CARBIZ

True, this is a free world and everyone has the right to buy whatever they want. HOwever, preferred parking is an acceptable perk for supporting the company you work for. Buying the competition sends out a horrible message. Of course, you will find Fords and Chevys in the lot at the Honda plant in Alliston - just not many new ones, that's all. I get asked all the time what I drive. One of our guys bought a Maxima recently and I gave him proper sh*t. (He traded his 2001 Corvette for it, too!) Put your money where your mouth is.

I've been dealing with Ma Bell for 12 years. Their service is okay. I figure I will get screwed by all the service providers so at least I am getting screwed by a Canadian provider! BTW, great post. We've all had crappy days. I knew exactly the spirit it was coming from. I could do one too, entitled: BUYERS ARE LIARS, but I can just imagine the uproar!

Even though the CAW is separate from the UAW, I would think GM would have an eye to the future in their negotiations. After all, if they approve too rich of a deal now, the UAW will want the same in 2 years. I don't believe that the pension/health care costs are the same burden in Canada - at least not yet. Now would be a good time to head them off.

Well, it looks better than a Camry or Accord.

Bad angle. Looks like a jelly bean. I'd rather have a G-6 and pocket 5 grand.

You know, we are going to have to face that can of worms eventually. As the human genome is being mapped, you know that somebody at some point is going to find (if it truly exists) the gay "gene(s)" - and then what? WHOA! Won't that set the ethicists into a tizzy? Political correctness would have us ignore even the search for the truth in a lot of these ethical questions. What if you could have your future son/daughter's embryo screened for the gay gene?

What exactly is the "ideal" family? Did it ever exist? I had a friend whose mother actually wore a skirt, pearls (they were real!) and heels around the house. She was a licensed pharmacist; he was an engineer at Kodak. They had the perfect house, the perfect life. They raised their kids with love and affection. She stayed home. They went to the country club. They were both active in Church. The spawn? Well, the second youngest used to be my boyfriend. His oldest sister married a Minister and then they ended up divorced (their eldest son we ran into in a gay bar not too long ago) One of the kids did so many drugs growing up that he is on medical welfare. Well, I could go on... I don't want to sound cynical, but the family unit is going to have to change and evolve with the times. If you look what has happened in the past 35 years in the West, birth rates are falling, divorce rates are up. It isn't a pretty picture. Over all, I think it is a good thing. I think in the past too much of it was hushed up. There were too many unhappy marriages that just went unnoticed. Too many miserable people stayed married "for the children," or to keep up appearances. I think a new state of equlibrium will be established one day. As more women climb the ladder in more professions and as all types of families become not just "aceptable" but even normal, things will work out. We have seen so many changes in the past 50 years. Give it more time.

People need to study their history and human sexuality. In the womb, we are all FEMALE until such time that varioius hormones and other things happen to fold in the lips of the vagina to form the scrotum, etc. Sounds icky, but with all the things that can go "wrong" is there any wonder human sexuality is so fluid? I hear Sick Kids hospital has to deal with several babies every month that are born with both sets of genitilia. I have been gay all my life. I had a crush on my best friend in kindergarten. I didn't know how to explain it, of course, I just wanted to touch him and be next to him. I fooled around with girls in highschool because I was EXPECTED to. I don't want to blow my own horn, but at 6'2" and a hunk of burning love...well, fighting girls off just looked bad. My parents have known since I was 15 and let me tell you: in 1976 that wasn't a fun thing. However, I KNEW I was gay and nothing was going to change it. Growing up, I had sex with most of my "straight" friends, many of whom are married with kids today. My mother's best friends' husband, at the age of 52, up and told his wife that he is gay. My mother expected me to help him through it, which I tried. Interesting point: his eldest son, Lawrence, was having a hard time dealing with his father's homosexulaty. Do you know why? Lawrence and I fooled around all through junior highschool, yet he is now happily married and living in Germany. Suppressed feelings, perhaps? Homosexuality is definitely biological. I know of a couple sets of twins who are both gay - and, no, they were never molested nor had sex with each other. I have a gay uncle and my mother now confesses suspicions about my (long dead) father. And pedophilia...don't get me started on that. Remember, boys and girls (no pun intended) the definition of pedophilia is sex with PRE-pubescent children. We have this distorted view in modern society that children are innocent. Ever walk by a school yard these days and hear the language? Or the budding mental torture these little monsters are getting good at? Only a few generations ago, we were married at 14, working 12 hour days on the farm, factory or coal mines and were dead by 35. That is nature. What came after is meddling by the Church and by the luxury of spare time and leisure afforded to us by the INdustrial Revolution. Study ancient Rome and Greece. A far different view of sexuality than today. Far more modern, but they don't teach that in school. Even Alexander the Great was gay, and in this "enlightened" time they can still only skirt around it in a major Hollywood movie. Oops, this is starting to sound like a rant.

The payment calculators are useless. They don't factor in all the hidden costs - and in Canada there are a lot. My favorite example is the recent "offers" from Chrysler for a Caravan at $199 (plus taxes, of course). The ad said $5,300 DOWN. I worked it out to be $8,000 on delivery. Joke, no? 1. I am assuming it is a 2002 Cavalier, since your lease is up next year. Yes, the vehicle will be worth $7,000 to you. Since the Cavalier went out of production, the wholesale prices have climbed again. (THey don't have $11,999 brand new Cavaliers to compete with.) If you have cared for the vehicle and it is just the base with a/c and automatic - sure, why not buy it out. I have dozens of customers with 1995, 1996 Cavaliers with 200k on them and still going. Despite what the BS in CR claims, these cars are pretty bulletproof. 2. I would defintely consider the HHR. The leases are expensive now (the Impala is the same money), but if you catch the Spring market there will be deals on them, I am sure. If your lease is up in the summer, you may even consider getting out of it in the Spring before the residuals drop. Maybe even visit the Auto Show in February and get the rate break at the GMAC booth - they usually don't expire until May or June. I would guess that within six months the HHR will lease out for the same kind of money as the Cobalt LS. 3. If you are considering the Cobalt, you could go for the base and put a few extras on it. If you are wanting someting wonky like ABS and a stick, give yourself time to factory order it. The nice thing about a lease is that you know when the end date is and can plan for it.

Yeah, all out to McDonald's. The weather is nasty here today - rain and gloomy. Had a day planned at the dunes with my partner. Guess we'll just sit at home, play on the computer. He ate two egg McMuffins. I behaved and only had one, then broke down and bought a butter tart at a coffee shop. I think I will make a huge roast beef dinner and invite over some of our single friends who were probably out partying last night and could use a good meal.

Not even fear, really - just ignorance. Too many of us who are "normal" keep a low profile, rather than show the world what real gay people are like. I am "out" at work and always have been. I worked at a Cadillace dealership in the early '80s and I was out then, too. I came out to my parents when I was 15. My mother freaked at first, but she eventually came around. What she said to me when I was 18 really stuck with me: "Most of my friends (she was 37 at the time) can't even handle their own sexuality, so how can you expect them to handle yours?" People in general are just plain hung up about sex. It is the way we are brought up. Sex is dirty. It is bad. It is disgusting. These attitudes must change first! Part of her coming around was meeting my first boyfriend. I was 17, he was 19. She liked him so much that she realized we can't all be that bad. I don't feel like a role model, but I know I have changed a lot of straight people's misconceptions about gay people. I don't wear dress. I love cars. I don't know any show tunes. If it wasn't for my boyfriend, I would be a target for the fashion police when I leave the house. I've had to fight more than my share of women wanting to date me. We each do our part in our own way.

Exactly. Perception versus reality. VW has been crap for a while, but if you ask the general public, the perception is they build quality, fine engineered automobiles. Ditto for Mercedes, who has also been sliding in the quality rankings. GM needs to fight Toyota on the beaches, in the streets and in the hills. I have always maintained that it isn't hard to juggle 3 or 4 balls (which is how many models Toyota was juggling in the '80s), but now that Toyota has a dozen or so models, it ain't so easy, is it? They will become a victim of their own success.

It isn't just the Silverado. Look at the numbers the F-150 is tracking to do. Ford will probably sell close to a million pickups in the U.S. - here they would be lucky to do 65,000 units. The Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealer network in Canada is stronger than what was the Olds-Chevrolet unit. If you look at American numbers, the Silverado and Cavalier both way outsold their Pontiac/GMC counterparts. This is part of what the dealers in Canada have been trying to get through Oshawa's head: Chevrolet rules south of the border, but here it is just another "import."

Y'know, those labels on the pumps are pure bulls**t. Y'know why? Their cute little pie chart shows the cost of marketing, cost of refining, government taxes, etc. but guess what - cost of refining is THEIR costs. How much profit do they pocket at the refinery level? Bush is too cozy with these guys. With something like 85% of the refinery capacity in the U.S. controlled by a handful of companies, this choke point is creating the problem now, not the supply problem. I'd say the oil companies are being pretty stupid by having something like 40% of the oil refinery capacity all along the hurricane path. But why should they care - they just jack up the price and benefit either way!! And why is Canada being dragged into this mess? It would be interesting to see what Ottawa would do if there ever was a REAL crisis (not fabricated one, like this one.) Frankly, I deeply resent paying $1.50 a litre ( a very real possibility if this hurricane really hits Texas hard) when none of this has anything to do with us.

Wow, what he said. Canada has shit weather. We have -30C in the winter and +35C in the summer. We have blackflies that need license plates and mosquitos that carry away Smart Cars. We have tundra and glaciers BUT WE DON'T HAVE HURRICANES AND EARTHQUAKES. As the article says, though - we are all going to pay for it. Our gasoline, insurance premiums and cost of building materials will go through the roof in the next few months. Just watch it! I am amazed when I watch American news: homes in South Carolina washed away, tornadoes in Kansas and Wyoming, floods on the Mississippi, hurricanes in Florida - and then there is the biggest ticking time bomb of all: California.

Like, no hurricanes hit this far north, but this one, coming so soon after Katrina has me worried. It is going to be a cold, long winter. I think the economy in North America is heading for the deep freeze. We are paying $1.05 a litre already up here. It is hitting $1.50 in some areas. The economy won't be able to absorb that. Fourth quarter results are going to be off. Very off. Two hundred billion for Katrina and now this? OUCH. But seriously, I think I would reconsider where I buy or build a house, boys and girls. More and more, ocean front property is looking like a bad investment. How much more can insurance companies absorb? Fasten your seatbelts, boys and girls - wherever you are. It is going to be a bumpy ride.

Still holding on to $1.02 here in Scarborough (for now.) I was just thinking today: Canada, like, exports oil, right? She pumps a lot more than she uses. Yet, we are paying $70 a barrel, too, right? I don't get it: no hurricanes hit here, yet we are paying for more oil, lumber and insurance because of what is happening south of the border. Things that make you go hmmmm..... I am all for Free Trade and all... but, WTF!! Bush talks about 200 billion to rebuild New Orleans. Ouch. How much is it going to cost us? Everyone, North America wide is going to see their insurance premiums go up this winter. There will probably be a few insurance companies go bust over this. High oil prices may benefit Alberta, but it is going to kill the industrial heartland. If gas hits $1.50 and stays there...mark my words - we will see a slump in the economy. It can't absorb a doubling of gasoline in 6 months. My heart goes out to all our American brothers and sisters in the South who are getting pummelled by these hurricanes, but isn't it time people start looking at where they are building their homes? It is going to cost everyone. Dearly.

Just get OnSTar in your next vehicle. The hands free cell works very well. The voice recognition program is first rate. It will even understand a New York taxi driver (but probably not a Toronto one.)

Enthusiast, owner and seller. I grew up a Chrysler fantatic (still would love to own a late '60s Imperial or 300 convertible someday), but two bad experiences in the '80's (although, looking back, it really was the dealer's fault that both my cars were lemons), turned me off Chrysler. ...although, if I didn't get a free demo and didn't have dog, I would be tempted to lease a 300C (gasp!)

Paolino, we have way too much in common. I had a 1987 Dodge Shadow ES that I bought new and my (then) boyfriend was 5'2" to my 6'2". We managed the front seat many times (stick shift and all!) Then again, he was an Ontario gymnastics champion at the time! Anyway, nothing could beat my '91 Caprice wagon! I had the windows dark tinted and a 3" foam mattress rolled up at the ready. Came in handy when I'd drank too much and had to pass out in the back, or whatever. It had 7' of space with the seats folded down and little flip out windows in the back to let in some air when things got too hot and steamy.

...FEDEX - well, no wonder. Fedex is AMerican. If you used a Japanese courier company, well, they are better you know.

...but can you do it while shaving and drinking a cup of coffee? Now that would IMPRESS me!

Old enough to vote, shoot people in Iraq, but not old enough to drive and talk on a cell? Ageism, like sexism and racism SUCKS. Stop dumping everyone in the same category. Most people I've seen can't multitask, period. I've seen people who were walking and talking on a cell step off a curb on a red light! Then give me the finger because I honked the horn! Stupid people are stupid. Stop dumbing down laws to the lowest common denominator.

Unfortunately, both the Optra and Epica are proving to be unreliable. We are experiencing problems with both, including the first ever car we had to buy back in the 8 years I've been in this business - an Epica. The trannies are horrible. I wouldn't even consider one with an automatic. It is too bad, really - both cars have excellent erganomics, fit and finish, even the materials are better than what the Cobalt has; however, we have an Optra wagon sitting here that the customer is refusing to drive because of all the problems they have had. I hope GM gets a handle on this before it begins to drag all our numbers down.

The battle for Mr and Mrs Middle America isn't going to be won with styling and tricks. It will be won with value and quality. Although we may look upon these maintstream people as Sheeple (a term I happen to love), the fact is they are influenced by CR and Consumers Guide. Most of us on ths Board know that CR is a pile of sh*t; however, they exist and GM as a company needs to learn to maneuver around them. Both the Malibu and IMpala have won many awards, notably at JD Powers. Chevrolet is heading in the right direction. Personally, I would have loved to have seen the Impala "way out there;" however, there is a reason the Ford 500, Impala and Accord, etc. are all going in the same direction. Nobody wants to take a big risk. Ford bet the company in 1984 when they went ahead with the (then) new Taurus. I don't think any of the existing Boards have the guts to do that now. Part of the trouble is that the media doesn't like to drive this type of car - they all prefer to drive a 750i, and anything that isn't available with a manual shift is bad, right? This is the challenge: to sidestep the media and get the message out that this is a decent, reliable car that is far better priced than the vaunted Camry. The main pothole Chevrolet has to avoid at this juncture is to not let the Impala rot for the next 6 model years like it did the last generation - that will be a killer for this company.