Not when I lived there. They used sand. That’s how I bought a 30 year old Mercury with 0 rust. That doesn’t happen in New York or Chicago, unless it's a garage queen, and this old gal certainly wasnt.

Exactly what I thought. At first, I was thinking that the car must be a basket case that needs to be sold by someone who desperately needs the money. “My grandfather just spent $2400 fixing his 1993 Lumina and now the transmission has gone out!” -something like that.

Nahh, when they (American manufacturers) try to color outside the lines, they’re chastised endlessly for it.

What you described is very similar to how I feel about my Honda Element. It also happens to be decently practical. It isnt beautiful, nor is it particularly fun to drive (both my 3.0L Taurus and my 2.2L Accord make far less power but are much quicker, for example), but it is interesting, unique, and useful.

    I really like those cars.

C’mon, now, sedans are falling out of favor with the general public, so naturally “enthusiasts” are going to start loving them, while 15 years ago, they’d make fun of them and swear they’d never own such a boring rolling cliche.

They went from the flying vagina to the generic SUV used on the packaging of floormats.

90s Isuzu Trooper had a manual available, it’s the one to get over the under-built, GM-sourced automatic.

Nahh, there was an asshole over on TTAC that swears the first Ford Mustang ruined American cars forever, and often went into great detail about how awful the Mustang is and how infallible the Charger is in that movie.

You gotta admit, when the bad guys lose him and are looking for him, and then the Mustang appears in their rearview mirror, that was pure genius.

So, the absolutely stunning Cadillac CT6, with innovative features, a unique platform, probably the best sedan from GM in decades, pales in comparison to a reskinned and rebadged Impala. Well, sir, I stand corrected. My apologies. 

The problem I see is that many rual drivers not only take the bus home for the night, but also during the school day. Are we going to setup charging stations at each driver’s house? Just compensate them for their electric bill? Even when the buses are left at school, they’re parked haphazardly wherever there is space.…

  Cue the guy who attempts to dismiss any legitimate concerns before they arise.

I would say it could be luxe’d up and sold as a Cadillac, but we all remember how the last Opillac turned out (Catera), and it wouldn’t mix well with their RWD sedans. Not sure it could be made cheap enough to sell as a Chevrolet.

It absolutely is popular in China, which is the only reason it wasnt killed off with Pontiac and Saturn. Funny, though, it’s most popular models in China arent sold here.

You’re right, the power and economy wasnt anything special. My Taurus with the 3.0L V-6 (not even the DOHC) is quicker and gets 30 MPG highway. It also has more miles now than what the Mercedes had when I sold it.

  Sad part is, the Buick Enclave is bigger. How does that make any sense whatsoever?

     Meh, two halves that wont make a whole. Buick has the same problems as Cadillac, however some people still consider Cadillac an aspirational brand. If anything, Buick needs to die and its models folded into Cadillac and GMC.

Mine was an ‘84 300TD. Honestly, I really didnt see what the big deal was about those cars. Everyone talks as though they’re the greatest car in history, and I just didnt see it. My experience was pretty typical of any other car of that age and mileage. 

Typical. Quite often we were told to do a “wipe off”, as in wipe everything off to make it look like we did the job when we didnt. I usually ran the counter, but I was still hating it due to knowing we were ripping people off, so I quit.