CARBIZ

My neighbors across the highway had a '68 in dark green. Their father would wax the thing, like, twice a week. It was 4 or 5 years old at the time and still looked new. I was always envious of my friend for being able to ride in it. The late '60s Lincolns were true ageless classics. Lincoln avoided the fake wood plague that Buicks, Oldsmobiles and (even Chryslers) of the same era adorned.

Really? Did you hear about the '98 Mazda Protege that sat on our lot for 9 months - and then we had to sell it at a loss because it was a 5 spd? Or how about the 3 Optra LS 5 spds that we had for over a year, then had to also sell at a loss? Or the used Cobalt SS that is currently on our lot for, like 6 months, because (get ready for this) the three or 4 people I have shown it to (gasp!) want an automatic - which isn't even available on the SS supercharged. Or how about the guy with the 5 spd, 2000 Focus wagon that was aghast to discover (after going to 3 or 4 lots) that basically none of the dealers (GM, Ford or Dodge) wanted it. Or how about the 2 2003 Corvettes we had on the lot that each celebrated a birthday because everyone who liked the color or the equipment or whatever also wanted an automatic? I could go on, but I think you get the point. Even our two Toyota stores sell less than 3% of their Corollas or Yaris' in manual transmission - and their demographic is heavier into 'new Canadians' who come from countries where standard trannies are the norm. Resale sucks on stick shift. Maintenance costs are higher (try getting 100k on a standard shift in the city!) and, for the most part, fuel consumption between auto and sticks are the same. Don't get me wrong: my first two new vehicles were stick, but then I lived 2 hours north of Toronto when I bought them. Anyone who lives near a city will grow weary very quickly of having to shift, shift, shift in stalled traffic. As I have tirelessly said before, what people on this Board WANT and what the driving public WANTS are entirely two different things - and that includes RWD.

GM and Ford both have to stop this stupid flip-flopping of names: Pursuit/G5, 500/Taurus, for sure. I agree to a point with Camino: like it or not, the HHR finally brought some interest to the Chevrolet line up, in a way that the SSR could not (affordable). None of us know where or how the development dollars are allocated. The HHR is a Cobalt wagon and to that end plugged a hole that the Chevy dealers had, not having a Vibe and all. Our dealership did not sell a lot of HHRs, but I have to admit that the ones we did sell were bought with considerable enthusiasm. Yes, I wish the HHR had been a little more thought out (cheap plastics and all), but over all I like the vehicle in ways that I don't like the Mazda 5 or other 'competitors.' My biggest complaint with the HHR has always been the 'me too' look of the vehicle, with respect to the PT. Lastly, underutilized the factories may be, but look what happened the last time GM shuttered a plant: Toyota snapped it up to build more cars right in its back yard. That was not a smart business move either. Generally, there seems to be a game plan in place at GM. I think (hope?) that we are only about midway in the 'turn around.'

No, the REAL mistake was giving P-B-GMC two of them, and Chevrolet NONE. All the dealers here are P-B-GMC and always have been (as they are slowly being amalgamated in the U.S.) You have to understand that good dealers nurture relationships with their customers and then the customers demand to know how come WE don't have the CUV. Customers think it's stupid that Chevy never got one. Also, don't forget in the perennial Ford-Chevy wars, Chevrolet is getting its ass kicked, too. HOw many CUVs does Ford now have?

Call it propoganda or call it education, but we do need to change our ways. People will not 'keep it in their pants.' I agree with you on that point: why should we sacrifice when the elephant in the room is that ALL of the 'developing' world has outrageous birth rates? However, part of the over all probem is that nobody has yet figured out a way to grow an economy without growing the population. It's all a giant pyramid scheme anyway: if you want to retire at 65, you will need X number of younger people in the work force to sustain your way of life throughout the 20 or 30 years that you remain alive after retirement. Hyperbole is part of the equation, I am afraid. Even at sales meetings, we are told that '97% of the customers will buy within a week.' Well, of course that is bull$h!, but if a marketing agency said '35%' they wouldn't be able to charge $2,500 for their seminars, would they? The same goes with climate change. I remember when I was a kid, it was all about 'pollution' and 'litter.' The Canadian government went on a big campaign against litter, and it worked. My parents generation would have thought nothing of burning their garbage in the backyard or throwing litter out the car window, but that has all changed through education. Look at the anti-smoking lobby: I don't smoke, yet some of the tirades and laws against smoking annoy me - but there is absolutely no denying that filling your lungs (and the people around you) with smoke has got to be BAD. Common sense. Thirty years ago, people smoked on airplanes and in elevators. We look back at that and laugh, but people have become educated. $8 a gallon will not 'destroy' the economy. Look at Europe and Brazil, they are doing fine at $2 + a litre. Of course, it couldn't be done over night, but a gradual rise over a period of 3 or 4 years would change people's habits and (eventually) their attitudes. The challenge is, I would like to see the raise in taxes used toward alternate fuels and transportation infrastructure; whereas the reality would be the money would just get dumped into general revenue and disappear.

I agree: scrap the CAFE laws and raise oil taxes up to 'European' levels. At $8 a gallon, everyone can buy and drive what they want. Congress can use the tax bonanza to plow into alternate fuel technology. Ha, what am I saying? They would just plow the money into porkbarrel programs like the corn lobby. Look, we will adapt. I ranted and raved against the mandatory seatbelt laws 20 years ago. Now, I wouldn't dream of driving a car without a 3 point belt. People do change. Change is good. Every time I watch a program about the growing colossus, called China, my skin begins to crawl. We are like the Titanic, careening toward the inevitable iceberg, yet we are whining about our 'right to do this' and our 'right to do that.' China will need another Saudi Arabia to fuel its economy within 15 years. Where, exactly, is that going to come from? Kiss good bye the ozone layer by the time that happens. As the 'richest' economies on the planet, our countries (Canada and the U.S.) need to start leading by example, or our children (well, YOUR children) will be scrounging for roots and bark.

Actually, I don't even have a map in my car. If I go to a place once, I can find it again - even ten years later. Christmas Day my brother-in-law was amazed that I could find my way back to a Conservation area he and my sister were at with the dogs after I left them there to get my partner at the subway station. I was puzzled at first, because I take for granted that being shown a place once is enough. If I am going somewhere new, I look it up on mapquest on my home or office computer first, commit it to memory (or print it, if a little confusing) and off I go. Even when I was in L.A. a couple months ago, I would glance at a map before we left the hotel and commit our route to memory. Am I special? No, but my father used to take me for trips to the middle of nowhere when I was a kid and make me find our way back to the highway without the use of a map. Just instinct and gut feeling. That is something the younger generations are not learning by becoming too dependent on technologly. Spell checkers and blackberrys are turning us into a nation of idiots.

Perhaps you should remove yourself from your bubble and travel to Europe and LOOK at some of the 'small' cars (I am thinking in particular of Citroens and Peugeots, to name two) that are available there. Better yet, drive some of them. The world does not end at 20 mpg - nor does it end at 6.6 litre/100, which is something else you guys should get used to. I have driven the Aveo (and I am 6' 2") and although it is not a powerful beast, I fit in it just fine, thanks. I have also taken the Mini Cooper S home for a few days and absolutely LUV it. It is only in the United States that we find such blatant gas guzzling, unnecessary vehicles. Even most Canadians 'get it,' although we have a ways to go, too. I grew up on huge RWD Mopars, but my pocketbook forced me into a '82 Rampage and '87 Shadow ES with the turbo and I survived. I switched to a '91 Caprice wagon, then a '98 Blazer when I was towing my boat all over the place, but now it stays put and I fly on most trips, so an Optra suits me just fine. $8 a gallon changes everyone's viewpoint and at some point Washington is going to side with the greenies and pay for Iraq with your oil taxes. Plan for that now.

You did the 'right' thing. Sometimes you can educate people and sometimed you can't. People in both the extreme Left and the extreme Right need to learn to just get along.

This 'debate' has fallen largely into two camps: the twenty-somethings that think ANY technology is great, even if they can't afford the cars they are in, and the ELDERS who have seen so many USELESS technologies come and go ( 8-tracks, laser discs, beta to name a few) and have heard it all before. (Guess which camp I am in ) Nobody is going to buy or not buy a Malibu because it maybe, possibly for $2k more could have a DVD nav system. The kids that (think they) want it, won't buy a Malibu anyway, and the people in the true snack bracket that can afford to piss away $2k on something they might use twice a year, also won't buy a Malibu. The turn by turn is way cool and addresses the few who must have every gadget to impress their friends, without costing a fortune because it can be cancelled when the novelty (inevitably) wears off.

I guess being #1 for 75 years can eventually go to your head, eh? Perhaps this sudden brush with death (in '05) has been a good wake up call. Many large corporations suffer from the same kind of malady: nobody is really in charge and the head honchos brought in from outside to shake things up usually have such amazing 'golden parchutes' that they don't really give a damn if they succeed in turning the company around either. It would take someone with a really big ego like Lutz who is as concerned about his reputation and legacy as he is about money to truly make a difference. But there is no denying that the 'good news' if building. Let's just hope that any economic downturn in '08 does not derail GM's momentum.

:rotflmao: Toyota has always produced lackluster products, but now the media's love affair seems to have worn off. Lutz delayed the Cavalier when he saw the 'new one' and the Cobalt was the result, but at least that was 3 years ago! I agree that within Toyota's corporate culture it would have been impossible to produce a 'segment busting' small car, but to still fall short of the Mazda 3 and current Civic is shameful. And that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

...but at least the Aztek was ORIGINAL - something the Japanese are incapable of ever doing. If the Element had come out 6 years ago, then it may have been at least interesting, but since it is, at best, a bad copy of the Aztek, Honda should be ashamed. And we can never keep an Aztek on our used car lot. One of the fastest selling vehicles we can get our hands on. A test drive easily cements the deal. Yes, GM could have done better with the Aztec, but it was mostly the late '90s Pontiac plastic cladding styling that killed that vehicle. That is something that Lutz recognized early on and stripped all GM vehicles of. As to the Element, I drew better sketches of trucks and vans when I was 5 years old.

The only ACCURATE way to gage gas mileage is to set the odometer to zero, run the gas tank to as empty as you dare, then fill it up yourself, see how many gallons you used, then do the math. If you average that out after 3 or so tanks, you should have a fairly accurate reading. Summer a/c and winter cold driving really wreck the averages, though. I do a combination of city and highway and average only 30 (Imperial) mpg on my Optra, which is horrible, but I am hard on my vehicles, especially a 2.0 litre engine! Interestingly, that is the same average I used to get on my '87 Shadow with a 2.2 turbo 4 and 5 spd manual, so maybe the Opra with the slushbox is not so bad.

Those were the days! If you did that in a modern truck (any, not just the Turdra), you'd probably cause $5k in body damage - to each vehicle! (Of course, the Turdra would probably split in half!)

AMEN!

I rented an '07 Mustang convertible while in California a couple months back and it was a very decent ride, even with 'just' the 6. At least he did not buy a Solara convertible - now therein lies a waste of metal and (mostly) plastic!

It really doesn't matter how well the vehicle itself stands up if the G-forces are transferred directly to the bodies of the occupants. The entire point of a long hood with 'crumple zones' is to absorb the shock and extend the length of the impact, thus reducing the transfer of G-force to the human body. That is why you would be better off in a Tahoe by default. Still, it is impressive that the car survived. Maybe your beneficiaries would be happy to put it back on the road.

Is there a connection between IQ and Lexus drivers?

Wow, I thought I was the only twisted person out there...reminds me of the See Spot, See Spot Run, See Spot Get Hit by the Car stories I used to write when I was 14.

We have a '03 Mini Cooper S on our lot, and while it is a blast to drive (80 km/hr in 2nd gear!), it sells USED for more than a 2008 LT HHR sells NEW. NO way, no how they are in the same snack bracket. Again, the usual suspects look down their noses at plebian transportation. For $10k more, the HHR would have been a much better vehicle, no doubt. However, there is no limit to the amount that could be spent on a vehicle. Still, I will be the first to admit that the interior of the HHR disappoints. Although there are a few 'cool' features (like the LED on the ceiling), the plastic is cheap looking, the nylon seats are awful and the visiblity is awful for someone taller than 5 feet. I thought about the Vibe and the HHR before settling on the Optra 5 as the first vehicle I've OWNED in ten years. The HHR was the nicest of the three, but I couldn't justify the extra $50 a month, so I opted for the Optra. Too bad you guys don't get that vehicle down there....OOPs, neither do we: GM summarily cancelled the '08 line up, putting one more nail in the coffin of Chevrolet in Canada.

........... yet, strangely our murder and crime rates are a fraction of those South of the border

Having seen the haze over L.A. recently, I can't say I blame California for trying to impose stricter standards. On the other hand, I can't imagine the farmers in Idaho give a damn. Such is the challenge of running a continent-stretching nation that has a thousand self-interest groups pulling in each direction. California would have had more clout in the '60s when the Big Three dominated the market. With more than a dozen manufacturers selling in that State, I wonder who would be the first to pull out if California had its way. It is a BIG market, to be sure, but even a big pie can only be sliced so many ways. And don't be so quick to beat up on Detroit. Ford and GM build low emission vehicles in Europe already. It's just that there are already enough costs to doing business over here as it is. With Europe becoming one market and China growing, it may behoove we North Americans to stop thinking that we are the Center of the Universe.

Like pushing the blue OnStar button and saying "Where is the nearest Exxon station" is hard. I still shake my head. The free Turn by Turn Navigation feature that GM is applying to the Malibu answers the question for those who 'must' have navigation. I want to see some hard numbers on how many people who DEMAND Nav systems (and are willing to pay $2k in upgrades to get it) actually use the damned thing after one year. Like most toys, they are fun in the beginning but then become too complicated to bother. In my experience, when people come up with 'deal breaker' arguments, they are merely excuses. The import humper has already made his buying decision and being 'coerced' to look at a domestic is painful for them, so using an easy out is, well, easy.

Crazies have always been amongst us, it's just now that that satellites and the internet allow their heinous acts to be flashed around the world. One hundred years ago, only the locals would have known or cared about incidents like this. Perhaps wacked people with pent-up aggressions don't have 'normal' outlets for their rage any more, like the military or cutting off the heads of chickens at the farm. 'Fight or Flight' is no longer an option for most modern people.