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Comments
don't get me started with the mazda mx-6
to be honest, very few people in southern ontario are driving less than 120 km/h (75 mph) on the highways
no speeding tickets yet - knock on wood
(I've been driving 8 years, around 300,000 km total, probably about 1/2 on highways).
-- ash
The only one I paid was in the Escort. The brilliant blue color didn't help, I'm sure.
I've only been pulled over once in the Forester, and it was at the Outer Banks. I just told the officer "I'm sorry, I'm really in no hurry. Just taking the wife and baby to the vacation home in the wagon" and he let me off.
When you say "wagon" it sounds a lot less threatening than "Dirt Digger 2000 SUV", so that may have helped!
-juice
-mike
-mike
..Mike
You think he'd have let me off if it was just the two of us in the Miata, top down? NOT!
Watch the snow, guys. Even if you're responsible, watch out for all the errant 2WD (plus overconfident 4WD) vehicles flying out of control, so you have time to dodge them. It tends to happen a lot!
-juice
Grinning,
-wdb
-mike
-brian/subearu
Not getting much chance to test anything but the airconditioning in Melbourne as the weather is glorious. My kids have just about taken up residence in the pool. Only problem is that my 4 year old is convinced that we will have snow for Christmas and is quite certain the pool will freeze over sufficiently to allow skating. I'll let you know if it happens.
Cheers
Graham
Olds: Are they kidding? Phase it out over 5 years to re-coup development costs? Who the hell is going to buy a car that won't have a dealer network to service it, honor warranties, or get parts?! That is nuts. yes I KNOW the service stuff will be handed off to some other division, but that won't fly with Olds' current demographic. GM, please start making sense!
If I were a cop in Texas, I'd pull over Tempo and Aries drivers for, well, for bad taste!
We're getting freezing rain tonight, too. Time to cover the Miata, else it'll end up with that line of Bimmers.
-juice
Call it a Delta 88 ss. This is the saving grace for Oldsmobile, this *IS* your father's oldsmobile .
-mike
See what I mean, though? We get a watered down, auto-only, underpowered V6 version, while they get a Corvette engined RWD monster with a 6 speed and even a LSD!
Hutch and I drove a Catera at Edmunds, and it was pretty much worst-in-class. I may not remember fully, but I'm not even sure he bothered to drive it.
They're replacing the Catera with the CTS (Catera Touring Sedan) with Evoq styling pretty soon. Not soon enough! How 'bout offering that drivetrain, though?
GM has lost so much market share they had to drop Olds. Besides, every model has a twin from another division that sells better. The timing is odd, though, since they just released the new Aurora.
All the better to focus more resources on Subaru, which can actually do battle with other imports.
-juice
Olds... too sad. It had it coming though. But 103 years got to be respected. Who's next? Buick? GMC?
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it the Olds engineering dept that first came up with an auto-tranny?
Some of the more memorable ones include one for doing 35 over (90 in a 55) and the time I got 3 in a 15 min span courtesy of cameras on hwy over-passes on the autobahn (it turns out that they do have speed limits in Germany!). Oh I also got stopped for doing 80+ (in a 55) on a rural stretch of Montana hwy and didn't get a speeding ticket per se but was cited for "unnecessary waste of a public resource" (gas) and had to pay a $15 fine.
Now-a-days I am a reformed speeder. It's been 13+ years since my last ticket. I stick to the 10 over rule or whatever the avg speed is (avg speed in Atlanta is usually 20 over).
-Frank P.
I'm with Juice -- Drive a "wagon" and carry a big sway bar.
-Dan
Also, if GMC is professional grade, doesn't that imply Chevy sells lesser products?
Frank: $15 for getting caught doin' 80 ain't bad. Too bad the "no daytime speed limit" got dropped.
Good one, Dan.
-juice
-mike
Cadillac: luxury line of cars and SUVs plus a couple of dressed up Buicks rebadged as Caddys
GMC: totally redundant.
Buick: The elderly contingent will be just as happy to buy a low-end Caddy (spiffed up Buick), with wire rims, whitewalls, and vinyl tops.
Pontiac: with a death of F-body, there is no much "performance" left in the division. Just Grand Prix alone is not enough to justify it's existence.
Of course, there is still a set of divisions like Saab, Saturn, Subaru, Opel, etc. They all will become Chevy! scary thought huh?
-mike
paisan: I also prefer the GMC look, but just rebadge those as Chevys!
GM promised to stay out of Subaru's business and for the most part, and so far they have. This arrangement is fine with me.
-juice
Ross
I'm convinced (CONVINCED!!!) that GM (and Ford & Chrysler too) should sell all their vehicles in one big showroom, not separate dealerships as they now do. I've believed this for years.
I know GM is pairing up Chevy, Olds (but no more) and Caddy together; as they are pairing up Pontiac, Buick and GMC. They need to get them ALL under one roof! You could still separate Caddy from the rest of the un-washed, if need be. The showroom could easily be divided up into separate areas.
That's the only way you will eliminate model redundancy. No more would there be three different GM minivans competing with one another. There would only be one, perhaps to versions. The same would hold true for all the other products.
As for Olds... what took them so long?
Bob
If anything all SUV/Pickups/Vans should be shifted to the GMC lineup, and Mini-vans, sedans etc. should be sent to the chevy line and keep the Caddy's separate.
-mike
Bob: I thought it was BOC (Buick, Olds, Cadillac) as one group. Ah, they've changed so many times...
Note that dropping Plymouth hurt D/C. Even though products were not eliminated (they just wear Chrysler badges), their minivan sales dropped 14%.
-juice
A co-worker asked me to help set up a presentation tomorrow at 10am. We heard a weather forecast on the radio together (sleet, freezing rain, basically miserable), and she looked at me with real concern as to whether I'd make it in.
I smiled, and she said, "you have a Subaru, right?" Her face lit up!
Rats. No snow days. Ever.
-juice
I may be a minority of one here, but, as I said before, I strongly believe they need to get them all under one roof. That's the "only" way to eliminate the model redundancy.
Both Chevy and GMC sell Class V - VII, medium duty trucks. The only difference between them is the logo on the grille. Combine them into a "ONE" medium-duty brand/franchise, instead of two. That could be a stand alone medium/heavy truck dealer, or with a large car dealer. Smaller car dealers would only get this franchise if they can meet the expectations/needs of a "true" truck dealer. If they don't qualify, they don't handle the large" commercial" trucks.
As far as one large "GM automobile center" in citys, it can be done. I didn't say it would be easy, but it can be done.
In the long run, it will come down to the survival of GM. I'm not talking about tomorrow, but 10 years down the road from now. As bad as things have gotten for GM, it's going to get worse. Mark my words.
In a "Perfect World, According to Bob;" a large car corporation should have one mainstream brand, a premium brand, and perhaps some speciality brand(s); all sold under one roof, with a large service area for everything. GM's brand/product portfolio doesn't even come close to that.
Bob
I'm sorta bummed but I did expect problems asking for the noise fix. And the noise was annoying and would probably have bothered me more than the paint job.
bit
Somebody obviously did encounter ice, since Austin police reported 272 wrecks by 9 p.m. Tuesday night (very high for Austin, but it might be the equivalent of a slow, sunny day in Houston). Things thawed pretty quickly this morning; as I heard someone else saying, we don't so much have a winter season in Austin but just scattered winter days.
..Mike
..Mike
traffic tickets, here is a cops perspective. Aside
from "What's the wildest (scariest, funniest)
situation you've seen in your police career?”
questions on tickets are the most common.
Make no mistake about it; there ARE quotas to be
met, they are called "productivity goals" or the
like. They are mandated at the top of municipal
(or state) government and it all trickles down to
the cop in the street. Revenue from summons
activity is counted on in budget planning and woe
be to the police commissioner who does not deliver.
The police brass can justify these numbers by
saying that "An officer on patrol who is vigilant
will witness many more violations than productivity
goals require." Moreover, they are correct!
In New York City, egregious traffic violations of
every type can be witnessed on a daily basis. Why
then does it seem like cops are always picking on
the guy only doing 12mph over the limit, or
sneaking through an "amber" light (late for work,
or, going to the doctor of course).
Most police officers hate issuing summonses, that
said, many officers relish issuing summonses to
those folks who flaunt the law (myself included).
So when you are pulled over, just tell the truth
and be somewhat humble. If you truly don't know
what you were pulled over for, just produce your
license etc. and the officer will tell you. The
best excuse is that you were not fully paying
attention to the task (driving safely).
Cops, especially seasoned cops, can smell BS as
soon as they get out of the squad car. Also be
aware that Highway Patrol cops do not have the same
leeway when it comes to warning and admonishing
motorists as do street cops. First of all, most
vehicle stops are now video and audio recorded.
Secondly, when the radar speed threshold is
exceeded (about 72 mph or so) the radar unit records
the time, and the officer punches the plate number
into his mobile digital terminal before he exits
the police cruiser. He/she must produce a summons
for each speed exceedence, or write a detailed
report on extenuating circumstances.
I will take this opportunity to apologize for
over-zealous (usually young) officers, or those who
have become cynical. Keep in mind that cops are
also responding to crimes in progress, domestic
disputes, violent crimes etc. on a daily basis.
I always laugh when I hear someone say "My uncle
was a cop for 20 years and never pulled his gun
once." They mean to say, "He never fired his
gun". The gun comes out of the holster many times
in month of police work, and don't be surprised
when you are pulled over and see a drawn weapon, or
a hand ready to draw, vehicle stops are
statistically number four in the top five fatal
encounters for police officers, but I digress!
Please feel free to ask me any questions related
to traffic stops or policing in general, it's not
often I get a public forum to vent like this!
Drew/aling
Edmunds.com Townhall host
Bob
-wdb
Ross
This version has a better profile though! HTML works in the dialog box at the bottom, look at my profile.
-Colin
1. Disable auto login
2. Logout
3. Login again manually
The problem is that the previous WellEngaged system and the new Web Crossing system are a little muddled up right now. It will be rectified as the DNS changes.
Your posts may have been lost since the server is constantly be rebooted as changes are being made to squish the bugs. If you have any further questions about the software, try posting in the New software questions topic.
Hope this helps!
Drew
Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=137587&a=1130466&p=35593301
A few other pictures:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=137587&a=1130466&p=35593299
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=137587&a=1130466&p=35593296
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=137587&a=1130466&p=35593296
Drew
Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
An extender is what ... um, really large people use to make the seatbelt longer.
-Colin
Isn't a pre-tensioner (better ones coupled with force limiters) a device that employs a pyrotechnic charge to significantly reduce seatbelt slack in the event of an accident?
Drew
Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
As I mentioned earlier, the TH team is working around the clock at fixing the glitches and adding features. Something equlvalent to the placemarks feature in Well Engaged has now been added, ahead of schedule. Note the "Mark" buttons at the top of each discussion topic/each message, as well as the "Message Centre" and "Subscribe" buttons near the bottom of the page, above the post box. You can access the topics you "mark" via the "Message centre" button.
Note also that the message width has been reduced so that it doesn't stretch out as far across the screen; the font has been changed from Arial to Times New Roman. The small font in the post box for those of us who use Netscape is also being taken care of as we "speak".
Hope you all will find this new message centre feature helpful!
Drew
Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
Test, for gawd's sake. I cannot believe I have to do this.
-wdb
-mike