Drew Dowdell

To me, the supercharged Monte Carlo is kinda like a Riveria lite..... and that's not a bad thing.

The interior is better and the engine, though not powerful, is very smooth.

Agreed, I see more Terrazas then any other CSV. Uplanders being second and catching up fast, Relays being 3rd and I've seen two Montana CSVs ever. The interior of the Terraza is very attractive looking. It may not be the best van out there as far as utility or performance is concerned, but it definately has one of the nicest interiors and a fairly handsome exterior. In the luxury class, the utility of the vehicle becomes secondary. See also BMW X5.

Bob Lutz: Obviously a slight overstatement due to emissions such.... but why shouldn't we take his word for it? It makes a lot of sense for GM to do this. Why engineer two small cars when they can engineer one and slap right proper badge for the proper country on it.

Veronas are fairly popular around here. I see them enough that they are almost as unremarkable as Altimas now. They are quite popular with the less affluant crowd that really wanted a Camry couldn't afford it, but didn't want to buy a Kia.

Hey, if I had my choice, I'd run all my cars on E85 or Biodiesel. That isn't a possibility right now as none of my vehicles are flex fuel. The next Avalanche is flex fuel and supposedly the HF series will be flex fuel in a future revision. There's two E85 vehicles for me. I guess that leaves a Passat TDI for my partner. One huge problem for us. Even if we replace our current vehicles with flex fuel vehicles. There is no place for us to buy these alternative fuels in our area.

As the fossil fuels run out, we can switch even more to bio fuels. Though, if we start now/soon we can stretch out the timeline for fossil fuels by a lot.

How are you brakes looking back there? Is the parking brake releasing entirely?

Doing a retrofit on an older diesel is fairly minor to be able to use Biodiesel, but we're still talking about future vehicles. All current diesels can run biodiesel... and in you live in Montana, use fossil diesel in the winter months and biodiesel in the summer months. I think what I'm not getting through is just how flexible you can be with biodiesel/fossil diesel. I'm not saying eliminate diesel pumps or eliminate gasoline pumps. Have the stations offer all 4 varieties. You pick the fuel that is most cost effective for you.

Does the hiss stay when the car is at a stop with the engine still running?

Hmm... maybe you just got a bum one. 33k miles and none of those problems. I did hear about the rear differential issue on some '03s and '04s. Are there no other Caddy dealers in your area? Mine is great and they make sure I'm happy before I leave.

The point is, don't use just one type of fuel. Imagine if the US had a mix of petrol/diesel vehicles like Europe does. 40% of the vehicles could use two kinds of fuel <fossil diesel or biodiesel> 60% of the vehicles could use two other kinds of fuel <E85 or gasoline> It would lessen the volitility of the market. It would put a dent in the importance of the mid-east. Choice and variety is never a bad thing. The beauty of flexible fuel vehicles of both the E85 and Biodiesel variety is that you can run any ratio of Biofuel to fossil fuel. As the price of one goes up, you can begin using another.... without having to do anything more then pull up to the next pump!

unfortunately, people are stupid and greedy. They feel they should be able to waste as much gasoline as they want and it should be 79 cents a gallon. The true cost of SUVS is much higher then the purchase price. The damage to the roads and enviroment is substantially greater than a sedan with little to no reflection of that damage translated directly back to the consumer. I say this as an Avalanche driver. I need the truck to run my company, but I'm also very careful to only drive it when I specifically need it. Grocery runs or leisure travel are all done in a much smaller, more efficient car.

That's great! What I find remarkable from my personal observations, 90% of the Lucernes I've seen in the wild seem to be the 6 cylinder version. So much for the 3800 being a hinderance to sales, though I'm sure the 3.6 or 3.9 would only help.

and anyway, the whole point of E85 is that you can switch back to gasoline as needed. Wouldn't it be nice if there were some competition against the price of petrol gas?

Yes and no. While GM has no excuse for the CSVs <though they seem to be selling ok>. There is still the idea that every flippin car out there must out handle the 3-series. "Well this new Lucerne rides ok, but the slolam numbers suck"* "Well this new Aveo does it's job competently, but the 0-60 times suck"* "Pushrods! meh."* *obviously extreme fabricated examples

uhm, but Brazil does it.... edit: and everything you read on the internet is real......

oh, I agree that Biodiesel would be great also.... but there are still lots of dumb people out there that don't like diesels because their "grandmother had a diesel VW Rabbit back in '81 and it always broke down". Just thinking of ways for Calista Flockheart to drive her Escalade on a domestic fuel without requiring her to think.

Sugar Corn Potatoes I think even soy some wood pulp waste product edit: the E85 site just says "vegitables", so it could be many more than my list

Well at least the Aveo will continue to sell well.

holy ! This thing is real!?!?

I'm getting the impression of the last Dodge Colt/Mitsubishi Expo

They're designed by the same company.....

7 views and no one has an opinion?

stick a fork in it, this company is done. What do they sell anymore that does any good in the marketplace? There best seller is probably the eclipse and the last one that sold well was 2 generations ago. They took a decent Galant and made it hidious. Not sure why they even bothered with the Raider. This looks so bland... but at least they lost the Oldsmobile rip off styling.