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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Why was Budd doing cars anyway?
  2. Drew Dowdell
    In the end, I think that very few will notice. Most drivers will age out before hitting 100k miles anyway.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Should change the name back to CRX while they're at it.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    I need to drive away to the mountains and hide for a week.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Wrong grille on the challenger?
  6. Drew Dowdell
    I think they are wise to venture into a segment with no competition.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    The trouble in the CT6 is in the definition. I do not think nor expect it will be a S-class competitor in size and capacity. I think it will be more of a CLS, which isn't a bad thing, just a different expectation. I'm also suspicious because what we saw in the Cadillac CT6 commercial doesn't look large enough to be the same car that we've seen in spy shots. They may be related, but the spy shot cars seem to be larger.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    In a memo released to dealers yesterday, General Motors announced that beginning with 2016 model year vehicles, the powertrain warranty will be shortened from 100,000 miles to 60,000 miles on Chevrolet and GMC models, while still remaining in effect for 5 years. Buick's existing 6 year / 70,000 mile powertrain warranty remains in effect. General Motors began offering 5 year / 100,000 mile powertrain warranties in 2007 at a time when public confidence in the company was low. There is no mention of Cadillac in the memo, so it looks like they will keep the 5 year / 100,000 powertrain warranty they currently offer. Also being scaled back is the amount of included maintenance. Current Chevy, Buick, and GMC vehicles come with 4 scheduled maintenance visits included in the first 2 years of ownership. That will be cut back to 2 scheduled maintenance visits beginning for model year 2016. GM says this move brings the warranties for these brands more in line with their direct competition. This is where the brands stack up for most of their respective models: Family Brands: Fiat: 4 years / 50,000 miles Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Honda, Nissan: 5 years / 60,000 miles Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep: 5 years /100,000 miles Toyota: 6 years / 60,000 miles Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi: 10 years / 100,000 miles Premium Brands: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar/LR, Volvo, Porsche: 4 years / 50,000 Cadillac: 5 years / 100,000 miles Buick, Acura, Lexus, Lincoln: 6 years / 70,000 miles\ We obtained a copy of the memo which you can read below. (click to enlarge) View full article
  9. Drew Dowdell

    warranty2016

    Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery

    warranty2016
  10. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "GM Rolls Back the Odometer on Chevy and GMC Powertrain Warranties"
    In a memo released to dealers yesterday, General Motors announced that beginning with 2016 model year vehicles, the powertrain warranty will be shortened from 100,000 miles to 60,000 miles on Chevrolet and GMC models, while still remaining in effect for 5 years. Buick's existing 6 year / 70,000 mile powertrain warranty remains in effect. General Motors began offering 5 year / 100,000 mile powertrain warranties in 2007 at a time when public confidence in the company was low. There is no mention of Cadillac in the memo, so it looks like they will keep the 5 year / 100,000 powertrain warranty they currently offer. Also being scaled back is the amount of included maintenance. Current Chevy, Buick, and GMC vehicles come with 4 scheduled maintenance visits included in the first 2 years of ownership. That will be cut back to 2 scheduled maintenance visits beginning for model year 2016. GM says this move brings the warranties for these brands more in line with their direct competition. This is where the brands stack up for most of their respective models: Family Brands: Fiat: 4 years / 50,000 miles Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Honda, Nissan: 5 years / 60,000 miles Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep: 5 years /100,000 miles Toyota: 6 years / 60,000 miles Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi: 10 years / 100,000 miles Premium Brands: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar/LR, Volvo, Porsche: 4 years / 50,000 Cadillac: 5 years / 100,000 miles Buick, Acura, Lexus, Lincoln: 6 years / 70,000 miles\ We obtained a copy of the memo which you can read below. (click to enlarge)
  11. Drew Dowdell
    It's gotta be something with an even higher average buyer age than Lexus..... one of the Ford Panther cars?
  12. Drew Dowdell
    yes
  13. Drew Dowdell
    well just about any production car is available with a cassette deck if I shop JC Whitney hard enough :-P
  14. Drew Dowdell
    There wasn't a Nash Rambler?
  15. Drew Dowdell
    #2 - Rambler?
  16. Drew Dowdell
    I know the answer to the tape cassette deck is the Lexus SC430 though I don't know the last year that it had it.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Why?
  18. Drew Dowdell
    Flight was canceled. I was half way to the airport in the cab and had to turn around to go home. I was rebooked on a 6:03am out of Pittsburgh.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    If we're going to call things as they are. The CLA is Benz's Cimmaron. It has absolutely been executed better than the Cimmaron was, but the intent and purpose is exactly the same; getting lower end customers to pay more for a luxury branded car with family car specifications.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    The Beetle is too good to get axed
  21. Drew Dowdell
    and yet, plenty of cars have gotten so much larger.... look at the Sonata, Accord, and Legacy.... then think about how big they were 10 years ago. Even the Sonic is much larger than an Aveo was. The Tempo was replaced by the Contour was replaced by the Fusion... and now the Fusion is as big as the first Taurus.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    It shouldn't be that surprising. It's the Opel Karl with a different front fascia.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    I understand what you're trying to say, that the CLA isn't being cross shopped and if it is, then that reflects badly on the ATS. But what you're doing is projecting your good sense onto the shopping public as a whole. You're assuming that shopper that cross shop a CLA and ATS will naturally gravitate to the better vehicle. You simply cannot make that assumption. The CLA is not a better vehicle than the ATS in most measurable ways.... in the very base trims, the CLA has more power than the ATS 2.5, but as soon as you option up the ATS with the 2.0T, the ATS walks away from the Benz. CUE is the only sore spot on the Cadillac that I see. The only way CLA is decidedly better than the ATS is in that all too critical "I've always wanted to be able to say I drive a Mercedes-Benz" factor... and there is simply nothing Cadillac can do to combat that. Cadillac could offer the CTS at the CLA price and it would still not overcome the "I want to say I drive a Benz" factor. It also doesn't hurt that Benz is offering very subsidized leasing on the CLA.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Nor Lexus GS which was outsold by the previous STS for years... and is still a poor seller.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Most consumers shop via price classes, and most have no earthly idea which wheels are driving. CLA and ATS start within $1700 of each other, and both are entry-level models from luxury brands. Strict brand partisans aside, I can't see how you think they AREN'T frequently cross-shopped. If they are, that's not exactly a compliment for the ATS. You don't want those cars to be cross-shopped. That says to me that consumers think the ATS is only on par with what is basically a tarted up, squished Jetta with a three-pointed star on the snout... And it's losing even more sales in the process (CLA is easily outselling the ATS). Sales numbers may not worry you, but this route is more troubling than the sales race with its direct competitors. It's not very prestigious, either. You may want to rethink where you're going with that. Actually, I think that people will buy anything that has a 3-pointed star on it. It would be the single biggest way that Benz could increase SMART sales. The CLA and GLA are the cheap, fake Louis Vuitton bags of the luxury car brands. Yes they still cost a lot more than a plain, non LV branded bag at TJ Maxx, but they are still fake..... .and probably sell in much higher volumes than the real thing.
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