CARBIZ

NOt that I want to defend Hyundai, but I have long maintained that poor maintenance and benign neglect have oft haunted GM products, too. If someone looks at a Camry and it will set them back $30K (Canadian, guys, don't have a fit!) and the same Malibu will cost them $27k, yet a Sonata is $25k but that is all they can afford, I am convinced there is a psychological wedge there and the person simply doesn't look after the vehicle. Let's face it - if you deliberately spend $5k more on the Camry, you are damned well going to wash it, wax it and look after it! This could help explain why many used Hyundais look so bad. Plus, a lot of them were leased because they were cheap and then driven into the ground!

I have spent some time with the Silverado (although WHY oh WHY would GM ship everyone in the Toronto area the same color and same model??) LTZ and drove it over some pretty bad roads (is Toronto competing with Montreal these days?) and can say that I am amazed at the road holding ability of this truck. Gone is the shudder and shake that pick ups always had as the rear end bounced and jounced around. Interior fit and finish is amazing, too. For better or worse, the Chevrolet corporate look is encompassing all vehicles of late from the IMpala to the Tahoe and now the Silverado. It is clean and uncluttered. Everything in its place. Compared to current Tundra's I have seen, it is leagues ahead. Is it better than the upcoming Tundra? From pics I"ve seen, I suspect not, but in this market it is getting harder and harder to score any direct hits. Truthfully, the F150 and Silverado are amazing vehicles. Beating either of them is going to be damned hard. How much money is Toyota willing to throw at a market that is fiercely loyal and hugely profitable to GM and Ford? GM and Ford can spread improvements across nearly a million units each; Toyota's pick up sales are barely a fraction of that. Toyota may be cash rich, but they need to be careful that hubris doesn't sink them.

In the absence of strong, meaningful enforcement of intellectual property laws over there, I am shocked and amazed at all the Western companies tripping over themselves to commit suicide. Washington is betting that capitalism will "westernize" China, along the same lines as what happened to Japan. But in truth, it was a war that made Japan see the light - or did they? Western companies must form partnerships to do business in China. Isn't that convenient for copying technologies and business models? Following the Japanese model, China will simply begin dumping cheaper products on our markets, using our own technology against us. But, of course, Washington knows what it is doing, right?

I would rather drive a 3 year old Corolla.....and that is saying a lot!!!!

I've made this point before, and I'll say it again: a lot of this argument of whose interior is better really goes back to a domestic car bias versus import car bias. I was raised on big, American cars. I look at the interior of most Japanese vehicles and I just don't like them. The Ridgeline included. The Avalon is another example. I can't quite put my finger on it, but Japanese interiors have a certain look and feel to them that I don't like. This opinion was formed in a friend's '91 Accord and has never changed. Those who were raised with Japanese cars in their families, or became import humpers all by themselves, will swear up and down that the interior of the Kia Rio is better than the CTS.

Leave it to these rags to test vehicles the way nobody buys them, and then omit one of biggest sellers in this class. Collectively, the Cobalt/G5 (or whatever the hell it is being called now) is one of the better sellers in this bunch. Is this incompetence, stupidity or a deliberate slam at American cars?

It's a clean design, but I agree: Buick (other than perhaps the stunning Riviera) went through a bland stage in the mid-60s. Probably a reaction to the excesses of the '57-'60 era. Although the '60s are my favorite design era, I was always partial to the styling of the Mopar products.

Uh, I can't believe the stone silence from this board on this topic. YOu guys get riled up over little things (like the right to bare Uzis), yet this topic has laid here for 12 hours and nobody else has picked up on it? A black box in a $60 million dollar plane makes a lot of sense. However, safety zealots are going to kill us - literally. Air bags, side air bags, ABS, stability control, telemetrics and black boxes - all of this sounds great on paper. Eventually, a Cobalt is going to cost $30k before taxes! However, the biggest problem I have with this data being recorded is that most of the speed laws in both our countries are total BS (when 75% of the drivers ignore them, the law is WRONG) and you can bet that eventually the insurance industry is going to use this date to whip up people's rates. I have a BIG problem with that because so many traffic laws are arbitrary (like red stop lights on side streets at 2 a.m.!) and stupid. Legislators need to standardize traffic laws and have them make sense. Electronic speed signs that allow for changing road conditions and lighter traffic, for example. Everyone is quick to hop on the band wagon when it comes to slapping more regulations on motorists, especially ones that have the potential to make both insurance companies and the government (fines) more money!

YOu guys are dreaming. In areas where certain minority groups achieve critical mass (Markham, Ontario comes to mind), they simply don't need the rest of us any more. Get used to it, boys and girls. In certain areas of both our countries, English is becoming rare, if not extinct. I have had many Asian or Muslim customers walk into our store and demand someone who speaks Cantonese, Farsi, or whatever. It was rare 5 years ago, but it is happening more and more. A few of us were talking about this the other day and we realized that WE are the ones with the problem. In 20 years, those of us who are unilingual - even though we do speak fluent English, will be the ones at a disadvantage. Stats Canada did a recent survey and were shocked to discover that recent immigrants weren't settling in as well as those that came before. Really?? Why is this news to everyone but the government? When you can drive for blocks and blocks in certain sections of the city and there isn't an English sign in sight (and I am not talking about Montreal, either!) you know they aren't catering to us and don't care if we ever step foot in their place of business.

Those of us who were "young" in the 80s (I am 45) are old enough to remember that EVERYBODY built crap in the'80s, yet we are young enough to remember the great cars of the '60s and early '70s when American cars ruled the road.

Good luck!

Citation X-11

That car is a real looker. I can just see collectors fighting over one in pristine condition thirty years from now to park it next to their 1974 Citreon SM, '59 Eldorado and '69 Camaro. LOL!

It doesn't help that both Pontiac and Suzuki are selling the same damned thing. GM has got to stop this BS badge engineering. How is a Chevy buyer supposed to feel proud when they see a Swift + drive by????? I would love to see what goes on in the dealer meetings. Pontiac got the Vibe exclusively, and then whined that they wanted the Aveo, too. If Pontiac is to be the performance division, they have no business selling a low-end vehicle like the Wave. This just confuses the consumer and pits dealer against dealer. And I agree on the mechanics. That automatic has to go. Ride and handling is not bad. The interior is suprisingly quiet at highway speeds. I suspect the poor gas mileage is the tranny's fault. Has anyone at corporate considered a performance edition - other than just stupid RS badging? Like the Mazda 3 upgrades?

Good article. I'd like to address "red's" comments about improvements to the Aura: there will be some next year and it will be called MALIBU. I've heard that GM is going to give the divisions more autonomy over their own design and engineering. This can only be a good thing. As with the Eqluinox/Torrent debacle, I always get the feeling that GM has to leave things out for the next brand; either for lack of development money or so they have something left for the next guy. Instead of making the car ALL it can be, they seem to stop short. Either they are stupid or the marketing boys are calling the shots. Look at the Grand Prix/Allure/Impala cycle. The Grand Prix was rushed and rough. The Allure was better. The Impala was nearly great.

Good points all around. Perhaps we are witnessing the North American market becoming like the rest of the world's. If it became that GM has 20% market share here, then Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda all hover around 10-15%, that could be a healthy, competitive market.

I would like to see some stats about how many people who drive pickups, or any type of truck, actually NEED them. GM sells nearly a million pickups every year. How many do farmers and contractors or people who tow a boat actually buy them? Would it be as high as 50%? I would be surprised.

I would hope that we, in the 21st Century, are above being mere life support systems for procreation. If religion teaches us anything, it is that we have some sort of "soul" or "spirit" or "spark" (even if it turns out to be nothing more than a certain critical mass of intelligence/self-awareness) that sets us apart from the animals. If parents have to be "hard wired" to their spawn, then they shouldn't be parents. It is on this issue (and others) that religion in general begins to break down on hard inspection. With nearly 7 billion people on this planet, we need to move away from thinking of ourselves as put on this earth to creat more copies of ourselves! That is bordering on irresponsible.

How would the oil companies be able to bring pressure to bare on GM? At the time of the EV-1, GM was bigger than the oil companies. Don't forget: for many, many years GM was the largest company in the world by sales and revenue. Only recently have the oil companies become bigger by those markers.

Money. Toyota is making billions and is awash in cash. GM is barely breaking even.

On a totally side note here, a few years ago I was watching my (then) favorite TV show, Babylon 5 and they slipped something by that made me stand up and cheer. For those of you who don't know, Babylon 5 is a Star Trek type SF show about a space station-type United Nations where all the different species meet for commerce and to settle their differences. Anyway, in this particular episode, two main characters were slipping into Mars as under cover agents. Mars was trying to separate from Earth, etc. and was about to slip into civil war. So anyway, these two agents are on a shuttle, checking their I.D.s, etc. and discover they are going to Mars as a married couple. They are both males. With no fanfare and no social commentary that TV show accomplished more than Star Trek or Star Wars ever did in the decades that I watched them (as a kid.) The one character turns to the other and non-chalantly adds,"Well, I get the left side of the bed." And that was the end of that. That is where I want to see this issue to end up. NO BIG DEAL. It does not matter if you are gay, straight, married or not. It is what inside that counts. It is what you bring to the table every day of your life. Having gay issues for the sake of gay issues, having the Courts and politicians wasting so much time on this issue and the Churches - well, that is another matter. If people weren't so busy minding each other's business, this would be a much better world to live in.

I can understand the conflict between religious beliefs and much of what is happening in the modern world. We are seeing the throes of this in the Middle East where the status quo is being challenged and the old patriarchy is resisting this with every ounce of its being. (That is another topic!) I also understand the deep feelings that gay relations or gay sexual relations bring to many people. As my mother said to me a long time ago: "Most of my friends can't handle their own sexual feelings, so how could they handle yours?" I am of two minds about the nature versus nurture angle. Personally, if I could change tomorrow I wouldn't want to. Being gay has given me a unique perspective on the world and, paradoxically perhaps, shielded me from a lot of childhood crap that my sisters are going through now from our parents. If it proves to be biological, then will that get us sympathy or pity? If it is our "fault," then should be jailed, as once was the case? I don't have the answers, but I do know that there is much, much diversity in the world and we had all better learn to get along or we will all end up blowing ourselves to high hell! And, reg, I respect your beliefs and am happy that you are at least willing to explore them and to keep an open mind about future developments. Too many people on both sides of this (and other) issues are too quick to make snap judgments and condemn the other!

Actually, that is an excellent point. I've thought that, too. Let's face it: when you climb out of your brand new $60k BMW, how are you going to rate a car that is a third the price?

Ridiculous in what way? That Toyota and Honda didn't mislead the crap out of us last year with their published horsepower numbers? Nothing to do with paranoia. Every time Toyota hauls out another vehicle, the media lines up to praise it and sing doom and gloom for Detroit. But remember this: in 1995 when the T-100 came out (and it was the end of Detroit), the Big Three had 87% of the truck market. Last year, after an onslaught of models and redesigns from Japan and elsewhere, the Big 2.5 still have 85% of the market. I have no doubt that Japan Inc will eventually figure it out, but not today. Just look at the Titan's sales and quality rankings.

I think the Aztek is FUGLY, but I believe the vehicle was ahead of its time. Truly, is there any difference between the Element and the Aztek? My partner, who is Brazilan, doesn't know a lot about cars, especially North American ones. When I spotted an Astek and a new Element side by side in a parking lot, he thought that the Element was a newer Aztek. Of course, one has an "H" on the hood and one doesn't, so automatically it is better.