caddycruiser

EXACTLY. Remember the pre-production Lacrosse CXS they kept taking around to shows before real production that had the EXACT same 18 incher that will now be on the Lucerne CXS? That should still be the case, the silver and chrome version of that 18" on the CXS, and then the current CXS 17's put on the CX and CXL. On a similar note, I'm yet again reminded by your sig pic of the Lucerne's one BIG flaw--it's homely, overly basic front fascia. Why, oh why, does such an overall beautiful car have to have such a bland, de-characterized nose... B)

And another thing I touched on above, that would also help Buick: HIRE SOME FREAKIN' NEW WHEEL DESIGNERS!!!!! Above anything and everything else, one problem that seems to plague Buick more than any other automaker on the face of this earth is a decent looking line of cars riding around on wheel designs that just make you wonder why they even bothered. Perfect example: These U-G-L-Y P.O.S.'s look like a BAD reincarnation of something from the 60's or 70's, something that was even ugly then: Even if the cars had to stay passionless and poorly proportioned, a beautiful set of FACTORY wheels would GO a long way towards helping out the grandma brand's cars.

In all seriousness, the one core design concept at Caddy has worked WONDERS, mainly because it's so unique (still), distinctive, and fitting of the caliber of vehicles it is applied to. Taking that into consideration, Buick, among others, BADLY needs a similar strategy to finally get rid of the mish-mash, blobby, droopy, okay, ugly, boring, dis-proportioned, etc. looks that always seem present on every new car they introduce. The Rendezvous, while not horrid, is certainly still quite ungainly and quite dorky unless outfitted in the right color and trim--but this is excused, I guess, because of the mechanicals GM had to work around (the pathetic minivans). HOPEFULLY, the new one won't suffer from such poor and ungainly proportions and strange stance, but we'll certainly see. Similarly, as was said, a perfect example is the Lacrosse--not offensive at all, but regardless of how mad it makes GM'ers to hear, it can easily be mistaken for a boring old rental fleet Taurus--just with standard fare DISGUSTING Buick design wheels and a few new chrome bits. And just like the Rendezvous, it too suffers from having to have its skin stretched over old, inflexible architecture, and looks downright weird from some views--like a nose that's too long and poorly meshes with the contours of the rest of the body, at least from certain angles. Again, HOPEFULLY, the next will fix this. And now we have the Lucerne. FINALLY, it does look like someone deep inside GM finally found a way to take an old platform and wrap decidely tasteful body lines around it that, shockingly, are actually PROPORTIONED CORRECTLY (imagine that...and from Buick :o ). The only problem is, this car too suffers, looking like everything was complete until someone said "Oh crap, we forgot the front"--having to do a quick and easy rush job and put a nose on the otherwise crisp body that seems to have taken the worst ques of other Buicks, most notably a too plain and blobby grille from the Terrazza, and headlights that are so indistinct and plain, they could have come from any one of a number of new trucks. Not a bad car, and certainly showing that they're getting somewhere, but it still could be BETTER. Taking the Velite look and maybe making it even a bit more crisp and finely tuned, and then PROPERLY applying its ambiance to every model (not just an awkward stretch or shrink job), would probably do wonders for Buick. Well that, and powertrains that actually matched their image....and weren't just basic Chevy pieces.... B)

Like I said, a lot of the "later" builds that I've seen look to have better fitting/laying canvas, but I just wonder why it was ever a problem in the first place. Convertible tops are complicated, but things like that should have been ironed out with car #1.

I understand that, but it really seems like it was an installation issue, because the earliest cars look like they have defective or already stretched out roofs, but as the build dates have increased, the defects/creases/folds in the roof seem to have gotten less and less noticeable. I guess what I was asking is why a QC issue like that wasn't taken care of immediately, rather than just let a natural learning curve "smooth things out" as more cars went down the line.

I'm curious too, since one would think there had to be SOMETHING in the works....and given how nice the Alero/Intrigue/Aurora were styling wise, it/they should have been pretty stunning.

Again agreed, because if the '05 had the level of fit & finish of the new '07 (i.e., smaller door gaps and eliminating that hideous gap b/w the grille and bumper), I think it'd still be unmatched. The '07 certainly is one damn classy truck--it just seems to lack a little of the character that the current ones have, at least outside (inside in a totally different world, NO question, however).

One question about the car--nearly every one I've seen in pictures so far suffers from sort of a bunched up/big wrinkles in the fabric behind the doors. Just doesn't look like the material was cut too precisely--any comments? Here's a few examples: Now I have seen some that look to fit a little better and not have as bad of wrinkles, but this just made me wonder.

Yeah, not as minute as the typical Onstar/XM/Sirius antennas, but on a large SUV, for example, not THAT noticeable, at least when you have a roof rack: Give it a couple years, and they'll probably be able to combine this into the same small antenna as Sat. Radio/Onstar, etc.

Nah, just a little confused http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons//AH-HA_wink.gif

Nope, not even that--it's just the regular old XLR we've all seen for over a year now (note the polished wheels and regular grille), plus the fact that the image is a very well circulated GM Media shot. Matter of fact, here's the first two shots seen behind the lady in the video:

What, in that screen shot above? That's just an XLR on the left and the Chevy SS concept from a couple years ago on the right. Nothing new. EDIT: Watched the whole video closely again, and the ONLY things in that clip are the SRX, the XLR, and then the Chevy SS concept. Not sure how you didn't see the same exact vehicles on the Cadillac.com website, but everything seen is old news.

Looks a bit blobby Buick to me....could have been a bit crisper, IMHO, but then maybe it would have stepped too much on the Caddy's toes. Oh well, it's still gorgeous--and all the improvements seem to be VERY worthwhile, as seen from a current GMT-800 owner's perspective. http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons//AH-HA_wink.gif

For comparison's sake: Though I love the interior and all the mechanical improvments, there's still something about the current design that catches my eye more--sharper, crisper, more balanced lines, I think. The new one isn't ugly by any means, but there's still "something". The fit & finish on the current trucks can really be awful (have you EVER seen one that actually had the front bumper up where it should be and not hanging crooked with a huge gap at the top?), and the interiors, while still the most comfortable in the class, sucked big time from a style and materials standpoint. At least the new trucks more than fix all of that. Actually, the more I read on the specs of these trucks, it seems like they REALLY did make changes and improvements to things a real-world owner would like--for example, re-engineering the back hatch so that it opens and closes much easier, even without power assist. Same thing with the new rack & pinion steering that will, hopefully, cure the current truck's tendency for slight wander on center. And again, same with the brakes, which have always been a major sore spot on the current models. Too bad they didn't come up with a better solution for the 3rd seat.... B)

Here you go, fresh from the GM Media site: ADVISORY: 2007 GMC Yukon Unveiling -- Live Webcast October 5, 2005, 9 a.m. PDT (12 noon EDT) General Motors debuts its all-new GMC Yukon and Yukon Denali full-size SUVs at the California International Auto Show in Anaheim, Calif. WHEN: October 5, 2005, 9 a.m. PDT (12 noon EDT) WEBCAST: 2007 Yukon and Yukon Denali Unveiling WHO: John Larson, General Manager, Buick-Pontiac-GMC Mary Sipes, Vehicle Line Director, Full-size Utilities

Yep, should be tomorrow--at least that's what they said on Friday's edition of GMTV, so I'll be watching tomorrow's report http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons//AH-HA_wink.gif Pictures should all be out again, just like they were with the Tahoe. I'm not expecting any suprises at all, just the Tahoe we've already seen, the Yukon given a big Envoy look for the GMC and maybe a few different interior trim pieces, and the Escalade being unique and very top drawer, but nothing we haven't already read about. I just want to see the new front end and the vents in the fenders... Oh yeah, and it's all at the Anaheim auto show, which starts tomorrow. I guess there's no real excitement around the net yet, since the Tahoe answered most every question.

Oh, get off yourselves people. No one is copying Cadillac, it just happens that both brands (mainly Cadillac/Mercury) are going after a very similar ultra-contemporary, sharp-edged look--but they're in different ends of the market and none step on the others toes one bit. This would be the same stupid argument as saying "Well that new Hyundai Sonata looks a lot like the Accord--Honda should sue". In a marketplace, there's bound to be similarities, sometimes a lot of them, between products (every car made has to have wheels, for example http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons//AH-HA_wink.gif ), and this falls into that category.

The Jag isn't a very good comparison--it has a lot of the same problems, even if a tad more "finished".

Well, kind of, but those really don't count--upgrading or changing the powetrain when a vehicle is mid-life is normal. Engineering a TOTALLY new vehicle, meant to have a new powertrain to go with it, but then not having the powertrain or certain components of it ready until ALWAYS the next, or 2nd, model year is what seems genuinely "GM". Not saying it's a real black mark against GM, but that comparison is a litttle off.

Wow, I'm just amazed...never seen these things before.... :lol: Stuff other makes have had for YEARS! DTS: Not 100% sure, but this airbag technology can't be THAT new. XLR: Come on, Lexus to name just one, put this on their RX which starts in the $30k's....a few years back. DTS & STS: Intellibeam--actually a recent thing, but Jeep already had it first on the '05 Grand Cherokee. XLR: "Stealth" XM antenna...again, not 100% sure, but this can't be all that new. STS & DTS: Aux. audio jack....hmm, Honda, BMW, etc., etc. already had this in various models.

WEIRDEST one: An '04 base GT Grand Prix (hubcaps and all) stretched fairely long and painted like a Nascar--always in the driveway of a house not far from me, and also not far from the Dover, DE track, so I wonder about it. Saw another one just like it, but a different Nascar #, speeding down the highway once. Like these: And the website for them: Racing Limos Here's an interesting one: And a strange one: And a REALLY strange one (that was on Ebay a while back):

True, just don't go sit in a new Titan/Armada/QX56 because the exact opposite seems to be true....you might get a good laugh, or even be appalled, by what you see and touch--I CERTAINLY was after driving in our '02 Chevy Avalanche to the '04 Baltimore auto show, seeing a new Titan and Armada and then opening the door.... :o They still, two years later, seem sub-prototype in the look and feel of not only their materials, but also of their overall build quality. A lot of the cars are great though. Too bad some of that didn't go to the trucks.

True--only problem I see, with the newly expanded use of "piano black" trim is how it acts just like black paint on the outside of a car: keep it spotless and untouched and it looks amazing, but touch it once or twice (like you would to change the radio or A/C) and it gets fingerprinted up like hell, no to mention scratchy looking. Also strange is how, now that Toyota used the extremely glossy black finish around the center stack on some Sienna models for two years, the number of complaints over how fingerprinted and easily marked up it gets has led them to ditch it for '06, silver painted areas now taking over. Lacrosse specific though, the buttons are all too small and clustered in a way unlike any other GM car I've seen, which seemed really weird at first, and is definately not a good thing. The first Lacrosse I sat in already had the darkest, Black/Ebony interior and even then, somehow, the center stack piece stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Not to mention the fact that I was NOT impressed at all by ANY of the interior materials, save for maybe the leather--solidly assembled, but even the Grand Prix's interior had a nicer design and materials that felt markedly better. Couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but something said "incomplete" all over the Lacrosse--certain details feel like they're still under development. The root cause of the problems with the Lacrosse's insides are too hard and "basic" looking and feeling materials, and just a major lack of overall "zing" like you get from even the gloss of the wood in the ES, slightly more expensive vehicle or not. Actually, I think even just updating the center area with one of the new GM stereo systems and a better climate control panel, both with some chrome bits and bigger buttons, would improve things.

I see the resemblance, loud and clear, but the vehicles occupy quite different levels in the market, so it's not really an exact copy--the Ford/Mercury are more "family" and max out around $35k, while the Caddy can hit around $60k (not to say that it's actually worth that much, but....). But yeah, uncanny resemblance.

Not bad, and quite an improvement around the center stack, but I'll never understand why people think adding stick-on wood pieces to areas like the door pull surrounds or a strip around the vent in that pic looks good. Center stack--VERY good, and much better than the strange black Added "extra" pieces--stupid. If the part doesn't naturally seem like something that could have or would have been molded out of wood, fake or real, in the first place, you shouldn't go sticking it on. Actually, some silver pieces in addition to the wood, like used in the ES's interior (seen above), would look even better, IMHO, and not give "wood overload".