Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jmonroe

suydam said:

Cladding is a protective layer over the sheet metal, usually plastic, that helps prevent every little stone thrown up by the wheels from chipping the paint. If the vehicle is black you hardly notice it, but white really stands out as you can see from these 2 examples.

OK guys, I get it now. I didn't look closely enough at the pics. I have seen this "cladding" a lot lately and it holds with what the makers want their cars to convey, like, "look at me I can take it". Not what I want but no doubt a lot of buyers don't mind the "tough guy look" without buying the bully looking pickups that are so prevalent these days.

Thanks for making me take a closer look.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

The cladding on the Tour X looks like the typical black plastic stuff that lots of automakers have used over the years. It's popular on vehicles with a raised ride height to disguise the empty space in the wheel wells and make the car look visually lower along the rocker panels.

For reasons I do not quite understand, GM does not make this wagon available in Canada so the only Regal we get is the hatch. I still have not seen one. But I seldom see the former Regal like the kind I used to have on the roads around here either, and they were almost never found on dealer lots after the first couple of years. I really liked my Regal and was hoping the new one would tempt me, but I don't care for the look of the hatch version and it is a bigger car than mine was which did not help. In the end it came down to not being able to buy something the dealers do not want to sell.

I thought that black plastic stuff was because car makers gave up on trying to prevent rust on metal wheel wells and rockers and went with plastic. When I think of cladding it's like the slabs of plastic you saw on Pontiacs.

driver100

jmonroe said:

suydam said:

Cladding is a protective layer over the sheet metal, usually plastic, that helps prevent every little stone thrown up by the wheels from chipping the paint. If the vehicle is black you hardly notice it, but white really stands out as you can see from these 2 examples.

OK guys, I get it now. I didn't look closely enough at the pics. I have seen this "cladding" a lot lately and it holds with what the makers want their cars to convey, like, "look at me I can take it". Not what I want but no doubt a lot of buyers don't mind the "tough guy look" without buying the bully looking pickups that are so prevalent these days.

Thanks for making me take a closer look.

jmonroe

Just tell JMonroe that it protects against stone chips and he will be happy.

driver100

Here is some additional info about cladding on this Buick;
Buick’s latest vehicle for social justice is thus this off-roady-looking all-wheel-drive station wagon that wishes it were a Subaru Outback. It’s not—the Regal TourX has just 5.8 inches of ground clearance, compared with the Subaru’s 8.7—so General Motors used plenty of tough-looking black cladding. And so you can’t miss it, this “blastic” also extends high above the wheel wells, looking as pretentious on the TourX as it does on the similarly dressed Audi A4 Allroad or Volvo V60 Cross Country

Full article

From the article;
HIGHS
Spacious, strong brakes, sophisticated AWD system.
LOWS
Sleepy throttle and transmission, neither luxurious nor off-roadable, goofy exterior cladding

driver100

One thing I was wondering about, and it really shows up on the Buick model......what happened to bumpers, front and rear? It seems that even lightly touching any car is going to do damage to todays bumpers, and if you get a dent it looks like a lot of the front or rear would have to be fixed? If a bumper struck in the grill area, which is pretty exposed, it looks like it could be very costly.

oldfarmer50

suydam said:

Cladding is a protective layer over the sheet metal, usually plastic, that helps prevent every little stone thrown up by the wheels from chipping the paint. If the vehicle is black you hardly notice it, but white really stands out as you can see from these 2 examples.

I actually think that black on white looks good. Wonder why they don't color match though. My Eclipse and the Mustang had/has color matched plastic rockers. I assume most modern cars do. When I look at the shape my hoopties are in from the salt it seems a no brainer.

Mr_Shiftright

isellhondas said:

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They do, and it's a vastly overpriced vehicle for what you get, IMO.

And, it’s vastly less reliable than a run of the mill Explorer!

Gee, you think? Can you imagine someone loading one up and pulling an Airstream?

Or pulling into Brady, Nebraska with a blown radiator hose? Think NAPA carries one in stock?

Ah....no thanks!

I mean REALLY overpriced. Content-wise, it's about the equivalent of a $40K SUV.

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They do, and it's a vastly overpriced vehicle for what you get, IMO.

And, it’s vastly less reliable than a run of the mill Explorer!

But, oh, that exhaust!

Had a chance to hear one in the showroom last year. There is a switch on the dash that puts the exhaust into "sport" mode. No SUV should sound that menacing. It was glorious!

I can get you a Borla exhaust for $1100 that will sound just as good, and you won't have spent $75,000 for a $40,000 SUV.

Does it sound "fast"? Yeah, but it's not really, even if you step up to the top trim lines. There are Jeeps faster than that thing. And Chrysler 300 and Pacifica switchgear? Really? And this is the BASE model pricing? Really?

fintail

The rusty sills/rockers on the white car (and other reasons) make me glad I am on the west coast.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They do, and it's a vastly overpriced vehicle for what you get, IMO.

And, it’s vastly less reliable than a run of the mill Explorer!

But, oh, that exhaust!

Had a chance to hear one in the showroom last year. There is a switch on the dash that puts the exhaust into "sport" mode. No SUV should sound that menacing. It was glorious!

I can get you a Borla exhaust for $1100 that will sound just as good, and you won't have spent $75,000 for a $40,000 SUV.

Does it sound "fast"? Yeah, but it's not really, even if you step up to the top trim lines. There are Jeeps faster than that thing. And Chrysler 300 and Pacifica switchgear? Really? And this is the BASE model pricing? Really?

Didn't we say the exhaust sounds are computer generated these days?

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

suydam said:

Cladding is a protective layer over the sheet metal, usually plastic, that helps prevent every little stone thrown up by the wheels from chipping the paint. If the vehicle is black you hardly notice it, but white really stands out as you can see from these 2 examples.

I actually think that black on white looks good. Wonder why they don't color match though. My Eclipse and the Mustang had/has color matched plastic rockers. I assume most modern cars do. When I look at the shape my hoopties are in from the salt it seems a no brainer.

The idea is that the "cladding' doesn't match....it is supposed to contrast. That way it looks tougher and it makes the car look more interesting. Kinda like your hooptie....the white is nicely hilighted by the nice gold colored rocker panels.......would look like another boring van if it was all white.

abacomike

I decided to try Netflix for 30 days for their free trial offer.  Anyone have any comments about Netflix?  I sure would like to hear your comments.

stickguy

I forget that I pay for it every month. My daughter uses it all the time though. I believe it is better for TV shows than movies (that selection is not strong). Unless I am just out of date now.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

One thing I was wondering about, and it really shows up on the Buick model......what happened to bumpers, front and rear? It seems that even lightly touching any car is going to do damage to todays bumpers, and if you get a dent it looks like a lot of the front or rear would have to be fixed? If a bumper struck in the grill area, which is pretty exposed, it looks like it could be very costly.

Try driving one of those under the back bumper of a school bus and see what happens. The tow hooks on the bus won't let go of the hood. Buses love those swoopy hoods.

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They do, and it's a vastly overpriced vehicle for what you get, IMO.

And, it’s vastly less reliable than a run of the mill Explorer!

But, oh, that exhaust!

Had a chance to hear one in the showroom last year. There is a switch on the dash that puts the exhaust into "sport" mode. No SUV should sound that menacing. It was glorious!

I can get you a Borla exhaust for $1100 that will sound just as good, and you won't have spent $75,000 for a $40,000 SUV.

Does it sound "fast"? Yeah, but it's not really, even if you step up to the top trim lines. There are Jeeps faster than that thing. And Chrysler 300 and Pacifica switchgear? Really? And this is the BASE model pricing? Really?

Where are you getting a Borla for $1100? The one I've been saving up for costs $1270+-. Can I do better than American Muscle on price?

The 2018 Mustang has a tunable exhaust so you can sneak out of the driveway without waking the neighbors and then rip up the highway.

abacomike

stickguy said:

I forget that I pay for it every month. My daughter uses it all the time though. I believe it is better for TV shows than movies (that selection is not strong). Unless I am just out of date now.

Thanks, stick.

oldfarmer50

fintail said:

The rusty sills/rockers on the white car (and other reasons) make me glad I am on the west coast.

That's my farm van. Cheap workhorse so who cares but that's what happens after 14 years of NY salt and beet juice.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

In the salt belt, the rocker panels under that black cladding look just the same as those ones.

Mr_Shiftright

oldfarmer50 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

They do, and it's a vastly overpriced vehicle for what you get, IMO.

And, it’s vastly less reliable than a run of the mill Explorer!

But, oh, that exhaust!

Had a chance to hear one in the showroom last year. There is a switch on the dash that puts the exhaust into "sport" mode. No SUV should sound that menacing. It was glorious!

I can get you a Borla exhaust for $1100 that will sound just as good, and you won't have spent $75,000 for a $40,000 SUV.

Does it sound "fast"? Yeah, but it's not really, even if you step up to the top trim lines. There are Jeeps faster than that thing. And Chrysler 300 and Pacifica switchgear? Really? And this is the BASE model pricing? Really?

Where are you getting a Borla for $1100? The one I've been saving up for costs $1270+-. Can I do better than American Muscle on price?

The 2018 Mustang has a tunable exhaust so you can sneak out of the driveway without waking the neighbors and then rip up the highway.

Depends on the car you're buying it for!

fintail

It takes 40 or more years for a car to look like that out here. Used cars are more expensive here though, so there's the trade-off. I'll still take it.

oldfarmer50 said:

That's my farm van. Cheap workhorse so who cares but that's what happens after 14 years of NY salt and beet juice.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:

The cladding on the Tour X looks like the typical black plastic stuff that lots of automakers have used over the years. It's popular on vehicles with a raised ride height to disguise the empty space in the wheel wells and make the car look visually lower along the rocker panels.

For reasons I do not quite understand, GM does not make this wagon available in Canada so the only Regal we get is the hatch. I still have not seen one. But I seldom see the former Regal like the kind I used to have on the roads around here either, and they were almost never found on dealer lots after the first couple of years. I really liked my Regal and was hoping the new one would tempt me, but I don't care for the look of the hatch version and it is a bigger car than mine was which did not help. In the end it came down to not being able to buy something the dealers do not want to sell.

I thought that black plastic stuff was because car makers gave up on trying to prevent rust on metal wheel wells and rockers and went with plastic. When I think of cladding it's like the slabs of plastic you saw on Pontiacs.

This is very interesting. You have to be careful about who you say, "black plastic stuff" to. Here's why:

I went to Grandson #2's hockey game today (tomorrow it's Grandson #4 at 9:30 AM. Normally, I'm just rolling over at that time, but hey, it's hockey time). Anyway, Son #1 introduces me to two hockey dads on his Son's team. One is a SM at an Altima store and the other is a senior salesman that works for the SM. I figured these are the perfect guys to ask about this "cladding" thing. I didn't want to say cladding, molding or trim so I asked, "what is the "black plastic stuff" around wheel wells on cars today. I barely finished my sentence and the salesman said, "it's molding, why do you ask"? I told him that I heard it called "cladding" and mentioned this site. He said that he has heard it called "cladding" in car magazines but around here it's called "molding". The SM is shaking his head yes and said, "this industry is not satisfied unless they change the name of things. It's being done all the time". So, it appears that this "cladding" might be a regional thing but if car mags call it "cladding", officially, that must be the new nomenclature.

Before we ended our conversation, I said, "hey, this is Saturday, what are you guys doing at a hockey game on the busiest day of your week". The SM said, "I'm one of the bosses so I can do what I want but I'll be going in after this game". I then said, "what about him" (as I pointed to the salesman). The SM said, "to be honest, I don't really know but at least I know where he is now. During the week when I want him he's never around". Not wanting to let that pass, the salesman's said, "I'm probably trying to figure out how we are going to meet the sales number for the month. Every month the number goes up". :@

I was kinda sorry I asked a leading question.

jmonroe

jmonroe

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In the salt belt, the rocker panels under that black cladding look just the same as those ones.

Is it really rusted if you can't see it?

jmonroe

stickguy

Fin, in OF land, the rust came pre-installed right off the dealer lot.

driver100

abacomike said:

I decided to try Netflix for 30 days for their free trial offer.  Anyone have any comments about Netflix?  I sure would like to hear your comments.

My wife wanted to try Netflix....I didn't want to watch more TV, so I reluctantly agreed to try it. It is the best entertainment bargain going. It has changed TV completely. Great shows for about $10 a month. Some of the series that they show are incredible. You won't want to watch a movie on regular TV again...see it with no commercials. They even read your viewing habits and give you similar shows they can recommend.

Check out sites on the computer to get an idea of what you may want to watch, like this one:
50 Top Shows on Netflix

We watch mostly British mystery or detective type stories, so I won't be of much value for recommending. I know people love things like Suits, Breaking Bad, The Crown, House of Cards, Sherlock, Orange is the New Black.

We watched Broadchurch, Happy Valley, The Fall and many others.......

28firefighter

stickguy said:

I forget that I pay for it every month. My daughter uses it all the time though. I believe it is better for TV shows than movies (that selection is not strong). Unless I am just out of date now.

Same. Love it for their original series. 

Michaell

28firefighter said:

stickguy said:

I forget that I pay for it every month. My daughter uses it all the time though. I believe it is better for TV shows than movies (that selection is not strong). Unless I am just out of date now.

Same. Love it for their original series. 

It comes with our Comcast bundle here in CO. I've watched a few things on it, but I find it hard to make the time to binge watch stuff. I started "The Punisher" but haven't gotten past the first two episodes.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Fin, in OF land, the rust came pre-installed right off the dealer lot.

And yet you wanted to move to this god-forsaken region of rust!

qbrozen

I have netflix and hulu. Kids don't watch broadcast tv at all. As others, I love some of their original stuff, mostly Marvel. Iron Fist and Luke Cage are my faves by far. I also started Punisher but haven't gotten far. Several original movies are good, too. Bright was absolutely fantastic, IMHO. 

suydam

Thumbs up for Netflix. We watch movies and it’s also a good way to see TV Series you missed out on. It’s pretty cheap too. At the moment we have Netflix and Amazon Prime in addition to cable.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

Fin, in OF land, the rust came pre-installed right off the dealer lot.

And yet you wanted to move to this god-forsaken region of rust!

well, if that happened, the fun car would stay in the garage whenever the roads were salted, and the beater (or some sort of lease) would take the dirty work on.

stickguy

plus, the lousy weather over Christmas week put the kibosh on that plan. I will stick with Delaware I think.

ab348

I can't see myself bothering with Netflix. There is very little episodic TV that I like and looking at the list of top 50 series posted there might be a couple I'd bother to watch. A lot of it is way too dark for my taste.

tjc78

Netflix is good. We use it to supplement the free kids stuff on Comcast. Love that it integrates right into the X1 system. It’s slmost like just having another pay channel now (like HBO or Showtime)

I have to confess.... I don’t pay for it. My SIL signed into it when she was here and she has th3 plan with multiple screens, so we must never interfere with her watching.

driver100

ab348 said:

I can't see myself bothering with Netflix. There is very little episodic TV that I like and looking at the list of top 50 series posted there might be a couple I'd bother to watch. A lot of it is way too dark for my taste.

We don't watch "dark stuff". You can still find intelligent mysteries and historical stories that aren't dark. The Crown (I haven't seen it yet but people love it) and something like Broadchurch are police procedurals that are classy and well done. Most of what we watch is better than most movies we go to.

Using the driver method of ammortization....it costs $2.50 a week! It is hard to watch regular TV, Netflix you can watch on your schedule with no commercials or fast forwarding. It starts where you left off. It remembers whaere you left off. 1000s of choices. I don't watch much TV but Netflix changes the whole concept of watching TV.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

TourX is an interesting try at making an American station wagon.

Since it's been an Opel crossover, it's an European wagon?

imidazol97

Cladding...

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

TourX is an interesting try at making an American station wagon.

Since it's been an Opel crossover, it's an European wagon?

TourX has European heritage since it is really an updated Opel. But, doesn't that tell us something....who, is catching up to whom?

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

Cladding...

Is that last one a Dodge? You hardly notice the plastic when it's color matched. Seeing how Dodge trucks rust around the wheels I think that's a necessity.

oldfarmer50

Anybody ever heard of this brand?



https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/cto/d/humber/6480511736.html

houdini1

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:

The cladding on the Tour X looks like the typical black plastic stuff that lots of automakers have used over the years. It's popular on vehicles with a raised ride height to disguise the empty space in the wheel wells and make the car look visually lower along the rocker panels.

For reasons I do not quite understand, GM does not make this wagon available in Canada so the only Regal we get is the hatch. I still have not seen one. But I seldom see the former Regal like the kind I used to have on the roads around here either, and they were almost never found on dealer lots after the first couple of years. I really liked my Regal and was hoping the new one would tempt me, but I don't care for the look of the hatch version and it is a bigger car than mine was which did not help. In the end it came down to not being able to buy something the dealers do not want to sell.

I thought that black plastic stuff was because car makers gave up on trying to prevent rust on metal wheel wells and rockers and went with plastic. When I think of cladding it's like the slabs of plastic you saw on Pontiacs.

Yeah, OF, that's what I think of too. Those slabs on the side of the car. For that black stuff around the wheel wells I would go with molding.

stickguy

The only Humber name I ever heard was the classic super snipe. Not sure what model this one is.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

Anybody ever heard of this brand?



https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/cto/d/humber/6480511736.html

That's a Humber Vogue. Must be a really uncommon car.

Humber was a Rootes Group product like Hillman and Singer.

driver100

I remember Humbers...I think they were the more upscale Hillmans of the time. We got them in Canada

fintail

I'm a little iffy about the claim of the mileage being in kms, as far as I know, most RHD areas, limeyland too, still use miles for cars.

Mr_Shiftright

oldfarmer50 said:

Anybody ever heard of this brand?



https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/cto/d/humber/6480511736.html

Yes a venerable British brand going back to the very early days of the automobile. Humber was absorbed in the Rootes Group in the 1930s, as their upper range, above the Hillman. Humber made a lot of the staff cars you see in British films about WW II. Gen. Montgomery drove about in one. They made military vehicles for the British and German armies after WW II. Chrysler bought them in 1964.

Something is very wrong about the car you posted---looks like a bad chop of a Humber Sceptre. I certainly wouldn't give $6K for that lump.

driver100

I was just reading (but can't copy and paste) a Humber was really a Hillman Minx with different trim.....Humbers were exported and it was a way to get around importing restrictions on the popular Hillman models.

Humber and Singer

I don't think they would have had a convertible with that kind of half roof either. Should probably look more like this;

imidazol97

The Humber picture reminded me of an Amphicar at first glance. Any connection?

imidazol97

Look ma, no cladding.

stickguy

looks much better that way. I always felt the same about the Volvo V vs. XC wagons

stickguy

productive day today. Got the first batch of taxes done (the daughters). next year, she will be graduated and claiming herself, so she can do her own finally. Wish I could do mine, but VG never has the account statements ready for the mutual funds until later in February.

Darn kid needed 3 state returns this year, living in NJ and having worked in 2 other states. What a pain.