Dante93GTZ

Remember the look of most Chevy cars in the 80's and early 90's... All followed the same boxy styling, same headlight design, same boring interior...

I was at Chevy.com and in a reasonable price, THIS is what we are left with? Boring, uninspiring, blah cars...

http://www.chevrolet.com/malibu/imag..._gallery09.jpg

http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/images..._gallery05.jpg

http://www.chevrolet.com/impala/imag..._gallery11.jpg

Where the HELL is the fun, the excitement, the affordability, the freaking STYLE?

When other car companies make things like this and sell:

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/mazd...ery_lrg_21.jpg

http://www.nissanusa.com/m/cma/i/335..._gal_big08.jpg

http://www.mbusa.com/media/images/ma...an_10_main.jpg

It just blows me away that in terms of building excitment, Chevy has nothing to really offer aside from a bunch of trucks and a Corvette.

Now with all due respect, I think Pontiac and Cadillac are headed in the right direction in terms of offering customers what they want. Is GM doing what Toyota is doing? -- Turning the main brand (ie. Chevy) into the ho-hum car company and then using brands like Pontiac and Cadillac to suit the customer that doesn't want the boring-mobile?

Z284ever

Styling is an area that I wish Chevy could take the lead in again.

You're right...Chevy doesn't have any cars that will knock your socks off...style-wise, anymore. The Corvette and SSR make an impact, but I don't think we're talking about those here.

And why is that? Do Chevy's focus groups indicate that consumers want boring styling? Is GM unable to style well? Will well styled Chevys take the wind out of Pontiac's sales?
I mean what is the problem, and why can't Chevys be good looking again?

jawzforlife

Yep, You wont see me buying any Chevy cars made durrig this "period".
My current list for cars I would like are...

- 350Z
- G35
- CTS
- BMW 3 Series

Z28x

Malibu needs to be sportier
Impala is ok (will be replaced next year)
Aveo is ok, and inexpensive Aveo Extreme edition would help.

Chevy cars need:
1) Manual tranny options. (even though they are a small % of sales young people like them and the make the model seem sportier)
2) More HP (270HP 3v 3.9L Malibus and Equinox's are needed at a resonanable price of say $1000 more than the 3.5L HV)
3) Some thing other than FWD, make AWD an option on the V8 Impala, V8 monte, and Cobalt SS
4) Bigger Rims. Why can't low end Impalas and Malibus have 17" rims as a $500 option? Honda and Nissan do it. Nice 17" rims make the Malibu Maxx look so much better http://www.cardesignnews.com/autosho...chev-maxx2.jpg

Dante93GTZ

So I ask, why doesn't Chevy build anything? Unless they are marking the brand for a specific type of consumer and the other GM branches are marked for others, why in the heck doesn't the brand that has been known as GM's leader have anything decent? I mean, if I were looking for a new car, a Chevy dealer would be the LAST place I looked. Someone here at work bought a new Malibu about 5 months ago and that thing is hideous... and all those Impalas - they look big and clunky and too "cop-car-ish"... For the same price, I'd almost prefer a Tauras - and that takes a lot for me to say!

muckz

Speaking of the new Malibu... That car is uninspiring in every sense. I actually had opportunity to be in one (rental), and oh my, did i get disappointed. The interior is actually VERY low quality. They were supposed to integrate pieces well with each other. Well, it's not your 4th Gen, BUT it is a FAAAAAAR cry from Accord or Camry. I could not believe the cheapness of the car. It actually feels as cheap as Hyundai Accent, for half its price. I could not believe my eyes when I saw plastic seat covers on the back of seats (if you're a passenger in the back, your knees touch them). Exterior was OK, I wasn't impressed with it when it came out, nor am I impressed now.

And you're right, Dante. Chevy has one of the most boring lineups. Take the Corvette out, which is like its own separate line/division anyway. I will look at Chevy when shopping cars with about the same chance that I will look at Daewoo or Kia. Styling-wise they are on the same level (cars, not SUVs/Trucks).

JoeliusZ28

my thoughts exactly... but it seems GM wants Chevy to be only about value. And apparently that means looks and 'fun factors' dont count

Dante93GTZ

Value to me is also not feeling like I'm driving something that I'll be so completely sick of in 9 months to where I need something different. One thing I learned in the customer service industry - Value is not always Money... Looks like GM needs the same lesson.

Z28x

You drove the old Malibu, it is now called Chevy Classic and is only sold to Fleets. The new Malibu isn't sold to car rental companies. The interior on the new Malibu is very good, the exterior is kind of plain.

ProudPony

I had just traded an 81 Mustang coupe in on an 86 T-bird 5.0 . I thought that T-bird was awesome. But I have to admit that about 3 months after I bought it, I was heavily smitten with the '86 Monte Carlo SS - so much so I started looking at prices. The Monte had everything I wanted in the Bird but couldn't even get... like T-tops, air dam, side skirts, dual exhausts... you know all the crap a 20 y/o kid wants on his car. The best Ford could do in like class was the Turbo Coupe - at least it had Marchal fog lights.

I still have a penchant for the IROC cars of the mid-80's. Big door graphics, alloys, T-tops... man... beautiful cars. Who cares if they even run or not, they looked good sitting still. Where has that gone?

I know what your saying about the cars from the 80's - something is missing from many of todays cars. Maybe I suffer from "appliance overload" with all the Camrys and accords I see on the street. Idunno.

Big Als Z

Wow....you picked the Mazda 6 as a "stylish" car? Tell me...what is so awesome about its looks? It looks just like any other sedan out there, nothing to really seperate it outside of an outragous color.
And the MB!! It doesnt look bad, but its not inspiring me to buy one outside of its near 500hp engine...but for 80k, I would hope for something like that. There isnt much that comes from MB that is cool looking outside of teh SLK, SL and SLR. Everything else is pretty much just your standard sedan. What make you want it is its because its a MB.
As for the Nissan 350z, I hear more people complain about its styling then anything. I, for one, do like its style. Ill give you that one, but what about the rest of Nissans line up? Murano? Quest? Altima? Maxima? Fugly.

So why just pick 3 cars that have nothing to do with Chevy? The Mazda6 looks boring, sorry. What, its wing is just right up your ally? I would much rather have a Malibu Maxx with about the same hp for much cheaper then the Mazda 6.
Why dont we compared Chevy's stylish cars vs everyone elses? Why pick the 3 "boring" cars? So it suits you?
Why not compare the Corvette C6 to the 350z?
How about the Cobalt SS to the Mazda 6?
I dont understand why you brought up MB. I think Chevy, as well as a lot of other GM cars, look very good and fit there market place well.
why not post pictures of the Camry? Accord?
Just another Doomsday thread.

Dante93GTZ

The Mazda 6 SELLS. Thats why it was included. I think the majority of us would agree as well that the style is subtle yet still very nice. To compare it to a Malibu Maxx... ummmmm...

As for the Benz, on their website, the pricing for the 230Kompressor, as pictured above, is under $29,000, therefore fitting into this range of cars.

The Cobalt still is a little bland, albeit, better than Chevy's current lineup.

dream '94 Z28

i have to agree with you. Chevy used to be the 'youthful' division of GM, but it's products have been pretty uninspiring for awhile. The cobalt coupe looks really good, but the sedan just doesn't look as fun or stylish as the Focus, Mazda 3, or Altima.

It seems Chevy is now trying to be the 'all reaching' division, getting customers as young and as old as possible yet not really have a pinpoint audience.

Steve0

I agree whats been said in this thread. Chevy makes bland cars. Besides the Corvette and Truck line up, my college aged peers could care less about the company. The SSR and Cobalt were steps in the right direction. They bring a bit more excitment to the table.

The Impala needs a little more sport. As already mentioned, the Mazda 6 completely blows it away interms of excitment appeal. Not to mention the Mazda 6 is much sportier.

I'm still scratching my head over what the Malibu designers were thinking. The Malibu's kitchen appliance styling makes the extremely subtle Pontiac GTO look exciting.

I dont think the Aveo is that bad. It looks good for what it is, but who ever gets excited over a companies bottom of the barrel model?

I guess though that it could just be that Chevy is targeting a 40 year old plus, conservative customer...

I'm starting to loose faith.

Dante93GTZ

I was thinking about my reply to Big Al, and in a previous post, he mentioned getting a Malibu Maxx as a daily driver. See, my problem is, no matter how much "brand loyalty" I have, I'm not going to buy a $20,000++, ugly, and boring car just because its a Chevy and thats what they have. No offense to Big Al, if you genuinely like it thats all that matters, but it seems like Chevy thinks that its brand loyalty will sell products no matter how wierd or ugly they are.

What floors me is this... THIS is what the Malibu should have looked like:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4065/...er-concept.jpg



That thing is inspiring to me! Yes, for the street it'd need to be toned down a bit, but tell me that doesn't do SOMETHING for you? True, its using the old body style, but I genuinely think the 97-02ish Malibu was 1000000x better than the new one!

Compare the above pic to this:

http://www.razzi.com/vehicles/chevro...4dr_2199_1.jpg.

This is some company's idea of a body kit...