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First of all, it is GOOD that the rental cars are buying again. There was a huge article in the USA Today this week on it. They are really updating their fleets after a long hiatus. IIRC the average rental car for some of the biggies was around 17-18K miles, and they were trying to get them down to 10K. One of the renters they interviewed actually got a rental car with 50,000 on the odo!!
What I find to be hypocritical is how GM can be chided by some here for selling to the rental companies, yet the "darling" of the industry seems to get a free pass for doing the same thing.
That's the trouble with GM's products. They tend to loose the value and the interest of the customer as fast as the U.S. Government bailout their car companies. I do think Toyota and Honda are starting to get in trouble lately on their styling and lack of desire. I always thought Toyota was going to be the next GM....and not in a good way.
The other two mainstream GM's sale, Malibu and Impala are way under the competition Sonata, Accord and Camry. The Sonata is just getting warmed up.
Regards,
OW
I mean come on, the LaCrosse starts at $26k and some change, while the G37 starts at $33k and something, the TL at 34k and something, and the ES350 at $34k something I believe. By the simple numbers on costs, a lot more people, especially in a recession, are going to be able to afford a $26k-30k LaCrosse then they will be able to a $37-39k G37, a $35-38k TL, or a $36-39k ES350.
I'm not saying that the new redesign and improved quality of the LaCrosse is not helping its sales because it is, I'm just saying that its lower price point will help to make it have higher sales in pure principal since the lower the price of a car, the more people that can afford to lease or buy it!
I'd still take a G37 Sedan or TL over the LaCrosse, mainly because I like a more responsive/aggressive ride, but the LaCrosse has I think surpassed the ES350! Just remember though, in the next year or so, the ES will be due for a redesign and it will be interesting to see what Lexus does to it and I think they'll keep this new LaCrosse in mind when redesigning it!
Seems like if you make cars, selling to rental companies would be a natural target. Make some money on the sales and get some cars into people's hands who wouldn't otherwise drive the brand.
Worked for me a couple of years ago. Still impressed with the mileage we got on a Buick rental from the Green Bay Buick dealer (it was a couple of years old and had a few miles on it but was still a nice ride).
Now, all of a sudden, Buick is introducing models that are suppose to be compared to the Japanese and German luxury divisions when they never had in the past; Cadillac was always the more accurate comparison! Just remember, Buick all of a sudden is trying to compete with the big leagues and those prices set for the Japanese luxury divisions were set before Buick introduced its current line-up and set their prices lower than the rest and then says they are comparable to them; seems a bit stupid to me! what are the Japanese and German luxury divisions suppose to do, lower their prices?? who has ever heard of automakers lowering their base prices? they either stay the same or increase a few hundred bucks!
but anyway, Buick has come along way and while they have improved, they still have not passed in quality, or long term reliability yet, some of the Japanese and German luxury competition. After sitting in the LaCrosse last fall, I still was able to find some questionable material quality, though overall it was 10 times better than the Buicks I had 20 years ago.
no automaker has two luxury divisions, they either have 1 or none; if Cadillac is the tried and true luxury division of GM then what the hell is Buick suppose to be; cheap luxury? I just don't understand their purpose; isn't the quality suppose to be better in a Cadillac then in a Buick? isn't Buick taking sales away from its own luxury division Cadillac? all these questions just boggles the mind!
Personally, I think GM should have gotten rid of Buick, focus on improving and making Cadillac their sole luxury division and kept a reduced amount of Pontiac's making that its sole sports oriented division, to compete with the like's of Scion, etc!
Though the LaCrosse has improved dramatically, to me, vehicles like the G37 and TL have much better overall material quality and fit/finish then the LaCrosse has. There were a couple of fit and finish and ergonomic issues I felt the LaCrosse had that I did not see in the G37, TL, and A4
just my two cents!
Is he busy with Beth? Helping to resurrect GM as a Phoenix from the ashes? These are the things I'm wondering here from the SW desert as I await my Nevada Respiratory Therapy license and go to work up in the Great Basin area of Nevada.
The above is an example of a lake found in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. Not far from the city of Elko, Nevada.
My wife and I will have ta score ourselves mountain bikes. Apparently mountain biking is huge in Elko County. Ta get our muscles tensile tough. Ready to spar with the host steve over in Boise, ID.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Rocky was over in the Obama discussion yesterday so he's around.
Here's something for the fans:
"If you're into high horsepower flexed by General Motors, you'll love Trewordy's 200-car display here on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Trewordy, 61, started collecting cars when he was a teenager in the early 1970s. He said he always had two or three even then - one to drive and the other one or two to fix up and to sell so he could buy something even better.
Trewordy makes no apologies for his museum's emphasis on assorted Chevrolets, Pontiac GTOs and Oldsmobile 4-4-2s, and GM-powered hot rods and old commercial vehicles."
New museum puts some General Motors muscles on display (Detroit News)
Buick's existance has traditionally been the "working rich", so to speak. Bankers, doctors, lawyers, etc. Cadillac was for the uber wealthy. Buick is fine where it is right now. The Lacrosse is priced right, topping out at $40K. If any other Buick car comes in more expensive, it should be a niche product, like a Riviera. Even then, it shouldn't top out at any more than $45-50K.
Caddy's CTS is priced right too. The new XTS should be priced from the mid $40's to $60K THAT, and not the CTS should be the flagship sedan.
".....but anyway, Buick has come along way and while they have improved, they still have not passed in quality, or long term reliability yet, some of the Japanese and German luxury competition."
I won't try to sell you that Buicks of the last 10-15 years have been technological marvels, as they haven't (that could be why they have been the darlings of the geriatric crowd). And yes, the quality of the materials has lacked. I had a squeak in my dash on my '99 Ultra. It cost me 5 cents to fix (yes, I stuck a nickel between 2 hard pieces of plastic rubbing together ) But their reliability has overall been close to the Japanese, and FAR BETTER than the Germans.
Rocky was over in the Obama discussion yesterday so he's around.
Good ta see our bud rockylee is still around and feeling feisty. I don't imagine I'll see many Chevy Volts down in Elko, NV(it's down ta you steve, up for me and over for most of the posters on here, eh?)but ya never know, there may be a conservationist or two in Elko.
Yep, my wife and I have bikes but they're ten speeds. We could start by just doing some regular biking around town and then progress to the real biking later on.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I don't care whether a manufacturer sells to rentals or not. What I do care about is the car I rent. Every GM vehicle I've rented made me feel like I was in a penalty box. Same with Ford. Now it's been a while since I've rented a car, but getting a vulcan v6 powered Taurus or an outclassed and uncomfortable Grand Prix was not a pleasant experience. It seemed like GM and Ford just kept them around to feed the fleets.
Last time I rented a car was in 06. I met my parents in Florida, we all rented cars through Enterprise. I got stuck with a POS Taurus and my parents got a Camry. While Camry's don't excite me, I will say even with a 4cyl it was twice the car of a same year Taurus, at least it would get out of it's own way with the A/C on. Those Vulcan powered Taurus's should have been phased out in the 90's.
Both GM and Ford have since updated their lineup, so getting a car that is basically fleet only is less of an issue these days IMO. I imagine the Impala is the fleet queen these days. While not a total dog, it is much older than just about anything it competes with and is due for replacement.
In regards to GM, overall, though I think there is still room for improvement in a few areas, their overall quality, and fit/finish is much improved, even from just 5 years ago!
The one thing that still disappoints me with Ford and more to an extent GM, is the amount of rental fleet sales they have each month. They don't make money on fleet sales like they do consumer or company sales and the Japanese companies have them at much lower percentages then the American companies do. If they ever want to pay all that debt and get into the same leagues as the foreign competition, they need to stop having 30-60% fleet sales each month and get that number to below 15%.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I always looked at Buick, the upper level Buicks at least, as having most of the luxury of a Cadillac, but without the flash. And for the most part, I've tended to prefer Buicks over their Cadillac equivalents.
And it doesn't bother me that a LaCrosse and a CTS overlap a bit in price. I also look at them as two different markets. The CTS is more of a BMW 3-series/MB C-class contender, while the LaCrosse is aimed more at the likes of the Lexus ES350 and such. The CTS is basically a 2-seater with a marginal back seat, and more of an emphasis on performance and handling, while the LaCrosse is more of a comfy 4-seater (5 when needed) with more of a focus on comfort and luxury.
And, sure, I can see a few cheap interior bits here and there on a LaCrosse, but that's everybody these days. A coworker of mine recently leased an '09 Acura TL, and for a $40K+ car, I thought that sucker was kinda cheap inside. That hard plastic is starting to rear its ugly head in more price classes, it seems.d Not all that roomy, either.
That must be ancient history. Maybe can find that connection by looking at some old black/white movie of the 40's, 50's. In dentist group I go to, one Dr has a 5-Series and the other has a Mercedes CLS. Similar to another doctor group I go to that has reserved parking for Drs. Spots are mostly filled with BMWs and Mercedes. One Dr I saw in the past regularly drove his 911 to office and hospital. When I talk to these Drs about cars, they are car enthusiasts. Unlikely they will find attributes in American brands at this time.
This is probably ancient history as well, but I think Buick used to be associated with bankers and such. When you drove a Buick, it made the statement that you were good with your client's money. If you drove a Caddy or Lincoln, you were skimming too much off the top. If you drove an import, you were likely to invest your client's money in risky overseas investments. If you drove an Oldsmobile, you were too conservative with your client's money. If you drove a Chrysler, you were also prone to make risky investments. And if you drove anything less (Mercury, Dodge, Pontiac, Chevy, Ford, Plymouth) you just weren't cutting it in the industry.
At least, I heard some statement along those lines a few years back.
I think the fact that we have been discussing this on Edmund's for about 10 years says that the reason for Buick vs. Chevy vs. Caddy is a failure - we can't even agree on why each division exists! I don't think we would say that about Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus or Nissan/Infiniti or VW/Audi (although VW has blown it with the Phaeton and Passat W8).
At least GM is much better now that they've dumped Saturn, Hummer, Saab, and Pontiac. What WERE they thingking. :confuse:
http://www.edmunds.com/new/2011/toyota/avalon/101286426/VehicleComparison?basest- yleid=101286426&styleid=101159628&styleid=101225630&styleid=101215242&styleid=10- 1197626&maxvehicles=5&refid=&op=3&tab=specs
This is Edmunds' comparison of the Avalon and it's similar models. Notice the price difference between it and the ES 350. It's not much of a difference, just few thousand dollars. That's about all there is between a Lacrosse CXS and a base CTS.
Overall though, a fairly minor repair. Total bill came to something like $362 (oil change, supercharger oil, links on both sides, and an overall going over). And it's amazing how much better the car handles. A lot less, well...Buicky! :P
Next is check the bushings on the stabilizer bar where it clamps to the front crossmember; those can wear through to metal making a sound when the sway bar is twisted.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Yeah, that's just it, it was a random clunking. Sometimes it would do it over a speed bump, sometimes it wouldn't. And it definitely had to have happened after I bought the car, as I remember on the test drive, taking it down the bumpiest road in the area that I know of, and it felt tight as could be. Plus, the car wouldn't have passed inspection if the link was broken.
We had a really bad winter though, and at one point the snow was packed down on the road, into ice that must've been 4-5" thick or more, yet there would be chunks missing where you'd drop down to the asphalt, and hitting something like that is almost like hitting a pothole. Plus, as messed up as the roads have gotten, I know I've hit some potholes, as well.
So, that link was probably working fine when the car was inspected, but still near the end of its life.
Your rear sway bar also has rubber cushions that can be replaced.
The original design is a bolt with a tough plastic tube around it. The salt stays inside the plastic housing and doesn't get direct splash to wash it away. Hence the eventual corrosion of the inner bolt--mine took 13 years on my 98 to rust here in W. Ohio.
These cars are well built. That setup design on the links must have been easier for production line handling and that's why I think they used it.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Frankly, I'm a bit surprised the car even has a swaybar.
And GM has building cars for how many years now?
I had that happen on my Suburban on the rear sway bar and my FIL's Tahoe broke both front links to the front sway bar. Those periodic clunks are annoying.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Latest Edmunds comparo has the Mustang beating the Camaro.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Take a look at the winner!
Regards,
OW
On the other hand, I still find the 1970-1973 Camaro to be a stunningly beautiful design. The interior design is also superior from both an aesthetic and a functional viewpoint. I've heard that GM considered styling the new Camaro after the 1970 version and I would be interested to see what it might have looked like.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport 2020 C43 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Sorry about that. Lost sight of which forum I was in. Apologies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqHTXirrIlo&feature=related
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The main reason I like the '69 Camaro less than the '67-68 is that the earlier models have less of a "bug-eyed" look with the headlights. But, that goes away if you get the RS model with the hidden headlights.
I think 1969 was the first year you could get the 3-speed with the smallblock, wasn't it? That probably made a big difference in performance/economy compared to the old 327/2-speed combination.
The '69s have the taillight lenses that are individually angled toward the outside of the car. That really attracted me to the car.
>3-speed
I test drove a car and the automatic was still in 2nd and was going somewhere in the range of 80 mph and pulled strongly all the way up. Scary for me.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Anybody heard of such a thing? :confuse:
"Liquid tire chain was only available from about 11/68 to 2/69."
They also mention that lots of cars got nozzles installed in the rear wheel wells to shoot bleach or water on the tire to smoke them.
"
. The Regals have a slightly different suspension tune to the Insignias, primarily to improve ride comfort and accommodate all-season tires. But that doesn't mean the car has been transformed into a wallowing boat. Far from it, in fact.
"On the standard Michelin Pilot P235/50R18 all-season tires, the Regal is impressively quiet and remarkably composed, with the smooth, flowing transitions and confident straight-line stability so typical of a German sedan. The steering is liquid and linear, with just the merest delay as you pull the rim off-center. That's a trait deliberately dialed into the car to make the Regal feel more stable on slippery surfaces, says chassis engineer Andreas Holl. "
"
"This car's so quiet I'm falling asleep." That sentence has probably been uttered in a Buick before. But not in a Buick cruising along a German autobahn. At 130 mph."
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I do wish they would dump that flex fuel badge.