CARBIZ

Looks like 3 nights in Vegas and 3 nights in L.A.

Looks like we'll have 3 nights in Vegas and 3 nights in L.A.

Enzl, Enzl, Enzl - we have sparred over this before. Please, read. I am speaking about Fleet sales that, legally, GM cannot stop. The dealer can sell the damned vehicles to whomever we please, as you should know. If we sell 50 Malibus to the Canadian government at OUR cost, that is OUR business, not GM's. Fleeting must be different in the U.S., because up here it is done through the dealer and GM makes more money on the fleet deals (no zero percents, no Visa points, etc) than they do on most retail deals. If the fleet customer keep the Malibus for 4 years - how the f$#k does that effect resale? And you conveniently missed the point that we also fleeted TOYOTAS to the same client. And, for your information, 2007 Malibus and Impalas are rarer than hen's teeth at the auctions these days - around here. To repeat the aforementioned post: there are 'good' and 'bad' fleet deals. Coca Cola buying 200 Malibus for their sales employees to drive to clients is a GOOD fleet sale. The vehicles will have 60,000 miles on them when they are traded back in two or three years. Rental sales, I suppose, are BAD, but at the end of the day, a sale is a sale. These constant attacks on Fleet sales are getting tired. Resale values of models, whether poor or not, are effected by a myriad of factors - fleet may be only one of them. Perception has more to do with resale value than anything else. If our Toyota store keeps bashing GM and keeps jacking up the prices of their used Camries, then the 'perception' is that they are a better car and, therefore, a better deal. I am not guilty of giving GM a free pass on anything. I am up front in my opinions and have no ulterior motives whatsoever. I am a DETROIT fan and have hated Japanese products since I took Japanese trade policies in University. I also 'hate' Chinese products because they are shoddy and because we are wholesaling our future to save a few bucks. I prefer to look at the Big Picture. I will tell you one thing that I am not: I am not a wolf in sheep's clothing. I do not haunt Toyota Nation to bash Toyota at every turn. I cannot be bothered. Can that be said for certain people around here?

Fly, what are you smoking, and please pass it around!

But serious money can be made when those vehicles are returned to the dealer. We've pulled off a few high volume sales to the Canadian government, involving Malibus and Corollas (through our Toyota store) and the used car guys can't wait until those vehicles come back in a couple years. (And it should be noted, that these civil servants can driver either a 1.8 equipped Corolla for the same price as the far better equipped Malibu.) Even if the dealer only makes a couple hundred dollars a car, GM still makes their money and then the cars will be re-sold through the dealer down the road.

I had a '98 Blazer that I leased new and had for three years. Never had a problem with it. I think the electronic drive selector acted up at one point, but that was it. Our receptionist has a '99 that she bought used 3 years ago and she loves it. She won't part with it. Like any SUV, the real risk is how did the previous owner treat it? If they beat it up and barely did the maintenance, then you are bound to have problems. Brake repairs are expensive on these trucks, so make good friends with your mechanic.

Let's wait for a true, full production vehicle that you can BUY and then we can all pile on. The reason for the production of all these 'mules' is to test reaction, to throw the competition off, and to get the usual Detroit bashers to expend all their bile before the consumers can actually get the cars. And can I say, just for the record, that renting a damned car for a few days is not quite the same thing as OWNING one. I drive the current Malibu all the time, both brand new (less than 5 miles on them) and 2007 'daily rentals' with 10,000 miles on them just returned, and I can say from driving many,many of these damned cars, that I would stack them up to the f'ing Sonata any day of the week. (we have one of those on the lot now, too.)

The beauty (and the challenge) of selling Chevrolet is that we have TWO cars, whereas Honda only has one. I have had many customers who do not like the new design direction of Honda, who have emerged from the hang over of drinking the Japanese kool aid and who are willing to give GM a fair shake. The thing is, obviously the Impala and the current Malibu are completely different animals. What the person is currently driving should greatly influence the direction the salesperson takes the customer in. Pickiness aside, I would not say the current Malibu is better or worse than the Accord, but since price is always a factor, the Malibu at 0% finacing for 60 months, and $2,000 'on the hood' (as guys on this site like to say) makes the 3.5 equipped LT about $2-3k cheaper than the base Honda, before the cheaper interest is factored in. I sold a Maxx to a customer yesterday and they were driving a '99 Century with 290k km (about 200k miles, for you guys south of the border) that had never had any problems, just oil changes. I had steered them toward the Impala, thinking that the ride/comfort would be what they wanted, but upon closer interviewing, determined they wanted a bigger rear opening area, almost like the HHR. They had never heard/seen the Maxx and loved it. Not to too my own horn, but any salesperson who has not learned to LISTEN to their prospect, deserves to make the $20k a year that he/she is making. Of course, I am excited about the upcoming Malibu, but the current one is a fine ('good enough' for some whiners out there) automobile and in a city of $4 a gallon gas and outrageous insurance prices, many people are looking for a good value. Honda is where GM was 10 years ago - arrogant and bloated. If they don't get their house in order, they will be looking down the barrel of a re-invigorated Detroit and wonder where their market share increases went.

The Vegas part is free. Probably at the Bellagio or something like that. Three nights. Frankly, if it wasn't FREE, I wouldn't go. We will rent a car on the Sunday (and it had better be a Mustang or Sebring convertible - if they give me a Solara, there will be Hell to pay ), then drive to L.A. I want to see the Hoover Dam (I've seen it so many times on A&E, that I am bound to be disappointed), drive through the desert and then see LA. I am not afraid of traffic: remember the 401 highway in Toronto is the busiest in North America, nor am I afraid of pollution (just Wednesday of this week, the hot, humid stink from Ohio could be smelled quite clearly all over Toronto). I want to see museums, of course. I want to see car museums in particular, although the BF will probably want to kill himself. A guy at my gym recommended the bus tour of the stars homes, but I am dubious about that one - sounds too touristy and tacky. Would a motel on the outskirts of the city be better, or is there something decent closer into the city? I've seen LA on TV a lot, but I've never been, so I really have no clue what to see or do. I could just base my tour on re-runs of Earthquake, Adam 12 and Emergency. Oh, and Reg, the BF is with me, so NOTHING in Vegas is going to STAY in Vegas - he will be there to see firsthand what I am up to!

Oh, and let's drag up the Aztek again, since it went out of production over 2 years ago...that's so relevant to this discussion.

Let's just wait and see before we pile on about the new Malibu, is all I am saying. Their were lots of pundits attacking the lambdas before they came out, worrying excessively that there were better offerings, but all of those opinions were largely based on vehicles that were, at best, 'stop gap' products: the current Impala, the Uplander and probably the Colorado, too. These vehicles were 'good enough,' but Lutz & Co. had their hands full with the Silverado, Tahoe and defending markets that GM does own. Honda has always had a huge advantage in that they only had to manage (until recently) 4 or 5 models. How hard can that be? As we are seeing with Toyota, the challenges increase exponentially once more than a dozen models are being juggled. If anything, we can resurrect the tired debate about whether GM should be killing off brands, rather than spreading the develoment money around with the G6, Aura and the upcoming Malibu. But that is a different debate. There are too many nervous nannies waiting to pounce on GM because it would seem that GM lost its way in the mid and late '90s, but keep in mind that Lutz's toys are only now truly coming online. I am sure GM will be putting our arses in the seats of the Camry and Honda in the next couple months to compare with the new Malibu. My paycheck relies on how good these vehicles are, so there will be no harsher critic than myself, but I am willing to cut GM some slack until I've at least driven the damned things. Stay tuned.

The car isn't even production yet! Have YOU driven one? Have YOU sat in one? Seriously, Dodgefan, you must have learned something on this site in the past couple years. How can anybody pass judgement on the Malibu when the damned thing isn't even production yet? You don't think the GM guys haven't torn down the new Accord already? You don't think there won't be a dozen or a hundred changes between now and the next 6-8 weeks? SHEESH. It is this defeatest atittude that is sinking Detroit, period! Maybe the new Malibu will be a POS, but let's at least wait and drive the f'ing thing before we all chime in about what a crapbox it is.

Things may be different down there, but up here there are no such thing as 'loaners.' 'Loaners' are, in fact, rentals through a bona fide rental company that the dealer/GM pays for. For insurance and liability reasons, we do not give out 'loaners.' The customer signs the rental Agreement, is responsible for gas and damage, just like a regular rental, but the dealer pays the actual rental fee. And, yes, sometimes the rental company brings over a Toyota or a Pontiac to our dealership, which really burns me up.

Hey guys, I am going to Vegas in 4 weeks for a 4 day fling, then I'm off to sunny (I hope) L.A. I've never been to either. Do any of you guys have any ideas of a) where to stay in the L.A. area - or, equally importantly where to AVOID; and b) what sights should I see? I plan to rent a car in Vegas and drive to L.A. with my 'other half.' Neither of us has been that far south or west in the States. (Actually, he has only been to Buffalo once - not the center of culture and beauty in the States ) I've been up and down the East Coast , been to Florida and driven across the upper States (N. Dakota, Minnesota, etc.) but never been to SoCal So, those of you who brag so much about how great SoCal is, where should we go?

The business is definitely a lot tougher now than 10 years ago when I started. I have seen probably 50 or 60 salespeople come and go in that time period; 9 or 10 managers, too. I don't know how I would hang on now if I didn't have half my business from repeats and referrals. Losing the Olds line put a dent in my portfolio, which I am still feeling as those Alero leases come up and the people flee. However, having said that, two months is not long enough to get a feel for the business. My first year sucked and there were many times I wanted out. We had a used car manager who was a real a-hole in those days, but after he got let go, things improved. It will get better. As you hit your stride and as managers come and go, eventually you will be your own captain and will pretty much be able to set your own hours and call your own shots, but you need to hang in there! I rarely work more than a 6 hour day and take a lot of weekends off. The won trips and benefits can be worthwhile. (I am going to Vegas and LA in a couple weeks on the company dime.) But like any career, you have to pay your dues in the beginning. If you believe in yourself (and the product) all else will fall into place.

You sound like a reasonable man, my friend. Pragmatism is a rarity these days. Personally, I wish GM and Ford could still afford to pay the unionized workers $30-40 an hour. I can't imagine working on an assembly line. I tried stuffing envelopes for a printer for 8 hours a day when I was 15 and quit after 8 days because my brain was oozing out my ear. However, the grim reality is that as long as Japan Inc. has Detroit in their gunsights and 40 years of Liberal Arts grads are running the show in the media, Ford and GM are going to be in dire straits. They have to cut costs somewhere and face the reality of market shares that are half what they were a mere 15 years ago. Everyone is feeling the pain. The dealers sure are, I can tell you that.

Dodgefan, it's not about bashing Chrysler. Chrysler has a terrible relationship with its dealers. If Cerberus is going to move forward, one of the first things they have to do is regain the confidence of the guys/gals whose money are on the line every day. If Press is able to mend those fences, he will be worth his weight in Gold.

The Camry is a fine automobile. There, I've said it. Does it deserve to be #1? Probably not. People today cannot think for themselves on any level, so they will simply do what they are TOLD. As long as Toyota keeps sending their checks to CR and the other print media, the Masses will keep buying them in unreasonable numbers.

The definition of Paradox: CR relies on Toyota's checks to keep them in business, but since Toyota's cars are perfect, why bother to EVER trade it in, but then Toyota would eventually go BUST and the checks to CR would stop. A true conundrum.

:rotflmao:

The Tundra College Edition: Your favorite Toyota dealer will pay up to $8,000 for your son or daughter to go to barber school or learn manicuring so that they actually have a job to go to when everything else has been off-shored.

Ah, isn't there warranty on this piece anyway?

OOHHHHHHHHHHH GOOOOODY! My favorite Let's Bash the Unions Thread!

Step 3: Demand a 'reach around.' Or at least a kiss afterward.

Buying a used car is a crap shoot. Many people on this board are probably better equipped than the average person to make an informed used car decision; however, a one year old used car only makes sense if you are able to pay cash, put a lot of money down and/or pay it off quickly. Otherwise, the $7k that you save will mostly get eaten up in interest. Around here, a typical used car loan is 8%. (Remember, your banks will loan bankrupt 3rd world dictatorships BILLIONS, but they won't open the door for a lowly consumer.) Eight percent of $20k is going to work out to be around $3-4k over a 4 or 5 year loan. POOF! There goes most of the savings, against a new car loan that is subvented by the manufacturer. OR, you could borrow against our house at 4 1/2 percent, but then as this topic has pointed out - THAT IS THE PROBLEM. You do not want to be paying $350 a month on a used car and have the tranny blow just out of warranty. Either buy a very used car from someone you know or someone you trust (after all, who cares if you lose a few grand!) or lease a brand new car, save the buy back and then keep that car. That would be my advice. Cash is nice, but very few people have cash, and the only thing in life that is certain is uncertainty.