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Well, as much as the XTS might have a "selective" appeal in the market, I will boldy (well, maybe not so boldly, as I think it's a sure bet) predict the XTS will be more reliable, cheaper to own, and at least equal in resale value at trade-in time v. the E-class. The one thing that seems out of place in the XTS for the car's eventual customer base is CUE, imo. I'm just scared to death the old folks will be flummoxed by it. Cadillac is trying to put a high-tech system in a car that low-tech (by choice, not for lack of intelligence) customers are going to buy.

history

Toys-R-Us, in the Lego aisle.

LURVE the colour! I clearly remember putting nose prints on many an Astra door glass. I went so far as to test drive one before giving up on the idear only because of AADD (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder). And to be brutally honest, I do not lurve your modification plans. Yes I understand them, as even at my age I am tempted to do something to every vehicle I've owned. But then I realize that I'd be spending money to ruin the resale value of my vehicle. I hope you give it a year before you decide to go through with any modifications. By then you might love it just the way those Belgians built it.

Cute Latin kid came in to the shop yesterday with a pristine jade green '96 Caprice... except somebody hit the right fender, rendering it necessary to replace. I complimented him on the condition of the car, and seeing it had the factory aluminum wheels, I joked that I was glad to see it didn't have 24" rims. He said he just took the 24s off recently

Jeez, time flies like a rolling stone that gathers no moss and then June Cleaver shows up. It's prime car spotting time, so let's get this party started, shall we, hombres?

Thank ya folks. Time to rebuild.

I'm just not sure I could own this without someoone to flag me into the dock, it's such a huge boat./sarcasm Skylark Limited it should be named.

Thanks, GMTG, for that side-by-side illustration. You've confirmed it for me: the outgoing model, while familiar, is better looking and more suited to its role in the Ford truck lineup than this new tall Focus wagon. The new Escape should have been penned to resemble the truck side rather than the car side.

Nobody that has reviewed the Prius C has liked it, why should you feel remorse?

Well yeah, since finding out shock-n-awe style on May 15th that the bodyshop I work at would be closed by the end of the munt due to a multi-year drop-off in business (yes, that was today, our last day) despite a golden local reputation that was built over nearly 5 decades, all my staff have been clearly in emotional turmoil. Some have worn it on their sleeves while others have appeared to be resigned (bad word) to the fact almost from the minute of the announcement. Some wished the axe had dropped immediately and more mercifully, instead of two weeks of torture as we choked off our insurance company contracts and watched our business drop to near zero by the end, while others seemed to wish for some sort of Christmas Mackerel. Mackerels are few and far between. And I admit freely that my emotions have been all over the map since the announcement. Shock Anger Bitterness Fear.... Release Euphoria Hope So I am hopeful now that something good will come of this. It has to, after 6 years of pouring my heart and soul into a place that vanished into thin, paint-fumed air seemingly overnight. Tomorrow, I will travel around the county showing my face and grabbing some applications. 19 years experience have to mean something. SOMEWHERE. And I will keep traveling, applying and calling until I land somewhere. This kind of test can spark an artistic outburst. All creative people are tormented to some degree, I firmly believe. And torment triggers creativity like nothing else. Of course, the results can vary, from great poetry to mass murder. I'll stick with something between the two.

Didn't we read though that by the tape, they're pretty much the same size as the nice looking, best-selling, SUV-like old Escape that they're throwing out with the bathwater?

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE, for a lot of people, their "college orientation" turns out to be something they might never have expected for themselves while they were in high school. Experimentation is good for you though, and comes with the freedom college life allows. Or maybe that's not wut you meant. I must have pics of the Saturn Astra immediately. BTW congratulations and work hard. Hard work is much more likely to bring good ruck.

I think our man Camino has found his RV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Current Sportwagen sells well for being a golden oldie.

That's wha happun to the Fiesta AND the Focus. I guess they believe early adopters will be rich folk.

Kermit's buttocks look too too much like the Malibu. I mean I know it's a chop, but come on. The new Impala's asscheeks look SO much nicer than this Malibu's, the chopper should have aimed higher in the Chevrolet lineup when he cut and pasted.

VW has done off-road conversions of their vehicles since the very beginning. I mean Subaru has practically built their brand on jacked-up wagons, when it was Volkswagen that has the real history in doing so. VW is the rightful owner of the formula. I think a Jetta Alltrak would be awesome, but I also lament the fact that seemingly every generation of vehicle grows and changes its formula. A 3-seat Tiguan? Not necessary.

They're nuts at that price. But I think an SE AWD has everything on it I'd need, and still be around $28k.

The deflating tail at the end: priceless

Well it seems like the rear end might be something like the new Impala, which is a good thing, imo, I see it will have a 4-element taillamp system instead of the generic Caprice PPV look. I see horizontal bars on the grille, again like the new Impala. Hopefully this car will only share doors, roof, and glass with the Holden as far as exterior panels go. *crosses fingers*

Maybe they're doing it on purpose to try to keep first-year reliability up?

Whoa congratulations on the Coop!

If the tea leaves I'm reading are correct, it means the next miniature Jeep will follow the Patriot formula rather than Compass. Makes me glad if it happens. DARTSRT sounds like a smashing idear. Of course I'd love to see an expansion of bodystyles, like a 5-door and a coupe to provide a little brother to Challenger/Barracuda for those of us more cash-strapped customers. And I'm glad the Caravan is the one that's staying. A minivan is a family vehicle more closely fitting the Dodge brand than Chrysler, imo. A new Pacifica might work well and be a good differentiator for Chrysler.

Local guy has a '49-'51 Ford Tudor with faded black paint (I cannot tell the difference between the model years, but they generally look the same). I always see it in the driveway in the same spot, but Sunday morning I came up behind him on his road, two tiny dual pipes puffing a bit of blue smoke at times. I was struck with how small the car is, actually, how practically sized it is.