Robert Hall

I've never had a backfire before, but perhaps this was one. I was driving along at about 60-65, A/C, radio on (i.e. noisy inside) and I suddenly felt a shudder through the vehicle and heard a bang..like a rough shift but much stronger. Then the engine died (silently) and I coasted off the freeway...don't think I ran over anything,the road was clear.

Interesting..will ask them to check those. Excluding the bang, it reminds me of what happened w/ my Mustang when it had a clogged fuel filter. I had the differential position sensor on the rear axle replaced last year, it had a wierd stall behavior and threw a code and the check engine light came on.

Just talked to the shop...they can't find. anything. wrong. Weird. Maybe I got bad gas (I had fueled up about 10 min earlier) and it was a backfire and stall. No idea. Perplexing.

I like the colors and materials of the Jag interior (and the wood), but find the dash design very unappealing..don't care for the bulgy vents and the guage pod. I like the previous Jag dash designs..

Sedans: mainstream: Taurus premium: current Mercedes CLS, most anything by Audi Coupes: Mustang (esp. the two tone interiors), Audi A5 Sports cars: Audi R8, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and 911, Mercedes SL SUVs: new Grand Cherokee One company who's current interiors do nothing for me is Jaguar..I don't like the direction they have gone w/ the recent designs, esp. the new XJ.

Clever..

No idea what's going on..was running fine, just fueled up. Got out on the freeway, up to about 60 in heavy rush hour traffic..heard and felt a loud bang, engine cut out. Coasted to the side of the road to breakdown lane (glad I was in the right lane). Tried starting, cranked, but wouldn't start. Got out, opened the hood, saw nothing amiss...looked underneath, no fluid leaking, nothing hanging down, no smoke, no hot smell.. 20 min later after calling the wrecker service, got back in, it started immediately, idled normally...no check engine light, gauges seemed normal...put it in drive, went forward 10-20 feet, seemed ok. Didn't trust it to drive home 20 miles in heavy traffic, though.

Jeep go boom on the freeway tonight. Wouldn't restart. Got hauled 25 miles to the shop on a rollback truck. Truck driver dropped me off at home. Called a cab, went to the airport to pick up my sister's Merc 300CE to drive to work tommorow. Very tired.

Talk of quadrupling sales makes it sound like they've been drinking the VW kool-aid of outrageous growth predictions..

Wow...Zeta Evo. That the source is Motor Trend gives me cause for concern, as they tend to be less accurate w/ the rumours than other mags..but it should be interesting. Hard to believe GM has both Alpha and an NG Zeta platform planned...I had assumed they would work towards 100% FWD cars...

Cursing has it's time and place to use (when in anger, in sports)..but it's become so overused in the popular culture (movies, music etc) that's lost it's impact. The general usage is boring and trite.

Maybe to help boost the CAFE ratings? Kill some of the big beasties...

Ah, I forgot it also...the Volt's been talked about so long it seems like old news now...

Hmmm...maybe try cleaning off as much of the oil on the underside and then paint a light color on the suspension, bottom of the engine, etc and then let it run for a while or drive it some (is it drivable)? I did this to track down an oil leak w/ my Bronco years ago..sprayed the suspension, engine bottom, etc w/ gray primer.

Interesting...any idea *where* the oil leak was coming from (oil pan gasket, front main seal, etc?). I've seen something like this happen before..my '87 Mustang GT had a leak around the oil pan gasket when I had in Colorado, I had to add a quart every 2000 miles or so. But after moving it back to Ohio, no leak. I think it had to do w/ moving from a very dry climate to a damp one. But what you are seeing is stranger, as you haven't moved your Blazer.

Have they upgraded it since then? 6 years is a long time...

LoL... I really need to get out of Arizona..the summer heat and desert ugliness has warped my mind. Need to go where it's green w/ cold, gray damp winters..

Sounds like a pretty plausible list.

Too many suburban housewives w/ big hair causing explosions from using aerosol hairspray while smoking and/or talking on a cell phone and pumping gas?

Nah, full serve w/ a station attendant seems like something out of the 50s. Do they still check your oil in NJ? Or just put in the fuel?

Yeah, that's just plain weird...I encountered the same quaint regulation in Oregon. Very strange having someone pump the gas after decades of using self serve..

I remember the 1st gen CTS in that color, don't think I've seen the 2nd gen in it. My favorite colors on the 2nd gen CTS are the Black Cherry (very dark wine color red) and the bright medium dark red that was in all the '08-09 advertising...

What seems plausible in the next few years are, based on rumors I've seen here and elsewhere: Chevy: '12 Malibu '11 Aveo Spark ('11 or '12 for US, I've read) Cruze variations? new Corvette new Impala in '13-'20? Buick: compact sedan (Excelle or other name) compact CUV (Encore?) Regal variations (wagon? hatchback? coupe?) GMC: Granite Cadillac: ATS (sedan, coupe, etc?) XTS large CUV (Lambda) as NG Escalade or to suppliment Escalade? (haven't heard any approx timeframe for an NG CTS, wonder when it will get an MCE)

Maybe those cash only mom/pop businesses Samadei sees are Mafia connected, cash only businesses--he's in NY/NJ, right?

As far as the cash vs. plastic, one thing that drives me nuts is getting behind a slow-ass luddite using a check in a place that still takes them (grocery, etc).