Car Buying Experience

There are many different aspects of car selection. People like to “kick the tires” and smell that new interior smell. They like to test its ability of accelerating up hills and how it handles around curves. Are these important to check out? Sure.

There is something interesting about this though. I guess it could be considered somewhat of a psychological question (any of you who took psychology, just feel free to call me out in the comments section) but it is a good one at that. What makes us want to know so much about products when buying them even though others have tested them for us already?

Magazines such as Consumer Reports and websites such as CNet.com or Edmunds.com have extensively tested pretty much any product you could find under the sun. Despite all this information at any customer’s fingertips, they still want to see it and test it for themselves.

Both in 2005 and 2007, my parents were in the market for a new car. Each time we arrived at a dealership, they’d always insist on looking around the lot without the salesman (politely asking the salesmen of course if they could stray away from the norm).

Only after those initial 20 minutes did they inquire further about what they saw intricately parked around the lot. Once this happened, usually the salesman would go with us on a test drive. During this ride, they would rattle off endless facts about the vehicle.

Is it because we don’t have enough trust in outside sources? I understand about not trusting all dealerships, but those websites or magazines have a long standing reputation of quality and reliability.

For myself, I would have to agree with my parent’s way. At least to me, I like to see and experience the car right then and there myself. I want to see the car myself and actually get inside and look around. Pictures on the internet can’t do cars much justice.

When I look at pictures and videos of cars online, it is hard to acquire the same feeling that you or I would get sitting inside the car or test driving it.

About a year ago, I found this great channel on YouTube of many different cars. Kyle, the person who runs the channel, is a guy who is currently going to school for medicine. His family owns a used car dealership in Reidsville, NC and he has been detailing cars for years.

His vast array of videos (he has more than 600) include start ups of the cars, tours of the interiors and exteriors, test drives, detailing results, and many others. His videos are probably the closest you can get to experience the same feeling you would have at a dealership online.

Here is one of his recent videos he made was a feature of every single vehicle on another larger dealership’s lot. Keep in mind it was made for a special occasion- his 600th video. It is nearly an hour long, recorded just by him and edited by him. The video is below.




Most of his other videos range from 5-10 minutes and car lovers can easily spend hours browsing through the videos.

So, if you are ever buying a car and either feel too lazy to make it out to the lot and spend the extra time searching for the right car or don’t have the time, check out SaabKyle04’s page.

Car Maker Recalls

As previously covered on this blog, within the past few months Toyota has recalled over one million of their vehicles to either fix the drivers side floor mat, fix the accelerator pedal, or fix the brakes.

Now, Honda is recalling more than 400,000 vehicles due to brake problems as well. Apparently, due to the stability control system on some Honda Odysseys and Elements, the brake pressure on the pedal will begin to soften after some considerable use. Eventually, this can become dangerous as the braking power diminishes greatly. They know what the problem is (unlike Toyota); air can somehow get into the braking system because of the stability control system.

Within these past few months, I've begun to think about what a car maker decides on in order to release a recall. It is definitely negative publicity so they must have some very strict rules before their PR people release a new recall to the media.

Recalls aren't a new phenomenon. They have been issued quite frequently over the past 20 years, and probably farther back then that. However, this Toyota recall has been one of the larger ones in recent history.

There are a few others that I remember that were big stories.

Jumping back to the 90's and early 00's, Ford chose a Firestone product for their tires on all of their Ford Explorers. As time went on, reports of roll over accidents due to tread separation off the tires began to surface. Ford eventually recalled all of these vehicles with their tires. The reasons for this to happened included the fact that the incorrect amount of air that should be in the tires was stamped inside the car's door jam. The sidewall of the tires said something completely different. If a person followed the reading that was given in the door jam, their tires would be 10 psi less than recommended. This caused roughly 250 deaths and many injuries (according to Wikipedia).

Another high profile recall that occurred a few years ago was for the Pontiac Grand Prix and the Buick Regal (roughly years 1997-2004?). The cars would catch on fire in consumer's driveways, causing a lot of property damage due to people keeping their cars in the garage.


One other recall that has been sort of swept under the rug and has been a continuous problem is for Chrysler/Dodge. It concerns their Grand Caravan/Caravan/Town & Country minivans. What would happen was during an accident, the airbags wouldn't deploy at the correct time. Not only this, but during assembly, something called the clock spring was inserted incorrectly and was therefore non-operational. This was for the 96 through 00 years I believe. Just recently, they issued a minor recall regarding the same component on a newer version of all of the vans, although the reasoning is only slightly different.

2010 Rochester International Auto Show

The time of year has come again. The 2010 Rochester International Auto Show at the Riverside Convention Center, located downtown, is in progress.

Having started on this past Wednesday, all major car makers have brought cars to represent themselves in the show. The best part of the auto show is that you can virtually see any car that is available for purchasing new right now. You can sit inside them, kick the tires, and ask some hired public speaker to tell you more about it.

This car show has been a tradition for me to go to since 8th grade. I love it because I am a car geek and will pretty much sit in 3/4 of all the cars at the show. It is the only time that I can see every car that is being sold and get a good up-close look at it.

I went to the show on Friday night and it wasn't as busy as other nights.

Here are some pictures that I took...







It's safe to say that my favorites included those pictured as well as some of the new Fords, which surprised me, as well as some of the GM's, Infiniti's, and the Suzuki Kizashi was also good.

2010 Suzuki Kizashi - Will it jumpstart Suzuki's limited image?

Suzuki has struggled to be a real player in the United States car market. This is no secret. They have limited amounts of dealers throughout the area and have a limited line up that consists of a few small cheaply built cars, a semi-stylish yet un-sensible SUV, and a few others not worth mentioning. Most of their cars are either re-badged Daewoo's (which were briefly brought to the U.S., but failed) or not the quality is just not up to the level that most Americans expect in a car these days.

However, this may change with the brand new 2010 Suzuki Kizashi. If the name doesn’t tell you, this car is made by Suzuki itself. However, this time, critics are raving about this new offering.

The car has an overall European look as well as some usually Japanese car accents. It looks very stylish and has great aesthetics. It is interesting as well because it shares a lot of design cues from Volkswagen. Many, including Edmunds.com and myself, notice that it looks like a cross between a Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Jetta, with a few other ingredients mixed in.

For now, the Kizashi (I know, weird name…) will only have an Inline four cylinder engine. A V6 version of the car is expected to come out within a year or two according to car review websites (namely Edmunds.com).

The Kizashi can also be purchased with all wheel drive (AWD), which means all four wheels can be powered in the case of slippery situations. Otherwise, the engine powers the front two wheels only. The Kizashi can be equipped with either a CVT automatic transmission or a 6-speed manual transmission.

CNET.com reviewers stated that the 6-speed was fun to drive. While they originally tested it for performance but then switched to testing it as a city hauler, the car is still a very competent car.

You have the option of purchasing a rear back-up camera. This helps eliminate blind spots when backing up. When you put the car into the reverse gear, a picture of what is behind the car will automatically show up on the navigation screen on the main control panel where the radio is (Kizashi must also be equipped with the optional navigation system in order to be equipped with the camera).

It also has a nice name brand radio system. It has a Rockford-Fosgate premium system with pretty much any feature under the sun. The car has a total of 10 speakers with this system, including a punchy subwoofer that is mounted in the trunk of the car.

For a Suzuki, this is quite frankly amazing.

However, on the road, both Edmunds.com and CNET.com found that the handling was uninspiring.

The main problem with the Kizashi is that it looks like and is marketed as a sporty-mainstream car. While the looks definitely live up to this expectation, the hardware/riding characteristics do not.

On the plus side, the Kizashi is a HUGE step up from their previous cars within the last ten years. Here are a few pictures of what they used to make…


This is the Suzuki Grand Vitara (not current version).


This is the Suzuki Verona (no longer in production).


With the Kizashi, the interior fit and finish is superior to many cars on the road right now. One consumer reviewer on Edmunds.com had this to say about it:

My "other" car is a Mercedes AMG, so that is a good reference point when I say the fit and finish on this car is superb! My first car with a CVT and it is smooth. Good MPG. Buy one of these because everyone finds out about them.

The inside feel of the car looks very European and upscale, which I’m sure will appeal to many different types of people. It may not appeal to those into Cadillac’s or Lexus’ (they’re probably buying them for the image anyways), but it will especially appeal to many others- the price tag doesn’t hurt either.

The Kizashi starts at around $19,000 with the basic, yet surprisingly good features. The fully loaded model, the Kizashi SLS starts at a reasonable $25,000.

There might be other offerings in the market that are just as good as this, including the Chevrolet Impala or Malibu, Toyota Camry, or Honda Accord, but the price cannot be beat for this Suzuki.

My recommendation is that if you’re in the market for a midsized car right now, and you do not want to get a vanilla-like Honda Accord, Chevrolet Impala, or Toyota Camry, this car might just be your soul mate.

Cars in America vs. Cars in Europe

When I visited France with the school in 2008, immediately when I stepped foot outside of the airport, I noticed all these weird looking cars. Usually, when you show me a car, any random car on the street, I can name it off the spot and usually tell you a few random facts about it. However, when I was in France, I couldn't do that; almost all of the cars were completely different. This was pretty unsettling. I decided to pay attention to the cars on the long bus rides we would be taking over the eight day trip, and I did learn quite a bit.

For starters, in Europe, a lot of the cars are shared, meaning basically as you cross into different countries, the cars are the same. It's like our country in relation to Canada; our cars are pretty much the same as the cars that are in Canada.

In Europe, there are many more brands than what we have here in the U.S. Here are just some of the most popular "normal" ones (meaning, not any super sporty types):

Renault - French company
Citroen - French company
Peugeot - French company
Alfa Romeo - U.K. company
Fiat - Italian company

Like I said, there are others, but these are among the top car makers there for normal cars.

Of those companies, probably you have only heard of Fiat, or possibly Citroen. Last year, Fiat bought a large portion of the Chrysler company, in an effort to keep the company from going under. We have yet to see any Fiat branded cars here in the U.S., but they could come sooner or later. Citroen had a short period of time here in the U.S. It was quite a few years ago (between the 1950's and 1970's) so chances are you've never heard of them (I hadn't either).

The first couple of days during my trip, all of the cars were a blur to me. That must be what it's like for the people that do not know their cars or quite frankly don't care (which I'm sure there are many people like that and I understand, don't worry).

As the days wore on, I began to pick out a couple that I kept constantly seeing. There was this one car called the Renault Kangoo. I remembered it for a couple of reasons. The primary one is because of the name- who wouldn't like a name like Kangoo? Not only does it sound like "Kangaroo," but it has a zing to it. This French car company has some very good marketing people. The second reason was because one of these vehicles nearly hit me as I attempted to cross a busy street. At this point in time I also was able to hear the horn. The horn sounded strikingly similar to a chihuahua barking at a mail man.

Anyways, that was one of the main cars that stuck in my head, and for good reason too.

The other car that I remember vividly from the trip was the Renault Trafic. It was, again, a neat name.

Overall, the cars there are much smaller in scale. The main reason for this is that the gas prices are very very high. I went over there knowing this and when I first saw a gas station (called Petrol Stations there because gas is Petroleum) there, I was shocked. The prices looked ridiculously low. However, I quickly realized it was per litre, not per gallon.

Another reason for the overall compact feeling of their cars is the fact that so many streets are narrow. Our huge touring bus had to creatively navigate the small streets in many small cities and towns, not to mention the metropolis of Paris. There were many nasty words uttered in Romanian by our bus driver, whom was from Romania.

If they had all the huge SUVs and cars we have here, I don't think they would be able to cope. You would see a lot of missing side-view mirrors, missing bumpers, and scraped doors because of the difficult navigation that needs to happen. Additionally, a lot of drivers there are crazy.

When it comes to liking which area's cars better, I would have to say I like ours. This is obviously because I know way more about them and that I've been around them my whole life. The cars abroad were very different and unique and I think a few should come over the pond and be sold here in the U.S. I think some of the cars would do very well over here.

Toyota's Troubles

If you haven't heard about the recent multiple Toyota recalls, you must be living under a rock. Over the past few months, Toyota has issued two major recalls; one that fixes a problem with the floor mat possibly hitting the accelerator pedal and the other, a direct fix to the pedal itself. There could be more recalls to come as well.

Many owners seem to be very concerned about this problem and they should be. These problems have been related to at least 19 deaths across the country. I’d reckon that probably that of every ten cars you see on the road, at least one of them is a Toyota. In fact, my family owns a 2005 Toyota Camry (not on the recall list at this time). Now, many, including the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, believe that this problem could be related to an electronic malfunction within the internal computer of the car.

Virtually every day on the nightly news, there is at least one story about the Toyota saga in which they show pictures of cars that have experienced unintended acceleration. Through my own observations, I have discovered that some of the pictures of these wrecks are vehicles that aren’t even included in the recall. I have seen at least five different pictures of the same model year Camry as my family’s vehicle. This is very concerning and I believe that Toyota has handled this situation very poorly.

ABC news recently did a report about how to contact Toyota about your recalled vehicle, and they couldn’t come in contact with anyone for a long time; and when they did, the representative did not have enough information to answer any questions. Additionally, when they brought their cameras to one of Toyota America’s offices in Chicago, Brian Ross, the reporter, was met with swift action by the receptionist. Ross was told to leave the property as soon as he walked in the door.

Over the course of the past week when I’ve been writing this post, there have been at least two more additions to the recalls regarding their vehicles that have been issued. Here is a list of all the vehicles that are under a recall as of February 4, 2010 with the model years listed after: (with help from CNN.com)

Avalon – 2005-2010
Camry – 2007-2010*
Corolla – 2009-2010*
Highlander – 2010*
Matrix – 2009-2010
RAV4 – 2009-2010*
Sequoia – 2008-2010
Tundra – 2007-2010
Pontiac Vibe – 2009-2010

*Models with a VIN number that starts with the letter “J” are unaffected.

For a more in-depth description of each different recall, click here.

As of now, talks are surfacing about a possible new recall affecting the 2010 Toyota Prius. Owners are complaining about limited braking power, which some believe could be related to the electronic system in the car.
It is a widely known fact that Toyota has been, at least until this point, a much respected and well known car company. General knowledge held by the public is that Toyota’s vehicles are the most reliable and safe vehicles available for purchase on the market. After this bout of problems, I believe that this may change for some.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made a comment that suggested owners should refrain from driving their vehicles on February 3.

“My advice is if anyone owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it,” he said. Later on in the day, LaHood clarified his statement. He meant to say that owners should take their vehicles to the dealer if they are worried about the recall.

Those people that would have said without hesitation to purchase a Toyota may hesitate now. This has been a huge story. Many will now remember this recall and think about it whenever Toyota comes to mind. It is a huge black eye for the company, if you will. However, I don’t believe it will hurt their reputation to the point of extinction. I’m sure some people may stop purchasing them, but there are a lot of people who have sworn to the Toyota name before this recall and will probably still do so afterwards. I know my immediate family will still purchase them- after all, our Camry with over 70,000 miles on it hasn’t had any problems whatsoever. In fact, it still has the original muffler, which my dad cannot stop touting.

In my opinion, I still wouldn’t mind purchasing a Toyota. I might be somewhat cautious about purchasing one by researching to look for any recalls before hand, but that is what I’d probably do anyways. Overall, my advice to anyone buying a car right now- don’t worry about this recall. If the car model you are looking at is effected, either make sure it has been taken care of or don’t buy it. Since they’ve halted production of the effected vehicles as of February 1, you’ll probably have a hard time buying any effected vehicle too.

Top 5 Cars for any High School Student to Consider

If you ask any high school student what they want for their birthday or holiday, chances are they'll respond in an enthusiastic way by saying, "I want a car!"... at least I would.

While there are those few that are lucky enough to have a car and hold the luxury of driving to and from school, a lot of high school students simply day dream about the vehicle that they could one day proudly own.

Many of the cars high school students own are modest, and rightfully so. Putting it bluntly, nice cars are not cheap. However, it is possible to purchase a good car within a high school student's price range (if they have a job or source of income that is).

I will now list the top 5 cars that should be considered by any high school student in the market for a vehicle. Each choice comes in at around or under $4,000. This means that are mostly pre-2002 vehicles. Don't worry though, they are good options. Do your own research as well because there are other good options out there, however, these five are the best choices, in my opinion.

(Pricing is based off of local listings on cars.com; will vary depending on mileage. The problems to watch out for were found by looking through consumer reviews on Edmunds.com)

# 5 – 1997-2000 Buick Century – Approx. $3,000

While it is definitely not the hottest car around, the Buick Century is a very good deal. You might see a few elderly people in the community driving Buick’s now defunct flagship, it still may appeal to the teenage driver. Equipped with a responsive V6 engine, the Century has enough pick-up power to pass those other elderly drivers whom are driving the same car.

The styling is admittedly obsolete and the interior has somewhat of a bland feel. Mind you, this car was marketed towards the 65+ year old crowd. Due to this, the ride is very comfortable and the seats are like plush sofas. The sound system is adequate and the layout of the dash is functional.

Overall, this car might appeal to the older crowd, it is something to check out due to its bank for the buck and comfortable ride.

Problems to watch out for: Power windows tend to fail after a certain time period (labor costs are high to fix) and some isolated transmission issues.

#4 – 1998-2002 Chevrolet Prizm – Approx. $3,200

The Prizm is a very small and economical car. Equipped with an inline four engine, it is peppy but somewhat slower than other cars.

Quite possibly the most appealing aspect about the Prizm is that it is virtually a Toyota with the Chevrolet name on it. Almost identical to the Toyota Corolla, the Prism is solely based on it. With the praised reliability of the Toyota brand, you can buy one with the Chevrolet name plastered on it, possibly saving over $1,000 instead of buying the Corolla.

On the inside, the car is very basic. You may choose between a manual or automatic transmission. Expect to search more thoroughly for manual transmissions as they are rare. Also, expect to pay a bit more for features like automatic windows, power locks, and other features that are now standard on today’s cars.

Problems to watch out for: Nothing worth mentioning.

#3 – 1998 Honda Accord – approx. $4,000

The Honda Accord has been a very good choice for families for years. It is also a good choice for first cars. With the well-known reliability of Honda, this car fits the bill for practically anyone who wants reliable no-frills transportation.

Both an inline four engine (more common) and a V6 are available. The V6 version is more powerful but harder to find because most Accords are equipped with an inline four engine.

The ride may not be as comfortable as an American counterpart; the Accord handles very well and has an overall composed ride.

Problems to watch out for: A few reports of transmission problems have occurred.

#2 – 1998 – 2002 Ford Crown Victoria – approx. $3,200

A flagship for years for Ford, the Crown Victoria is the standard definition of an American car. It’s big, it’s powerful, and it’s comfortable. Did I mention it’s huge?

As you probably already know, this vehicle has been used by police departments for years due to its very good reliability.

While the gas mileage is somewhat poor and the car is big, it has its perks. For someone who wants a powerful car, this is your opportunity to get one. You can even buy a official police “interceptor” version with the stronger engine and bigger brakes that were only originally sold to police departments.

This car is a very inexpensive option and the parts are very inexpensive to replace as well. In that respect, upkeep is very good. The interior is pretty bland and has standard amenities (basic radio, automatic transmission, etc.).

Problems to watch out for: There have been a few recalls regarding the gas tank, so make sure to check that it has been taken care of, especially on police “interceptor” models.

#1 – 1996-2000 Honda Civic – approx. $3,000

You may have guessed it, but the Honda Civic is at the top of the list. This is because it is a very economical car, it is reliable, and is very customizable.

Don’t forget however that the older the car is, the more primitive the safety features, which mean that by today’s standards, the older Civics are not as safe as they were once found to be. However, the year range specified and newer is relatively safe.

The interior is small but feels roomy enough. The engine, a four cylinder, is peppy and can get you from point A to point B.

Problems to watch out for: None worth mentioning.

Overall, this is the best option for what you can get in a car at or under the price of $4,000. However, all vehicles on this list are excellent choices for anyone that wants a car in this price range.

GMC Envoy vs. GMC Terrain

Back in 2002, during the time dubbed the “SUV craze,” GM began production of the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy SUVs, based on the new at that time GMT360 platform. These SUVs were a huge improvement over their predecessors which were the Chevrolet Blazer and the GMC Jimmy. However, as the year 2009 came around with all of the GMT360 SUVs receiving virtually no changes since 2002, the company decided to go in a new direction.

For Chevrolet, they came up with a new crossover named the Traverse (based off of the defunct Saturn Sky, and also the current Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia). On the other hand, for GMC, GM came up with the Terrain, a car-based SUV, based off of the new Chevrolet Equinox. Confusing, right? Well, let me explain further.

When the Trailblazer was introduced, it was widely praised by many car review outlets. One of these, Motor Week, was very impressed by the new characteristics of this new SUV. Here is a road test they put out when they were still a syndicated television show, back in 2002: (Skip to 1:00 to see the review)



The majority of the praised aspects about this car included the fact that the ride was very soft, yet it drove well.

One recent consumer review on Edmunds.com, a car review website, says that they had a positive experience with their GMC Envoy (please excuse their grammar):

“I purchased this vehicle when there were no others on the road. I was 1st impressed with its individual styling. Very soon after I was delighted with its interior appointments and comfort. I now have 125,000 miles and still no mechanical issues what-so-ever!”

(To see more consumer reviews, click here)

While there was mainly praise for the newcomer to the SUV market, there were a few criticisms. The main one seemed to be that the gas mileage was dismal.

The Environmental Protection Agency rated the gas mileage for the Trailblazer/Envoy as 14mpg in the city and 20mpg on the highway, which are dismal numbers for an SUV that is considered to be mid-sized. To add insult to injury, the SUV has an inline-six cylinder engine. The available V8 engine for this car only received one less mile per gallon when compared to the smaller engine.

Many, including myself, speculate that the main reason for why GM ditched the GMT360 platform is because of the more expensive gas prices, as well as the shift away from inefficient SUVs to smaller, more efficient cars. However, we may never know the exact reason for why GM got rid of, at least in my opinion, one of the best cars they have ever produced.

Looking ahead, the most appealing newcomer to replace the platform looks to be the GMC Terrain. While Chevrolet has the new Traverse, the Terrain has better looks and isn’t as large.



Click here to see a review conducted by Edmunds.com on the new GMC.

The Terrain is much smaller than its predecessor and is not built on the traditional truck platform that the Envoy and Trailblazer were built upon. It is almost classified as a “cross over” SUV, but it still appears to share qualities with the traditional boxy SUVs.

Thankfully, GM was able to fix the most common gripe with the Envoy. They addressed the gas mileage problem. The standard engine on the Terrain is a new inline-four cylinder engine. While less powerful, this engine achieves a mixed gas mileage rating of 26 miles per gallon, leaps and bounds better than the Envoy. The new optional V6 also delivers modest numbers in comparison to the Envoy’s engine.

On the road, according to Edmunds.com, both engines are good choices. While the inline-four might take a bit of encouragement to accelerate in a timely manner, it is an economical choice that will keep you moving- but slightly slower than everyone else. The V6 will move the Terrain much more quickly than the standard engine, especially because the Terrain only weighs 3,788 lbs. This is much lighter than the heavier 4,404 lbs. Envoy.

I’m very impressed with what the new GM is putting out for their new 2010 product lines. Starting with the Malibu, they have really stepped up to the plate by producing more competitive and reliable vehicles. Another piece of evidence, the Terrain, will bring GM much success.

While I always have and will be a huge fan of the defunct GMC Envoy and Chevrolet Trailblazer twins, it is time for a change. With fragile gas prices that are ready to sore at any second, this was a good move for GM. GM will appreciate this move in the future when the next surge in oil prices occurs and leads to another gas crunch.

The base starting price (MSRP) for the Terrain is $24,250.

Here are some additional pictures of the Terrain (Courtesy - Edmunds.com):

Welcome to 101 Car Talk

For many people, cars that have huge price tags are the most interesting. I believe this is true- to a certain extent. Many car related blogs and websites report on these vehicles of which the majority of people cannot afford. However, these types of cars will not be the subject of this blog. Instead, I will be posting about cars that are more affordable. Sure, they may not have vertically opening doors or 10 cylinder engines, but I will be posting about gems within the market. Did I mention that every car that I will write about on this blog will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $35,000 or less?

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Zach Ribert, and I am currently a senior at Rush-Henrietta Senior High School in Henrietta, NY. I have a strong interest in journalism, which has led me to enroll in a journalism class at my school. As a class project, I am creating this blog. In regards to journalism, I believe that blogging is a very interesting channel to explore. Blog popularity has exploded within the past 10 years since the number of personal computers equipped with Internet have sky rocketed. I will be attending college next year to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism.

Back to the subject of cars, I have a strong interest in what the middle class of the United States can afford. I strongly believe that there are a plethora of options when it comes to buying an exceptional car in this price range. I hope to inform readers about the expanding options of cars available today.

As most of us know by now, the car industry has evolved dramatically within the past decade. From the SUV craze to the government “take over” of General Motors, a lot has occurred. There are stories like these that I will also plan to talk about or reference in certain posts. I am placing an emphasis on the American car manufacturers, as well as some popular foreign brands, such as Toyota or Hyundai.
If you feel the need to comment on any post, don’t hesitate to do so. I enjoy listening to the opinions of others, especially regarding the subject of cars.

For my first post, I will be discussing the evolution of GMC’s Envoy SUV and the GMT 360 SUV platform overall. Since 2002, the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Oldsmobile Bravada, and later on, the Saab 9-7x, Isuzu Ascender, and Buick Rainer have all shared the same platform and virtually the same characteristics.

The entire platform was discontinued in 2009, and so were all of these vehicles. I will give a short review on those now obsolete platforms as well as what has replaced each vehicle in their own lines. As General Motors tries to consolidate, especially by limiting the “rebadging” (badge engineering) of similar vehicles to multiple brands, there are quite a few changes to mention.

Welcome to 101 Car Talk.