ccap41

"Ultimately, they just need to make good product." They do.. Do they make the absolute best performance car in the segment? No. But there are plenty of shortcomings of both cars that make people buy or not buy one of them. They're 2+2 coupes and A LOT of people daily drive these and sometimes you have to sacrifice some things for the greater good of the customer. As enthusiasts it kind of sucks but it's a reality the engineers HAVE to put into consideration because the car HAS to sell.

I walked my local ford dealer last week and there were 3 V6's, 2 ecoboosts, and 2 5.0s. Well.. The Alpha platform kind of sells.. Great cars that just don't sell well.

Well they did screw up by putting a n/a v6 in it to begin with... I don't understand why they did that.

Very well done, Casa! It was really good to see the savings that can be had by just doing the work yourself..A LOT! I've never messed with bearings..luckily I've never had to yet..

All 3 of what? Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger

Nice review Frisky. I like your reviews. It'd be nice if you could drive all three back to back to back to compare and review.

So only 12k???? No, 16K now. MSRP is 22K. Oh okay, still a great deal. I just didn't expect a 22k Sonic...

So only 12k????

It has been fixed. (Good thing I haven't posted it on any of the social networks yet).

You may want to put "Passat" in the title.. It took a decent amount of reading to figure out what vehicle you were talking about.

I agree. In this age where automakers are trying to squeeze every penny out of production, I wouldn't doubt if GM more or less trapped a supplier in this situation. They'll have to take it on the nose and restructure the contracts. Obviously keeping production going is more important than trying to get a 5 dollar trim piece for $3 or whatever. This is what I was thinking of when I first read that they got into a bad contract with GM. But it does bring up the counter argument, why would they sign a bad contract if it'll put them under? Unless when it was signed the forecasted fixed/variable costs were much lower and something happened that increased their costs way above their past projections.

Do they have the same leadership group(s)? Do those other companies have the same leadership groups prior to and post bankruptcy? Many companies who do what GM did, do have the same board, executives as they dump their debt and rebuild. Trump did this 5 major times on destroying other companies just for his own personal wealth building. So people should be able to go after his money then. Just like they are allowing here now. If they have the same board that ran them into the ground then I feel no mercy for any company like this. Go back and take everything from them again. You live and learn. If you don't learn and make the same mistakes you deserve nothing with a side order of jack $h!.

Do they have the same leadership group(s)? Do those other companies have the same leadership groups prior to and post bankruptcy?

Something needs to get sorted out and quickly because if GM can't produce new cars.. that leave a lot of people not working even if it's a week or few days that's money out of everybody's pockets not just GM's.

"A Massachusetts-based parts supplier you’ve probably never heard of could force General Motors’ entire North American operation to grind to a halt. Clark-Cutler-McDermott Co. stopped making acoustic insulation and trim pieces for GM vehicles on Friday after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a situation it blames on money-losing contracts signed with the automaker, a source told The Detroit News. The supplier’s parts are found in almost every U.S. vehicle GM builds. With its workforce now laid off, and the supply chain disrupted, GM faces a grim situation — a shutdown of its assembly operations and millions of dollars in losses per day. GM went to a U.S. District judge last month to impose a temporary restraining order on Clark-Cutler-McDermott, but that order expired at the beginning of the week. The supplier previously shut down on June 17, but the legal intervention briefly kept the supply of parts flowing. In a court filing obtained by The Detroit News, GM spells out how serious the situation is: A continued disruption in the supply of component parts will also cause a catastrophic disruption in the supply chain and the operations of countless GM suppliers, dealers, customers, and other stakeholders, including the potential layoff of tens of thousands of workers in the event GM’s North American operations are completely shut down. The automaker is over a barrel — GM doesn’t have a backlog of parts to work with, as its contract with Clark-Cutler-McDermott was of the just-in-time delivery variety. No other supplier makes the parts Clark-Cutler-McDermott provides GM. The supplier, which deals mostly with GM, claims its contracts caused it to lose $12 million over the past three years. In the court filing, GM claims it loaned the supplier millions of dollars to continue production. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing scheduled for today will map out where both companies go from here. Any number of scenarios could come from the ruling, including the supplier being forced to honor its contract with the automaker. So far, there haven’t been any assembly disruptions related to the issue." http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/07/gm-faces-catastrophic-assembly-disruption-parts-supplier-goes-bankrupt/

Actually, the article points out that there are very few benefits to a flat plane crank. Slightly lower rotating mass is about it. The performance that Ford gained in the 5.2 mostly came from excellent engineering at the other side of the engine... .the valvetrain. Sorry I can only read what Balthy copied and pasted in as I can't get to Linkedin from my work computer. Well, when you get home... you can read why all the fuss over a flat-plane crank in a V8 is just marketing fluff. It's confusing why Ford decided to promote that rather than the real engineering feats in the valvetrain. Probably simpler. Oh it is probably waaaaaaay easier to market "flat plane crank" and Ferrari compard to complex valvetrain words. lol

Actually, the article points out that there are very few benefits to a flat plane crank. Slightly lower rotating mass is about it. The performance that Ford gained in the 5.2 mostly came from excellent engineering at the other side of the engine... .the valvetrain. Sorry I can only read what Balthy copied and pasted in as I can't get to Linkedin from my work computer.

Wow, good eye. I never would have realized that it was that small.

The app thing is way more convenient than a phone call and an awkward tipping situation though. Money is never discussed and it's all paid for through the app and your selected method of payment(bank account or PayPal). I completely agree with your assessment on how people lease vehicle and "buy" cars that are out of their price range. Heck there are 84 month loans out for cars now. EIGHTY FOUR MONTHS?!?!? A brand new car is worth jack after 84 months. You better be prepared to keep it forever to get what you paid in interest worth out of it.

lol they are conveniently pushing back that all 4cyl engines are flat plane cranks but never mention the work that goes into making one with 8 cylinders and the benefits of a flat plane crank vs a cross plane crank in said V8.

^ 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? ..could one of you copy and paste that here as I cannot access Linkedin from mah work computer..?

See, I don't think a lot of the drivers are thinking about the maintenance/value of their car. They just see a quick 20-60 bucks. The two drivers I talked to(granted..minute sample size) this was a second "job" on the side. They enjoyed it and it was just extra spending money. They both drove Kias so they probably didn't give a crap about their cars like us. My biggest worry would be people flopping around getting in or out. If they scratched or scuffed anything I'd be really pissed but I couldn't do anything about it either.

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. Random thoughts thread, anything non-political is fair game.

I believe it was "part two" not a new plan.

Bong is dunk. That was a negative comment towards an FCA product. I don't believe it!