CARBIZ

It needs to be said that the Silverado/Sierra twins still handily outsold the F-150 by nearly 136,000 units - that is quite a respectable margin. It will be very interesting over the next couple years ($100 a barrel oil, anyone?) to see how this chart looks for 2009's Top Twenty. GM had better have a great replacement for the Equinox in the wings or we will be drowinging in a sea of beige and silver CRVs and Rav4s.....

I'll just wait and see. It isn't like Rick is going to call up Reuters and say, 'hey, this lithium ion thing is going swell and the Volt will be ready next week...' Like Toyota wouldn't be all over that..... It is important to have goals. Anyone who runs a company knows that. With something as complex as the Volt, if GM is off by a few months into 2011, I will personally forgive them. Better to do it right then rush it (remember the 8-6-4 disaster of 25 years ago?) Articles like this just prove the loyalties of the authors...and the people who post them.

FOG, where ever did you get the lame idea that we live in a Free Society? We are told what to do from the moment our clock radio wakes us up (commerical propoganda) in the morning to the moment we go to bed at night. Churches brain wash us. Schools indoctrinate us. The media numbs us. Very few people are actually capable of original thought. Remember the suck ups in highschool who would tell the teacher what he/she wanted to hear in English class? IMO, the only difference between a 'Free' society and a totalitarian one is the packaging. Our thoughts are being monitored every day. Ever sit at a managers meeting at any company, anywhere? Not an original thought in the place. Originality is routed out.

Well, just think of the huge lead that GM would have if the North American market was closed to Japanese imports! Tit for tat, I say.

1. Not enough Saturn dealers. 2. The Malibu-G6-Aura-Malibu evolution has seen each generation noticeably surpass the previous generation: the Aura looks dowdy next to the new Malibu. 3. No Aura advertising. For the 'odd' GM dealer that sells both Chevrolet and Saturn (and you know who you are), maybe people will settle for the Aura; otherwise, the Malibu is quite obviously a better vehicle, with a better known name.

Compared to the hateful diatribes this guy wrote two years ago, it almost appears as if he has had a lobotomy. He is desperately trying to be open minded while evaluating a vehicle in a segment that he dislikes. Who next, Ralph Nader?

I read a very scary book recently, "America Alone" and the author postulates that one of the biggest threats to the world order today is the declining population of Russia. He fears that at some point they will not be able to defend their own borders and, well, 1.2 billion Chinese would welcome the room and the natural resources. Not a cheery prospect, indeed.

Boys and girls, this does not need to be the end of the world. The cars you are driving NOW are the results of DOWNSIZING in the '70s and early '80s. Don't believe me? The largest cars today are barely more than 200" long; whereas, a 'mid-size' Malibu or Challenger was that length in the '70s. Most 'family' sedans were 212" or more and the Lincolns and Imperials of the era pushed 230" in length. The sky did not fall. In fact, the 'downsized' Impalas and LTDs of the late '70s were quite large inside - they did, however, suffer somewhat from the 'detuned' engines of the era, but fuel injection, coil on plug technology, and others have improved upon that. I am glad Congress has smartened up to the fact that Detroit ran around the early CAFE rules by convincing the public that trucks is where it is at. I may be a little cynical, but did the public demand trucks because the missed large cars, or did Detroit and Madison Avenue conspire to 'convince' the public everyone had to have a SUV or a pickup? Let's face it, I'll bet more than half the people motoring around in gas guzzling trucks don't need to be, but they have been brainwashed by lifestyle advertising that the should be in one. It does not need to be 1981 again. I survived that era, slipping out of my '67 Polara into an '82 Rampage - talk about culture shock, but I loved that little truck when it wasn't breaking down, that is! Yes, my '91 Caprice was my favorite car I've owned, but I don't regret the Optra I am now driving. I think that the automotive world has proven that left to their own devices, the horsepower/size wars will rear their ugly heads once again. After making significant fuel mileage gains in the '80s, we have been backsliding for at least a decade. Or is a 260 horsepower minivan really that necessary?

Wouldn't it be deliciously ironic if GM and Ford simply abandoned the North American market to the Japanese? Already, GM sells more vehicles outside of North AMerican than inside. China and Russia are surpassing the size of the Canadian market already. Brazil and India are following suit. GM is strong in all of those countries. The U.S. may be the largest single market, but it is becoming unprofitable because there are too many players who view the market as 'easy.' Which then leads us right back to the only closed market in the world: Japan.

The Age of Consent in Ontario (Canada, actually, because I believe this is a federal statute) is 14, unless the 'older' person is in a position of authority (teacher, doctor, camp scout, etc.), otherwise it is 16 for those people. The rule you mention sounds plausible, although I dated a few 25 year olds a few years ago and found that although they were a blast in bed (youthful exuberance!), conversation and interests really were lacking. It is difficult to not be condescending when one has lived through more than a few decades on this planet, then listen to the 'starry-eye' idealism of someone half your age. I would never want to kill that enthusiasm, so I decided that dating guys who were 30+ was better for me. Besides, I remember dating someone who heard me playing 'Walk Like a Man' by the Four Seasons (circa '62 or something like that - my mother used to play them all the time when I was a kid) and my BF at the time (who was at that time only 9 years younger than me) was floored because he thought it was an original piece by Divine from the middle '80s. And there is no such thing as childhood innocense. Remember, 100 years ago it was common for people to be married at 14 and have kids right away. My aunt is only 69 and she was married at 16 and had her first kid shortly after. One of my best Brazilian friends who is 40 married his 24 year old BF recently. I wished them all the best, but I doubt very very much that the marriage will last. I won't pass judgment, but I do seriously wonder about the mental state of the 40 year old who is married to someone 16 years their junior. I mean, what the hell are they going to do when the older one retires, and the younger has to work for another 16 years!!?

Suck it up, boys. If GM is remain competitive, it has no choice but to capitalize on manufacturing and design plants it has around the globe, just like Toyota and Honda. As long as Americans (and Canadians) love anything imported, Brazil, Germany, Mexico and other places will continue to make inroads in design and manufacturing. The era of $3 a gallon is drawing to a close. The Brazilians are miles ahead of us in areas of flex-fuel and other technologies. This all makes sense. With the continuing slide of the US dollar on the world stage and the continued tilt toward the dominance of Asia, America is going to have to get used to be just another global power, not the sole superpower.

1. Work out more. 2. Do less coke..er, I mean drink less coke. 3. Stop foaming at the mouth every time I read the Toronto Star (Okay, fighting for peace in the Middle East would be an easier choice here.) 4. No more diatribes every time I see a hijab on the streets. 5. Be nicer to the tranny hookers on my street. 6. Learn to knit, so I can make better use of the dog hair all over my damned f%$#ing apartment! 7. No more porn. 8. Pay off my visa (see #7) 9. Watch my blood pressure when I get 18 red lights in a row and no more hate email to the Traffic Department of the city. 10. Most of all....spend every day of 2008 trying to deserve the love and affection of my BF.

Exactly. 21st century station wagons, plain and simple. What 'premium' did a Malibu wagon sell for over the regular sedan, 25 years ago? $200?

Everyone have a Fabulous New Year's...I know I will. (Already am!)

My closet was full of Hot Wheels, Big Bruiser, and model cars...no room for me EVUH. Had a crush on my best friend in kindergarten, so I was one even before I knew there was a name for it.

The dyke at the window wryly suggested that I apply for the 'volume' discount.....

Design and engineering working together. Ha. What a concept. Imagine that?

Still, I like the looks of it so far. I just hope Toyota doesn't go spoiling it by dipping into the FJ parts bin too much. Whether we like it or not, there is an entire legion of 'urban warriors' out there who really don't need the heft of the Avalanche but want something they can dump firewood or their ex-wife's body into, without worrying about the mess.

Nothing like a practical mother! My father made Archie Bunker look like a liberal, but even he eventually came around. My entire family (thanks to my mother, who puts Reuters to shame) have known I am gay since I was 15. The only person who never got used to it was my maternal grandmother, and she was the original Battleaxe anyway, so no great loss there. My current partner was raised Jehovahs Witness in Brazil, of all places - and even his family makes up the spare room for us when we visit. I don't understand much of what they say to me, but at the airport his mother cries a lot and hugged both of us to her side and insisted on group shots of the 3 of us. In my experience, the only people who don't 'get it' are either hopelessly blinded by their beliefs, closet cases, or people who have sexual dysfunctions of their own so that your sexuality makes them uncomfortable. I am not being mean, just honest. If you dig deep into these people's pasts you will often find sexual skeletons that make them lash out at you.

Nah, a friend at NASA suggested that the next time they are between shuttle launches I could use their computers for an hour or so to crunch the numbers...............

It can be lonely at the top. A lot of my acquaintances are from South America and other places and many of them despise America. A former roommate of mine (now since moved back to Chile) remarked that many of his friends and family (not him personally, though!) cheered when the WTC thing happened 6 years ago. I guess when you are #1 (whether it is General Motors, or the good 'ol USA), it is bound to make a lot of people (and countries) jealous. I watched a show on the Airbus 380, hosted by none other than John (Saturday Night Fever!) Travolta. It was an entire 1 hour propoganda piece for Airbus. They kept hitting home the fact that the 747 is 'obsolete' and 'outdated.' I kept thinking that it takes a full frontal assault (and support of) 6 or 7 major European countries to 'topple' the supremacy of Boeing. Although it is to Boeing's credit that they are still, arguably, #1 - the entire tone of the show dismayed me. The 747 is hardly 'obsolete' and who says bigger is better? (Not my BF, that's for sure!) IMO, the United States (or Excited States, as some people call them) has an awful lot to be proud of, but unfortunately (like Canada) there is a terrible character flaw: certain groups of people amongst us like to feel ashamed for things that were done in the past and all they want us to do is keep apologizing or tear ourselves down to atone. So when MITI in Japan, or Airbus or any other organization attacks the very foundations of what makes America great, many Americans sit in the side lines, tsk tsking and feel that those people, companies or whatever are just getting what they deserve because 50, 70, 200 years ago some group or individual was victimized. It is the cultural of entitlement and victimhood run amok. It is tearing down the very balwarks of the Western world, but hitting your country and mine very hard.

I just renewed my membership card for '08. The dyke at the window suggested I get a 'life' membership when I tried to list everyone I had slept with........

WOW. JUST WOW! Nothing NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING is more subjective than color. Color can actually scare a customer away from a vehicle entirely (for example, the diarrhea brown leather interior of the Trailblazer, circe 2003) or 'make' a vehicle. I would desperately hope that Edmunds (and other media outlets) have enough friggin professional sense to get over what color the supplied vehicle is and simply rate it in its merits. And lay of the burgundy: I've owned two burgundy cars, including my current one!

The fuel mileage on the Maxx is phenomenal. We can't keep them on the used car lot. The 3.5 is the son of the 3.4, but to my knowledge there have been no recent issues. GM's 4 spds are reknowned throughout the industry as being bulletproof. The Maxx was always an underappreciated vehicle, which is why there always were great deals on buying one. I nearly bought one myself, but the ugly cloth and the lack of iPod (for my XM) input were two stumbling blocks. Over all, a decent car. Well worth the money.