Will Chevrolet Stop Making Cars - Damino Media

GM Just Threw Away the Chevy Camaro

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines, GM says that the six
generations Chevy Camaro z/28 program
has been cancelled all right now for the
car guys out there that are the muscle
cars
there have been rumors going around that
they're not going to be making the
Camaros in the future they don't have
any particular plans that they have
set in stone with it there's even some
rumors that they're gonna make an
all electric cars which may be what
they're going to do they're canceling a
sixth generation I'm assuming that they
are gonna stop making Camaros they
stopped making the things a few years
back and then they brought them back
again they had a bunch of quality
control with the ones they were making
in Quebec and so then they just stopped
making them entirely I mean those are
terrible machines in the end I had them
where the wiring harnesses would go out
to transmissions and blow up and they
brought them back again I who knows
maybe they'll just eventually have them
only as an electric car and shelving the
production of any sixth generation
Camaro kind of tells me they yeah
they're maybe they're thinking about
making the mental electric cars only
time will tell her that but you're
obviously thinking about getting rid of
Camaro is a muscle car by not producing
these, ash says hey my wife has
an old ML 320 it's forty eight thousand
mile keep it and driving myself for
selling wife wants a new car
forty-eight thousand miles isn't much if
you haven't had problems with it it
hasn't been wrecked flooded or stolen
you might as well keep it you said it's
an old one if it's an old one it has
virtually no value nobody wants to buy
an old Mercedes the resale value was
cramped but with 48,000 miles generally
don't fall apart until they are over
100,000 miles so what the heck you got
it why not use it for your car and then
get your wife another car obviously
you'll put that many miles on the cars
it still could last a while cuz you
getting nothing selling if it works okay
now what the heck I personally wouldn't
buy one but you already have it so you
might as well driving around you'll get
much for it if you try selling it, Bologna is
there any way to buy nitrogen to fill
your tires yeah oh that's kind of an
interesting subject matter realize that
Earth's atmosphere is already something
like eighty percent nitrogen dress is
about 20 percent oxygen some trace
elements but
about 80% nitrogen already so what
difference does it really make if you
have a 100% nitrogen you tires or 80%
for years people tried to sell me as a
mechanic at my shop systems that purify
the nitrogen in our atmosphere and turn it
into almost a hundred percent
nitrogen and filling the tires with
because theoretically it doesn't oxidize
inside and the temperatures don't affect
it that much when they change hot or
cold or they do use nitrogen I believe
in like the jet airplanes because
they're up at 50,000 feet and it gets
really cold there and the pressure the
tires would keep going up and down for
them and it makes sense but you're not
driving your car at 50,000 feet out
there so you know if you can find a
place that sells the stuff go right
ahead but far as I'm concerned you're
mainly wasting your money on that stuff
for a car that you're driving every day
nobody's approached me in the last year
trying to sell me one of these stupid
nitrogen systems and it cost thousands
of dollars so so if anybody has one
they're gonna charge your pretty penny
to fill up your tires cause hey they had
to pay a bunch of money for the stupid
machine
Daniel pina says hey Scotty is the 2007
f-150 a reliable vehicle these days
yeah the previous owner took care of it
2007 f-150 is pretty reliable vehicle
they're much better with the v8 sixes meh
any vehicle if you're talking about
buying a used one have a mechanic like
me check it out before you show your
money out cuz you don't know something's
wrecked flooded stolen there's all kinds
of things you can go around and with our
fancy machines we can tell I spend about
an hour checking out used cars I just
checked out a used car for a guy this
morning you know it's a fourth of July, I
forgot
he made an appointment so I got up
there anyways they can't be great good
cars but you want to make sure there
isn't a problem in it in the first place
cuz you're not gonna get a guarantee
demon says Scotty I got a
2005 Chrysler Sebring Convertible with
eighty two thousand miles my first car
any thoughts baby that thing that was a
big lemon Mobil that they made the v6
engines those things were terrible it's
still running it's 82 thousand miles
let's say it runs and it shifts good now
baby it you got it it's a convertible a
lot of times people think of verticals
are worth money but convertibles aren't
because everybody knows there were
terrible cars but you gotta take care of
a change the oil every 3,000 miles don't
overheat the engine don't race it don't
peel off
pretend you're a little old lady driving
that car and maybe the last one I got
some little old lady
drive them and they're still going okay
because they drive slow but all the men
that I knew that drove them hard they
all burn out either the engine or the
transmission or both, so if you never
want to miss another one of my new car
repair videos, remember to ring that Bell

Why GM Failed In India

CNBC:

Over the last 20 years, the
Indian automotive market has grown from
about 500,000 new passenger cars,
hatchbacks, sedans and utilities to
about 3.5
million in 2018.
The market has an expected compound annual
growth rate of about 5 to
6 percent over the next 10 years.
But, some automakers have struggled
to make it work.
Among them is General
Motors, the largest U.S.
car company. GM stopped selling cars in
India in 2017 after years of
declining market share.
It's a striking move for GM, which
in recent years has also closed
shop in other regions around the
world, as leadership focuses on
maximizing profits and making investments
in new technologies such as
electric power trains
and mobility services.
With a population of more than
1 billion people, India is becoming
one of the world's
largest automotive markets.
The country is poised to surpass
Japan as the world's third biggest
new car market in 2021.
So while there is ample
opportunity for automakers, the Indian
landscape has been particularly difficult
to navigate, especially for
American firms. GM watched its share
of the Indian market erode
steadily over several years, bottoming out
at about one percent in
2016 just before the
automaker pulled out.
So if the Indian market is
growing, why did GM struggle, especially
when GM has been
so successful in China?
To be fair, quite a few automakers
tend to have difficulty in the
Indian market. First of all, India
is a massive country with a
diverse population of roughly 1.3
billion people.
India, I think, we are
definitely a complex market.
The income levels
are quite heterogeneous.
We are divided, actually into
urban India and rural India.
The consumer requirements are actually
different even the needs are
different in both these markets.
There are a few criteria a
mass market automaker ought to meet.
They are fuel efficiency, resale
value, proximity of service stations
and the affordability of parts
and low servicing costs.
I think first thing is price.
We are a country with a
very low per capita income.
Indians are very price sensitive.
But price is not the only factor.
So now the customer also needs
some more value, for example, with
styling elements. And then, I think,
the consumer also wants a global
brand. They want a
brand which is aspirational.
The consumer wants an overall combination of
all P's, you know it may
be product, it may be
price, it may be positioning.
Which makes the things
quite complicated for OEMs.
These might seem pretty attainable,
but many automakers have
struggled to meet these
in the country.
There are a couple of companies who
have managed to crack that code
and there are several more with shares
of the market ranging in size
from small to smaller.
By far, the most successful automaker
in India is the Japanese firm
Suzuki, which alone owns
half the Indian market.
Suzuki has enjoyed something of
a first mover advantage.
It was the first major automaker to
enter India, and it did so
through a joint venture
with Indian manufacturer Maruti.
Suzuki also specializes in highly
fuel efficient vehicles, which are
extremely important in
the Indian market.
After Suzuki, Korean maker Hyundai is
the second largest with 16
percent of the Indian market.
After that, Indian, Japanese and Korean
makers such as Honda, Tata,
Kia and Mahindra all more or less
have equal degrees of market share.
Kia in particular, is a relatively
late coming brand that has been
able to succeed in India.
I think an excellent example is
Kia Motors which recently entered, it
was a new brand and
they gave a great proposition.
They were in an SUV segment and
I think suddenly right from the month
one, we saw a great success
for this OEM, in India.
Then the remaining 10 percent of the
market is made up of others such
as Ford, Renault, BMW and Nissan.
Early on, GM entered the India market
with its Opel brand, a mass
market brand GM had
owned in Europe.
While Opel cars tended to be
affordable, they failed to resonate with
Indian buyers.
I think later on they realized that's
not a brand which is really
going to work well in India because
that was not a value proposition
which they were offering
to their customers.
But then GM introduced its Chevrolet
brand to the country, which
brought it more success.
It was a great success.
They launched a few great
products like Chevrolet Cruze Chevrolet
Beat. They had that start which
they were really looking forward.
Despite these efforts, the automaker had
trouble taking share in the
Indian market. It was the first
automaker to introduce a diesel fuel
powered car of its size.
At the time, the Chevrolet beat
was the smallest diesel powered car
customers could buy in India.
It was a strong proposition and
benefited from a government subsidy
on diesel engines.
But in the end, the
diesel Beat had few takers.
The company may also have made a
misstep by trying to introduce a
low-cost vehicle GM manufactured with
its Chinese partner SAIC called
the Chevrolet Sail.
Their plan got derailed with the
introduction of Sail because I think
they underestimated the consumer aspiration
and then, I think, the
decline started. GM also fell victim
to a kind of self-reinforcing
cycle. One challenge it struggled with
was the lack of an adequate
dealer and servicing network.
More premium brands such as Mercedes
and BMW often attract customers
with the means to travel
further for service and sales.
But, mass market brands such as
GM's Chevrolet are targeting middle
class buyers who value convenience.
Dealerships in India often sell a
single brand so GM's low sales
volumes meant a single dealer might sell
only a handful of cars in a
month and risk taking losses on
the costs of running the business.
In the end, such low market share
made it difficult for GM to justify
maintaining a presence
in the country.
The automaker officially stopped selling
cars in India on December
31, 2017.
GM told CNBC it explored many
options for its India business, but
ultimately withdrew after it
determined the increased investment
originally planned for the country would
not deliver the returns of
other global opportunities.
It continues to operate services
for existing Chevrolet customers in
the country. In September, the
automaker entered a long-term
partnership with Tata Consultancy Services,
which will do engineering
design for GM vehicles meant
for markets around the world.
The move out of India was part
of a larger pullback GM has been
making around the world as
it restructures its business.
We're seeing other automakers follow
suit as they're pruning.
They're pruning the dead branches and
focusing on where they can be
strong. For GM, this is a huge shift
because GM of old used to be all
things to everyone everywhere.
And, it has now decided that
is not the proper strategy.
The automaker told CNBC if it doesn't
see a clear path to leadership
and long term sustained profits in
a particular market, it will look
at opportunities to focus its resources
on areas that will lead to
the greatest results. It added that this
is the same approach it has
taken elsewhere.
The automaker also sold its
European operations to French carmaker
PSA in 2017.
At the time it pulled out of India
GM had two factories there, one in
the Gujarati city of Halol
and another in Talegaon.
The Halol plant was acquired by
MG Motor, the once famed British
brand now owned by Chinese
automaker SAIC Motor Corporation.
GM has a joint venture with
SAIC to produce cars in China.
Reports surfaced in November 2019 that
SAIC is also in talks to
acquire GM's Talegaon plant, along
with fellow Chinese automaker
Great Wall. GM told CNBC it
is exploring strategic options for the
plant. The move out of India was
a retreat for GM and for American
auto industry. Ford is starting
to do the same.
It's trimming some
of its offerings.
Global economy and global auto
market is slowing some.
Certainly true here in the
US, it's true in China.
There's just not enough money to
go around to every single market,
too every single vehicle line.
Look at Daimler and BMW,
they've announced major employee cuts.
But in some ways it might
have been a shrewd move.
The other thing that is happening
in the market that has never
happened before is we are on the
verge of massive disruption of the
industry. You know, we're going to
have a future of electric
vehicles, autonomous vehicles and new
ways to acquire personal
transportation and now
mobility service.
There's all kinds of things.
Nobody knows when that's going to happen
or how it's going to happen,
but it's requiring a
lot of investment.
Companies like GM just can't keep putting
a ton of money into the
future as well as a ton
of money in today's stuff.
While analysts do expect the
Indian automotive market to continue
growing in the foreseeable future, it
did hit a slump in 2019.
Maruti Suzuki sales were growing
until February 2019, but have
slipped every month, year
over year, until October.
Suzuki said in November that the slowing
Indian market was one of the
factors behind the company's falling overall
sales and net income in
its second fiscal quarter.
So I think right now the
market is going through turmoil.
Our economy is struggling and if
we only talk about the automotive
market we are talking about a decline
of minus 14 percent in 2019
calendar year light vehicles.
So obviously this year is the
kind of degrowth happening, which has
not happened in last
two decades, in India.
2020, we are just talking about a
kind of a flat growth but then
going forward, in 2021, '22, '23,
the assumption that our economy
should be back, you know, the
GDP growth rate will start growing
above seven percent. Indian
automotive analysts note the country's
auto industry has to contend
with the relatively recent rise of
mobility services such as ride
hailing. The potential of these
competing technologies is still
unknown, but could affect how
interested in car ownership Indians
remain in the future.
In the end, GM did make some of
the right choices when trying to go
into India. GM was right in
terms of localizing their products
typically for the Indian market, making
it, in line with the taxation
because they were able to save tax.
But, at the end of their day, were
really not able to match with what
the competitors were offering.
If the Indian economy picks back up,
GM may find itself trying to
profitably re-enter the country.
GM's rival Ford, which has been in
India since 1995, said in October
2019 it will create a new
joint venture with Indian manufacturer
Mahindra, which Ford said will help
it develop new products faster
and drive profitable growth.

Why GM Doesn't Make Good Cars Anymore, What Went Wrong

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines, zack says
Scotty my old family are GM fans, do you
know when GM car started to make them
poorly, my guess would be when they went
bankrupt around 2009, well they started
to make them poorly long before that, even
in the early 2000s they started to make
a lot cheaper stuff, I don't know how
true it is, but I talked to an engineer
and an engineer told me one time that GM
and Ford were going neck to neck and
people thought, Oh GM's are made better
than the Fords and then they did a
little research and GM found out that
they were spending 20% more building
their vehicles and that's why they were
better vehicles back decades ago, well
according to the engineer that I was
talking to, GM looked at and said gee
were spending 20% money more than Ford
building our cars, let's make them
cheaper, so they did and then the quality
went down, I know if it's true or not but
an engineer told me that, but they
have been going but down since the
early 2000s, it's just the nature of the
beast with corporations these days, they
want to make a profit and they want to
make things as cheap as they can and pay
people that make them as little as
possible, so they make more profit for
the corporation that's the way that
things go and sometimes it takes the
wrong turn like GM did and make products
that you don't hold up like they used to,
I learned to drive on a Chevrolet
Biscayne the thing was like a tank it had
a
302 v8 in it and that thing just ran
forever but not the new ones their not made
that wa,y no Oberto says Scotty
I am seriously considering buying the
2019 Land Cruisers, do you consider it to
be
the best quality built SUV I'm aware of
the gas mileage, yes they are for that
kind of a vehicle if you're willing to
spend that kind of money and get that
kind of low gas mileage, they are well build
vehicles my customers with them are all
pretty well happy with them, other than
the horrible gas mileage and if you're
willing to spend that kind of money, they
can last a long time, I got customers
with those thing that have three hundred and
fifty thousand miles on them and they're
still running strong, yeah if you don't
mind spending that kind of money go
right ahead, me I'm too cheap I'd never
spend that kind of money, Rambo ask
Scotty what do you think about me buying
a 2004 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
all wheel drive with 140,000 miles straight
6 for six grand
from my uncle as a first car,
well first of all some uncle he should
give you the car, now I'm not a Jeep fan
by any stretch of the imagination but
back in 2004 they were building much
better ones than they are today now that
Fiat owns them, that straight six-cylinder
engine can last forever I've seen those
things go 400,000 miles, good engines the
transmission that's an OK transmission
it's not great but it's not totally
horrible, it's a 15 year old Jeep try to
get it for a little bit less than $6,000
see if you can barter it, they can be fun
vehicles to drive around, realize they're
somewhat gas hogs because jeeps are
trucks their high up in the air, their not
aerodynamic or anything but it can be a
fun thing to drive, just try to get it a
little bit of lower, Scotty my SUV keeps
going out of alignment I had new shocks
replaced and no one seems to get the
alignment right, any ideas what as to what
it can be,
here's the thing, front end alignment
work we're talking about thousands of an
inches here thousands of an inches there
it's gotta be a pro who knows what he's
doing, so your best to find a
front-end shop that's all they do, here
in Houston I use cotton brothers front
end, they know what they're doing they
can fix any alignment problem, now the
second thing is, modern vehicles
especially the SUVs they're not like
vehicles when I was young, when I was
young they had all kinds of adjustments
there were like six different
adjustments you could do, today a lot of
times the only adjustment you can do is
the caster and the camber that's it
you can't do anything else, so it might
be that the alignment is off because the
struts bent or an a frame is bent, that's
why you have to start with a really good
front end guy, who knows what he's doing
and does good work you have to start
there, because otherwise all bets are off,
Devon says Scotty and I got a 93
3 liter 4runner, it does 16-17 mile per gallon
on the highway but does five to six in the
city any reason why, I live in Fresno
with hardly any traffic on the streets
Thanks, okay first of all, when you're
driving it in town does it get into top
gear, if you drive it really slow and the
transmission doesn't shift into top
gear, you're gonna get crappy gas mileage
like that, 16 to 17 is what those things
get on a highway, so it's working
normally at highway speed, so I'm
assuming it's not shifting into the top
gear when you're driving in town, go 35
miles an hour count the shifts as it shifts
and it should be into the top gear
if it isn't, you got a problem with your
transmission not shifting into gear
that's about the only thing that would
make sense cuz if you have any other
problem with the vehicle, it's gonna get
horrible gas mileage on the highway too,
the only difference is, it's shifting
into the higher gear on the highway maybe
it's not doing it in town, you should
still get at least 12 or something in
the city not 5 or 6, so if you never want
to miss another one of my new car repair
videos, remember to ring that Bell!

2018 Chevrolet Traverse Review — Cars.com

Cars.com:

one of the biggest 3-row crossover SUVs
you can buy is the Chevrolet Traverse
and with its redesigned for the 2018
model year it's grown bigger still but
its dropped around 350 pounds from its
curb weight the result is a comfortable
roomy SUV that can fit the whole family
and it also offers enough tech features
to keep them all entertained the
traverses exterior styling mixes new and
familiar chevrolet styling cues but the
overall look is decidedly more
truck-like than its predecessor it gets
the SUV version of Chevrolet's twin port
grille up front and that's flanked by
high-intensity discharge headlights and
LED daytime running lights in this 3lt
trim level the wheelbase grows two
inches for a total length of nearly a
hundred and twenty-one inches and what
you get with this long wheelbase are
these big rear doors that offer good
access to the second and the third rows
of seats one of the other styling
changes on the Traverse is this new C
pillar shape which takes after the one
on the Chevrolet Tahoe SUV the interior
styling is new too in the dashboard
design now has a more upscale look at
its center is this available eight inch
touchscreen multimedia system the system
supports apple carplay and android auto
smartphone connectivity and it also does
an unexpected trick if you press this
button here the screen will motor up to
reveal a hidden storage compartment
behind it that includes a USB port
that's good for storing things you want
to keep out of sight like maybe your
phone or wallet besides the one USB port
in the hidden storage compartment our
Traverse has another six USB ports
scattered throughout the cabin in all
seating rows so everyone in the family
should be able to keep their devices
charged to keep those devices connected
to the Internet when on the go the
Traverse offers 4G LTE connectivity with
a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to seven devices
after an initial trial a data
subscription is required the Traverse is
big exterior dimensions payoff in the
cabin where first second and third row
passengers have ample space if only the
seats themselves were more comfortable
the front seats backrest have oddly
shaped cushions that pushed against my
upper back in the second row bucket
seating is too hard you never forgot how
big the old traverse was when driving it
it just felt bigger than a lot of its
competitors but even though the new
Traverse is even bigger than that model
it feels smaller when you're driving it
it's easier to maneuver and control the
driving experience is also refined the
SUV's long wheelbase contributes to the
composed comfortable ride that seems
perfect for a long road trip it's also
really quiet inside which contributes to
the serene driving experience power
comes from a 310 horsepower v6 or a
turbocharged four-cylinder rated at 255
horsepower our tester had the v6 and
both engines team with a 9 speed
automatic transmission the 9 speed does
a good job keeping the v6 in its power
band but it made some abrupt shifts
during our testing we've long told
shoppers who want a practical family
vehicle to consider a minivan because
they're hard to beat when it comes to
lugging around kids and all their stuff
but the new Traverse has closed the gap
considerably with much of the passenger
space of a minivan but with the style
and presence of an SUV that shoppers won
it just might be the best of both worlds
you

GM Has Stopped Making Car Parts, You Can’t Fix Your Car Anymore

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines, some people
might not have thought out with
that UAW GM strike it's
not really affecting the ability to buy
one of their new vehicles cuz they had
so many of them lying around cuz they
had horrible sales so they're not
running out of cars to sell you but they
are running all the parts if you want
to fix your car they don't have that big
of a back stock of spare parts and now
that they're on strike and they're not
making any for a bunch of different
vehicles you might want to go and get
the original part for your car when it's
time to get it fixed well you might find
out they can't get their hands on it
because they don't have any now of
course there's always aftermarket so
it's not like you have no other
alternative to do but if it's a deal
where it's a dealer only part and they
don't have it yeah then you're pretty
much screwed would you'd be trying to
find one in a junkyard wait until their
strike goes off and they start making
this thing so you know they don't really
think about that in a long run but
that's one thing that's really gonna
bite them in the rear end they don't have
spare parts and the people can't fix
their cars correctly that makes them
look bad I mean they were looking bad
enough in the first place over the last
decade with the problems that GM has had
with hiding that ignition key switch
problem that they've had so this is a
negative look any better yeah we'll see
what happens it goes on cuz this is
today and the strike is still going on
there as I said earlier I'm assuming
that GM isn't even gonna care all that
much because they'll probably end up
moving a bunch of their production to
China they already have a bunch of
factories there and they'll probably
just say we'll just move it over there
and then not even worry about having it
over here that's my theory on it cuz I
see how they're all seem to be doing
that which is kind of funny when you
think about it because Toyota and Mazda
are just building a new factory I
believe in Alabama together to build car
so don't move over here and then our
companies will move to China, acorn 25
says is it okay to keep pressurized cans
of glass cleaner and other cleaners like
battery cleaner a trunk of your car now
you don't want to keep them inside the
car where you sit where the Sun beats
down it makes them hot but the trunks
don't get that hot I've had pressurized
stuff glass cleaner right cleaners stuff
inside the truck
never had any problems at all it doesn't
get all that hot inside the trunk itself
but as I said in one of my videos you
don't want to have any kind of cleaner
hairspray sitting in the window on a
glass inside the sunken here nothing
that can blow up in the trunk no you're
not gonna have any problems, Murano WTF
says hey kind of a doozy I've got an 04
Nissan Murano wiper blades won't turn
off all the lights flashed with every
swing of the wiper blades keeps blowing
a fuel pump relay up yes you're not the
original owner I would say perhaps the
vehicle got in the flood and now water
is corroding the wiring and the
computers and they'll do all kinds of
crazy stuff because the fuel pump and
the wiper blades really aren't related
and if it's blowing a fuel pump fuse and
the wipers are doing that crazy stuff my
guess would be the car was flooded now
it's just gonna start falling apart but
then again it is a 16 year old Nissan
Murano one of the junkier vehicles ever
built in the history of mankind so it
could be that you got a computer flaw or
a wiring flaw that's starting to cross
circuit stuff and do it I would say find
a guy like me first took up his
computers and if he sees a bunch of
weird stuff then he starts testing and
says I think your computers going out
then you decide you want to put that
kind of money in that car you just want
to get rid of the stupid thing because
you put a ton of money and electronics
on one of those but let's say you're not
the original owner and you think maybe
it's better than a flood and a mechanic
looks and says yeah this thing's been
flooded just get rid of it don't even
bother once the car is flooded all the
electronics start breaking down the line
with all those computers and it's not
worth even attempting to fix them, DJ
says I got an 06 buick LaCrosse with
93 thousand miles sometimes I take off
it shifts from first to second it feels like
it skips or bounces but it doesn't slam
it doesn't happen any other gear well
odds are your transmission is wearing out
typical on a Buick that's about as long
as they're gonna last pray that it's
something like one of the solenoids the
shift song I was going bad and have it
replaced you might get lucky and it
could be a shift solenoid but it takes a
professional mechanic with a
bi-directional stand tool they can turn
things on and off and test and see what
happens when he turns a mind start there
and if it's a song great I'd put a new
solenoid in it but if not transmissions
wear it out and on that thing the money
it costs to rebuild those things you
might just live with it as long as it
goes down the road
I've had customers driving years that
way and they still weren't good enough
that they didn't care they didn't want
to spend a ton rebuilding the
transmission on an older try like that
mmm chicken says
Scotty I got an 03 Chrysler intrepid v6
2.7 liter hundred six thousand
kilometers how much time do you reckon
little a still runs perfectly all right
I'm assuming you're in Canada and
kilometers doesn't chop it's uh v6 2.7
liter is one of the worst engines they
ever make but you only got what like
54,000 miles or something on it cuz you
said kilometers because the last a while
I mean if the engine ever starts their
problems is the transmission said get
rid of the stupid thing but you got it
it's worth nothing nobody's gonna give
you much for a 17-year old intrepid
so keep driving it if you baby it keep
doing whatever you've been doing it keep
your fingers crossed
cuz you never know I never advised
anybody to buy one house but you already
own it with that low mileage it's going
last quite some time here in the United
States people drive a lot more if that
was a 17 year old one here and probably
had 190,000 miles or it would already be
in a junkyard because somebody would
have got rid of it when the engine went
huh so just take care of it who know how long
it's
gonna last, so if you never want to miss
another one of my new car repair videos
remember to ring that Bell

The Truth About the New Chevy Cruze, Buyer Beware

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines, Kenneth case of
Scotty
I really like my 2017 chevy cruze
premiere RS I never had a problem
throughout my ownership should I keep it
thanks, well it's a 2017 it's only a year
and a half old, you better not have any
problems, you might as well keep it cuz
I'll tell you the truth if you try
selling that thing now, you'll see how
much money you will lose, what you owe on
it versus what it's worth it would be
foolish to sell it now maybe you got a
good one that's gonna last, I never advise
anybody to buy it and I got a customer with
one he's got a picture of Mickey Mouse
in his back window cuz she's sued them
under the lemon lawn for some weird
reason they gave him back three thousand
dollars and that was it, they wouldn't
take the car back so, you know but if it lasts
drive it around cuz you would lose your
shirt if you sold it now, CK says Scotty
I'm looking into buying a 2004 GMC
Canyon with two hundred sixteen thousand
miles from a mechanic should I buy it
okay
well it depends if it was the mechanic's
vehicle and he took care of it, not a
bad idea but if he's selling it for somebody
else
you kind of think now the canyon was
kind of a bizarre truck they weren't
that bad
I mean look that thing's got a lot of
miles it's still running, I just uh
wouldn't pay too much for it, it's a 15
year old GMC pickup truck with two
hundred sixteen thousand miles if you're
looking for a Knockaround truck to haul
a little bit of stuff around why not but
just don't pay too much, it's an old GMC
truck with a lot of miles on it,
Albee says what's your opinion on police
cars mainly 2013 police patrol vehicle
Taurus with the 3.7 Mustang engine with
100,000 miles on it, well that was a fun
vehicle in its time but the thing is if
it was a police vehicle, generally they
drive them like maniacs and they get
the heck burnt out of them, I mean you generally
expect you're gonna put an engine or a
transmission in them in a short period of
time, but if you are thinking about
buying one use, do not touch it until you
get a guy like me a professional
mechanic and gonna check it out with his
computer and road test it and tell you
what kind of shape it's in. you want to
start there if you do want to buy a
vehicle like that, they can be fun to drive
around but of course don't pay much for
it, a used police vehicle the resale
value is not that much, you don't want to
pay much because
you know you're playing with dynamite
you don't know what's left with that
vehicle, why do you think the police get
rid of them every so many years,
Alvaro Tejado says Scotty I got
a 95 volvo 940 when i start it up in the
morning it makes the metallic rattling
sound when I rev it, it goes away for 3-4
minutes, the engine was rebuilt seven
years ago you know what's really typical
with those things, is the catalytic
converters rattle as they age for some
reason they made them crappy inside your
catalytic converter are these honeycomb
pieces that have platinum in them and
that burns hydrocarbons and as they age
especially on those vehicles it cracks
and they will rattle, but then when they
heat up the metal expands and they
stop rattling check that first now, if it
runs okay it doesn't hurt anything and a
new cat for that vehicle cost an awful
lot of money, you might live with it if
it is the cat rattling and it runs okay
when it doesn't run good, the
temperature gauge run hotter and you'll
only be able to go like 55 miles an hour
not any faste,r then you know it's
clogged up and you'd have to replace it
then, US storm says Scotty I have an 07
Honda Civic LX coupe with rear drum
brakes should I upgrade them to disc
brakes, okay here's the thing the rear
brakes on that car are one thing mainly
most of the power is stopped in the
front disc, the rear drums are there
so the car doesn't fishtail when you
stop hard and when you corner and stop for
normal driving those work perfectly fine
and you're not gonna have any problems
with them, it's kind of a waste of money
putting it in a little car like that it
really doesn't need it it's a light car
and disc brakes for all four wheels are
more for racing because they don't fade
when you stop go fast stop go fast stop
go fast, drums will actually stop a car
just as fast one time but in a race they
aren't that's why they were first used
in race cars because they're slamming them on
and hit the gas, slamming them on and
hitting the gas and the drum brakes will
overheat where the discs wouldn't and
that's why they started using them but
on yours are you really wouldn't want to
spend money for that, my Honcho says Scotty
should I put fuel injection on a Dodge
Dart 318 v8 well it's a good question
but depends on what do you want to do
with the thing, if you're planning on
selling it in the future, no because if
it's stock that's a classic 73 Dodge dart
you're gonna lower the value by taking
the factory stuff off,
but if you want it to drive faster
and get better gas mileage, put it on but
save all your old parts, save the
manifold, save the carburetor because
then if you sell it at some point in the
future
you can say to the guy, look I did this
because I like fuel injection you want
to go back to stock here's all the parts
in the box keep them all, don't throw
any of them away, always do that with the
classic car never throw any old parts
away and if you want to modify it to your
heart's content you're gonna keep it for
years go right ahead
just keep the old parts, so if you never
want to miss another one of my new car
repair videos, remember to ring that Bell!

2019 Chevrolet Silverado; Mercedes-Benz Goes Electric | Talking Cars with Consumer Reports #167

Consumer Reports:

The truck wars are heating up.
And we just picked up a brand
new Chevrolet Silverado 1500.
Also, Mercedes Benz
introduced their new EQC SUV,
part of their new plans
for electrification.
And we answer your questions
next on Talking Cars.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hi, everyone and welcome back.
I'm Jon Linkov.
I'm Jennifer Stockburger.
And I'm Ryan Pilakowski.
And some announcements this week
about new electric vehicles,
we've also got the new Chevrolet
Silverado in our test fleet.
We'll talk about
that with the RAM.
And then we have viewer
questions, so lot of stuff.
Let's jump in Jen.
Mercedes Benz introduced
their, or showed,
their new EQC all electric SUV.
Can you tell us about it?
Right, so this is a, you
know, the first in Mercedes EQ
line of electric vehicles.
So that's kind of a big deal.
Electric intelligence is
what it stands for, right?
Right.
And C means that it's
kind of C-class base size.
C-class platform, right?
So it all has meaning, right.
I wondered what the German
word for intelligence
was that made it a Q, but
anyway, different issue.
But anyway, fully electric,
402-horsepower rating,
80-kilowatt battery,
floor mounted,
which means some
of the space stuff
maybe isn't an issue,
two electric motors
for all-wheel drive, right?
So you get all-wheel drive.
But more so it's
kind of the industry
that the big players are
beginning to introduce
electric vehicle lines.
We've talked about Volkswagen,
you know, Mercedes, so yeah.
Tesla had the Model
X. Jaguar has the--
now, let me get this right.
The I-PACE-- the
E-PACE is not electric.
The I-PACE is the
electric, right?
Right.
You know, Ryan, it's kind of
a GLC Mercedes Benz, GLC SUV.
What do you think of that model?
And do you think it would
translate well to electric?
Yeah, I mean, it all sounds
really good actually,
because the GLC we liked quite
a bit here at the test track.
I know I liked it.
If they can make it
actually go 200 miles--
Right, I think that's the key.
That's the key.
It is that size of the GLC.
I think they have something.
The price is probably
not going to be low.
I mean, let's face it.
That's the unfortunate
part I think.
But maybe it'll be reasonable.
I don't know.
But I think they'll have
something if they can do that.
Yeah, I mean, they claim that
you could charge in 40 minutes,
the battery can.
Depending on the
status of the charge,
you know, there's a lot of
caveats with this announcement
right now, almost 80%, from
10% to 80% in 40 minutes.
But does it mean something
big for the industry?
Or where does it fit?
I think it's good news for
the electrification industry,
if you will.
I don't know what
you want to call it.
But Mercedes is a big name.
And they have the infrastructure
and the knowledge,
the know-how to do
this stuff on a bigger
scale I think, than even
Tesla, you know, if it works,
if they can figure that out.
But it's--
We'll, you know, you
raise a good point.
And you know, Jen,
Tesla kind of what?
Proof of concept in a sense.
You know, Mercedes, they're
established, like Ryan said.
Right, right, maybe more--
I mean we joke about German
engineering and the rigidness,
but that's probably a
good thing in this case.
They're going to
make the technology--
And they might --work --have
been using all this time
sitting back a little bit
watching, learning, figuring--
who knows what they
have up their sleeve?
They could do
something impressive.
I find it interesting,
diesel was their way.
When it was hybrid and electric,
the Germans were like, nein.
You know, we are
going with diesel.
Diesel is the way to go and
all of a sudden scandal--
This is a big deal.
That they're accepting the
fact that maybe electrification
is the way.
Well, I think there's
two you talked about.
There's two tipping points.
One Ryan just mentioned,
the 200 miles.
Now, electrics are
a practical vehicle
that you can actually
get somewhere
without having to charge.
And you talked about Tesla.
And I think that's kind of
a hesitation for others.
Tesla did a huge thing, in that
they not just made the car,
they built the infrastructure
and the charging stations.
We have not seen
that from others
introducing electric vehicles.
Volkswagen has the plan as
part of their kind of penalty,
you know, their punishment
for the diesel scandal.
But we haven't seen
it yet, like you said.
But I think those two
need to go hand-in-hand,
that you can get somewhere,
charge, and get back.
I have a question
for both of you.
So OK, is 200 miles
or around 200 miles
acceptable for both of
you or either of you?
And also, would you
buy an electric?
Big toss up.

I think 200 miles is the key,
300 would be even better.
Sure, more is better.
But for me-- and again, we're
here in rural Connecticut.
The infrastructure is not there.
So for me-- and you know,
I think I've mentioned,
we have a place in Vermont.
I'm not going to Vermont
and finding a Tesla
or any other charging station.
They're getting there.
We just passed a coffee shop.
We were in Vermont
over the weekend,
three charging stations in
Newfane, Vermont, new coffee
shop.
Tesla?
I think they were Tesla.
I didn't get close.
But three Tesla
charging stations
in this little rural
town in Vermont.
So it's coming.
What about you, Ryan?
No, not yet.
I mean, if they start
getting up over 200 miles
and there's more to choose
from at a lower price,
I could see maybe
having a second vehicle.
But right now-- and I
forget to charge this thing.
You know, it's just I could
not have just one car.
I'm a dingbat.
I would forget.
And it would just be
not good, trust me.
Oh, shoot, I forgot
to charge again.
I mean, I think--
no, I'd be walking.
I'd be riding my
bike half the time.
I swear, I'd forget.
You have to keep it in the back.
I mean, where I live, if I
worked in the city of Hartford,
because I'm outside of
that, that would work.
If my employer had charging--
I mean, we have them
here, but you know,
it's a different situation.
That would work And
families close enough.
But yeah, a trip to Boston would
be one of those tic-tac-toe,
make connect the dots to charge.
And you know, goodness forbid
there's weather, traffic
jams on I-90, stuff like that.
It kind of leads
to another question
we had from someone
about hybridization
electrification of cars.
And I want to read it, because
it refers to the RAM eTorque
system.
We'll get to that.
Recently, I saw a review
of the 2019 RAM 1500.
Can you explain what
eTorque is and how
it is or is not beneficial?
Is it kind of like a hybrid?
Jen, you want to
jump on that one?
Right, so it is kind of like
a hybrid, a mild hybrid.
We use that word mild hybrid.
So in that they are using
an electric motor to one,
help the stop-start technology.
And I will say, I
found it seamless.
I wasn't sure it had it.
It was so seamless.
Right, it stops at traffic
lights and restarts.
I was like, is it even stopping?
And it was.
And then it's the
other piece of that,
is this 48-volt
power system, which
is, you know, there's so much
running electrically now,
that they're having
this 48-volt platform.
It's going to be necessary
to run all these things.
Online we said,
the 48-volt system
provides a short bump in power
delivery, regenerative braking.
Chrysler estimates this
mild hybrid system.
So that's what they're calling
it, 10% boost in fuel economy.
So we have it in testing.
Yeah, it's a unique system.
I mean, it's a giant
alternator-battery system.
And it acts a an alternator
when you're cruising along,
but it gives you a little boost.
On the v8 model, it gives
you 130-foot pounds of torque
in taking off.
And that's a big deal.
That's where you use a
lot of fuel, just getting
the vehicle moving
a lot of times.
And any little bit
helps, so it's unique.
Well, you know, we're putting
the RAM through testing.
And we'll have fuel
economy numbers coming up.
But it perfectly leads
into a huge competitor
in the giant pickup truck
market, the new Chevrolet
Silverado.
And it's 48,380, the RAM
that we're testing is 50,820.
We all drove it.
We've all been putting
some miles on it.
Both of you tow, so
Jen, let's go first
how it performs
as a tow vehicle.
Right, so I think the
power train's very good.
And I think it'll be great.
It is a bit more truckie riding.
So in towing or when it
has stuff in the bed,
I think it will ride better
when you can settle down
that rear end a little bit.
And personally, it's a little
more bare bones interior,
but I think--
again, you're talking to someone
who uses a truck for a truck.
We have hay and grains and
shavings every single week
in the back of our truck.
And I think sometimes
when you've covered--
excuse me-- covered
in horse hair,
you don't necessarily want
that plush of an interior.
Whatever you're doing.
You know what I mean?
I want it to be cleanable.
So I actually kind of
like the more sparse--
is that the right word?
Spartan.
Interior.
Again--
Utilitarian, yeah.
--it's a $50,000 truck.
But I kind of liked
that it was more
on kind of the functional side.
Ryan, boat towing or--
Yeah, no, that's why
I agree with Jen.
It's firm.
It rides like a truck.
But it was designed to
carry loads and whatnot.
I actually had weight
in both of these trucks.
OK, the RAM and the--
None of this is scientific
or-- this is objective data.
This is subjective.
Like the RAM, I had probably 400
pounds in the back of the RAM.
And it sat down a little bit.
I was surprised.
But it also rides really
nice without weight in it.
Well, it has coiled springs
under there versus a LEAF,
so it has a better
ride overall, unladen.
Exactly.
I had probably a
little less weight
than that in the Silverado
and it settled the truck down.
I mean, I think it even
shifted a little better.
So the RAM was more like
this in the settling.
And the Silverado--
Silverado didn't squat,
but it rode nicer,
because it had some
weight in the bed.
But it's designed that way.
I think it's going to be maybe
a little more of a rugged work
truck than the RAM,
but depending on what
you're looking for, you know?
And that's a key
question, because what
are people looking for,
because you know, in my town,
a lot of--
In Jon's town.
A lot of people buy
really loaded trucks.
And you never see them towing.
You never seen them
carrying a load.
The biggest load
they carry is, you
know, the family coming
back from maybe Costco
or some kind of big-box store.
You know, and they're
$60,000, $70,000--
The loaded paper towel.
--trucks.
You look great.
And the ride can't be--
yeah, right, you look great.
But the ride can't
be that enjoyable.
They're almost like--
well, you said--
Well, it's depending
on the truck.
So in the RAM, it probably
is very enjoyable.
You go back-- do you
remember back in--
we used to do, in our
ride-comfort, a full-load ride.
We actually loaded up
the bed and then judge
the ride based on a full bed.
What we found is
people, to your point,
people aren't using
them like that.
So we don't even do
that test anymore.
They're like a SUV
without a cover.
Yeah, so I would encourage
people, you know,
if you're between--
I don't know what the right way
to get a full load in, maybe
bring some sandbags or something
along and do maybe a test
drive both ways.
If you're going
to use it loaded,
don't judge it completely
on its unladen ride.
You touched on something
about the price.
And I looked at them both.
I mean, the RAM feels nicer.
It has more features really,
than not for much more money.
I mean, we're looking at maybe
$2,200 in our test vehicles.
It has XM.
It has a larger screen
with Uconnect, which is--
the GM one's good,
Uconnect's better.
It is better.
It has power-folding mirrors
and a power-sliding rear window.
Now, the GM truck has
a huge rear window,
makes it easy to see out,
but that venting is nice.
Parking sensors front and rear,
which helps with the truck,
because the front end.
You cannot see over it, right.
The key thing, I mean,
again, let's just make
a round number, 50 grand.
Neither of them has
advanced safety gear.
The RAM has a little bit of a
parking assist for the back.
It'll stop if it thinks
it's going to hit something,
but no automatic emergency
braking, no forward collision
warning, not even blind spot.
And again, you got some
big blind spots in trucks.
That's a disappointment to me.
Something that I
thought was interesting,
is the Silverado-- at least the
1500 always been a lower truck.
This truck's tall.
It's going, I think, after--
you know, Ford always has
these big, brawny grills
and they're tall.
The RAM actually seems lower.
And the Silverado went up.
I needed the handle.
And the hood I notice it's
big and it's a little bit
to look around.
The steering is still better.
I think that it has the best
steering out of the three
trucks, the F-150 included.
I don't care for the
steering in that or the RAM.
But it's a big truck either way.
I was just going
to say, I'm also
looking for stuff that
makes shorter stature.
You know, women buying
trucks, which again,
and we've talked about.
There's a lot of horse women.
In the Silverado, that
step in the bumper that
let you get in the bed,
the assisted gates,
you know, the Silverado
had a power-lift gate.
Most of them are easier
now, grab-handles
to get in, all of them have
that, adjustable pedals.
Silverado did not have
the adjustable pedals.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
RAM does, F-150 does.
So things like that make
it easier for someone
who is a little shorter.
It's an important truck
for GM, in the sense of A,
they compete with Ford for the
best-selling vehicle in America
each year.
Not truck, vehicle.
Vehicle.
Right, right, not just truck.
Small volume.
And secondly, it is
going to be the basis,
the platform basis
for their SUV's,
so the Chevrolet Suburban, the
Chevrolet Tahoe, the GMC Yukon,
the GMC Yukon XL, the big ones.
And last generation, they
didn't launch Silverado well,
according to the Consumer
Reports' annual auto survey
reliability data
from our members.
And those trucks
also had problems.
Hurt the others,
hurt the others.
They also had reliability.
So we'll see getting
them through testing
in the next couple of weeks.
We're going to move to questions
right now, because we've
got a lot of great ones.
We had that one about eTorque.
But we've got a--
We through the
eTorque in up there.
Right.
So the first one, e
have a video question
about all-weather tires.
Take it away.
Hey, Talking Cars.
So I've been thinking
of getting some snow
tires for my new Ridgeline.
But I really don't want to
changing tires over every six
months.
I saw your reviews on
some all-weather tires
from Toyo Celsius CUV,
Goodyear WeatherReadys,
and some Nokian WRG3's,
RG4's or new, I guess.
I'm in the same
state as you guys.
And I don't need to go to
work when it's extremely bad.
But I do need to be able to
drive when it is snowing.
Are these new all-weather
tires decent enough, especially
in something like a Ridgeline?
It's pretty heavy.
I'm leaning towards
the WeatherReadys.
But I also kind of like
the Toyo Celsius CUV.
Thank you, have a great day.
OK, a really good
question and something
we hear from people a
lot about type of tire
for the transitional weather.
Ryan our black-donut expert,
what should this gentleman do?
So it's a great
question, because this
is the exact situation why
these tires were designed for
or what they were designed for.
People that do encounter
snow, but don't
want to be hassled with
the tire change over.
Actually, we just
got done testing
our last all-season
program of car tires.
And there's actually
five all-weather models
that we tested in the
performance all-season group.
And there's a good spread.
I mean, we have a
couple at the top,
middle, and then
closer to the bottom.
And I think they're
a great compromise.
They are still a compromise.
Tires are always a compromise.
In what way are
they a compromise?
Well, you know, you can't have
a tire that is amazing in snow
and is amazing on wet roads.
It's just-- there is one.
He skewed more towards
snow, but yeah,
give up maybe something else.
So yeah, I mean, I definitely
recommend an all-weather tire.
Take a look at our
ratings, we just
came out with all new ratings.
And there's five
different models in there.
If that doesn't work,
if you can't maybe
find something that
fits you, you know,
there, the next
best thing is really
a set of snow tires
on wheels ready to go.
And you can go to
a local tire place.
And they'll mount them
for you, maybe even
store your other tires, so you
don't have to deal with that.
I know sometimes
storage is an issue.
Can you give us a rundown
just in the brands
that are making them?
And also are there any
worries that you may have,
because I think they're
kind of limited.
It's interesting.
You can look at these
tires and they all
look radically different.
I mean, the Michelin looks
almost like a summer tire,
but they do it all
with compounding.
The grip comes from compounding.
The Nokian looks
like a snow tire.
It's really unique.
But it's usable on dry roads.
Exactly, if you
look at our ratings,
you'll see the benefits of each.
So right, consumerreports.org,
we've got our ratings.
And we might have some
free content up there too.
But members can go to
consumerreports.org.
Also, send us your
video questions.
We really like those, text it
to TalkingCars@icloud.com, send
them in via our YouTube site.
Wherever we can get
questions from you,
we want to answer them.
So moving on, we have a
question from a young viewer
who's buying his first car.
Hi, I'm 15.
I love cars.
And I'm coming up on
buying my first one.
I live in a place
that snows a lot.
And my parents want
me to buy a car
with either 4x4 or
all-wheel drive.
I have no idea
what to look into.
And I have a budget
of about $10,000.
What should I get?
So first I'm going to
steal Jen's game, because--
Stealing my game.
--everyone has to come
up with a suggestion.
But I'm going to
go to Jen first,
because Jen maintains a list,
top used cars for teens,
fits right in here.
Jen, go.
At the risk of being repetitive,
just to say, you know,
we try to balance not too big,
not too small, not too fast,
not too slow, obviously
reliable, obviously full
of safety features.
The Goldilocks of cars, right?
Yeah, right kind of the
Goldilocks and that's
how we narrow that
teen driver list.
So my pick was--
I mean, my gut at first was
to go to all the Subarus,
you know, reliable.
I think, you know, I said I'd
lease one for my own daughter.
But if you look there, resale
prices are a little higher.
So where I ended up
for him is a RAV4.
Toyota RAV4.
Yeah, 2009 or later, excellent
reliability, ESC was standard.
I would really like
you to get something
with Electronics
Stability Control,
regardless of what you
buy, please look for that.
Four-cylinder, so
it's not too quick.
But fuel efficient.
Fuel efficient, reliability
was excellent, room,
your all-wheel drive, that's
what I settled on, RAV4.
Ryan, what did you
bring to the table?
So I went down the
Subaru road, just
because all-wheel drive and
they do make great cars, a 2010
or later Legacy.
The Impreza is too small.
I think the Legacy
is a little bigger.
It's a nicer car, I think,
a little more solid.
And like Jen said,
definitely try
to get stability control, 100%.
I was looking-- there's
some Hyundai Santa Fe's
mentioned, Santa Fe Sport.
I saw the Forester.
I went with the Impreza.
Both of you knocked it--
We didn't knock
it, I just didn't.
Truly, I just didn't.
So I'm not knocking it.
I just was weighing out the--
But you both gave reasons
not choose it here.
Non-turbo, key, no
WRX, no WRX, OK?
That's--
And you look at the price range.
You could see these 22,000.
That's the WRX.
And summer tires or super-ultra
high performance all-season
is not going to
give you snow grip.
You know, you can
look 2010 to 12's.
You know, that's
the lower end of if.
You might get some high mileage.
Also, pretty good reliability
and owner satisfaction data
from our annual auto
survey of CR members.
So I think all great option.
You want to know the other
one I through in there?
Toyota Matrix.
There's just not a
lot of them around.
There isn't.
But that was a great car.
I forgot about the Matrix.
You got to put snows.
He wants an all-wheel
drive or 4x4.
Well, you can get
all-wheel drive.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, you could get
an all-wheel drive.
But I thought that was--
Rare car.
Yeah, rare car.
You maybe not be
able to find one.
Proper tires, though.
That's on our list, so.
Right, in any case.
OK, so we have one more.
We have an electric
vehicle hybrid question
from a viewer in the
Dominican Republic.
Hello, from the
Dominican Republic.
Yay, I love our
international audience.
I think it's the first one.
First one from a island
versus --and are Canada.
--youthful.
A whole lot of questions
from the youngsters.
That's good.
Well, they're texting.
They're doing the text.
That's good.
That's good.
So let's start.
Hello, from the
Dominican Republic.
I spend over an hour
in traffic every day,
burning fuel and traveling
five to eight miles at most.
Sounds like he lives in
San Francisco instead.
[LAUGHTER]

On weekends, I take the
family to the mountains,
which is a 200-mile round trip.
I know hybrids and EV's
are different animals,
but which one would perform
better in stop-and-go traffic
driving environment?
What do you think?
We've already talked about that.
Right, so I think in his case
a hybrid is the perfect one.
EV's would work for his commute,
but may not work for the travel
into the mountains.
Exactly what we said
five minutes ago.
That he's not going to find
a charger in the mountains.
So to me perfect
person for a hybrid.
And stop and go is actually
where hybrids excel.
You know, you think
of long commuter miles
on the highway, that's actually
not where they get their most
benefit.
It's in that stop and go,
in the city, perfect car.
So I would say,
absolutely go with hybrid.
Then you have the option and
when you're on your weekend
to the mountains, that
you have the backup.
You don't need to
worry about charging.
I thought a Prius,
Toyota Prius or Prius V.
The V is a little bigger.
You go to the mountains, you
can carry some extra stuff.
You know, one thing that
I was thinking about,
the charging infrastructure.
You know, I mean, what do
we see here in the States?
Right, well, we
were just talking
about how in Connecticut,
we don't have that many.
I mean, there are chargers, but
maybe in this area there isn't.
And you know, that deters me
from wanting an electric car.
I don't know what
it is down there.
I can't imagine it's
better than here, you know,
in terms of frequency
of chargers.
So you know, that's
one of the things.
I looked online.
It seems like there's
only one or two chargers.
Maybe that's only one or two
public chargers in the --it's
Dominican --not
Republic --to say
--he can't have one at
home, but yeah, right.
Right, but still and
then we go to the mileage
of an EV or the range, you're
going to maybe get 200 at best.
And that's a Bolt
or a Tesla Model 3.
If you buy a LEAF,
that's way low, right?
Batteries don't like heat.
You're going to be
using the AC a lot.
You know, that range
is going to be lower.
Any suggestions for Him?
Yeah, the only thing I added--
and you're right, Prius,
Prius V would be
great with something
maybe slightly larger, if
they're camping or going
on a round trip.
I said Highlander
hybrid or a RAV4 hybrid,
so keeping in that
Toyota vain, but yeah.
What about people who
maybe aren't living there,
but want an EV?
There is some news
about them actually.
Right, so we just
published an article.
It's an industry thing.
But right now, if
somebody is looking
to get into the
electric vehicle market,
there is a glut-- we
actually us that word.
Of used EV's in
the used car market
to be had for super reasonable.
We're talking about 1/3
of what they're MSRP was.
$10,000, you can get into a
LEAF or something like that.
Albeit, not 200 miles
range, but if you
wanted to pick up a second
vehicle as a commuter vehicle,
now is the time.
We even said, what a great
way to get new safety features
in a $10,000 car.
We talked about
this young driver.
It's hard to get ESC
yet for under $10,000.
You really got to look.
But a brand new car,
$10,000, great teen vehicle,
great way to try it, great
way to get a second car.
Yeah, if you live in
that kind of situation
I was talking
about, you know, you
have a commute 20 or 20
miles or you can charge,
that really works.
Yeah, if you have the parking
and a charger at home,
would be awesome time.
Yep, well, you know that article
and more about EV's and hybrids
is free on consumerreports.org.
And members can get our
ratings on EV's and hybrids.
That's going to do
if for this episode,
so remember to check the
show notes, also, send us
those video and text questions
to TalkingCars@icloud.com.
We really want them, potentially
for another all-question
episode down the road.
Thanks for watching and
we'll see you next time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

GM Truck Shootout -- 2019 GMC Sierra Denali vs. 2019 Chevy Silverado High Country: Comparison

Car Confections:

While everyone knows that the f-150 is the best-selling pickup in the U.S.
What a lot of people don't realize is that when you combine the sales of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra
General Motors sells nearly as many trucks as the blue oval but say you're one of the approximately
800,000 people that know for sure you want a new GM truck
You still have to choose between two foundationally similar, but distinctly different products
for this comparison
We hope to answer that question by directly comparing a top-of-the-line Silverado high country to the equivalent Sierra Denali
So let's go ahead and get to it
Like always the first thing on the agenda is establishing the pricing and option levels of the two models
Starting off with the brand-new Silverado. Like I said, this is the highest trim the high country
It starts off at a little over fifty six thousand dollars
But from there, we have the high country deluxe package optional 6.2 liter v8
Technology package power assist stops and a couple other things
after adding in the destination charge of fifteen hundred dollars
You have the most expensive Silverado 1500 they've ever made at sixty six thousand four hundred twenty-five dollars
as
You would expect the Sierra Denali has a richer starting price of fifty eight thousand dollars due to its classier brand image
But after options are added in the two are quite similar
Like the Silverado we have every possible option including the weighty
$4,800 Denali ultimate package
Plus the 6.2 liter v8 and destination charge bringing the total to sixty-seven thousand three hundred forty dollars
That places the price difference at under a thousand bucks
Which definitely means pricing is not going to be the deciding factor when choosing between these two
Anyways now let's go ahead and get into the comparison
Normally this is where we get into a real detailed analysis of the engine transmission and fuel economy differences
But in this case, they are exactly the same
Like I mentioned they both have the optional 6.2 liter v8 making 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque
that top engine is paired with the top transmission a 10 speed automatic jointly developed with Ford and
They both have standard four-wheel drive as far as the fuel economy
They both come in at 17 combined though. For some reason the Silverado does have a 1 mpg advantage in the city
Now let's talk about the driving as you would expect they are pretty much the same besides for one important difference
The Sierra Denali comes standard with adaptive ride control while the Silverado does not offer this system at all
Therefore even though the Silverado does ride quite nicely you're going to get that extra level of
Refinement from the GMC since it can make adjustments for motion control and right isolation
Well, that's it for the powertrain so now let's check out the exterior designs and specs
Now heading on to the outside, I do realize that looks are subjective so I'm not going to do points for this part
of course on the Chevy you've got the signature split grille design with high country branding and bronze accents and
The GMC gives you the signature bold chrome mesh grille
Both feature high intensity LED headlights and LED fog lights, but with very different designs
At first glance you'd think that the sides are exactly the same but upon further
Evaluation there are some important differences
The GMC has more chrome trim around the windows and more importantly the wheel wells are plastic trim squares
compared to the Silverados newfound circular wheel arches
in
The back they are pretty much the same besides for differences in the execution of the tail light and tailgate designs
Now you're probably noticing what looks to be a tailgate inside of a tailgate for the GMC
Which looks a little strange from the outside but adds a lot of functionality
This is known as the multi Pro tailgate and it can be put into six different modes
Including a bench one for tailgating and access step a bed extender or even as a little desk
The Chevy's tailgate doesn't have those functionalities
But instead it has the ability to both power open and close something to Sierra can't do
Otherwise both beds are made from high-strength steel with plenty of tie downs have LED lighting and very easy accessibility
Thanks to both bumper steps and running boards that slide backwards for side access
But beyond that stuff we're mostly looking at very similar features with subtle variations
for example
Both trucks have really nice-looking
22 inch alloy wheels as well as mirrors with heating power folding LED lighting and auto dimming
- the Denalis chrome mirror caps
For safety systems both trucks have the same equipment when fully loaded
Including blind spot monitoring forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection
Lane departure alert and auto high beam headlights
Strangely though. Neither have adaptive cruise control at this time
And lastly to wrap up the exterior
Both have 24 gallon fuel tanks and towing capacities of 93 hundred pounds when you opt for these fully equipped models
Well that pretty much sums up the practical exterior features, but now let's get inside and see which truck offers more luxury for the owner
Before getting in both trucks have the same key with remote start
Now once we open the doors it's very obvious that they are related to each other
There are far less changes to the cabin than on the outside. And unless you get the high country's brown interior option
They are almost indistinguishable visually
However, there are some differences abound like the leather on the heated and ventilated eight-way power seats
The high country gets the same leather as the lower trips
While the Denali comes with an exclusive wide grain leather that looks and feels a bit better
Now as far as the rest of the materials they are 90% similar but the Sierra does the details better
The Silverado uses a special bronze colored plastic trim for the high country and a faux wood trim
While the Sierra uses an authentic aluminum around the screen and real open pore ash wood
this again just gives it a little bit of a higher-end feel as
Far as the displays that the main one is eight inches and there is a second 7 inch display in the gauge clusters
Obviously there is some variation and the design but the functionality is all the same and that also applies to the head-up displays as well
Coming back to the steering wheels, they're actually pretty different from each other
The gmc's is box here with more of that real aluminum and a nicer leather
in that general area both have column shifters that pull up a
360-degree camera when you put them in Reverse
these are some of the best camera systems in the industry since they have so many different views and such high resolution, but
Here on out there is nothing to distinguish these two trucks
They both have the same center console entirely including all the storage climate buttons and plugs
They both also have the Bose 7 speaker premium audio system. Let's go ahead
This is overall an excellent sounding system moving up to your screens the systems have different names but are exactly the same
They have the latest graphics, very ergonomic layouts navigation and Android auto and apple carplay
The last things to look at up front are the rear camera mirrors and moonroof
It is worth noting that a panoramic roof is not offered on either truck
Finally to end this comparison the back seats are completely identical
With heated seats charging USB ports and secret storage areas
so with that we wrap up this in-depth comparison as
You can see these two trucks are still extremely similar this
Generation and it really just comes down to personal preference about what type of image you want to convey
The GMC carries the more luxurious aura and the Chevy has the more hard-working image, even though they have the same capabilities
Anyways, we hope this quick comparison between two of the nicest trucks on the industry will make your decision easier
Thanks for watching like the video if you enjoyed and subscribe if you want to see more face off comparisons
and of course our signature Full Review videos
Take care!

Pawlik Automotive - How reliable are GM brand cars?

pawlikautorepair:

Mark: Hi, it’s Mark from Top Local; we’re
here with Bernie Pawlik of Pawlik Automotive
in Vancouver, Vancouver’s best auto service
experience and we’re going to talk about
GM brand cars; their reliability.
How’re you doing Bernie?
Bernie: I’m doing very well.
Mark: So GM has a lot of brands of cars and
trucks and some of them are similar, they’ve
cut some of that extra stuff out there but
is there any one that’s better than the
other?
Bernie: Well I would say not, I mean GM vehicles,
so we’re going to talk just about cars in
this, in this particular hangout.
But I mean yeah there’s a lot of similarities
among GM brands of vehicles, they share engines
between say Chevrolet and while it used to
be Pontiac and Buick and Chevrolet would often
share the same engine and Oldsmobile as well
and Oldsmobile and Cadillac would share some,
some different engines.
Cadillac is a little bit, Cadillac is unique,
they have a lot of engines that you don’t
see in Chevys but sometimes over the years
they’ve blended things together.
Is one brand better than the other?
Not, not really, they’re all built the same
way, same factory, they kind of all compete
against each other and in the marketplace
but yes as you mentioned GM’s really cut
things down, there used to be you know, there’s
now Chevrolet still there but and Buick is
still there but Pontiac’s gone which they’re
kind of more sporty line of cars and Oldsmobile
which is a sort of lower end luxury car, those,
those have been gone for a while and then
Saturn is I don’t know what, that was a
kind of an interesting experiment for GM.
Saturn was actually, their cars were unique
to start off with but as time went by they
started sharing things among, with different
cars on the platform but, you know Saturn
had a, speaking of Saturn it had a very bad
reputation for a long time but my personal
experience of them is that they actually weren’t
bad cars but they had a few quirks and issues
but you know there’s still some Saturn’s
that are you know, 15 years, 20 years old
that are running around that are still good
cars.
Mark: So for GM how reliable, would you rate
them overall?
Bernie: I’d say, I consider them fair, I
mean they are, they’re better than they
used to be these days like over the last ten
or more years they’re a lot better and I
think about some of their, some of their lower
end cars like the Chevy Cavalier, it used
to be a piece of junk, I mean they don’t
make the Cavalier any more but you know, as
that line evolved they started getting better
and some of the reliability problems like
blown head gaskets just didn’t happen anymore.
What you’re finished with is a cheap car
that has, use the word finish, has a crappy
finish but the reliability of the car was
pretty good.
I think overall that they’re pretty good,
there again I always compare it with the Japanese,
the Toyota and Honda, they’re not as reliable
but they’re often much lower price point
so you have to spend a few dollar on repair,
you’re probably still further ahead buying
a Japanese car; but yeah, I’d say nothing
specifically jumps out at me about a list
of everything about GM engines is bad, they’re
generally overall pretty good product.
Mark: So any specific common problems?
Bernie: You know nothing that really leaps
out at me, there’s such a variety of different,
they have such a large line of cars, such
a variety that there’s really, there’s
a lot of little things here and there but
nothing really that’s, that’s you know,
you’ve got to avoid this car because, you
know these engines all blow up or this happens,
there are specific, there are specific problems
but they’re just so, there’s such a broad
range it’s hard to speak on anything in
particular.
Mark: So you know there’s, we talked a little
bit about Cadillac being different, they make
a few different unique vehicles; the Corvette
and the Chevy Volt for instance, how are those
vehicles?
Bernie: Good, they’re pretty good, I mean
I’ve never worked on a Volt, I mean it’s
not a, there’s very few Volts around, they’re
rare to see, it’s kind of neat concept of
a car because you’ve got that plug-in electric
car which is great for most people’s use,
you almost never run the engine but, you know
if you decide to go to Calgary, you know tomorrow
you can just hop in the car and you don’t
have to worry about where we’re going to
find a charging station so I really think
it really gives you the best of both worlds.
Just did a little reading, I mean the reliability
reports on them are not fantastic but I think
overall they’re pretty good.
I know people who own them speak really highly
of them.
So there’s the Volt, a really unique car
and really most people are going to get it
fixed at the dealer for the time being and
who knows again how long those cars are going
to be around, when they’re 10 or 15 years
old people may not want them anymore because
you know, there’s going to be better electric
technology and people will just opt to buy
that, why would you even want to be saddled
with an old electric complex technology.
Corvettes, I mean great car, unique sports
car, typically always reliable, good cars,
fun.
A Cadillac you know Cadillac’s is a unique
line again, there good cars, the only I’d
say about Cadillac’s is over time once they
start getting older they’ve historically
had some unique engines that are extremely
difficult and expensive to fix so you know
with the Cadillac you probably don’t want
to, want to own an old one but the newer ones
are a lot of fun.
I say old like 15 – 20 years old kind of
thing you know, 10 years is probably okay.
Mark: Right, well there you go, there’s
the quick synopsis of the GM brands, their
reliability based on, how many years you’ve
been working on cars now Bernie?
Bernie: Rolling my head, just look up into
my head to think about that, about 35 years,
yeah over 35 years actually.
Mark: So that’s from the view from the west
coast of Vancouver, 35 years of experience
of fixing cars here in Vancouver and the reliability
of GM.
Thanks Bernie.
Bernie: You’re welcome.

The Truth About GM’s Huge Layoffs and Why You Should Be Mad About It

Scotty Kilmer:

Rev up your engines,
today I'm going to tell you the truth about
GM's plan to layoff a bunch of workers and
to shut down a bunch of US factories,
well if you remember a few years back they
got the big bailout because the said they
were going bankrupt so the government gave
them a bunch of money, and oh to save American
jobs and now their just leaving anyways, so
what's the truth behind what's really happening,
now I've read and watched a bunch of these
reporters these experts saying, oh market
forces you have to follow the market forces
blah blah blah,
but here's the truth and to understand it
you need to a little about history,
now I learned to drive on a Chevy biscayne
it's kind of like an Impala, it's a big American
car, back in the 1960's when they made solid
cars that everyone in the world knew, hey
they were good cars and they lasted a long
time,
back then everyone said, oh the Japanese cars
are piles of junk what are they making,
well guess what, they kept making better and
better cars as time went on from Japan,
while the quality of the American cars starting
going down and down,
to give you an example, the Impala used to
be a great car, in the 60's everybody wanted
an Impala they were very popular cars their
pretty well built, they could last a really
long time, but not so recently the Impala
was one of the models that their going to
stop making,
basically the didn't build them all that well,
I had customers with them and every single
person that owned one when they finally got
rid of it said, I'll never buy another one
of those pieces of junk I had more problems
with the transmissions and the engines and
the old ones didn't used to have very many
problems,
so these experts that talk about market forces
is forcing them to shut down these factories
and layoff people, that's basically a lot
of bs,
they were just making the cars poorly and
they were making models that people didn't
want like the Chevy Cruze, which not only
was it a model that people didn't really want,
it was really poorly made, I had a customer
with one, he's been through 3 automatic transmissions
that went out completely in the first 75,000
miles of driving that car, that's just crazy,
and look at another one of their failures
that their not gonna making anymore,
the Chevy Volt, hey they tried to compete
with the Toyota Prius and they failed massively,
the cars were garbage compared to what Toyota
was putting out, so they can talk about market
forces all they want, a lot of the problem
is they were making vehicles that were either
poorly made or people didn't want to buy them
because they didn't like the way they looked
or the way the handled,
and unlike the Japanese like say a Toyota
Corolla, they started out with a basic car
and they keep improving it over decades, GM
was like, oh that model didn't work we'll
get rid of that one and try something else,
it's much better to build something and perfect
it over time than to just say, oh that didn't
work lets try something else and see if that
works,
some of their ideas are, oh we'll go to just
a bigger vehicle, SUVs and trucks that make
a lot of money, well talk about short sighted
again, now just because gas is cheap they
think, oh we'll sell these giant vehicles
for a bunch of money, well guess what people,
gasoline is a limited things, the price is
only going to go up and it will probably happen
relatively soon, and then all those big cars
people are going to not be driving those anymore
and then they'll be in a even bigger mess
than they already are,
and as far as I'm concerned, GM's idea of
shutting down these factories down in the
US and laying off all these Americans, hey
that has to do more with them making a profit
in China not the US,
realize that from the last data I could find,
the Chinese produced 24.5 million cars and
at that same time period the US produced 4.1
million cars, a big difference,
and as for GM itself, GM sells 70% more cars
in China than they do in the US, and these
cars are all made in China,
so if things continue like this, I wouldn't
be surprised that if someone in the US wants
to buy a GM car in the near future, it's going
to be made in China not in the US,
even though we taxpayers bailout GM the last
time, their big thank you is, bye we'll see
you in China,
they didn't seem to say, oh the market is
forcing them to do that when they took all
that taxpayer money, you know their giving
these promises about US jobs and stuff but
as soon as they see a way to make their cars
in China, sell them in China and probably
import those Chinese ones over to the US,
hey those guys are basically laughing at the
average American,
and it's bad enough they were making cars
that had faulty ignition switches and then
they cheated and changed the parts numbers
so they think, oh people aren't going to figure
out that we made these bad ignition switches
that some people were killed in wrecks because
the cars stopped running,
you know their not interested in telling the
truth about the problems that they have, but
taking taxpayers dollars and then shutting
the factories down years later anyways and
moving all the stuff to China, hey all I got
to say is, you can vote with your dollars,
don't buy their products, nobody is going
to force you to buy one of their products,
at least not yet, hey take Toyota for example,
they make a bunch of them in the US and they
have for decades, you might end up driving
a Japanese car around that's made in the US,
where if you buy a GM it's going to be a Chinese
made car, the world is upside down on that
one,
so it's really a double edged sword when you
think about why GM is laying off all these
workers and closing all these factories down,
they've often made poorly designed and built
cars that didn't last so their base that used
to be, oh when I was a kid people would say,
oh I buy a new GM car every 3-4 years, well
that base is gone and then they want to make
them cheaper so their going to move all their
production to China where they can make them
cheaper,
now the Chinese factories are all modernized
so they have less labor that they have to
deal with, but from what I read about them,
they have really good quality, for example,
buicks are like the real popular car for the
upper level management guys to ride around
in a Buick in China,
kind of like it used to be in the 1950's in
the US, a little time warp there,
so basically, the real problem is greed, they
want to make their cars cheaper so they can
make more profit and eventually they want
to make the most profit by building their
cars somewhere else where they can make them
cheaper and in the modern factories more efficiently
than in the old factories in the US, my hometown
Niagara Falls had the same fate itself, when
I was young, there were factories everywhere
building all kinds of stuff but they were
old factories, first they moved the factories
over the Mexico, then they even moved them
further to the East because it was even cheaper
there than it was in Mexico,
so if you think about it as a career, hey
you probably wouldn't want to get involved
in either building cars in the US or working
for the company that builds them because you'll
find that your job will probably vanish in
the near future, so if you never want to miss
another one of my new car repair videos, remember
to ring that bell!