Newbiewar

i donno, i'll get back with ya... honnestly, the deal hasnt been posted anywhere... it is relitively confidential from what i understand... all health care is now in the hands of the UAW, and many of its perks will be denied, due to cost factor... you must remember this 50 billion must last 80 years for current members and spouses... and with GM's annual expense of around 5 billion, that would typically get used up in 10 years if prices of health care were to stay steady, but they arent going to stay steady... they will continue to rise, unless new legislature puts some sort of law on it... my thinking is, this fund will run out of money within about 6 years just as the catapiller deal in 98... they thought 32 million would last the lifetime of the retired members, that amount ran out in less then 6 years... Its not GM's problem any more... america sold its companies out, and now american laborers are being sold out too... if GM still had 48% marketshare, it could afford to do what it promised it's members, but even the members themselves dont buy the products they build... so what kind of comitment is that... it goes both ways, whats good for GM, is good for america... but our cars... keep our members employeed... even in 1922 GM profited 80 million dollars, in the 50's GM was profiting over a billion dollars a quarter, durring the great depression, GM was still paying out dividends and making profits while their clientel had crumbled... Expand GM too much, and take its clients away, you've got disaster... if UAW wanted their pensions to stay, and their funds... maybe they should have fought back on a physical level... not to say that this isnt a new millenium... but when plants start closing, maybe the union should have stood up for american products...

for the most part, people rarely venture to dealerships they feel uncomfortable with the products in the first place... obviously a salesperson will have more experiance day in and day out with the products, honnest guys like me, will explain the pros and cons to lots of different vehicles that have come through the service lane, and such... many times, if a consumer knows they are going to be taken care of, they are willing to settle for a problem here or there as long as its resolved, and they arent left stranded... GM is coming a long way in the service department... telling a consumer that this vehicle will last forever, might get you the sale today, but if you get down into the vehicle you'll get the referals if you show them why its going to last forever, and advantages that this vehicle has over another, such as irridum tipped spark plugs, kevlar reinforced accessory belts, timing chains vrs timing belts, dont forget the tires have the tpc ratings on them(no one wants the firestone/explorer rollovers), or things like quiet steel, or small things like seat belt restraints, so that children can wear the seat belts correctly... people want to have confidence in their vehicles... and GM pushes a lot of over the top worry free items that competetors dont offer or include when you show a consumer the crumple zone of an impala, the break away motor mounts, the j-clips... speak of how safe a consumer is regaurdless of an accident, and whats even better, onstar is the number one traction control system for avoiding roll overs, and collisions... and if it is enevitable to avoid, they are right there to help walk you through it... call for help when you cant... and give precise directions, when you cant. i could go on all day long as to why a consumer should buy a vehicle from gm's inventory... rarely a consumer will give you 100% of their attention, after a minute or two, you display enough education, enough knowledge of the industry to fully place faith in... its rare for a consumer to want to actually learn of their vehicle before they buy it tho... due to salespersons excitement to sell it to them, they lose focus of the overall goal to find the best product for their money.

well global warming is a fact of life... regaurdless of automobiles green house emissions and other things... we can impose everything we could on automanufactures... hell even ban them globally... and it would just delay global warming by about 5 years... it comes ever so often, not sure on the time table... but, after global warming starts to really take a tole on the world, it adversely switches, to an ice age... then goes back to normal... for a few hundred thousand years

Toyota's Environmental Image Challenged Never mind that the Toyota Prius is popular with environmentally conscious motorists -- some environmentalists still wonder if Toyota is living up to its image as a green automaker. Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, are challenging Toyota Motor Corp.'s opposition to strict fuel economy standards pending in Congress, a position the Japanese company shares with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. During the past two weeks, about 8,300 NRDC activists sent e-mails and faxes to Toyota urging the company to support a Senate energy bill that would set a 35-mile-per-gallon requirement by 2020. Other environmental groups, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Environmental Trust, are mobilizing to challenge Toyota for supporting a more modest approach on so-called CAFE standards that would require 32 to 35 mpg by 2022. "They have a green halo, justifiably, and yet unbeknownst to their customers they've joined forces with the Detroit Three to argue against greener standards," said Deron Lovaas, the NRDC's vehicles campaign director. Toyota contends the Senate bill would hurt the industry and notes that the alternative still would raise the standards up to 40 percent and give automakers more time to meet the goals. The company said it would respond to the messages it receives. "For the first time, the industry has actually come together for a fuel economy increase, and everyone is pulling together in the same direction," Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss said Wednesday. "Toyota is working very hard behind the scenes to achieve the best standards possible, not only for the whole industry, but to meet the energy and environmental goals that we all share." Toyota, along with Honda Motor Co., has been a front-runner in producing fuel-efficient vehicles while emphasizing its hybrid technology. In addition to the popular gas-electric hybrid Prius, Toyota offers several hybrid models, including the hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus models. But the campaign underscores some discontent with the company in the environmental community, many of whom drive Prius hybrids. Toyota is challenging GM as the world's biggest automaker and has aggressively promoted the Tundra pickup in the lucrative large truck segment. "They market every night the Prius and the Toyota Camry -- we're the green car, huh? Then watch the football games, and they're marketing the Toyota Tundra -- like the biggest vehicle ever made," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Camry hybrid owner, said Wednesday in a speech at an environmental conference. "We're actually going to name the vehicle the Tundra, after the thing that's being destroyed in Alaska," he said. "How ironic."

anywho... i came here to say this is front and center of msn home page...

i was just saying for arguing example, you brought up you might own a yaris or corolla... but what research are these people doing... are they researching the inflated fuel ecconomy? the inflated horsepower? are they looking at Consumer reports (as my dad does) that is subject to coments from only their own client base? what about their perceived quality? they seem to have trouble with every supplier, every part, every new entry in the market... from glue makers to glass makers, its never toyotas fault... whether its a steering yoke, to a camshaft, their supercharged motors catching fire, or just their tundra that is unsafe to drive faster then 40 mph, shouldnt toyota have used some sort of proving grounds instead of testing the vehicles on the public and paying to repair them? they seem to have a attack of consumers complaining about their vehicles are doing things they arent supposed to... driving through the wall in the garage, accelorating while the foot is clearly on the brake... and who is to pay for these problems? as toyota dealers refuse to do recalled work, and charge astranomical prices for the jobs they do, their labor is the most expensive in the business... and when it came time for toyota, to replace my burned motor, as advertised in their recalled... they refused... my experiance is less then exuberant...

i was under the impression the ZR1 being rwd, is outperforming almost everything off the line... competing seriously with the bugadi and the enzo... its under my impression that they learned something extremely important about rwd suspension to launch a 2wd rwd vehicle at a competative rate to a awd vehicle... so why switch to awd now?

fly... no offense, but arent the servers already kinda taxed out? i mean we are getting these errors server timed out... what not... more, just means more... you'd have to upgrade to a better server with more bandwidth used up... longer load times, if its just plain text... i dont see any harm, but no one will pay you for plain text...

thought this was the rim deal... i remember at the dealership... there was a 3k$ rim package (only really cost 1200) but gm would give 1000 off of the Chevrolet rims... but only if you got the package... made for some good deals... and some really attractive trucks too

should i continue... well lets see here... dont forget about the tc's that had the window over the driver shatter all over the driver, and come to realize, it wasnt tempered glass... (owch!) or the 2007 (2006?) avalon that didnt even have a welded steering yoke...? could disconnect from the road at any time or all the tundras & sequoias, and a few other models, have suspension problems, that could potentially cause a complete loss of control or the 2007 camrys with the malfunctioning transmission... forget which gears break but i think your left with like 1st and 4th...? or of course everyones favorite... how the FU@k do you mess up floor mats?!... my goodness, if that isnt the hardest thing in the world to botch, toyota did it... I'm sure there is more... but do you get the point yet? sorry i didnt cover all of them earlier, had to get back to work... i'm sure i'll cover more when i have a bit more then a few hours of sleep and some 19 hours awake...

if you read the production schedual i think chevy is getting its own plant for lambda... and its production is aimed at 250k by itself...

GM gave that information to the dealership... i've never seen it anywhere else to confirm it... but thats a little something GM gave us to pull out of our sleeve...its in the manual of the prius... that it must be started at least once every 2 weeks... and its neglect and voids the warranty... heres what it says at consumeraffairs.com

dont forget to mentionGM has the most fuel ecconomy in Full Size trucks, Full Size SUV's and cars with 400 or more hp... also GM has the most vehicles to choose from that gets over 30 mpg... also GM has the top 2 plants for quality awards in north america... Honda and Toyota i think are the most accident prone in their factories (need facts to back that up... cause i dont know the statistics, ive just heard bad things) dont forget the honda recall that their transmissions would roll away in park... or that Ford hasnt recalled any 2007's this year? GM's trucks have the highest re-regeister rate (percentage) of any truck in the last 25 years... (meaning they arent non operational, or junked) you could venture down the invention list if you want... but thats really unfair you could put something about the IIHS has deemed the new Tundra (unsafe to drive) undriveable over speeds of 40 mph due to vibrations in the mirrors and entire body... it is quoted to be so bouncy one person cant have a conversation with the person in the passenger seat... you could mention the fuel ecconomy dispute about prius... or horsepower dispute in 2006-2007 year... camry lost some 20 hp without changing their engines... sounds like a real honnest company dont forget the unintentional acceloration or when hybrids get into accidents, they wont saw them open to get you out due to fear or electricution (or atleast when they were first on the market) or the prius, battery needs to be replaced if you go on vacation for more then 2 weeks... bet they didnt tell you that, and its not covered by warranty

maybe certain things go into it that no one is looking at... for one, air conditioning... if he's got remote start, maybe he left it sitting for extended periods of time... i know i've been stuck in traffic so bad, a 45 mile trip took 6 hours... from los angeles to the outskirts... blew through 13 galons in that amount of time in my firebird...because i was basically idling the whole distance... does that mean it gets only 3mpg... no.. but it sure sucked that i filled up before and after that trip to the funeral... it really has a lot to do with certain things, if its hot or cold, the air density can change fuel ecconomy, your tires, the road, concreete or asphalt have effects on fuel ecconomy, wether you like to shift at 2300 or 5600... or wether you go from 0-60-0 between lights in 11.5 seconds... if you drive like a jackass your automatic transmission knows your habits, and will use them even when your tring to conserve... i'm not saying 16mpg is good, i'm not saying it was unreasonable for what he was doing at the time either... i know i've seen low 20's in a cobalt driving to customers houses... it wasnt my car who cares? maybe he was driving against the wind... against 60mph wind its not uncommon here at fort bliss to experiance 80mpg gusts of wind, does it shake cars, sure... does the sand take the paint off, yep... so why wouldnt it affect fuel ecconomy... there are always extreme cases... when my lt1 averaged 11mpg, it was running on 6 cyl and dumping fuel out the other 2... eventually clogged my o2 sensors... when i averaged 26mpg, i was driving 100% highway 85 the whole way...

so your saying the only reason you chose your standard gasoline sedan, was because of price and fuel ecconomy? why not go with an aveo, it will save you more money over the life of the vehicle then its comperably equipt corolla or yaris? if that was your basis for your vehicle preference get a used geo 3 cyl motor, you will spend less on total ownership of that including fuel, then you would spend in intrest on your corolla or yaris loan... let alone the fuel and the actual pricipal of the vehicle.... The point here is people are buying appliances without a justified reason... or even acknoledgement... of why they prefer one of the other... I've received 35+ mpg driving a cobalt, which is generally a few hundred less then a comparable corolla, driving over 95 mph, consistantly... where as my brother drove a manual transmission (supposidly better fuel ecconomy then an automatic, which suggests even worse for the automatic) at similar or lesser speeds, acheiving a best of 26 mpg... same thing with my parents camry v6... it acheives an average of 21 mpg, driving a 75% mixture of highway to city... this rarely sees speeds over 75... i've seen and recorded better results out of a 325 hp LS1, and a 275 hp LT1, a 315 hp 2007 Tahoe, ect... so are you stupid for choosing a ford chevy or dodge, one could only suggest... but there are several aptitude tests, and iq tests to privide a more informative answer... my only statement is do some research before buying something as expensive as a car... and most people refuse to look at certain models... i consider someone like that stupid...

yea, those errors suck... i get them at least once a day, usually durring peek time... sometimes it wont even let me refresh or go back... but... if it doesnt give me the server error... i have to wait a tremendous time...

i hope your right... i always make snide coments about ford... but i'd like to see them flurish over the asians...

ive been looking at fords line up since the new body style mustang came out... and there really hasnt been anything that is stellar and decent sellers other then F150 and Mustang... and of course your Fleet King, Tortuse... i really dont think its in fords best intrest to cut back on fleet... it is currently keeping them stable... or it was... until they have better product, they really cant afford to pull out of any markets... they need a car guy... pres might have been the guy for them, but who knows maybe mr boewing can turn things around for ford as well... we will see with the union contracts... if he fails with the UAW... i see a failed ford, and Ford seems to be tanking fast, without anything to grab onto... Chrysler on the other hand, has very very deep pockets... although really off limts... chrysler only can go up... via private management Chrysler can design and sell whatever it wants... Pres really doesnt need chrysler, nor does chrysler need him... but as long as Chrysler has someone who is in the veto chair like bob lutz... and put the designers back to work... we'll see a growing chrysler... Ford... I will be sad to see them go, but if their finances dwindle... krik might appear on the radar and save the day... he's been praying to own a auto company for a while... Renault might have intrest in Ford, since they cant have GM... and GM might help its comrad out... if Ford could break its concept to product cycle, they might be able to buck their spiral... something lutz had trouble with when he first came aboard... GM's management was perfect before lutz got there... so efficent... except for one thing... it dumbed down any creativity and style, because they were litterally put through study groups till death

well their mouth peice "Pres" is gone...

yea i remember that... think it was a 95-97 ish... but yea, he was thier guy for a while must have broken or something... cause i stoped hearing about it

there are a lot of 3/4 million mile chevys... but the record holder is a "Bought this truck new from Mayville Motor Co in Mayville, N.D. in 1978. I have used it in my construction business since then. This unit has pulled equipment on construction trailers and been a work horse for the past 28 years. The trans. was replaced once, the short block twice and the rear end is still original after 2 million miles. I still use it every day. I have had a long-lasting and rewarding experience with my Chevrolet. Thanks Chevy. "

Well Pontiac is tired of being Chevy's extra slack... its time Pontiac picked up its barganing level... and raised the bar, because Chevy must remain the Value King.. Pontiac must raise its bar as sports oriented... you pay for what you get, thats why you get a pontiac...

Fixed

even the escalade looked the same as the cobalt...

the current ones were pretty good... always easy for customers to use... featured 6sets of 6 presets, for a total of 36 saved radio stations, mix-match AM FM XM radio, often times, matted with a 6 cd changer in dash, very user friendly, with large centered crome accented volume control, and without marking most users automatically found the manual adjust for the antenna frequency. Most people really appreciated them, as well as being very well lit up... but i think the new Buick lacross features a different radio design and maybe this is a preview of what we will see in future GM vehicles