I’ve taken no small amount of flak for my 2013 Chevy Equinox. But let me point out some thing. The Feds no longer own any GM stocks. It’s all been sold, and all monies borrowed from the Feds have been repaid. So you can stop with the Government Motors bullshit. It’s over and that line is tired. If you are going to remain a hater – at least be a creative one. Okay? At least make yourself entertaining. Come on, I drive an Equinox. I can use all the entertainment I can get.
Don’t get me wrong – the EQ is a great little station wagon (if you ask the local constabulary) or SUV (if you ask Chevy and Motor Trend) that gets good mileage, has enough juice for it’s purposes, cruises the free way and back roads quite well… and it is quiet and comfortable and has some very excellent luxury features that I truly appreciate from my previous vehicle’s complete lack of luxury.
Man… I miss that bike!
Well, it did have hand guards. And an electric starter. Rode that thing last winter. Sure it was badass and hard core… but to be honest, a freaking Utah Winter? What the hell was I thinking? I was not right in the head. This winter? The EQ is a godsend. Heated Seats. Used to laugh at those. They are, as I found out, completely wonderful. And a touch screen XM infotainment system is fantastic. Back Up Camera – awesome. And it’s a handsome looking Cross-Ute. It is one of the top selling Mid Sized Ute’s on the market, for good reason. It’s totally competent in everything. I do like it. But it’s boring. Boring in the same way that Nice Guys always end up in The Friend Zone. It’s lacking Sex Appeal. Bravado. Machismo. Passion. Chevy has a few cars that have stepped up in the Testosterone Department.
The latest Gen of the Camaro is a solid looking muscle car. It’s badass on the inside, outside, under the hood, from the front, and from the back. It’s a badass car. It looks badass. It sounds badass. It is – badass. It also attracts Cop Eye like Democrats to Tax Dollars. While it has all the fun features a muscle car needs, it doesn’t quite have the level of comfort that I want. I want a bit more visibility and a bit lower profile when driving past the local law dogs looking to make quota. I need less Cop Eye yet I don’t want to give up the cojones, if you know what I mean. Something more balanced. And something that doesn’t get you into that Mustang vs Camaro back and forth trash talk I find irritating. That, and I think I would prefer the new 2015 Mustang anyways. But that’s not what I need either. Because both of these cars lack something else I need. A Back Seat. No, I mean a Real back seat. Not that I’d be in it, but I have sons who are as tall as I am, one as Big as I am, and I need to be able to carry at least 3 of them. That means I need a full sized sedan, with 4 doors.
Now, who makes a Full Sized Sedan that has Cojones? There is the Dodge Charger. There is BMW’s 5 Series. There is the Mercedes – I can’t even afford to look at those. And there is Audi, and we have a couple from Japan. There is the Chrysler 300 SRT And there is the Ford… no… wait… Ford doesn’t have anything. And Cadillac’s CTS-V (or VSport). Sticking Domestic Market, the Axis Powers are out. Sorry Germany. Sorry Japan. That leaves the Chrysler… Which is far too expensive. So is Cadillac. So those guys are out. So really that leave it down to the Dodge Charger… the Cop Car of Choice for the last few years. And this guy…
The Chevy SS. Here’s why I like it… no… LOVE IT. I would take this car over everything else… Even the more expensive or Axis options. For one, it’s got Cajones. It’s a muscle car though and through. Yet it’s wearing a button down collar shirt and a suit jacket. Even has a bow tie. With jeans and sneakers. I like that. Far less Cop Eye, and it’s going to give the Dodge Charger a run for it’s money in LE Agency Sales soon. In fact, it’s looks have been compared to the Malibu – a Rental Fleet standard. This is actually an advantage. It’s automotive camouflage. It’s a Sleeper. A Q Ship. I can go fast, and then when there are cops about, I can slow down and get back with traffic and blend right in. Inside, the SS has the luxury items I have grown to appreciate. And it has good visibility all the way around. You can drive this car every day. You can live with it. It’s not a Weekend Only track car. It’s a family car. With Cajones. I really think Chevy has a home run here. Pontiac had to too with the G8, but Pontiac had one critical flaw… It was a freaking Pontiac and I hate Pontiacs. Put that red arrow head badge on something and you’ve ruined it for me. Yes, everyone likes to point out that it’s really a Holden – great – I’m glad you can regurgitate the oft-repeated obvious. However since Chevy owns Holden – It’s still Chevy through and through, so suck it. The interior is all Chevy with their new styling that I find very attractive. They have been putting out nicer interiors than any other Domestic and most Foreign. I’ve been in some new cars and their interiors feel like they were from 15 years ago but with an iPad glued to the dash.
Here’s the thing, and you can argue amongst yourselves about this… Unlike other companies that took Government Bail Out Money – General Motors actually put it to good use and have transformed the company. They are making good cars now. Look at what they were making before… Crap. It was all crap. I hated everything Chevy was making that wasn’t a Truck. Now look at them… Well, don’t look at the Volt. But look at everything else. They look good. They run good. They are are making solid cars now. Hell, even the Malibu is a decent – albeit coma-inspiring – car.
Now look at S&W. Under the Clinton Administration S&W signed a contract with the Department of Urban Housing. I’m not going to go into that, you can read about that here. Or Google it all up all on your own. The fallout of this was that all True Patriots gave S&W the middle finger. I did too. Just like GM. Yeah, I was hating on GM too… which was not hard to do because like I said before – I already did. Save for the trucks. Okay, back to S&W… When S&W was brought back to All American Ownership after that DUH Contract SNAFU, they needed to seek forgiveness from the American Gun Owners. They did this and brought out the S&W .500 Magnum. Because – forgive me for using this phrase – “Because ‘Merica”. They made the Biggest Baddest Handgun on the planet. And then they made the .460 because they decided to make something actually usable on that big beautiful frame. Then they brought out their 1911’s. And even redid the SIGMA into something actually good – the M&P. And then they brought out their AR-15’s. They brought out things that the American Shooter loves. And it wasn’t a half assed job – they put effort into them – They were making Good Stuff.
Chevy, “The Heartbeat of America” is doing the same thing. Like S&W they have taken their lumps. They have learned their lesson. And they are making Good Stuff… and they deserve our forgiveness. GM employs a lot of American. Chevy employs a lot of good people. I know some of them. They like their Guns and they dislike Obama as much as we do. They could use our support. Especially since they are making some great vehicles.
I do not even need to go there with the new Corvette Stingray. Because – Damn.
Opinion on the Dodge Challenger, George?
I really wanted to like the Challenger. It looks very cool. However when I test drove one last year, I found it to be disappointing. First off, it’s disqualified for me because it’s a 2 Door. But that’s a forgivable thing I guess. Because it does LOOK very good. But the leg room is too tight in the back, which doesn’t help. I found the visibility to be bad. I also found it difficult to drive in that things are way out there. Huge rear end, huge carrier flight deck up front… I didn’t have a sense of where my wheels were, so parking it was nerve wracking. And then the handling. I didn’t like the handling because I could feel the car’s weight. So it felt ponderous. That could probably be something I could get used to and learn to sling it around given some time… but it just didn’t feel right to me. I was wanting it to be as good as it looks. The R/T or SRT versions are probably better. I only tried out the base version.
vette… KICKAZZ!!!!! an EQ!? really og…. love your blog!!! my whole family works or worked for GM, hate all their cars.. look good. service and dealer support kinda SUCK… that was the second biggest draw back for me as a buyer. but i have owned alot of GM vehicles.. the best was a ’72 chevy cheyenne. GREAT truck.
Yup. An EQ. I’m not kidding. It’s actually a pretty great vehicle… 4 wheel disc brakes, nice alloys, good V-6 cranking out over 300 horses (same V-6 as the CTS), dual exhausts, it’s a great cruiser, and it’s fast enough that, well, it landed me in “Driver Education” because I got nailed for speeding in it. It loves to cruise at 80. Quiet. Great stereo.
And I even was able to keep up with Jason Bourne driving through some West Virginian twisty roads in his AWD Subaru.
It’s a good car. It really is.
*yawn*
Now, about the Service and Dealer Support. MARINE CHEVY in Jacksonville, NC is probably the best Dealer Service Department that I’ve ever seen. I’ve taken my EQ there 3 times and have had awesome service each time. 1. Oil Change, 2. Battery Replacement, 3. Oil Change and Tire Rotation. The car has not needed anything else so far in 13K miles. It had 100 miles on it when I got it.
You can add Chrysler to the Axis power list. Owned by a little Italian company named Fiat.
And that means Jeep too. Damn shame. Big damn shame.
I don’t get the buy American thing, I really don’t. Last I checked, they’re not building Jeeps in Turin and shipping them here.
Doesn’t anyone own a Beretta or a Glock?
What’s the bet everyone who wants American only has most of their home stocked up by Walmart and Target. Well that’s 90% Chinese. Which happens to be appropriate because they own the majority of our debt.
We’ve taxed manufacturing out of the country, so this should be no surprise. Buy the best quality at the best price, no matter where it comes from. It’s called Capitalism. Tarriffs and Taxes belong to regimes.
If you feel so strongly about voting with your dollars you should be buying Ford because they didn’t take the competitive advantage and bailout that GM did.
Ummm,,, ahem,… uhh…. cough, cough, fidget…
Kinda embarrassed to see a generally well informed guy I respect be so unaware of what all actually transpired with GM.
The loan was paid back and the stock sold (at a loss) yes indeed.
That completely overlooks the crime against private ownership that was the GM “bailout.” We the people financed it while the .gov grabbed GM from owners, wiped out stockholders and bondholders, ignored all properties, arbitrarily shutdown profitable privately owned dealerships w/ no recourse or appeal — then handed the whole thing to the Unions.
If you’re not (still) outraged. You weren’t paying attention. All your propertiez are ourz.
Well said. Pension plans , mom and pop investors, dealers who had contributed to the wrong party and countless others lost their investment to the “redistribution” as GM and Chrysler were handed over to cronies of the socialist clown in DC. Never again will I by a GM or Chrysler.
Most of those contributions were through the Unions.
I respectfully disagree. Teachers, police, fire and public employee pension funds in every state lost huge, Private sector 401ks, IRAs and pension plans were devastated when 85% of GM and Chrysler assets were given to UAW in payback for their support of jugears in 2008. Many average Americans were devastated in losses to what was an unfair and leftist bias “redistribution” . GM and Chrysler will never see me purchase a new car from those once great firms. I would sooner drive a Trabant, from a admitted communist than one who is still in denial .
Agreed. Until GM pays back those who they robbed with Obama’s help, they are blacklisted in my book.
Yes, I’m well aware of the dealership closings.
Huge tragedy that America lost some auto dealerships. However if a company needs to sell more things, closing the sales outlets seems strange. Doesn’t make sense that they did that.
However as I understand it, it wasn’t GM’s decision, but was basically ordered to by the new “management”. Management that is no longer the management.
Sorry dude, I worked at GM for 8 years, Onstar for 2 before that and as well as Yazaki NA (formerly EWD, AKA the Electric Wire Division of Chrysler corp) and I have to disagree, GM is not the place I will ever put my money. I saw things that you wouldn’t believe (waste, stupidity and near criminal levels of greed for taxpayers dollars) and no product they could make could make up for any of it. Likewise, if you think ‘American Made’ means a damn thing in the auto industry anymore you are wrong. When wiring harness have their imported raw materials shipped through Long Beach CA to go to Thailand and come back to Long Beach as finished products and PRESTO! they are “American Parts” by government fiat, what a joke. I say let the big three and the unions rot, you want a product made in America from (mostly) American parts get a Honda (depending on the model), they tend to work a lot longer too.
We see this in many industries. This is a problem.
How often do you see MADE IN AMERICA on a package only to have MADE IN ******* on the product? We see this far too often.
To the best of my knowledge, S&W is still owned by the same bastards that tried to get their lock “technology” legislated onto the rest of the industry. This took place prior to their purchasing S&W from Bangor Punta at fire sale prices. A pox on them, and all of their offerings.
Ogre-
For 44-52k (price range on the ss) you might consider the Audi S4.
Supercharged 6 “333hp” “325lb/ft” (dyno numbers don’t lie and the majority are around 320hp and 315tq through the AWD system) 0-60 in 4.5 – 1/4 in 13.1 @103
27mpg highway -18 city
Price on one with nav and DSG (51k)
Also it has an option for a 6speed manual transmission which is a rarity these days and drops 1700 off the sticker.
So I’d only pick up 15 horses over my Equinox?
Now, I like Audi. LOVE Audi. I’ve owned several and grew up in Audi. But I think I’d rather opt for the VW sistership because it’s the same thing but less money…
One thing I found about Audi though – they are great until they get some age into it… once something goes wrong with them, they unravel like a ball of yarn.
If you’re looking at rated Hp – yeah. Nissan inder rated the GTR and the LS3 vettes were very “effecient”. When you look at the numbers the S4 is under rated by about 50hp.
This was done so they wouldn’t canibalise sales from the RS line (420hp na v8 317tq and about 20k more). BMW did the same thing when they released the single turbo n54 335is while the old 6cyl m3 was still out. It made “300”Hp while the m3 made 330hp.
Numbers dont lie. This 3800lb sedan Runs 0-60 with the camaro ss and the mustang 5.0 . Damn fast for a “333hp” car 😉 also pulls .92g figure 8.
That’d be news to my co-worker who is still happily driving his mid 80s Audis.
No fan of GM and Chrysler for all the reasons already listed but for GM you can add the foot dragging and general jackassery necessary to delay a recall and deny a problem that their engineers knew about as early as 2004. Severe injuries and deaths have occurred from this problem and the record of service bulletins sent to dealers is plenty of acknowledgement that they were aware of the problem almost from the outset.
Chevy might be a good vehicle but they don’t exist for me until GM cleans up its act.
An old school 2000-2001 BMW 740 series can be found for a bargain. I just spotted one locally with less than 50,000 miles for $8,900. Forget the huge monthly car payments
I do like those.
That’s a smokin deal.
1980 being struck in a small mental heath facility when some 6’4″ UAW thugs tried to break my windows after a hard night at work.
His elbow seemed to fracture when he went to smash the windshield. police hauled him off but would not prosecute due to union activity. Last GM i bought or will buy, when one’s neighbors declare war I believe it and avoid them. Long time to hold a grudge but the service i get from my Subaru dealer far exceeds that of the Ford or Chryslers I have since given up on.
You need to separate the UAW from GM. They are 2 different things.
Whether GM deserves it or not, they are a necessary casualty if he doesn’t want to send any of his money to the UAW thugs.
Are Cajones anything like cojones?
They are bigger.
On the other hand, there are a great many good folks in the current economy that are mighty glad to simply have a reliable transportation appliance.
Guess that doesn’t sound as good as a car with cojones.
There are plenty simple transport pods out there to choose from.
What don’t you like about the Ford Taurus SHO? 365BHP and 350lbs/ft torque.
That’s only 55 horses more than my car. And my car is not a Muscle Car. 55 more horses is not enough.