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Comments
Their suppliers are all Asian owned operating in small town USA, and the money also goes back to the island country..
How is stock portfolio doing today???? Your house value has probably dropped 30%, keep buying the transplants and complain about America...
Rice-burners are the hit of the day...Go easy on the Soy sauce...
I still have a Lexus, but am looking to replace it with a Cadillac or Lincoln next time around if I can find a good fit.
Regards,
OW
Can't see the difference, other than national pride, between the two sets of players. If the Big 3 are so pro-America why do they elect to assemble so many vehicles outside U.S. borders, whilst these "Foreign" chappies are building cars within your borders ? :confuse:
Apologies for saying this but I think you're suffering from hurt pride and blaming others for your own Industries' failure to compete isn't going to improve things.
Still, it could be worse - and if/when India or China get their rumps in gear it may well be.
"Change before you have to."
When it comes to the Big 3, this resounds quite stunningly, don't you think?
Regards,
OW
Yep. Those who have done well are rewarded, and those who have done poorly have been punished.
Your house value has probably dropped 30%
Naah, it's probably up about 30% if the bump in my insurance is any indication. On the other hand, the local economy isn't lashed to the hulls of sinking ships piloted by bumbling nincompoops. Don't fight the future- buy a Hyundai. :P
That's why I naturally gravitate towards Buick and Cadillac.
When they think smaller performance, and prestige, they think of Germany.
The Cadillac CTS comes immediately to mind for me. Outside of that, you're probably safer with an Acura TL or Infiniti G35 than either a C-Class or 3-Series. The Lexus IS is grossly overpriced for what you get.
That might actually be why I DON'T really gravitate towards Chrysler products anymore. The stuff they're putting out today is so far removed from the Chrysler products I've had in the past, that I just don't feel that much of a connection anymore. I do like the Charger and 300, but do question how they'll hold up in the long run. I'm just worried that they have just enough Mercedes componentry in them to make them expensive to fix once they start breaking down. My 2000 Intrepid, in contrast, has actually been pretty cheap to maintain and repair over the years, although I did have to throw about $2,000 into it in 2007, and another ~$950 this year. I'm sure that's still cheap compared to a lot of cars, though!
I just wish they'd get their act together with the Avenger/Sebring. These cars were actually pretty competitive back in the 1990's, but after a so-so refreshening for 2001, they sort of just sat there while the competition passed them by. And then with the 2007 models, they seemed to regress!
And they really need a proper replacement for the Neon. While it was sort of a so-so car by the end of its life that the competition simply passed by, the Caliber just isn't the right type of replacement.
Don't apologize...whether mgmt or union, or, really, both, your comment is on the mark...our Big 3 blew it for years, made absolute junk or a fair amount of it, expected us to buy it, while imports improved from year to year...
And now we are crying that Big 3 are in trouble...if they paid attention for the last 30 years, they would know why...
Also when 4 cylinder American car (2,219lbs with me in it) only gets 18mpg on highway and my v6 foreign car (4,329 with me in it) gets around 30 that is another reason I'll not buy another American car.
I'm all for buying American, when it's the BEST product available. If it's not the best (balancing price, quality, fuel economy, performance, etc), then don't bother asking me to look at it. I've owned two American-made (and American-branded) cars and they were just fine. But when it came to finding my other cars, my needs were not properly met by American products.
If I didn't think that Americans could build competitive vehicles, my attitude might not be so cavalier. But I KNOW GM, Ford, and Chrysler CAN make world-class vehicles. When one of them falls into a category that I need (like my Town & Country), I'll get one.
If I was looking for a large car for freeway cruising, I would say the previous Caddy, with the more minimalist, old style Euro look, would be a nice choice. I would imagine those are nearly giveaway priced by now. Thus NEVER a new car value. Seems like the GM and Ford luxo cars half in price in three years time. Considering they are not driven hard and have few miles, they are good used car buys. I would bet on the Ford FiveHundred as possibly being the most amazing used car buy, if you don't mind some boring looks to a car. You are getting a Volvo, Ford priced. As for interiors, I would say my Accord SE has a classier interior than most so called upper grade US cars. That said the new Lincolns and Caddy cars have shown great improvement the last year, or so.
They must have improved the interior and seats greatly since I checked out two in the showrooms last winter. The Civic actually seemed nicer and more on target than the Accord's interior.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Also, the Accord's interior, IMO at least, took a little hit with the 2008 redesign. There's more hard plastic in them now. With the 2003-07 Accord, even if you got the cheapest model, you still got cloth on the door panels. The 2008 LX, which is the base model, just has hard plastic slabs for door panels although oddly, the armrests are covered in cloth, rather than vinyl or rubber.
A guy at work recently bought a 2008 Accord LX, total stripper model, silver with a gray interior. I rode in it once. It's actually a pretty nice car, but it ain't no luxury car.
I imagine the nicer models with leather probably have vinyl covering where the hard plastic slabs on the door panel normally are.
I've also owned 64 dodge D-500, 64 elcamino, 79 F-250, 72 Landcruiser, Subarus various years from 77 to 84, 89 S-10, 84 Shelby Charger, 84 Rampage, 71 Monte Calro and the vehicles mentioned above.
Only american vehicles that where trouble free where the 1971 and older ones.
Do you feel the Lexus ES350 or Acura TL are improvements over the Accord SE? How are you defining better? It sounds like your metrics are MPG and seat quality.
I found the driving dynamics much improved in the CTS. It seemed to handle better and respond faster to what I was asking it to do. I found the seats in CTS very comfortable (especially relative to the somewhat unsupportive seats I have now), and I found the interior controls easy to reach, although some were mounted much lower than I think they should be (the climate controls are not where I would put them).
The interior was sub-par however to my Corolla SE '98 owned some years back.
I had not found that to be the case in my driving experience. I thought materials and assembly quality was comparable or better than my '07 Accord. I also think that for how poorly the Corolla handles, one needs a nice interior to fend off motion sickness.
I think its interesting that in comparing a mid-size generic front-drive sedan to a rear-drive "premium" sedan, you didn't note any difference in driving performance or handling. I think it still comes back to what you identified as your initial criteria, seats and MPG.
In ranking vehicles with that criteria, again I would compare with an Acura TL or Lexus ES350. If you add in gismos and widgets, I would think the larger Caddy would also compare favorably. The BMW 3- or 5- series would be considerably more coin, but the 5-series has very comfy seats (as does the much less expensive but equally in-efficient Volvo).
Toyota/Subaru sports car may be interesting, and the new Honda sports car, said to be out soon. The Camaro, if it ever arrives, with the 300HP+ V6 may be a cool deal, if priced right at the dealerships. Stick shift version for $23K ??? It is a bit wide and tall, as in slightly supersized original, but still looks good in the pics.
I think the CTS that gets out of the 30s is the V-spec, which is a very limited production performance model. I actually really liked the drive of the CTS alot. That said, the Infinity G35 and E36/E46 3-series are also cars that I really enjoyed driving (the latest 3-series is so big and so expensive, its not even on my list anymore).
I agree with your Lexus/Acura assessment with those models. Its hard to pay a premium for a glorified CamCord.
There is no replacement for the 90-96 Miata. Keep it and cherish it until the wheels fall off, although I see why you are interested in a comfortable ride and seats to contrast with that car (not that the ride is bad, but it is a sports car.
I am not holding my breath for anything from Toyota and Subaru. Toyota hasn't had a real sports car since the mid-90s (I am thinking of the MR2 Turbo, though the Supra still counts if you count something big and heavy as a sports car which still got killed mid-90s).
They are getting rid of the old stock for the 2010 Mustang. It is generating a considerable amount of buzz, but in effect, its a halo car. They have been very effective at keeping the car alive by issuing all these different limited edition vehicles like the Bullet and the upcoming KR.
As for the Regal, no Regal was ever anywhere near 2500 lb, let alone 2000! The 1977 and earlier Regals were around 4,000 pounds! The 1978-87 were around 3000-3200. The 1988 models, which were the first FWD Regals, might have started around 2800-2900 lb, but they added weight over the years, and were probably up to around 3400 when they were finally cancelled in 2005.
Unless you mean the little N-body Somerset Regal? It came out in 1985, a twin to the Grand Am and Calais. It weighed around 2500 lb. After a couple years, they started calling it Skylark.
Regards,
OW
That was always my main knock on the CTS as well - the interior was pathetic until very recently, when it became, "not too bad". It's still al long way from great.
Way overpriced Euro sedans????
I think that the buzz surrounding the Malibu, G8, Flex, Lambda CUV's and pictures of the 2010 Lacrosse should be enough to stand up and take notice.
Oh, almost forgot...in a nod to Lemko, I do think the DTS is a nice car. Just a bit out of my price point.
Old Malibu?? Eh.
New?? WOW!!
GTO??? Eh.
G8?? Cool.
Current Lacrosse?? Looks like a Taurus
Pics of new??? Someone wrote sleek and sexy.
Rendezvous??? Lipstick on an Aztek
Enclave??? Beautiful.
GM had 2 Sedans (CTS and Malibu) on it's top 10 list. That hasn't happened in over 20 YEARS.
The Enclave also is useful as a trailer hauler. I saw one tooling around with a metal trailer on it this afternoon. It's either a lawn service or a trailer for hauling tree branches away. We had the leftover Ike windstorm one week ago today; people are still without power. There are lots of trees being chopped up.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Simple. People like it, and it's selling.
I see ads all the time showing base LS Malibus advertised for $18,500-$18,800. MSRP is $2000-$2500 more. I see Camrys w/an MSRP of just under $20K selling for $15,995. This gives me the impression that they are selling for more than their competition, or at least the same, which is a far cry from the 2002-2007 models.
and other four-wheeled Asian creations.
Caddys cost more to buy, drive and maintain..However the payback is fast comfortable cruising, and arriving relaxed..Over the years I probably made 30 round trips from Detroit to Southern Fla. without incident from 1991 thru 2001. You get those 2 ton cars rolling at 80+ and the world goes by quickly..Gas mileage wasn't too bad, then again what is an extra 20 bucks over 1300 miles..peanuts!!!
During that timeframe I also drove a non-Caddy car on 2 roundabouts to Fla..1999 Olds Intrigue GLS w/3.5 V-6, 24 Valve jobby w/a SLP catback exhaust, did the 1300 miles straight-thru from Delray Beach to Detroit one time..little tired at the end, missed that Caddy comfort..
Our auto choices are make on what we can afford, knowing inadvance what it will cost over our ownership period..You buy an expensive car it takes bucks to run it and keep it in pristine condition, knowing at the end you will give it away.
I have found Caddy Dealers great to work with on problems, not sparing expense to allleviate a problem. Had a engine replaced no cost to me long after warranty expired. All the Caddys were purchased for my wife and I drove them rarely except the Fla trips and to the dealer..Wifey didn't drive the Fla trips, her style was not restful for my relaxation in the co-pilot seat..
I drove the cars of the masses in my business life, Buicks, Olds, Pontiacs, Chevys, and Fords..
You know with TOY and Honda pumping out 400,000 cars each on an annual basis, I prefer to drive something that doesn't reflect the normal landscape, so I tend to stay away from the transportation of the masses supplied by the Asian invasion..
The wife has passed away, however she enjoyed driving her Z-28, Plymouth Cuda, and Electra T-Type along with the Caddys..
The money lost on Caddy resales at disposal time was probably $75,000, don't regret it at all..
I,am looking for a CTS w/suspension pkg 18" wheels and sunroof, model new 2008. Being retired I have the time to search and beat up dealers..Forgot about the Mustang Bullitt, no deals and the best deal is a Trailblazer SS, some 14000 off MSRP..Isn't it great to live be an American!!!!! Look at our choices????
.
-Loren
I think this was much more true in the 80s and 90s then now. I know in my area, the car to have in the early 80s was a Volvo wagon or MBZ Diesel, followed by a Caravan. A Vanagon was another choice in the 80s. Now the post-menopausal empty-nesters seem to be leaning towards the Camry as a staple of basic transportation, or the Solara. I was actually surprised how few new Accords I saw when I was there in July.
I think those who can try to get something more fun (I see a LOT of G35s, and the ubiquitous 3-series) or something more luxurious (Lexus ES). As the SUVs fall out of favor more and more, I am seeing more VW and Subaru wagons (oh, wait, Subaru doesn't make a wagon anymore).
I think the issue with vehicles in CA is they typically don't rust. This keeps them on the road a lot longer than other areas of the country, so their durability is tested.