CARBIZ

All GM vehicles have had automatic headlights (except GMDAT products) for years. Wouldn't this fob be part of a keyless ignition system, like on the Vette? No need for a separate key. Keys integrated into the fob are a nuisance, IMO. What if you want to leave the car running, lock it up and go back inside (which we in the north like to do in the winter?) I know with the Caddies they would all have remote start, but in the lower vehicles, being able to separate the key from the fob comes in handy sometimes.

Anyone who seriously looks at and drives the Silverado, then back to back with any of the other trucks wouldn't even consider the others - unless, of course, they got bogged down in all the BS about hard plastics and gaps in panels (although even then, with the new trucks those are amazing, too.) In all areas that matter, such as build strength, payload, engine choices and the almighty G80, the Silverado outclasses, outhauls, outpulls, and out performs the rest by a solid margin. And the sales numbers soundly support that, too.

Dealer problems are no surprise - hello! We have over 40 GM stores in the Greater Toronto Area and there is 22 Toyota stores - yet we sell the same volume! Although GM's products are better than they've ever been, falling market share in the presence of increased competition (let's face it: a '88 Camry was no serious threat, but a 2006 is) was inevitable. Unless GM can reverse its market share fall (impossible, IMO), dealers will have to be jetisoned enmasse and probably even brands, too. None of this is pleasant, but I believe it will be necessary. I believe there is no shame in settling at 20% market share in North AMerica. Any car company in the rest of the world would kill for that kind of share over there! Holding onto 35%+ market share was unreasonable, given the strengths of some of the car companies out there.

The Quest has had an arched roof and I think it is one of the better looking minivans on the market. It is the type of roof in the Magnum that seriously detracts from interior space.

Boys and girls, this is not news. MITI is God over there and they call the shots. An American company can't even get a Japanese visa without it going through MITI. All external trade is governed by that ministry and they are POWERFUL. Only now are we starting to see the whole truth of what MITI pulled off in propping up Toshiba, Sanyo, etc. 40 years ago when they initially dumped their cheap TVs and electronics on the North American market. Sugar beet import quotas to an electronics company? Hmmmm..... Currency manipulation is only the latest in a long list of weapons in MITI's arsenal. Zero percent business loans. What kind of advantage would GMAC have if it could borrow money at ZERO? Wake up!

Well, I hope you are wrong - we desperately need a fuel efficient 7 passenger truck of some sort NOW. If this is a Chevy Lambda and IF we get it late next year, that would be great. Frankly, this catches us by suprise. The minivan is very important to GM's continued survival in the Canadian market - and I dare say it will become more important in the American market when gas prices soar again.

Interesting that arrogance has handed the minivan market completely over to the Asians. Ford and GM used to have a strong presence in this market, but gave that up in favor of gas guzzling SUVs. This minivan is a far more important vehicle to the Canadian market than it is south of the border. Consequently, we sell more Uplanders in a month than we do Tahoes in a year! I remember back in '98 when the Sienna was overhauled and still missed the mark. We all had a good laugh. When GM fixed the cupholders and a few other things we didn't like about the Venture in 2000, we finally had a strong contender that was arguably the best minivan on the market at the time. Yes, things have changed. Ford is wiped out of this market: the Windstar was a strong competitor a few years back. The Uplander is a sad joke that we can only sell on price; albeit, what a price! Ten grand cheaper than a Sienna is nothing to sneeze at, but when the Sedona's numbers are climbing - well, it gets embarassing.

Is it? America thought she was strong enough to drag Europe and Japan into the 20th century - and 60 years ago America was strong enough. But that was then when internal forces tended to pull the same way. Now, with internal forces pulling in all different directions, outside forces (Japan Inc., Korea, etc.) are realizing how to use democracy's weaknesses against it. The UAW may try to steal the limelight with respect to lost (or shifting) jobs from Detroit to Japan Inc, but the real threat is with the patents and loss of intellectual property/technology. Does America have the sheer bulk to heft both China and India, plus Mexico and others into the 21st century? I think not. The middle class in America is starting to groan under the weight of it. When the bill from Iraq comes to be paid, things could get ugly. Washington is in no mood to anger trading partners when it really doesn't have many options left to it. Foreign governments are financing the war in Iraq, as long as they keep buying T-bills. The future is technology. We live in an age of science and technology, yet many of us can't program a VCR (or DVD recorder.) If we lose the technology to foreign interests because we are too lazy or complacent to support our local business, then shame on us. Try and buy an American made DVD, plasma TV or radio. Once, they were merely manufactured over there. Now, they are designed and researched over there. If not for the American military propping up many of the high technology areas of the economy here, we would be losing even more of the high end jobs. I read somewhere a few years back that the Pentagon was worried about all flat screen technology being lost - where would they get their touch screens for the fighter jets? I have made this point before: manufacturing is the backbone of any industrial economy. In the next global war - where will America get its tanks and weapons from, if most of the plants here are owned by off-shore companies?

I agree that a FWD Malibu and RWD Impala will be a nice line up for Chevrolet. But as GM amalgamates P-B-GMC in the States, you guys may start noticing some strange new trends. For example, while the Chevrolet dealers up here lost their Oldsmobile line, the store up the street still sells Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. In a very few short months, a customer will be able to walk into that store and buy an Acadia or a Enclave, as well as the Torrent, but our store will have...wait for it - the Equinox! If Chevrolet is the power house that the sales numbers tend to indicate, GM has to be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Agreed that Buick or Pontiac on their own were weak, but together they will be stronger. The trouble is, I see some weak spots in Chevrolet's line up (nothing mid-size and sporty, for example) that GM may not have the money to plug if they are trying to prop up all the other divisions too. Many people on this board dismiss the Uplander as crap, but then if cross-overs is where its at, why is Chevrolet not slated to get anything? With Saturn set to get a lot of the Opel product, I scratch my head and wonder what GM is doing.

Clever. Very clever. Let's compare a '06 Malibu and Altima with an '07 Camry and Mitsu. Oh, let's not forget that the '07 Malibu has the better warranty. Let's not forget that the Malibu is $4,000 cheaper than the Camry and $6,000 less than the Altima. Oh, yeah - the Malibu runs on regular gas, too - unlike the Mitsu and Altima. Sigh. Under the category of Tyranny of the Enthusiast, do none of the above facts register with these guys? The Malibu does pretty good in the road tests and over all came out alright, but when you factor in the price (and that is before 0% financing or other incentives are thrown in!) it is an outright steal. I see a lot of people stretching themselves to afford these far more expensive cars just because some stupid magazine says they are better. Then they get hit with the fuel bill, maintenance costs and they genuinely wonder what happened. Let's see them pull this same stunt 8 months from now with the '08 Malibu and the '07 Camry to see how the Camry comes out then...oh, but wait - that would be unfair, wouldn't it?

Democracies react far too slowly to threats from without and from within. At what point will policy makers wake up to the threat of all the job losses? First, we were told that blue collar jobs would give over to white collar service jobs and we swallowed that one. Then the white collar jobs were "outsourced" or sent over seas, too. I think Wagoner and the gang realize that it is too late to get any help from their own government. Japan Inc. learned their lessons well from the near death experience of Chrysler 25 years ago when the UAW was able to whip up sympathy and create a public backlash. Much has been learned since then. After many years of lobbying, posturing and strategic spending, Japan Inc has now convinced many of us that they are as American as Chevrolet and apple pie. I just don't get it. I am all for Free Trade, but this is a joke. Toyota can borrow from the central bank in Japan at ZERO PERCENT, paid for the hapless middle class over there. They can hide behind national healthcare and an artifically low currency, yet Washington thinks Detroit has brought this on itself? Free Trade means open borders. That means American companies should be able to set up shop any where in Japan, just as they can here. That is not the case. We are auctioning off our retirement and one day soon the shots will be called in Tokyo or Beijing, not in Washington.

More proof that GM needs to get those damned cars over here NOW. Every time I see a Yaris (or an Aveo, for that matter) I want to scream because GM does have better vehicles but they aren't HERE.

The Alero was a cleaning looking, well designed car and we sold a lot of them; however, fit and finish was AWFUL. I once had a GM guy from the Ohawa plant show me the differences between the gaps and welds on the new (then) Impala and the Alero. The interior plastics looked okay, but fit was bad in some places. The front bumpers never fit right. They always looked lopsided when looked at from dead on. As is typical of GM (at the time anyway), the Alero was left to languish for 5 model years without any changes. I would suppose that GM had already decided to kill Oldsmobile by the time Alero hit the show rooms, but it is too bad because it is vehicles like the Alero that may have saved Olds. Ah, but I guess the manadarins in Detroit decided Saturn deserved the development money instead. As to a brand new vehicle with full warranty and only a 100 miles on it; of course, they would be sold as "new" vehicles. They have never been registered. Whomever buys them will be the first and original owner. The final selling price, however, may be more like a used car price, but there would still be an inherent value to the warranty and nearly zero miles. Just be leery of the brakes and battery. You'll probably have to replace both of those items in the first year.

I have been going to a gym fairly religiously for about 7 years now. I had ballooned up to 205 lbs back in 1998 ( I am 6'2", so it isn't as bad as it sounds) and was determined not to look like my father. Now, I am 45 weight 179 lbs. (probably a little light) and look better than I have in decades. But it ain't easy. I spend about an hour in the gym (actually working out, not adjusting the weights, playing with my iPod, making notes in my work out book) two or three mornings a week. I used to jog two or three times a week, but since I came back from Brazil last year and fell off that wagon, it has been very difficult to climb back on. My partner told me the other day that my ass is starting to sag, so I guess I will be jogging very soon again! LOL. OCN, what kind of gym is this, because there are two concerns: 1) if it is filled by gym bunnies that are all young and buff, you may feel foolish, plus it is too distracting OR 2) you could go to my gym which is in the basement of a 54 storey luxury apartment tower that a lot of OLD white people rent in and I am the youngest person in the gym by 25 years. Not much to look at, but it is more inspiring because I DON'T want to look like them!!!!

Ok, which is it? There are many pundits who will point to GM's declining market share and Toyota's apparent juggernaut status as proof that Toyota is better. So, by that measurment, the Tundra is a huge flop because - as is pointed out above, this is their THIRD attempt at the market and after 12 years they have barely put a dent in the market, yet each new product unveiling from Toyota is greeted as the Second Coming. I know I am sick of it.

Oldest. Have two younger sisters. All different fathers (so my mother thinks.) We get along as well as a dysfunctional family can. My youngest (7 years younger) sister and I performed an intervention on my oldest (4 years younger than me) sister yesterday. Her 4 boys are running amok. The huge, ex-gorgeous house is in ruins. I stayed there 6 weeks ago for the weekend and my partner and I were sick for days afterward! Piss and $h! everywhere from the two puppies. 6 cats - one of them lives on the kitchen counter. The two youngest boys constantly have bronchial problems. I've seen movies about this sort of thing, but.........

Wow, like, it's a different country, south of the border!!! Personally, at least HALF of the deals that I write are leases. I think national stats that I've seen for Canada lately were somewhere around 40%. Perhaps it is because we are getting gouged by the manufacturers up here (any takers for a $65k Tahoe LTZ?), insurance premiums are an outrage and our gas prices are significantly higher than the States (can you say $3 a gallon is cheap around here?) - if you take all that into consideration, I suppose that may explain why leasing is far more accepted up here. But, wow, GM is getting out of leases down there!

The key to success in this market is twofold: 1) offering engine/driveline/body configurations to appeal to more people and 2) walking the fine line between in-your-face styling and something too boring. Frankly, GM and Ford have always been the best at doing this, going back 40 years. Japan Inc. has failed time and time again to infiltrate this market. The only real success they've had is in the car-based truck markets that Acura and Lexus enjoy and their girlie-man trucks, because those customers don't need a truck, they just need a station wagon. The Titan (which I don't mind, BTW) tries too hard. The Tundra looks like, well - a Toyota, which I believe for the truck market is a bad thing. People who like toasters will buy a Camry but those customers don't buy trucks. And I personally believe that the GM trucks have been the perennial sales winners because they have always been very clean looking. Ten years from now, the '07 Silverado will have aged well. I don't think the Titan will have the same fate, and I think everyone except CR will have forgotten this Tundra.

Not an overly bad review, although as usual they would rather nitpick over hard plastics and small trunk opening, rather than focus on clear winners that the Cobalt does enjoy, like no huge hinges intruding into the trunk (like the Corolla) and a standards split seat that is reinforced (and not cheap material like the Corolla). The wind noise and sun roof problem is a little wierd. People need to understand how stellar the fuel mileage on these things really are in real world driving conditions - 4 speed or not. As to the cheap shot about the Mazda 3: their base car ain't the Belle of the Ball either. Atleast the Cobalt got a decent engine even in base form. You would have to have bought a GT Mazda to get anywhere near the standard power on the Cobalt - and even then you'd need the manual shifter or your gas mileage would suck! I do agree that GM should have spent an extra few bucks on the door trim and a couple other areas. I guess Lutz can't win all the battles with the bean counters!

I want the phone number of Denise's dealer: she is getting some mighty fine crack if she compares the Tundra to the '94 Ram. The Dodge Ram of that year was way ahead of its time; more importantly, it took a boring, plain-Jane pick up and set the pick up market on its ear with its Kenworth-like styling. The '07 Tundra is anything but ground breaking. It is just another boring, plain vanilla- looking Japanese truck. How does Toyota expect to double its sales? Just because it is a Toyota? That might have been plausible if GM wasn't already unveiling its new truck just prior. I should think the pick up market is going to get very interesting, but I wouldn't expect either Ford or GM to lose much market share.

Perhaps this is why the Big 2.5 are doing better in trucks than they are in cars...the average truck buyer is a little more independent and knowledgeable. He/she base their buying decisions on their own impressions, not those of CR or MT. The media's constant harping about the number of gears the automatic has is having an impact on the car buyer because they don't know any better, so they buy a Camry. The truck buyer says,"hell, this thing tows great, runs smooth, gets better gas mileage than the Toyota with the 12 speeds...f'k it, I'll buy the Chevy!" It will all end somewhere, or else we'll be driving 2,000 hp minivans with 12 speed transmissions that will cost $100k to buy because some magazine declared that 900 hp and 11 speeds isn't enough.

It probably will. I guarantee you will see a ton of these in Southern California within months of being sold there. It will be the next big fad, you'll see. We see enough of them on the streets around here. I just shake my head. They are just silly to look at, and I don't care how much technology they are packed with - unless all vehicles are this size, it is just suicide to drive one of these things. For Gawd's Sake: buy a base Malibu or Fusion. They are the same f'ing price!

My guess is they want to make it look like the Corolla outsells the Civic.

I usually reserve judgement until I see the vehicle in the flesh...then declare the Toyota ugly! Seriously, I find some vehicles can look a lot better (or worse) in real life. I thought the Aztek was merely hideous in early production shots. In real life, it only made me gasp. Sorry, back to the previously scheduled dump on the Tundra......................

But this is where the domestics versus import debate gets interesting. Was the Ciera a better built vehicle, or was it the age/financial backing of the buyers of the Oldsmobile that had the means/wherewithal to look after their vehicles? It is an interesting thesis. For example, look at how many '65 Impalas are still on the road. Can you find any '65 wagons? Were they any less well built? Or were they just driven into the ground? Camry/Accord buyers have been brainwashed into taking their vehicles to the dealer, where for all intents and purposes the vehicle eventually gets rebuilt. GM and Ford have always been pretty lenient that way (if you told my dad 35 years ago that he MUST take his '69 300 in to the dealer for an oil change, he would've bought a Pontiac!) and many vehicles NEVER go back to the dealer, which means that service bulletins, etc. may never get addressed. I know that around here many "new Canadians" are buying used Toyotas (and I do mean USED Toyotas) because they are told by their fellow countrymen that Toyotas are better, but these people have no money so the cars are looking pretty ratty, indeed. Frankly, you just don't see that many older Hyundais around here. They can't take the salt!