Petra

I do... And not one of the uber-ugly psychedelic paint scheme ones with a million embedded links that take forever to load. I like to keep mine clean. http://www.myspace.com/3289166

Torrent would be first on my chopping block. Man, I thought that GM had gotten over the whole badge engineering thing...

Awesome review. It's really great to read things from the media perspective, seeing as how you guys get to see the actual introductions and all. I can't wait 'till Sunday!

Here's a picture I took last September of my car, a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis. You may recognize it from the Frappr! page:

Try reading some of the previous editions. Robert Farago has a one-track mind, to say the least. Like all conspiracy theories, this one sounds pretty plausible. I wouldn't be surprised if Kirkorian was pursuing a buyout of GM, but, "a cabal of international financiers"? I don't think so. And, while Wagoner may have made some boneheaded moves, I don't think he is trying to put GM into bankruptcy.

"Looks much better" is a bit of a stretch. The pictures are clearer, perhaps, but I wouldn't say the vehicle itself looks any better. I'm going to agree that the interior looks terrible. It looks as though it's made out of a stack of Duplo blocks! Some colour variation, too: Wow, we've got Grey on the bottom, and Dark Grey on the dash & door panel! With a strip of plastic covering the HVAC painted silver! Zzzzzzzzzzz... To sum up my feelings, I submit the following tagline for this vehicle: The New Dodge Caliber: Coming soon to a rental lot near you!

The styling reminds me the most of the original Lexus ES300, which was itself a clone of the Camry... funny how things have come full circle. I've got to admit, though: On paper, this car pretty much crushes every competitor in the marketplace. Toyota really did their homework with this one.

Meh. Not bad, not great. A couple really strong points (e.g: new sunroof) with plenty of totally forgetable points (e.g: styling, inside & out) In other words, a typical Ford product.

I know this is a luxury car and all, but what an absurd amount of features! This car has 19 freakin' speakers, for lord's sake!

Let's see... Since I bought my car last March, I have repaired/replaced the following: - The Oil Pan, which was rusted out from years of driving in Canada. It cost me about $200 for parts and $0 for labor, because I got my brother's auto class to repair it for me. Took about 5 weeks, though. - One of the brake discs was replaced when I had the car certified. I can't remember how much this cost. - Also during certification, a crossmember that had rotted out below the engine was replaced. I can't remember how much this was, either. I think that's everything I've fixed so far. However, that is not to say that my car is without niggling issues that probably should be fixed... It has tons. Here are a few: - The passenger's side rear door no longer locks/unlocks by pressing the lock/unlock button, it has to be opened manually. Also, whenver the lock/unlock button is pushed or the doors lock automatically, it makes a loud, annoying, Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! sound. - The blue, bullet-shaped high beam icon doesn't show up anymore, so you have to judge visually wether the bright lights are on or not. I'm prettyy sure I've unwittingly blinded a few drivers. - The AC doesn't work. - There is rust in the rear fender wells, most noticably on the driver's side. My brother promised me he'd fix it, but he hasn't gotten around to it yet. Meanwhile, winter marches on... - Despite the Oil Pan having been replaced, the engine still burns or leaks oil; about 1 quart every 700 or so miles. I have no idea where the oil is going, but I don't think it's going into the exhaust, because the car recently passed an emissions test (which surprised me). Any suggestions would be appreciated; just send me a PM. Maybe my expectations are just too high; after all, my car does have 185,000 miles. Other than all of that, I'd say my car has been pretty good to me. It starts every time and gets me from A to B, and I guess that's what counts the most.

What is with those big, grey stripes that run paralel to each other on both sides of the roof, from the taillights to the bottom of the "A" Pillar? It didn't work for the ION, and it doesn't work for the Caliber, either.

Looks like a Dodge truck facia will be underneath those covers to me. All the features match: Big, upright grille, squarish headlights, overall boxy shape. This sentance stopped me dead, though: :puke: Why, Chrysler, why?!?! Haven't we suffered enough?!?!?!

Sorry to say, but that is what happens when you have a stroke. My Mom is still trying to recover from hers a year ago.

Say what you will about the interior, but that is one cool centre stack. It reminds me of the Avalon, as well as the 1980's-era Nissan 300ZX.

1st: #2 2nd: #1

I'd say normal, except when I'm at work delievering pizzas. Then, the beast is unleashed. :metal:

Yeeeeech... Reminds me of that episode of Mythbusters with the dead pigs in the Corvette... Here are a couple big Mercs like mine... In fact, in this first pic, almost identical to mine: T-bone: Ouch! And the interior: I must admit, though, a lot of these big old cars are in pretty good shape! It's kinda reassuring.

I agree, but that last generation Regal coupe maybe isn't the best example in the world of a great Buick: The Rivera, the Reatta, the Regals of yore... That's what Buick should be going for. I kind of like the path Buick is on right now. While there may not be a big, RWD flagship or a luxury coupe, I think GM has done pretty much all they can with the brand. Now that Buick will be amalgamated somewhat with GMC and Pontiac, they won't need to have a full lineup anyway, which should help them to focus more on developing better products. Nevertheless, I give Buick 5-10 years. If they can't turn things around in that time, well, I guess we'll have to say goodbye.

I remember about 5 years ago, when the Santa Fe and the Elantra and the XG were just new and Hyundai was undergoing a complete makeover of their lineup. A lot of people back then predicted that Hyundai would soon be a major player in the automotive world. But then things got quiet at Hyundai as all their shiny new models started to age, and everybody forgot about them. Now, 4 years later, Hyundai is all the buzz again, with a rejuvenated lineup including an all-new Sonata, all-new Azera, all-new Tucson, all-new Accent, and with updates to the Santa Fe and the rest of the lineup coming very soon. I now see that Hyundai is taking the same route as Toyota: Incrementally increasing their market share, until, one day, they're a major player. We're just going to wake up one day, and read that Hyundai is selling a million vehicles a year. It will happen. And I don't think there's anything that can stop it.

Ouch! That's not a pretty picture! I feel your loss.

From what I've seen, I'd say that GM is on track to provide some models that appeal to the 18-24 crowd... especially the Camaro. I wouldn't be too concerned about this market until about 2010, though. These new buyers won't be making enough money to afford a new car until then, unless their parents buy a car for them. At the same time, though, GM can't forget about the Boomers. They're the ones who have the most money for new cars. It is a delicate balancing act.

Proved me wrong. But consider some of the airlines that are in bankruptcy right now: United Airlines. Northwest Airlines. Delta. They're some of the biggest airlines in operation, are they not? When that many big airlines go down, who is left to pick up the slack? I'd say that people are still buying tickets from these airlines simply because there is no alternative. The automotive industry is different... If GM were to go bankrupt right now, there are at least a dozen other automakers poised to pick up GM's lost sales. If GM, Toyota and Ford all went into bankruptcy at once, people would still keep buying their cars, because there simply isn't much of an alternative.

Are you really surprised that 75% of those polled would not buy a car from a bankrupt company? I'm not. I can't think of a single company that has had sales maintain at a steady pace while undergoing a major crisis, let alone bankruptcy. Buyers can smell a dying company, and it scares them.

How can a subjective opinion on a matter such as the beauty/ugliness of a car's interior ever be "correct," other than in the mind of the writer? How do you measure the "correctness" of an opinion? Also, can you not tell the difference between a factual statement and hyperbole? Obviously, the FJ's interior is not "worse than shit" or "trash". Those words were used to drive home the strength of the writer's opinions, a sort of written exclaimation mark. Regardless, I've had enough of this game. You're entitled to your opinions, just as I am entitled to mine. I'm taking my ball and going home, so to speak.

Looks to me like Chrysler decided to skip the hard part and just display their concepts in clay model form. Roller comparisons be damned... to me, the front of this thing looks like a big Semi truck. Colour it red, and I could see that facia right at home on some future generation of the Dodge Ram. Also: am I the only one who thinks this Imperial looks kinda... short? In that picture, it looks like it is about the same length as the 300; I expected it to be noticably bigger.