Andre, I believe you're right about the '68 Nova being based on the '67 Camaro. Does make one wonder if they hurried production of the Camaro and pushed it up a year to counter the Mustang.
The '68 Nova will still called a "Chevy II Nova"--sort of a hybrid name, like "Star Chief Executive" was for Pontiac in '66. After '68, the Nova was referred to in ads as the "Chevy Nova".
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Spent last night at a hotel by the Milwaukee airport, opened up the blinds this am and there was a national rental car facility with a sea of Chevy's. Only a few other cars (to my surprise, not even one hangar queen Altima!). I was suprised at the number of new Equinox's there since I thought they were selling very well.
IIRC the vette and camaro got TPI, everything else had TBI until late 90's to meet emmision standrds. Thats V8's, I know the 3.8 had port injection and so did the quad 4.
Here is some interesting GM News regarding the Hyundai/Kia comment from Obama in his 3-year late effort to creat jobs:
"If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. (Applause.)"
Fords and Chryslers, maybe. But folks in South Korea do drive Chevys.
Maybe a trade deal would help General Motors, too, but the White House should know that GM -- still 26% owned by the U.S. government -- already has a successful GM Korea unit (renamed from GM Daewoo in March). It now sell its cars there under the Chevy brand and has introduced a batch of new global Chevrolet models this year.
According to an Aug. 31 GM release: "Chevrolet is on the move in Korea with sales up 27% in the first six months since the brand was introduced and 55% of Koreans saying they would consider buying a Chevy." GM Korea sold 11,408 vehicles in South Korea in August, up 25% from last August, and exported 43,036, says GM.
And GM sells GM Korea-designed cars in the U.S., such as the coming new Chevrolet Sonic/Aveo and Spark. GM Korea played a big role in designing the global Chevy Cruze.
And the redesigned, global 2013 Chevy Malibu "will soon be launched in Korea before any other market," said Mike Arcamone, CEO of GM Korea in a statement.
"The market response to the 100-year-old Chevrolet brand in Korea has exceeded our expectations," said Ankush Arora, GM Korea VP of sales.
I guess the thing I have the hardest time understanding--although you have every right to do it--is why post here if you hate GM's? And you guys do post routinely. I dislike Toyotas--I don't even look at their forums.
I am an owner of GM. I can post anything I want about GM here. You are too!
Don't exert yourself so much about the loathe GM gets for managing a 60% market share loss to 19%. If you were responsible, how would you feel about that? That would be on Roger's watch.
Few organizations in American industry have had the long-term success that GM enjoyed. It was the industry's low-cost producer, with powerful economies of scale and market share as high as 60%. For a long time only the threat of Justice Department action to shrink the company's market dominance clouded the picture.
While GM prospered for years, problems were beginning to brew under the surface. Although U.S. demand for cars increased after WWII, European manufacturers were beginning to make an impact. In 1956, for example, Ford and GM lost 15% in sales while imports doubled their market penetration, and even worse, the following year the U.S. actually imported more cars than it exported. By 1956, GM's market share for new car sales fell to 42%.
Over time, other pressures arose. The tumultuous 1960s brought growing urban poverty and riots in Detroit. The nascent environmental movement focused attention on pollution and, by 1974, GM was spending $2.25 billion to meet pollution regulations, with that figure doubling by the end of the decade. To top it off, the OPEC oil embargo drastically decreased demand for GM's luxury, gas-guzzling cars. While GM introduced smaller cars, the market dwindled in the late 1970s as the U.S. plunged into recession. Into this environment—with GM recording only its second year of losses in its long history—Roger Smith became Chairman and CEO in 1981, bringing with him a confident vision to carry GM back to its glory days.
I am sure GM reads these posts. Gotta keep them honest. The days of Blind Loyalty are over. For GM, Toyota, Honda as well as Ford and Chrysler-Fiat.
They all have to earn it. 3 years out of bankruptcy and still part owned by me and the rest of the US doesn't do it. :shades:
You sure are bitter for your...what...$500 ownership of GM? Man, and I get criticized as being bitter for saying soldiers who murdered U.S. GI's were still building Hondas, Toyotas, and VW's into the late '80's.
Today, of all days, it ought to be evident that turning a blind eye to horrific things like that is sticking our heads in the sand. The world would be a better place when those who do horrific things won't think, "Ahh, it's OK, in a few years nobody will even wish to think about it."
Sometimes, it's more than what just appeals to "me" in the moment...there's a big picture.
No doubt GM screwed up. They were huge, cumbersome, and saddled with legacy costs the upstarts didn't have. Yes, they had quality issues. Some of their own design; some from beating up suppliers. It's not the same company. I'm all for a level playing field. We know the history of that over the decades. It hasn't been. Surely you know that. And GM, despite all the whining, is still No. 1.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
I am bitter no more! Remember, I disposed of the bad product. When my portion of GM goes away, GM will be on it's own. You can be loyal to Old GM or New GM. I applaud you.
It's not the same company is an understatement. It is still Government owned, however. It still has legacy issues from the old GM.
You want them to improve? Never give up demanding more.
You give them blind loyalty, history repeats itself. That is a choice. Sticking one's head in the sand in the auto world is exactly the history behind GM and the other D2...except for the prior burned who found good product elsewhere.
You can say "Fugheddaboudit, GM is a new company, get off the bankruptcy stuff!"
Short-term, yes, but there are a lot of recent used Mustangs for sale (competing with new ones), plus there was pent-up demand for the Camaro since it had gone out of production for such a long time.
I would not be surprised to see the Mustang slowly re-gain the pony car sales lead, especially with the new five-oh.
I'm sure Lutz wasn't talking about the gen I Prius, but the better selling models that came later.
Toyota found that a hybrid that looked unique was crucial, hence one reason the Volt doesn't look like a Cruze, even though it's based on one. So GM definitely applied the lesson Toyota learned.
Goes back to the "sore loser" sentiment. His mild hybrids got clobbered. GM now takes a page from Toyota's book and goes with unique style and a powertrain that pushes the bean counters well outside their comfort limit.
Laugh all you want but the Germans are all tripping over themselves coming out with their own hybrids now. I've lost track, it seems like 7 new hybrids launch each week, and just from Germany.
Not at all, Toyota played with the formula until they got it right for the buying public, and they've sold how many millions now?
I don't get why people hate the Prius so much. I don't want one, either, but let's fact it, they nailed the formula, it's been a cash cow.
Lutz is jealous. GM is studying what Toyota did closely and trying to mimic that same success.
Porsche comes out with an SUV and I say they sold out, every one comes up with excuses like they need to make money so that they can continue making sports cars. OK, fine, then why were they breaking records on profits vs. sales, and now they're in serious jeopardy?
Porsche gets a pass because they are Porsche. Cayenne is far more offensive than Prius ever was.
And heck! You can even get a hybrid now! Inspired by Prius, woo-hoo!
Ridiculous.
A very short while ago someone said something like #1 gets all the heat, all the criticism, and they're absolutely right. I think it was uplanderguy.
Well, in the green segment, we all know who that #1 is. It paints a pretty huge target.
They had a weirdo JDM trunkback one that didn't get much marketing attention or consumer attention, but then came out with the nerdy second version, flogged it and placed it everywhere, made sure it delivered some economy as gas prices started their climb - and that's all they needed. Nailed it, yes, but it's not a car for people who like cars.
Porsche can at least claim to make something good with the profits from the SUV posermobiles, Toyota, not so much good with the hybrid profits, just more beige or isotanks, or supercars nobody can buy.
Drive behind a Prius in any kind of merging situation, or one that is hypermiling. You'll be reaching for your Uzi :shades:
dropped my Park Ave off for some servicing today, and just got a call from the mechanic. One ball joint is slightly worn, and one of the front brake calipers is sticking and making the brake pad wear out prematurely. Oh, and the tensioner for the belt is going bad.
None of that is catastrophic, but still a bit annoying. On one hand, the car is 12 years old, but on the other, it only has about 74,500 miles on it. I guess I could see a caliper sticking, from old age, but wouldn't a ball joint and a tensioner be more of a high-miles type of thing?
Now, to be fair, if this was a Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, or Toyota, I'd still be griping. But, I'm not exactly proud of my Buick right now. None of this stuff ever went bad on my 2000 Intrepid in the 150,000 miles I had it (although to be fair, it was only 10 years old when it was finally totaled). And even my grandmother's old '85 LeSabre, which she bought new and got passed down to me, never needed a brake caliper, although it did need new ball joints (can't remember if it was the upper or lower, but it was whichever ones are cheaper to replace) around 144,000 miles. And I do remember it had some issue where the back brakes would lock up prematurely, a few thousand miles earlier.
I had an 8 year old used car with only 26k miles and the age was far more meaningful than the mileage was in some regards (especially fluids).
Just got a call back from the mechanic, and it turns out it wasn't the ball joint, but the tie rods. I think they tend to be cheaper, so maybe it won't be so bad. And he's gonna see if he can rebuild the caliper, which would be cheaper than replacing both of them.
Still, I'm not really much of a GM fan right now, and a new Charger is looking more and more tempting! :sick:
Cars for people who like cars are for enthusiasts, yes. My mother needs cars too, but that market isn't my concern, and when all efforts cater to that market, I lose respect for the brand. Some brands at some times have been able to make beigeboxes and cars both, or somehow just as good, boxes that have just enough driving pleasure to be enjoyable (older Hondas come to mind),
Cayenne money gives is a dozen new 911 variants and others, too. I look at Panamera as a Cayenne offshoot rather than a new performance offshoot - perfect car for undeserved Wall St bonuses. And yeah, it's ugly, especially the rear views.
I don't believe that Camaro sales are outpacing Mustang because they discontinued Camaros after the 2002 model year until the new model. I also think used-car buyers generally don't compete with new-car buyers on a 'halo' model like that. Could it actually be that they're selling on their own merit?
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
A neighbor bought a new black Mustang GT 5.0 and was outside washing it this weekend. However, there is a new red Camaro parked a couple spaces up the block.
Hey, if you don't want that Park Ave...(anybody want a Grand Marquis?) :P I'd truly be impressed if you got that new Charger, especially an SRT8 Hemi! A guy at work has one. Just saw a nice red Pontiac G8 GXP at work yesterday.
Oh, at this point I'm in enough of a mood that I want to get rid of everything that has a reference to The Big Apple that's in my fleet...New Yorker, Park Ave, 5th Ave...they're all irritating me right now! :P
If I got a new Charger, the Hemi would be way cool, but realistically, I'd probably just get the V-6. Not a total stripper though; I at least want a sunroof.
If I got a new Charger, the Hemi would be way cool, but realistically, I'd probably just get the V-6. Not a total stripper though; I at least want a sunroof.
Heck, with the new 3.6L you still get more than 290 HP, which will move the Charger quite nicely, I should think.
Plus, I really like the new exterior ... and have heard that the interior has been greatly improved as well.
My Riv had a caliper not retracting. The road salt had got to the caliper piston and rusted the chrome or stainless metal. I put in a $31 caliper and just let the fliud fill it by gravity before capping the bleed screw. I sprayed it with black paint before putting it on too. It was about 11 yrs old with 135k when it happened. I noticed the problem from a 2-3 mpg drop.
I thought I had a bad pulley on one of the belts this spring. I had 15 yrs, 182k miles on the original belts. I took it to the Buick dealer for a new plastic fuel line and they gave me a very good price to change the belts. I got it done and expected a call about a bad pulley or tensioner but they didn't. The new belts did the trick. The tensioner is usually a big thick spring. How could that go bad? I feel better with new belts after 15 years.
Ball joints on a Park Ave? My Riv has struts.
I finally fixed my CEL after 5 years last week. I had a vac hose off the throttle body that was a loose connection. It was a small hose stuck into a larger hose because the original stepped pc of vac tube had cracked. I wrapped the smaller hose OD with elect tape and got it to fit tight into the larger hose. The CEL has been off since. The fuel evap was failing a leak test and setting a code and I figured it was the 15 foot lines that ran to the charcoal canister by the rear wheels and back. All this time I thought I was leaking fuel into the atmosphere.
I'm due to check my brakes. I don't rotate tires and it's been about 60k miles since I did all 4 sets of pads. I can't remember the last time I even looked at the pads.
My Riv had a caliper not retracting. The road salt had got to the caliper piston and rusted the chrome or stainless metal. I put in a $31 caliper and just let the fliud fill it by gravity before capping the bleed screw. I sprayed it with black paint before putting it on too. It was about 11 yrs old with 135k when it happened. I noticed the problem from a 2-3 mpg drop.
Was it hard to put the new caliper on? The last time I messed around with brakes was when I replaced the front pads and rotors on my 2000 Intrepid, back in late 2004. To do that, you have to take off two bolts and move the caliper anyway, so after that, isn't it just a matter of taking off a brake hose?
My Intrepid didn't have ABS. Would the ABS on the Park Ave make removing a caliper any trickier?
Also, I wonder if that sticky caliper might be causing lower MPG in my Park Ave? I've always thought its mpg was a little low...except for two highway runs, once where I hit 29.8 mpg and another when I barely broke 31. The car is great for coasting though...take your foot off the gas and it keeps rolling for a long time. I figure if the caliper is sticking too badly, it would drag the car down the second I let off the gas.
I never felt anything but my pads were worn crooked and I noticed the mpg drop.
My front calipers pivot up for pad change. Remove one pin and they pivot out on the other pin. Revoval was a little tricky...to get the pivot pin out. Can't remember. Then it was just the rubber line. I never had to bleed the new caliper after gravity did it's job. I just kept the reservoir topped off as fluid slowly ran into the new caliper. When I checked the brakes after, they were fine without bleeding.
The rubber hose can get internal wall breakdown that slows retraction of pistons. Look for any deformity in the hose. I was about to change the hose in my Sonoma recently due to a pull when braking, but sold the truck before I did it.
Your caliper is probably like my 03 Buick. There are two small bolts. Normally one is taken out and the caliper pivoted up to change pads. Remove the other pivot bolt and the caliper is free other than the brake line. The two bolts are slightly different; keep track of which is which.
The ABS sensor is not involved here. It connects to the hub itself.
Build more cars at U.S. Plants....IOW make sure cars cost more? Anybody HOME?
All three automakers have made it clear they want to have performance bonuses based on profits, productivity and vehicle quality be a bigger part of the pay package in this deal, and union leadership has signaled they're willing to consider such a change.
The union is seeking more guarantees from the automakers to build future models at its U.S. plants rather than at lower-cost non-union plants they operate in growing markets overseas.
It would be nice if all of their customers were making $38/Hr. to ensure that labor costs for autos produced in the U.S. remain far above the other producing countries and quality remains high would be a no-brainer. Keep car prices climbing wouldn't be a problem, right?
Reality bites but 2 years out of bankruptcy and the UAW gathers steam.
This time, the management is pushing profit sharing based on results. AFAIC, this makes total sense but let's see if it is embraced by the most greedy entity in modern industrial times.
I wonder if they haven't come out from the hole in the ground they made....the U.S. is not a growing market for UAW-built iron. Hello??
As stated, changing the caliper is relatively easy. Now try changing the rotors on a FWD vehicle. Ewwww.
Really? On my Intrepid, they were simple as could be. Once I got the caliper off, there were just three little clips that held the rotor in place, that were pushed over three of the five lug bolts. Pop those cilps off, and the rotor just slid off, like taking off a tire.
My Park Ave could be different, though. My mechanic said it was something they called a "top hat" rotor. I wonder if that's simply jargon for what I've heard referred to as a "two-piece" rotor, where the rotor itself and the bearing hub, which contains the lug bolts, are two separate pieces?
I got a call back from the mechanic, and he said he should be able to rebuild the existing calipers, which will be a bit cheaper than replacing them. He prefers to use high quality parts, so I guess that means "Genuine GM Parts"! The rotors, he said, are thin, so they really need to be replaced, and they should be cheap enough that replacing would actually be cheaper than machining them.
So, I'm not AS miffed at the car, as I had been. And, in a bit of redemption for all thing that reference the Big Apple, my '79 New Yorker even got me to work and back today, without incident! :shades:
If you look up the part on adv auto or azone site you can see a photo of the replacement rotor and sometimes tell how it fits. I think I put new front rotors on my Riv from advance. I returned the rear rotors after seeing how little wear the possibly original pads had at 120k.
when all efforts cater to that market, I lose respect for the brand
To be fair the IS-F matched the M3 on the Lightning Lap, Toyota beat the electric record on the 'ring, and the LF-A just broke the production record on the 'ring as well, so that thinking is outdated.
The 50 of them sold out, maybe they should have built more... Electric record? Who cares.
That sums up Lutz' thinking, too. Fine, but it explains his half-hearted efforts at producing mild hybrids.
Like I said, have you ever even seen a single Aura hybrid? I don't recall even one.
Either commit, and build a good one, or pass. GM went half way. Huge mistake.
I'm not convinced the new Buicks will do any better. They offer the mild hybrid or the V6 at the same price, and everyone is picking the V6. Again, half-hearted.
I can't figure out with all the tax subsidies and bail out monies given to GM, why does the CTS still cost more than 20K? I think all GM's should be half off starting today.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Well, to be fair, I didn't say electric cars who cars, but electric record. Electric car people don't care about driving excitement, performance people don't want to drive electric.
I forgot about the Aura hybrid, I do recall a Malibu hybrid anyway, and I have seen a few big useless Escalade-Yukon class hybrids on the road.
Betting on the mild hybrid doesn't seem to work in their price range. The hybrid lover wants it all the way.
I would never expect Lutz to admit error. Huge ego there, much of it justified, but maybe not all of it. There weren't any green buyers in 1967, and I don't know if he knows that.
Comments
The '68 Nova will still called a "Chevy II Nova"--sort of a hybrid name, like "Star Chief Executive" was for Pontiac in '66. After '68, the Nova was referred to in ads as the "Chevy Nova".
"If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. (Applause.)"
Fords and Chryslers, maybe. But folks in South Korea do drive Chevys.
Maybe a trade deal would help General Motors, too, but the White House should know that GM -- still 26% owned by the U.S. government -- already has a successful GM Korea unit (renamed from GM Daewoo in March). It now sell its cars there under the Chevy brand and has introduced a batch of new global Chevrolet models this year.
According to an Aug. 31 GM release: "Chevrolet is on the move in Korea with sales up 27% in the first six months since the brand was introduced and 55% of Koreans saying they would consider buying a Chevy." GM Korea sold 11,408 vehicles in South Korea in August, up 25% from last August, and exported 43,036, says GM.
And GM sells GM Korea-designed cars in the U.S., such as the coming new Chevrolet Sonic/Aveo and Spark. GM Korea played a big role in designing the global Chevy Cruze.
And the redesigned, global 2013 Chevy Malibu "will soon be launched in Korea before any other market," said Mike Arcamone, CEO of GM Korea in a statement.
"The market response to the 100-year-old Chevrolet brand in Korea has exceeded our expectations," said Ankush Arora, GM Korea VP of sales.
Just keeping it real. Running Deep in Korea!
Regards,
OW
I am an owner of GM. I can post anything I want about GM here. You are too!
Don't exert yourself so much about the loathe GM gets for managing a 60% market share loss to 19%. If you were responsible, how would you feel about that? That would be on Roger's watch.
Few organizations in American industry have had the long-term success that GM enjoyed. It was the industry's low-cost producer, with powerful economies of scale and market share as high as 60%. For a long time only the threat of Justice Department action to shrink the company's market dominance clouded the picture.
While GM prospered for years, problems were beginning to brew under the surface. Although U.S. demand for cars increased after WWII, European manufacturers were beginning to make an impact. In 1956, for example, Ford and GM lost 15% in sales while imports doubled their market penetration, and even worse, the following year the U.S. actually imported more cars than it exported. By 1956, GM's market share for new car sales fell to 42%.
Over time, other pressures arose. The tumultuous 1960s brought growing urban poverty and riots in Detroit. The nascent environmental movement focused attention on pollution and, by 1974, GM was spending $2.25 billion to meet pollution regulations, with that figure doubling by the end of the decade. To top it off, the OPEC oil embargo drastically decreased demand for GM's luxury, gas-guzzling cars. While GM introduced smaller cars, the market dwindled in the late 1970s as the U.S. plunged into recession. Into this environment—with GM recording only its second year of losses in its long history—Roger Smith became Chairman and CEO in 1981, bringing with him a confident vision to carry GM back to its glory days.
I am sure GM reads these posts. Gotta keep them honest. The days of Blind Loyalty are over. For GM, Toyota, Honda as well as Ford and Chrysler-Fiat.
They all have to earn it. 3 years out of bankruptcy and still part owned by me and the rest of the US doesn't do it. :shades:
Regards,
OW
Today, of all days, it ought to be evident that turning a blind eye to horrific things like that is sticking our heads in the sand. The world would be a better place when those who do horrific things won't think, "Ahh, it's OK, in a few years nobody will even wish to think about it."
Sometimes, it's more than what just appeals to "me" in the moment...there's a big picture.
No doubt GM screwed up. They were huge, cumbersome, and saddled with legacy costs the upstarts didn't have. Yes, they had quality issues. Some of their own design; some from beating up suppliers. It's not the same company. I'm all for a level playing field. We know the history of that over the decades. It hasn't been. Surely you know that. And GM, despite all the whining, is still No. 1.
It's not the same company is an understatement. It is still Government owned, however. It still has legacy issues from the old GM.
You want them to improve? Never give up demanding more.
You give them blind loyalty, history repeats itself. That is a choice. Sticking one's head in the sand in the auto world is exactly the history behind GM and the other D2...except for the prior burned who found good product elsewhere.
You can say "Fugheddaboudit, GM is a new company, get off the bankruptcy stuff!"
I will not forget!
Regards,
OW
Hey, no one put a gun to GM's head and said they had to do business in China. If you don't like it, don't do business there!
Short-term, yes, but there are a lot of recent used Mustangs for sale (competing with new ones), plus there was pent-up demand for the Camaro since it had gone out of production for such a long time.
I would not be surprised to see the Mustang slowly re-gain the pony car sales lead, especially with the new five-oh.
Toyota found that a hybrid that looked unique was crucial, hence one reason the Volt doesn't look like a Cruze, even though it's based on one. So GM definitely applied the lesson Toyota learned.
Goes back to the "sore loser" sentiment. His mild hybrids got clobbered. GM now takes a page from Toyota's book and goes with unique style and a powertrain that pushes the bean counters well outside their comfort limit.
He's critical of them, yet he mimics them.
I don't get why people hate the Prius so much. I don't want one, either, but let's fact it, they nailed the formula, it's been a cash cow.
Lutz is jealous. GM is studying what Toyota did closely and trying to mimic that same success.
Porsche comes out with an SUV and I say they sold out, every one comes up with excuses like they need to make money so that they can continue making sports cars. OK, fine, then why were they breaking records on profits vs. sales, and now they're in serious jeopardy?
Porsche gets a pass because they are Porsche. Cayenne is far more offensive than Prius ever was.
And heck! You can even get a hybrid now! Inspired by Prius, woo-hoo!
Ridiculous.
A very short while ago someone said something like #1 gets all the heat, all the criticism, and they're absolutely right. I think it was uplanderguy.
Well, in the green segment, we all know who that #1 is. It paints a pretty huge target.
Porsche can at least claim to make something good with the profits from the SUV posermobiles, Toyota, not so much good with the hybrid profits, just more beige or isotanks, or supercars nobody can buy.
Drive behind a Prius in any kind of merging situation, or one that is hypermiling. You'll be reaching for your Uzi :shades:
None of that is catastrophic, but still a bit annoying. On one hand, the car is 12 years old, but on the other, it only has about 74,500 miles on it. I guess I could see a caliper sticking, from old age, but wouldn't a ball joint and a tensioner be more of a high-miles type of thing?
Now, to be fair, if this was a Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, or Toyota, I'd still be griping. But, I'm not exactly proud of my Buick right now. None of this stuff ever went bad on my 2000 Intrepid in the 150,000 miles I had it (although to be fair, it was only 10 years old when it was finally totaled). And even my grandmother's old '85 LeSabre, which she bought new and got passed down to me, never needed a brake caliper, although it did need new ball joints (can't remember if it was the upper or lower, but it was whichever ones are cheaper to replace) around 144,000 miles. And I do remember it had some issue where the back brakes would lock up prematurely, a few thousand miles earlier.
Oh, the rear window defroster is out, too. :sick:
Must all cars be for enthusiasts?
If they listened to us, we would only have diesel station wagons with manual transmissions. They'd sell 3, and go bankrupt.
They use less gas, hey, more for us. Passing them is easy enough.
CAFE credits earned by the Prius allows Toyota to sell me the quickest minivan, with WAY too much power, i.e. just the way I like it.
Cayenne profits only fueled an even worse phenomenon: the Panamera.
Where's the barf emotorcon?
I had an 8 year old used car with only 26k miles and the age was far more meaningful than the mileage was in some regards (especially fluids).
Just got a call back from the mechanic, and it turns out it wasn't the ball joint, but the tie rods. I think they tend to be cheaper, so maybe it won't be so bad. And he's gonna see if he can rebuild the caliper, which would be cheaper than replacing both of them.
Still, I'm not really much of a GM fan right now, and a new Charger is looking more and more tempting! :sick:
Cayenne money gives is a dozen new 911 variants and others, too. I look at Panamera as a Cayenne offshoot rather than a new performance offshoot - perfect car for undeserved Wall St bonuses. And yeah, it's ugly, especially the rear views.
Could it actually be that they're selling on their own mullet?
lol
Nope. 580 horsepower wouldn't affect any testosterone-challengened male's brain further than it already is.
ZL-1 model as a halo car.
"Mustangs are just selling less because everyone is buying used ones instead?"
GIMME A BREAK. That's bad logic.
Camaros are selling because GM is building good dogfood.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'd truly be impressed if you got that new Charger, especially an SRT8 Hemi! A guy at work has one. Just saw a nice red Pontiac G8 GXP at work yesterday.
I go through the same thought process regarding my Expedition. In the end, a few parts are far cheaper than a new vehicle.
Though I will say, you're far to young to be lumbering around in a Park Ave;) Buy a hemi Charger and live a little;)
If I got a new Charger, the Hemi would be way cool, but realistically, I'd probably just get the V-6. Not a total stripper though; I at least want a sunroof.
Heck, with the new 3.6L you still get more than 290 HP, which will move the Charger quite nicely, I should think.
Plus, I really like the new exterior ... and have heard that the interior has been greatly improved as well.
I thought I had a bad pulley on one of the belts this spring. I had 15 yrs, 182k miles on the original belts. I took it to the Buick dealer for a new plastic fuel line and they gave me a very good price to change the belts. I got it done and expected a call about a bad pulley or tensioner but they didn't. The new belts did the trick. The tensioner is usually a big thick spring. How could that go bad? I feel better with new belts after 15 years.
Ball joints on a Park Ave? My Riv has struts.
I finally fixed my CEL after 5 years last week. I had a vac hose off the throttle body that was a loose connection. It was a small hose stuck into a larger hose because the original stepped pc of vac tube had cracked. I wrapped the smaller hose OD with elect tape and got it to fit tight into the larger hose. The CEL has been off since. The fuel evap was failing a leak test and setting a code and I figured it was the 15 foot lines that ran to the charcoal canister by the rear wheels and back. All this time I thought I was leaking fuel into the atmosphere.
I'm due to check my brakes. I don't rotate tires and it's been about 60k miles since I did all 4 sets of pads. I can't remember the last time I even looked at the pads.
Was it hard to put the new caliper on? The last time I messed around with brakes was when I replaced the front pads and rotors on my 2000 Intrepid, back in late 2004. To do that, you have to take off two bolts and move the caliper anyway, so after that, isn't it just a matter of taking off a brake hose?
My Intrepid didn't have ABS. Would the ABS on the Park Ave make removing a caliper any trickier?
Also, I wonder if that sticky caliper might be causing lower MPG in my Park Ave? I've always thought its mpg was a little low...except for two highway runs, once where I hit 29.8 mpg and another when I barely broke 31. The car is great for coasting though...take your foot off the gas and it keeps rolling for a long time. I figure if the caliper is sticking too badly, it would drag the car down the second I let off the gas.
My front calipers pivot up for pad change. Remove one pin and they pivot out on the other pin. Revoval was a little tricky...to get the pivot pin out. Can't remember. Then it was just the rubber line. I never had to bleed the new caliper after gravity did it's job. I just kept the reservoir topped off as fluid slowly ran into the new caliper. When I checked the brakes after, they were fine without bleeding.
The rubber hose can get internal wall breakdown that slows retraction of pistons. Look for any deformity in the hose. I was about to change the hose in my Sonoma recently due to a pull when braking, but sold the truck before I did it.
The ABS sensor is not involved here. It connects to the hub itself.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
All three automakers have made it clear they want to have performance bonuses based on profits, productivity and vehicle quality be a bigger part of the pay package in this deal, and union leadership has signaled they're willing to consider such a change.
The union is seeking more guarantees from the automakers to build future models at its U.S. plants rather than at lower-cost non-union plants they operate in growing markets overseas.
Talks
It would be nice if all of their customers were making $38/Hr. to ensure that labor costs for autos produced in the U.S. remain far above the other producing countries and quality remains high would be a no-brainer. Keep car prices climbing wouldn't be a problem, right?
Reality bites but 2 years out of bankruptcy and the UAW gathers steam.
This time, the management is pushing profit sharing based on results. AFAIC, this makes total sense but let's see if it is embraced by the most greedy entity in modern industrial times.
I wonder if they haven't come out from the hole in the ground they made....the U.S. is not a growing market for UAW-built iron. Hello??
Regards,
OW
Really? On my Intrepid, they were simple as could be. Once I got the caliper off, there were just three little clips that held the rotor in place, that were pushed over three of the five lug bolts. Pop those cilps off, and the rotor just slid off, like taking off a tire.
My Park Ave could be different, though. My mechanic said it was something they called a "top hat" rotor. I wonder if that's simply jargon for what I've heard referred to as a "two-piece" rotor, where the rotor itself and the bearing hub, which contains the lug bolts, are two separate pieces?
I got a call back from the mechanic, and he said he should be able to rebuild the existing calipers, which will be a bit cheaper than replacing them. He prefers to use high quality parts, so I guess that means "Genuine GM Parts"! The rotors, he said, are thin, so they really need to be replaced, and they should be cheap enough that replacing would actually be cheaper than machining them.
So, I'm not AS miffed at the car, as I had been. And, in a bit of redemption for all thing that reference the Big Apple, my '79 New Yorker even got me to work and back today, without incident! :shades:
To be fair the IS-F matched the M3 on the Lightning Lap, Toyota beat the electric record on the 'ring, and the LF-A just broke the production record on the 'ring as well, so that thinking is outdated.
You can no longer say all efforts are "beige".
Absolutely ... but I still think the Mustang will eventually re-gain the lead.
Calling that super tuned special LF-A "production" is also sketchy at best.
Electric record? Who cares.
That sums up Lutz' thinking, too. Fine, but it explains his half-hearted efforts at producing mild hybrids.
Like I said, have you ever even seen a single Aura hybrid? I don't recall even one.
Either commit, and build a good one, or pass. GM went half way. Huge mistake.
I'm not convinced the new Buicks will do any better. They offer the mild hybrid or the V6 at the same price, and everyone is picking the V6. Again, half-hearted.
GM shouldn't even bother.
I can't figure out with all the tax subsidies and bail out monies given to GM, why does the CTS still cost more than 20K? I think all GM's should be half off starting today.
I forgot about the Aura hybrid, I do recall a Malibu hybrid anyway, and I have seen a few big useless Escalade-Yukon class hybrids on the road.
Betting on the mild hybrid doesn't seem to work in their price range. The hybrid lover wants it all the way.
Back to GM...
Yep, I don't think Lutz even understands the "green" buyer.
Criticizing the Prius is counter-productive. He should reflect on what they did wrong, what they learned from it all. Instead he's whining about it.
I respect what Lutz did in his career overall, but his green/hybrid strategy was a giant flop.
3,172 Volts sold so far this year. Hopefully they pick up. They probably sold that many pickups on Tuesday.
And a Toyota Avalon is bigger than both, your point?
Just don't find the final assembly and build quality of domestic vehicles to be quite up to par yet, but certainly the have improved.
In fact I wonder if he sent more than a few bean counters swimming with the fishes.
Once he left, Chrysler went downhill fast. They're only starting to bounce back now.