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Comments
...if buying a foreign car is un-American
The "halo" vinyl roof makes the roof line look odd. Because the vinyl roof doesn't cover the entire rear pillar, it looks as though there is a stripe between the rear side window drip rail and the vinyl roof.
I still like the look of those big mid-60s Ponchos! They look great in those teal blue colors like that Executive we saw at Carlisle. The interiors definitely were upscale of a Chevrolet. I think the 1965 Grand Prix still used real wood on the interior. I sure do miss the days when Pontiac still meant something! Mr Knudsen and Mr. DeLorean, where are you?
I put 15x7" Rally 2 wheels on it, with 225/70/R15 tires.
Pontiac's best days are definitely behind them. Shame, too, because I think the G8 shows promise. Almost like how Oldsmobile started to show some potential with the new Aurora, Intrigue, and even the Bravada...just before they got shut down. :sick:
Regards:
OldCEM
How did you happen to be in Cincinnati? Some of us live in that general area.
160 mph through downtown and over the bridge would be hair-raising. 70 mph used to be the typical speed and that was fast enough.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
You could do so much with those cars. The GM just let them die instead of developing the passion.
REgards,
OW
Island Chevrolet general sales manager James Severtson arranged for a Chevrolet Suburban SUV outfitted with massive tires costing $5,000 apiece to drive over a Honda Accord.
On the first attempt Friday, the monster truck blew a hydraulic hose and leaked vital fluid while the Honda remained intact and ready for more.
Here's how it is done.
Regards,
OW
Regards:
OldCEM
Actually the Army uses them for Stryker target practice up at Pohakuloa.
I wonder if it needed a boost to get up there? Kinda makes me think of a horny chihuahua trying to mount a Great Dane!
Great...I'm going to lunch and that is an image I cannot get outta my mind...thanks for nothing.............................:):):)
Regards,
OW
Every once in awhile, I'll see a used Intrepid or Concorde with the 3.2 or 3.5 pop up for sale locally, and I'll get a bit tempted. A local used car lot just up the street from me has a 2004 Intrepid copcar for sale. 41,000 miles, $7995. And the dealer I bought my 2000 from has a well-equipped '04 ES with around 46,000 miles for $8995.
I'm sure they'd be willing to deal, too....could probably get 'em for a cheap price. Maybe cheap enough to throw some big tires on my '85 Silverado and play "monster truck" :P
But the US companies are the Kings of Disappointment. Some customers are walking away from HUGE discounts at the present level of sales. The Asians could bury the D3 for good if they really were inclined.
Regards,
OW
The other thing that I find amusing is the total disbelief that the Ford and GM are on a path to success. The 2005 Fusion was well received overall, and the 2010 is improved in just about every way. Class leading fuel economy, competitive drivetrains, non-floaty suspensions, oh and the coveted red circle with the white dot in CR all seem to imply things are going the right direction. The new Taurus looks promising as well. GMs new crossovers offer a lot for the $$, as does the Malibu and CTS.
Ford and GM are offering innovative powertrains with up to date features like direct injection (and in the case of Ford, turbo charging as well). Also features like auto parking, blind spot detection, and things like SYNC (Honda and Toyota still don't have a real way to control an iPod in the vehicle).
While certain people are cheering for the death of American manufacturing, I think others appreciate an underdog and a good success story. I am excited about the new Ford Fusion Hybrid personally, as I think they will be great in areas where the "hybrid" insignia on a vehicle is a fashion or political statement.
Oh well, back to your normal ranting about vehicles you had 15 years ago that did or didn't do what you wanted or how Japanese have better cup-holders (actually this is a safety requirement, as owners must drink coffee as to not be bored to sleep by the ride of these vehicles).
Happy Motoring
The thing I find amusing is the idea other companies are restructuring under C11 and GM and C get a free ride with terrible products and management to boot. :P
Oh well, back to Turbo Tax to see if I can find any loophole to reduce my taxes! :surprise:
Regards,
OW
GM on the other hand, is not...turns out their offer to reduce their brands was nothing but smoke and mirrors, and while the Malibu is a decent vehicle, it's overshadowed by the competition (particularly said Fusion). The crossovers are icky. Auto-parking was pioneered by Audi or Lexus I believe, though Ford has the blind spot detection and Sync.
I find it interesting that most of the stuff you pointed to is Ford. Ford is really doing great..they've got a plan for survival, don't anticipate needing a bailout, have some great innovative products, etc. GM...not so much. They've got too many brands, can't shrink or eliminate any of them (or don't want to), and the only true innovation they've got coming out is the Volt. The Cruze might be good, the CTS is good, the 3-row crossovers aren't bad, the Malibu can hold up against anything except Honda, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan. it's all downhill from their in their entire lineup.
Chrysler's a dead man walking. GM has a chance but they're not making the right decisions right now.
Of course, Chrysler doesn't even make "adequate."
That's the the lifetime of Chrysler, which means all of those warranties will go bust within a year. :shades:
Personally I am rather hacked off at those who gripe about "American" made vehicles, and those who have nothing good to say about anything but Asian made vehicles.
farout
I know I shouldn't laugh, considering I've tended to have a preference for Chrysler products, but that was pretty funny. Gotta admit, I was thinking the same thing! :shades:
I was suprised that 35% of my gross income went to taxes collected by various governments.
I was also suprised that 9% went to insurance so that I don't lose too big a part of what the 56% that was then left has enabled me to acquire through the years.
96.2% of my expenses went to American entities. 3.8% went to foreign entities. Part of that 3.8% was $67 a month to Best Buy for a Sharp TV bought on 18 months no interest. I think it was made in China. Gasoline was assumed to be 1/3 foreign.
I was suprised at how little disposable income I have and how I am driven to spend that chunk on foreign products. Trying to steer that 3 or 4% into American products would take a lot of effort. Too bad that everyone's 3 or 4% is going to China these days. Got to stay busy getting the gov't their 35% and don't have time to search for American choices.
The other 96% American? it goes to everything else: the water plant employees, ATT employees, the tellers at the bank, the guys who built my house, burn coal at the electric plant, pipe in the natural gas, the gov't employees with their awesome pensions, and the wealthy insurance company owners and employees. None of these industries are suffering much in this recession. They keep getting 96% and there is no way to reduce what I have to pay them. Maybe that's why McCain said in the late spring that the economy was fundamentally sound.
I could see how buying a new foreign car could more than double the % to foreign. Of course it has to take away from buying American, doubling the impact, unless I got a big raise as I bought the foreign car.
The 3.8% is harmful. 5% more on a foreign car is even worse.
Turning the tables: If I were a typical Japanese person, what would be my % spent on American products? I actually can't think of anything they would buy. maybe the soybeans in their soy sauce? Maybe the raw wood in their house? Maybe the scrap steel molecules in their Toyota? The guy next to me got laid off today. How far down will we ride the foreign purchase spiral?
Obama has so little dial to turn for the economy.
Some people have had that much trouble with the "American" makes they've bought...I know several. Me I still hold lots of hope for Ford, but other than the Ram and the Voyager, Chrysler's lineup is pretty useless.
Don't worry, I don't much care for Toyota either. On the upside, I'd LOVE to see some Fiats if the whole Chrysler deal comes through. Italian cars haven't been available to the masses in the USA for a LONG time now, and variety is good.
In six months, the lease will be up on the Honda. We'll see then what has the "it" factor and lives in our driveway. I don't rule any of the manufacturers out until I have first hand experience.
Regards,
OW
These 'trick' warranties are a necessity for those manufacturers that NEED to portray a quality that doesn't necesssarily exist, or as a means to live down past miscreations. If the Chryslers/GMs/Hyundais of the world didn't have problems with actual or perceived quality, you can be assured that wouldn't be offering the warranties that they do. It was after all, those Koreans that 'invented 'the 100k warranty, but only as a means to make the consumer forget about those disasters they foisted on us in the 80s and into the 90s. They all will do what they need to do to sell their products, nothing to do with 'quality' at all.
Toyota and Honda don't offer long warranties because they don't need to and not necessarily because they are any better from a reliability perspective even though statistics would seem to indicate this is the case.
Chrysler and GM have been exploring the depths of ludricrous warranties because they can't sell their products otherwise, Ford interestingly has avoided the long warranties BUT is doing better quality/reliability wise than the other two, and Hyundai is also improving to the point that they are at least on par with 'Detroit'. In any case a long warranty should be regarded as more of a warning to the consumer of suspect quality not the other way around.
as we all should - it will do this country no good at all if Chrysler or any of the D3 go under and/or become a load on our tax dollars. You didn't say, however, whether you T&C was one of those good American made ones or if it is instead a Canadian product.
All of which just adds to our problems - how much money do we have to send to Canada, Mexico, or even to China before we realize that buying cars not made in ths country but with 'American' names is worse for this country than buying Japanese/Korean branded company's products that do happen to be made here :sick:
There is no perfect scenario. The most "American" car according to a list I saw in my Autoweek is Fords Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis. 90% US content. They are ONLY produced now in Canada.
Big difference.
Regards,ow
It's better to have a US company building in Mexico and Canada, our friends, that by a company of a foreign nation who has no allegiance to us and can close that factory and move production elsewhere on a whim or a retaliation move.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Now! The idea is to quantify all input into producing a vehicle. I will want to favor the situations in which this imperfect mathematical contrivance seems to show the greatest monetary/numerical preponderance in the American side of the equation. Does this make any sense at all? :shades: