balthazar

>>"*Opt to have your bills delivered electronically. *Opt to pay your bills electronically."<< >>"PCs are the largest users of electricity in your house."<< This sort of conflicting info needs to be studied so the net effect is known/proven, otherwise the opposite may result.

Hypothetical: A member of your immediate family is killed by a drunk driver. A publically well-known, multiple-conviction drunk driver, one who has killed 4 people in his past, wants to visit your family member's gravesite to lay a wreath. You're OK with this? If not, are you fostering a 'negative opinion of Americans', or are you standing up for what you feel is common decency? Ground Zero is the site of a mass murder. This guy is a governmental representative of a state well-known for advocating and commiting terrorism & murder. The opposition is political, not racial.

I got your back, Walt; locked & loaded.

>>"A console e-brake is nicer than a foot pedal style..."<< I'll never get this: it's a parking/service brake, not an iPod jack. It's a honda, not a Viper. In automatics, it's seldom, if ever, used. Tuck it out of the way instead of sticking it up in the air in the center of the car, further crowding an already crowded interior. I have the same opinion of the hazard lamp button: seldom used, utilitarian, hide it. Why do I need to look at these all the time?? >>"...and the dead pedal is large to accomodate large American male feet."<< Then why is the brake pedal the size of half a slice of bread? The disparity between the two, assumedly designed for the same size feet, is illogical. The snap impression is that 'resting' is far more important than stopping.

This car continues to baffle me. I'm not student of honda, but the last gen & the civic pointed a clear style direction of chiseled, areodynamic shapes; sleek (if a bit weird). This car is festooned with lines & gouges & spats & buldges- WTH?? It clearly says 'we don't know where to go next, so we threw in a handful from the "1990s" bin'. • I do not understand a 2-piece trunklid on a purportedly 'class-leading' car costing over $30K- what is so difficult about stamping it from one piece? While we're back here- what's with the 'liftgate cut' in the rear bumper? It's flexible plastic- it's not like you can rest anything there when loading the trunk. • Interior is certainly nothing special. What's with the protruding e-brake on the console in a family sedan?? Why is the dead pedal so large and the brake pedal so small? Is the next gen civic going to likewise go all chunky & derivative to match with this one? I see merit in all of Fly's observations, too. Blech.

I saw an s2000 on the shoulder of U.S. Rt 1 last year: both rear wheels were jammed up in the fenderwells and tilted way out at the bottom. No other cars involved, no skidmarks- looked like it just broke. The owner/driver sure looked like it was his last honda...

>>"This is what happens when you sell unbelievably terrible products for 30+ years with equally terrible customer service. Many people swore off domestics years ago when their cars spent most of their serviceable life broken down in repair shops. "<< What manufacturer is this referring to?

• I know the '67 Camaro/ Firebird has 'space saver' spares: the first? • The one time I had an outright flat at a Turnpike toll plaza, a passer-by gave me a can of fix-a-flat, but the piece of steel shrapnel tore a gash in the tread that no chemical foam would ever patch. Luckily, I've never driven anything with a space saver, and my full-size spare went right on. Gotta love a truck. • My wife has had a few tire punctures: I would far rather have the donut and use it than incur a $100 tow bill so I can occasionally stuff a pair of swim fins & a snorkel in the trunk on that summer trip to the lake. Or how about this: add even another 3" to the trunk and provide some decent volume there. • I often find myself in areas remote enough that I would not want to wait on a tow truck anyway. • There will be no measurable fuel savings by eliminating the donut; most people carry more random, unneccessary crap weight-wise in their cars as it is; clean out your ride and keep the donut. That said, I eliminated the spare tire well in my B-59 because of the great disparity in front vs. rr tire sizes (235 vs. 315).

Couple more service stories: One morning my F-150's brake pedal went straight to the floor. I limped it to the Ford dealer, they opened it up, said I needed front wheel cylinders & some brake lines (there may have been more). Quote: $1400. 'Button it up; I'm coming to get it.'... drove it home on the E-brake, did it all myself for around $400. Same truck: I inadvertantly drove thru salt water in a flood down at the shore (no; I was not driving on the beach), which is a Very Bad Thing to do. A year later and the oil pan is rusted & seeping in one spot on the side. Online prices are around $300 for the pan alone, but online forums reveal raising the motor and detatching the trans is likely in order to get the pan out (I-6). I never asked a dealer- undoubtedly it would easily be a grand or 2. I used an epoxy gas tank repair kit for like $8 and it leaks no more. My Chevy dealer (not the closest, but the original selling dealer) is a real small-town, old-school shop. Recently he replaced the steering shaft (he put it in under warranty, tho the truck is well out of warranty), of course there was the labor to install it, greased the suspension & did an oil/filter change (10 qrts with the DuraMax). $92. Unbelievable.

Note that this is perhaps the only case of blatant GM showcar recycling: the '69 Buick Century Cruiser first appeared as XP-720, the 1964 Firebird IV. I believe there was a large degree of re-engineering done, but stylistically, the fact that these are the same cars in undeniable.

The brother of a buddy of mine had a DMC a few years ago; I sat in it, and yeah- the novelty of gullwing doors is pretty neat, but the car had a... IDK; kit-car feel to it: the doors were hugely thick & the sills were like park benches. You sit buried in the thing, and the windows (other than the windshield) are like horizontal gunslits. I never took to it, but they sure catch your eye on the road due to the extreme lowness of them. It's got a hefty degree of 'gee-whiz', but really no grace or class, IMO. I would agree that more modern engineering and definately a better powertrain than the original (Renault? Volvo?) one would be strongly appreciated. I also wonder at how many 'bottom-liners' there really are for this: current values for the original DMCs are a top-shelf indicator here- anyone looked at what they're selling for? If it's $75K or anything remotely in that neighborhood, maybe the venture will make it... but if DMCs are only selling for 1/3rd that, I don't think building these on spec makes for a good business case.

Caterpillar spit, dirt, crude oil and cobwebs are several of the ingredients in Jerry Flint. You know Reg, what would be helpful here is some pics of the different cup sizes... you know; to facilitate relativity. At least A - DD. As CB said, it's a very important issue.

>>"I had been suggesting that the domestics launched such a campaign to challenge the perceived import quality and show that in reality American cars are at the same level as jap cars in terms of quality"<< SATURN = Rethink American.

Aren't the '70s & at least early '80s M-B's particularly known for rotting out prematurely? The rare occasion when I happen to see one- it's always doing a quick impression of the Tulsa '57. There are 2 in the next town, look like early '80s, and both are toast at this point (one never moves tho it's parked on the street, another is parked on the grass of someone's lawn).

People here are specifically reacting to the grille & spoiler; the rest of the G6 is a very nice design by most accounts. I was likewise comparing the front fascias of the 4 vehicles I mentioned, not the entire vehicles.

Really? I've seen every '57-58 American car in person, and although I would NOT call the E-58 "ugly", every other '57-58 is better looking, IMO. Edsel was loaded with innovative features, but there's a lot of disharmony in the exterior styling/details that catches your eye in person... in a disturbing/puzzling manner.

>>"And where is the MEDIA on this? I mean, really now, this is Pinto level screwup."<< >>"I don't think it's quite that serious...dozens died from the Pinto problems.."<< I read the first comment as meaning 'engineering-level screw-up', not a reference to the consequences down the road.

I still find the front end unique & interesting... but haven't seen this in person yet. Cannot be uglier than the element or xa or the new crv...

What a f'ing joke!! hyundai will never equal anything more than 'sh!tbox' to a great many consumers. You coudn't pay me to buy one. And I love the short-sightedness that uses where the vehicle is slapped together to determine the legal 'nationality' of the company. The conundrum with this scenario is: 'domestic' marques are often (erroneously) perceived as inferior to foriegn brands, yet the foreign brands are often striving HARD to be more 'domestic'. Will this 1. 'upgrade' those consumer's perceptions of the American marques, or 2. 'downgrade the perceptions of the foreign brands? Even the typical scatter-minded consumer will not swallow it both ways....

>>"internationally acclaimed artist Nam June Paik"<< This person is no artist in this 'piece'- he did absolutely nothing. If he makes 1 penny off this exhibit, I'm going to have to hunt him (?) down with my own silver '59 Buick 2-dr hardtop. What I would like to do is far more 'artsy' than this ridiculous 'piece'.

>>"In stark contrast, the new Accord is a mess. It is just plain ugly..... "<< After studying the pics, I agree with this assessment completely... to the point I almost believe the pics are NOT the actual car. Very backwards move, stylistically.

This earth-shattering 'revelation' reminds me of the mico-diddling over resale values : it overlooks the big picture: a new car is the worse financial action you can partake in (with a half-handful of exceptions), yet most blindly accept a new car's depreciation as long as it's better than another car they wouldn't buy anyway. One out of 20 cars I've owned was bought new- and there are no near-future possibilities of another new one for me. Frankly, it just doesn't make good financial sense.

Then so does the 5-series- it's only 90 lbs lighter. I look forward to mentions of this fact in your next 10 posts. What's really overweight is the 3-series: it's nearly a foot shorter & it's narrower than the CTS, with a much less detailed and equipped interior, yet it's only 200 lbs lighter (AWD ><AWD). Pound-for-inch, it's heavier. Of course, we've been over this already. smk: just curious: are you around 85 years old? I've yet to meet anyone so firmly entrenched & fixated on the same 4 'points' as you almost always are... unless they were in the beginning stages of Alzheimers.

Look at scion's year-over-year tanking, esp in light of general gas prices....

Every spare dollar VW can get it's hands on should be put towards building better, longer-lasting vehicles, first-n-foremost. Fix the bread-n-butter models first, and stop wasting millions on pie-in-the-sky concepts that aren't going anywhere. Moving the offices will do NOTHING to address VW's problems. That's like your house catches on fire, you pack everything you own... still on fire... into a moving truck and drive to another neighborhood and set-up there, then you call the fire department. Maybe.