Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Howes, South Dakota

Howes, SD Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Starts with interior... [rockylee]

by bumpy on

The Aura sheet metal is decent, but it was watered down from the Opel Vectra. Also, that sheet metal is hiding a G6 underneath. How many rebodied Malibus does GM need?

Re: andre [michaell]

by andre1969 on Tue Oct 07 05:21:26 PDT 2008

andre, did you ever think about how much you could get for the 'Trep if you sold it privately 2-3 years ago? The L has about 75K on it, and it's at that point where I could still get - maybe - $5-7K in trade. However, I really don't want another car payment for a few more years. Well, back in September 2003, I briefly thought about trading the car. My Dad wanted a car so I took him car hunting. We went to the dealer that sold me the Intrepid, and he ended up buying a used '03 Regal ex-rental for something like $10,995. I noticed a black 2002 Intrepid R/T on the lot that I was interested in. It had about 35,000 miles, and was fully loaded. At that time, my '00 had about 86,000 miles on it. They offered me around $4800 in trade, about what I still owed on it. I probably could have gotten them to go a little higher, but then I started thinking about how the car would be paid off in about 14 months, and started focusing on that. Well, the car crossed the 100,000 mile mark on Christmas Eve, 2004. Three years ago it had about 110,000 miles on it and two years ago, around 123,000. So even though it's not worth much now, it probably wasn't worth much more 2-3 years ago.

Saab (hey they do sell them in Cadillac dealerships

by 62vetteefp on Tue Oct 07 05:11:04 PDT 2008

As GM looks to offload its Hummer brand, how does the company feel about perennial financial underachiever Saab? GM COO Fritz Henderson tells that while the brand is strategically important to GM, it is no sacred cow and has to perform. Like Ford, GM's management has taken a decision to offload any assets or brands that is does not see as vital to its long-term survival. Cashing in is part of a restructuring process to rebalance the company, get better use of capital and focus efforts on making the commercially viable parts of the company as profitable as possible. And these are tough times demanding that some tough decisions need to be taken. In GM's case, Hummer is well and truly on the block with rumors of initial expressions of interest from Russia and India. Is it worth the effort (management time) and expense (investment bank fees) to sell something like Hummer? Is it a distraction with the integration issues and didn't Ford end up spending a lot of management time on the Jaguar Land Rover sale to Tata? "I'd do a little work for $2.3bn, actually," says Henderson. And Hummer, he believes, was at a crossroads that demanded a decision as part of GM's strategic planning. "In the end, we have to decide what we want to do with the Hummer brand. Do we want to reinvest, grow it, what do you want to do with it? You've got to make some decisions…" While he sees Hummer as a strong and iconic brand, the problem is that it doesn't fit GM's plans going forward. "With all the things GM needs to do, I'm not sure it lands in our priority list any more. Therefore we have to look at alternatives." There is interest in Hummer, he maintains, but it's too early to say how concrete that is. " Information memorandums will be made available this month to interested parties and then we'll see. My objective would be reach some decisions on this no later than the end of the year. That doesn't mean that we will necessarily close by the end of the year, but we'd like to reach decisions and I think that's a reasonable timetable." So, if GM wants rid of Hummer, what about putting Saab in the shop window? The unit has long been a loss-maker and, while GM has upped product development plans for the Swedish minnow in recent years after a period of protracted neglect in which the maker eked out a meager existence on just two models, how committed to Saab is it? Desperate times require desperate measures? Or is Saab a kind of sacred cow? "No, it's not a sacred cow and we want all of our brands to perform. But if I think of the global premium market, what's one of the fastest growing segments? Entry premium. It is still large and growing. "Where are our customers going? They are looking at smaller packages and four-cylinder engines, turbocharging. Saab meets those requirements - that's its DNA. "We'll have to see if the next generation of Saab vehicles is successful, but this is a brand that doesn't cross-sell with other GM brands, the customers are highest income, highest level of education, the vehicles are highly fuel-efficient, turbocharged four-cylinder engines…I think it's worthwhile for us at GM to try to make it a success." And Saab is now heavily integrated into GM now, Henderson says, with the idea of a standalone 100,000-unit auto manufacturer in Sweden disassembled over tie. Henderson acknowledges that Saab's financial results haven't been satisfactory. "Historically, Saab has not been a source of profitability for us." But he believes a strategy is coming together with two elements - the brand and manufacturing economics - to address that. "On the brand issues, the product range was too narrow, we didn't have sufficient scale and so it's about broadening the brand and making it more relevant with a bigger product portfolio. "And on the economic issues, concentrating production 100% in Sweden for a global manufacturer, with exposure on exchange rates, wasn't the right thing to do. So what we've done is take steps to integrate Saab into GM. We'll build a Saab crossover vehicle in Mexico, we'll build a Saab mid-size sedan in Russelsheim and we will build Saabs in Sweden too. "All of that addresses a currency footprint which, over time, was posing unacceptable risk. "What we want to do is make the Saab brand successful and that's our objective."

Re: LOUD NOISE OVER BUMPS [lenstang]

by loradora on Tue Oct 07 03:13:20 PDT 2008

I'm not sure about how to file a complaint, but I think I'm going to find out. I have written the sales manager at Wright Hyundai and questioned about this. I will let you know the answer. Of course, I think today is his day off, so probably won't hear anything until after Wednesday. The smell is coming from the vinyl by the window where you would rest your arm while driving. For some reason, I don't think the vinyl on the dashboard is smelling. My nose has sniffed every inch of vinyl in that car and it's only in certain places that it really smells...and that just doesn't make sense! The funny thing is, they called with a phone survey to see how the dealership did on the service on my car. Now, how could I go and tell them everything was peachy keen, when really it wasn't. I kept stressing to her that the work isn't done but that I am happy with how the service manager is dealing with this situation. He's trying to "sweep up the mess made by Hyundai when they tried to tweek the suspension and now he has to deal with figuring out just what needs to be done." So, I'm happy with him, just not their product. I love the car otherwise. I haven't figured out the gas mileage and we don't have the model that has the computer generated information. We are taking a trip in it next month and will do the figuring out. It sure does better than our Ford Explorer does on gas, I do know that much! I'll keep you posted!

'05 TITAN KING CAB

by titansilver on Tue Oct 07 01:48:13 PDT 2008

After Having my '05 KC truck for a full year now, I still love it, even with gas prices being what they are. But still I must ask, How in the heck do i get better then 12 or 13 MPG. What can I do to it to get better Gas Miles??? I'd do almost anything for a consistant 20mpg. Yes I do keep my braking and speed as reasonable as i can living in NYC. Second problem: Over the weekend I finaly had to change a tire at 28k mi.(God damn Nail on the highway!!) 2 of my lug-bolts broke just trying to get the flat tire out. I had it towed to a place and 2 more broke when they were trying to complete the job. I have never had that happen on any car/truck I ever owned, anyone experienced that on their truck?? I'm ganna have my tires rotated this week and be prepared to have the rest pulled and replaced if they break. _B

no title

by m4d_cow on Tue Oct 07 01:18:17 PDT 2008

Ford is just a little comparison. And this thread isnt just about Cadillac, its about how GM can be a world standard again through Cadillac. So unless I'm very much mistaken GM is the main theme here. Do you really think the 5% holdback (6 as far as I know is nonexisent) means the manufacturer still maintain decent profit? No, because they expect those dealers to move even more cars so GM itself can cut losses. Having too many leftovers alone is already a loss, GM's profit circulation is stuck there OK, let me reverse the question: sls, we've all been posting our points of view on Cadillac and GM's condition. Now let me ask you this: in your opinion, why is Cadillac and GM not making profit? What do you think is happening and what should GM do?