BigPontiac

For me: 1. 0 2. no

For me: 1. 0 2. unlikely. Once you've had a BMW, there's no sense buying an imitation.

For me: 1. 0 2. very unlikely. Buying a Chevy means buying from a Chevy dealer -- pass.

For me: 1. 1 2. yes - GMC Sierra X-Cab 4x4 SLT if GM ever gets of it's a@@ and offers the 6-speed auto. If they'd offered the X-Cab 4x4 with the 6-speed at launch, they'd already have my money. Even better would be the All-Terrain equipment without the Z-71 suspension and rancho shocks and a sunroof option and a DI 5.3 V-8.

For me: 1. 0 2. maybe - I need to see how the G8 GXP 6MT turns out

For me: 1. 0 2. no

For me: 1. 0 2. no

For me: 1. 0 2. no

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I see his point. I cross shopped Chevy vs. GMC for both of my GMC purchases: 1994 GMC Sonona and 2000 GMC Sierra. The Chevy's always appeared to be cheaper interior-wise and the GMC always has the better styling. GMC has built up goodwill with me, so I'm inclined to start there when I look for another truck. But styling-wise, killing the GMC makes me more inclined to more seriously consider the Dodge as well since I'm not a fan of the current styling on the Silverado -- though some of that can be attributed to GM's decision to make the doors slab-sided to facility reuse on the SUVs, dropping the two-tone paint option, moving from chrome to painted surfaces in many cases, etc. Many of the attributes I liked about my current truck got killed during the re-design, however Ford and Dodge still offer them.

I'll pass on all the hybrid complexity, thanks.

Fair enough. I guess I'm used to the New England presence of Saturn, I can get to 5 Saturn dealers within a 20min radius of my house. Most are either next to a P-B-G Dealership and under the same ownership, or there is a P-B-G Dealer within a mile of the Saturn store. So, assuming the P-B-G moves to selling Saturns, what happens to the "no haggle" shopping experience? Does it get applied to Buick and GMC too, or does it get eliminated at Saturn? Or does Saturn keep it, but Buick's and GMC's don't?

I see that aspect. My thoughts on the dealership aspect was to reduce the overlap of dealerships during consolidation. So, GM is mostly through their "combine Pontiac/Buick/GMC into a single store" initiative, now let's say we kill Pontiac as an example and replace it with Saturn. All the existing P-B-G dealers now sell Saturns instead, but what about the former stand-alone Saturn stores? I was making the assumption that there's likely a P-B-G store near most existing Saturn stores, so the current Saturn dealerships will get screwed over -- potentially wanting to sue (a-la Olds) whether Saturn as a brand lives or dies. If there is a high degree of overlap between the ownership of existing Saturn stores vs. P-B-G, then I guess it would be a non-issue. The dealer cost part of the equation would seem to be a key factor in which brand lives or dies. If they kill GMC, please suggest they at least give the existing Sierra sheetmetal to Chevy to replace the ugly a@@ Silverado! (Tahoe/Suburban/Avalanche look better than the Yukon/Yukon XL...)

Disappointing that GMC and Pontiac are on the block considering how much money has been wasted on Saturn, Saab and Hummer. All those Opel products could just as easily be rebadged at Pontiacs with minimal effort and cost...and be sold/serviced through a larger dealer network... I'd also think that Saturn and Saab would have fewer retail outlets if the goal was to kill a brand, thereby reducing the payouts required from the inevitable dealer lawsuits.

SO much faster than version 2.x...hopefully the theme support will catch up now that it's GA.

More updates at AutoBlog: LINK

Update

Article CEO of strikebound car hauler: Company to close Friday June 13, 10:30 pm ET CEO of strikebound car hauler says company will close; union leaders had 'different agenda' DETROIT (AP) -- Performance Transportation Services Inc.'s president said Friday that the car hauler and its related companies were ceasing operations, five days after 1,250 Teamster-member employees went on strike. Allen Park-based PTS is North America's second-largest hauler of new vehicles and was operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a letter to PTS employees, company president and CEO Jeff Cornish said the bankruptcy court on June 4 authorized a 15 percent wage cut for Teamsters-represented employees for two months. The company anticipated negotiating a new, long-term contract during that time, but the Teamsters instead went on strike Monday. Both sides met Thursday to discuss PTS' proposal, which Cornish said included salary cuts for both hourly and salaried workers. "Unfortunately, for reasons we do not fully understand, the Teamsters concluded that it was not in their interest to accept our offer," Cornish wrote. "Management and many of our Teamster members were willing to make the requested sacrifices to save the company, but the leadership of the union had a different agenda," Cornish added. Ford spokesman Todd Nissen and Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis said Friday evening that the automakers have had contingency plans in place since the Teamsters struck PTS, which is one of many companies contracted to haul vehicles. "This won't have a bearing initially on our ability to deliver cars out to the customers," Nissen said. Alternatives might include greater use of railroads to deliver vehicles, he said. Teamsters chief negotiator Fred Zuckerman said in a statement released Friday night that PTS' financial predicament stemmed not from the union's demands but from the company's problems in securing credit. During Thursday's talks, Zuckerman said, "The company did not provide us with information that was anywhere near adequate to support its demands. ... Their last-second gesture to take just a modest cut in relation to the cuts they wanted our members to take was an empty one at best." PTS delivered more than 4 million new and used cars annually from 24 facilities nationwide with its fleet of 1,800 trucks for many North American automakers, including General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. Teamsters officials said Friday that they were close to a tentative agreement on a national car haulers contract. PTS was not part of those negotiations. International Brotherhood of Teamsters chief negotiator Fred Zuckerman said a few economic proposals were left in the multi-employer negotiations. The sides were to meet next week in Detroit to hammer out a deal.

OMG, there's a 2nd kit maker out there for this! LINK

Link

Link to article

More TF2 updates today: LINK

I was at the end of the auction. I'll see if he relists it. He never sent the pictures I asked for. Or I may take a field trip to check it out in person.

Strike 1. I didn't hit reserve.

I'm a big proponent of cars with manual transmissions and I found no joy when I test drove an HHR with the manual trans. Awkward placement of the shifter, clunky gearbox, vague clutch engagement. If you want a stick, go for the HHR SS where they reworked the design and implementation shortcomings of the base car.