caddycruiser

An end to the month... Out shopping today looked ahead once I got back in my car and spotted something...a white G8 GXP. Given that I never see other G8's, seeing a GXP for the first time out in the wild was a treat, and I had to circle it. Local car from a local dealer but the first time. Cool. Then the same Fleetwood from last night at the grocery store I often run across it at, still dirty but a better view of the chromies. And again, it's not as dark of a gold as the iPhone makes it. Extremely well kept, old guy car.

It's a lot less dark gold in reality, which is good, versus this picture--and when this particular car is shined up as usual, chrome plated factory wheels to boot, it's really an eye catcher.

Headed north from work today for a doctor's appointment, and spotted a few worthy things. 1) Cyber Gray LT RS Camaro from Jersey cruising along, slicked hair guy driving puffing away on a cig...oh, it probably already reeks inside...but looked killer. This is exactly the combo, color and trim wise, I'd push my mother to get if she ever got serious about wanting one. 2) Black SSR at the doctor's office, driven by a middle aged lady who turned out to be the wife of the owner of the local GM dealership up there--they were having flu shot day, I found out, and as I sat waiting her husband showed up in a new Suburban with dealer tags, daughter in a new Avalanche, and the rest of the staff in various other newer GM vehicles. 3) White Kia Borrego. In the same parking lot and a Kia, but I rarely if ever see these mid-large BOF 7-passenger Kia ute's and this was the first one in a long while--not bad, looks or otherwise. 4) Gold on tan '94 Fleetwood Brougham locally near work and otherwise, with the factory chrome wheels, cruising along--1 of 2 I regularly see anymore, and a very attractive car & combo despite my non like of tan/gold typically.

EXACTLY. On a B/D body it's 99% never a regulator, it's always the simple little slider vs. roller. Ah, if only they had never used such a stupid thing in there...there wouldn't be so many people having to buy these cars and always learn about it so soon, if not already taken care of. Such small pieces of plastic can cause such havoc :AH-HA_wink: Then again, that's actually the story with a lot of B/D-body things...aggravation initially, an "are you kidding me?" simple in the end. Think of them like nice looking, very comfortable, very roomy, generally luxurious tractors--that's how I always described them. Old tractor or, more so, Chevy truck simple and mechanical in large basic to luxury car clothing. Note: One of the best parts of a Fleetwood like this? You can--well, most people can--comfortably stand inside the front end, between the bumper and radiator. I did it more than once when tinkering--just careful not to kick anything on your way in/out.

On my way from home to DC last night for an overnight stay, followed a matching white '08 G8 GT from near my house into town...still, always fascinated to see what the car looks like from an outsider's perspective. Cool.

Yep. It's NEVER the actual regulators on these cars, what it is are the rectangular/thin plastic "sliders" GM originally designed to hold the pins of the regulator in the tracks but then break. The new design replacement part is a small plastic ring, alone, which no thin spots to break and it just rolls along like a wheel--if you buy one of these cars, consider it something that will need to be done. The window & track just aren't holding onto the regulator arms right now, which looks & sounds bad, but the fix is laughable it's so simple--well, as long as you have small hands or don't mind getting your hands a little chewed up. Here's a complex version of it: http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/sho...ad.php?t=232364 When I first bought my '95, I drove it home and basically parked it for a month and a half and went back to school. Came home for a vacation and to drive it and the FIRST time I did, it got me to the bank and then was dead--what a great feeling. My intention of only having the trans fluid & filter changed that week at the local GM dealer turned into a $1500 repair bill (labor...parts) of not only that, but replacing the fuel pump, entire sending unit & wiring harness (all was fried...when I picked it up, it was on E and that didn't help matters--it would run if having sat cool but otherwise, would be dead as the dealer then found out), the EGR valve & harness replaced (the last owner had the harness somehow cut & the EGR bypassed, which the dealer just thought to replace while searching out the dead/no star condition), and finally replacing the window rollers in the driver's door--because, of course, the first time they pulled it into the shop "your window fell down in the door...". Totally unexpected, and expensive because I didn't have the time or space to farm it out elsewhere, etc., but after that I went 2.5 years until I sold it without any other repairs aside from a few more window rollers and recharging the A/C. I continually kept worrying it was going to have problems, going to leave me somewhere, etc. but cruising 2.5 hours to school and back and around school everyday the last 2 years and then work, nothing, just a big tank. It's the perpetual worry of something going wrong or "just wanting new..." that made me sell it, and is what Roger is going through right now, I think, but it's a shame. I wish I actually had just kept it and put the few grand into improving it like the friend I sold it to did, instead of taking on a $30k+ loan...but alas. I'm never happy, even with that latest G8...11k miles, $$$$ of mods and personalization and I could always go for something new again. It's a cycle. Roger...emailed you...lots of teething issues, for sure, and we can discuss, etc. I can't physically take care of some of the bigger ones, and still haven't had time to look into a few of the oddballs like the Temp light, etc., but some of the things like windows we should be able to tangle with (though, honestly, I know how to get in there & what to do/how it works, but never physically did my own :AH-HA_wink: ). If all else fails, we can touch up a few of the small things and it could always be sold to another fan elsewhere, for the same or more than you originally paid...it's a coveted combo and I still say an extremely solid/well kept example--it's just an old car, at the core, really old.

Sorry I've been out of contact for so long Roger...^^this post is pretty much dead on, and as I've said before, going from being used to new cars to something 10 years old and used is a big change, but knowing these cars well & having owned 2, yours is about as good as they get today and a very solid car. I completely understand where you're coming from with this (I am the one who VERY cheaply got rid of my great '95 FWB to have a new car and still wished I had it), but it all depends on your own situation. Good thing you started a thread about this, really, for better discussion :AH-HA_wink: We'll chat, at some point, soon again.

Aaah!

Yep, 0% for 72 months...and not many left :AH-HA_wink: Before it really got down to truly just a handful, I was considering a GXP with such deals for yet another color and a sunroof, plus the LS3. It's never good enough I'd think there's profit in the Fleetwood, and though we still haven't been in touch...you know... When you have an old car, regardless of what it is or how nice, you're always jealous and want something cool and new. When you have a new car, you start to get tired of payments and sometimes not playing with it as much, and think about what you could have done with something a few years old and low miles or just older and low maintained... Been there. Hah. The G8 has kept me pleased because I get a blend of both, payment and a modding/maintenance budget that just keep it coming, it seems. But I'm still online building a Camaro...an Equinox...a CTS...a whatever...going "you know..."

Actually, Pacific Slate is more dark green & teal than anything...though people more often than not just consider it blue, it gets marked on forms like that, etc. The only blue tones in it are the teal with the green, but alas. Stryker is an electric medium blue...looks neon, a lot of the time, and is very fitting of the car. There are some very rare '08s that were Stealth Blue that changed from light blue to lavender to brighter blue to a few other tones depending on the light.

This is all very impressive...now that I'm up to speed after a few minutes of browsing! I was always a fan of the '98-04 LH cars, including in the days of us having a loaded '00 300M even though various things bothered us, there were smaller problems an incompetent dealer didn't fix, and then it was rear ended, all before trading it for an Avalanche when it just rolled 18k miles and 1.5 years old. Though that experience was questionable, and it vowed my mother on never buying (or liking) another Chrysler anything, I've remained a fan of the cars and especially all the modding, cross model parts swapping, etc. that people have done for years, and how they live on. It's a shame I usually at this point see no other than the brown-yellow headlight'd, faded black trim, clean to ragged varities, but still do a 2nd take, particularly for 300M's. Cool car, and despite the miles, happy projecting...to continue :AH-HA_wink:

Maverick Silver '09 G8 GT Premium/Sport (just like mine, but silver) freshly arrived via dealer trade at the local dealer. They've only had (3) V6 models for a long time but apparently now someone locally wanted a new GT...or...I don't know. And it was, of course, unlocked. Pacific Slate is a special color and I wouldn't give it up, but on this car silver is also one of the best and I considered it a while back. On the way to spin around this lot, sitting at a red light, saw really the only other "like mine" Panther Black/Onyx Premium/Sport G8 GT with black windows that a local shop owner has rolling down the highway...it's always weird/cool to see what I must look like rolling down the road, since otherwise I never, ever see another. Hot. Also at the dealer the same yellow Camaro 2SS with ground effects they've now bizarrely had almost a month...they're not an over sticker dealer, and all other dealers Camaro's have come & gone in a few days max. Hmm.

Hmm...all the time...and today was both a Camaro 1LT RS and a 1SS RS after seeing a white one and curious to know what a White/Beige cloth V6 and V8 variety tallied to, well, for about the 50th time I've built one. 1LT RS was just over $30k as I'd like, 1SS RS was just over $33k...same stuff, otherwise, I just thought "$3k for the V8...hmm..." I do this, building, and then depending on the results and what might be attractive current incentives I start toying with the idea of "okay, my car is worth this..." and playing with loan calculators :AH-HA_wink: Otherwise, just browsing existing models through the GM site, dealer sites, Ford sites, etc. for cars to Derek spec.

regfootball...Sounds like my feet. I actually don't even own a pair of sneakers, and haven't for a while, but mainly stick to a few pairs of Steve Madden slip on leather fancy loafers for everything, and if mucking around outside, on a trip, etc. a slip on pair of plaid Vans. Or, as has been the case since around April, nothing but dressy sandals or a pair of cheapies/Reefs for the everything else. Never, ever sneakers--just don't work for me--and as I realized, nothing with laces anymore either :AH-HA_wink: Good choice, regardless, on the US made shoes and the deal!

Having followed the GM marketing peeps on Twitter, who talked a lot about the "new ads" today...I want to see them. My gosh, if they finally focus on the car & $h! honestly on the competitor's...which I've dreamed of them doing forever...wow.

A Cyber Gray 2LT RS is now the background image on her phone (okay, I sent it to her today)...need I say more :AH-HA_wink: I really need to find her one to test drive somewhere, to get rid of the idea or make it stick. I still can't fathom this being a DD for her, but you never know.

Well, though I can't verify the steps, as told by a certain GM employee we have around here, "The Chinese Buick Park Avenue is a China-built version of the Holden Statesman ..." when I asked about the reality of whether the Holden sedans are kept only in Oz for building, due to the $$ plan of Holden for xx number of exports here or there, or could they be built here, Canada, etc. too. Interested still to know specifics...and how much it would take or where, to build them over here, too. This one is still questionable but it really does sound like the real work actually being done right now--with what is leaking, in spurts--is that the new Impala is designed and in process, on the LWB EP-II and a "unique" from the new Malibu, etc. Never have I seen news about a car like this change so much, for so long. It's a Zeta, no it's an Epsilon, no it's an Alpha, no it's getting another W-body refresh, no it's on hold, no it's RWD again, nope it's FWD with optional AWD...no...yes...no..." Bizarre, all along as we're left with a crotchedy old fleet car from older, darker days.

It so very is. Still taking some time and still not everything 110%, but what a difference. I got a good laugh today reading an owner review on Edmunds for the new Lacrosse saying they were shopping the Accord but saw a commercial for the new Lacrosse and were taken by the looks...cost more than the Accord would have, but according to them was so much more car.

Very true. As much the same as the bones of these cars are, they're also very different and the cars themselves assembled in different ways. Not just a coupe & sedan of the same car. For a long time, it continued to be brought up in articles sourced to Holden & otherwise that a lot of their gameplan for the current VE series was building & shipping XXX number of cars to NA, etc. As someone else pointed out to me recently, proof that isn't true is that the Caprice/Statesman based Buick Park Avenue is built in China but otherwise the same car...so the same setup could be done in any variety of NA plants. It's not like producing the same car in different plants around the world for different markets is a new concept. I still don't understand the feasibility of a police-spec sedan being built in another country & shipped in via boat, especially when it comes to volume and pricing, but we'll see.

She's ALWAYS first taken by the looks, and then if and when I can ever get her to drive anything, she either really likes it or gives it a big X after. This is also a person who loves to drive and loves getting a new car, but would actually rather not have to shop or even test drive...really. The '08 Malibu is still her "child" so to speak, and though at almost 2 years and now 21k miles it could use a detailing--I'm just not around enough or too busy to help much--and she talks about how nice it is and how she "has no problems" whenever possible. But there's also for a long time been a lot of "why did you make me get the 4-cyl?" Or she sees a new Chevy commercial talking about fuel mileage and remarks that hers "never gets 30 anytime"...oh well. Time for some fun, ey? Like I said, there's a reason why I've never let her drive my G8, well, several. Now that she's firmly planted the seed herself...clock ticking? I was amazed when my father, also for the first time with such a "I want one" has never said a word. By the end of the Motorweek episode yesterday he told me "I'd get the stick..."...straight face... This car does things to people...if I could work out bringing her one to test drive, she'd either hate it or tell me to go trade her Malibu in, right away. I think visibility out or just practicality would be too much for her DD...maybe. Somehow, perhaps, I see maybe 2012. Avalanche (the truck she cried over, trading in...) was 2.5 years, the Suburban 3.5 years, the Malibu is now at 1.5. Or not.

I'll take the twin...gray, plaid seats, DSG and sunroof...sign me up. One of the best and highest quality/refined little pocket rockets around. Fun, fun, car.

I've mentioned before my mother recently has gotten a "thing" for new Camaro's, calling me about ones she sees, pointing them out when out, asking me questions about them, etc. Yesterday I was actually home for once and while she was cooking dinner, 5pm rolled around and I clicked on Motorweek in the kitchen. This week's first test, the Camaro SS. Typically I'd be the only one interested in this show at all, but from the second "Camaro" was uttered a certain someone ordered "quiet!", turned up the volume, and intently stopped what she was doing to watch every second of the review. "Oooh, look at that" when they were doing the acceleration, and then more importantly to her, the braking tests and commenting about the rock solid pedal & Brembos. Then came the interior, to which she didn't seem hot on but a lot of that was the black with red accents (not a fan of either shade), the gas mileage ratings & observed (when they said they averaged over 20 in testing with the SS...yeah...), and the final pricing. The finale afterwards then was "they're just so sharp, especially that front end, I have to have one." By this point my father & brother were lingering and had started to watch, but didn't say a word. So, having been responsible for every one of her cars to this point, I knew I had to start pecking with "no red or yellow, and you're good...the interior comes in gray and tan, too, and they look better than the black...the V6 alone has twice the power of your Malibu and is rated at 29mpg on the highway..." She responded with "but I like the SS..."...okay then... ...but to be real I had to respond that a V6 RS looks identical except for the front scoop and the V6, again, had more than enough balls as it is. That went over well, and again, she just "wants one". Then started a discussion of "aren't they big?...I mean, bigger than my car? Does it have a lot of room? What about the trunk?" I reminded it's a coupe but a large one, and the back seat & trunk aren't big, but are useful enough for a 1-2 people...1 90% of the time. And drives like a quiet, smooth Zeta dream. Today there was more. I said something about Camaro, in some form, which elicited the following: -"I saw a silver one today...it looked SO sharp. Silver on a Camaro is just really sharp." -...the best..."I'd get license plates that say "Eat This""...and she made a vroom noise, motioning as if holding a steering wheel & shifter, and laughing. She wants to drive one and I offered my G8 GT up for the first time "it's based off the same thing, so very similar in ways" but warned her she might be scared of her car after driving something with, uh, power. Lest I forget "I've driven powerful cars before...you know..." The Malibu won't be going anywhere, anytime soon, but the way she talked about it, I just continue to be shocked every time I hear it...and PROUD. I keep thinking her next something would be something like an Equinox, the next Malibu, or something of the sort...but if she can keep this in her head for a couple more years, heh :camarosmile:

Awesome pictures, OCN! I only hit the 1 GM lot in my travels today but they were lacking in much of anything interesting other than these 2: 2010 Rally Yellow/Ebony Camaro 2SS 2010 Cyber Gray/Red Corvette Convertible Grand Sport The Grand Sport arrived not long ago and the Camaro is the first one they've had sitting for an extended time, vs. selling in less than a week. Otherwise, barren, I tell you, barren...our variety of local dealers is seriously lacking anymore as is the inventory at the ones who are left.

I want a new GTI, plaid seats and all, and can't wait to see a "new" one.

Okay, finally, here's the deal... The drivetrain, suspension, etc. on these cars is 10x better than on the GTO beforehand in a lot of ways, but there are still common issues. The main 2 are focused on the front end. 1) Strut mounts. There's a ribbed rubber mount that attaches to the top of the strut and then is what gives it a "base" to sit & hold properly in the strut tower. By design in this car and the GTO (and a lot of BMW's, etc.) is a highly stressed part by nature, because of how it sits, how it's loaded, and often then too because of how what is truly a performance car, gets driven. From the start, the main issue the G8 and GTO have is that the rubber strut mounts get an excessive load & compression on the boat ride over, along with a lot of other extended sitting. With the boat ride pressure, the way they normally wear anyway, etc. they're often toast from when new. Leads to a lot of front noise, looseness, rattling, squeaking, alignment and other issues, and often also doesn't make for anything obvious, just a front end that isn't as precise as it should be. Typically apparent by a front end that's lower than it should be (hard to point out, since they're all kinda like this, when original), looking underhood and seeing the a visible gap of about 1/4" of more between the rubber cap and the fender when sitting on a flat surface. 98% of dealers, even after the GTO with the same problem, know nothing about this and refuse to look into it beyond "that's normal" but if you have an actual issue related to noise or an odd alignment problem up front, they may trace it back to this. I had a terrible creaking/squeaking from the strut towers when it would get to freezing or below, and after the first week, a front end alignment that mysteriously fell out of spec--all due to these being bad. Here's an example of new Pedders vs. squashed stockers on a friend's GT with 1800 miles (these ones aren't really that bad...but add in more mileage, etc. and they can be a lot more collapsed/tilted): Long story short, stiff rubber mount that gets pre-collapsed thanks to the boat & otherwise, has nothing to do with the actual mechanics of the struts or springs them, and the bushing itself should just be replaced. Requires the struts coming out & all re-installed, then the alignment corrected. Pretty quick job, actually, and not hugely expensive if done out of warranty, plus there are better bushings such as made by Pedders. Once replaced or if not pre-damaged, these can go a long time without issue without hardcore autocrossing, etc. everyday, and shouldn't be an issue if they're replaced, with stock or otherwise. 2) Front ball joints & control arms, or therein the parts together. Creaks, rattles & pops, and oddly was an issue too that the home market Oz cars never seemed to have, but has been a big one here. Over the past 2 years eventually, in the midst of warranty replacements of the parts, new part #'s of updated parts started being used, and then in the past few weeks a regional/date by date recall was issued by GM for the front ball joints. They seem to have found that the rubber boots on the ball joints to keep moisture from rain, snow, etc. out weren't sealing properly and/or were coming apart letting moisture in and, tick, there went the ball joints 1 after another. Or at least that's the story. That said, most 2008 and 2009 cars will be called in for an inspection of the joints and replacement as necessary with new parts, and hopefully away that will go. SO...neither are big problems, but they certainly can be annoying, the first especially because it's not an easy one for warranty since most dealers--unless, as I said, there's another problem they can trace back to them--will do a thing about the bushings, but they make for a lot of front end slop. And the ball joint/control arm foibles just make for more obvious noises, generally, and now that there's a staged recall, are being taken care of. Those 2 things and driveline vibrations are the main issues with G8's. If it doesn't shake badly and there's no front end noises--or the repairs have already been done--you're good to go, generally. Unlike either my G6, my Malibu, or even my mother's excellent '08 Malibu, other than the suspension bushings, I've had ZERO repairs or visits for anything but an oil change in 8 months and 10k miles. It's just been a solid, quiet, reliable car with no electronic or other quality foibles. Too bad about the couple of front suspension bugs and driveline vibrations, in some, but otherwise just a great car.