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Comments
Can you just get a saw or a cutting torch out? :P
It shouldn't be that hard to remove and modify, though there would be an extra cost.
Well, yeah....
How has that done on the reliability front?
GM still has more to do, especially with the Chevy brand in continuing to improve material quality and ergonomics, but the new Malibu and Equinox are definitely steps in the right direction!
its nice to see some things with GM have begun changing for the better! the interior's in the new Buick's I believe have been a bright spot for GM; while not a 100% there I've been more impressed with the material quality in the new Buicks then the Chevy's!
I plan to examine this in great detail at the NY Autoshow next month!!
Soft, dead, vague. It lumbered along. It's like you wanting to buy a watch and getting a brand new $5 one at a street vendor. It works, it is new, it keeps time. But it's just that and nothing more. How something new can be so dated and old feeling from the get-go I just don't understand. A car with 2,000 miles on it drove worse than my truck with nearly 400,000 miles on it. That's saying something.
The interior as well was plastic and like one giant piece of Tupperware. Honestly, I'd rather have a new Kia than that piece of junk.(though the SS is fast for what it is I guess...)
And yet the scary thing is, it actually IS an improvement for GM.
The 6 speed in my Expedition is much better in that regard. While it doesn't have much power in 6th/od either, it is much quicker to downshift a gear or two and since the ratios are closer together it's far more seamless. That is probably what I like most about a 5 or 6 speed auto. The ratios being closer makes for smoother performance.”
Although I have recently driven an Audi S4 with their S Tronic seven speed automatic [ amazingly quick shifts ] and that is now my benchmark \ standard for automatic transmission behavior, the current GM 6L80 I find an excellent match for my driving styles.
[ version = circa 2008 – circa 2006, as in my Corvette, not so much . . . ]
The RPM at cruise are quite low. 80 MPH is almost exactly 2,000 RPM. And 60 is 1,500. In either automatic mode, I find the TCC unlock to be appropriately responsive, and the kick-down to a lower gear in response to gradual throttle increases is quite well managed.
Even better is the response to “giddyup, let’s go!”. In fact, from low steady speeds [ say 45 to 55 ] in sixth gear, in Sport Automatic mode, the automatic downshift in response to suddenly flooring the accelerator is quite satisfyingly quick - transition directly to second gear with no stops in between, in barely more than the time it takes for the throttle to meet the carpet. The first time I tried this, I was very impressed. In fact, I am still impressed.
Manual downshifts are generally quick and the ‘rev match’ is well implemented. [ Accompanied by a lovely sound track, now that I have replaced the ‘axle back’ exhaust segments. ]
Obviously, my G8 GT is not as heavy as a Suburban.
Final drive ratio is 2.92:1.
YMMV.
- Ray
Quite happy with the V8 and the transmission . . .
How'd you get to getting to drive an S4 with the new 7 speed dual clutch auto?
I'm jealous. That is currently my dream (but somewhat obtainable car). I'm currently accepting donations from fellow Edmunds' posters to help my dream come true!
The sales associate at my local dealer 'insisted'.
- Ray
Oh, please don't throw me in THAT briar patch.....
Therefore, I am narrowing the field.
The S4 is currently at the top of my short list.
YMMV.
- Ray
Sometimes seduced by the ‘siren song’ of the V8 -
but also impressed with the sounds of Audi's S/C V6 . . .
As for the mileage of the Park Avenue - my father always raved about the highway mileage of his 1999 Park Avenue. I believe it was at least in the mid-20s. But he always drove the speed limit or slower, with heavy use of the cruise control. And his wasn't the supercharged version. But he was happy with the mileage of that car.
I was impressed by how far they've come from the Chevy Malibu Classic which......."
:surprise: :surprise: :surprise: I'm gonna faint!!!
Or they could just call up Honda and ask them to restart the old NSX.
Seeing that we're at 10% unemployment with many others too discouraged, or underemployed to be counted in the 10%, and $700B of borrowed $ keeping unemployment down to 10%, I don't see U.S. vehicle sales doing much. If I were putting bets where the future of the auto industry lies, I'd bet it's in low-cost cars like being sold in China. That's much more likely then people buying $30K Chevy's or $35K Buicks.
Who are you? And how have you hacked into the real andres3's account?
Actually some of us have been saying this all along. The radio controls are learnable. The lack of an OD button is not something most of us would miss. The car has a nice ride, it steers well, and it provides good local transportion. The seats fit me nicely even for a 2-hour trip, which is the longest I've made in ours; the kid takes it to school many days.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Actually some of us have been saying this all along. The radio controls are learnable. The lack of an OD button is not something most of us would miss. The car has a nice ride, it steers well, and it provides good local transportion. The seats fit me nicely even for a 2-hour trip, which is the longest I've made in ours; the kid takes it to school many days.
...and the car is drivable. It's sea of plastic is tolerable. You can sit in the seats and see out the windshield. And when you push the gas pedal, it usually accelerates... :P
(sorry, couldn't resist!)
I realize your goal is to diminish anything GM..., but have you sat in a two-year old corolla? Seat material to make a 50s car blush with strange, dirt-catching feel. How about the base Civic? I was in an SI a year ago in the showroom. It was much nicer than the accord's interior. Seats were better. But the base civic?
>
It'sIts sea of plastic...What basic car is not heavily plastic? :sick:
>And when you push the gas pedal, it usually accelerates
And if a toyota-lexus product, it may accelerate too much and too long. And you'll be blamed for the flaw in the end by Exponent and toyota-lexus' PR.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Why do you need an overdrive button, anyway? If you won't want the car to go into overdrive, can't you just put the shift lever in 3rd instead of 4th?
The seats fit me nicely even for a 2-hour trip, which is the longest I've made in ours
I can't comment on seat comfort, as I've only sat in Cobalts in auto shows and never had to endure one long-term. However, I'll say that it has one of the roomiest small car front seats I've ever sat in, when it comes to legroom.
The comfort will probably be variable with height--it fits me at 5 ft. 8 in. perfectly. Even has lumbar support adjustments.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I always thought the LeSabre was on the "H" platform shared with the Bonneville and the older (FWD) Sevilles were on the platform shared with the Olds Aurora (K ?). Or... are they all pretty much the same and just different wheelbases?
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
However, looking up on Wikipedia, they're saying the DTS is on something called a K-body, while the Lucerne is still on the H-body. Wikipedia mentions that the K- is based on the G-body.
I dunno anymore...I'm 'fused! :confuse:
Me too. After I posted that I looked on Wiki too. Looks to me that they are all basically the same. What I always thought was that the Bonneville, LeSabre, 88, 98, and PA were on one platform and the Deville, Aurora, Seville, and Eldo were on another. Maybe the different platform name was because some were V6 powertrains and the others were all Northstar based.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Another point of confusion with the G-body, IMO, is that it's sort of like the W-body in that not every model was redesigned at the same time, and you'd end up with multiple iterations of it in the same model year. Since running improvements were made with each redesign, you were usually better off getting the newest version of it. For instance, a 2000-2005 LeSabre or Bonneville is probably a better car in many regards than a 1997-2005 Park Ave. The Park Ave is roomier and more luxurious, but from what I've seen, the fit and finish on the LeSabres and Bonnevilles is better. Tighter, more even gaps, and probably less prone to squeaks, rattles, body flexing, etc.
And that's really not right, when you consider the Park Ave was the flagship. It should have been better in EVERY regard compared to the LeSabre.
Actually, I post here because I have a perverse belief that if we smack GM upside the face a bit in these forums, and if we are lucky enough that anybody from that company reads these posts, perhaps they will wake up and be aggressive in improving their products. After all, this is free market research!. And then perhaps they will also pay attention to the smaller entry level and sporty sedan market a bit, which is the area that I am more interested in. Because for the past 30 years, GM has *nothing* competitive in these areas!
If my intent was to diminish anything GM I would not have said that I think the Malibu has a nice interior, or that the new Buicks are a lot nicer looking than in the past, or that GM is a leader in the truck and large SUV areas.
but have you sat in a two-year old corolla? Seat material to make a 50s car blush with strange, dirt-catching feel.
I actually rented a Corolla a couple of years ago in Hawaii. And I agree that it was a sea of grey ugly plastic and the engine was surprisingly unrefined. My opinion of the Corolla declined greatly as a result of that rental. No arguments on your comments on that one.
How about the base Civic? I was in an SI a year ago in the showroom. It was much nicer than the accord's interior. Seats were better. But the base civic?
I see the Civic as a lot nicer than the Corolla, but the base model is not fabulous. But better than the Cobalt.
And if a toyota-lexus product, it may accelerate too much and too long. And you'll be blamed for the flaw in the end by Exponent and toyota-lexus' PR.
Agree. You know I was joking. Which is why I put the joking comment in parentheses. I guess it was your starting comment about the Cobalt ...."the radio controls are learnable...". Struck me as funny... so I went along with it. :P
I think even Caddy is taking notes on that score!
While it is still one of General Motors’ core brands, Cadillac
will distance itself from the Detroit automaker to avoid the stigma of the parent company’s $50 billion U.S.-backed bankruptcy last year.
According to Nick Twork, a Cadillac spokesman, the brand will erase the GM name from its marketing and dealerships, will change its e-mail addresses from @gm.com to @cadillac.com and will exit companywide promotions such as GM’s Red Tag Event. Twork said that the strategy is driven by GM’s restructuring.
“Cadillac, which has really turned itself around with new levels of quality and exemplary products, doesn’t want to be associated with something that will drag it down,” said John Grace, president of marketing consultant BrandTaxi LLC. “With GM’s bankruptcy comes lower credibility in the ability to build quality products.”
I believe Caddy is worried about Chevy particularly where 60% of sales is derived for GM.....many miles before they sleep.......
Regards,
OW
a 2008 with around 50,000 miles. We recently took a 800 mile round trip with it
and I drove about 1/4 of the way. I found it to be smooth, and relatively quiet.
The ride is not the best but it is compliant, much better than his older Cavalier
which he gave to his girlfriend and is still running fine at 180,000 miles.
The interior is in my opinion pretty nice. I think it is at least half as nice as
my cousin's Acura RDX which was about 3X the price. I think the 4 cylinder
turbo in the Acura had more vibration than the Cobalt at idle.
Just my opinion
and just to let you know, every single GM product I ever had was bought NEW so I took great care of it from the very beginning; any more things you want to try and pick on as to give more excuses why we are all lying about our personal experiences?
if anyone is ranting here it is you having to post repeated short remarks to everyone's opinion or personal history you disagree with; did you ever think that people don't always have the same automotive experience with the same company you do? even the best car makers makes 2 or 3 lemons out of every 100 cars produced so some people are going to have issues while others don't! just ACCEPT IT!
you do a great job of making excuse after excuse for GM, keep it up! its really gotten them far on this planet blaming everyone but themselves for their problems; and when they finally did admit they screwed up it was too late and they had to take billions of our hard earn money in bailouts, which still wasn't good enough and declare bankruptcy, like the crappy managed company they were!!
don't you get it, the auto companies with the most problems, GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota all went down the hill because of people like you who can't even admit there was a problem and put the blame on everyone and everything else instead of where it is truly deserved and warranted! also notice that the companies with the most problems/recalls are the ones with the highest product volume/sales; glad I don't buy from companies who care about how much money and products they make rather than quality control and the customer!
yeap, its all my fault I went through 5 alternators in 10 years! yeap, just keep blaming me, its all my fault; GM had no responsibility or liability in the matter! despite the fact I took the car in for all the scheduled maintenance items and at every interval! yeap, its all my fault
inexpensive domestic car like the Cobalt is described as
"uncompliant" or "harsh", wheras the ride in a premium
near-luxury foreign car like an Acura RDX is described as
"sporty" and "precise".
I've driven both and I prefer the ride in the Cobalt
to the RDX. There ar lots more owners of the RDX
that complain about the ride on the edmund's owner's
review site than do Cobalt owners.
The interior on the RDX is nothing to write home about
either. I think it looks cheap.
why would Acura even be mentioned in this forum? that really escapes me!
the Cobalt is much like the Toyota Corolla and Camry, its a okay car that is a jack of all trades, master of none, and is a good boring car to get you from point A to point B and if that is what you are looking for then the Cobalt would fit the bill!
what is wrong with you :confuse: I think you need to take a chill pill and just calm down! they are just cars, in the grand scheme of things they don't mean a damn thing since we can't take them with us when we go!
unlike you, I've given GM some very constructive criticism and pointed out some of the things GM has done well in the last two years; I've never wanted GM to fail, so stop trying to say and pass me off as some big anti-GM person! I'm hoping someday they improve to the point that I may be able to return but that day is no where here yet!
I've done well enough I can afford luxury cars, so I would be up in a Cadillac before anything Chevy or Buick had to offer; what difference does it make if they are made in Canada or US, they still fell apart just the same! the joke is, GM has a good chunk of their product line in other countries so they support the economies of Canada, Mexico, Korea, etc quite extensively! just like the foreign automakers support their countries so what is different, absolutely nothing!