CARBIZ

..........and where exactly are you going to save $20k? Stop pulling figures out of your ass.

Every article I read so far puts Detroit in bankruptcy. If they mention Toyota at all, it is as an afterthought.

Maybe these assclowns should sue the American and Canadian government while they're at it: I just paid $2 Canadian at the Sarnia crossing while Americans get to pay $1.50. How's that for a kick in the teeth? 33% more, yet the dollar has been virtually at par for over a year.

I wonder how she got them through the sunroof...or did she have them put on after she was already standing on the seat?

My '87 Dodge Shadow ES was a POS in so many ways, but to Chrysler's credit the turbo never gave me any troubles, even well after 100,000 miles. (The same cannot be said of the 2 headgaskets, rack & pinion, 2 starters, ignition linkage and myriad of other things that went wrong with that car from new.) If Chrysler could do it 20 years ago, I am sure a reliable turbo can be had today. Coupled with VVT, direct injection, etc., I think an ecotec could be quite a rice burner at 1.4 litres.

Political correctness is just one more step down the path to total social collapse. In an effort to offend no one, we end up pleasing no one.

Well, my attachment was working earlier. Dunno what happened! Maybe I should get rid of my PS2 model 30, eh?

Very Truly Yours, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Toronto Star, Consumer's Reports............

:rotflmao:

...don't know if I would go quite THAT far, being as I've had 2 Chinese made blenders crap out in the past 4 years and a Chinese made Cd clock radio. Frankly, with the way things are going, China won't have to invade us in 15 years, they will either already own us outright or when they do invade none of our machinery will function to defend us because it was all made in China anywa.

STOP BLAMING THE MEDIA FOR DETROIT'S FAILURES.

I don't think protectionism is going to work. Our modern world is far too interconnected. However, the decline of our life as we know it is accelerating. Dell just axed 1,000 jobs here and moved them to the Philipines. Nobody's job is safe. Berkshire has just lost 20% of its market value. Bookings in Vegas are way down. California is in trouble: it appears The Guvernator is having trouble borrowing money. So for those gloating over GM's troubles, we are all going to hell in the same handbasket. There is some nastiness afoot of the likes we haven't seen since Vietnam, in terms of economic turmoil. Personally, I think a little house cleaning is in order. Actually, a lot of house cleaning. There are too many self-interest groups in charge of all levels of government on both sides of our borders. November will be very interesting. Whomever gets in will be inheriting one helluva mess. Of course, China could reach into petty cash and bail the U.S. out.

Three years ago, I saw these all over the place in Brazil. I whined and complained THEN that we should have these, at least in Canada, like SO THREE YEARS AGO. I hope GM is listening.

Europe is finished. They are going to be completely left behind in the world sweepstakes. What they won't do for 40 euros and hour, someone in Bangalore or China will do for 2 euros - and work 50 hour weeks.

Perhaps you haven't been reading that certain powers that be south of the border are threatening to slap carbon taxes on 'dirty oil'. I think Obama was one of them. If Alberta plans on building a nuclear reactor for its tar sands, it had better hurry up. There are clowns south of the border that won't rest until everyone is driving a horse and buggy again.

PCS, built in Brazil? [Pant, pant] When!!!!?

Let's hope GM kills the TB and Envoy QUICK. Now that Chevy is about to get a Lambda, there is no excuse for the TB any more.

Gorgeous, but I vote for the Grand Prix, too. [ You can keep the girl, though.]

The entire stock market is down. The 'market valuation' of the United States is probably less than that of Luxembourg. (Okay, I am exaggerating - a bit.) I've lost $4,500 in mutual funds in the past month. You cannot watch stocks on a daily or weekly basis. Trust me, that will drive you crazy. That is the fun fact about the internet: I can log on at any time and see how much money I 'lost' today. However, I can tell you, in April, when my funds were up over $1,000 in a matter of weeks, I was happy as hell. We need to take a chill pill.

Of all coincidences, our district manager dropped by today. We had a wee pow-wow about the bankruptcy situation, the bad news on the media, etc. Wow, if you think I am touchy on the issue, he makes me look like an import humper! In his learned opinion, GM needs to take off the gloves and start attacking the media. GM is doing more things right than at any time in its history, yet it is still taking it up the #ss for perceived injustices of the past. He feels GM needs an entire war department to go after the media outlets that keep bringing up the negative bulls#%t that is threatening to swamp the boat. As a side bar, I want to go on record as saying it isn't just about GM that I am sick of the media. I am just sick of the media in general. Whether it is a politician innocently calling Asians 'Orientals' (as happened recently in Toronto), or some drunk driver that accidentally kills a pedestrian, the media harps and harps on issues until they are beaten to death. I can barely watch the news any more because every station or paper is trying to come up with a new slant on how to beat a 'hot' subject to death. Everyone is reaching for that Pullitzer and they don't care whose lives they destroy in the process. In the 40 odd years that I have been paying attention to 'current events,' I gotta say that the freedom of the press has gotten out of hand. Maybe there is too much competition between the various outlets, or maybe liberal arts degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on, but from innocent slanting of an article to outright fabrications, I venture to say that fully HALF of what we read in print or see on TV is pure, unadulterated crap. It shames me to think of how this freedom of the press is being abused. I can hardly blame the Chinese government for wanting to clamp down on the press in their country. Our press has become a wasteland of the disenfranchised, jaded and lazy. This is not merely about blaming the press for GM's failures. This is about the entire downfall of our civilization unless we start demanding more from the press.

There certainly are a lot of pros and cons with the Volt, which is why making the decision to produce it could not have been an easy one. For one, electricity rates are not going down. For those of us who live in the north east, we can remember only too well the black out in 2003. Ouch. For Ontario, which generates more than 50% of its electricity from nuclear, thousands of Volts recharging over night would be a good thing. For other jurisdictions, perhaps not as much. Coal gets a bad rap, but other than the so-called carbon emissions, the amount of pollution it actually puts into the air is a lot less than the thousands of electric cars that could be replace internal combustion vehicles. Frankly, the rush to hybrids and electric cars poses a potential minefield for utility companies. Can you imagine if only half the vehicles out there became electric? Yikes.

Go, go, go. No more talk - do this! Every time I go to Brazil I see the Montana everywhere. In full dress, they are a great little truck. GM has the vehicle NOW. Just import the damned thing, don't study it! They just spent $600 million on a new plant in Sao Paulo. Use it.

Still, there is a certain irony here. As my accountant always said about banks,"if you want a loan, first you have to prove you don't need it, then they will give it to you.' Profound to the point of painful. That's why Chrysler had to go to Congress in '80 to get a 'bailout:' they had a workable recovery plan but none of the banks would touch them, which was only accelerating their sales slide at a time when they needed all the loyalty they could get. GM is facing the same problem - again. Three years ago we were hearing the bankruptcy talk, GM cut their workforce, did a lot of maneuvering and successfully warded off the Grim Reaper. Suddenly, it's '05 again.

I just came back from a few days in Chicago and I have to say that I saw a lot of G6s in Michigan and Illinois. More than I see around here. Must be a strong seller for GM in those states. Chicago, however, like most 'sophisticated' markets (I love that term that marketing boys use), saw a wider variety of vehicles, particularly imported European stuff.

So many birthdays, so little time..........Cheers, guys!