Robert Hall

I've noticed a couple white City of Phoenix Crown Vics with 'powered by hydrogen' lettering on the sides in the city parking garage where I park for work... I want to take time an check them out..must be some Ford fleet vehicles for municipalities...

It's some where in Islamistan...

It's a great name...also, you probably know there is a neat classic car connection also--Amelia Island, Florida is well-known for it's Concours d' Elegance...

Yeah, I stopped at a restaurant in Cottonwood, AZ and read the manual entry on the light..I had never seen the check engine light come on before, so it kind of spooked me. I checked the coolant, oil, transmission fluid, PS fluid, etc. Nothing smelled wierd and all the gauges were showing normal. I did some research online last night about it, read up on the generic and Chrysler-specific codes...Yesterday was a mix of freeway and winding road driving with a lot of elevation changes from about 1300 to 7500 ft... I always worry about the transmission, what with the GC's reputation for eating transmissions, but I just had it serviced recently. I've driven it in the mountains in Colorado for years w/ no problems. I figure an OBD-II reader will be worthwhile to have.

I had one of these a rental in July in Florida...not the worst car by far, IMHO...a Chevy Aveo would be infinitely worse, IMHO. Drove smoothly enough, had comfortable seats. Driving one of these I felt like a tourist, driving an Aveo I'd feel like I was on welfare. The interior plastics were blah, but that's expected with a current Chrysler product.. some oddities is how tall the rear is--the decklid is a long reach to shut when open (and I'm 6 ft tall!)... with the top down, the trunk space is very tiny..enough room for my rolly carryon bag and backpack, but that was it. I did have a problem with the driver's seat, after folding it forward to let a rear seat passenger out, the plastic release came off in my hand when I was trying to get the seat back rest back to the normal position. The styling is very odd, the proportioning very odd. The 2 previous generations of Sebrings were better looking cars, IMHO. Overall, though, the 3rd gen is not a bad car...I'm sure there are much worse cars out there, in the US and the UK (don't they have some horrific tiny 1-litre Suzukis and Protons in the UK?)

I've thought about the beater question also...my '00 Grand Cherokee has almost 95k now, has depreciated over 8 years to 1/8th it's purchase price, and is long since paid for. It still runs well, looks good, though it has a few scratches, paint chips and dents. Admittedly, it gets only 18mpg, but that's ok with me. It makes no sense financially for me to buy something cheap and used that is an unknown quanity and a potential money pit to use as a daily driver. At some point in the next year or two, I'll buy a new daily driver and keep the Jeep for winter use or for when I need to haul something.

I ordered myself an OBD-II scanner from Amazon yesterday..the check engine light came on yesterday on my Jeep..it seemed to be driving fine, but spooked me..so I've parked it until I get the scanner...driving my sister's old 500SEL today..

I suppose it's once you buy a specific model, you become very aware of it and start noticing them around you. That happened to me in '00, bought my Jeep, and suddenly started noticing Patriot Blue Grand Cherokee Laredos everywhere... I still see many in that color, very popular apparently (even the ones I saw in Europe were all dark blue, black, or silver, but in Limited trim).

Lots of options, lots of models. Below the Galaxie, there was the Custom (Ford's equivalent of a Biscayne), then Galaxie, Galaxie 500, Galaxie 500XL, Galaxie 7Litre, and LTD. Some years had a Custom 500 also, not sure about '66.

It's probably illegal to drive w/ the gate open and stuff hanging out in the EU. Come to think of it, German wagons and SUVs(Audi, Merc, BMW, usually have the lights in the quarter panel and gate....--the Q7 has them completely in the gate..

Interesting...that could definitely be part of it.... I know with sites like Autoblog and others, I check my Google Reader RSS feeds a couple times a day for new posts. With this board, and message forums in general, I never go to the front page but always just click on 'view new posts' when I come in to see what has been posted since my last visit. I have auto-subscribe set as well, so I get emails for any postings on threads I've posted to...

Interesting..googled it, they call it the 'TeaBird'... Turners Iced Tea

50k+ Silverados in September? Daymmmn...that's a LOT of trucks sold.

Took a little Sunday drive up in the mountains... up to Payson, Cottonwood, Jerome, and Prescott and back to Phoenix... saw a variety of interesting cars... highlights: in Rye, a junkyard full of motorcycles, lawn mowers, and 50s cars--there was a '53 or so Studebaker 2dr wagon, mid '50s Dodge panel truck, and an early '50s Chevy pickup on top of a stack of misc. 50s cars..all with decades of surface rust. Also a '59 Ford panel truck in decent shape, and an '80s Dodge 400 convertible w/ a pickup cap in lieu of a convertible top. On the road, a older Land Rover pickup..50s vintage, I think--had the close-set headlights in the grille panel between the fenders. There was a rod run going on through Payson, I think..I saw a bunch of '30s-40s rods, and a goregous light green '55-56 Chrysler 300. Saw a very sharp white w/ black top '65 GTO... and a '70-72 Plymouth Duster in orange w/ dog dish hubcaps. Also a gold w/ white top '73 Jeepster (I think it was a '73, because that is the year, IIRC, that had the un-CJ-ish front end--chrome grille). Also, a red & white '60s 'Old' Mini parked at a gas station w/ 2 Austin-Healey 3000s. And a Toyota Corolla 2dr ht wagon from around '80 in decent shape.

I like this analogy I found on a buddy's Facebook page..

The 'CARR' lettering font on that dealer looks like the dealer name lettering fonts that I remember seeing on small town GM dealers 30 years ago..

Another dealership closure here---Power Buick-Pontiac-GMC closed today...was the largest BPG dealer in the Valley, I think..

I'd just keep driving it... see if you can get 150 or 200k on it. If it's paid for, I wouldn't see any cost advantage to buying/insuring/etc a 2nd car... what's the Mazda 6 get, 25 or more?

Seems like reasonable equipment levels and some decent options.

Who cares? In 20 years time, the Prius (probably on it's 6th gen by then) will probably be completely electric, no gas engine, and hyperefficient... hopefully, the Volt will be as well..

Cobalt would be consistent with Civic and Corolla--- C-segment cars with C-names (not that there is any significance to that factoid). As far as 'Nova' not working in Spanish speaking countries, that is an urban legend, not fact.

I saw a clean pale yellow '65 Mercury Comet 2dr sedan (must be quite rare) and a sharp maroon '69 Mercury Marquis convertible today...with the top down. October is the start of convertible weather here. Also saw a '69-70 Chevy shortbed fleetside PU for sale, gray w/ flames on the sides.

Some positive things in my life currently--- 1. Enjoying my new job, 3 weeks in...it's pretty low stress, the client is pretty laid back and not in a rush to get the system up and running... first time I've had a government organization as a client. 2008 has been turbulent--I finished a 9-month contract in Denver in March, moved to Phoenix in April and joined a startup (pay cut), grew to strongly dislike the company and the weather over the summer...was laid off at the end on July. Started a new contract in Sept, with a much shorter commute (about 12 miles/day instead of 40) and more money (about $25/hr more). 2. Cooler fall weather... after 4+ months of 100-115 degree highs, the highs are down in the 80s-90s now...cool and comfortable. Going to celebrate fall by taking a little road trip up into the mountains tomorrow. 3. I'll be back in Colorado for the first time since May in two weeks, going back for a good friend's wedding, and going to see a bunch of friends I haven't seen since May. Should be a relaxing weekend.

I would assume the Cruze won't overlap w/ the Cobalt, won't it replace the Cobalt for NA?

baguettes