Extremely Impressed with Aveo

[quagmire]

What is an American car nowadays? I do not think that Ford, GM or Chrysler make anything here anymore (mostly Canada and Mexico). Conversely it seems Honda, Toyota and Nissan have many plants in the US making cars...so today it is confusing - what makes it an American car? Being built here, being sold here being assembled in Canada in Mexico? I don't know...

I think the workers of the 50 US GM plants have something different to say about that. Toyota has 11 or so plants in the US. All nonunion( even though I don't support the UAW, plants should be unionized to protect the worker) and two employees got fired due to wanting to unionize. Although, Toyota says it was due to them leaking the memo that they wanted to reduce US wages. Even though they didn't. Nissan is shutting down there Tennessee plant.

 

[panoz7]

As of last quarter, GM is officially making a profit. This just shows your anti-GM bias, "honda is the best at everything!!!" mentality.

Yes, in the final quarter of 2006 GM made a $990 million dolar profit. That looks great at first but if you actually read more about it you'll find that $770 million of that profit came from selling off part of GMAC. The remaining $120 million came from laying off workers (so much for supporting the US by buying an american car) and buying out the retirement plans of many of it's workers. GM's CFO even said that "We still expect to have negative cash flow in 2007."

DPaanlka... you keep saying how if someone buys any car other then the Aveo they are spending more and getting less. Can't you see that that's your opinion? To you it could (and you've certainly proved it) be true. For others (like myself) buying an Aveo means paying the same and getting less. I don't want leather. I don't want wood. I do want good fuel economy, good handling, a slick drivetrain, and reliablity... all of which the honda seems to do better then the aveo.

When I buy a car I don't just look at the window sticker. That Aveo looks great from the window sticker: leather, wood trim, chrome, long warrenty... all things that sound great until you actually drive the car. You didn't mention one thing in your original review about how the car handled, how it sounded, how safe it was, etc... these are things that are importaint to me. That's my opinion, and I don't expect you to agree, but don't say it's neccessarilly wrong... we just apparently want different things out of a car.

 

[quagmire]

Yes, in the final quarter of 2006 GM made a $990 million dolar profit. That looks great at first but if you actually read more about it you'll find that $770 million of that profit came from selling off part of GMAC. The remaining $120 million came from laying off workers (so much for supporting the US by buying an american car) and buying out the retirement plans of many of it's workers. GM's CFO even said that "We still expect to have negative cash flow in 2007."

So a company that is drastically shrinking should still keep there huge workforce that they can't support anymore? That will be business suicide and GM would be gone a long time ago. A plant that is unprofitable will be shutdown. Simple as that. GM will try there best to move the workers to another plant, but they also have to reduce there workforce to remain profitable. I feel sorry for the families, but GM had to do it.

 

[Counterfit]

I think it's funny how everyone always pops up in these threads to justify their own purchases.

**** Honda, REALLY **** Toyota, buy Subaru

 

[dpaanlka]

I drive a Saab 9-5 Aero. When I drive Aveos and Fits and cars like that, they all feel and handle and perform really crappily to me.

So I don't see what the big difference is. You get either a crappy cheap Fit, or a crappy cheap Aveo with nice features for a lower price. You say you buy a Fit because of how much better it performs? Are you kidding me? They all perform like garbage. At least the Aveo does a decently good job of covering up it's cheapness with it's features.

In fact, typing this post I don't even remember why I'm arguing this anymore.

 

[panoz7]

So a company that is drastically shrinking should still keep there huge workforce that they can't support anymore? That will be business suicide and GM would be gone a long time ago. A plant that is unprofitable will be shutdown. Simple as that. GM will try there best to move the workers to another plant, but they also have to reduce there workforce to remain profitable. I feel sorry for the families, but GM had to do it.

I have no doubt they had to do it. It just seemed kind of missleading to me to mention that GM was now back in the black without mentionioning how they got there.

 

[quagmire]

**** Honda, REALLY **** Toyota, buy Subaru

You know Toyota owns part of Subaru right? Anyway, they beat the current Impreza and Forester with an ugly stick. They beat the new Impreza WRX with two ugly sticks. But, since styling is subjective, that is just my honest opinion what Subaru styling has gone to.

 

[dpaanlka]

I drive a Saab 9-5 Aero. When I drive Aveos and Fits and cars like that, they all feel and handle and perform really crappily to me.

So I don't see what the big difference is. You get either a crappy cheap Fit, or a crappy cheap Aveo with nice features for a lower price. You say you buy a Fit because of how much better it performs? Are you kidding me? They all perform like garbage. At least the Aveo does a decently good job of covering up it's cheapness with it's features.

In fact, typing this post I don't even remember why I'm arguing this anymore.

You know Toyota owns part of Subaru right? Anyway, they beat the current Impreza and Forester with an ugly stick. They beat the new Impreza WRX with two ugly sticks. But, since styling is subjective, that is just my honest opinion what Subaru styling has gone to.

And don't forget, GM sold Toyota that part of Subaru, after GM realized Subaru was a worthless investment.

 

[ezzie]

Exactly, so the Fit has less, and costs more. Maybe it is a preference. You just happen to prefer paying more for less, while I prefer getting more for my money.

i'll say it again...it isn't getting more for my money if i don't want the extra features and i don't like the cheaper car. how many times do i have to say it?

There is a hatchback Aveo BTW, which, aside from being a hatchback, is otherwise the same as the Aveo sedan.

i've driven both the sedan and the hatchback Aveo, and i didn't like the feel of either. i feel a lot safer in my Fit. to each his own. we can all drive what we want, but don't tell me that my car sucks without having the facts to back it up!

 

[quagmire]

And GM sold Toyota that part of Subaru, after GM realized it was a pointless investment.

They realized it was pointless when Saab fans were pissed off at the Saabaru 9-2x. But, I bet they will be a bit more pissed when they learn some Saabs( models haven't been named yet) will move out of Sweden to the German plant that builds the Vectra.

 

[dpaanlka]

They realized it was pointless when Saab fans were pissed off at the Saabaru 9-2x. But, I bet they will be a bit more pissed when they learn some Saabs( models haven't been named yet) will move out of Sweden to the German plant that builds the Vectra.

Saab fans are pissed off in general. So long as Saab's design center and main headquarters is still in Sweden, I could give a rats ass who they outsource the manufacturing to - as long as it's somewhere in Europe. Germany is a lot better than Mexico.

 

[Sun Baked]

Why do people keep saying leather, when you are paying a premium price to go from cloth seats to vinyl seats.

Here, vinyl seats and real leather are horribly hot in the summer.

Burn your ass and blister it hot.

Fake wood trim (printed plastic), fake leather seats (vinyl), etc. -- Personally I'd rather skip the fake stuff and get a regular interior and a standard transmission and pocket the money. I'm not so vain that I need to drive a fancy car these days, just something I don't have to repair.

And from reports the car I drive has gone the way of the Taurus and is likely fleet only until it dies.

 

[dpaanlka]

Fake wood trim (printed plastic), fake leather seats (vinyl), etc. -- Personally I'd rather skip the fake stuff and get a regular interior and a standard transmission and pocket the money. I'm not so vain that I need to drive a fancy car these days, just something I don't have to repair.

True... you could do that on the Aveo and it'd be even cheaper. It's not like a standard feature. Aveos start at $10,560. Although, the point of fake leather and fake wood is to look better than nylon/cloth and regular hard plastic. So I'd rather have it.

 

[echeck]

There is nothing wrong with a Mustang at all. Other than the fact it isn't the best handling vehicle you can buy for less than 30K, they are a fun vehicle. The newest Mustang is by far the nicest that Ford has produced in recent years.

Abso-freakin-lutely. I love the new model. Seriously, it's really hard for me to not buy one. The only reason I don't is because it's not roomy enough, you know, because I'd be sleeping in it after my wife finds out.

 

[Thi]

Does it bother anyone that GM has been selling updated models of their full size pickup trucks without ever changing the interior for the past decade now? I know they finally updated with this years model. Geez I could never understand that. Also is there such a thing as cheap, I mean cheap plastic interior parts versus decent plastic interior parts? Is it just me or is the interior of domestic cars made of inferior materials versus the imports. I've just recently had the opportunity to test drive the new Ford Mustang and I almost barf on myself. The interior reminded me of an 84 TransAm. Can the cheap plastic interior be any uglier? or cheaper? What gets me is people love to buy em. Americans have the worst taste in automobiles.

 

[dpaanlka]

GM's interiors are a lot better now, especially compared to Ford and Chrysler. Even the almighty automotive press thinks so.

 

[quagmire]

Does it bother anyone that GM has been selling updated models of their full size pickup trucks without ever changing the interior for the past decade now? I know they finally updated with this years model. Geez I could never understand that. Also is there such a thing as cheap, I mean cheap plastic interior parts versus decent plastic interior parts? Is it just me or is the interior of domestic cars made of inferior materials versus the imports. I've just recently had the opportunity to test drive the new Ford Mustang and I almost barf on myself. The interior reminded me of an 84 TransAm. Can the cheap plastic interior be any uglier? or cheaper? What gets me is people love to buy em. Americans have the worst taste in automobiles.

While cheap, workers liked the placement and ease of use of the HVAC controls. That is why the new ones have a similar interior to the past models.

If you want a better interior, go for the LTZ trim.

 

[Sun Baked]

GM's interiors are a lot better now, especially compared to Ford and Chrysler. Even the almighty automotive press thinks so.

GM had to, the people were starting to get tired of the cheesy Corvette plastics.

A new color scheme and drastically improved finishes are much better.

For quite a few cars, I'd still rather stick with the cloth seats -- and buy Katzkin vinyl or even upgrade to leather seating surfaces in a style I like instead of getting factory standard.

Arizona isn't a leather/vinyl friendly location for your ass in summer anyway.