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Comments
My dealer now has 5 again (4 LSs, one with grey cloth and 3 with neutral and 1 LT, with the neutral that I haven't yet seen). FINALLY I get to see the "Uglycloth" in both colors. Sure they'll be at the Show as well.
Need to start reading thru 10 days of posts. Hope it'll be interesting.
Will talk after the Show. (Actually, I wasn't expecting any of you to come down, but that's OK. Going with the "usual clan" and skipping the GM stockholder forum. It's too early for some of the group to get out of bed and drive 65 miles. No big loss).
honda's engines in cars such as the accord and pilot obviously have a more appropriate power band.
http://www.g-speed.com/pbh/torque-and-hp.html
I am on my third battery too! Got it several months ago
Other than that, the Bu has been very good to me, thank you!
BTW, saw the new Bu at the dealer today. The front just sucks! Even worse than in the pictures. My personal opinion, of course :-)
BTW - I know you guys HATE VW Jetta's but my cousin just bought a 2001 auto 2.0. I drove that bad boy and it was SWEET!!! Now I think my eyes are fixed, once again, on them VW's
One other thing: When I was driving my cousin's car, she was in front of me in my Bu. I noticed that the left tail lights were not as bright as the right side when she was braking. I just replaced both bulbs on that side so I don't have the slightest idea what could cause this. Does anyone else? Other than that, my baby is hanging in there pretty well.
Who said on this board that the front-end of the new bu was ugly?!? I believe it's a huge improvement. I LOVE the back...kinda looks like a Camry. Oh, and did you see that nasty Pathfinder Armada when you first logged into Edmunds?!? That provoked the upchuck reflex within me if you know what I mean (I felt like vomiting).
Cheers!
Also, you're in for some major expenses in the next year, intake manifold gaskets for sure, and can't believe that you haven't had both the ignition lock cylinder troubles and the A/C switch problems that were rampant in '97s to '99s inclusive.
The intake manifold has been fighting for its life, so who knows, maybe it has a strong will to survive! So far so good, but we'll see
As for the ignition lock cylinder, I believe I've heard about it a few times, but I dont think it's an epidemic. In any case, my Bu will hit 5 years from being built in February, so I guess it's a fair game for it to start breaking down every month :-)
And if some idiot (most likely it would be me, as I was at fault in all but one of four accidents with this car), totals this baby, I would probably go for an SUV, as I want to explore the wilderness of British Columbia, and much of it is unpaved and requires a solid 4X4. I have my eyes on a 4Runner, though nothing is set in stone yet
Cheers!
What do I think?
Won't happen.
Reasons:
a. UAW and perceived loss of American and Canadian jobs
b. Costs of converting cars to NA emissions and safety standards
c. Corporate CAFE
d. GM timidity
I sure would love to see the Holden line as Oldsmobile here. And some of the European Vauxhalls/Opels as Saturn.
But, it ain't gonna happen. Sadly
Yes, the jumping A/C switch light is what I'm talking about. Annoying. Mine had one replacement in '00 and another one in '02. Knock on wood, the '02 fix seems to have worked.
The intake manifold gaskets usually go at 50-60K miles or 5 years. Just keep an eye on the coolant level (my temp guage never got to the point of going up, but keep an eye on that too).
The ignition lock cylinder can do 3 things: 1) inability to remove the key (97s only, as far as I know), 2) chiming even after the key is removed (I had that), and/or 3) you remove the key, the theft light illuminates, and then you have to wait 15-20 mins before the car will start again (had that 3 times). Again, the last time (in '02) seems to have been the charm.
Dealer drove me home in a '98 with 78K miles on it today (declined the rental since I don't need wheels until Fri.), claimed it was the most reliable shuttle vehicle they've ever had, and I noticed 2 VERY unusual warning lights illuminated on the dash ("oh those are sensors that need replacing that we haven't gotten around to") and the interior looked like it was 20 years old (covering completely worn off the steering wheel for instance). Trouble-free, my a**.
Trust you've seen the second ad for the 'Bu on TV. Better than the first, but I just don't like the ad approach they're taking. Too many visuals, too few words. Not at all exciting.
Maillady was terminated last week for poor performance, and I rec'd BOTH MT and C&D on Monday, so now I know where my mags were the last few months - sitting in the P.O. The multi-page ad in C&D is OK, but I'm, again, not doing cartwheels. We all know what I thought of the website.
The question: Has anyone popped the CD (in C&D) in the PC yet? If so, is it worth the time?
Doing my best to avoid copyright infrimgement, C&D has an article by one of the editors in which about 40-50 "new age gearhead" terms are defined.
One of these is "saabist". "One who allows himself to be used, causing loss of character and self-esteem, eventually inducing pointlessness."
OMG, we have a saabist in our midst!!! Yes, we do.
Instead we got GM's Korean cars.
I'm sure Honda wishes it had something to compete with in this range also as it's loosing Civic sales.
Yeah, space-age marketing :-)
What it also includes are clear shots of all seat fabrics, and I now even see the wheel covers that'll be on the base car (nice!). As far as the LS "Uglycloth", the grey is somewhat tolerable, forget the neutral. The base car has a more subdued version of "Uglycloth", that I'd take in a minute over the LS fabric.
MUCH better than the website (well for those of us without high speed access). After putting up with the full replay of the original TV ad (with that horrible music), then the music actually gets quite catchy throughout the rest of the CD.
Check it out.
try and look at their interiors again..I think you'd be surprised..
rctennis3811 : Any evidence to back that up? I have not heard great things about Aussie made cars. GM NA is top 5 easy these days.
Harry: I have the A/C thing going on, but I had never heard of the ignition lock problem on the 97's. However, after you mentioned some of the symptoms, I believe I have that problem. Every so often, I get the chiming after the key is removed, as well as the theft system light. My key has never been stuck in the ignition though (praise the lord).
Jeremy
Wait for the G6 charts, you will be happier with that.
I sat in a Malibu at an Auto show last weekend. It was "not bad." However, I *hate* the way the steering wheel looks pieced together by lego blocks. Fit and finish were "ok" ... not anywhere near a Camry or Accord. Interior plastics were, in typical american car fashion, on the cheap side. Some buttons have a lousy mushy feel, and the turn signal doesn't feel firm.
The real downer is that there are no 5-speeds. Of course, clearly people who buy this car aren't interested in sport.... but not even the Maxx has a 5-speed. that sucks.
charts : $28K?? LS V6 starts at C$24.5K and change and I'll bet you can negotiate down to the C$22-23K range. Like I said, wait for the G6.
charts : LT is the top of the line though. Most Malibus will likely be LS models. Average selling price will likely be in the C$23-24K range.
why? b/c of CAFE
Going through Kansas, we had strong sidewinds, to the point that trucks and large SUV's were weaving around quite a bit, but the Malibu tracked straight with little or no correction. We stopped at a rest stop near Colby, KS., and the winds were so strong, we had trouble opening the doors against the wind, so if the car can handle that, its a good design. We bought this car with the idea of keeping it for two years or 30,000 miles, but if its going to do this well, we may keep it for a lot longer.
mowtown : Accord is a better seller than the Camry up here so far as I know. I had read somewhere that Camry's sales lead in the U.S. was shrinking and so incentives were needed to prop up sales. Accord has never had cash back here and as Harry said, not in the U.S. either. The new Accords seem to be far from problem free so I wonder if sales at Honda may level off.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/04malibu_ls.htm