I'm curious what the Y party is going to be like and if fraternization is going to be OK for frowned upon. :rolleyes::-:

The current Malibu isn't a bad car. It has some annoyances, but as far as driving experience goes, it's by far one of the best handling mid-size sedans on the market today. Unfortunately in some areas it still lags behind the competition in its feature set.

Many of the current Fords are excellent cars. The new Taurus, while huge, is extremely nice. The Fusion is just a great car all around. I've also driven the Flex, which is very nice and not a bad drive at all, if you're into Mini Coopers that have been given a massive overdose of steroids (and turned into something that's actually reliable).

Where can one use those coupons??

I'll admit I love the cheap fares just as much as everyone else. But next time you're complaining that you can't fly IAH-West Coast for less than $375 round trip, remember that when you paid $195 for that trip, you were buying that trip at far less than the cost of what it took to fly you there.

So CM is using the Canadian definition. I don't know now they are going to resolve their problem with Chrysler. First the Germans and now the Italians yet they still consider them a North American company. Any of the non-ex big three are taxed like crazy in Canada even if they are built in Canada or the US.

BD metal only, and you have to be a BD Gold.

My mom does have the Malibu, which I do enjoy driving. Same with the Saturn Aura :(

And if Ford still had their credit card (5% back, 10% at Texaco and no cashback limit per model like the GM Card), I would probably have a new(er) one right now.

My lemon-lawed Chrysler Concorde was completely assembled in Canada ...

I have gotten the Saturn Aura XE twice, it is alright but a bit underwhelming and little things wrong with it, like too many LED colors green/blue/amber on different displays. I got the latest year model last time and it was down to two colors now, so an improvement.

I've had to turn down things like that before. I've also used my height as a reason to demand that they find me another car when I show up and get told "We know you reserved a full size but the only thing I have is an Aveo."

Speaking of rental cars, I'm starting to get a little pissed at National. Their service has been slipping for months now, and after watching three not full buses at LAX drive by last night and not stop at my terminal, waiting 30 minutes for a bus, and then arriving at the rental car center to find tons of minivans and Impalas and not much else. I love their frequent rental program, but the car selection and customer service has been in steady decline for the last 18 months.

Is there a rental car company that isn't the suck?

I don't buy that exactly as is. There's (granted, a handful) of back cabin fares that yield enough to create profit. I would venture a guess and say that the top four or five published buckets probably make money consistently. If an L is $195, a Y or B is probably 4-6x that. Then again, it's the airlines' fault for creating so many fare purchase options. The business model is more and more seeming to trend toward breaking even on fares and relying on incremental profit from IFE, food, etc.

Figures. :rolleyes:

But there is a solid argument that I have often paid much more as well.

I once worked for two of the cheapest people on the face of the planet (they're also very dishonest crooks, but that's another story). She was president of the firm, he was vice-president, and their marriage wasn't a very happy one. It was a generally unpleasant experience all around.

Back to being cheap — he was so cheap that he insisted we not pour out coffee that had not been consumed. Instead, he wanted us to put the carafe in the refrigerator, then heat it back up the next day in the microwave. And, to make it worse, they bought whatever coffee was cheapest at Sam's Club each time they went shopping. So, nasty coffee when fresh was even nastier the next day.

Most of us just made a habit of running to Starbucks if we needed a coffee fix.

Considering that the vast majority of F seats go out as an upgrade in some form or another, not really.