Car Talk 2: Un-American Motor Company.

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Johnny_P
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Rode in my friend’s new Impreza CVT hatch sport model. Didn’t hate it. Rode well ish and handled good. Power seemed acceptable. CVT didn’t drone. HK stereo and Apple car play slay my radio setup. Interior is fine. Has roof mount points.

Not a bad car. :whocares:
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ChrisoftheNorth
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KYGTIGuy wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:03 am Have you guys seen the Rich Rebuilds channel on YouTube?

Guy buys salvaged Tesla's and rebuilds them. He didn't have sb lot of good things to say about the company. Non-existent aftermarket support, etc... Really interesting
I'll check it out.

That's been my argument the entire time. It's not the new car stuff that will get Tesla, it's the warranty and after sales support that will nickel and dime the company into oblivion. Worse is when all the :derp: s get their earth saving Model 3's and need to start having things replaced. And when out of warranty, the epic hassle and expense of having things repaired will surely ensue :triggered:

Unless the brand is so strong that even :derp: s will :aintcare: then, :impressive: but :yeahok:
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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KYGTIGuy
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Detroit wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:20 am
KYGTIGuy wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:03 am Have you guys seen the Rich Rebuilds channel on YouTube?

Guy buys salvaged Tesla's and rebuilds them. He didn't have sb lot of good things to say about the company. Non-existent aftermarket support, etc... Really interesting
I'll check it out.

That's been my argument the entire time. It's not the new car stuff that will get Tesla, it's the warranty and after sales support that will nickel and dime the company into oblivion. Worse is when all the :derp: s get their earth saving Model 3's and need to start having things replaced. And when out of warranty, the epic hassle and expense of having things repaired will surely ensue :triggered:

Unless the brand is so strong that even :derp: s will :aintcare: then, :impressive: but :yeahok:
Video I posted goes into that. Very eye opening for me.
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KYGTIGuy
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Ok. I read the article. Would I be excited?

I'd love to consider a Cadillac when the time comes so I hope this is a good thing.
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[user not found] wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:58 pm
KYGTIGuy wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:50 pm

Ok. I read the article. Would I be excited?

I'd love to consider a Cadillac when the time comes so I hope this is a good thing.
He wasted a lot of money and man hours on making little difference in the overall numbers.
So he's like CE :crang: ?
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I wonder if Caddy will move back to Detroit.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Apex wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:00 pm
[user not found] wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:58 pm

He wasted a lot of money and man hours on making little difference in the overall numbers.
So he's like CE :crang: ?
:lolol:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Fuuuucck

I once had a 3/4 full paint can fall off a shelf and land right next to a car. Amazingly the lid stayed on the can :alpo:


As the only published author in a well-known motorcycle publication in the room...
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[user not found] wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:58 pm
KYGTIGuy wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:50 pm

Ok. I read the article. Would I be excited?

I'd love to consider a Cadillac when the time comes so I hope this is a good thing.
He wasted a lot of money and man hours on making little difference in the overall numbers.
Did he tho?

Turning around a brand the proper way takes serious time...what more than 4 years. He made strides in revamping the dealer network and consumer point of sale experiences. Cadillac was the first with a subscription service. It's also managed to get procduction under control without resorting to insane incentives like in the past.

People blame product, but have no idea how long it takes to develop a new product...5 years in most cases. Even if on day 1 he added a bunch of new product to the portfolio, it won't see showrooms until next year at the earliest. The last 4 years he had to handle the cars he was dealt, and I think he did the right things with those cards (focus on retail improvements and elevating the brand). The product we see over the next 3 to 5 years will tell us how good he was.

I'm really surprised by his departure, and also rather concerned. Cadillac was on a good trajectory and now...who knows. I really hope it doesn't slip back to the old ways.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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4zilch wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:56 am Fuuuucck

I once had a 3/4 full paint can fall off a shelf and land right next to a car. Amazingly the lid stayed on the can :alpo:


:whalecum:
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:44 am
dubshow wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:36 am

:whalecum:
Soooo that's what it looks like.
better get behind them tails too. Luckily his windows were up and thats probably savable.

Image

Image

:triggered:
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:40 am
Detroit wrote: Did he tho?

Turning around a brand the proper way takes serious time...what more than 4 years. He made strides in revamping the dealer network and consumer point of sale experiences. Cadillac was the first with a subscription service. It's also managed to get procduction under control without resorting to insane incentives like in the past.

People blame product, but have no idea how long it takes to develop a new product...5 years in most cases. Even if on day 1 he added a bunch of new product to the portfolio, it won't see showrooms until next year at the earliest. The last 4 years he had to handle the cars he was dealt, and I think he did the right things with those cards (focus on retail improvements and elevating the brand). The product we see over the next 3 to 5 years will tell us how good he was.

I'm really surprised by his departure, and also rather concerned. Cadillac was on a good trajectory and now...who knows. I really hope it doesn't slip back to the old ways.
I think his biggest faux pas was moving the brand to NYC. That’s a lot of resources that could’ve been directed elsewhere.

I know he wasn’t responsible for the ATS gayges, either, but he still didn’t change them.

And then there’s the current naming...

How can you concurrently offer an XTS and an XT5? :bruh:
Sales in China are going gangbusters. He claimed the naming convention move was for global markets (China) and that seemed to have worked.

It's not like if the gayges were fixed and it was called a Broham-V that any of you (or the people whining about such issues) would have bought a new ATS-V anyway. Vehicle names are :whocares: when the product is 5/7. Lets be real.

All aspects of vehicle development are trade-offs. Spend $10M on new gayges to barely improve sales, or spend $10M on the next gen vehicle (or another vehicle altogether) and make that more class-leading. There's a finite amount of money for vehicle development, and it needs to be prioritized accordingly. And worse, those investments take a while to come to market. It's likely that a gayge redesign wouldn't have been able to make it to market until this year anyway, which at the end of the product cycle is :whocares:
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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I am reading/following way too much 944Cup stuff lately. Seeing ads for prep'd cars for sale makes me want to go :fullretard: again.
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dubshow wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:42 am
[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:44 am

Soooo that's what it looks like.
better get behind them tails too. Luckily his windows were up and thats probably savable.

Image

Image

:triggered:
That is awful. Just hideous. How can you even be seen in public with such a defiled car? And the white paint spilled on it doesn't help.
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:18 am
Detroit wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:06 am
Sales in China are going gangbusters. He claimed the naming convention move was for global markets (China) and that seemed to have worked.

It's not like if the gayges were fixed and it was called a Broham-V that any of you (or the people whining about such issues) would have bought a new ATS-V anyway. Vehicle names are :whocares: when the product is 5/7. Lets be real.

All aspects of vehicle development are trade-offs. Spend $10M on new gayges to barely improve sales, or spend $10M on the next gen vehicle (or another vehicle altogether) and make that more class-leading. There's a finite amount of money for vehicle development, and it needs to be prioritized accordingly. And worse, those investments take a while to come to market. It's likely that a gayge redesign wouldn't have been able to make it to market until this year anyway, which at the end of the product cycle is :whocares:
Yeah but spend $10 on gayges to prevent it from being the butt of all gayge jokes... is a wise spend.

I know they say bad publicity is good publicity, but still. :bruh:
Piece cost probably would have been marginal, maybe even less than $10. It's the engineering development cost that's :mindblown: I'm not exaggerating, it's probably $5-$10M to develop new gayges. It's ridiculous.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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And come on...everyone would find something else to pick on. The gayges were just the most visual.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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What was wrong with the gauges?

Center stack was the most offensive to me
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KYGTIGuy wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:52 am What was wrong with the gauges?

Center stack was the most offensive to me
Image

They look like they're from the 80's. I honestly was never bothered by them. Easy to read, clean, and mostly dark so you can't see the acres of plastic.

But photos like this make the rounds and it's full :triggered: by the keyboard warriors that would never buy one anyway

Image
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:00 pm Yeah, but let’s be real for a second. If you’re going to make a bid to play in the big leagues, not paying attention to the details that customers stare at every day is extremely short sighted.

Fit and finish is muy importante. That gayge cluster is a lingering anachronism of old GM in the present day.
Agreed. But it was designed and engineered in the late 00's probably. AND most of the investment money went into the chassis, which is world class, but in hindsight probably the wrong bet. It's the lesson BMW learned. Driving dynamics are :whocares: to sell cars. It's about the brand and the details buyers interact with on a daily basis.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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Detroit wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:54 am
KYGTIGuy wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:52 am What was wrong with the gauges?

Center stack was the most offensive to me
Image

They look like they're from the 80's. I honestly was never bothered by them. Easy to read, clean, and mostly dark so you can't see the acres of plastic.

But photos like this make the rounds and it's full :triggered: by the keyboard warriors that would never buy one anyway

Image
It's no virtual Cockpit but not that bad.

Contrast to the center stack of pretty :derp: doe
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This guy's LS3 RX7 build continues to impress. The motor installed looks amazing. A very nicely done build - See post 56 for motor as it looks installed. This is a nice nice car - http://www.the370z.com/other-vehicles/1 ... -r1-4.html
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:18 pm Calling all 4Zilches: https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/2016-m ... 32627.html
:like:
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Interesting idea - https://jalopnik.com/now-is-your-chance ... 1825350566

Found this comment interesting as well -

Vettelt496

4/18/18 4:02pm

As the owner of both an LS (in a Corvette) and an E90 M3 I fully understand where you are coming from... however... I have been a Corvette fan my whole life and I bought the BMW for my wife (traded keys for keys with a 66 Corvette that I barely drove). After purchasing and getting some seat time in the BMW sweet baby Jesus that high revving V8 is a fun ride. I ended up buying my wife a different car and we ‘share’ the BMW for nice days (i.e. I kept it for me). So yeah, it hasn’t got torque. At All. The engine is so big it’s likely slightly larger than the space it occupies. But holy predictable back road carving machine. It’s beyond fun. I drive it a lot more than the ‘vette these days. It just explains you can’t put numbers to everything.
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[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:18 pm Calling all 4Zilches: https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/2016-m ... 32627.html
:jimp:

Dem soft top prices make it hard(er) to justify an RF.
As the only published author in a well-known motorcycle publication in the room...
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4zilch wrote:
[user not found] wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:18 pm Calling all 4Zilches: https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/2016-m ... 32627.html
:jimp:

Dem soft top prices make it hard(er) to justify an RF.
Give it another year, RFs will fall just the same.

Also, seller lives in Manhattan but his car has NJ plates and lives in a suburban neighborhood? :dafuq:
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