regfootball

KBB is not a bible. It can often not be even close to real transaction values in an area at a given time. That said, there is no need for the seller to be rude when addressing an offer. Likewise, if your offer is far apart from their asking price, maybe there is no need to make the offer in the first place. The buyer is under no obligation to buy. The seller is under no obligation to sell either.

like the thought but really it won't sell enough or fast enough. Sure they could try for 10k sales but that would be the max.....5k is more like it. If GM is going to get in on niches, then the full astra line should make the shores here. the adam, too. Corsa, Meriva, Or the commodore wagon, the insignia hatch and wagon, etc. trax, orlando,........ i only see this happening if by some weird reason the SS sedan and the ute have the same model name in the US..... like SS and SSR.... body variations on one model.

from a branding and PR perspective, the term skyactiv is a great campaign to put a name on what is basically solid engineering. i hope one of these days to get out and test drive an MT CX-5

sort of funny. an X6 passed me this morning...and for one lone instance, i thought it looked nice. BMW is sort of becoming it's own worst nightmare. The admiration for it used to be sort of a special secret of its own owners and drivers, and now its own image has sort of taken over. The hardware is still good, but the whole brand is more about fashion now.

US Fusion will get the 1.6EB but no one really knows if the Focus will get it.

sign me up, that is the perfect powertrain........

this is exactly what is needed. more go juice and i don't think it will lose much if any mpg.

The Gov is not up for election. The Bamster was not mentioned and this plant is about all the Youngstown area has outside the fast growing oil and gas industry. It may not mean much anywhere else but it means the world to where things have been depression like since the steel industry left. With 230 million being invested I would say it will be more than a new nose and tail lights. I suspect the sheet metal will see changes too. The underpinnings will remain the same and as good as they are that is fine. The Cruze is right on time for upgrades. I expect the dash will see a Mylink screen. it's fluff there was no chance of it leaving, it makes the politicians of any ilk look good for 'saving jobs' I gave a limited nod to the hatch but forget the wagon. keep in mind the Nox is moving to the Delta II so that may take most of the expected wagon sales and would impact the hatch to a limited point. Equinox should move to delta

i have to admit i agree, although i still think the new Impreza is rather stark inside. and freaky outside

is it as slow as everyone says does it get better than CUV avg. mpg? is the dash too plain?

sounds like PR fluff. all they are doing is an MCE and not moving production to another plant. it's an election year, they have to make it sound political.

V dub is trying to make a one size fits all platform that accomodates its biggest sellers in the US and Europe as well as other markets.

new passat reminded me of my old 500 more than anything....

http://www.autoblog....s-u-s-go-ahead/ Ford Fiesta ST to get go ahead?

well, the Passats I drove did nothing much for me. Didn't like the diesel.....and the five cylinder is crap. My only reference to this new Malibu (not having driven it yet) is the Regal. If the drive is similar to the Regal, I would have to say i much prefer the GM stuff. If anyone who is a driving fanatic were to tell me they prefer the drive of a new Passat to the old one or to the CC, they would be crazy IMO. I think the benchmark car for dynamics in the segment will be the Mazda6 when it comes out. The new Passat is likely way more desirable than a Camry, but that's not saying much. I am not sure why all the dumping on the Malibu. The only way it would have been substantively different is with a whole new platform (ala ATS) which has no history holding it back. Impala will milk the Epsilon platform so maybe the next gen Malibu will be the chance to bring out an all new platform (which GM should build many many vehicles off of). My biggest complaint on the new Malibu is the rear seat leg room and footspace. IMO that is how the car may fail in the market. Everything else is fine, as long as the incentives and lease programs are competitive.

bigger.........hmmmmmmm VW really intends to build about 2/3 of its cars worldwide off this don't they

not sure why

GTS AWD curb weight is like 3450 or 3500 pounds. truedelta reports of mpg for AWD CVT is usually mid twenties. FWD only high twenties. MT FWD seems to average out at 30 or above, which is slightly odd since the rpm at 70mpg on the MT is several hundred more than the auto CVT once it settles in. but you don't rev the MT as much to get it going. Most of my homeys report high twenties in mixed driving with the AWD CVT. Once you learn that you don't need to constantly floor it to get motivation, is when the magic light comes on. If your city driving is more than say 2/3 of the driving, yeah, you will get 25 probably. I do admit the Kizashi does not possess stump pulling torque. However, the 4 is smooth in running top to bottom on the rev scale. Even if low end torque is not overly plentiful...the wily nature of the engine and its smoothness at least make the higher rpms livable.

Veloster has been panned for not having the goods in terms of ride and handling and refinement.

does it come in BLU? so, can we get an RS sedan? methinks about 180hp would be nice for this car. Really like the sonic BTW, the sedan more than the hatch. Love all of chevy's cars right now....except i think the spark needs more go juice.

seeing how flimsy the metal is on the passat, and others in the segment, and seeing how cars like the sonata lack some refinement and solidity....i don't really mind a lot if the malibu LS weighs a couple hundred more pounds. the 300 or more pounds is a bit problematic. but is this a car that will last ten years and not crumple up like a lightweight?

no. because i welcome the design change. they could still have the curvy new design them and much of the same lines, they would not need the full 08 wheelbase. just an extra couple inches. the arc of the side window lines and the roof should arch higher and further back before it starts to come back down. they would raise the roof above the rear seat then. The trunk lid could be a few inches shorter if the roof taper starts higher and goes back further. the front windshield base could come forward to balance it out. in essence, to cab forward the car some and stretch the greenhouse would have been all that was needed. the hard epsilon points restricted them. Again, to be clear, the design THEME and it's primary features are fine. The proportioning would have worked better if they did not need to adhere to the limitations of epsilon. The 08-12 had the same problems of low roof also....ingress and egress and small windows were a complaint of many buyers with the 08-12. GM would have been crucified to keep the 08-12 body with all the new redos from everyone else coming out. It was the right plan to come out with the new body style to compete. The execution of it had some flaws. All the early Eco's are basically pre-production test bed cars. What if you set the cruise at 75 and drive 20 miles no stop, what does the computer show for mpg?

Here is the thing folks don't know much about the 08-12. At many dealers, they could not move too many Malibu's retail for a couple of reasons, sort of related. One, the Impala had more space and was easier to get in (many many folks bitched about the low roof and tough ingress and egress) and out of which was much easier to understand because 2, the Impalas in many cases were cheaper. So the overlap issue is understandable. They COULD have kept the 08-12 body, but the whole powertrains would need to be new and the interior would need a complete gut and redo. This review is timely for me for a couple reasons. One, I roamed a chev lot Sunday and a new Eco was left open....I spent a lot of time in it. Second, I may have a daily drive change which would require long distance (primarily interstate) travel. Eco leases have been advertised cheap now with the new non Eco's coming out. Here is what i think Chevy's logic was, build the Ecos as basically production test bed cars, i.e. sell preproduction cars....but get the car out so there was it's time in the limelight. Getting it out now, would fall into the intros of all the other new midsizers. The other factor people should not discard.....to introduce it now, would mean only a few months of gap between the new Impala and new Malibu. Of course any decision can be judged in retrospect. Maybe it did not work out to GM's favor here. But it probably would have made most sense to have the Eco ready with the 2.5, and to launch the car when the 2.5 was ready also. I do think the 'pre-production Eco's' are why your quality issues seems to be there. The car I checked out (and I have seen them a few times already at the auto show etc.) seemed put together pretty well. The exterior was top notch, and after long long gazing, I do believe the 13 stands up as well as the 12. In fact, i like the sportiness of it more. I do not even mind the overhangs..... there is a lot of drama on every line on this car. You have to study it from many angles. Parked next to the 12, you see how much larger the hood and such is on the 13, and you also see how the pillars and windshield are essentially the same. The interior is unique in the new midsize class in that it is very invasive and intimate. The front has deep knee bolsters and the seats hug. The front seats are a great place to be. All the controls are well thought. Impressive how the lower dash is squishy on the passenger side but solid on the driver side...but they look the same. The rear is the let down. The leg room is barely adequate. For my 9 year old its ok. But why its a problem is what he said.....footspace. GM needs to re-engineer the seat base to return footspace. Does the Regal have the same problem? Not as much. Here is the culprit. The malibu's rakish roof takes a nosedive. It pushes the rear seat bottom down, and the tight ingress really constricts the feel in back. The car is stunning, but I do really feel they could have pulled off the same design theme with a little more changes (some of which would be tough being an epsilon car). I would cab forward the windshield a bit. i would add at least 2 inches wheelbase. I would then continue the raising part of the roof a little further back on the car and taper it back a little later with a shorter trunk....to preserve head space and get the rear seat a little higher. If the roof the car was even 2 inches higher over the rear headrests and the car had a 2 inch stretch for leg room, with a deeper footspace, i think we'd be good. The Malibu and Impala are very distinct as they needed to be. The wheelbase issue is a big part of it. The Malibu lacks windows (see gunslit rear window). The impala does not. The malibu will be primarily four cylinder. The impala should be mostly 6. The Malibu will lease cheap....i foresee lots of lease deals on the malibu to move in the showroom. the interior quality issues will get taken care of. The tech is now in the mix. the engines will be top drawer. The car will be a great cruiser. I think price is good. I think the backseat trouble will hinder sales....styling, once the car is in the wild, should be an asset. I have already seen a couple in the wild and let me tell you, you notice it. Too bad crystal red is not on the lower level cars. It needs it.

Even a base ATS is probably as quick as a 3900 equipped GM car.

the MKz photo.....if someone had not said, who makes this car, it would be very tough for most folks to identify it as a Ford / Lincoln product. It's androgynous.