ponchoman49

Why do the hybrids lose there bodyside moldings? Hopefully GM isn't catching this disease from Toyota!

This car has 3 big problems: 1) Indifferent styling that tries too hard to be Lexus-like 2) Very dated base powertrain 3) It gets very expensive when you option it up or go with the CXS model There are of course other smaller issues that crop up like way too light cloth seat material, rear seat legroom and headroom and that terribly fake looking woodgrain but I digress. It all became very apparent when I rented a base 2005 CX model. It's not too powerfull feeling 3800, numb but jerky steering, soft suspension, wimpy front end styling, lack of back seat leg and headroom and it's comical, light cloth tan seats that already looked dingy with but 5K on the clock were all reminders of how superior my 2002 Intrigue is! In checking out the 2007 versions, I still see the terrible plastic wheel covers being used, the cloth seats look almost the same as before despite being called something different, a Chevy Impala/Monte Carlo/Malibu/Lucerne etc steering wheel, the woodgrain looked the same and overall the car is still lackluster. Instead of changing the steering wheel, cloth seat names, colors and red needle pointers I would like to see a bolder front end, new base engine, darker cloth seats and some new colors other than the tiresome gray and tan and an injection of pizzazz. Please Buick, don't let this car languish the same way you did the 1997-2005 Century/Park Ave and 00-05 LeSabre.

I would buy a red XE with cloth, moonroof and 3.6/6 speed auto if it were offered because of the superior 17" alloy wheels and lower price. I wish Saturn would put a center rear armrest in the base models to give it that more upscale feel like it's competitors do. Otherwise this car is a hit.

The perfect car for old people: Toyota Camry. And that is supported by the sheer number of older ladies I see driving these ugly lumps!

I checked out a couple of new G6's. There was a 2007 coupe with no molding and a sedan with. When you opened the sedans door it ended up right where the coupes molding used to be! The deletion of this is yet another cost cutting move and has nothing to do with making the car look cleaner or that everybody drives an SUV so the molding is useless theory. Plus it makes the coupes look even more plain and generic looking, just like an Asian car! Pontiac should at least make it an option for those that care about the appearance of there vehicles.

Just add some side trim and it will be a winner.

The 3500 V6 that gets 20/29 in the new Impala is the new LZ4 vin code "N" as in the new Aura, Malibu and G6. If you check out the G6 and Aura you will see the same 20/29 ratings. The Malibu keeps the old 22/32 rating because it keeps the electric steering. It astonishes me that electric steering can gain you 3 mpg! So the total mystery here is what hp and torque the LZ4 puts out in the 07 Impala and why it loses 2 mpg from the E85 engine which carries over from last years cars. I would also think that Chevy would be a tad embarressed offering both the base 3500 and optional 3900 with identical mileage ratings!

My buddys 1996 Tacoma had bad ball joints and tie rod ends at less than 50k which practically made the truck undriveable and very quickly wore the inner part of his tires out! We had to make a 12 hour drive to North Carolina to pick him up because of it. He has never bought a Toyota product since.

Apparently many current Toyota owners have been clocked in the head. You would have to be bonkers to like there current styling trends!

It look far better than the 2007 Camry!

Now if only we could have the 175 hp Ecotec for some better mileage figures and the 224 hp VVT 3500 for some better performance.

All W-bodies are on the list from 1996-2004 for intermediate steering shaft failure and intake manifold failures plus issues with dex cool. The 2004 Grand Prix and 2005 LaCrosse with the series III 3800 have a composite steel intake manifold that doesn't suffer the same issues as it's plastic manifold 3800 series II predecessor. The 3100 and 3400 engines from 1996-2003 are notorious for early manifold failures. Everytime I go to my local Pontiac/Buick dealer they are replacing the intakes on either a 3100 car or 3400 minivan guarenteed. If a few slip past 100K without failure, they are the lucky few. My mechanic has given me several lists of car affected with these TSB's and recalls and it seems the 1997-2004 W-bodies and 1995-2003 G-bodies are the worst.

Quote: One of the most important conceptual ideas in marketing is "owning a word in the mind." In almost every market, in almost every category, the leading brands are brands that can be identified by a single word or concept. BMW owns "driving." Mercedes-Benz owns "prestige." Volvo owns "safety." And Toyota is special because it owns several words to identify it: bland, souless, appliance, fugly. Quote: It's the curse of the medern generation: Never truer words spoken. It utterly amazes me how many fundamentally poor decisions come from these modern day nerds who come up with things like I-drive, current styling trends, making everything over in China and more things than I care to remember.

Buick surely has to be the dissapointment king of 2007! No hp increases save the minivan which already had the 3900 as an option anyways. No new engines. Less engines in fact as the 3.6 is dropped from the Rendevous. No AWD on the minivans making them even more worthless. The Ranier should surely be gone by now. The LaCrosse desperatly needs a facelift and more 3.6 hp like in most every other new GM product and where in the hell is the 3.6 in the Lucerne? Dropping the blue interior option in the Lucerne was dumb but I do like the new cocoa color and I would trade that silly heated steering wheel for non intrusive trunk hinges, telescoping wheel, better looking base alloy wheels, more than 197 std hp and soft touch plastic dash material. If the cheaper LaCrosse can have 200 hp, nicer dash, telescpoing wheel and non intrusive trunk hinges why can't the more costly Lucerne? 2007 would have been a perfect opportunity to clean up some of these messes but GM seems content to leave Buick on life support to wither!

I have seen many new 07 Impalas with 2 different 3500's! One has the flex fuel badge and 211 hp and is rated at 21/31. This is really just last years engine carried over. Other models had a vin code "N" 3500 which is the LZ4 as in the Malibu/Aura/G6 and they were rated at 20/29. Surely they don't have 3 different hp ratings on the LZ4 motor at 211, 217 and 224. And why does this LZ4 3500 get so much lower mileage compared to the flex fuel VVT 3500? I don't understand the logic in offering 2 engines that are rated at the same mileage, the LZ4 and the AFM 3900 at 20/29. Does anybody know what the deal with this is? Regarding the Monte, a nice body colored door molding and some optional wood interior trim and door arm rest padding would go a long way to sprucing this model up.

It looks ok but the generic, plain looking sides are getting real tiresome on most of these new Asian models!

The interior and exterior deserve major kudos. The 4.3 V6 and 4 speed automatic are just downright embarressing to be still offered in any 2007 truck! I was also dissapointed to see such mild power upgrades on the 4.8 and 5.3 V8's. You could get the alloy 5.3 last year that put out 310 hp and this year it's only 315! Why so little torque out of such a big engine? Also the 6 speed automatic should be mandatory in all V8's at this point in time and for the prices that will be charged for these burley beasts. Still I don't see why this new version, at the very least, would lose it's second place best seller title.

I like what I see so far. Sign me up for a V8 with DOD and good highway mileage!

I saw an 07 base LaCrosse the other day and it did not have portholes. i would venture a guess that the 08 Super will have them.

I'm venturing a guess that the AFM 3900 will be in larger demand for the 07 Impala and Chevy sells far fewer Montes so it's letting that model make due. A few things confuse me on these new 07's. I have seen several LS and LT Impalas with the E85 badge on the trunks and the normal 21/31 mpg ratings. The other day I saw a few more 07's that did not have E85 badges and were the new LZ4 3500. It's mileage was only 20/29! So a 3500 non E85 gets the same mileage as the AFM 3900! Why offer it at all? Why the big drop in mileage? Does the LZ4 have 224 hp like in the Aura/G6? Does the LZ4 have better gears than 2.86:1 to lower mileage? The 07 engine lineup in as confusing as ever. It is also interesting to note that the 06 Monte Carlos with 3900 were rated at 20/28 instead of the Impalas 19/27 figure. So if the AFM made it in the 07 Monte would that have been rated at 21/30?

Blows away any currently introduced Toyota products hands down but is hardly stunning!

Quote: Any change in G8? Hopefully the name!!!!!!!!!!

Japan scolds Toyota on recall practices Now if we could only get them to scold Toyota on terribly styled North American products!

Not sure what to think of the styling but it sure looks better than the dump on wheels Tundra. The 4.3 is a joke along with the ancient 4 speed automatic. It's also rated at 5 less hp than earlier Silverados with the 4.3. The 4.8 is still at 285 hp and the 5.3 is rated at last years all alloy 5.3 at 310 hp. So much for the huge power increases that were rumored earlier this year! This seems like another half assed attempt at an update though the interior looks better and higher quality. If I were GM I would axe the 4.3 and 4 speed automatic right away from civilain models and instead make an AFM 4.8 std equipment and a 5 or 6 speed automatic available as an option. Why do we still have 1996 designed 4.3 Vortecs and 1982 designed 4 speed automatics in 2007?

A sad travesty of a vehicle with zero styling efferts. This will surely go down as the worst selling Jeep in history. Nissan and Toyota will probably sue for blatant rip off rear end styling and rear door handle location!