mustang84

Apparently the "Prius" shape is the one that maximizes fuel efficiency. But, I'll gladly take a sexy shape over something functional any day, even if it means sacrificing 10 mpg.

All of them look pretty good except for the Buick. The roofline is too tall and the deck is too short, giving it an awkward stance like the Taurus/Five Hundred.

Did anybody see this Autoblog post? http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/15/gm-to-c...ruck-productio/

True, my point was that Saturn really has no relevancy anymore. The ones that were fans likely don't buy Saturns anymore because the cars have moved up in price. FOG used a good term, "sacred," I don't understand what it is about this brand that is so hallowed to GM management that they would axe Pontiac over it.

Here's a great post on why Saturn is no longer relevant to the market. How many more people like this guy are slowly leaving the fold? http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...40&start=40

After Hummer, Saab should be the first one to go. I don't care about the Swedish background...if Ford can sell Aston Martin and Jaguar / Land Rover, GM should be able to ditch Saab. It's a boutique brand that has no place within GM. Next up is Saturn. Saturns can be sold as Chevrolets or Pontiacs. It sells fewer than both brands and is not already integrated into a network like BPG. Saturn used to be unique when they sold little quirky cars with polymer panels, but now they are just a 21st century Oldsmobile, sans the innovation and history. Saturn should have been gone years ago. GM, it's time to RETHINK the existence of this brand. GMC should move solely to heavy trucks. Maybe the Sierra and Yukon could stay, but that should be it. Chevrolet can have the car-based SUVs. Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, and Cadillac would stay. If GM cannot make this core lineup work without overlap or rebadging, then honestly there is no hope left for them. They are simply out of ideas, and Toyota and Honda will continue to eat their lunch.

I think a lot of the things we see as "ghosts" are really the human mind playing tricks on us. When severely dehydrated, the brain can trick us into hallucinating things that don't actually exist. Likewise, when in a dark place and fear sets in, the brain starts to "see" things that aren't actually there. I bet there is a strong argument that this is merely an evolution of primal instinct that allowed humans to escape from danger or prey. We think we see or hear something in the dark and run away from the danger. And the "ghost hunters" out there are just people whose brain has convinced them that spirits exist. They're in a different state of mind, almost like those that hallucinate. That's my theory on the subject.

I've seen Lexuses, Toyotas, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs with portholes....the worst by far was a newer Grand Marquis that had portholes, fake chrome stick-on stuff on the B-pillar and around the doors, vinyl roof, AND had the Mercury badges replaced with Oldsmobile badges and some tacky Delta 88 vinyl on the side doors. Also, I saw a rusty '94ish Lumina Z34 with huge, ugly "LUMINA SS" vinyl on the side. What is the appeal of putting "SS" on a car with no performance modifications?

The whole front clip is a complete mess. Find an enlarged picture and you will see what I mean. Another miss...

I already ranted on this, but I'm going to do it again because this topic is more visible. Whoever is making decisions at GM needs to be knocked in the head! The name "Cruze" is lame, obvious attempt to appeal to Gen Y that it's going to become an inside joke. Carbiz's post is excellent; how do you build brand recognition when you keep changing the name every 6-10 years. Look at all the sales Buick, Pontiac, and Olds lost when they ditched the old names that sold well. Get with it, GM!

There are two card games we play the most: F*ck the Dealer - Basically you lay down 2 rows of 4 cards, with the last card at the very end being the "chug" card. One row is "gives" and the other is "takes." If you get a red card, you give; and black, you take. You also guess "higher or lower" "in between or outside" and a suit. The dealer deals until three people guess a card wrong, then he gets to pass it on to the next person. And as you are drawing cards, you're continually watching to see which cards have already been placed down so you know what to guess. The whole purpose is to basically get certain people drunk, and my buddy tends to be really good at rigging the game. Categories - each card is a category....for example, drawing a 4 is "whores" (girls drink) and 6 is "dicks" (guys drink) and 9 is "rhyme" (one person says a word, then everyone has to go around in a circle and rhyme with that until someone can't think of something, then they drink). Some of the others are rulemaster (you get to make a rule, anyone who disobeys drinks), thumbmaster (anytime you put your thumb on the table, last person drinks) waterfall, etc. We haven't played this one in a while, but it gets pretty fun after a while. There's some others I've played, but I can't remember them at the moment. And of course flippy cup, but that one makes a big mess...you better have hardwood floors.

Christ almighty, one step forward, two steps backward... "Cruze" is about as bad as it gets. Totally lame attempt to market to the Gen Y crowd. "What do you drive?" "I drive a Cruze." There is nothing wrong with Cobalt, and once again GM kills off a name that is gaining recognition. Who is making the decisions at GM??

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict worse sales than the current iteration. This styling will appeal to boy racers, not the type of people that buy the Prius. Like everything in Toyota's lineup lately, it's probably gotten larger, heavier, and more powerful. With all the new small cars coming out from Ford and GM in the next couple years that will be more affordable, I think we will see its popularity plateau and decline.

In this day and age, not many people would have done what you did. Here's to good samaritans like yourself! Hopefully your pain goes away soon!

There really wouldn't be any way to keep it a secret because the office I work at is only about 60 people and we're pretty close-knit. Three quarters of the people there are under 35 and a lot of us hang out together. It's not really like a big anonymous company where you never see the management and you only know the people in your surrounding cubicles.

Yeah, that was another thing I was thinking about. We both work at the same place, but we don't really work together though; she's non-architectural (reception department). A couple at my job just got married last weekend and both are architects and sit near each other...which I'm thinking might be problematic after a while. I wouldn't necessarily want to be sitting next to my wife for 8 hours a day or working with them on the same projects. Stress and all the other problems at work would just be brought home with you.

I was actually getting to that point my last year in college...most girls seemed flakey and overly dramatic. I really got tired of it after a while. And the ones that weren't were snatched up already. Now it seems like it's getting much easier out of college because suddenly they're realizing they want stability and not a roller coaster ride. And she's pretty much a complete 180 of what I was experiencing in college...so it's a breath of fresh air.

No children luckily. Very attractive...I'd rate her a 9/10.

Agreed that it has some potential and some original ideas, but it needs some tweaking too. The front end is way too happy for a Firebird. Fix the front end and tone down the spoiler and I think it'd be a winner.

I've recently started a new job (about a month ago) working for the same company but in a new city. This weekend went to hang out with some co-workers at the bar and since we had Thursday and Friday off for the 4th, we were there Wednesday night. One of the girls there I had met before a last winter at the company holiday party when I was in Des Moines, and we started talking and things were starting to click. I went golfing with her and two other co-workers the next morning and since we were in the same cart, we started talking about a lot of things and I found out she is 31 and was married at 21 and divorced at 25. I'm only 24, so I was a little bit surprised she was that old because she doesn't look it at all (I was guessing she was about 26). She said her first marriage was a mistake and she's been dating here and there since then but hasn't found a guy that was right for her. She's a really sweet girl, attractive, positive outlook on life, and we get along really well. But the seven year age gap and the fact that she's been married were two things that caught me off guard. I could see dating someone that was 26-27, but as much as I hate to say it, I think she's too old for me. I've heard of women dating men that are 7 years older, but not the other way around.

Yeah, I get excited when I see an Olds sign still up. They're becoming few and far between, though. I was watching the Blues Brothers the other day and I still love the part when they are driving through the mall and go by the Oldsmobile dealership window. "New Oldsmobiles must be in!"...and you can see all the '80 Oldsmobiles sitting in the window.

Happy birthday guys! Have a good one!

To put this "gain" into perspective, Ford debuted with almost as many Flexes and Chrysler with almost as many Challengers as Kia increased over June 2007. A 2000-unit increase is paltry, especially when 2/3 of your lineup are small vehicles that should be on fire with $4 gas.

I don't see why they just don't put the Titan out of its misery. 1200 sales a month is hardly enough to justify its existence...that's Mark LT territory, and that truck is dead.

What's the title of the book and the author?