Drew Dowdell

When is the last time you got a joke?

Seriously? Come on now balthazar, you're smarter than that.

I'm on my 3rd boss with this company without changing jobs. My current one couldn't be a better boss. His predecessor is a jerk to everyone, pretty much everyone hates him, but he was extra jerky to me because he's one of the ultra religious anti-gay types.

While I agree with you on the succession of names, what the person in the thread is implying is that GM just refreshed the platform and changed the name...... basically that today's Malibu is just a rehash of a 1983 Celebrity.

A friend and client of mine is on his 3rd Toyota Avalon. I tried to talk him into at least looking at a Lucerne the last time, but he said that he has a friend at the local Toyota dealer who gets him really good deals. He told me yesterday while looking over the GMC Acadia I'm currently driving that this Avalon will be his last. Though it's got 120k miles on it, he's had a number of issues with it, is bored with it (big surprise there), and the newest one isn't different enough for him to get another. The recall frenzy just put him over the top to look outside of Toyota this time around.

Again, this isn't about actual experiences with Toyota. This is about the perception of the company. If more comes out about what Toyota knew and how they handled that knowledge that isn't good, the trust people put in the company will be broken. While GM did give the media a lot of fodder to work with in the past, there are plenty of instances of the media harping on GM for things that their competitors did also. How long have we been reading about GM's "ancient" 4-speed auto? Years right? Camry kept it's 4-speed auto till 2005. The Accord still had one in 2002... but go look at a review for a 2002 Impala and you'll find some journalist harping about the 4-speed. Corolla *still* has a 4-speed for the base auto, which makes any harping on a Cobalt's 4-speed disingenuous. I remember reading reviews about the CTS where they took points off the car because they felt the steering wheel was too big. Then there's the review where the BMW had catastrophic brake failure during the evaluation and it still took 1st place. There's the performance evaluations that pit cars against each other that share a price point but very different size points and the journalists are shocked shocked that the smaller car is easier to throw around turns. I could go on and on and on.... and I have..... but the point is that there was definitely a piling on by the media on GM. edit: One of my favorites is that nearly every review of the current CTS-V manage to get a mention of the Cimmaron or 8-6-4 into the first paragraph..... Just once I want to see a review of the M3 or M5 that starts off with how awful the Isetta was.....

Great to have you post here Micheal. I don't think the recall will kill Toyota. I think the recall will kill the perception people have about Toyota's quality. Once that is gone, what reason does one have to buy Toyota products. Very few of them are lookers in the styling department, their sports car production is basically dead, other than the Pruis their fuel efficiency isn't any better or worse than Hyundai or Chevy when compared model for model. In short, the single biggest reason to buy a Toyota, the perception of quality, is now gone.

I think there are no bad choices in this one. I like the aesthetics of both.

I disagree. I think the "mainstream" that only reads USAToday headlines is very shaken by this. It upsets their worldview and their purchasing decisions. They'll just default over to Honda or this new car company...Furd? Fard?... something like that, they keep hearing good things about. The "Toyota BEST EVAR!!!!1" are the ones who think this is a government conspiracy.

I don't feel a bit foolish at all. MediaFAIL for failing to provide the complete story. So, now the score is something like Bank Customer BaD - one, Bank Bad - eleventy thousand.

Tick-Tock?

I follow, I was just hoping you'd provide details for comparison purposes... and of course you did. Thanks.

I see what you did there with the 36 volt. Isn't that the proposed "next" standard for vehicle electrical systems? What is the specs of the BAS system from the Malibu, for comparison?

Sorry, banks are way worse than Toy Motor Company in my mind's eye. The only reason I ever deal with them is to pit them against each other to my advantage.

This doesn't bother you CSpec?

Wow...

Guys, it goes into more than just "well it's a school, Chrysler should have let them use it" Not how it works in trademark law. You have to defend your trademark at nearly every turn. If you let someone use it without defending it, then it sets precedent in the courts eyes as to how strong your trademark is.

Well... step 1: Stop using your CPU fan as an ash tray.

I think that machine will suit you just fine.

Cspec, do you believe the bank took no improper action here?

1) Thanks. Do you think something like Honda's IMA would help keep the engine in HCCI mode longer by allowing less gas throttle and more electric throttle? That would really help with city numbers as well. If you're already going to be doing a flywheel starter/assist anyway, make it beefy enough to shoulder more of the acceleration burden but not so much so that you're getting into full hybrid status with all the battery weight that implies. 2) thanks for clarifying.

The bank is illegally taking the home when someone has offered to pay the balance of the mortgage. "Bank, you haven't paid the mortgage. We're taking your home." "Wait, I have the money for you! In FULL!" "Too bad, we're taking it anyway." Not only should the bank take an opportunity cost. They should be investigated and if there is probable cause, indicted, and shut down by federal regulators. Banks seem to think they can do anything they want in this country.... even break their own contracts. In the rules of foreclosure, "At any point during these proceedings, the borrower is usually in the position to keep the property if the loan is paid off and the lender is reimbursed for any foreclosure costs." This wasn't even a short sale situation where the bank would have taken a loss. The balance was $160k, the purchase offer was for $170k which would have more than covered any foreclosure costs + balance of the loan. If you feel the bank can do anything it want's to this man, then the man can do anything he wants to his house, even if his mortgage contract has a "do not devalue" clause.... if the contract doesn't apply to the bank, then it doesn't apply to the property owner either.

Dwightlooi, Two questions: 1. Can HCCI be made to be operable at lower speeds then 55mph? I think if they could get it to run at 45mph they'd get a knock it out of the park hit. IMHO, running in super efficient HCCI mode at 45 mph would produce far more worthwhile results than getting it to work at 70. 2. What would you suggest for the Ecotec with displacements lower than 2.0? Cruze is getting a 1.4t, but there are also 1.0, 1.6, and 1.8 variants out there. These are far more important for the Euro and Asian markets for certain, but they are a big piece of the puzzle.

I would argue that the bank is the criminal here. The man destroyed his own property. It's crazy, but it's not illegal. The bank doesn't own it (yet). The man owed $160k to the bank. The bank received $170k offer for the property. The bank got greedy and said no since they felt they could probably sell a $350k house for $250k and make $90k profit on it. THE BANK SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO FORECLOSE ON THE PROPERTY JUST BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY CAN MAKE A PROFIT ON IT. In fact, I think the bank should probably be put under investigation and ALL of it's foreclosure proceedings put on hold. I've read story after story of people having foreclosure proceedings started against them despite their willingness and renewed ability to pay or that they've found a buyer who would pay off the loan. I've heard of banks foreclosing on the wrong house. There was a couple in Florida who got foreclosed on..... who paid for their house in cash. Never even HAD a mortgage. The bank sent someone to their house who cleaned out all their stuff, hauled it away, and then bolted the doors. The banks deserve ZERO benefit of the doubt here. This guy may be crazy... but at least he's thinking. The banks are mindless zombies.

Make sure they throw in any available updates for the NAV.