FastLane, FYI to undergo site upgrades

Where are the downloadable iPod video podcasts? I often do not have the time to watch these videos at my home computer, but while I am walking and riding the subway I have plenty of time to watch an iPod video podcast. Also, the video quality on some of these youtube videos are not great. Please return to posting iPod video podcasts through the iTunes Music Store. Thanks!

No comments today?

Has the blog been cancelled forlack of interest?

Noel,

In response to your message regarding a lack of comments, here's mine:

"Insert generic comment here".

Thanks,
Chris (Toronto)

Chris:

Well, hope springs eternal, at least so far.

Chris:

On reflection, I guess I take your point. Everything that needs to be said here has been said, about 100 times.

I guess we are all sort of losing interest. I guess it's time to sit back and wait about 3 or 4 Years (optimistic?), and see if anything ever changes.

Noel,

Thanks for your reply. Although this has been said many times, as you correctly point out, GM is making serious progress. I still remember the 1980's and from a GM point of view, am very glad they are over. GM seems to be making a massive effort and it appears to be paying dividends. Toyota has momentum, GM will take some time to bring ex-GMers back into the fold. But GM cars are vastly improved. The only concerns are (a) will it continue and (b) the Asians are a rapidly moving target - not just Toyota et al, but Hyundai, which is very impressive over the last few years.

Cheers and thanks for letting me ramble a bit,

Chris (Toronto)

Chris:

Again, I coudn't agree more about the value and reliability of current GM vehicles. We have a 1995 Impala SS, a 2000 S-10, a 2004 3500 and a 2006 1500.

They have all been extremely reliable. The new trucks are so much more comfortable and convenient than the old ones they replaced that it is like being in a parallel universe.

The problem I fear is the fuel economy issue. The cheapest regular gas in our community today is $3.31/gallon. If that price holds up, which over time it is bound to do, the ground will shift so fast toward small cars that it will be terrifying.

Unless GM steps up effectively to the Prius, Civic hybrid, Yaris, Fit, Versa challenge, I fear that it will be too late.

I fervently hope that we will not be buying anything other than a GM car. We will just try our best to stand pat and wait until the Volt or equivalent appears. That doesn't help much in the short run, however.

No comments today?

Has the blog been cancelled for lack of interest?

Seriously, this extremely slow turnaround is really discouraging. I think that it really leads people to lose interest.

This is supposed to be the lightning fast information superhighway. I have participated in a few blogs, and I have never seen this 24+ hour turnaround while someone evidently edits the comments for political correctness.

You are making yourselves look like the old GM.

Pathetic.

Thanks for having the guts to post my last two comments. I thought for sure that they had gone away for lack of PC.

What has been the problem lately? This is supposed to be the "fast lane" blog!

Noel,

One thing you can say is that they don't seem to edit out the negative critics, that's for sure.

Chris (Toronto)

Chris (Toronto):

Well I hate to be seen as a negative critic. I have tried my best to make some positive suggestions, or at least to give some input on what at least one segment of the public is thinking. That's what this is about, isn't it?

Look at my comment on May 4 above.

On the other hand, it does get pretty frustrating. Many people are clearly saying that they want better fuel economy as gas here is at $3.30/gallon and rising. I hear a lot of talk coming out of GM, but I don't feel that the comittment is there to make it happen soon enough. Someone commented on one of the later threads today along the lines of "Less talkie, more buildie." Right.

Did you hear the news today about the sale of Chrysler? It's a cautionary tale boys. "Lead follow or get out of the way."

Chrysler? Yeah, those fund guys will likely not have any difficulty carving it up to make a buck. What a great price, too. A lot less than we all thought...

I was hoping Magna would buy them. They there would be a Canadian car company (other than Bricklin ha, ha...).

Cheers !
Chris (Toronto)

Chris (Toronto):

According to yesterday's LA Times, the bottom, bottom line is that DB is actually paying Cerebrus $650 million to take it off their hands and, I guess, take on the unfunded liabilities.

I assume you saw this, but Cerebrus is supposedly the mythological three headed dog who guards the gates of hell. Great name for a buyout firm, don't you think? One German stock analyst was quoted in the same article as saying that the "hellhound" had taken over Chrysler.

It plays into one of our favorite family jokes. We are great fans of the blues, and Robert Johnson's old song "Hellhound On My Trail". We even call our goofy Jack Russel Terrier "the hound of hell" when he gets into trouble (about every 15 minutes on average).

It's not funny for GM and Ford however. The Hellhound(s) is(are) on their trails.