the_yellow_dart

Forgot to mention this - I was the very first renter of that Sierra, and when I folded up the rear seat I found a checklist from when the truck was painted (all in Spanish). I was surprised to see that the truck was painted on March 9th, 2013. That shipment and sale went quick!

The website seems to disagree with itself, because when you look under the Specifications section, it shows the 6.2 under the Extended Cab and Crew Cab/Denali section. However the Models section of the website where I copied that text of makes no mention of the 6.2. I see no mention of the 8.1 in either location. The Sierra HD page (separate from normal Sierra) shows only 6.0 and diesel 6.6 as options.

From GM Canada website: 195 hp VortecTM 4.3L V6 (WT Regular Cab models and WT Extended Cab 2WD) 302 hp VortecTM 4.8L V8 (WT Extended Cab 4x4 with standard cargo box and WT Crew Cab models) 315 hp VortecTM 5.3L V8 (WT Extended Cab 4x4 long box)

It's confusing, because the GM Canada web site seems to say that the Crew Cab models all come with the 4.8 v8.

The Sierra I had has a 6-speed, does that mean it's the 5.3L? Never checked under the hood. Enterprise finally called me yesterday to say that they had a 2012 Malibu in, and I'm driving that now. Getting about 8.5 L/100 km now, which is much closer to the Cruze than the Sierra.

I wanted to check out how the mileage I'm getting on the Sierra matches up with the ratings for the truck, so I checked out the GM Canada web page, and I'm left very confused. It's a Crew Cab 4x4, so I gather from the webpage that it has the 4.8L. Driving it gently and doing mostly highway, I'm getting an average of 14.5 L/100km. Truck had less than 100 km on it when I picked it up - is fuel economy usually worse during the breakin period? Even if it is, I still want to get the hell out of this thing, as I'm used to my typical Cruze average tanks of 6.7 L/100km. From the website, I see that the 4.8 has LESS power and WORSE fuel economy than the 5.3? Why would they use it?

Now that I posted this, I'm being swarmed by them. After I posted about the disappearing Civic / EL, I was looking around in a parking lot and noticed 2 95-99 Civics and 1 95-99 EL parked right next to each other. LOL

Bad News: Engine light on Cruze goes off for about the 7th time (not exaggerating) Good News: Seems to be running mostly OK. Decide to drive it to work and fix it in the morning. Bad News: Don't realize everything's iced over and fall down the front steps on the way out of my house, landing on my hip. Now I walk like an old man. Good News: Get to the dealership and they're very helpful and promise to look at it quickly as they're not busy. Bad News: More serious issues with this Cruze, the PCV valve needs replacement. Good News: This time, it's covered under warranty. (unlike the trottle body - how the F--- is that not powertrain?) Bad News: Parts are not readily available and it will be fixed next week sometime. Good News: They offer a rental Bad News: Get to the rental place and the only GM vehicle they have to give me is a Sierra. I have 600 km to drive this weekend and I really don't want to pay for pickup truck gas. So the list so far is: - Replaced water pump (warranty) - Replaced valve covers and a part of the coolant loop (warranty - but unfortunately misdiagnosis by first garage and subsequent rental cars which should have been covered were not, f--- you again GM) - Replaced throttle body (non-warranty) - Repaced PCV valve (warranty) At this point, I really just hate this car. I tell everybody how unreliable it is. I'm nowhere near the point where I can get out of it, as there's still 2 years left to pay it off.

ps. For those that haven't seen the diplomatic plates, they're at the bottom of this page: http://www.licenseplatemania.com/landenpaginas/canada_ontario.htm

#1: Down the street from me, there's a driveway with 2 '88 Fieros and a Solstice. The Solstice license plate reads WAZHERS. #2: E150 van with the Canadian Federal Gov't license plate 69696. #3: Toyota Avensis with red Ontario government / diplomat plates.

I'm very impressed that the roof held up.

Why are Corolla sales going up? WTF is wrong with people? Oh, and the fact that the new Avalon is already outselling all of Scion combined is pretty surprising. The FR-S is much less popular than I'd expected.

Are they too embarassed to provide us a chart?

In my mind, the Tru is an Eclipse ripoff, and therefore a chick car. The Code is a 1-series ripoff, and therefore a man's car.

What I've really seen disappear lately are the pre-2000 Civic and Acura EL, which were once very common here. Still see lots of the post-2000 generations of both cars.

I'm jealous but happy for you at the same time. Imagine me both shaking my fist and smiling.

So... the Eco model of the Cruze was "trading in your man card", yet a Beetle is somehow not? Explain your logic sir.. I wish I had as much money as you to spend on vehicles.

Good news: This part http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=8+Mile+Road+West,+Detroit,+MI,+United+States&hl=en&ll=42.450853,-82.899785&spn=0.000063,0.038409&sll=49.303974,-84.738438&sspn=21.326764,39.331055&oq=8+mile+ro&hnear=8+Mile+Rd+W,+Detroit,+Michigan,+United+States&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=42.450833,-82.900276&panoid=qiDSLG8ETdvyVrbsId75EA&cbp=12,331.44,,0,2.01

Good news: There is no "south side" of Detroit (since downtown is already south) - so what that really means is you get to work in Canada! Yay! Look at a map of Detroit/Windsor if you don't get what I'm saying.

The Google self-driving car LOL My wife doesn't have a license.

Those headlights were designed for the ill fated Saab 9-6. When that was canned, Subaru decided to use them.

Yeah, I think Ford and Chrysler both decided to do brand experiments in Canada in the early 2000s. From the Dodge wikipedia page: In Canada, the Dodge lineup of cars started down the road to elimination along with the Plymouth line when in 1988 the Dodge Dynasty was sold in Canada as the Chrysler Dynasty and sold at both Plymouth and Dodge dealers. Similarly, the new Dodge Intrepid, the Dynasty's replacement, was sold as the Chrysler Intrepid. For 2000, the new Neon became the Chrysler Neon. The Chrysler Cirrus and Mitsubishi-built Dodge Avenger were dropped. Dodge trucks, which have been sold at Canadian Plymouth dealers since 1973, continued without change. All Plymouth-Chrysler and Dodge-Chrysler dealers became Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealers. The diluting of the Chrysler name did not go well in Canada, especially as the nameplate had been pushed as a luxury line since the 1930s. For 2003, the revamped Neon appeared in Canada as the Dodge SX 2.0. Since then all new Dodge models have been sold in Canada under the Dodge name.

I'll start: combined.bmp I've been to more states than this, this is just my current car. ps. I created the maps here: http://www.epgsoft.com/VisitedStatesMap/, then stitched them together.

The Mercury brand was killed in Canada around 2000, so we didn't have the Grand Marquis after that, just the Crown Vic. However, when they brought the Marauder out, they just sold it as the Ford Marauder with the Merc logos still in place. Again, WTF?

The Hyundai Accent is rebadged in the Mexican market as the Dodge Attitude. The current generation and last generation were both rebadged. The older generation at least switched the Hyundai logos for some odd oval ones with the Dodge logo in the center. The new generation just leaves the Hyundai badges in place (both front and back!)... very confusing.