CARBIZ

With the mortgage meltdown, selling off 51% of GMAC looks like the BEST thing GM has done in the past couple years. Cerebrus must be the one doing the regretting here.

You only have to look at the number of ads from 'foreign' car companies in C&D, versus Ford, GM and Chrysler. They know where their check is coming from.

That's that attitude that is sinking both our countries. Wall Street is laying off. Rumors are flying about one of the two big banks in New York going down. Real estate in California is tanking. The Guvernator is having a hard time borrowing money for the richest state in the Union. So who's laughing now? The coasts could gloat and cluck about the 'fly-over states' job flight, but who will have the last laugh? Who is going to be left who will have a job to buy that shiny new Lexus or BMW? Ask yourself that.....

1970 was the last 'good' year for the full size Chevy's, IMO. After that, only the 'big' coupes were interesting to me. The 1970 Caprice and the '67 Impala are my two favorite Chevys from that era.

Hang in there. There is both a minivan and two small cars coming in the next year that will be very, very enticing. :AH-HA_wink:

You're assuming gas STAYS at $4 a gallon down there. What if it goes to $6? I agree that many people are over reacting, but we need a crystal ball to guess where gas prices will be a year FROM now. I've seen my gas bill climb $60 a month, and I only travel about 6-700 miles a month.

Frankly, we could post a rusted exhaust pipe from a '60's Chevy and it would look better than 95% of what is on the road today.

Or, maybe HE is saying to her,"Jack, get in there and take that make up off. I am not going fishing with you like this again!"

"Honey, I think we left the kids at the last rest stop."

I would think the Traverse and Enclave would make more sense, IMO. The Enclave because it is 'higher end' and has gotten lots of critical attention, and the Traverse because it can get the volume. The Acadia makes less sense with the Enclave being at the same store and the Saturn won't sell if they gave a set of Tupperware with it, so why bother?

I see we are still fixating on the low grade stuff, like where it's built. What about factoring in the design, engineering and bean counters. When you do that, the Camry and others will drop well BELOW 50% 'American content.' Like I've before, it's the 'value-added' jobs that count. Like where are all the grads from engineering school here going to work when all those jobs are in China and Japan?

Guess. Seriously, I owned 2 Dodges in the '80s; hated them both. When I bought my '91 Caprice, it was a tank and a comfortable ride. Very, very reliable. When I decided to get into the car biz in '97, although my heart liked the Mopar products, I didn't trust them. I would never EVER EVER sell imports, so it was Ford or GM for me. It just so happened a Chevy store was hiring, and foolish enough to take me. Now, I'm hooked.

We had the Optra wagon and it was selling okay, then GM summarily yanked the entire Optra line from Canada. Not sure why. We sold a stink load of them last year. Probably because the Pontiac dealers whined that they didn't have one. Although a little under powered, the Optra wagon was very well finished inside. Very square in the back and lots of room.

The best thing I can say about that picture is that it is better looking than a Yaris.

There is one problem with that theory, and I am not saying it is wrong because I am of the opinion that GM does need to ditch a few brands, but one cannot assume that ALL or even MOST sales from lost brands can be salvaged. Case in point: I saw recent sales stats for the dealer where I used to work (now closed) and the surrounding GM dealers. I can tell you that the 'lost sales' from closing that dealer were not recouped by the surrounding GM dealers. Admittedly, the Toronto market is in freefall right now, but sales of surrounding dealers are down, and the closest GM dealer's sales are a sad joke. Whichever path GM chooses, it will be painful.

I got those messages a couple times last week from my home computer. While we are on the subject, how come nobody seems to be able to open my 'attachments' any more. I posted a pic the other day and OCN was deeply disturbed that others couldn't see my attachment.

A lot of it depends on the level of mental maturity of both parties. If you are 24 and usually find girls around your age dimwitted or 'immature,' then maybe an older woman will be more your speed. At least on a sexual level you might find her better - more experienced, less inhibited. Seven years is not a bad spread. My BF is 38 and I am 47. When I was single (6 + years ago) lots of 23-25 year olds would hit on me (why is ANOTHER story) and although they were great for a one night stand, I found the generational gap WAYYY to hard to overcome. Forget about maturity: these guys had never even heard of Franki Valli and wouldn't know a hardtop if it ran over them.

I watched Lions for Lambs last night on DVD. For those who enjoy political commentaries, it was a decent movie. Tom Cruise plays the quintessential politician: follow the party line, say what the public wants to hear and speak from both sides of your mouth at the same time. Meryl Streep plays the old warhorse journalist whose morality has been sucked dry by the corporate system of national news. Tom Cruise points out that the media is just as much to blame in the messes we are facing in today's world because they don't question enough, or ask the wrong questions. Robert Redford plays an aging political science professor who is trying to inspire his charges to DO something about the mess we are in, rather than 'skirt the flames' as he states in a reference to Nero and Rome burning. Too many people take the easy way out in life. We don't want to question the status quo. I say: question everything. We think we live in a free world and have a free press, but I say those assumptions are wrong.

Momentum has died. The typical import buyer would sell their mother up the river to save $5, so naturally their sales figures would suffer first and foremost. The difference between a CTS here and in the U.S. is about $2,500. The Corvette comes with a base model in the States that is not available here, so when comparing apples to apples, the difference is probably around $5k. On cheaper models like the Cobalt and Aveo, the numbers are virtually identical, due to 0/72 financing. By the time this court case sees the light of day, their entire exaggerated claim will have evaporated.

Funny that I see a lot of Blazers in Brazil, and they are paying $2.30 a litre. The Blazers were 'overbuilt'. I had a '98, and it was great for towing my 3,500 lb boat and for real 'off roading,' but as a boulevard cruiser, not so much. The UK roads are, for the most part, better than Canada's, and certainly better than Brazil's. I would expect the Blazer to sell better in a country as large as Brazil, but not in a country the size of southern Ontario.

Well, I am not American and we are used to $1.35 a litre and climbing. Anything less than 100 hp is a joke, IMO. My '87 Shadow had around 130hp (if memory serves correct) with the turbo and with the 5 spd stick it was a little more than adequate (although steep hills in northern Ontario had to be run at), but the 3 spd auto I test drove at the time was sadly lacking. Fast forward 20 years and normally aspirated engines can easily get 120 hp (like on my Optra 5), however, one has to take the vehicle with a manual if one wants to get a) decent mileage and b)any sort of power. Not in the city traffic I drive through every day, thanks. Toronto has the Worst Traffic in the Known Universe, and that is nothing to brag about. Even though many days I am not able to go above 30 km/hr on the 'freeway,' when I get that hole in the lane beside me, a quick shot and surge of 50 meters makes my day, but even with 120 hp on my Optra it can be scary trying to spool up the motor to do the quick shot. It is going to take a long time to convince many people on both sides of our border that anything less than 100 hp is adequate. My recent trip to Chicago was done mostly at 130km/hr and I wouldn't have wanted to do that in a Corsa, thanks. At least not the ones I rented in Brazil.

At my sister's wedding about 15 years ago, my black cousin and I got drunk together and we traded horror stories about his growing up 'black' in highschool and my growing up 'gay.' He played hockey, hung out with the guys and whenever he heard a racial slur, he would laugh it off or turn it around in a humorous way. His brother, on the other hand, turned every perceived offense into a personal attack and was constantly in the Principal's office or had the cops bringing him home. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle a jerk, but the definite wrong way is by becoming a jerk yourself.

Nope. I haven't spoken to my mother since '99 and my life is just fine, thanks. When her husband died in December, I went to the funeral out of respect to the rest of my family and I was civil to my mother. NO guilt on my part. She has ruined my life too many times. Won't get that chance again. She bought a CR-V last month, which only confirms my position.

Malibu '04 - '07 Impala '05-'10 Cobalt '05 - '10 Silverado '99-'07 'Nox - '05 - '09 Yeah, you're right. 4 and 5 year model replacements is just NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Some people here think that GM has NO clue what it is doing. Funny, then, that they send us off to training 3 times a year where we spend the entire day with the Accord, Grand Caravan, F-150, Corolla, etc. We even had to spend the day with the Avalanche and Ridgeline Believe me, they are watching. They know. However, as one who ran my own business for 11 years, I can only imagine on a much bigger scale what it is like to try to figure out what your competition WILL BE doing in 3-5 years, which is how long it takes to get a vehicle from pen to production. I had a hard enough time figuring out whether mine would be open Xmas day or not! In the good 'ol days, even before the RenCen, the boys at Ford and GM probably golfed together. Now, how the hell are they supposed to know what is going on in Stuggart or Toyota city? Or Korea, or India, or...well, the list goes on. We love to bash GM for losing half its market share, but why not bash Japan for squandering 30 years? It is a miracle that GM and Ford were 'allowed' 30 years of post-WWII dominance before Japan Inc launched their invasion. I am sure one of the earliest production versions of the Forte will be on a container to some GM warehouse the day after its built. :AH-HA_wink: