Drew Dowdell

Excellent points. I've been in the I.T. industry in some fashion or another for 20 years (I'm 37, so that should say something there) and nothing annoys me more than having to talk to a salesperson at Best Buy. It annoys me to even overhear Best Buy employees talk to OTHER customers because I just have the strong urge to jump in and intervene on the customer's behalf. It's not the profits that anyone is complaining about here Reg, though I do think transaction prices might tick down slightly at a corp owned store. It's the bad behavior by so many dealership that would likely be reigned in by Corporate if they were actually in charge. I don't visit a car dealer unless it is the one my friend works at. Even then, we called and told him what we wanted and that we had a prenegotiated price. He also knows that I have equal knowledge to him on the products.

Apple doesn't really have a direct competitor for their entire line-up, so that's why there is never a deal. Sure, you can built an rough equivilent out of competitor's products, but you'll be shopping a 5 different stores and there is no guarantee that it will all work together. (I am not an Apple fanboy, I don't own any of their products anymore)

Well, we do take all kinds here at C&G

And yes, I did have a senior moment.... but I have no way of knowing how many miles are on the oil. I've always used the oil life monitor. It was probably the 4th 5th oil change ever, so if you figure the oil change monitor is fairly consistent, then I average either 6,600 per oil change or 8,250 per oil change. This is the lowest I've ever let the oil change monitor go though.. I usually change right at 10%.

We'll I was told by my dealership that due to the close tolerances even on a pure synthetic, the engines get nosier as the oil gets dirtier and one should replace it. Also with the new dexos 1 and 2 spec GM, Ford, or any auto company could decline warranty if the wrong oil is used. Pretty clear to either use dexos specific oil or go pure synthetic. Good explanation on the new oils here: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/02/gm-engine-oil/ The Dexos is full synthetic anyway I thought

If you're a high end Porsche customer, you can afford it.

33k If you're changing it yourself and you don't have a garage to do it in, do it now. No telling how long the weather will hold out. If you take it some place, then just let it go till you feel really needs it.

In my case is just seemed like a rough and louder idle along with more noise under hard acceleration. Seems back to its normal self after the oil change.

Saying "Well it's the law" doesn't mean the law isn't wrong. There is essentially zero consumer protection in the law. Read what you linked - all that is required is Fleet insurance and a continuous $10,000 bond. There is no protection for the manufacturers (and frankly, I'm not that worried about that anyway, if Toyota can weather Floor-mate-gate, Ford weather electronic ignition-gate, and GM weather ignition-switch-gate, I'm sure they can handle themselves). The only thing the law is protecting is the business model of the existing dealership groups.... and yes it is antiquated these days. Costco is now the largest automotive broker in the country now. People apparently like the process of the pre-negotiated sale, pre-negotiated trade, pre-negotiated financing. It is an unfortunate anachronism that in order to complete the sale, these Costco customers still have to go to the dealership to sign paperwork because of these NADA written laws. An aside, removing the franchise laws would not remove franchises. The franchises would still have a contract with the manufacturer that the manufacturer would be bound to honor. And it is very likely that most manufacturers would want to keep a mix of franchise stores and company stores because building and maintaining a huge network of stores is very cost intensive. So it isn't like all of these dealerships would go out of business overnight. What would change would be the addition of factory owned stores or 3rd parties like Amazon or Costco that dealerships would have to compete with. Dealerships would need to justify their existence, which isn't something they are currently accustomed to. Dealerships need to up their game... people hate going to them for a reason, and they've only existed in this form for this long because they have the protection of these outdated laws.

I'm the same... My Toronado is not a sports car, it doesn't handle great, it just needs to have more get up and go. 295 lb-ft from the 2.0T would be sufficient.

I fit in the 3rd row of a Traverse and Durango just fine thanks.

huh?

People LOVED the original Saturn.... they had the highest customer satisfaction rates at their dealerships in the industry. Saturn only failed because GM failed the brand with poor, late, or outdated product. Manufacturers inch up MSRP now. Dude though, if the plan had worked it would have spread, don't you think? Everybody wants customer satisfaction, it keeps 'em coming back. Does this then extend to the trade-in... one price for it no matter what? Plus a hotel room, restaurant meal and a telephone is nothing like a car. As far as the trade in - You submit pictures of your car taken with the app, front/back/left/right, odometer, interior seats, trunk, engine. They get back to you with a trade-in offer. As long as the car matches what is submitted at pick-up time, then the transaction goes through. The basic process is already in place now with some of the used car websites.

People LOVED the original Saturn.... they had the highest customer satisfaction rates at their dealerships in the industry. Saturn only failed because GM failed the brand with poor, late, or outdated product. Manufacturers inch up MSRP now. Dude though, if the plan had worked it would have spread, don't you think? Everybody wants customer satisfaction, it keeps 'em coming back. Does this then extend to the trade-in... one price for it no matter what? Plus a hotel room, restaurant meal and a telephone is nothing like a car. The existing brand dealerships are what prevented it from spreading. GM can't force a Chevy dealership into the Saturn model because the franchise agreement probably spans decades. They were only able to do it with Saturn because they were building a whole new dealership network from scratch. Toyota does it with SCION, but again, they were only able to dictate that because it was a new brand and new dealership network. I agree that a car is not a hotel room, but the transaction doesn't need to be as complicated as it is today due to the dealership model. If nothing else, let the Free Market sort it out rather than give special favoritism to a certain established way of doing business.

That time is fast approaching on our CR-V. It's going to cost $1000 just to get it to pass inspection* *Posted from the Honda Dealership

Northstars have always been oil eaters.

Why not replace the carb with a Holley or Edelbrock EFI kit? Why not put lipstick on a pig? The 307s aren't very tuneable. I'd get better start-up and maybe slightly better fuel economy, but no additional power.

Why do you use such thick oil? 20w50 is THICK stuff. Actually, I didn't even know they made a high mileage oil in that thick of a viscocity.That may not be the exact viscosity, that's what came up when I googled it...I remember the brand and that it was a high mileage blend (Jeep 4.0L w 162k miles) I think, don't quote me though, that the thickest high mileage oils are 10-40. Edit: I stand corrected. Castrol does offer a 20-50 High mileage oil. Personally, unless you beat on that vehicle really hard and have leaks.. I wouldn't go with anything that thick. I could see something with some age and miles using a 10-40 when it's probably spec'd to 10-30 but I couldn't justify using something so thick like 20-50. Using oil that thick is probably the only thing holding his Jeep's engine together at that mileage.

People LOVED the original Saturn.... they had the highest customer satisfaction rates at their dealerships in the industry. Saturn only failed because GM failed the brand with poor, late, or outdated product. Manufacturers inch up MSRP now.

The NADA argument also falls on its face that it "protects" existing businesses. Hotels have a dual model of franchises and brand owned, they compete just fine. Restaurants have a dual model of franchises and brand owned, they compete just fine. Apple competes with Best Buy and Target when selling their products. Why are dealerships such special flowers in the consumer landscape?

Just hook it up to a high tension line for 15 minutes...

We're a species of hoarders. I am genetically predisposed to the more extreme end of the scale, a number of family members being extreme hoarders. I have to remind myself to purge regularly so to not end up in the same situation.

Moving my Toronado from the wheezing old 5.0 liter V8 it has now to the 2.0T 4-cylinder from the ATS would be a welcome upgrade for me. I also wouldn't mind a 5.3 V8 in there, but that's the most powerful I'd go.

Happy Birthday BV.

No one likes the dealership models except dealerships. Customers do not like the dealership model because it places an annoying barrier between them and the manufacturer when issues arise. Customers do not like the dealership model because it increases the cost of the car. Customers do not like the dealership model because the experience is fairly inconsistent from dealer to dealer even in the same brand. Manufacturers do not like the dealership model because they do not have as much control over the presentation and pricing of the cars. Manufacturers do not like the dealership model because it adds a layer of bureaucracy to the overall process of selling and servicing a car. Manufacturers do not like the dealership model because it is hard to nearly impossible get rid of bad apples. Dealerships are NOT scared of having to compete with Tesla specifically.. Dealerships are scared of Telsa disrupting their business model. Because if Tesla does that, there is nothing to stop GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc from doing the same thing... and then the dealerships might actually have to compete with the service levels that a manufacturer provides. A nationwide network of Tesla or Honda or Chevrolet stores owned by their respective manufacturers would likely have the same consistent look, feel, and level of service that shoppers are accustom to at Apple. Furthermore, dealerships are even MORE scared of the Amazoning of the car buying process. Think if you could customize your car from an app and have it delivered to your door and have your trade in picked up without ever even speaking to a dealer? I just bought out the lease on my Buick back in August and the entire process was done electronically except the title transfer which I handled at a AAA office. It was two pieces of paper total - the title and the statement from the credit union with the lien info with mileage statement. There is nothing stopping that process from happening to the entire car buying process except for the NADA. NONE of the consumer protections that the NADA cites as necessary and provided by the dealership model have actually proven to be true. The only reason Saab owners can still buy parts is because ONE company not related to GM nor to Spyker decided there was enough market for Saab parts to continue to source and manufacture them.... it is NOT because of the dealers. Suzuki owners can only buy parts because the parent company still exists and just doesn't sell cars in the US. Fisker owners are up a creek, dealers can't help them. So take Tesla out of the equation and look at what dealerships are really fighting against.... a more transparent, convenient, cheaper, and haggle free car buying process.