the_yellow_dart

Isn't towing dead ones costing them a fortune? If so, why would they be disappointed at low sales? LOL

Thanks, ocn - one question though. The 3 should be refunded but not the Fiesta? What's your logic on that?

Having an issue with GM right now... My Cruze engine light went on while I was on my way from my home in Toronto to Algonquin Park a camping trip for the Labour Day weekend (Friday evening). Pulled over and checked the coolant and realized it was quite low. Turned around and drove to a Canadian Tire in Huntsville, and picked up some coolant before they closed. Put the coolant in, but the idle was lumpy so I decided not to drive it. Got a friend to pick me up and drive me into the park (Huntsville is part way there). Went back to Huntsville the next day to get the car taken into the Huntsville GM dealer that was supposed to have Saturday hours. Was rather disappointed when their Saturday hours were cancelled for the labour day weekend, and I was not quite far enough from Toronto (over 200 km but not over the 250 km cutoff) to qualify for "Trip Interruption" service - whatever that means - the lady on the phone wouldn't tell me. So I was left renting a Fiesta to get around the Huntsville/Algonquin area for the weekend, and taking Tuesday off work so that they could look at it. Stayed at the campsite by myself on Monday night after my friends left, then brought the Fiesta back to the rental shop in Huntsville on Tuesday and went to the GM dealer where they looked at the Cruze. When they did, they realized that there was a plastic part leaking coolant and that it would be 5-7 days to get shipped in. They said that it was not covered under the powertrain warranty. I am over 60,000 km so the powertrain is all I have left. It was not practical for me to take that much time off work and stay in Huntsville at my expense. A tow to Toronto would be $500+ and not covered by GM. The Huntsville garage recommended driving it back to Toronto as the coolant leak was slow. I paid about $100 to the Huntsville garage for the diagnosis. They recommended taking several stops to check the coolant level and allow the engine to cool somewhat, which I did. No apparent issues on the way back, but it was nerve racking thinking that I shouldn't really be driving this thing. I had also called and ordered the part in a Toronto garage from Huntsville before leaving. I took transit to get to work for the Wed-Fri of the next week (turning my 35 min commute into 2 hours). Took the Cruze the short distance into the Toronto dealer (Dean Myers) when they got the part in. Had to get a rental Mazda 3 to get myself around on the weekend as I had places to go that transit couldn't take me. When they installed it on Monday, they realized two things - one was that the lumpy idle was caused by a vacuum leak (misdiagnosed as a "sweating turbo bearing" by the Huntsville garage) and also that the plastic part was covered by the powertrain warranty. The cause of the vacuum leak was also a powertrain warranty issue. Immediately they got me to come in, and I got a rental Impala covered by the warranty. They also cancelled my payment for the plastic part for the coolant which I had ordered from them and performed all subsequent work under the warranty. I took the Mazda 3 back and drove the Impala for the next couple of days while they fixed the vacuum leak (another long lead part). Dean Myers recommended calling GM customer service to get reimbursed for the rentals and the Huntsville garage charges, as they said that should all be covered under warranty. I'm trying to do just that but it's very slow and difficult. I submitted all the reciepts by fax shortly after calling, and they did recieve them - I've called back several times and they say they're still looking into it - something about debating the driveability of the car. I can't believe I'm still going through this over a month later - I think they're just stalling hoping I'll go away. I'm starting to get really frustrated by how long all of this is taking, and worrying that they will stiff me for all of this. It's really pissing me off every time I think about it, and I'm just starting to hate GM more and more. What does everyone here think? Do you agree with the dealer - should all this be reimbursed?

A lot of older people are choosing vehicles like this because they're easier to get into. One of our major auto writers here in Canada highlighted this recently. Modding it still strikes me as odd though. ps. I think my mom has a "younger" vehicle than me too, she has a red Genesis coupe.

We had a messed up end to March in Toronto. Here's the results of a weather search for Mar 11th to Apr 1st: Max Temp: 26 °C (79F) Max Temp.Date: Mar.22 2012 Min temp: -5.1 °C (23F) Min Temp. Date: Mar.27 2012

TORONTO - Lets just call it the Miracle on the 403. “I thought it was a fatal for sure,” said freelance photographer Andrew Collins. “The transport truck had flipped right on top of a Mazda SUV and flattened it right at the ramp at the 403 and Dundas at the Mississauga-Oakville border.” The veteran Collins said it was not just the horrific sight that seemed ominous but the way the first responders were carrying themselves. http://www.torontosu...-of-expert-work “It was a miraculous recovery,” he said. “She was flown to St. Mikes, treated for minor bruises and scrapes and then released."

I somehow missed this thread on the first go-round. Just searched for it because I was very confused why it was so hard to find this vehicle on Wikipedia (because I was looking at the US market Chevy listing and had no idea they didn't sell it there). I sat in one at the dealership shortly after I bought my Cruze. It's a great little vehicle, packaged well to give decent interior room from such a small vehicle. I wouldn't want to put an adult in the third row, but that's probably not what people will buy it for. With the Mazda 5 doing so well here, it only seems logical that this would be a good fit for the Canadian market. However, I've really not seen any on the roads since. It seems to me that they've stepped up their advertising for it in the last month or so... they push it as the best highway fuel economy of any 7 seater. My only complaint about it is the back end, seems like they were trying to hard to make it look 'truckish'. I hope this does well for them here, but so far it doesn't look good.

Why not just make the gullwing longer? It would achieve the functionality without being so wierd.

Agreed fullmoon. I think American culture still relies too heavily on using borrowed money. The recession scared that out of some people, but not all. I am personally quite debt-phobic. For example, I would never put something on my credit card that I didn't actually have the money to pay for.

Acutally now that I remember the exact numbers, "Almost double" was a vast overstatement. My apologies... still mine went for cheaper than this Accord, and I think it should be worth more. Mine had 225,000 km (140,000 mi). No rust. It was a yellow manual coupe though, which all make it harder to sell. Somebody looking for a sensible used car for a couple grand is typically not looking for a yellow manual coupe. I eventually argued the dealer up to $1750 for the trade, which ended up turning into a $2k private sale to a friend's father. I think in the end that was a fair price. There's no way I'd pay more than about $1k for a '93 Accord.

Why this is worth almost 2x more than my '05 Cobalt was is beyond me. It just screams "huge ripoff" to me.

http://www.benzinsider.com/2012/02/smart-fortwo-ed-with-two-extra-wheels-by-rinspeed/

Why is this just making it to an autoshow now? There's a Nissan dealership next door here and right now out the window I can see at least 30 of these things in their parking lot.

Service advisor just called. It's the water pump, and he's going to do it under the warranty despite it being over 60,000 km. Makes me feel a bit better.. but its still troubling that a pump failed so fast. I'm a bit confused as to how a water pump failing causes loss of coolant...

Oil looked fine when I checked it. I park on the street so seeing coolant under the car is unlikely

Ses light went off today and heat was not working properly. So I checked the coolant and it was quite low. Took it straight to the dealership but service was already closed. Any idea what could have caused sudden coolant loss? Also, would a problem like this be covered under the power train portion of the warranty? I'm just over the 60,000 km bumper to bumper portion.

Interesting..do they ever venture into the suburbs or outside the metro area? You can only get so far by bus or other public transit. I can understand not having a license if you only stay in a confined area...I could understand not having a car but having a license if there are resources like ZipCar available when you need a car. The people I know without licenses rarely leave the downtown core, and do so by plane or train when they do.

The young intern here at my suburban office doesn't drive, he takes cabs in and out every day. Wonder which is cheaper in the long run.

Of the roughly 15 good friends I have in my age group in Toronto, one has a car. Three have licenses. Transit is seen as the future and many of them don't understand why I drive.

armstrong

Wrhat is this? http://maps.google.com/maps?q=46.595805,-112.027031&ll=46.580781,-112.027652&spn=0.000029,0.019205&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=46.580796,-112.027232&panoid=s5iBY_4SIDWDgciJ-esgww&cbp=12,254.93,,0,6.54

Sounds like the real reason that she won the case is because of the software update that was done after delivery of the cars to extend the battery life, which also decreased the fuel economy of the car. If the car was not reaching the mileage estimates from the factory, that would have been the EPA's fault, not Honda's.

I don't understand how people can call this ugly. To me, it looks like a mini A4. That's still a bad thing, because it cheapens Audi's image, and it means that VW is out of ideas... but ugly? Certainly not.

Regal

Opel