balthazar

So Dr Who gave his licensing approval, eh? -- -- -- -- -- Aren't people going to say 'hyundai is putting a kia engine in their genesis' ??!??

Pair of fuselage Caddys: tired 'customized' blue '70 hardtop Sedan deVille and a sweet black '71-72 Fleetwood sedan.

Wage paid guarantees nothing.

If the Volt transmission was manufactured in NA, there would be no potential supply issues due to a tsunami in Japan, so no; it's not "incredibly false".

Wood chippers are great for kittens & puppies (tho I recommend you duct-tape them to a hunk of hardwood, so you get that soul-soothing 'BBZZZZZZ!!!' sound. For larger soft-tissue items, a custom-made, 2-handed rocker knife, not dissimilar to the things they use to quick-slice full pizzas @ Pizza Slut, slices, dices & chops extremely well. Something like this : http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgJjB7htyRmCOWPBBtgK673KBKGisXQamYc14M_1-q5Kj1PnTD&t=1 I would recommend a stand-off, teak, full-width handle; you can bring that thing down from overhead with a ton of severing force. Dismemberment is a labor of (post) love, not something left to a cold, impersonal (and non-visual) machine like a chipper. A job worth doing is a job worth doing right.

IMO, this is typical of just about all dealership service centers: they charge a set rate for Work X, but when you break it down like you did- you can see it boils down to preying on those who can't or won't do simple, easy stuff themselves. Even if you paid yourself a reasonable going hourly rate, you'd still undercut the best dealership price handily. Local garage replaced the idler pulleys on my Silverado, as it shredded it's serpentine belt due to shot bearings in the one pulley. I offered to pick up the two pulleys at the dealer between the garage & my house the next morning, as they were GM-only pieces. I did, saved the garage a parts run AND time by being at the parts counter when they opened @ 8AM, asking for the parts (they weren't even in the computer yet, or unboxed). My truck was up & running in maybe 30 mins, and another car pulled right in after my truck pulled out. Do you know that the garage was marking the $31 pulleys up to $80!?! FAIL on him for not arranging to put them on his account- he was pissed he weaseled himself out of $50 pure profit on the parts. Now I know why that garage is closed on Saturdays!!

I hardly ever missed them after I had my way with them & chopped them up into little bits.

How soon before we find an online hand-wringer wondering if their honda washer bottle is radioactive? RE the piece: I would never chose to term it "lose", as if we absolutely "need" circa 90 million vehicles/year (or 12 million-some here). Frankly, here in Jersey, we could stand to lose a million cars on the road tomorrow. Tho some folk are obviously going to lose some employment hours, if I were that person @ GM calling this shot: I would look immediately to shifting production of said affected components here where possible vs. waiting. Of more significance is any long-term economic effect. This is definitely one of those examples where globalism bit American makers in the a§§.

>>"I think it was only C3 for GMC's centennial year though."<< How could that be the case, when this year is GMC's centennial ? >>"...offered the Escalade soon after the Yukon Denali (2000 I believe)"<< it was during model year '99 (tho it may have bowed late). Anyone looking for clarification of "rebadge" can look up '99 Escalade vs the Yukon and learn. I can understand the POV that the Denali would have more cache' were it to offer specialized, unique appointments & a lil' sumpin-sumpin underhood; such would appeal to the enthusiast/ purist mindset (including mine). But it's clear the Denali packages, even as primarily 'bling' are in demand as is. Look at the F-150; up to 7 levels of trim I believe, from a 'value' brand, too. GMC itself is upscale, have a model-topper Denali trim for each is not out of character for the Division's positioning IMO.

The SS package (after the 1st year at least) became long associated & well-known for performance equipment. IMO, it was indeed over-used on non-performance Chevys in reference to it's association, in an era where there was seldom any performance equipment available. Yet people still plunked down a lotta cash on non-equipment SS packages. Perhaps those consumers had 'let go of the past' like you so frequently preach. Denali has a much much smaller & shorter perception footprint and it's not based strongly on equipment as much as it is on trim/finish, Sierra Denali aside. Denali is not GMC's SS. Perhaps it could be morphed into that over time to cater to us enthusiasts, but it doesn't currently have to serve that enthusiast perception. They are fantastically successful in the market, aren't they? The plethora of 'M' badges on clearly non-M BMWs running around proves even 'enthusiast' consumers aren't that concerned with the purity of a marketing ideal as much as they are of the badge itself. BMW must be raking in the licensing fees on those badges...

>>"The new bolts likely just have that pre-applied threadlocker stuff on to them."<< 'Threadlocker' compounds usually result in absurdly low TRQ specs. Was talking to a mechanic friend- he asked me what I thought (I forget which engine fasteners) would be torqued to. I guesstimated 200, but he said the factory spec with loctite was 19. May have been head bolts. While the mechanical assurance is valid, I suspect the proliferation of loctite compounds also shook out somewhere on the assembly time balance sheet.

And at first I thought you were serious.

^ Agree with SAmadei - haven't cared for the Terrain since Day 1. The fender flare treatment is one, and the 'bumper blocks' outboard of the grille are much larger (on a smaller vehicle) that the '08 Silverado's 'blocks' were/are. Those 2 cues right next to each other make it seem more 'Lego' than anything else I've ever seen. Just doesn't work for me.

Lovin' that Chevy panel truck, Rog!

Oldsmoboi ~ >>"The A6 I had 8 months ago was nothing special at all."<< This was my experience a few years ago- I had read all the WoRlD cLaSs AuDi gush here a hundred times, then I had the opportunity to spend some hours with an A4- where did all the hype go ???? Nothing special whatsoever. Dated, hard interior, and it was orange & black. >>"Many of you seem to have this really glorified idea of what the automotive experience in the EU is. It is NOT all loaded 5-series/A6/E-classes with V8s. It is much more frequently 2 liter diesels, cloth seats, and in the case of my A6, no CD player."<< You're crushing dreams here, Olds. Everyone thin, attractive and 35 wears leather knuckle-hole driving gloves, has greased hair, and is a real driving enthusiast in either an M BMW, an AMG mercedees or a quatro audi- all us fat slobs over here KNOW this is TRUTH. All the audi/mercedeees/BMW taxicabs, fleet vehicles, commercial sedans, garbage trucks & moving vans have advanced full-invisibility technology ('RealitiShield') so none of the above will get their reps soiled because none of those brands have figured out how to dump the slop into another branded bucket.

This instruction is for conventional caged bearings. Torque to spec, then back it off to the very next slot you can install the cotter pin, rather than make it tighter. You can't back off from a non-tightened nut.

This is a really excellent idea. Make it more like mercedees: AMG, BMG, CMG, DMG, EMG, FMG, HMG, etc. or like BMW does with it's top trim level: M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T. Great idea that really creates a strong association thru 'mixing it up' with a different name for each different model. I like it. I'll go you one better. Why not make the model nameplates interchangable with 'snap-in' tags. Say you like the Sierra truck but hate the greeny association with the Sierra club. Boom! Swap on a "Terrain" or "Savana" nameplate and make it your own! Who says only the manufacturer can dictate what a model is called. Power to the people!!

250,000 miles without an oil change or a wiper blade?? How is ANY other car brand still in bidnit ?

If Cadillac wants to be seen in the same light as BMW & mercedees in europe, they had better offer a 4-banger stripper model with an all-vinyl interior, with attractive fleet pricing.

Croc ~ >>"The CTS is the volume Cadillac. ATS will take that over when it arrives."<< Probably, but I don't think the CTS will see a corresponding drop, necessarily. >>"If CTS weren't selling in sufficient volume, the business case for coupe and wagon variants couldn't have been made."<< It's still unknown what the exact wagon/coupe volumes are, and if they are breaking even or not. It's an assumption that the sedan is covering the other 2 models in ROI. Elsewhere on the 'net, there are those who are adamant that the current CTS won't break even until 2013 IIRC. >>"The DTS is just a fleet queen and a staple of the nursing home circuit. Except guess what? Aging baby boomers are buying Toyota Avalons and Lexuses, not big boaty Cadillacs."<< This can easily change, and has a good possibility of doing so based on what we've seen to date. Boaty avalons & boaty lexus's were the waning flavor of the prior year- both heavily tarnished by abysmal quality since. I don't see Brembos & TTs in those geezermobiles. Time will tell. >>"Octogenarians don't buy new cars--they keep what they have until they die or their keys get taken away."<< Nice gross generalization; what's some of your favorite ones about early 20-yr olds? My grandfather bought a new CTS when he was 90, BTW. And every time I take notice of a upper-tier mercedees in traffic, the driver is easily 65. Just noted a newer c- or e- convert an hour ago- the woman looked every bit of 80- bone-white perm, heavily-creased face, giant sunglasses, etc.

I'd be very interested in seeing a debate structure attempt.

All this Buick><Cadillac back-n-forth is based solely on FWD><RWD, when 70% of BMW 1-series owners bought thinking the car was FWD. Its not that important, it really sails over the heads of the VAST majority of consumers out there. The car is a Cadillac in every sense of the language, and as a continuance of the DTS segment, it should serve the Division well.

This is the first time I've encountered the label 'regressive'...

^ Agreed.

350 diesel is a stout performance base- block-wise. Tough bugger.