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White Cottage, OH Car Consumer Discussions

Just got my new OUTLOOK - MY 48 Hour REVIEW #1 HERE

by steve38 on Wed Mar 07 07:20:49 PST 2007

Picked up a brand new AWD loaded loaded OUTLOOK. It has everything except NAV and auto rear door opener. No need for it. I ordered White with the Beige Interior to go with my wifes 07 FX35 same colour. Some comments thus far. I am a 42 yr old male with two kids and a Golden Retriever. We drive 6 hrs to our cottage 15 times per year. I bought it for the size and the fact that after 6 SUV's in a row (Explorer, Expedition, Escalade, Grand Cherokee, Liberty, FX35) I wanted something more refined AND the Porsche was too small as was the new MDX and BMW. I got a two year lease. Price was what I consider good as I received GM Employee Discount from a family member. The last GM car I bought was an Escalade from 2001. Last SUV to this was 04 Durango Ltd with HEMI and I loved that truck better than ANYTHING I have owed. I also own an AWD TT (just so you know what kind of person I am). I like a sporty ride. I think this looks WAY better than the Acadia and I did NOT want the Buick as it is just an Infiniti FX35 want-to-be. My findings. This is very 'mini-van like. I have a 4000 pound boat so this barely will be able to tow it. I bought it for the size. I LOVE the look and the size. - I bought the best radio available. It sucks like you will NOT believe. I am replacing speakers and putting in amp next week. TERRIBLE. Brutal. Those are compliments. BTW: When I bought my Durango with the Infinity Sound System I drove it for 2 days before spending $2K on speakers and AMPS. It was terrible too. HOWEVER, I listed to the Acadia stereo which offers BOSE and it was WAY WAY better than the OUTLOOK. Why doesn't Saturn not offer BOSE? - looks amazing and fit/fish is perfect. Love the ceiling lights as they do not bother driver at night. - got captains chairs in 2nd row. Kids love them. - The left/right blinker stalk has a hard sharp plastic end on the end. Feel it. It is terible quality feel. All are like this. I checked. Some buttons like the fan could be bigger too. Hard to press the correct button some times. If you had big fat-butt fingers...good luck. - Drives like a mini-van...and YES the engine it hesitates. - Again...if you think this will drive like a truck...WRONG. It drives like a mini van. - No Bluetooth in this truck?????????? What??? Why not??? That is dumb. - The lumbar (which moves up and down) is not really very 'puffy' when fully inflated. I am only 160 pounds, so maybe that is why. - My wife just noticed that her passenger seat does not go up and down??????? What?? I need to confirm. That is dumb. We bought the high end seat package. Also, my Durango passenger didn't go up and down either. Stupid North American mfrs again. On her brand new 07 FX35, the seats do everything on both front seats. She also had an 04 FX35 and it did too. Hmmmm. Stupid. - I love the way the third row head rests drop when you fold the seats down. - I find it confsuing how the 2nd row folds. Maybe colour co-ordinated inbstrucions on the side of seat would be nice. - I did not spend the $900 or so on the autoopening rear door. Why? I am 42 and will own this for 24 months. That would cost me $ 100 every time I actually DID need it. That being said - MAN o MAN that tail gate is heavy to shut. If you are buying this for your wife, try it at the dealership with a bag on your arm. (not your old-lady either - HAHA - I had to say that. Sorry to all the ladies...) - Engine. They had better fix mine. I am concerned about LAG. That said, I did try using the shifter up and down. It works GREAT. Shifts manually very nice. However, the position of the shift again makes it feel like a mini van. I think it is the height of the shifter itself. Very tall. I would like it more sporty like the FX35. - Quiet. Shhh. It is very quiet. - I've noticed it tracks very nice in wind. Straight. Should be great on highway. I will let you know. - My wife's girl friends are telling me that I am compensating for something with the size onthe huge truck. Little do they know...but honestly it is BIG. It is perfect. (and I will call it a truck...as I HATE mini-vans) My 48 conclusion is this. I think I will love this after I ditch the crappy speakers and put in 300 watts or so. However, honestly, I already know that I bought the 2 year lease simply becuase I will then be months away from an all new 7 passenger Porsche - and with this very wimpy motor and somewhat mini-van feel...I know I will be very ready to get out of it in 2009. We will see. I DID loved the Durango. I kept it for 3 years which is long for me. I LOVED IT. However I only got $18K Canadain $$ for the thing when I traded it in and it cost me $ 55. My wife's 2004 FX35 which we bought the same day was worth $40K on trade in and cost her $ 60K. Foreign cars hold their value. So - my take it...lease this thing. It will loose a fortune.

Re: 2007 Grand Vitara........ [xostnot]

by norwoodsmn on Thu Sep 14 08:19:38 PDT 2006

Thanks the input from here "in the hood", (Beautiful British Columbia), xostnot, and to you, our Floridian bud autoboy16. Yes, I'm quite keen on the swoopy new CRV, (but for the front grille treatment), which is due to be unwrapped for the public at the end of this month. It would be a wonderful all weather ROAD vehicle. But those thoughtful, (more so than Suzuki), skid plates for the route in to the cottage, wouldn't be enough to help it traverse many of the roads xostnot and yrs. truly, tend to want to traverse here in the Great White North, ab16. But for God's sake, why didn't this guy trade up soonerfrom a '91 Sidekick?, y'all may be askin'? 1st: the orig. ALL NEW Grand Vitara:, (when was that, '99?), driving dynamics wise, it felt [to me] first and formost like you were piloting around a heavy engine with that V6 up front there in a chassis not all that much different from the Sidekick. As to the Vitara, first there was the looks, plus it actually was less fun to drive [again, to me] vs. the Sidekick. Further, as a considerable disappointment neither the Sidekick successor Grand Vitara or the Vitara model offered any real substantial improvement in space or load carrying capacity vs. Rusty the trusty Sidekick. So it was only when the XL-7 debuted in '01, that I initially felt Suzuki had finally got it right, and built the rig I'd been waiting for, right up until I TD'd one. Yes, it had the additional cargo capacity/space I wanted, but it also had that almost wholly useless third row seat, (standard eqpt. to market it to soccer moms?), the combo of which didn't fold flat, "it" wasan't removable,plus this " "GREAT FEATURE" even included added benefit [NOT!] of one ending up with EVEN LESS second row legroom than in my Sidekick, for God's sake! But what was the real deal [non] clincher?, "IT SUCKED" (petrol) in a most alarmingly viceral of fashions, with the loud pedal to the floor as that standard slush box sought to Ouija board [game] it's way into somehow finding the right gear, just for you! PLUEEZZZEE, JEEZZZE LOUIZZZE! not for me at this price, I was literally forced to conclude. But then came our ALL NEW GV, finally! But then came the news it wasan't, really, down there under the hood... Lordie, oh Lordie, wherefore art thou?, I thought as I gazed out the window to, thankfully at least see Rusty still somehow holding together. And let me interject here, that's the Love part of the love/angst relationship. Mechanically the engine and trannie in particular, will not die.... So here we are. Hope you're "right there xostnot about low range and 5 speeds on "lesser models! But I wonder what they'd call it?, since "sport" moniker is currently taken by an auto trannie only equipped model seemingly designed for the tuner crowd? How about the Northwoodsman, (or Northwoodsperson to be politically correct)? I like it. ps: Nice to hear you were out to sea there off Vancouver Island. My bud with his fleet of 4wd's including the Vitara, just completed a multi year sea kayaking circumnavigation of the isle, with the Bamfield to Victoria harbor segment. The kayaker lost at sea off the Brooks Penninsula this summer was known to him. Sad story there. Yes, always better to be safe than sorry out there, for sure. Regards, Nwdsmn.

Re: . [rorr]

by fintail on Mon Aug 07 17:03:47 PDT 2006

Yep Seattle and out at the beach near Ocean Shores. My dad had a house out at the beach (not as fun or expensive as it sounds - kind of a dumpy place) and many scenes were shot out there. There's also a scene with a house - this 1920s English cottage style thing, and I know where it is. Seattle has a gritty side most don't know of...of course, it's not as gritty as much of the northeast. My E-Type was an external bonnet latch in red, with cool removeable wire wheels. It seemd beautiful compared to my first big model (a white Rolls Camargue - what was I thinking). Those models seemed so cool for $20 back then...I had to beg for them, always got them at birthdays or Christmas. Of course, I played with them...I don't have any left. I know when I was about 5 my favorite toy cars were a Hot Wheels Mercedes, and a pair of Pocket Cars Mercedes W126. I guess old habits die hard. On that same note, I conned my way into a Car & Driver subscription when I was in first grade - I didn't read it too throoughly, but it had my name on it. I've always liked that mag since.

Re: rear spoiler 75-85 mph/Niagra [charts2]

by niagara on Thu Oct 07 08:51:44 PDT 2004

I know what you mean; - the Impala has clean classic lines that may border on "boring" and the spoiler does lend a little pizzaz. I think that I'll try it with the spoiler off for a while and if I want to I can put it back on. The nuts and bolts are easy enough to getoff but there is some super-duper goop gluing the spoiler to the trunk lid. I'm trying different techniques to get it off without hurting the paint. As well I'm putting on the mud flaps after I paint them; - winter crap onthe roads can make a mess. Next project is to paint the centre section of the rear lights to look like the Sport model.   My hasty driving is brought about in a weekend mad-dash to the cottage near Algonquin; - insane I know ... but those white Impalas with black grills/wheels sometimes drive even faster than I do. I can often put on 500 miles in a w/e, so I keep the Pal well set up .... it's been really great over the first year and 25,000kms.   May be time to consider the GTA TB .... hmmm

no title

by dindak on Wed Jul 09 18:51:05 PDT 2003

ozz : The tire cleaner will not get out the white wax marks I got on mine by mistake. Only regular dust/ dirt. 3trigs : No I didn't clean the mirror brackets. They still look fine. As for no name cheap gas, I avoid it usually. Sometimes if up in cottage country though, that's all there is. Of course up there, it's not cheap.

Re: Is this sludge

by robnao on Thu Feb 14 05:24:25 PST 2002

runpanther, was the "foamy goo" the same color as the drained oil or was it a lighter color as if some white had been mixed in making it light brown or tan in color? Sludge caused by excess heat is usually about the same color as the used oil, it is usually pretty firm like cottage cheese, but it usually sticks to the internal parts, that's where it causes the problems. If it is lighter colored and foamy it is very possible there is some water getting in the oil and emulsifying (mixing with the oil due to the moving parts). If it is this lighter color take a sample (if you kept it) to the Toyota dealer and have an experienced tech look at it. If you don't have a sample take your HL in and have them check it out right away. You can also check one more thing yourself when the engine is cold, remove the radiator cap and see if there is an oil sheen on top of the coolant, if not this does not mean there is no leak, but if there is definitely oil on top of the coolant there is a problem. Hope it turns out to be nothing.