My dad had a ‘79 one with black interior and no A/C, which meant the windows were in a permanent state of roll-down after he moved to Florida. That car did last for 14 years and 180,000 miles until it rotted away. I’m not sure the Aveo has it in it to do the same.

Sell a few G3s now, release a better, updated model soonafter– make it appear to the uninformed masses that you’re really throwing your best game by updating your newest model first.

Of course I can. I’ve been there. It’s callled buying a used car. A used Camry/Galant/Altima/Sonata can be had cheaper than a new Aveo, with better build quality, significantly more space, and fairly close mileage in 4-Cylinder models. Hell, a used Grand Am/G6 gives you identical build quality, similar mileage, and an even cheaper price. The only reason to buy this thing is because you’re too emotional buy a used car (wrto being unable to stomach the concept buying used).

Why not? If you want cheap car payments, you’re talking leasing. Have you seen GM’s lease rates recently?

With leasing no longer an option, your options for low, low payments work out about the same for any small car, and with the Aveo you are going to get killed on residual value. Unless you’re hell-bent financing and banking the interest, there’s no reason to buy this car.

They are looking for a cheap car payment on a car they bought from a dealer that has been in business for more than a couple years..

The Honda dealer I bought my Fit from has been in business since Honda started selling Civics in Canada, or about thirty years. Most Toyota dealers are about the same age. Heck, most dealers, excepting the boutiques, automalls and newly-arrived Mitsubishi and Mini franchises, are at least ten to fifteen years old, even Saturn and Kia.

You REALLY don’t get it,do you?

No, I think you’re reaching for an excuse for this car, and there isn’t one, unless you buy used and let some other sucker eat the depreciation.

I like the Aveo, and when it only had to worry about the Echo, Rio and Accent it was viable. Against the Yaris, Fit and Versa? No chance.

Management listens to everything market research has to say (even though 90% is made-up BS) and ignores what their own engineers tell them. Hell, I don’t even know why they do competitive evaluations anymore. Anytime they point out a better feature that a competitor has, management always comes up with some lame-ass excuse to keep things the same.

Seriously, GM managment actually thought the Aztek was going to be a hit.

TEXN3 : Did you bring one home to the wives?

Even I’m not that stupid. If I took one of these (a G3) home for the wives they’d cut off my b***s!

This statement disgusts me. This isn’t a new model on a new platform designed from the ground up save for some shared components with the Aveo. This isn’t even a moderately new model designed from the ground up based on the same platform as the Aveo.

This is an Aveo with ever-so-slightly tweaked styling cues and Pontiac badges where appropriate. Period.

I had a chance to look up close at the G3’s interior (a Canadian Wave in a mall parking lot – I didn’t recognize it so swooped in for a closer look) and it was just a horrid as the Aveo I looked at whilst car shopping earlier in the year.

A badge-engineered rehash of the (horrible) Chevrolet Aveo? A faux fender vent placed obnoxiously high?

No thanks!

The magic of utube, Vantage Point Astra, the trailer looked pretty good, how was the movie, predictable?

Not only do we already have the aveo, but it sucks on top of that. Why sell two versions of it?

Because GM has two sets of dealers that want/need a full line up of vehicles-Chevy, and Pontiac/Buick/GMC. What one gets, the other one wants/needs to get as well. Both want/need a subcompact, and this is the only one GM has to sell. So, there you go.

I knew I had seen that face before…

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:fIYO4OhdakjxcM:http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/gobots/vg.gif

Re: “Did you bring one home to the wives?”

Unfortunately I’m in Toronto – but one wife is as much as I can handle. A friend passing through Utah picked up a six pack for me.

It’s a scary way to market a product.

OT, though, last night I rented the video of “Vantage Point”, (OK, I was entertainment-challenged. Can we move on?) The blue whip that Dennis Quaid’s stunt double drove in the final chase scene: It had a Chevy badge. Anyone know what that was? Anyone know why GM isn’t bringing that cool ride stateside? That seemed a worthy small GM car…..yet, here in the USA, we get, well, apparently what GM thinks we deserve…..

It’s not really even that, unfortunately. Pontiac has announced a G5 XFE model, with EPA ratings of 25/37 mpg. The G3, the EPA says, will do 24/34 mpg with a 4-speed auto, and 27/34 with a manual. So, the manual-transmission models tie at 30 mpg overall. The Aveo, for its size, is a gas hog.

On the plus side, GMFAF can now tell all the GM doubters (a.k.a. realists) that they have 20 (!) models getting 30 mpg or better, rather than 18.

I love GM’s webpage for the Aveo, which starts w/ a graphic comparing the Aveo to the Fit, Versa, and Yaris. It flashes on the screen very quickly, and has the Aveo in bold. If you do a screencap, you see that they trumpet the price advantage: an Aveo sedan is $300 cheaper than a Yaris, while getting MUCH worse economy (24/34 vs 29/36). By the EPA’s reckoning, that would take about 1 1/2 years to make up, after which the Yaris would be saving you money, and you wouldn’t have to suffer the experience of driving an Aveo, to boot.

Because GM has nothing certified for North American use that even comes close the to the Yaris’ engine, let alone the Fit’s.

And powertrain certification is really expensive.

And fender vents are really cheap.

Anyone got quick specs on mileage of the Aveo compared to the Yaris and Fit?