CARBIZ

I love what GM is doing to Saturn, too, but mark my words: it is going to kill of Chevrolet in Canada. Unless there is some cool, fun to drive product in the wings (like as was seen at the NY Auto Show) from GM-DAT, Chevrolet is going to die here. The cool Opel stuff going to Saturn, the lambda to everybody else, no competitive minivan....the list of sins just goes on. I opened the National Post today and saw a full two page center spread in full color of the new Hyundai Veracruz. I wanted to choke on my corn flakes. It is gorgeous, 7 seater and priced not much higher than the aging Equinox. I see a lot of grey-haired folks driving Hyundias and Kias up here. They are no longer a joke. Chevrolet is getting squeezed between the superior product over at P-B-GMC and soon to be Saturn. Just my thoughts, in case anybody in Oshawa is awake.

Are you nuts? This is Ontario. Do you see those shiny, marble buildings downtown? Those are all banks and insurance companies. Sure, they will TELL you that the comprehensive claim won't effect your record, but try and make a second...or third. When my car got broken into in '97, 4 others were broken into the same night in our underground garage. So, me and one of the other victims went door to door in the 14 storey high rise with a petition to force the management to install a camera and security system. Ohhhhh, the horror stories we were told. It sure explained why many of the vehicles in the underground had their car windows open all the way! At least three or four people told me they were CUT OFF because they had more than a couple comprehensive claims. IMO, unless you kill someone, insurance is not worth it. Especially in Ontario.

I have no quirks. I am perfect. I am also modest and honest.

Cspec, I respectfully disagree. There are a lot of things different about the immigrants of today than 50, 60 or more years ago. I will give you three reasons: 1) The internet 2) cheap phone cards 3) cheap air travel 4) televsion Okay, 4 reasons. TV shows them what they are missing. The internet and phone cards means they can keep in touch with their friends and family at home; therefore, they don't have to make any kind of commitment to their new land. Cheap air travel means nearly anyone can buy a one way ticket to any where - and they can visit their homeland whenever they want. Immigrants of yore were forced to commit to their new country. They would work hard and "become" Americans (or Canadians.) Stats Canada's latest polling shows that immigrants of the past 10 years are not integrating. DUH. They don't need to! They have their own associations, businesses, banks, schools...and they can tap into tax payer funded programs any time they want. Yes, immigration has always been the bogey man for a nation's ills, but there are a lot of things wrong with what is happening NOW. What I find interesting is that since 9-11, the door has opened a crack. Although due to PC limitations, critics are still tip-toeing around the subject, the Elephant in the Room is that most people don't want "those kind of people" into the country. Under the auspices of "national security," authorities are focusing on illegaly immigrants, but let's face it, what people can't say is that they disapprove of immigration in general, certain countries specifically. You cannot compare 50,000 Dukhabor farmers dumped into Saskatchewan in 1890s to the over one million Asians currently living in the Toronto area. Seriously, you cannot. I realize that this is such a hot topic, but I LIVE this subject every day. The chattering classes will discuss the issue as long as no microphones are in their faces.

Eu falar um pouco de Portuguese. I took lessons for a year, out of respect for my Brazilian partner (and so I could at least get a basic idea what my "in-laws" were saying about me!) and because I couldn't imagine going to Brazil (twice already) and being totally helpless. Pure survival instinct, on my part. Canada has a similar problem, not with Spanish, but with other languages. The real issue is what I call "critical mass." Once a particular minority group reaches a certain concentration of population, they naturally begin to feel that they don't need the rest of us. I have watched my partner of nearly 5 years struggle with English. We have no kids (obviously). He has money. He has taken several courses, yet he is probably at a grade 3 or 4 level proficiency. Portugese and English (like Spanish) at least share the same alphabet and general rules. What about Farsi or Mandarin? How many years would it take a married Indian man, with 3 screaming kids at home, two jobs and NO English to learn English? Ten years? What if all his friends/co-workers are also Indian? Isolation is part of the problem. They gravitate to their own and remain there. The trouble for Canada, is that our embassies lie to these people. They are painted a picture of shangri-la and of easily molding into the Canadian "mosaic." That may have been the case 20 years ago, but I can state from experience that we are getting exasperated at the bastardization of the language, and of poor service because the person you are dealing with only has a rudimentary understanding of the language. When my partner was sworn in, as part of his "landing" ceremony 2 years ago, fully half of the room of 30 or so people had an interpreter with them. Since it takes a minimum of 2-3 years to "land" in this country, even my partner agreed that a bus should be waiting outside to take these people to the airport if they are unable to get by on English (or French, since it is an offical language for us) after 2 - 3 years. BUT WE MAKE NO SUCH DEMANDS ON THESE PEOPLE. Then they bitch and whine that they can't get jobs.

So the guy's an idiot, a big WHO CARES? In a world where a group of people tried to embarass the government of Britain a couple weeks ago because that government was commemorating the end of slavery hundreds of years ago, political correctness is out of control. Though thugs are every where, there are also those "victims" out there just itching for an excuse for payback, or simply just money. Let's all just grow up and get beyond this.

Global warming is a FACT. Where the controversy lays is in the WHY. Is this cyclical? Is it just a blip? We don't have enough data, end of story. How many weather stations existed around the globe 125 years ago, let alone 10,000 years ago? Was anyone around to count polar bears in 1850? Personally, I could care less about the global warming debate. That will sort itself out in the next 10 or more years, and until the "emerging markets" are involved, the entire debate is moot. The more immediate threat is the increasing leverage and power of certain hostile countries, like Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. are going to have over the West. I believe that is the more immediate danger.

It will take more years to turn Chrysler around (if at all possible) then Kirk probably has left on this planet, so I am more inclined to think he is just in it to dissect the pieces and carve it up for a profit. Besides, isn't that how he has made a goodly chunk of his money in the past?

"I have a question about water beds. Do you have change the water out every so often, or can you leave the same water in it for years?" My parents had their first waterbed in 1975 and used to put Javex in the water twice a year. Later, there were liquid additives that could be added so you never had to empty the water. Water beds are great to sleep in, interesting for other activities , but a nuisance if you move from house to house a lot. Emptying the bladders (they were too heavy to safely move full) and taking apart the frame, etc. became a pain. Besides, the days of my needing a King-size play pool in my bedroom are long over.

also, it isn't a matter of making good heat or not. Of course a 1.6 litre, aluminium engine is going to heat up fast and blow warm air quickly. Rather the problem is the amount of thermal energy taken to do so. I have taken tank readings between, say May (no a/c and no heat) versus January and you will lose on the order of 50 km on a tank, due to thermal loss. I wonder how well the Prius heats up on a cold Canadian winter day?

Is that a slushbox or 5 spd manual? The 4 spd automatic in the Optra/Aveo is not a GM tranny and they are problematic. The shifts are sudden and surprising. The Aveo with a 5 spd gets much better mileage than the automatic. Part of the reason the Impala and other GM vehicles have faired decently, compared to their competition is the transmission is very efficient and the programming is intuitive. Not so with the Aveo/Optra.

I had a waterbed for about 25 years. The last one I had, consisted of 7 bladders of water. It was perfect, because you could customize each side (his and hers, so to speak) and it was heated, which was nice on those cold winter nights. Alas, a few years ago when I peeled back the outer foam skin, I saw there was dampness and mold in there. Rather than spending hours trying to figure out which bladder was leaking, I threw it all out. But I don't get people who spend $3,000 on a mattress! I am currently sleeping on a $500 special, but my partner is eyeing the $1,500 ones.

I think this man is just trying to make up for the fact that Hot Wheels and dinkey toys came out long after he was a child and he wasn't able to play with them when he was growing up. Shouldn't he be at Happydale Acres by now?

Well, then the Civic must be in short supply everywhere, because so far this year the Civic's sales are DOWN 20% in Canada, and the Mazda 3 (which is - what 3 years old?) is poised to overtake it, while the Cobalt (without the G-5's sales added to it, mind you!) is poised to over take the Corolla for #3 spot. But I digress.............. I am watching a madman in Iran and you guys are all worrying about madmen in Washington. Somebody is going to have to bomb that a-hole in the next year or so. Whether Washington has the resources (read: tax money) to do it, or the Isrealis get goaded into it, you will most likely be seeing $5 a gallon or higher very soon. As much as I would love to have something to counter the Chrysler 300, I think that train has left the station anyway. GM is about 2 years late to the party, as usual. Better to rush the Opel/Vauxhall product to these shores soon, because WHEN (not IF) we join Europe's $8 a gallon and up, very few people will want a RWD V-8. And I hope GM doesn't get caught holding the bag, like Chrysler did in 1976 with a lot of big cars nobody wanted.

It is hard for me to say this, but.......I kinda like it. Much better than the Versa. I think we're more used to see econoboxes up here in the Arctic. I hope the team responsible for the next generation Aveo is already looking at this Toyota. Besides, anything is better than Yaris! I prefer the early '90s Tercel over the Yaris!

Although a RWD Impala would have been nice (not a huge seller, IMO), they had better get working on the next generation Impala. We don't want this Impala around for 6 years with no changes! And, yeah, I agree: even if 100k Camaros are sold, that won't make the plant profitable. Sounds like smoke and mirrors to me.

Sorry, but at $3 a gallon (for you guys) this question is presently silly. Try $10 a gallon that the rest of the world is paying, then factor that into your monthly driving! Historically, we still haven't reach the pre-1980 levels yet. There is a reason Europe, Asia and South America are all driving go-karts!

The hard economic reality, though is that Acura is on the way up and Buick on the way down. Most Acura dealers are a lot newer than their Buick counterparts and with increasing sales it is easy to justify spending money on renovations, perks, etc. I wonder how many GM dealers are barely paying the taxes. Another matter that is effecting a lot of older GM dealers in urban areas is that the land they are sitting on is worth more than their franchise Agreement ever will be again. Try telling a dealer principal whose showing a $600k loss every year and who is seeing properties around him selling for $5 and 8 million dollars that he should "hang in there." notgonnahappen.com

Sadly, that is not an opinion. It is a fact. I've even had Asians remark about it. I was accosted in a Future Shop one afternoon (I was wearing my dealer jacket) and the young Asian clerk matter-of-factly asserted that he was Chinese and, therefore, they bought Japanese cars. Not being on the job and being able to say what was on my mind for a change, I retorted, "That's pretty amazing, considering what the Japanese did to your people in the last war." That shut him up. He probably doesn't even KNOW what happened in Manchuria. I've never understood that logic, however. Historically, Japan and China have not been friends, and the Japanese have HATED the Koreans for just as long - so what is the fascination the Asians have with Japanese cars? And why would you profess to "love" your adopted country so much, then bite the hand that feeds you on the second biggest purchase you will ever make? Just wondering.

You guys are SOOOOOOOOOOO lucky! At least you don't have to tolerate the Smart Cars everywhere. Every time I see the "proud" owner of Half-a-Car (as I call it) getting out of one, I make a point at sneering at them. I just can't help myself. These weenies woudn't have an original thought in their head, unless it was put there by CR! By a 4 cylinder Malibu and pocket the difference! The Prius is $14,000 more than a 4 cylinder Malibu (in this market). How many km would one have to travel to recoup that investment, even at the $1 a litre that we are paying these days?

"My challenge to them is come to my office, meet with me and my staff. Show us your technology, and if it works and it's cost effective and readily available, we will gladly meet the target using your technology. Gladly. Come to my office. Next week, if at all possible. Run don't walk." BRAVO! WAY TO GO, MR. LUTZ! I have used this technic when customers are lying and it is very, very effective. It's win-win: if the greenies don't show up, then Lutz knows they are full of crap, and if they do then it will open a useful dialogue where the real truth can come out. Good for him, throwing down the gauntlet! Of course, horsepower sells, but I still can't help but feel that Americans are selling their children's future up the river just so that a few selfish people can roar around in 300 hp minivans! I would rather see a self-sufficient America, importing no oil from its enemies, then another RWD Impala with a V-8.

My understanding is that the new regulations are getting much closer to REAL WORLD driving conditions and I can say from experience that both the Optra and Aveo are disappointing. Anyone concerned about fuel mileage (that doesn't drive like my great aunt) should look to the Cobalt over either of those vehicles. Small engines (Civic, Prius) look great on paper, but real world driving (such as - 10 C weather) kicks the crap out of the EPA estimates. I mean, how can a 1.6 l. engine heat the cabin anyway?

Actually, the Colorado has TWO engines, the 5 cylinder being the larger of the two. There is way too much talk about "class leading" this and "class leading" that. The Dakota carved out a niche for itself when it first came out because it was larger than either the S-10 or Ranger. I almost bought one myself in '87 when I was looking at new vehicles. People will buy the Dakota or the Colorado more on price, looks and handling. The five cylinder is no slouch. I only mention the hemi-thing because it is a clever marketing ploy - nothing else. With the price ranges in crew cab Colorados, it isn't much of a leap to go to a full-size Silverado anyway. GM is well-poised for $4 a gallon gasoline with these trucks, and my understanding is that they were co-engineered by Isuzu anyway, so it was probably cheaper to do. A refresh soon would be welcome, however.

Let's face it: all religions are one form of brain washing or the other. The only difference is the "moderate" religions (like the United Church that my family used to go to) package it up in more discrete niblets. The last time I went to a Church service for anything other than a funeral or wedding was a gay (MCC) Church in Toronto here, nearly 30 years ago. Now how "open" can you get? Even that Church scared me, as the minister waved his arms over his head and shouted how he had been cured from diabetes by the Lord, etc., etc. I was 17 and only went to impress my new boyfriend. End of my Church days and end of the boyfriend. Sometimes, the pomp and ceremony can be kind of fun, like at the big Catholic Churches, but I just feel silly when watching them. Like watching Springer.

No, no, no - I'm with Fly. The Corolla is crap. The Cobalt will run circles around it, literally. If I had a gun to my head, I would say the Civic is marginally the leader in this category because I happen to like the look of it and it comes in a 2 door as well, the Mazda 3 would be tied with the Cobalt for ride/handling, features and choices. The Corolla isn't even in the same league. Sorry. If the Corolla didn't have the veil of Toyota over it, it would sell like the Sentra. Now, when you factor in price and REAL world maintenance, insurance and gas...well, the Cobalt wins handily. Forget about the 5 spd., nobody buys them. GM is being hugely aggressive (at least in this market) with the Cobalt and it is $20 a month on a lease cheaper than a similar Corolla, $40 cheaper than the Civic, and that isn't even factoring in the $200, 3 month trips to the dealer that the Japanese demand. Oil life monitor, anyone? And Honda dealers consider Canada "severe service," so throw out the owner's manual. Disclaimer: I can sell you a Corolla or a Cobalt. Try and guess which one I'd rather you lease/buy?