^^^^^^
Exactly!
Battery powered cars are not a viable product as of now and wont be for years. So it all boils down to hype from GM and the government. Yet the Obama administration is going to force them into mostly fuel efficient small vehicles (as part of the bail out bucks), and that is not where the domestics can make any money.

It is such a sad joke because yes electric cars are green, except for the fact that the electricity to charge the batteries comes from carbon based fuel (unless you are close to an all to rare nuke plant)

+ hybrid sales are down 62%, that is the other thing the govt. will force the domestics into building more of http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story...102479&catid=8


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Or you live here in Quebec where we have abundant hydro powered electric generating stations.

Another problem with electric cars is heating the interior of the car. It gets cold up here in Canada.

 

That doesn't save you from what happens when one of these batteries fail....they go straight to the dumps and there currently isn't a clean way to dispose of them, so if anything they're even worse for the environment.

 

I hear all of you bickering over batteries and putting down a car "Volt" yet I heard the same bickering when the Prius came out. Yet that car started the econo revolution imo. you can give that trophy to many other cars in the past but the Prius really triggered the revolution. And the Volt does have a production date of next year 2010. this date realistically will be the end of 2010 or prob 2011 but it is coming.

And by the way Chevy will not go bankrupt anyways because Bush gave America the push into socialism, so if anything it will be owned by the government.

 

^^^^
Huh????? not one person is bickering! Lively conversation maybe!
Surely we do not need yet another thread locked down.

To address your points....
I dont recall anyone bickering or laughing over Hybrids, just that they are not cost effective for most people unless gas gets to $5 a gallon and stays there. Insight may change that, but the jury is still out on any hybrids 'fun to drive' factor

And the volt will succeed, just don't know how well it will sell and if they can make a profit at it. The range just isn't there for it to be viable for many buyers.

 

I think the problem with the Prius was just the high initial cost of it. I think they were like $24k around where I am and an impossibly long wait period for one. Currently, I would choose hybrid over an electric vehicle because of range.

 

I have heard a lot of people talk about batteries from hybrids that cost $3000 to replace and they take up landfill space. Problem is that these batteries arn't dying in the frequency that people say they are. Toyota has been making hybrids for 8 years and they said they never had to replace a battery for a non-collision issue. Yes, they will wear out eventially but they arn't filling up landfills. I think you could expect the same from any marketable electric car assuming it isn't poorly made. Not only that, the components from car batteries are recycled as much as possible. The enviromental impact of these batteries isn't anywhere near what some are speculating it to be. I want an electric car. But I am not going to own one until I know it is relable enough and affordable enough to own. I will let the people with money to burn buy the first Chevy Volts and tell me how good they are.

 

driving an aveo reminds me of driving the yaris.

you know, toyota shouldve named their pos yaris "yades" (sp is different
but means 'no do not accept' in japanese).

they name their cars funny anyway.

venza = toilet seat
sequoia = cheap

 

Regardless of what others are saying, I think Chevy (and GM) are moving in the right direction. Hell the upcoming V6 Camaro was recently rated by the EPA with a 29 MPG highway rating... VERY impressive, especially considering it has 304 horsepower. That's only 11 hp less than the 2010 Mustang GT with it's V8! In my opinion the Volt is a brilliant car, and I'm sure it will sell well, what with it's 40 mile electric range, and the simple fact it's arguably going to be the most stylish hybrid on the market.

No doubt the Deawoo built Aveo sucks, but the upcoming 2011 Chevy Spark looks to have alot of promise.

 

Yeah, but you are talking about cars they made 15+ years ago. How are cars made this decade holding up? I know I can speak from personal experience for a Ford product, not good at all. And how does CR put down American car companies? They review products independantly. You can't buy advertising from them so they have no reason to show preference to one company over the other. This is the reason why I would listen to them before I would a magazine that is riddled with ads for cars.

But that is kind of the issue. They made a cheap car that ranks up there in performace. But how relable is it? Performace doesn't mean much if it breaks down all the time. This is a huge reason why people starting giving up on American cars. They were tired of fixing them. Not everyone out there is a grease monkey or can afford the time and money to keep fixing them. This is why 6 years ago I had 2 Fords in my driveway. Now I have a Honda and a Nissan.

Don't get me wrong. I very much want to see American car companies succeed. But they have to earn the success on more than just the perfomance front. The economy is bad right now and performace means a lot less to people that have little money to go around.

 

I will admit that 2000-2006 American cars were imo made as rental cars. But every car comp goes through phases and since 2007 chevy in particular has been really producing more quality, but a little higher price tag.

On the Ford issue I have multiple buddies that are grease monkeys and work for the Ford Dealership in my town, yet they drive chevys (Tahoe 97 and Malibu 08) and both of them would never buy a Ford. They are built weirdly, like to do a simple oilfilter change the whole air intake has to be removed, for an example. I have my personal beef with Fords so I understand your frustration.

And sorry about the bickering comment I think you took my phrasing wrong. I am compairing or conversation to like 2 old men who are best friends aguing over what food to eat.

 

Ford Focus RS is Sweet!! although not imported to the States which is a shame because I'm sure this would be a hot seller for Ford..

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I just got my Fit back and gosh does it look so beautiful. They did a full detail inside and out on it and the thing just radiated. I had the silver El Cheapo Aveo for a day and a half and it was so nice to get back into the Fit.

The paint job they did was excellent. It matched the adjoining panels perfectly, even the metallic. At least it's rid of any paint chips I had acquired thus far, so the $500, including a new side mirror won't be such a dagger in my heart.

 

Granted GM and the rest of the American auto industry need to get their act together but in their defense the media villifies them ALOT. In my experience half the people that knock them simply do this because other people do it and have not even had many interactions with the product. I agree that auto companies seem to go through phases of good and bad.
In the Aveos defense, it's a $12,265 car what do you expect? My g/f had one as a rental and although it wasn't my personal taste, I thought it was a pretty good car.

 

back to Crystal.... I'm glad they did a good job on your car.
Do you have any before and after pics?

Safe driving

 

You arn't kidding about that. My 2000 Cougar had this little problem with alternators... it ate them. It ate 9 of them actually. About 1 per year I had to replace. The worst part was it was a $400-500 job each time because they had to jack up the car, take off the passenger front tire, disconnect the tie rod and remove the wheel well cover to get to it. The reason for the failures and the expensive replacement was all about poor design.

 

Well if we want to go the cheap route, there are still better alternatives, like Hyundai, which has better reliability than Chevy. and a better warranty.

 

Been reading all these posts; reminded me that I had a 1978 Ford Fiesta that I bought new. I really liked the car (it was a sport model, stiffer suspension) but by the time it had 100,000 miles on it, it was worthless. I traded it in on a 1986 Honda Civic Si, and it was just amazing how much better the Civic was. Ended up putting almost 200,000 on the Civic, and it was always better than the Fiesta. What I'm wondering now is when Ford brings the 2009 Fiesta here (in a couple of months), what kind of a car will it be? Will it be a competitior for the Fit, or will history repeat itself? I want to see Ford survive, and I know Ford is pinning it's hopes on European models they will bring here, but the Ford has to be at least the same quality as Honda to survive. The Fit really is in a class by itself, and no one is coming close for now.

 

Lol. If I did it would look exactly the same. Meaning before my car rolled itself into a fence and after the job. Believe me, I inspected the job immediately after they handed me the keys. The "fit" of the bumper was perfect and there were no hints of a paint job. It looks factory.

Maybe it's because I drove an Aveo around for a day, but when they gave the car back to me fully detailed it looked and felt "brand new" again.

In retrospect, I think the job was worth the money I paid, not only for their expertise job but the psychological aspect as well.

 

ford releases a lot of nice cars in europe US gets nothing lol.