sciguy_0504

Thank you for the exclusive information that, like Turbie said, us little guys appreciate and would have had a hard time getting if it were not for you. Good luck in the future and make sure to stop back every now and then!

That ass is huge!

Childish-ness is tiring.

Azera...no.

Could not have said it better, even if this extra $2 billion only relates to restructuring costs. Someone from the outside needs to be brought in.

How does slapping tariffs on foreign cars help? Will you put a tariff on the Camry even though it is made in the US? Oops...there goes Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Benz, Hyundai, Subaru, etc. and you are stuck with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people out of a job and that is only your first problem. Will you put a tariff on Chrysler since it is foreign-owned? During the early years of the Great Depression, the Hoover administration put tariffs on thousands of imported goods (Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act) which actually made the depression worse (look it up if you do not believe me). Protectionism only slows down the world economy and putting tariffs on foreign-made cars will only lead to tit-for-tat actions between the world's major economies and that will lead to Great Depression II. Guaranteed. Hint: it has something to do with supply and demand.

I take offense at that statement. Yes, there are people who only want to go to Harvard and Yale but they are few in number and will eventually see the real world once they leave their precious campuses. Out of the 10 colleges I applied to, 2 were public and the rest were private (I think, it has been a while). It just ended up being that way because I did not have a choice one way or another, I could have cared less. In the end, I chose a private college because it provided an opportunity that the rest of the schools on my list did not. I see where you are coming from but a blanket statement could not be further from the truth.

I got the tickets from the travel agency today and the fare was cheaper than the taxes/fees/misc charges. Rediculous. You are correct, though, we will be flying out of JFK on a 747-400. I have read some stories about people flying on Air India and they are pretty funny.

Cadillac, you have to be able to see that the UAW is part of problem.

I have seen a couple of the fights when I turn on VH1 since nothing else is on. It is a fairly funny show but I am not a fan of Flavor. I haven't seen the spitting episode, yet.

My spring break is in roughly a week. Me and a friend are going to London. It is my first time out of the country since the Caribbean in 2004 and I am looking forward to it. I need a break, I need to travel, school sucks. Anyway, the trip cost $600 for 5 day/4 night hotel (Holiday Inn Express, pretty nice for a HI) and airfare, which we thought was pretty good. This is the off-season so prices are low. The exchange rate is horrible, though. We are flying on Air India, probably another reason it was so cheap. We will have to bring our own food.

I dunno, I kind of like it.

Please. We have been down this road before and the scenery is really getting tiring. All manufacturers advertise EPA test results. Not Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, C&D or Edmunds fuel economy results but EPA results because, by law, that is the only entity that can provide advertise-able MPG numbers. I have seen in various tests that the new Tahoe does not achieve its official EPA rating. You could say it is getting a free pass because it does have the best MPG numbers in its class. Again, how many of you want to bet that GM finally got a brain and starting manufacturing its engines to achieve the best EPA results rather than just being a great, groundbreaking engine? 0-60 and 1/4 mile numbers will differ between tests, also, something fairly easy to show. I have also seen Toyota, Honda and Ford advertising that deals with lower emissions and I am positive I will see them for Saturn Greenlines and the GMT900s.

Sigh... More claims about gas mileage that are just as dubious as the EPA test itself. More misunderstanding about hybrids.

Funny. Except the Cobalt and G5 will be the same way?

The drive to and from the Outer Banks, NC was fine. The speed limit in NC is 70MPH so traffic naturally moves around 85-90MPH and there was no problem. I would never drive down there again unless I was in the back of a Bentley. It is the sort of thing you do once and learn your lesson.

I guess wheel size and power make a difference? I thought you could only have 4 or 5 or 6 bolts on a model due to the axle design. I guess not...

The only thing attractive about the Azera is the price, I think. The styling looks like melted butter and the interior is nothing to write home about. I am the exact opposite of BV, I would not take it even if it were free.

The 103HP in my xB is adequate for me, a 19-year old male. I guess I am weird? I drive on various highways reguarly and I have no problem merging or keeping up with traffic. Granted, everyone wants more power for those fun Saturday afternoon-type drives on back roads. I would not mind it either but one of the reasons I chose the xB was for fuel economy. More fuel economy = less power, for the most part.

My dad's small computer/printer/technology business has exploded and has been year after year since 1998 when he started it. The economic slowdown had zero effect on business. My family is much better off today economically than we were before 1998. My dad has a handful of employees are all are paid well. On top of salary, both have company cars and one has full health benefits while another pays 25% of his because he elected to be paid more rather than receive a slightly smaller paycheck with full benefits. We would love to hire another technician and are currently looking to but there is a problem. Everyone in the field is mainly interested in computers and networking while the company's specialty is printers. No one knows printer repair. You do not have to work at some huge company in order to be paid a nice salary and receive good benefits. In fact, I would bet working at a smaller company would be better in the long run once you combine salary, benefits and the less stress environment. Plus, smaller companies are more nimble in changing economies (ie. 5,000 people do not have to be laid off when the economy goes slightly south).

Mostly modern stuff but I can almost listen to anything.

Gas happy East or west?

are for losers

Obviously not since sales have continued to grow. Again, usually that is a good thing.

HA. Can you say anything positive about Toyota? Second thread in a row here... The older gentleman probably forgot his glasses anyway.