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I'm sure that some of the Aura's sales are coming at the expense of the G6 and Malibu. However, I guess there's a chance that the Aura could be luring in people like me, who don't really care for the style of the Malibu or the G6, but do kinda like the Aura.
One thing that the Aura has in its favor is that it offers the higher trim level with the 3.6 DOHC V-6, something that the Malibu/G6 don't offer. And even in cheap strippo form, the Aura comes with a V-6, while they put a 4-cyl in the base Malibu and G6.
However, I doubt if there are enough people like me to make the Aura a smash hit. And when the new '08 Malibu comes out, I think it's going to probably make all these current models , plus the Impala, hopelessly obsolete anyway.
I wonder why GM bothered with the Aura, anyway? With the new platform so close to production, it seems to me that it would've made more sense to just wait until then to launch the Aura. That way it could be fully up-to-date, instead of being a bit of a stopgap, as it seems to be now. Oh well, at least it's one of GM's better stopgaps!
To me CR is good for looking at the reliability of cars but their testing is questionable because everybody feels different when they drive a car wether a car is too sporty handling wise or its too smooth on how it rides.
I personally look at lots of data, surveys, reviews and the like before buying a car. CR is but one I would use. Compare all the data.
Don't take my word, or CR's word, for it! Next time when your car needs repair or an oil change, at an INDEPENDENT garage, ask the mechanics if you were looking for a used car, what car should you buy? Almost certainly their first two choices would be Toyota and Honda, and third choice would be Nissan. I did that several times, so I'm pretty confident.
So maybe CR did a lot of talking to independent garage owners and mechanics!
Like the poster "62Vette" said on this thread a new Impala be out for the 09 model with it being RWD so the Malibu will only be cannibilizing Impala sales for 1 model year.
Nissan is ok but their vehicles out of their Mississippi truck plant like the Quest Mini-van and Titan pick-up have terrible reliability and even CR says so.
Question is: Can GM be equally good? I believe the answer to that is YES. Look how Caddy turned around. When Caddy launched Catera, I thought Caddy would be out of business in no time. But then came CTS, Escalade, XLR, ... and a number of cool models including the ambitious V-series.
Unfortunately, the GM management never bothered to turn Chevy's image around in the same fashion. Don't be surprised if the management hurts Caddy's image again before improving Chevy's.
The problem there is that for every potential Toyota buyer that Saturn lures in, Toyota lures in (at least) 2 or 3 buyers from other GM divsions. I believe that much of Saturn's success with import intenders stems from the perception that it is unrelated to the rest of GM. Introducing lightly reskinned versions of the Solstice, G6, and Acadia could jeopardize that, and "Americanizing" the rebadged Opels could jeopardize it further.
Cobalt, Malibu, Equinox and TrailBlazer need major redesigns. Question is whether the redesigns would be radical enough to hold off Toyota. If Caddy can turn around, Chevy can too. Question is whether the management has the will to turn Chevy around. Minor improvements over the previous generation won't help.
The Malibu is being redesigned for 2008 and will add a hybrid model. The Equinox got a new interior in 2005 that looks just as good as anything you'll find in the competition and it gets a 263hp/6speed combo for 2008. The Impala is the 3rd best selling car in the country. In addition we are getting a hybrid Tahoe this year, 6 speeds for the Tahoe/Silverado for 2008 and a hybrid Silverado in 2008.
GM has been drastically cutting fleet sales so CHevy has better retail sales than last year.
The trailblazer is being phased out, there will be no more upgrades. This is pretty widely known. New Malibu comes this year, new camaro and Impala come in 2009. Chevy looks good and doesnt need a complete image makeover.
-Loren
-Loren
>You are walking on some thin ice my friend. I assume you are aware that you are making rather pointed accusations which you could be asked to back up in a court of law
I don't see anything in the quote that would be worthy of a suing. CR's methods are questionable, to say the least. They are presented to the unwashed as though they are biblical in nature and accepted as such. Perhaps...
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I can't stand the looks of most Japanese cars for one. Either they are incredibly bland or have some sort of "alien" look to them. I was foolish enough to visit a Toyota dealer to look at a Camry with my girlfriend around the time she bought her Impala. The whole sales experience reminded me of swimming in a shark tank while wearing a scuba suit made of bloody raw meat. I never experienced anything as unpleasant at a GM dealer.
I'm trying to find a day when I have some hours free and I can take a Prozak and go to the local store to wander through the seaweed and sharks. I'd like to stop at a store in the next state-maybe I need to pick up Powerball tickets tomorrow. I hope that store may not be as forbidding.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
For example, YTD through February of 2007, versus 2006:
Impala: 52200, up from 40362
LaCrosse: 6141, down from 10597
Malibu: 17566, down from 26438
Grand Prix: 10016, down from 18877
Lucerne: 12070, down from 13434
G6: 23246, down from 25089
Aura: 7898, new model
GM used to pump a lot of Centurys and Classics (the old style Malibu) into fleets, but both of those models are gone now. That's probably where a lot of GM's "reduced fleet sales" talk came from. Also, the Grand Prix used to be a common rental car, but it seems to be phasing out now. The G6 seems to be doing pretty well. I'd imagine that it's picking up a lot of the Grand Prix's slack. In many ways, it seems to make more sense than the Grand Prix. It's about a foot shorter, but has a more adult-sized back seat. And comparing V-6 models, which probably make up the bulk of sales for each model, the G6 is probably the better performer.
Did CR mandate, force, coerce, or somehow restrict who could choose to subscribe in the first place? We're the first 100,000 subscribers to CR all Japanese with stock in Toyota and Honda?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
CR isn't stupid.
I did test drive a used Seville. Pretty nice ride. The CTS is also a good solid car. Was considering a used car at one time. Ended up with a new Accord SEV6, which I really do like. The Aura is also a decent car. The Aura XR is surely a rocket - very fast, and the 6 sp. seems to work well. All in all, a good car when compared to the competition. My deal on the Accord SE was however better and it has about the same handling and power as does the more expensive Aura XR.
So far I have yet to look at a Lexus. First of all, they are expensive, second they have no dealership in the area, and lastly I am not so sure they are worth the bucks. In the near luxury, I am thinking the CTS or perhaps an Acura though it has to prove itself much more car than the Accord to win me over. Unless I am buying a really expensive Lexus, and have some cash to burn, I would say the Camry V6 would do fine. That is if I wanted that sort of ride. I like Honda's more connected feel and that double wishbone suspension, more than the Camry. To each his own, no doubt.
-Loren
Bill
I don't know about front end noises on a Civic, I do believe in 1997 they still had the double wishbone suspension up front, which means improved handling. The car should be far better in respect to driving dynamics than was the Cavalier.
-Loren
Learn to live with the facts that the importers, (most of whom actually produce in USA, anyway), are outperforming the so-called domestics, (and where are most of their cars made ?). Maybe the domestics can turn that around but if they can't then they don't deserve to survive. Had it not been for the imports the Big Three would still be dishing up whale-bodied V8's with 3-spd slush boxes, cross-ply tyres and naugahyde seats. Competition is healthy; applaud it.
From what I see of Cadillac they appear to be re-bodying/fiddling around with Saab's. Hardly American Iron.
Right now it's the Japanese and Europeans that are chewing on the NA market, (with the Koreans coming along nicely) . How long before it's the Chinese doing the same on all the markets ?
End of rant.
Apologies if anyone found it offensive. No offence was intended.
Bill
Bill
I believe you are right. Saturn's reputation as a "non GM" division however, is pretty much over, don't you think? They are kicking out some nice looking cars NOW, but for the past 10 years, GM has flat out ruined Saturn IMO. They were ugly in the extreme, and no better than a Chevy in any of their driving dynamics. Now, Saturns have the little GM badge on both sides of them, so the separation I think, is over. GM needs fewer divisions, duplicating platforms, IMO, and I don't know who they should shudder, but 3 divisions for cars should be plenty. Chevy/Saturn is duplication in the market. Pontiac/Buick pretty much is too. Cadillac has a reason to live. All trucks should be GMCs IMO. Then they would surpass Ford as the number 1 selling truck. How hard is that to figure out?
Anyway, I don't think they need Saturn, they need to give those great looking cars to Chevrolet, and shut Saturn down.
You need to get real. If companies went after every blogger that questioned their ethics they would go out of business in short order. I believe that CR is a paid entity to the biggest contributors. There I said it again. You can believe whatever you like about them. I would not read that rag if it was the only magazine in the dentist's office.
I have owned more than half a dozen new Japanese vehicles since 1964. Not a one was as reliable as my last 5 GM trucks. That included Toyota, Datsun, Honda & Subaru. The only one that came close was a 1970 Datsun PU truck. That was a good little truck. I hear after about 30 years in this country both Toyota and Honda finally got it right.
Dear Rocky,
Thank you for contacting Cadillac and for your interest in the 2008 CTS! We
appreciate the time you have taken to write us today. Cadillac engineers have
designed and developed new geometry for both the independent short/long arm
front suspension and the multilink rear suspension. Engineers implemented
numerous tweaks and revisions to the suspension using extensive computer
modeling, combined with development driving of prototype cars on roads all over
the world, but mostly in North America, Europe and China . The multilink rear
suspension, with a fully isolated subframe, is an uncompromising design with
excellent suspension kinematics that delivers a superior ride with excellent
handling. The rear suspension design is shared in both the rear-wheel and all-
wheel-drive models, and has been extensively revised to accommodate a larger
rear track. Magnetic Ride Control and Bluetooth have not been officially
announced as available options, we apologize for the inconveneince. We expect
to have final vehicle specifications in late April.
To obtain more information regarding the 2008 CTS, please visit www.cadillac.
com or contact your preferred dealership.
At Cadillac, we strive to provide exceptional customer service. If we can be
of any further assistance please email us or call 1-800-333-4223, between 8:00
a.m. and 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time, seven days a week. Thank you for contacting
Cadillac!
Sincerely,
The Cadillac Marketing Team
www.cadillac.com
Maybe drinking too much cool-aide.
Loren
Rocky
For the most part, I look at the survey data on Consumer Reports, more so than any test drives. Not to say that they do not bring up some interesting points about the car. Even if you disagree, or feel they over-exaggerate a defect in say a GM more so than a Toyota, you can look at what they say, and then test or look over that area of the car yourself, and decide. People may disagree with say Edmund's reviews, which is fine. All these reports are a starting point, and a way to get you to look at areas of a car which they think are good or bad, and then let the buyer do his or her assessment. That said, there is good argument that people read a magazine as a bible of sorts, which may be a problem. I am guilty as charged some time of not even testing a car rated as sloppy or slow handling. At least I cross-check it though with a couple more reports. And I suppose some cars rated poorly for reliability I will not consider, though once again, I check several sources.
-Loren
Funny, in a sad way, that a company spent countless hours tearing down a car to see what the competition was building, yet never improving, looking forward to meeting needs by asking clients, and simply - seemingly shelving the info. Perhaps the bean counters found improvements too costly? Pretty sad what happened in the 70's thru the 90's. A more current example of what is wrong with GM is the overall good car, the CTS, came out without telescopic steering column. Pretty cheap, considering an economy car, like the Mazda3 has it standard. The car itself is OK, but really the customer may want for a few things. Not sure why they can not decide on an engine for that car. First is was 3.2, then 3.2 and 3.6, and now 2.8 and 3.6V6. Please, just stick the 3.6V6 in there.
-Loren
Jackpot!
That's what I've said before. I've had to use the same technique myself in evaluations!!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've never seen the need for telescopic column. My power seats and flexible steering wheel adjustments on GM cars have suited me to a T. I did find the Ford Fusion/500 tilt column were the whole column goes up and down very strange to adjust the seating position to fit.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Some things never change.
-Loren
Back to toyotas.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What the Japanese did best in the 70's and 80's was to introduce the cars in Japan 3-4 years before exporting them.
This gave them an opportunity to work out the bugs.
They also produced cars that were simpler in the fact that a vast majority did not have power windows or locks and other items to break a few years down the road giving a bad impression of quality to the consumer. It is easy to build a simple reliable car it is more difficult to build a complex(electronics,suspension) reliable car. Ask Mercedes.
Let's swing back to the subject rather than getting tied up in that side issue please.
And thanks to all for doing a good job of keeping things from turning personal! I know how easy it is to read things into comments made in a post and I appreciate the effort it takes to not escalate things in a topic where there are such strong opinions!
Now...back to our regularly scheduled program.