All kinds of nice projects in the linup for one of their previously troubled brands.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

 

definatly a step in the right direction for the buicks...

 

Wow, I could have gone all day without seeing that Buick Wildcat Grand Sport concept. I really liked it. They called it a "T-top" but I didn't see any "Spine".
Lucky for me it's going to be priced out of my reach, and they'll probably feel obligated to hang their antiquated "Buick" waterfall grill on it, so that will make it easier for me to ignore.

 

Wow, i realy like the Wildcat, in one pic it reminds me of the Firepower.

 

I like the look but I am becoming very concerned about GM quality (again). I have a $50K GMC pickup with 50K miles on it and it has been towed 5 times in 18 months for mechnaical problems!

I am not sure I will buy GM again.

 

Beautifully designed cars. Love the Wildcat design. But they are still GM's.

 

Nice looking cars, no doubt, but they aren't going to happen. At least not the way they appear in the photos. Those cars are all based on the Zeta platform and that thread was started in June of 2006. Just recently GM announced they are killing the Zeta platform for all but the Camaro and G8 due to more stringent fuel ecomony laws. This means the big Buicks, the Chevy Impala and some Cadillacs are not going to be RWD cars. Bob Lutz himself said that GM can't meet the fuel economy targets unless they stick with FWD vehicles. Well, that was his spin anyway - could be the whole program is just too dang expensive.

 

Interesting about your pickup. I have a 2001 Yukon XL with just over 80K miles and it has never had any maintenance other than injectors cleaned once and the emergency brake had to be replaced. Otherwise just oil and filter changes.

 

you go GM! At least there may be one U.S. car manufacturer left!

 

My other car is a 2006 Corvette C6 coupe with 8,000 miles. It has been a great car.

 

Guess you missed my post. These cars are not going to happen because GM has killed the Zeta platform they were to be built on. Look for more FWD sedans from the General in the future.

 

All the car mags are raving about the new Malibu. They say the interior is on par with VW/Audi. Not sure I agree with that, but who knows. What is going to happen to the rear drive Caddys?

 

This is what... http://www.caranddriver.com/autoshow...lac-cts-v.html

the CTS-v coming to dealers near you in 2009. Car and Driver is calling it an "M5 Beater"

 

The new Malibu is a reskinned Opel from Germany, as is the new Saturn Astra. Heck, with the Saturn they didn't even change the name of the car!! When the Saturn Aura was named North American Car of the Year for 2007 some of the European press was laughing because, as they put it "American names 4 year old Opel/Vauxhall as Car of the Year". While not completely true - the Aura isn't just a reskinned Opel Vectra but it isn't far from it - it kind of shows the sad state of affairs in auto design in the US today.

GM is heavily relying on their European (Opel and Vauxhall for things like the Saturn Aura & Astra, Chevy Malibu) and Australian (Holden - Pontiac GTO and G8) to create their better cars. The Corvette and Cadillac CTS seem to be their only real "domestic" shining stars.

Ford builds some wonderful cars in Europe - the Focus is a perennial favorite hot hatch over there and the new Mondeo is a fantastic car in its own right, but take the relatively low price into account and it's just amazing. The domestic Focus is, to be kind, a piece of junk. And what else do they give us? The Five Hundred...er, sorry, Taurus. They can't seem to make up their minds about the name on that one.

Chrysler built some great stuff, like the 300, Charger and Magnum with some heavily borrowed Mercedes E-Class bits underneath, and of course our beloved Crossfire - an SLK with real panache. Left to just their domestic devices they give us......the Caliber. And the Sebring.

Sure, there's plenty of crap built all over the world - including in Opel factories. Everybody builds a stinker now and again. It just seems we're building too many of them on this side of the pond lately.

 

GM is definately on the right track, their new malibu has gotten rave reviews, as well as the new Buick, and the CTS Caddilac won the car of the Year (motortrend). But Chrysler cars will alway be in my driveway!

 

Yes, but the bigger Caddy models are now stuck in wrong wheel drive mode for the foreseeable future.

That CTS-V does look like all kinds of fun though, doesn't it? And a proper 6sp manual box too!

 

In my eyes the biggest problem with the Pontiac brand is that it's nearly impossible to tell a $45,000 Pontiac from a $20,000 Pontiac. All their cars look too much alike. I think this carries over from the 80's when a Pontiac was just a Chevy with some plastic cladding around the lower part of the body.

Cadillac's models also look too much alike, even though I really don't care for the "angular" styling they are currently doing.

At least my Crossfire LOOKS like it costs more than a Sebring.

 

If those filter changes don't include regular "fuel" filter replacement, you can count on replacing the very expensive fuel pump eventually. The dealer told me they recommend changing them every 15k miles. You should start thinking about changing those engine "idler" pulleys too.
Look forward to the intake manifold to start leaking as well, but that's a ways off.
My 1999 Chevy 1 ton "extended" window van now has over 250k on it, but that is just some of the "maintenance" work it's needed.
For comparison, an old 93 Civic I had went over 250k with nothing more than a routine timing belt & water pump change at 110k, a torn CV joint "Boot" replacement, and a radiator replacement, because I never flushed the anti freeze in 170k.
I'm a firm believer that GM likes to keep it's service technicians busy.

 

Back to the topic of the Buicks, the Roadmaster is definately a knockoff of the Cadillac Sixteen.




I personally think that the line between a Cadillac and a Pontiac, Buick, Chevy, etc. is way too thin. Take 1999 for instance. Cadillac got in such a rush to get the Escalade into production to compete with the Navigator that they just took a Yukon and slapped a few logos on it. While the Yukon was a good car, I think that when you are paying over $10K more, you should be getting more than a label. Same thing with the 2007 - present models. If it wasn't for the logos, I would be mistaking the Tahoe for the $20K+ Escalade every day.

The same thing is happening within the Cadillac brand alone. In 2005, you had to have a really good eye to tell the CTS from the STS. I find it just a bit ridiculous. Just my 2 cents.

 

Yep, I have that issue. It is the first Caddy or modern GM product that has my mouth watering. The CTS coupe has me excited too! They are finally getting the interior materials up to par where they should be.