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Kissing Cousins!

If you mean they look like the product of a family tree with no branches, then I agree.

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This is an old one, but it stuck in my mind... On a Buick Regal GNX:

OK4AV6

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This car has actually grown on me since I first saw it. While the shape from the side is similar at a glance to the Prius, the greenhouse is different.

The greenhouse is different?

Aside from the taillights, the rear is virtually identical (though to be fair, Honda did the split-rear-window thing first with the original CRX:

Also Honda did a better job at making it not look terrible. I like the front end, it reminds me very much of the FCX Clarity. Pus the lower roofline and larger wheels help make it looks dumpy.

True, the nose is better. But better design ≠ good design - It's more visually interesting than the Prius, but still meh.

Would I buy it over a Volt if I were in the market for such a car? Depends...this costs half what the Volt will cost...

Very salient point. Unless your commute is >35 miles round-trip, there's little reason other than status to step up to a Volt over an Insight.

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But then you have to question if the purpose of the battery for makes sense.

Of course it makes sense. Internal combustion engines are only about 20% efficient, yet you don't see anyone questioning its use. No it's not perfect, but it's better than what's available today.

This is what was a bit maddening about all these claims that GM had done some sort of technological leap over Toyota.

They have made a technological leap. The Volt is an electric vehicle that uses an ICE to extend the battery's range. The Prius is primarily motivated by the engine, and uses the electric motor for assistance in acceleration and for short-duration, low(ish) speed, low-stress cruising. The LiIon battery, imperfect though it is, has far greater capacity than the NiMH batteries in the current Prius.

There are limitations and compromises to the Volt and the Prius.

Agreed.

The reality is that the Volt needs an extra large battery to achieve some bone-head~80%-of-commuter's-range target and then needs to use a more expensive and less available li-ion batteries to make it possible and then needs to haul around way more of these expensive and in limited supply batteries yet to accommodate some of the limitations of the li-ion battery as well as your design.

Again, the battery is bigger (Prius Battery = 99 lbs, Volt Battery = 375 lbs) because it's expected to discharge more energy over a much longer period of time. A NiMH battery pack expected to power the same vehicle would be even heavier.

That means expensive and low supply. But then they say it will be a relatively inexpensive mass-market Chevy. Is there any wonder I questioned the feasibility of this and how much GM had thought it through and/or was blowing PR smoke?

They're expensive and in low supply because the demand was not there. Ramp up demand and you have impetus to create LiIon battery arrays in higher volumes. Higher volumes bring lower prices.

I guess when you can just sell cars at huge loses and your government pays for it you can do that kind of thing.

It's good thing Toyota's never gotten any help from the Japanese government, then.

But don't pretend that it is some sort of technological advantage that is holding everyone else back.

They drove the market for a plug-in hybrid with LiIon batteries when other manufacturers sait it wouldn't be feasible. That's not taking a technological advantage?

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What do you want to convey with the name? Is there something that uniquely identifies you, either personally or professionally, that could be incorporated into the name? Why do you stand out among your competitors?

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HyperTech Graphics?

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HorEyesOn Design - 'cause you want eyes on your site.

You could make your logo a stylized, vectory (?) sunrise with an eye replacing the sun.

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There doesn't need to be an assumption on the ICE being as optimal as the plug. Designing the ICE charging system to run at an optimal RPM is good/smart Engineering. The whole point of using the plug, besides it possibly being more efficient then the ICE, is that that electricity doesn't have to be produced using petroleum ('foreign oil') based energy sources.

It means that there is a FACTOR OF SAFETY! Once again, good Engineering will include a factor of safety (some level of over-Engineering, for the rare occasion that an application demands it).

Eh, it's done more because draining the battery below 30% or leaving it 100% charged on a regular basis dramatically shortens the effective life of the battery. It's one of the limitations of the type of battery GM chose to use for this project, but it's still the best compromise of size and power delivery that battery technology allows currently.

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I'm not too keen on it sharing it's platform with the Equinox either, but point out to me exactly what it seems to share, especially in the interior?

Judge for yourself:

They're similarly styled, yes, but it doesn't look like there's much parts sharing there.

EDIT - is it just me, or does it look like they use the same air vents on the center stack flipped upside down?

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A Buick Lacrosse....

plainclothes police car. Had someone pulled over on the brand new stretch of I-64 that opened a couple of weeks ago.

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This thing won't outsell the RX350 because it doesn't have the Lexus reputation.

Well, they're making headway at least:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07186/799174-97.stm

Cadillac sits atop survey for luxury brand satisfaction

Thursday, July 05, 2007

By Don Hammonds, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cadillac, once known as "The Standard of the World," may want to dust off that old title.

When it comes to customer service, a Business Week survey put the company third in a group of 25 "luxury or specialty" brands or companies, including those not in an automotive-related business. When it comes to cars, Cadillac outranked stalwarts such as Lexus and Porsche.

Business Week supplemented 2006 data from J.D.Power & Associates with a survey of about 3,000 Business Week readers who were asked to nominate three companies that offered the best customer service.

In the end, Cadillac was outranked by only insurance company USAA and the Four Seasons hotel chain, beating firms such as Nordstrom, Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton and Southwest Airlines.

"The fact is that most people in America wouldn't believe that an American car company would place that high. But these are people whose perceptions of our quality are based on 10, 20, 30 years ago, when frankly we weren't doing that great a job," Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said.

Moreover, the Business Week study isn't the only feather in Cadillac's hat. In a survey done by the Luxury Institute, wealthy customers rated Cadillac, Lexus and Acura as the three luxury auto brands that delivered the best customer experience in 2007, with Cadillac topping the list.

"It's significant to see American icon Cadillac rise solidly to achieve the No. 1 rating with highly discerning wealthy owners in our impartial surveys," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. He said the brands that were rated in the survey included Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes and Volvo.

What's Cadillac doing right?

Giving dealers lots of authority to get things done, and not being hidebound and rigid when it comes to pleasing customers, for one thing.

"What Business Week found were a lot of good comments from dealers talking about how they now have what they need the most: lots of latitude to do whatever it takes to please customers no matter what," said Dave Caldwell, Cadillac communications manager. That even includes the ability to honor a warranty that has expired.

"An important part of the luxury component is the experience part of it, it's not just about the business. The reason that brands like Ritz Carlton or Nordstrom did well on the survey is because those brands pay attention not just to the tangible elements, but to the intangibles, and so does Cadillac," Mr. Caldwell said.

EDIT - and here's another article showing Caddy is a more 'aspirational' marque than Lexus:

http://www.motorauthority.com/cadillac-top...ion-survey.html

Cadillac tops latest brand satisfaction survey

Posted Thu May 29 2008 11:24 PM by Nelson Ireson

General Motors' premium Cadillac brand has made no bones about its aspirations to become one of the top brands in the luxury sector, and a new brand satisfaction survey is the latest in a list of awards confirming it's headed in the right direction. Capturing the ranking of top brand in the U.S. market, the CTS and DTS also won individual awards for their segments.

Beating out the likes of Mercedes, Lexus and BMW is no small feat, especially since two of those three also had class winners in the survey. The Cadillac CTS took home the award for top 'Aspirational luxury car', while the DTS got the nod for the best large luxury car. Mercedes-Benz's S-Class won the premium luxury award, while Lexus nabbed the top luxury mid-size spot.

Cadillac's top brand ranking lead the charge for GM, which took 11 of the 28 available top spots, thanks largely to its success in the SUV and light truck categories. Toyota trailed in second with 9 top picks, while Ford, VW, Honda and Hyundai picked up the rest. Another notable from GM includes the Saturn Sky, which took the top sports car award.

The rankings were released by AutoPacific, which performs the survey each year based on input from owners of the cars and trucks that fit within its 28 categories.

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Black is a bitch to keep looking good.

Racist.

It's no yellow.

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Well, the 3000GT was called the GTO in Japan..

Ah, didn't know that. But these were definitely Pontiac badges. Guess that's the best he/she could find...

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Mitsubishi 3000 GT, lowered, black with black rims....

And Pontiac GTO badges.

?!?

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Even if they sold the Next Aveo exactly like that - camo and mockup headlights included - it'd be a massive improvement over the looks of the current one. Looks good, but if this really is the NG-Aveo, let's hope they also work on reliability and fuel economy (not to mention driving dynamics)...

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Great... so actually Buick will be the first Chinese vehicle sold in the US.... (Very disgusted!)

Chinese Buick's current lineup:

Enclave - NA designed, same as US-spec Enclave

Park Avenue - Australian designed, rebadged Holden Commodore

Lacrosse - Chinese designed W-body. Considered by many to be far superior to the US-Spec Lacrosse. Not likely to come to the US.

Regal - European designed, rebadged Opel Insignia

Excelle - Korean designed, rebadged Daewoo Kalos. Buick NA *may* get a version on the vastly improved Delta II platform, but as far as I know nothing is approved.

GL8 - Euro/NA designed, Chinese rebadged Minivan, similar to the defunct Buick Terraza. Will not make its way to the states.

But yeah, Buick NA's gonna turn into Chinese-made crap.

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$1.33/gal at the gas station just down the street from my home in St. Louis. Filled up this morning - had a hair over an 1/8 of a tank left - for less than $20. I was paying close to $50 for the same amount of gas three months ago...

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GM reveals the next-generation Opel Astra with a new innovation in passenger safety. In an industry-first move, the traditional side airbags have been replaced by an optional series of external funbags and pushin' cushions.

GM expects the new option to be popular, especially with traditional male and non-traditional female buyers.

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Gotta love Craigslist:

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/880805164.html

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Current main ringtone - Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, though I'm looking for a new one

Current Ringtone for the wife - She's Got a Way by Billy Joel

Current ringtone for my mother - My Pancreas by Weird Al Yankovic, 'cause she's diabetic

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I just picked up another S-Series in very nice shape for $700...

Where you finding these? S-series' in STL area are mostly still going for north of $2k:

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ctd/865052613.html

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I thought this was going to be something about tighty whiteys and ingesting too much alfalpha.

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As a final point to this: I am more apt to have a beater when there is a 'special car' that I do not want to drive on salt covered roads. Not knocking your car, but a Mazda with 100,000 clicks on it is already on it's way to the back lot if you were to trade it in anyway. At this point, you are probably beyond 'saving' the value of the Mazda due to mileage/vintage. You would probably be better off just driving your car, as it looks nice and probably does not owe you anything. Now, if you were driving a new Camaro or Corvette, or a limited production Miata or something rare, then it makes a lot of sense to have the beater for the every day driving care-free motoring.

Sorry if you take this as a dig, but it really is not. Your Mazda looks like a nice car and is a rare color, and I mean you and your car NO disrespect. I respect EVERYONE'S Ride(s) as wheels is wheels!

No offense taken at all. But it is a bit frustrating that I'm not getting my point across.

I'm under no delusions that my car is something special. I'm not trying to baby the car or protect it from salty roads, dirt or rain - Hell, I park the thing on the street under a tree that apparently houses a 2-3 dozen birds whenever my vehicle is present. I have a cracked windshield that I've yet to replace. And because of a previous accident the rear bumper doesn't match the rest of the car. Honestly, I bought it because it was cheap for what I needed - not because it was rare or I like yellow so much. Still, I like it, and replacing it with a newer car would cost more than I'd like to spend at this point.

I'm trying to figure out if splitting my driving between two older vehicles is more economically viable in the long run. I do need a mid-sized vehicle capable of carrying four people in comfort. I prefer the V6-powered variety. But the bulk of my driving (roughly 60 miles per day) is commuting by myself to work and back - I don't need four large seats or a V6 for that.

So, all that said, if I get a cheap little commuter car, will driving that to work plus the MazdaFord when I need carry more people be less expensive in the long run than using the one car for both purposes and replacing it?

Or would it be cheaper to save the money I'd spend in purchasing, insuring (I'd pay cash and go w/liability only), maintaining, the other older vehicle, just drive the Mazda until it dies and then fork out the extra cash to purchase/put a down payment on a newer car of similar size and purpose?

I'm simply trying to figure out a way to avoid a car payment as long as possible.

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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?

I get right at 24-25 MPG. It's a V6/manual.

I agree that I should be able to get 150-200K out of it. My thought was if I had a to-work-and-back beater, that it'd take maybe four years to get to 150K instead of 1½. I do need a car that can comfortably hold four adults, and the MazdaFord suits that purpose well, as well as being fun to drive. But I'm not interested in paying $20K+ for a replacement any time soon.

The theory is getting a little runabout that's cheap to buy and somewhat cheaper to drive saves my bigger car wear and tear, and in theory might prove a money saver in the long run. I'm just trying to figure out if it makes economic sense or not.

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