IfICouldWouldYou?

Decay in a successful society is inevitable, I am afraid. Fat, lazy and stupid comes to mind. We have an entire generation that doesn't know what it is like to 'do without;' worse, they are being taught by an entire generation that doesn't know what it is like to do without. The fact that there hasn't been a war fought on our soil in 130 years could be a large part of the problem. Sure, soldiers are dying in Iraq and did die in Vietnam, but that is 'over there.' We have parents and teachers telling the youth of today that they are 'special' and that we are all created equal when that is patently untrue. Evolution, whether social, economic or biologic, guarantees that we are not all created equal. It is the time and energy wasted on chasing that facade that is wasteful of time and energy. We are a nation that wants to grow up to be doctors and lawyers, when what we need are skilled laborers. Nobody wants to dig ditches, so we are forced to import those skills. We Americans need to wake up to the fact that the world does not revolve around our asses anymore. Stop whining about what we are entitled to and start working for it.

My understanding of the Exploder/Firestone fiasco is that there was some controversy between the design specs of the tires themselves. The Malibu of the same era used Firestone tires and they, too, had wierd air pressure requirements (26 on the back and 28 on the front, as I recall) but that did not result in any roll overs or fatalities. Then again, GM has had its tires built to spec for over 35 years. That could be the difference. This frame rot is outrageous, IMO. One could expect a 10 year old car to have rocker panels, etc. start rotting like that in the north-east, but the frame? Methinks Toyota was using recycled Japanese beer cans again.

Can I put in a negative vote for tilt/telescoping wheel? I HATE the unlock, release, push down and fight mechanism of all 'infinite' systems. The notched, spring loaded tilt that is on the Impala (and that all GM products used to have until they ventured down the same silly path as the imports) is vastly superior. I used to enjoy letting my steering wheels 'spring up' when I would get out of my cars (I am tall and that is a useful feature) and then easily pull down the wheel after ingress. With the locking mechanisms, what is the point in having tilt at all? I haven't moved mine since I bought my car. Not all trends are worth following.

The thing is, whether you are pro-union or anti-union, the UAW does not understand that they had leverage when they controlled GM, Ford and Chrysler. Now, the 'big 3' only control half the market. Unless they unionize Honda and Toyota plants, they are only succeeding in biting the hand that feeds them. This is not 1970. Let GM and Ford get off the mat and nail them in the next round of talks when Detroit has some money. Doing it now is just plain suicide.

Yur a losur if yuu knd spelchk!

I wonder if the Cobalt/G5 twins outsell the Civic. Any news on that?

And I think the irony of the fact that the Panasonic microwave was Made in China is completely lost on you...............

Ah, I was gonna say a woman's best friend.

The Universality of Governments explained. It applies to all governments, local and national. American, Canadian, British... LONG LIVE THE PERIODIC TABLE

Enzl's right: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Anyone with half a brain can tell these people have an axe to grind, but it makes for entertaining reading. There will always be a need for an outlet for hate and anger. See it for what it is.

If you read down further, traction control is being incorporated with the now standard Stabilitrak. ABS/traction control and Stabilitrak are really just 3 facets of the same thing.

Yeah, the CR-V has become the 'secretary's car' of the 00s. At least secretaries 25 years ago had better taste and drove 6 cylinder Camaros.

Why bring up the Aztek? The 2001 Aztek began as a design exercise in '99 and GM knew, at best, it was a stopgap measure, based on an existing platform with a finite budget. I give GM credit for being the first into the CUV craze, even if their attempt wasn't great. If we are to be fair, let's compare the '01 Aztec with its contemporaries of the day, not Honda's best efforts in 2008! GM replaced the Aztec with the Acadia. Honda has replaced one boring design with another boring design. Considering other offerings out there (Edge, Acadia and others), this vehicle is a joke.

Vegas is great. Lots of 'buyer's' opportunities there, for both cars and real estate. It's still close enough to L.A. County that a person can drive there for a weekend of 'fun.' Sounds like a good idea to me, OC. As long as this timing isn't too convenient to run away from other...ahem, problems of late.

It's probably not Toyota's fault: it's the parts of the Prius engineering that the Japanese government paid for.

Finally a SUV to make the CRV look good................

Iraq is a wild card, I think. Other than that, a good old recession will put the brakes on oil prices. If U.S. consumption drops a few percentage points, it will put a drag on prices, followed a few months later by a downturn in the economy of China. I think we are going to see a more interesting cycle for the near future as the economies of the U.S. and China become so entwined and collectively we both have such a large global impact on consumption of resources. I don't see OPEC as the culprit any more. That was true 5 or so years ago. I think the rising economies of India, China and Brazil are having more of an impact. Don't forget, Russia is now the world's largest exporter of oil, not Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, as Russian production has risen, so has consumption in non-traditional countries, like China.

What's your beef with fleeting vehicles? I have purchased 2 used vehicles from fleets before and had great success with each. Saved a ton of money. I probably wouldn't have bought an Intrepid if I hadn't rented one first.

On the mantra of choice, the Impala serves a very good market. There is a significant difference between the LT and LTZ in terms of the suspension/ride. This is no BMW, but it shouldn't be. I've driven my brother's Impala many times and love it. I've also driven the BMW 5 series a few times and am not impressed. No way, no how would I shell out that kind of $$$ so I can sit in traffic and look cute while I fart with the iDrive.

Ask 3 experts about what is 'class leading' and I guarantee you will get 3 different answers.

It's the color: that sport red tint coat is worth the extra money. It's gorgeous in real life. Those wheels don't hurt either.

And therein lies the rub: CHOICE. Americans were fairly homogenous in the '50s and '60s. The economy (for the most part) was on the upswing, times were good, and America was on a high since all its 'victories' off WWII. Not a lot of choices then. Want a house? A bungalow in Newark, 2 bedrooms, no sod, no driveway, no appliances. Condo? What's that? Want a job? You either worked in an office, at the mill, in a mine, or in the field. Get married? Had to - Susie was pregnant. No thought of an abortion or adopting out the kid. Telephone? Well, the neighbor has a party line if I need one. Otherwise, a letter or maybe a telegram is all I need. Vacation? How about a camping trip to the Allegheny State Forest? Buy a car? Chevy, Ford, Plymouth...oh, the people across the street bought a Studebaker...ewwww! GET THE PICTURE? Eveyone clamors for choice. Just try to decide on a friggin' telephone these days involves wading through service providers, packages, contracts....you need a damned lawyer at your side. Buy a house? Backsplit, side-split, semi, condo, freehold...it is exasperating. Loyalty is out. Honesty is out. Customers lie, business lie, we all know the politicians lie like rugs. AGAINST ALL THIS, WE RAG ON GENERAL MOTORS FOR LOSING MARKET SHARE? With all the whiny, self-serving egotistical self-entitled citizens out there, who blame everyone else for their troubles, it is friggin' amazing that GM and Ford are in business at all! Toyota does not have such worries. They started out with a game plan, a couple of cheap, easy to build models, found a few dealers (funded by General Motors money, I might add) who thought owning a Toyopet dealer would be cute, and that was it. Presto! Instant market share. Throw in carefully thought out university endowments, grease the right palms in Washington, send a few car magazine writers to Maui for the next unveiling, mix in a couple of Arab Oil embargoes, a greedy union that could not see the writing on the wall, and - oh, yeah - protection on its home turf, in the form of zero percent financing, artificially low currency, and every subsidy known to modern man, well how could you miss? Let's see how the next 10 years pan out. Now that Toyota is in the big leagues and we have finally seen them for who they really are. Even the mighty Consumers Reports is wondering what happened.

But the market was GM's to lose and Toyota's to gain. I used to enjoy eating at McDonald's, back when their food was hot, cheap and fast. Now, I hate standing in line while families fight over which godamned toy they already have! The food menu is complicated, the food expensive (lots of greasy spoons have cheaper, better food) and the food is never ready. McDonald's started with one restaurant 50 years ago and had nowhere to go but up. Sound familiar? What I like about Ford and GM (and Chrysler) is that they grew their business in a time when cars were cars and the competition was spirited and fun. There is nothing fun about the way Japan does business. Everything is a war to them, and probably rightly so with the way things turned out for them 60 years ago. They are still a protectionist/homogenous society. While we brace ourselves for an onslaught from cheaper imports from Brazil, China and India, Japanese manufacturers have no such fear.

Availability? Price increase? Americans sobered up?