GMTruckGuy74

Yeah PCS, I though about that (another reason why a new 2009 Sierra Crew Cab 4WD is off the lsit). That's why I like the idea of the Syclone, because that would be an occasional-use vehicle (aka "toy") and I could then find a smaller, more money & fuel-efficient new car to own as a daily driver (like a Chevy HHR, though I'm not a real 'small car' kind of guy). But... I have for the LONGEST time wanted a full-size GMC pickup. Seeing as how I was comfortable in my Envoy, but not anything smaller (like my AURA & the wife's G6) for extended drives, leads me back to the '06 Sierra. Being 'used' means I can have what I almost want (yeah, I'd much rather have brand new) and pay much less for it. The key would be to get the '06 Sierra dealer to lower the price a bit (it's a GM Certified program truck, so I'm thinking they'll try to hold out on negotiating, but with the lack of sales now, maybe they'll move a bit). The key doing anything now with the Sierra is to find an affordable and easy way of getting out of my lease. With the Syclone, depending on how good of condition it's in, the issue is getting a loan that I can afford. And let's hope that gas prices remain low for the forseeable future regardless - I do like paying less money at the pump with the AURA! However, I will say though that while I like saving gas money, I'm not happy with what I'm driving (hence the constant online 'window shopping' of pickups). I'd gladly pay a little more at the pump to enjoy the vehicle I prefer more.

YellowJacket, now why did you have to remind me about Craigslist??? I decided to give good ol' CL a check, this time though not in my area (I choose central NJ instead of southern). This is what I found: http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/956793470.html The best thing is that the truck is located about 15-20 miles away from where I live!!! Now I'm torn - do I see if the GMC dealership can get me out of my lease and try to buy the '06 Sierra as my daily driver, or do I see if I can get my bank or wife's credit union to give me a loan to buy the Syclone (and use it as a fair-weather toy until eventually I can restore it)???

I have no idea why I keep torturing myself... First, I found this '05 Yukon XL SLT online and for a couple of days couldn't get it out of my mind: As soon as I "move on" with the Yukon XL, I find this '06 Sierra: Now that's one truck I can really see myself driving on a daily basis!! Even though I'm not at the point where I could get into a new vehicle (my SmartLease doesn't expire until Nov '09), I went ahead and sent the GM dealership that's selling the Sierra an e-mail asking if they can help me get out of my lease if I purchase their truck. Figuring dealerships are hurting for sales, maybe they can work some magic with GMAC?!?! If so, I may seriously look into that Sierra ASAP

That's disheartening to hear... this book has been developed over a long period of time and has been delayed many times. Can you elaborate on your comment a little more??? Like I said in my previous post, I'll open up my book next week when I'm off on vacation.

I got mine yesterday too... it was sitting on the porch when I got home. However, with a lot of work at school to do (namely interim grading), Christmas shopping that's no where near being done with yet, and some planned holiday activities this weekend, I will probably keep the book sealed until I go on vacation next Wednesday. It will be killing me in the meantime though!!!

So balthazar, care to update us on how good this auction was???

I guess I'll be watching the auction this January a little closer than in the past. Too bad money is not something that I have plenty of

Needless to say, I'm jealous without regards to whichever one you selected. I'd too say the ESV, but you've already made that decision. Can't wait to see the pictures of it, and best of luck to you with your new SUV!!

balthazar... I haven't received my copy yet, though the publisher did respond to my e-mail inquiry at the beginning of November and he stated that it would the books would be mailed out mid-November the latest (they missed that target too). I figured they would more than likely come out by Christmas. I'll post when I receive mine.

Well, my local BPG dealership closed at the end of May - supposedly, the owner of the land refused to renew the lease that the dealership was on and wanted to sell it for redevelopment (a KFC that was also on the parcel of land closed in April), and I had heard that GM no longer wanted the brands under the guy's ownership <never heard much more on that back story though>. Both places are empty and no movement has been be seen on the land I guess due to the financial crisis (I'm sure the landowner is upset she isn't making any money right now). Unfortunately, with this dealership closing down, the next closest BPG dealerships are 30 minutes away to the south and 45 minutes to the north. I was hoping that a newer owner would have been given the brands to sell in a new dealership locally, but the auto lot being constructed was for a new CarSense dealership and not a BPG dealership. So far in my end of southern Burlington County not much has changed yet. The local Toyota (Liberty Toyota, Route 130, Burlington City) built a new, larger store down on Rt 130 South outside of Willingboro (and next to large Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler and Hyundai dealerships). A Ford dealership next door to my Saturn dealership combined their operations 5 miles down the road with a Lincoln-Mercury dealership. Other than some small-time used car lots going under, not much else has changed yet (Ayres Pontiac-Cadillac, an extremely small dealership, is still in business but I don't know how or why GM is letting them live - they can't sell more than 1 new car a month and don't carry a used car inventory).

PCS, glad to see that you don't have the big-C and that your ailments can be treated with medication. Sorry to see that you had to go through this unholy-but-common ritualistic torture experiment though! I work with a ton of people over the age of 50 and it seems almost all of them had to endure this procedure to for a regular over-50 checkup. I am not looking forward to this time period in my life arriving, to say the least! And ocnblu, you always know how to crack me, especially when I'm at work! I couldn't stop laughing for a few moments after reading your post.

Pacific Slate Metallic is my favorite GM color for 2009; it is very similar in shade to the Stealth Gray (Pontiac, GMC)/Blue-Granite (Chevrolet) that's been offered since 2004 or 2005. Here's a close-up of the hood of a G8 in PSM: If my finances improve enough AND I don't lose my job next June, I could see this being parked in my driveway: (although I'd really love to have the Sport Performance Package option with the better-looking 19" rims; too bad they only come with "summer-only" tires)

As I said in the first post, I thought I found the answer when I looked quickly on the Internet the other day, but now I'm not so sure (I'll share my find in a moment). Of course the easiest answer would have been to ask the Mack truck owner when I was at the show, but at that point I was running low on time and needed to cram in as much as I could before I had to get back on the road. I do know that if the truck & trailer are there again next October, I will definitely ask this time! Here's what I originally thought it was: one half of a Dragon Wagon. Don't know what a Dragon Wagon is? I didn't until I saw a similar looking trailer picture in a magazine the other day with that caption and Googled it. A Dragon Wagon is a military tank carrier. Here's a picture I found of a diecast model: But upon closer inspection, the rear wheels are too tall compared to the model pictured above and there is no way to unload the item being carried like on a traditional lowboy.

Well, I can't say that we haven't started our shopping yet... we've spent about a $100 bucks on the little guy so far, but that's it. I won't see the two stipends (only half, the other half comes in June) I'm getting until next Friday (12/12). That's when our main shopping will begin to commence. The only problem is that weekend is my wife's company overnight holiday party (12/13-12/14), so we'll have to squeeze in as much shopping as we can that weekend, and save the rest for the following week and weekend. Then the fun with wrapping after a long day of work and child care/raising!!

Many wishes to you. Enjoy your day!!

Re: post #51 -- Wow, hey there hottie!! (don't worry, I'm married so I won't be cyber-stalking you!!) Though you do look very similar to a girl I had a crush on when I was 19 y-o and your love of American cars reminds me of a girl I dated briefly <unfortunately> when I was in college (my wife on the other hand could care less about cars). Maybe I'll reconsider the "stalking" (j/k!!) Sorry to hear about your husband leaving you.., but in the grand scheme of things it's all for the better. I'm sure you'll have no problem attracting someone else when you are ready. Your ex is part of a trend I've noticed among some of my friends and acquaintences the past few years (leaving a good looking woman for someone less attractive). He'll be sorry in the future - I'm a big believer in karma That Olds is a great car for a new driver. My parents saw a simialr vintage Cutlass on the side of a small country highway before I turned 17 (NJ you have to be 17 for a license) and got me all excited about buying it. When my dad and I went to look at it (summer '91), it had higher mileage than what my dad wanted me to have. The downside was that one of his former classmates was the owner; he owned a garage and was the 2nd or 3rd owner of the Olds. Even with him knowing the owner, him being a mechanic and telling my dad that he'd trust his son to drive the car, my dad played hardball over the price and let it go. I was really disappointed (it was in great shape for being a 7-9 year old car, it was black with a red velour interior and looked very sporty <white-lettered tires on the traditional Olds sporty rims). Everytime I see an '80s Olds Cutlass for sale, I think back to '91 and the one my dad let get away. As for the Chevy Silverado, great looking truck (although it is my tradition here at C&G to say that I would have liked to see you get a GMC SIerra instead!). GM has always put that extra money into their trucks and they are worth the investment, assuming you can afford the payment and/or gas bills. Best of luck with it and many happy motoring miles to you both.

See the topic title; here are the pictures to reference the trailer in question: I have an idea what it was used for after doing some "brief" Internet research, but I'm not 100% positive that I'm correct. Seeing as how there's a ton of informative people here at C&G, I'd thought I'd post this question.

I'm wondering the same thing... but I have about 11 months to go before the "official" lease turn-in date is reached with my AURA.

This Buick station wagon was apparently for sale at this year's AACA Fall Meet (aka Hershey), but was sold by Saturday when I saw it: The school I teach at has one of those Buicks appear in the parking lot duringt he warmer weather; it's a wonderful shade of pea green though with the wood trim This Pontiac S/W was also for sale, and still available when I took the picture late that afternoon:

In post #171 in this thread (http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?sh...0&start=160), I attached the 37-page PDF file of the document GM submitted to Congress.

I attached a 37 page PDF file from Automotive News that details GM's restructing plan, as given to Congress today. According to an Automotive News e-mail alert, GM is going to do the following: Also, for those of you that are not Saturn fans, here's a tid-bit of info that may make you happy: Also, Rick Wagoner has accepted a pay cut: GM__s_restructuring_plan_for_long_term_viability__12_02_2008.pdf

The problem with Chevy-Cadillac is no middle ground brand. If Chevy covers the bottom end and Cadillac the high end, a brand will still be needed to cover the middle end. I know Toyota has gotten away with just them and Lexus until a few years ago when Scion joined on, but that means there's Scion, Toyota and Lexus to cover three distinct buyers. Even Ford uses three brands to cover the market, and that's not counting the "commercial" side of the truck business. Anyway, back to the question you posed... I know Cadillac won't go down in price, so even though I like the CTS lineup and the DTS, they'll be way out of my price range. As for Chevy, I do like the Camaro, though it really isn't on my radar as a possibility; the Cobalt is nice, but not really "me"; the Impala is outdated and too plain for my tastes; I like the HHR, but feel it is too small for my preferences; the Silverado/Tahoe/Suburban I like a lot but are out of my price range; the Colorado is okay, but would be a big compromise (I feel the same way about the Canyon too); I like the Equinox, but would rather have the Pontiac Torrent; the Aveo is no where near my want list; the Corvette, while awesome, is too far out of reach, plus isn't a good family vehicle; leaving just the Malibu, which fits the bill but I want the EpII for the wider platform before I own another Epsilon-based vehicle ('04 Malibu LT, '07 AURA XE, and the wife's '08 G6 V6). Needless to say, should GM decide to cut Pontiac soon, I would be very inclined to buy a Pontiac G8 or Pontiac Torrent before the division closes. I'd have to plead to my Pontiac dealer and/or GMAC to make the last 10 payments of my AURA lease somehow "go away" so I could get my last Pontiac.

ocn, when I attended my local Ford dealer's "intro night" of the 2009 Ford F150 and 2010 Ford Transit Connect, I did ask if a passenger model will be available and I was told "yes". But then another salesman stated that just meant that a rear bench seat would be installed! So I'm sure you'll be able to find them equipped for passenger use somewhere out there.

I see an awful lot of Lincoln MkX's on the road... they're 5-seaters only, right? And they come in FWD standard, with AWD optional, right? And correct me if i'm wrong, I thought I read that the new SRX will be AWD standard???

Yesterday I took the wife's G6 in to the dealership to have some service issues performed and fell in love with a brand new 2009 Pontiac G8 GT in Pacific Slate Metallic (PSM) with the Premium Trim Package and All-Season 18" Tire options (MSRP = $32,760). A salesman I was BS'n with (since my wife's salesman quit) did offer to let me drive it I wanted to, but seeing as how I have 11 monthly lease payments left on my AURA, no financing options available right now, and with the holidays approaching no deposit money ready, I passed. But I left there yesterday now knowing that if a G8 GT is in the cards for me in 2009, it will definitely be one in the PSM color and I think I'll be okay with the 18" rims (I still like the 19" rim design better, but need all-season tires for NJ's few snowdays). It looked similar to this one: