The O.C.

I set up the "fit-and-finish" post where I carped about the cheap plastics inside the car...so I won't repeat that here....but I have sat in my first Impala (silver LTZ with a great-looking "ebony" leather interior) and I've seen a few of them on the freeway now. Cheap plastics aside, I really like this car. I think the conservative exterior is also attractive and stylish without being overdone. I have two gripes.....first of all, the "spoiler-delete" option is a MUST! This car is too modern (if bland) to need a tack-on rear spoiler that was all the rage in the mid-80's. Imports aren't doing it any more....and Chevy doesn't need to either. It just adds a cheap look to the car that does it no justice. Secondly, the old W-car chassis severly reduces rear-seat comfort and leg-room. I found the same thing in the LaCrosses that I've sat in and driven. This is probably the Impala's worst failing....and one they couldn't get around until they totally redesign the vehicle on a new platform. Once seated in the back seat, there is very little foot and leg room....and you sit with your butt in a well, with your knees up...with very little upper-leg support. For a midsize passenger hauler, this is really bad. Other than that, it's the best GM midsizer out there.....the Grand Prix is too "white-trash tacky" and the LaCrosse is a poor excuse for Buick's "version of a Lexus." Chevy was the one that did it right with this old platform. I haven't driven them yet....but I think I'd probably take this car over a Ford 500.....! (alas but not over a Chrysler LX car...)

Everyone wants to know why I'm giving the Impala so much crap about the interior......Why? Because it looks like SHIT....! Sorry to be so blunt....but I'm sick and tired of letting GM off the hook on this kind of stuff... Like I said....I LIKE the Impala.....and LOVE the STYLE of the interior dashboard, instrument cluster, door panels.....but the QUALITY level of the plastics on most of the dash and door panels are really low-rent stuff....and it's the supplier that GM chooses that creates that problem....certainly a cost factor. I'm not talking about the woodgrain or the metallic-silver trim....I'm talking about the huge slab of plastic all along the dash face from the passenger side over to the driver side. The dash TOP is okay....very nice soft touch plastic....it's the dash FACE that's so bad....and a real contrast with the (nice) dash top. NOW....the center stack looks really nice and I really like the new HVAC and radio controls....much better than what's found in the Malibu and G6. I probably should have titled this post as Impala "material quality" not "fit-and-finish." My error. Everything was screwed together pretty well. It was the quality of the materials that I was carping about.....it's bad enough in a "premium" compact like the Cobalt....it's even worse in a more expensive midsize-to-large sedan like the Impala...

I agree.....it's useless to try to use this topic as a bandwagon to criticize the imports.... The Avalon still went 0-60 in 6.0secs FLAT in the recent C&D comparison test.....and a 190hp Camry is still going to be the NVH standout it always was... Point being....the engines haven't changed....the ratings did.

I agree....one of the reasons I LIKE the 3-series is the fact that I can get the performance, ride, handling, and luxury in a smaller package! BMW has done an astute job of designing a smaller sedan that has amazing room inside (if you are prepared to sacrifice some rear seat space by moving the seat back.) My boyfriend is 6' tall....but has long legs for his height....and he can get more comfortable in a smaller 3-series than he could the CTS we test drove....he couldn't move the CTS' seat far enough back....and ended up with bent knees against the lower dash of the CTS. I just prefer smaller cars myself....and many other people do too...

Someone brought this up on the "old" C&G......I sat in my first Impala yesterday (LTZ, silver, with ebony leather) and was shocked at the (lack of) quality of the interior materials!!!! Although the black interior looked sharp, the plastic on the dash and lower door panels is a shiny, hard plastic. In fact, the hard plastic is so shiny, it contrasts with the (actually nice) soft plastic on the dash top and tops of the door panels. WHY can't GM get it RIGHT...???? AARRGGGHHH! AND, I actually really like the Impala overall....so this really frustrates me.... Honda, Toyota, and Nissan can now show how to do hard plastics that look good.....with a matte finish, and not a shiny one that screams "cheap." It's the EXACT same problem that I have with the interior of the Cobalt...the hard plastic is not just hard...its shiny and hard....looks and feel really cheap.... The rest of the interior was actually pretty nice.....I guess that just disappoints me even more in the hard stuff they are using.....

:D GREAT to see you back Josh.....as well as the others! We missed you! C&G is unique....even though sometimes tempers get heated and egos get bruised, I truly feel it's the "realistic" nature of this website that keeps us coming back...(even if you did protect Buickman a bit stongly....) ;) SORRY.....had to say it.....FORGIVE ME....!!!! I couldn't resist.... See ya tomorrow.....! (and the next day, and the next, and the next.............)

Wow....the black dash/door panel contrast to the beige and grey interior is what they should have done in the first place....! It's much better (although I STILL don't like the center stack...and the radio/HVAC controls. New front end is an improvement as well!

Glad to see you guys back! I missed all of you.... What happened....? Cheers, Chris