Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

PF_Flyer

driver100 said:

PF_Flyer said:

Official Columbo trenchcoats on... we had a couple of counterfeit bills passed around here, and one of the getaway vehicles was described as " a white hatchback vehicle, possibly a Toyota Auris". What do ya think?

Front end doesn't have a Toyota pimple on it.
Rear side windows look more like Nissan Versa

Yea, the roofline certainly reminds me of our Note.

abacomike

Just had my monthly Chick-Fil-A Fix here at the mall.  Some automobile manufacturer has a fairly large sedan on display with no identifying logos or insignias - the sign asks you to guess what car it is and its manufacturer.  I guessed it was either a Chevrolet Impala or a brand new Chevrolet entry into the medium to large auto segment.  I also thought, from the rear it might be a new Genesis.

I'll take several photos of the car from all aspects and see what you guys think.  I can't post the pictures until I get home.

laurasdada

Is is just the beginning of a very long baseball season. But, today, all is right with the world. For the Boston Red Sox have won every game they've played, whilst the NY Yankees have lost every game that they've played!

1986 NY Mets, candidate for one of the greatest teams ever, in one of the greatest MLB seasons!

suydam

Dodgers 2 for 2 as well. But they're playing the Padres, so no glory there.

Michaell

The Rockies are playing .500 ball after two games. I'd be quite content if they finish the season at 81–81

abacomike

abacomike

I think I figured it out - I think it's the new Malibu.  What do you guys think?  The rear lights give it away, I think.

suydam

Looks like a version of the Impala.

abacomike

suydam said:

Looks like a version of the Impala.

That's what I thought at first - it is a fairly large car - much larger than a Malibu one would expect.  Great looker - definitely a GM car.  But one of the guys who works at the Verizon kiosk said he thought he heard the guys who set up the display that it was a Malibu.  If it is the Malibu, they did one heck of a job designing it.  They had the windows tinted dark but the interior is gorgeous!

stickguy

Definetly a Malibu. It does look just like an impala standing alone like that. At least from the side. Really gotten big.

houdini1

Yeah, I'm thinking Malibu. Good job with the pics Mike.

abacomike

On the way to the Turnpike coming home, I finally got a close-up look at a BMW i8!  It was black with contrasting white on the sides and top with a hint of royal blue in the rear.  Definitely a sharp looking sports car.  If I understand the pricing, it costs around $140,000 - a lot of money.

That's why I have to hand it to GM - to produce a gorgeous looking sports car (Stingray) for $55,000 - $80,000.  I don't think there's anything comparatively priced to the Corvette.  A lot of car for very little money.  I wonder how they do it?

I saw a documentary on where and how they build the Stingray from engine to frame to body.  Impressive, to say the least!

abacomike

houdini1 said:

Yeah, I'm thinking Malibu. Good job with the pics Mike.

Thanks, Houdini.  I'm still learning how to take better photos with my iPhone.  The camera is so good it hides the motion - amazing.

Michaell

Yes, that's the new Malibu. There has been commercials airing with the same concept .. show the car to "consumers" without the badging and ask them to guess the brand.

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

Yes, that's the new Malibu. There has been commercials airing with the same concept .. show the car to "consumers" without the badging and ask them to guess the brand.

Yes, with the smart aleck hipster guy with the beard

i like the one where he shows the people "new" technology (fax machine, VHS, flip phone).  The one where he takes the phones & throws them in the wood chipper is funny too.

stickguy

Pretty sure if you threw my daughters phone in a chipper, she would dive in right after it.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Pretty sure if you threw my daughters phone in a chipper, she would dive in right after it.

Isn't everything on the cloud (or is that "in the cloud")? The physical hardware shouldn't cause so much stress.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

Yes, with the smart aleck hipster guy with the beard

i like the one where he shows the people "new" technology (fax machine, VHS, flip phone).  The one where he takes the phones & throws them in the wood chipper is funny too.

Yet another ad campaign with the subliminal message: "People who think our cars are cool are really morons." Oh well, it's worked for Ford("Edge Owner Press Conference"), Nissan("Altima Race Car"), and Toyota("The Camry Family").

nyccarguy

roadburner said:

Yes, with the smart aleck hipster guy with the beard

i like the one where he shows the people "new" technology (fax machine, VHS, flip phone).  The one where he takes the phones & throws them in the wood chipper is funny too.

Yet another ad campaign with the subliminal message: "People who think our cars are cool are really morons." Oh well, it's worked for Ford("Edge Owner Press Conference"), Nissan("Altima Race Car"), and Toyota("The Camry Family").

When the original Ford Edge came out, they had this awful commercial complete with a jingle "I like to live on the Ed-ge," showing millennials driving the Ford Edge on The edge of a fake building roof top.  Garbage like that made me believe I could be wildly successful in the advertising world.

The latest iteration is a very nice SUV.  I sat in a fully loaded, top of the line, "Sport" model on the floor of the NY Auto Show.  The interior was modern, well laid out, seats were comfortable, had all the latest tech do dads & gadgets.  It also has a sticker price of almost $50,000.  No Thank-you. 

Mr_Shiftright

$50K is the new 40. In 2015, sales of "lux" level cars went way up.

henryn

roadburner said:

nyccarguy said:

Yes, with the smart aleck hipster guy with the beard

i like the one where he shows the people "new" technology (fax machine, VHS, flip phone).  The one where he takes the phones & throws them in the wood chipper is funny too.

Yet another ad campaign with the subliminal message: "People who think our cars are cool are really morons." Oh well, it's worked for Ford("Edge Owner Press Conference"), Nissan("Altima Race Car"), and Toyota("The Camry Family").

I do believe that Microsoft was the first to use this technique, trying to counter all of the bad press that Vista received when it was first released. And no, I don't think those ads helped Microsoft in the slightest.

henryn

Speaking of nice looking cars, there is a new BMW i3 in the parking garage I use. Whoever drives it arrives earlier and stays later than I do, so I see the car most mornings and evenings. I think it's a really nice looking car, and looking in the window it seems to have a fairly tall seating position, and a lot of knee room. If it didn't cost $50k, I would be seriously interested.

roadburner

henryn said:

Speaking of nice looking cars, there is a new BMW i3 in the parking garage I use. Whoever drives it arrives earlier and stays later than I do, so I see the car most mornings and evenings. I think it's a really nice looking car, and looking in the window it seems to have a fairly tall seating position, and a lot of knee room. If it didn't cost $50k, I would be seriously interested.

I like the i3 too. My dealer has a new 2014 for $33.5k- so you are under $30k with the Federal tax credit...

Michaell

roadburner said:

henryn said:

Speaking of nice looking cars, there is a new BMW i3 in the parking garage I use. Whoever drives it arrives earlier and stays later than I do, so I see the car most mornings and evenings. I think it's a really nice looking car, and looking in the window it seems to have a fairly tall seating position, and a lot of knee room. If it didn't cost $50k, I would be seriously interested.

I like the i3 too. My dealer has a new 2014 for $33.5k- so you are under $30k with the Federal tax credit...

My guess is that the $33,500 price includes the tax credit.

They are leasing pretty well, however ...

andres3

abacomike said:

The A's lost on purpose to the Reds in 1990, Andres?  I think not.  On purpose means the A's planned and executed 4 consecutive losses that year - a conspiracy like the 1919 "Black Sox Scandel" when the White Sox "threw the World Series" to the Reds?

I think your love of the A's has affected your imagination, Andres.  I admire the A's and what they have accomplished over the last 25 years with a limited budget - but my admiration for them has not yet affected my imagination - soon maybe - but not yet! 

When the A's traded away Canseco they brought on a curse possibly bigger than the Curse of the Bambino for the Red Sox. Have the A's even won a playoff series since trading Canseco; I think not?

On a side note, the year of the Strike Texas had a one-way ticket to winning the World Series with pure offense, led by Canseco, but they cancelled the season about 2/3 through I think, haven't been a fan of baseball since; what a shame.

andres3

abacomike said:

On the way to the Turnpike coming home, I finally got a close-up look at a BMW i8!  It was black with contrasting white on the sides and top with a hint of royal blue in the rear.  Definitely a sharp looking sports car.  If I understand the pricing, it costs around $140,000 - a lot of money.

That's why I have to hand it to GM - to produce a gorgeous looking sports car (Stingray) for $55,000 - $80,000.  I don't think there's anything comparatively priced to the Corvette.  A lot of car for very little money.  I wonder how they do it?

I saw a documentary on where and how they build the Stingray from engine to frame to body.  Impressive, to say the least!

By making the engine testing and quality control budget $0 of course. Customers better keep a copy of that engine warranty as they are the guinea pigs that are testing it.

Okay, I'm a tad bit harsh on GM. They used to have that same budget for the interior materials, but that has improved. The Corvette is a good performance bargain if that is what you are looking for and don't care one iota about reliability.

imidazol97

I was behind a car with personalized license plate today: "ISHOW M"

It was a BMW, larger than average and wide enough it didn't look like it was
a sports car meant for handling on tight curves, etc.. 728i might have been the logo.

abacomike

All I said was that GM has continued to produce a darn good-looking sports car for $55,000 - $80,000.  Further that I actually saw a 30 minute documentary on the actual building of a Stingray from the bottom up and was impressed with the factory and the care taken in the build.  Finally, that there is no other sports car made with that much power and good looks for that amount of money.

Then, someone responds that GM has a "zero" dollar budget for quality control.  I opened up a can of worms with a simple, positive comment about GM!

Wait till this same guy reads my positive comments about the new Malibu - my iPhone will probably "EXPLODE" with another round of rants about GM.

ab and imid, I guess you are right about the negativity "thrown around" about GM! 

ab348

abacomike said:

ab and imid, I guess you are right about the negativity "thrown around" about GM! 

At least with certain members here, Mike.

ab348

roadburner said:

Yet another ad campaign with the subliminal message: "People who think our cars are cool are really morons." Oh well, it's worked for Ford("Edge Owner Press Conference"), Nissan("Altima Race Car"), and Toyota("The Camry Family").

Nothing can beat the "It's grounded to the ground" testimonial from the Camry lady.

andres3

I got nothing bad to say about the Malibu, as it is a brand new model and I haven't read anything negative about it yet.

The Corvette is light, has lots of power, and is good looking! I personally couldn't pull the trigger on one without a special contract warranty with progressive punishment and payout for failures. Also, it would be nice to have a Z06 loaner while it's in the shop; not a Cruz.

In other news Chrysler/FCA is laying off workers because the 200 can't sell to anybody with a pulse.

Mr_Shiftright

The 200 is history. FCA is planning to abandon the low end of the passenger car market, and concentrate on Jeep (cash cow), trucks and SUVs.

snakeweasel

laurasdada said:

Is is just the beginning of a very long baseball season. But, today, all is right with the world. For the Boston Red Sox have won every game they've played, whilst the NY Yankees have lost every game that they've played!

Those lovable lug the Cubs have won every game they've played to, only 115 more wins to beat their record for wins in a season. To bad the White Sox have won their games.

laurasdada said:

1986 NY Mets, candidate for one of the greatest teams ever, in one of the greatest MLB seasons!

I'll put the 1906 Cubs as a candidate for one of the greatest teams. They scored nearly two runs for every run scored against them, and ERA of 1.75 and a record of 116 wins against only 36 losses.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

I think I figured it out - I think it's the new Malibu.  What do you guys think?  The rear lights give it away, I think.

You might be right, when I saw the front end all I could think of was Chevy.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

Just had my monthly Chick-Fil-A Fix here at the mall.  Some automobile manufacturer has a fairly large sedan on display with no identifying logos or insignias - the sign asks you to guess what car it is and its manufacturer.  I guessed it was either a Chevrolet Impala or a brand new Chevrolet entry into the medium to large auto segment.  I also thought, from the rear it might be a new Genesis.

I'll take several photos of the car from all aspects and see what you guys think.  I can't post the pictures until I get home.

Yeah that's a Malibu. Saw the commercials. Good marketing campaign to slap the snobs who would never buy a Chevy.

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

The 200 is history. FCA is planning to abandon the low end of the passenger car market, and concentrate on Jeep (cash cow), trucks and SUVs.

I'm confused on the 200. Towards the end the 200 was a rebadged Sebring which was a design from the 90s. I thought the recent ones were built on a Fiat platform...or am I confusing it with the Dodge Dart? Sad that Chrysler has lost it's way and has to rely on products from the old American Motors merger.

imidazol97

abacomike said:

ab and imid, I guess you are right about the negativity "thrown around" about GM! 

LOL. Right on. I enjoy my 2014 Malibu. It has more backseat legroom than some of the other midsized cars but the styled roofline makes it seem more enclosed. I enjoy driving my 'Bu every trip like the one last week to Pigeon Forge. It has a ride and control that comes from its Opal heritage. I can't tell if the '16 model has that same tight feel or not. I haven't driven one, but will do that someday. Maybe when I finish doing my taxes.

BTW, the helicopter crashed in PG maybe 3/4 mile east of the motel we stay in. Terrible.

stickguy

Farmer, the Dart is a Fiat platform. So is the 200. Not quite sure, but it may be the same basic platform? nice that the 200 shares a platform with an Alfa. Unfortunately they did not seem to use a good one, or keep any of the DNA!

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Just had my monthly Chick-Fil-A Fix here at the mall.  Some automobile manufacturer has a fairly large sedan on display with no identifying logos or insignias - the sign asks you to guess what car it is and its manufacturer.  I guessed it was either a Chevrolet Impala or a brand new Chevrolet entry into the medium to large auto segment.  I also thought, from the rear it might be a new Genesis.

I'll take several photos of the car from all aspects and see what you guys think.  I can't post the pictures until I get home.

Yeah that's a Malibu. Saw the commercials. Good marketing campaign to slap the snobs who would never buy a Chevy.

When I first got married, all I bought were Chevy's and Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles.  They were good cars back on the late 60's through the early 80's.

BTW, I mentioned before that there is an active recall on the 2016 Malibu manufactured between February 16th and March 5th due to the rear air-bag anchors for some possible faulty welds that could crack.  I don't think that amounts to many (1-month's production), but it shows that GM continues to be earnest about transparency when it comes to defects.

abacomike

Just spoke with my son - he turns 45 years old tomorrow - only through and by the Grace of God (his malignant brain tumor remains undetectable).

He is at a scrimmage at my grandson's High School.  My grandson is pitching in a game against the Varsity Team - basically a try-out to see if he can make Varsity Baseball as a sophomore.  My grandson is 15 years old, 6'1" tall and weighs 210 lbs.  He already plays on the Varsity football team - I am so very proud of him.  We're hoping for an athletic scholarship in baseball for him.  I have my fingers crossed. 

stickguy

big kid. and at 15, probably not done growing!

Man, I would have a nice car right now if my daughter had gotten a full ride!

jmonroe

verdugo said:

I went by where home plate used to be. Obviously Forbes field was way before my time. However, I did go to the O quite a bit. Nowadays there's an O at the CMU campus, so students don't even have to make the trek down to Oakland.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Kids today have it way too easy. They should be walking off those calories from O hotdogs and probably fries too instead of having them practically delivered to them.

The last time I went to the O was last August when my SIL had a hip replacement at Magee Women's Hospital. My brother and I walked from the hospital down and back. After that walk I didn't feel too guilty about the 2 dogs I ate.

jmonroe

abacomike

abacomike

Picture above shows my son and his new dog that he adopted.  Definitely a love affair!

driver100

abacomike said:

Picture above shows my son and his new dog that he adopted.  Definitely a love affair!

Mike, picture made me smile...that is one affectionate dog.......seems that he appreciates his new owner and his new home.

abacomike

driver100 said:

Picture above shows my son and his new dog that he adopted.  Definitely a love affair!

Mike, picture made me smile...that is one affectionate dog.......seems that he appreciates his new owner and his new home.

Yep - for sure.  At least Justin looks healthy for a change. 

carnaught

Mike, especially as a dad, your son's pic. touched me....god bless him!

jmonroe

Mike,

It's a pretty sad day for Chevy stylists when they take their styling queues for the rear end of their newly re-designed Malibu from a Hyundai Genesis.

I'm serious, the first person that says to me, "nice Malibu", I going to smack them.

jmonroe

abacomike

carnaught said:

Mike, your son's pic. touched me....god bless him!

Your kind words "moved me!" 

abacomike

jmonroe said:

Mike, It's a pretty sad day for Chevy stylists when they take their styling queues for the rear end of their newly re-designed Malibu from a Hyundai Genesis. I'm serious, the first person that says to me, "nice Malibu", I going to smack them. jmonroe

I'm still laughing out loud LOL!