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Magrath: Okay, by training you're a scholar of religion, and I'm a journalist. So let's dive headfirst into a heated, highly sensitive, incredibly difficult business topic: Detroit.
Magrath: You cannot be relevant with a headquarters in the midwest. You can't be impartial and forward-thinking when 8/10ths of the people in your area depend upon you and buy your products.
Sadlier: So, continuing its pattern of hiring random people to do important things, GM taps us to be the guys who make sure that the new GM is devoid of the stupid stuff that plagued old GM. Where do we start?
Magrath: I suppose we start from the outside in. It's how I pick my books and women; why not evaluate companies likewise?
Sadlier: Good, let's focus on outer beauty. It's the LA way.
Magrath
: GM has never really had a problem selling to GM fans, so the trick, it would seem, is to get non-GM folks to take the cars seriously. This means that Chevrolet, the largest and most important brand, needs to ditch the bowtie.
Sadlier
: The bowtie is obviously tainted, but I think it's potentially salvageable. Hire a design firm with money they don't have and sex it up.
Magrath
: Salvageable? Except for Colonel Sanders and Tucker Carlson, who wears a bowtie? And as you may recall from Jon Stewart's pummeling of Tucker
, the bowtie was a key part of Stewart's argument that what Tucker did on Crossfire is theater and not real news. Bowties are gags.
Magrath
: They could try to sex it up, but that would end with the thing being a bolo tie like you see at rodeos or in Arizona. There'd be turquoise and a cow skull...not good.
Magrath
: Besides James Bond, whom I don't think GM wants to evoke unless the new Camaro is a submersible, name something positive associated with a bowtie.
Sadlier
: Ummm...the tuxedo? 17th-century Croatian mercenaries
? Balzac
? Hell, the Playboy bunny wears a bowtie. This is too easy.
Sadlier
: The bowtie can rise again. Just not in its current form.
Magrath
: Fine, then if GM is sticking with a bowtie, Lexus should switch from a stylized "L" to a mawashi
.
Sadlier
: Deal.
Magrath
: And GM cars should be available only in black and white, or in Croatia.
Sadlier
: ...with your choice of a complimentary Playboy playmate or French novel.
Magrath
: I'm in.
I was thinking the other day (always a dangerous proposition, I know) and wondering how all the current (or really, really recently departed) Edmunds/Inside Line long-term vehicles stack up against each other in fuel economy, at least the fuel economy we've been recording during their time with us. So I made a list. For you and for me. In case we were both wondering.
The only current vehicles missing from my list are the Audi R8 and the Dodge Grand Caravan, and that's because no one has entered any fuel data into the tracking spreadsheet for those vehicles yet. The very top and the very bottom of the list aren't going to surprise anybody (I don't think), but the middle is kinda interesting. Seeing the Rondo and the WRX so close to each other made me raise my eyebrows. Ditto the Ford GT's spot above the Veracruz. Ready to check it all out? Follow the jump with me.
I left the office late last night heading down Wilshire when I noticed a whistling sound. The last time I drove the Silverado the transmission blew up on me. I was worried. After listening intently I noticed the back window was slightly ajar. I didn't even know this thing had a back window!
Relieved, I pulled over to close it. It was then I noticed it wasn't mechanical, but powered. Where was the switch? I searched and searched but I couldn't find it. RTFM? Yes, I reverted to the manual.
On the eve of Independence Day, I thought I'd peruse our garage for the most American metal. Amongst the many long-termers presently in the long-term fleet, we have quite the selection of cars built by domestic makers. Some are excellent representives of this great land, others ... not so much. And that's not counting the pretty cool American cars that reside in our editors' own garages: Trans Ams, Challengers, Corvettes and Schmidt's big ol' F-150.
Of course, what constitutes an American car these days is up for debate given the Focus is hecho en Mexico and our Hyundai Veracruz is hecho en Alabama. But I'll leave those determinations up to you. And the nominees for our Most American Car are...
Buick Enclave
Cadillac CTS
Chevy Silverado
Dodge Caravan (oh dear god, I hope not)
Ford Edge
Ford Focus
Ford GT
Pontiac G8 GT
Saturn Aura
We have talked about the transmission in our Silverado before and the less than smooth shift from first to second. I can't tell you that it has gotten any better or any worse but there does seem to be a new noise related to the transmission. Now when shifting into drive from neutral there is a pause and then a clunk as the gear engages. I don't remember the shift from neutral to drive sounding so violent in the previous times I have driven our Silverado. I'm not sure if this is just a sign of aging or if something will need to be done about it, but I am sure we will keep you updated
Seth Compton, Broadband Production Coordinator @ 31,198 miles
Trucks are better than cars. How do I know? Our Silverado has more than 30,000 miles on the clock while many of our long term cars struggle to reach 20k in a year. True, we've had the Chevy a little longer than a year but there's a reason the Nissan Versa struggled to its 16,000 miles in one year and the Hyundai Azera to its 18,500 and the Toyota RAV4 its 19,400 - they weren't as useful and people didn't like driving them that much...
While driving the Silverado into the office this morning, I noticed some wear and tear on the steering wheel's silverish plastic trim. The black plastic beneath the silverish paint is showing through on the left side (in closer detail below) from obvious wear caused by drivers' left hands. There's also a spec chipped off on the right. Our big Chevy now has 30,737 miles on it, so if this is typical, it could be important to note given this same steering wheel appears in most of GM's trucks and SUVs. Over more miles, this could start to look bad and be detrimental when it comes time to sell. It's certainly not consistent with the rest of the interior's wear and tear.
Our Enclave has the same wheel design, although it has a different type of painted plastic trim in that area (lower-level Acadias seem to share the Silverado's). Given that there's a good chance the Enclave will also hit 30K (we do love it so), I'll make note if it shows similar wear.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 30,737 miles
The 10-year-old boy in me lived a life-long dream this past weekend when I attended a taping of "American Gladiators." Now, Hulk Hogan is no Larry Czonka and there was a disappointing lack of teal and pink No Fear wife beaters decorating the crowd, but heck, it was sure fun. They were only doing one event (which still took 2 hours to film four contestants), but it was Hang Tough and we got to yell out such classic heckling as "Oh yeah, scissor her! Yeah scissor!" Plus, I got a high-five from Wolf. Not Tower, Turbo or Laser, but certainly the awesomest new Gladiator...
Our long term Silverado just returned from service at S&J Chevrolet in Cerritos, Ca. Oil and filter change plus tire rotation rang up a bill of $67.96.
Before and after the dealership visit, I drove the Silverado extensively and really love the center storage area - In past week, I've stuffed tons of junk in it. Contents this trip - wallet, hard sunglasses case, two DVD cases, two Quaker granola bars, bottled water, Garmin nav system, two packets of seeds, three Sharpie pens and a notepad...
My husband's Xtracycle needed some professional help this weekend, so I grabbed the keys to our long-term Chevrolet Silverado, and we made a trip to the bike shop.
I was so happy to have a reason to need a full-size truck and was all ready to write a post about the trip (it was an uneventful success), but then, as I was walking along the outside of the truck, the light of the setting sun hit the fuel filler door just right, and I noticed the unsightly chipped paint you see in the photos. The chips, near as I can tell, are due to normal fuel fill-ups. And so I post this question to you: Are our editors extremely uncoordinated, or is it unreasonable to expect a factory paint job to maintain its integrity in Southern California for 25,000 miles?
I also noticed that we haven’t given you an update on the truck’s fuel economy since June 2007...
My friends and I took our Silverado to Mammoth this past weekend for three days of skiing and snowboarding in fresh powder. The problem with fresh snow is that it doesn't just fall on the trails, so needless to say the roads weren't in the best condition. Even with a total of 36 inches of snow fall while we were there the Silverado remained as sure footed as ever. We never once had to stand outside in the cold and wrestle with chains or dig our way out of a ditch, all we had to do was put it in 4wd and go.
However, after driving through the pass into Mammoth in 4wd there was the faint smell of burning coming from the Silverado. The next three days were spent driving around town in 4wd and then through the same pass on the return trip in 4wd. The smell was never duplicated and the Silverado ran without any problems for the rest of the trip.
Seth Compton, Broadband Production Assistant @ 24,563 miles
In no one's estimation is the 2007 Chevy Silverado LT small. It is a very large truck: 19 feet long, more than 6 high and 6.5 wide. But it doesn't really feel that way. I even drove the Honda Fit subcompact the preceding few days, and the Silverado felt quite comfortable afterwards...
Our Chevrolet Silverado en route to the Race Track in Death Valley.
Chevy guys can begin fist pumping now -- our 2007 Chevrolet Silverado LT tamed the 54 miles of pounding Death Valley Road that turned our 2007 Honda Ridgeline into a bouncing idiot.
I spend a lot of time praising Hondas so this blog post is about giving equal time to the competition.
Three years ago I decided to explore the famed Race Track in Death Valley in our Ridgeline. Made it in and out of there but the next day the Honda was all over the road. Took it to the dealer and they said all four struts were blown out. Apparently, the type of shocks Honda used didn't dissipate the heat effectively and it melted the seals. Honda replaced all struts and wheels under warranty (read more).
A big bagel.
I drove the Silverado to jury duty the other day. This bagel joint is around the corner from Bellflower courthouse.
On a work related note, we have an appointment scheduled for next week to address the hard 1-2 shift we've mentioned on numerous occasions. And it's not with Santa Monica Chevrolet this time...
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