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Good news for GMC Chrysler and Ford.

I noticed on TV yesterday and today, a plethora of car advertising, all except Honda were offering 0% financing amongst other enticements. Who were these companies? Toyota, Suzuki, Kia, Nissan. Honda were advertising at 0.9%. Where was GM & Chrysler ..... nothing, nil, nada. They have to be in the marketplace in order to compete. Ford, oooooooh Mama! 0% on selected models (read the ugly ones that no self respecting person would allow themselves to be seen in anyhoo).
 
I noticed on TV yesterday and today, a plethora of car advertising, all except Honda were offering 0% financing amongst other enticements. Who were these companies? Toyota, Suzuki, Kia, Nissan. Honda were advertising at 0.9%. Where was GM & Chrysler ..... nothing, nil, nada. They have to be in the marketplace in order to compete. Ford, oooooooh Mama! 0% on selected models (read the ugly ones that no self respecting person would allow themselves to be seen in anyhoo).



Actually, I saw several Chrysler commercials for the first time in ages yesterday.

Couldnt believe it.

Something about how they are about to reveal the new models they have been working hard on secretly.


Should be good....


Bill
 
I've always had a Corporate Car. Either a Mercury Grand Marquis or a Ford Crown Victoria. It was the last of the truly American cars, having a full frame, V-8 power and rear wheel drive. It was the last limosine. I never had a bit of trouble with any of them. They were the standard vehicle for all Police Departments, including the Moscow, Russia Police.
I gave the last one to my son-in-law. He now has better that 250,000 miles on it, commuting between Dover, New Hampshire to Boston. It doesn't burn a bit of oil. But Ford, in it's infinite wisdom, decided not to build them any more.
By the way I got 20 to 24 MPG. Not too bad for all that wonderful protective metal around you.
Now they build things so cheap that you have to resort to airbags and seat belt in hopes that it will save you from your frameless, gutless, automobiles.
I've spent most of my driving life without needing them.

HD, there is still an American V-8 powered, rear wheel drive, full sized car. The Pontiac G8.
 
I think the G8 Is a reworked Aussie Holden. And GM is shutting down Pontiac...

From Wikipedia

The Pontiac G8 is a rear-wheel drive sedan produced by General Motors (Holden) released for the 2008 model year (2009 in Canada). The G8 takes the place in the Pontiac lineup of both the Pontiac Bonneville, which ceased production after the 2005 model year, and the Pontiac Grand Prix, which ceased production after the 2008 model year. The G8 is Pontiac's first full-size car since the Pontiac Bonneville and the 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO. The G8 is a captive import of the Australian Holden VE Commodore.


Brian
 
I tend to stick with full size pickups, they all have frames. My current GMC with the 4 door cab and all the bells and whistles reminds me of a big luxury car in comfort and ride. And I can pull a horse trailer with it too.
 
Thats wild! I never knew that. My neighbors have a G8 and it is awesome looking. I never knew it was made in the Out Back!
:d
Bill

I can't understand why both the Commodore (G8) and the Monaro (GTO) had to be hit with the Ugly Stick for the US market!!!
The originals were very clean and neat.
 
Frames are a must for off road vehicles and vehicles that will go through hurrendous duties like towing tons of weight, rough terrain, etc.

A regular car though can have a very well done unibody (if engineered right) that will last ages without needing a traditional ladder frame. Convertibles are the exception, but usually conversion centers that cut the tops will weld in frame reinforments on the chassis, which is why convertables are always heavier then topped cars.

:d

Now race cars are different. Some can make unibodies stronger then a ladder (like some formula one cars have), while cars like the Viper with tremendous torque and weight need a giant, 'truck like' ladder frame as its backbone. (Man, what a Viper can do still freaks me out. On the track, it did what you told it, and it would beat me up!!! lol.. ).



Bill
 
Of course the G8 is a Pontiac!

Where it's built has NOTHING to do with what it is. Yes, it's built at Holden, off the Zeta platform. It's not a Holden, it's a completely different vehicle built off a shared platform. No one would say a KC-135 is the same as an AWACS or an E-8. They are different a/c built off a common platform. And they have FAR more in common than the Holden and the G8.

It's a Pontiac, and a great one at that!

Crash
 
I'm not bashing the Holden... If there was a way to Migrate the steering wheel to the other side, I'd take a Commodore Ute or Wagon in a heartbeat... Same for the Aussie Ford Falcon's...

Brian
 
Didn't take it that way, Brian. It's just that the days of having Buick plants building Buicks and Pontiac plants building Pontiacs is LONG gone. I think there is only one, single model assembly plant left. Ironically enough, it's the former Saturn plant in Spring Hill. They are building only the Chevrolet Traverse.

Sharing platforms is the only economical way to build some vehicles. The Chev Traverse, Build Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia all share the same platform. But they are different vehicles. The days of "badge engineering" are gone as well (thank God!)

Crash
 
With a college degree and a nice new job in hand, I'm saving up to be in the market for a new car (just a couple months, now!). I fully intend to buy a new Honda Civic coupe when I am ready, because in my position it's simply the best out there. My #2 choice would have been a Ford Focus, except that A) the coupe the offer looks downright odd, not at all like the sleek, sexy Civics which seem to easily go from a coupe to a sedan without looking top-heavy and ungainly, B) as previously mentioned, that American car company only offers its really sporty Focus in Europe for reasons beyond me, and C) the common grille thing looks ugly to my eyes. I used to drive my grandfather's 2001 Focus after he passed away, and they had a nice sleek look to them and the grille. Now they all (Focus, Taurus, Fusion) look like you're driving down the road with Venetian shutters strapped to the front bumper! I don't like it one bit. The quality and reliability of the Focus has improved in the last few years, being competitive with the Civic, but that's not enough when Honda can have all that and look good doing it!

I now drive a '96 Saturn SL. I love that car (except for the rubber fuel line which squirrels have chewed through twice in the last 10 months). However, despite the fact that I think Saturn is one of the few parts of GM actually worth saving (seriously, how many options for big trucks and SUVs do you need from one bankrupt company putting me in deb for the rest of my life?), they've made their mistakes, too. The Ion line that replaced the SL/SL2 was discontinued, and replaced with the European Astra hatchback. Not being one to like hatchbacks anymore than I like big sedans, SUVs or sports cars I can't afford (which is the extent of Saturn's other options), even good old Saturn is out of the picture - for me, and by the end of the year for everyone else, too.

I'm going with Honda. They make what I want and they make it very well, so I'll be giving them my money, because "Honda-San" has earned it and Mr. Detroit has not. I see no reason to pay a subsidy to American car companies, their management, and the UAW as a reward for failing to deliver. That doesn't make me uncaring for American manufacturing jobs. I work in the aerospace industry for an American-owned company making aircraft here in america with American labor, and I'm proud of that. But Boeing delivers, and for the most part these American car companies don't. That makes all the difference.

I do get the impression, though, that i should get that new car as soon as possible. Given the influence of the auto unions in the current administration, I don't see protectionist measures designed to punish me for exercising freedom of choice in what I consume being all that far off, which I want no part of. When that happens, things will tank badly, and i'd like to have some new wheels before then.
 
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