Northstar

I think the ad is cool, but to spend a minute on such an ad is too long. It should be a 30 second ad, or at least have some shots of the interiors, details about the vehicles, etc., if they're going to spend money on a full minute of advertising.

Damn, that looks brutal, glad you are ok! If the car is worth $7.5k, surely it is not totaled. The front end is barely damaged. You can get junkyard parts in like new condition for pretty cheap, so unless labor is very expensive, I don't see why it should cost all that much (unless your frame is bent/damaged). Used, each of the bumpers shouldn't cost more than $400 a piece, so you're talking about $800 or less for the bumpers. I would think labor wouldn't be too expensive considering it seems like if you replace just the bumpers and trunk you should be mostly fixed.

Agreed. That car looks perfect.

And the fact that the Aston Martin costs at least twice as much as a Cayman.

Happy Birthday!

Holden to build limited edition run to clear Pontiac parts North America's loss is about to become Australia's gain. As Pontiac prepares to shut its doors in the USA, and with it the Commodore export program, it has emerged that the Commodore-based Pontiac G8 will be sold in Australia from late this year. Holden exported approximately 41,000 Commodores as Pontiac G8 sedans between November 2007 and February 2009. A ute version of the Pontiac G8 was due to follow later this year but it was axed along with the rest of the Pontiac brand. A top secret Holden dealer bulletin obtained by the Carsales Network has revealed that the Pontiac G8 will be sold locally in November and December, with production due to start on November 2. The move has been designed to clear parts stock that was destined for the now axed Pontiac export program. There will be sedan, ute and wagon versions in three colours -- black, red and 'voodoo' blue. This means the local Pontiac G8 will be sold in two guises not available in the US (where it was a sedan only), making the ute and wagon particularly rare. Even though all cars will be based on the Holden Commodore SS V and wear SS V badging they are expected to become collector's items as they will mark an important milestone (and memory) in Holden history: when it last exported cars to the world's biggest car market. Significantly, the limited edition models will not wear Pontiac badges, but they will get all the other Pontiac parts. The parts include the Pontiac G8 bonnet, front bumper and grille. On sedan models, the lower 'lip' boot spoiler will replace the SS V's high-mount spoiler. It is unclear how many of each will be made, but dealer contacts have suggested it will be close to 1500 in total, or about 500 of each body style. Prices of each limited edition model will be $1000 more than a regular SS V. The Holden bulletin outlined to dealers the following: Pontiac G8 SS-V ute manual $47,490 Pontiac G8 SS-V sedan manual $55,290 Pontiac G8 SS-V wagon manual $57,290 Automatics are likely to be available although they were not mentioned on the price list. Holden has so far refused to confirm the special model. Holden spokeswoman Kate Lonsdale said: "We are always looking to introduce exciting special edition packs but we haven't announced any special programs just yet." http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2009/large...australia-16339

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Cay...5fCarsQ5fTrucks

And it would also probably have to be priced at a much lower price point and/or sell less fewer units.

Looks pretty nice for a Neon Seriously though, I have to ask... I assume you paid somewhere around $4k for this car... and you are planning on getting new bumpers, new paint job, new brakes, etc. etc., all done to the car... why not just buy a car that doesn't need all these upgrades done to it to begin with? Don't mean to come off like an asshole, but I don't see the point of throwing so much in a car that's worth less than $5k.

Who's going to be driving a Camaro SS in the snow to begin with. Not only would it be a handful to drive, it'd be a shame to see.

Here's what I do when I do a full detail to the Goat : (Fair warning, this could take 8-10 hours to do) Go to the car wash and get the manual wash... let the soap soak into any dirt and then blast it off... this ensures that you don't have to do as much work in terms of scrubbing and also gets rid of most of the dirt and grime that can cause scratches in your paint if you aren't careful. Get four wash mitts or whatever you prefer to use. Two buckets of water. Clay bar and appropriate lubricant (usually a "quick detailer"). Wax of your choosing (I prefer 3M wax, forget the exact name of it though). In one bucket, put in your car wash soap, the other just leave as water. Wash the tops of your car first with one mitt (roof, hood, trunklid, windows). This area of the car should be pretty clean already and shouldn't require much attention. After this, dunk the mitt in the plain water bucket a few times to get rid of any contaminates and then proceed to wash the sides of the car above the molding (for those without a molding guess about where it would be). Again, this area shouldn't be too dirty because you should have been able to get most of the dirt off at the car wash. Wash that area on the sides of the car, then front and back (order doesn't really matter). After this, dunk your mitt in the water-only bucket again, and then dump the water out and hang the mitt up to dry. Refill the bucket with just water again and get your second mitt. With this, wash everywhere that you didn't wash before (below the door moldings), but don't wash under the wheel wells, etc or on any paint on the underside of your car (very little, but there is some). After that, dunk the mitt in the water bucket. Finally, get your third mitt, and wash on any paint on the underside of your car (bumpers, side moldings, wheel wheels). You should dunk this mitt pretty frequently when washing these areas to keep the dirt and grime from scratching up too much of the paint, even if it's in an area no one will hardly ever see. The idea with the multiple mitts and changing mitts on different areas of the car is that after multiple washes, the mitt used to clean the wheel wells and underside areas of the car will be dirty, and it would be a poor idea to use that mitt on the top of sides of the car. You could write "T" somewhere on one mitt to denote that you are using that mitt for the tops of the car, "S" for sides, and "B" for bottom, or something to that affect. The fourth mitt is used later. Dry the car, though it doesn't have to be a thorough drying, if there are some water spots, it's not a big deal. After this, clay bar the car. It's not too hard to do, should be instructions on the box. Basically, you want to squirt the quick detailer on a small area (1 foot by 1 foot or so) and then rub the clay bar on the area in the motion from front to back of the car (don't go in circles). After about 30 seconds per area, the area should be smooth as glass. You can run your hand over the area to make sure you didn't miss anything. Wipe off the quick detailer after you are finished with each area. After you finish with the clay bar, the fourth mitt is used. Again get two buckets, fill both with water, and put a very small amount of soap into one bucket, and leave the other bucket as just water. Wash the entire car again. The reason for this is that you want your surface to be free of anything and everything before you wax, and some residue could be left from the quick detailer and/or clay bar. Again you should probably label this mitt to distinguish it as the mitt you use to get rid of any little residue left - my mitt for this still looks brand new. After you dry the car again, wax!

Malibu Hybrid or Equinox. Malibu Hybrid has a $1300 credit from the government, so it's really $24.2K after you factor that in.

Yep, tire shine on the engine cover is a must if you're going to spend much time on your car. Tire shine can also be used on the inside of the wheel wells if black plastic is used there.

I would be surprised if 0% for 60 months went away, but that's just my gut feeling. 0 for 72 doesn't happen very often, and you can get a better deal at the end of the month most of the time, unless you're planning on taking the cash and financing it through some other bank (not GMAC).

The exterior looks weird, the interior is okay. Bottom line is that if this thing costs $45k or so for starters, as I expect it will, no one is going to buy it over the competition except for Saab enthusiats.

My dealer sold their first two Equinoxes in two days... I've seen two others on the road as well in the past week. I'd say it's off to a good start.

Over/under on this being down by Fritz within 72 hours? Why are they giving Buick a Cruze? It should be a totally unique vehicle if they are doing it at all. It sounds like it has a different nose and slightly different interior.

Meh, I don't think the scratch was really that bad... if you threw a bunch of dirt on it again you would be able to see them. You can tell from the reflection that that area has hardly been perfected. The best wax you can buy outside of a carnauba wax (which costs hundreds) is 3M, the stuff is magic. The only thing that can take a bird $h! stain out of paint is some sort of 3M polish (it's been 3 years since I was detailing cars, so I don't remember except that it was 3M). I use 3M at home as a result.

Perhaps you should wait and get a new Equinox? The reviews so far are very promising.

Perhaps this is the direction Buick is going... "green" luxury. Definitely a way to differentiate itself from Cadillac and every other luxury brand, for that matter.

The bill the passed the house also said the car had to be a 1984 or older model year vehicle. How many people with such an old car (26+ years) that is actually in driveable condition (another requirement) have the money to buy on a new car. And once you get older than about 1975 or so the cars start to become "classics" that people wouldn't dare trade in for $4500. So this proposal affects very, very few people. 1) Car must have been insured for 1 year - eliminates those looking to buy a beater and get $4500 for it 2) Car must be 1984 MY or older - how many people who drive such a car on a daily basis have $10k+ laying around for a new car? There's a reason they aren't already driving a car that's more modern than a 26+ year old clunker 3) This really affects no cars that are newer than 1970 and even 1975 in some cases. So you're targeting a 9-15 year old set of cars, with owners that meet the two above criteria

You have to have paid insurance on the car for at least 1 year for the car to be eligible.

It's only better on the highway, which isn't that surprising. The Escape Hybrid gets 29/27mpg.

So it's a car for the drag strip and not much more? I'd certainly own something like this if I won the lottery, but $62k buys a lot of car. Not sure I could spend it on a Camaro. Sweet car, and like I said, if I won the lottery (or was super rich), I'd buy one, but I can't see myself driving such a car daily. If I'm spending $62k on a car, it better be daily driveable, at least in good weather.

I heard from someone today that the Chrysler dealers that are being shut down have to have their inventory gone by June 9th, and thus are offering 30-40% off MSRP on cars and 40-50% off MSRP on trucks and SUVs. Has anyone else heard this or have the ability to confirm it? Not that I'm going to be buying anything anyways most likely, but I do know a couple people possibly looking for a new car.