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Author Topic: GM lineup help - Barrie and others  (Read 9157 times)

davidm

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GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« on: January 06, 2008, 01:32:33 pm »
Like many others here, I'm "the car guy" at work.  One of the admins has asked me about GM vehicles, and I have to admit on know very little about their lineup beyond the basics (Vette, Cobalt ...).

Because of a work relationship they want to lease a new GM product.  This is a young couple (mid-twenties) who are getting married this summer and thinking about kids in the near future.  Right now they have a very large 2007 GM pickup for his work (stone mason) and a beater Honda civic as her commuter vehicle and the family around town car.  They want to replace the civic with something that can be a family car with a couple of babies, her commuter car during the week (20 minute urban commute), and also their car to go to the family cottage in the BC interior (think real snow in winter, 5 hour hwy drive, short gravel road).

They were thinking Trailblazer which struck me as huge for the commuter part, and they already have a big pickup for his work and hunting.  What's the right vehicle in the GM lineup for them?

I'm thinking crossover, cute-ute, big wagon ...
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Offline wing

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2008, 01:35:44 pm »
Saturn Vue?
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davidm

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2008, 01:37:24 pm »
Does GM have a competitor to that Taurus X you tested?
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Offline wing

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2008, 01:50:41 pm »
Don't think so.....
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Offline sirAQUAMAN64

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2008, 01:56:28 pm »
On the smallish side, the new Vibe coming in February.

Saturn VUE is worth a look, but I find it kind of small with marginally more room than a Vibe. A Torrent/Equinox has far more room, especially the rear seat where you can have 3 baby seats fitted side-by-side and with the new 3.6L available finally has some go.

I'd skip the TrailBlazer. More truck-like, getting old, and somewhat inefficient. If they need large the Outlook/Acadia are far better family-do-it-all-mobiles.

There's always the cheapie minivans too.

If they don't mind spending some coin, Cadillac SRX.
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Offline Cord

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2008, 01:58:10 pm »
http://www.gmcanada.com/gm/

That should get you started. :)
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Offline The Mighty Duck

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2008, 02:10:54 pm »
Malibu?
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Offline RunsinLight

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2008, 02:27:10 pm »
In general Buick usually has a better resell value then Chev or Pontiac. If they care about that. Might not be a 20 something car though.
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Offline inco

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2008, 04:48:24 pm »
Quote from: Demosthenes X on January 06, 2008, 02:10:54 pm
Malibu?
Or the Saturn Aura - both are very state of the art cars if these folks want something carish without 'crossing over'. Even the Impala could be a consideration.
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Offline Frontier1

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2008, 04:52:29 pm »
Malibu, Aura, Vue would be my picks.

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LBJGH

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2008, 04:58:06 pm »
Since it's only a short gravel road the family can use any vehicle... now if they had to forde streams and crawl over rocks a CUV might be appropriate. 

I drove a Saturn SL1 when my kids were small and didn't have any problems with strollers and the like.

The Hybrid Aura would be my suggestion... with proper winter tires it would be safer and more economical than a CUV.
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carlos_da_fig

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2008, 06:00:21 pm »
Vibe would be a good choice - its big inside and is great on gas.
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Offline Ex-airbalancer

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2008, 06:04:17 pm »
Borrow a rear facing car seat, and take it with to a deal and see which car it will fit in, make your choice from there
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jbbadboy

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2008, 06:28:24 pm »
I'd suggest the Chevrolet HHR or the Pontiac Vibe. They both have very versatile interiors with lots of room and are fuel efficient. I've got an HHR myself and it is great!
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Offline PJungnitsch

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2008, 06:40:37 pm »
Quote from: davidm on January 06, 2008, 01:32:33 pm
Right now they have a very large 2007 GM pickup for his work (stone mason) and a beater Honda civic as her commuter vehicle and the family around town car.  They want to replace the civic with something that can be a family car with a couple of babies, her commuter car during the week (20 minute urban commute), and also their car to go to the family cottage in the BC interior (think real snow in winter, 5 hour hwy drive, short gravel road)

That was pretty much the exact same setup my younger sister's family had, with a HD GM 4X4 pickup for work and an old Rabbit for commuting.

They replaced the Rabbit with a Toyota Matrix (which is a Pontiac Vibe twin) back in 2003 when they got kids. Very pleased with it over the years. Great mileage for commuting and the hatch makes it a very reliable/practical machine for a family. When they went on holidays to BC they used a container on the luggage rack to up the storage.

Worked great until they they had their third kid, then it was mini van time, but they kept the Matrix for commuting.
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barrie1

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #15 on: January 06, 2008, 07:38:05 pm »
I have to agree with almost all the models the other posters have suggested as any one of them will do them quite well for many years with reg maintenance. The Malibou and Buick have been named car of the year in their respective groupings and are nice wheels but the Buick is very pricey in its category that it won in. Unless they really enjoy the larger truck sized vehicles I would suggest the Impala which is a beautiful car and much more reasonably priced as well.  Even the CTS Caddie would serve them well and is fairly reasonably priced for what you get. Personal taste will play a large part of their purchase and the type of usage need will probably next on the list.  :)
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Offline The Mighty Duck

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #16 on: January 06, 2008, 10:26:17 pm »
I was going to suggest the CTS, but it's not exactly cheap (though still good value, I agree).  Perhaps a used CTS?  Probably lots coming off lease with some factory warranty left, and very nice machines...
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Offline rrocket

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #17 on: January 06, 2008, 11:23:18 pm »
What about the new Vibe?  Plenty of room, safe, fuel efficient, and fairly priced.....GO VIBE!!
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Greg B.

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2008, 08:40:06 am »
Quote from: Simple on January 06, 2008, 10:34:27 pm
I think the Equinox/Torrent would make a better choice then the trailblazer. 

Friends don't let friends buy vehicles with Chinese-made antediluvian pushrod Chevy V-6s.  :nono:
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Squishy

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Re: GM lineup help - Barrie and others
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2008, 09:43:06 am »
My vote goes to the redesigned 2009 Vibe, but they'll have to wait for a few months.  AWD is coming back so it'll be useful in the winter.
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