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The Regal Turbo starts at $31k and only has 220HP. Then it jumps up to $35k for a 270HP GS (granted it has more torque than the Malibu), but still, that's not cheap. No wonder I've only seen one GS on the road since they've been available.
Oh now you know that's completely impossible. You see the Regal is a premium near-luxury vehicle whilst the Malibu is a Chevrolet for the common folk. Certainly the General would not release two vehicles that would compete and steal sales from each other, right? :shades:
I'll give you credit for that one.
I am just here to counterbalance those horrible Honda and Acura stories - I can verify that you can get to 128K on an Acura without the tranny blowing up!
Still, the original poster was SURE his cars were superior based upon owning ONE BRAND. I've owned a LOT of brands - and from North America, Europe, and Japan. So the point still stands.
I'm sure that's the Motor Trend bias - the one that goes with the CU bias and the Car and Driver bias. :P
Sometime in my life, I want to own a '64 Gran Turismo Hawk. With kid no. 1 at Miami U. now and my second a high-school sophomore, and me being 54, not sure if that'll happen!
It's up to 600,000 Accords. :surprise:
The video complained about the BMW's shifter, too, and the rough start/stop operation, too. And the (old school) diesel-like clatter at idle.
The ATS was pre-production, what's BMW's excuse?
Honestly, I think the media is afraid to pick a winner other than BMW simply because they may be perceived as less than an enthusiast.
I'm not even saying the ATS is better. I haven't even driven one. Just don't take these reviews as gospel, we should form our own opinions.
I test drove a 328i and it was a huge disappointment. Rough idle, and start/stop shakes the whole car. You have to turn it off every time you start the car, again and again. $50k sticker seemed like a bad joke. When the turbo 4 replaced the smooth inline 6, the price should have been decreased.
Let's see some one from the media brave enough to tell it like it is.
I imagine the take rate on the Malibu turbo will be even smaller than it was for the V6.
Ford was flat. Chrysler did best.
Toyota and VW had killer months, though.
Toyota up 41%! Wow!
Looking over GM sales for september the Cruze, Verano, Sonic and Volt all had a good month. Regal is in the dumps. It's been down 40-50% ever since the Verano has been available and only sold 1839 units. Malibu was flat and was outsold by the Impala.
Haven't seen a break down of the top 20 sales list yet.
No. Say it's not true. All the Hotoy folks will be devastated to learn the truth about their cars.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'd say a battery is not a consideration but you can latch onto that if you have to.
Again, no "check engine light" means perfect drive-train.
Regards,
OW
I am surprised you needed a battery so soon..and again, that's an out-of-pocket thing.
Hopefully your drivetrain is perfect, as you'll be out of warranty before my little econobox is.
"Passenger cars have been the launch point for a broad and deep GM product offensive," said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president of U.S. sales operations.
Higher gas prices in late August and early September led to strong small car sales in September," said Michelle Krebs, Edmunds.com senior analyst. "Ford Focus was up 91 percent. Chevrolet Cruze and Sonic had big months.
GM sold 210,245 cars and trucks last month, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier."
2013 Chevrolet Sonic, Dodge Dart and Ford Focus Lead Strong Small-Car Sales (Inside Line)
GM = Alive
Bin Laden = Dead
(obviously a pro-Obama bumper sticker).
But the clincher? It was on a Prius! :P
It was on the back of a Fiat.
GM laughs last, another really good sales month for the Volt.
Cool story, bro. :shades:
Wonder what class that thing runs. With all of the upgrades, it has to be in a modified class.
Much more conventional than the Spark or Sonic.
Sonic's doing well here so don't expect any changes.
It's okay to say what you want because Bpizzuti was commeting on most GM owners knowing they buy inferior product. Since you are one person, you can't be "MOST" GM buyers. So his comment might not apply to you and that's OK!
:P
Also, it seems comfort is of the utmost importance to you, and nothing else really matters. You should really be comparing luxury brands, Toyota, and Buick then.
An old Nissan Maxima was much too sporty to be comparing "comfort" with your other vehicle types.
It's funny you mention burned oil. Some moderate amount of oil burning is normal and healthy. I'd much rather need a quart every 5,000 miles than require a replaced steering shaft!
It seems the GM fanboys keep trying to compare wear and tear items, maintenance items (like brake pads, oil, batteries) to things that should never fail in under 100,000 miles, like a bearing, steering shaft, or thermostat.
It doesn't matter how long Circle's warranty is on the CRV because he hasn't needed it yet. That's the POINT! A warranty shouldn't be needed unless it's over 100,000 miles.
The battery is an expected maintenance expense. It is planned for and normal. Your 2nd battery might not last as long as your first, and so on.
A warranty visit for a check engine light is highly unexpected, and untolerable. It is unexpected wasted time (even if no cost). Actually there is a cost, the cost is to GM for warranty repairs, and that cost is transferred to the taxpayers of the USA via bailouts and tax/ownership costs.
By the way recalls don't bother me nearly as much as unexpected warranty issues. A recall is proactive, and while a waste of time, it prevents an issue before it happens (usually).
Excessive recalls would be annoying, excessive warranty repair visits would mean you've purchased an inferior product.
Since no battery lasts forever, this is an acceptable out-of-pocket expense
I'd like to know when Circle's CRV requires a new thermostat (maybe never). I'm sure you'll need a new battery in the near future.
Battery cost? I wouldn't know; haven't had to have one yet. BTW, that would also include time for an unscheduled stop.
Can't Honda engineer a battery as well as GM?
No or minimal out-of-pocket is the biggest thing for me.
Plus, he must be the 'lemko' of CR-V's if he hasn't put brakes or rotors on it yet.
You mention intermediate steering shafts, but that's something from a decade ago at GM, not 2008.
Do either of them make batteries?
That type of work is outsourced, like tires.
GM = Alive
Bin Laden = Dead
(obviously a pro-Obama bumper sticker).
But the clincher? It was on a Prius!
Well... according to most of the pro bailout crowd here, not only would GM going under have caused Toyota and Prius to go bankrupt, but all auto manufacturers would have died, out, WWIII would have started by now, chaos and riots would have broken out, and the world as we know it would have ended without GM around. :P
That type of work is outsourced, like tires.
Exactly. If Honda decided to start making batteries, I'm sure they would be good. Does Toyota make the Prius batteries? I hear the Prius (even the old one's) have turned out to have stellar reliability and durability (a big fear of early adopters since batteries in hybrids are costly).
That being said, outsourcing can be a big issue. Apparently Toyota outsourced the rusty Tacoma frames to a US Manufacturer :P
The best restaurants on the food network tend to have something in common, they all do something in-house that would normally be outsourced (like baking their own hamburger buns).
Weapons would have to be imported from China, who would send ones that didn't work, and then they'd invade us, and we'd be speaking a different language right now.
I had to replace the battery in my Suburban and my Expedition around the 4 year mark. Not that big of a deal other than having a vehicle that wouldn't start. Happened last summer in my Expedition.
As for problems, if I like the vehicle I can handle a problem here and there. But I've been around a few vehicles (particularly GM products) that I couldn't stand regardless of how reliable or long the warranty is.
I'm at 110k on my 07 Expedition. So far the repairs have been spark plugs and a coil pack at 59k (not covered under 60k powertrain warranty), hvac module around 70k (IIRC), window regulator at 90k or so, and rear differential input shaft seal at 105k. It currently has some type of exhaust leak coming from under the hood that is annoying. I'll probably have to get that fixed soon.
That certainly shows it hasn't been flawless, but considering my luck with domestic vehicles, I'm satisfied with it overall. It does what I need it to do. I'd like to get another year out of it, but we'll see.
The real worry is whether there would be anything left after every nation with nuclear weapons unleashes them.
How many people add distilled water to top off the cells, and how often?
Nissan is having issues with Leaf batteries in hot climates. They bought back 2 lemons in Arizona already.
That's probably about half their sales in that state!
Yeah, I haven't seen an non-maintenance free battery in a car in a long time. Now, I have an 04 Club Car 48v golf cart that has 4 12v batteries that I add distilled water to on a regular occasion. But those are deep cycle batteries that goes through depletion and recharge cycles.
Heat is a huge enemy to batteries in general.
Surprise! The top-performing stock among automakers in the U.S. last quarter was General Motors (floridatoday.com)
http://www.edmunds.com/car-technology/a-shocking-expose-your-cars-battery.html
Battery Maintenance
We promised a few maintenance tips on standard-duty batteries.
Check the water level every couple of months. It should be just touching the bottom of the refill hole.
Refill the battery, when needed, with distilled water. Don't use tap water, which produces corrosion on the terminals.
Don't overfill the cells. Just to the bottom of the refill hole is perfect.
The following tips apply to all batteries, including maintenance-free.
Later in the article it says:
These general maintenance tips will extend the life of your battery
So if your battery failed in less than 5 years or so, there's your reason.
Me, too. I honestly don't think I've owned a new car that hasn't had a sealed battery...and my first new car was a 1981 Monte Carlo.
Sealed gel-acid batteries exist but are not common. My NA miata had one, because it went in the trunk, which wasn't vented.
I bet yours could use some fluid right now. Well, the 'bu is still new, but any 5+ year old battery will need some.
Recall rule says I have to find a competitor also...aha!
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/03/nissan-recalling-select-2012-frontier-pathfin- der-and-xterra-mod/
I always hear that heat kills batteries more than cold. My Cobalt's battery is in the trunk, which I have to believe is better for heat than under the hood.
Just sayin'....maintenance-free is a misnomer.