should have done as follows:

Chevy, GMC, Pontiac and Cadillac.

GMC as a step up from Chevy for trucks / suv's

Pontiac as the excitement brand

Cadillac the Luxury brand

To tell you the truth, I wont mind if GM kills off Buick...in North America, and never really replaces it other than with Cadillac and Chevrolet.

GM seems to be downsizing quite a bit, with announcements of even killing off low selling products and segments and leaving Europe as of now.  And I see and understand that vision.

Chevy wants to kill off small Segment A and B cars? No problem as Cadillac seems to want to embrace those segments..

It aint a problem as it seems sheeple prefer the badge on the front of the car.Is it really a death knell if BMW, AUDI and Mercedes are doing it?

It was in the 1980s, this aint 1980 anymore....2017 folk dont seem to mind this....adapt or die....and its working for the Germans so far....

If the pendulum seems to going against this sometime in the future, dont miss the negative trend and adjust back....EVOLVE to the CURRENT TRENDS is the answer...

So GM gets to sell small cars with Cadillac in North America if Cadillac gets that done right, because it seems that GM has NEVER been able to sell small cars properly...  go GLOBAL with Cadillac with the small cars as well, and be like BMW, AUDI and Mercedes GLOBALLY with the small cars...and also have Chinese small Buicks too GLOBALLY.....

Chevrolet does everything else in North America like FoMoCo does with....Ford.

Except that FoMoCo does small cars real good in ANY market...

Except that FoMoCo is missing the middle luxury segment. Platinum Fords are good, and Lincoln suffers for it!

So does GM as I think Buick is heading for a downward spiral. But Cadillac might have a leg up on both Buick and Lincoln in North America...

Interesting times going forward...

(ILL USE THIS SAME POST IN THE OTHER GM THREAD REGARDING OPEL OR GM DOWNSIZING)

10 minutes ago, dfelt said:

That my friend is going to be hard considering how conservative China is. They might have a coronary if they saw some hot marketing buzz about a Buick Allroad Station wagon.

I agree and that is why General Motors better start differentiating China's product lines with ours. Which includes Cadillac as well as Buick...

Cadillac could benefit having some Chinese elements but not really as the CT6 gets criticized for being tooo  conservative especially in the rear...

Buick will NEVER take off in North America if alls we get is just Chinese flavoured Buicks going forward, especially when Opel is no longer part of GM...

19 minutes ago, dfelt said:

"Live YOUR life, explore the world and conquer it all in your New Regal Roadmaster"

"Leave civilian roads behind and go where others do not dare!"

Imagine if you wrap up some of the best marketing from various divisions into an awesome living life slogan!

THAT is what Buick NEEDS in North America.

A dose of cocaine, whiskey and hookers in their product line-up and in their advertising campaigns!

Meaning, they need to spice things up! Stop being boring and conservative.

Buick got a sign of life in North America when the Enclave was a new SEXΥ  product that was luxurious.

The Lacrosse broke away from its W-Body crapiness and the Encore entered a brave new SEXY segment.

The Verano had some success because it too, had a little sexiness to it!

The Regal just never took off. Small rear interior room that the Lacrosse answered for if someone wanted more space and the Verano and Encore answered for similar space for LESS money! Not because it wasnt a sexy car!

Here is a thought.

Maybe Buick  could do its Buick magic in China being all  conservative and such and GM just rebranding Buick as Oldsmobile here in North America while having no strings attached for having two different images for different markets for one brand.

No need to create new body panels, just a different name...

Oldsmobile (or Pontiac for that matter) could be that sexy and aggressive image North Americans crave and Buick could be that conservative luxury image they crave...

Oldsmobile AND Pontiac had life in them when they died, and both were starting to hone in their AGGRESSIVE but FOCUSED marketing plans and product lines....

Buick seems to stagnate in North America because there is no CLEAR North American plan.

8 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Space does play a role as well as style and features customers want.

My family has had plenty of station wagons and we stopped after they downsized them and went to suburbans and never looked back. I remember many fond road trips in the olds, 98 station wagon and the Roadmaster. They were awesome.

For most, an active life style will still take a CUV / SUV over a station wagon. Yet for others, a station wagon can do the trick if it has the right feature set with proper space.

I hear ya and I agree with ya!!!

Active lifestyle???!!!

Marketing mumbo jumbo that feeds into the sheeples' wannabe fantasies.

HEY!!! THAT IS HOW ONE SELLS STUFF!!! THAT IS MARKETING 101!!!

Well..BUICK better start having one amazing marketing and advertising campaign if they want this thing to have a chance because "This aint your father's Oldsmobile Buick" crap they got going on now for the last 2-3 years wont cut it!!!

We just figured out one component for it to be successful..

Buick has to create a buzz for it!!!

31 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I get what you are saying. Cadillac has a cool station wagon, but they forgot to make sure the back seat actually had usable room when a big person is in front. I liked the look and checked one out, but passed on it cause it failed my David Test. David has to sit in the front comfy, then I get out and get in the back seat. If I am comfy without having to change the seat in the front, it passes my test.

Cadillac station wagon failed as I could not even get into the back seat as there was only about 2-3 inches from the back of the seat to the rear seat.

The room in any auto is a major driving factor as to if it will possibly succeed or fail. Many that fail are due to piss poor seat space.

I failed to see that side of the argument regarding the Cadillac or any other wagon.

Did the Dodge Magnum fail for that reason too? Probably not.

Image is still a factor, and the Buick Roadmaster of the 1990s failed on that part because it sure wasnt the lack of space. That beast had more passenger space and more luggage space volume than Chevy Suburbans.

To most it was ugly though and the 'Burban was not so aesthetics is also a factor...

Like I said, Im glad Im in the restaurant business....

Im basing my opinion on the reasons that wagons are frowned upon in North America still in 2017 and because Buick is still not a hot item in North America especially the Regal nameplate. 

I hope I am wrong and an opposite field hit could be achieved.

You see, its tough deciding on the fate of car sedan style wagons in the USA...

Macho AWD wagons is a hit or a miss...

Subaru has honed in their rallye/offroad image...

Audi seems to be concentrating their image elsewhere...

Buick does not have either luxury...

But Cadillac failed in the wagon segment a few years back, and so has Dodge...and BMW, Mercedes and Vol vo dont seem to sell that many wagons either (because Buick it seems to me will market this as a simple wagon)...

So, because Buick has no prior image regarding wagons and Buick is in the middle of re-inventing itself more or less successfully,  is this to Buick's favour or is it a detriment?

I dont think this move will be a successful one, but then again, Regal sales are nothing anyway and so are sedan sales it seems,  might as well try to hit a very outside pitch, an opposite field single might be had...

I dont know about this move. Im sure glad I sell hot dogs and hamburgers and not in charge of automobile company portfolio line-ups ...

a. sedans sales are going bust.

b. CUV/SUV sales are going through the roof faster than the SUV crazed 1990s.

c. wagons still dont sell well States side

d. just because CUVs/SUVs have hatch style rear ends and leave the showroom floor faster than Tesla Model S P100D ludicrous mode 0-60 times, it dont mean automobile sedan style wagons will do the same...

So I understand the move. What I dont understand is the North American automotive buyer's brain.

@dfelt

Yes, if Buick is to succeed with this, Buick needs to do it like that AMC Eagle.

What I wanna know is:

Is Audi and Subaru successful selling their Allroad and Outback in the USA?

Especially compared to their CUV counterparts such as the Q3 and Q5 and Forester and Crosstrek.

I love the Beach Boys...

But we lost another legend today.

A song that the Beach Boys took and made a career out of.

RIP Chuck Berry.

You are one of the reasons why I LOVE Rock-N-Roll soooo much!

4 hours ago, hyperv6 said:

Pakasistan also shares info and we have channel to sort out who is who. 

WRONG!!!

Remember this iconic moment?

Well...Pakistan knew about Ben Laden's whereabouts...since the runt was hiding there,  yet Pakistan did not divulge anything nor did they know about this raid for fear of Pakistan warning him...

And the US had to ditch a new technology heli in haste...

because Pakistan aint exctly on the up and up about shyte...and many terrorists have Pakistan as their ally even if they arent necessarily Pakistani themselves...

Its good that you have your opinion...keep it...it serves you well...

15 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

That gen uses the sweet 3.0 supercharged V6. My wife has wanted one for a few years now, but values have recently come down greatly.

Oh yeah! Now I picture it! Not hard to picture it as its the out going model. I thought you was talking about the 2005 version.

Well, good luck to you in finding a nice one for your wifey!

25 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

B8 S4 values fell through the floor! Hmmmm......

That is the one with the V8?

I see Frisky getting one of these shortly...

Ill remember this convo when in the next 2-3-4 months from now, you will be asking us to guess what car you just bought...

14 hours ago, hyperv6 said:

They will never go back to this because Grandma wanted her couch back. Then when she died we burned it so it would not hurt anyone else. 

I remember these in the day and how you had to hold yourself in place with a knee braced on the door and a death grip on the wheel. 

Take 2...

As cushy seats from the 1970s with huge cubic inched engines did not pass...

The irony of sears like these not coming back in vogue...

It seems the Chinese want these...that pillow reminds me of that Cadillac pillow pic I posted...on a new M-B SClass Mayback... Chinese grandmas must have demanded that...

Lincoln's new Continental for Chinese market...very 1970s Cadillac blue velour interior...like the pic I posted...hmmm.

Since the luxo market is dictated by Chinese standards, I think seats similar to those grandma cars will be in style again...

But obviously I was wrong...well...these modern versions have better side support for the semantics arguments...

(and you wonder why I get pissy sometimes???!!!)

21 minutes ago, hyperv6 said:

To be honest as the way people have moved a terror suspect can come from anywhere but the most difficult to I'd are from countries with little to no intel. 

 

Yup....

Thanx for repeating what Ive said waaaay before you did.

That would be 2-3 things so far...

So...about that ban...because, like you said...a terror suspect can come from anywhere, like I said waaaaaay before you just did just now...when I dismiss the ban, yet you accept it, at least that is how I interpreted it, how does the ban work effectively against terrorists?

A small price to pay to screw innocent people I suppose!

Ignore me...its all good. I get the satisfaction that I beat you to the punch each and every time. Its all good that we both say the same thing, its just that we both interpret the info opposite. It is your right to do so as its mine.

Its the condescending nature that Surreal and I take offense to...so yeah...it would be an insult.

But hey...you and I interpret your condescending ways differently too. You may not think its condescending and I think it is...

Oh well, its just the internet anyway...

It was a general rant, therefore accuracy was not the focal point and yes, those pics were from 1975 and 1976 Fleetwoods...but...I was referring to the 1986-1990 Fleetwood that indeed had a 305. Upon further inspection...I found out it was more of a 307. Oldsmobile Rocket 307 that I was referring to.

So as to make my rant more accurate...here goes. Not posting the D'Elegance interior either as to not get scolded again.

140 or 150HP in all its glory...

Now...the cars...even with 500 cubic inches..were not meant to corner...they were boulevard cruisers..I dont remember anybody clenching steering wheels and complaining about how the seats were not holding you in place back then...I do remember those drivers cruising nice and slow. Young or old. The dudes that wanted to go fast bought Trans Ams. Young or old.

I remember BMW yuppies praising bucket seats boasting about how sporty the cars were...

Funny, I drove a 1985 Olds Delta 88 with those plushy seats like the first pics I posted for a couple of years and I never once yearned for bucket seats...and I never once had to use my knee on the door. What makes it  funny is I do that with the bucket seat modern Fusion I drive on occasion...

I think the Olds was the last true bench seated car I owned and I miss those seats dearly.

8 minutes ago, hyperv6 said:

They will never go back to this because Grandma wanted her couch back. Then when she died we burned it so it would not hurt anyone else. 

I remember these in the day and how you had to hold yourself in place with a knee braced on the door and a death grip on the wheel. 

well....with 55mph highway speed limits and cars like that Caddy with 305 cubic inch V8s producing at the best of times 180 horsies barely being able to achieve these speed limits anyhow...there was hardly a need to brace yourself that way...sure, the cars didnt take to curves all that well either...and floated on the concrete to make things worse for what you are talking about...but then again if in America most of the time we drive on straight roads...was there a need to really strap ourselves in like we are Gilles Villeneuve?

Ill be taking a page out of your book...like how you say about RWD cars in snow...

For ever American car seats were like living room sofas for the road..

I guess you are right...whatever you say goes...like...all the time...you know best...father.

I dont like the way this looks.

With the above pic as reference... the fastback angle and look to the regular Corvette aint changed. Just unnecessary additions of glass and carbon fibre pieces...

About those rear lights...

I visited the Montreal Auto Show last week...I fell in love with the Corvette Z06 again because of those rear lights and the way the back looks....very menacing and purposeful the back end is.

And pictures dont do this angle any justice. In person its just plain AWESOME!