GRM's new project car. No, really.

What did it cost out the door and what will you pay after tax incentives?

Otherwise I will be excited to learn about it. It's no less appropriate then when GRM reviews CRVs and orbs cute utes

JG Pasterjak wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Oh, and if the guy bad-mouthing the Volt understood what a kilowatt was, then he would understand that it takes a LOT less to charge that car than to fill a car with gas.

His source was Fox Business reporter Eric Bolling's claim that a kWh of juice cost $1.16. It was a claim that was blatantly wrong (by an entire decimal point) and one that, to my knowledge, Fox never issued a correction for. jg

I remember that report! I also remember idiots on tv/radio defending that number, without anyone ever checking their power bill.

It will be nice to see a review from a knowledgeable person who doesn't have an axe to grind, or doesn't have to write a biased review to get their next paycheck. The car will be judged on it's merits, good or bad, no spin one way or the other.

nocones wrote: What did it cost out the door and what will you pay after tax incentives? Otherwise I will be excited to learn about it. It's no less appropriate then when GRM reviews CRVs and orbs cute utes

I leased.

I know... I know.

72 hours ago, if you would have told me I'd be leasing a car, I'd have slapped your sister. I was firmly in the "no lease is a good lease" camp. Well, now I'm squarely in the "every once in a while—but not often—there's a lease that makes sense" camp.

My total payment is just under $380 per month. They required nothing down—as in NOTHING. Not a single dime. The first payment is even waived. So my total of 35 payments will be just over $13000. My guess is the car will depreciate waaaaaaaay more than $13000 during the same time. I could be wrong, but that way a gamble I was willing to take.

I also like the fact that the lease is 3yr/36k miles and the bumper-to-bumper warranty is 3/36. And I also feel that as fast as technology changes, the obsolescence curve on this car could be quite aggressive. One smart guy at JPL combines the right atoms and these things could become yesterday's news fast.

I didn't want to be hitched to that for 5-6 years. I like a $13000 commitment. It's serious dating, not marriage. I'll say that I'm going into this project passionate about the car, but maybe not very excited. Professionally, I'm very much looking forward to doing the research and getting to exercise my "journalist" muscles. Personally, I'm worried that I'll have to drive a boring car for three years.

So I'm really not going into this to tell you guys how great Volts are or that we'll all be racing hybrids in ten years. I probably have a lot of the same questions that you guys have about what this technology means to the future of our scene, and, by relation, the future of our magazine.

jg

I keep hoping I am going to wake up from a dream and this is not real.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

irish44j wrote:

Please tell me you have a high-res version of this. jg@grassrootsmotorsports.com jg

I tried to come up with something clever to describe how funny and cool this exchange is, but I isn't up to the task. So, Irish, great parody, and JG, great sense of humor. I somehow can't see the editor of say Vogue reacting in qute this manner

Oh, and in the case of the Volt, the $7500 tax credit is kicked back to Ally Financial, GM's leasing partner. There's also a near $5000 cap reduction payment that's made from GM to the dealer. I don't know exactly where that money comes from, and I'm not exactly sure the dealers do, either. Maybe it fell off a truck, or someone found it stuffed in a sock inside a corpse. But it brings the Volt lease from the realm of "all leases are stupid" to "maybe a $369+tax payment on what could be a highly volatile piece of technology isn't such a bad deal."

jg

93EXCivic wrote: I keep hoping I am going to wake up from a dream and this is not real.

Go stare at a Miata for a while and breathe into a bag. It'll pass.

jg

So your $13K lease is really covering $25,500 of depreciation. Now it kinda Pisses me off that I'm bankrolling part of your lease. I mean really what kind of deal for taxpayer is it that we are going to spend 58% of what you will so you can drive gas free for the next 3 years.. I demand a drive in your car as compensation.

Every time one of our BMWs needs expensive work I threaten my wife with a Volt. She says 'over my dead body,' but I'm at least half serious. I'm ready to move back toward a family car with better mileage and lower maintenance costs.

At $350, the lease offer is pretty attractive. But there's no way I'd buy one at $40K, not when there are plenty of nice used 5 Series models on the market for half that.

nocones wrote: So your $13K lease is really covering $25,500 of depreciation. Now it kinda Pisses me off that I'm bankrolling part of your lease. I mean really what kind of deal for taxpayer is it that we are going to spend 58% of what you will so you can drive gas free for the next 3 years.. I demand a drive in your car as compensation.

There was a little of that in my decision as well. I figured I was already paying for one, I may as well get to drive it.

Also, I can charge it for free at a wing joint. Winner.

jg

nocones wrote: So your $13K lease is really covering $25,500 of depreciation. Now it kinda Pisses me off that I'm bankrolling part of your lease. I mean really what kind of deal for taxpayer is it that we are going to spend 58% of what you will so you can drive gas free for the next 3 years.. I demand a drive in your car as compensation.

lol - if you could see the entire list of boondoggles your tax dollars were bankrolling, your head would explode.

irish44j wrote:

My next Forza sponsor.

nocones wrote: So your $13K lease is really covering $25,500 of depreciation. Now it kinda Pisses me off that I'm bankrolling part of your lease. I mean really what kind of deal for taxpayer is it that we are going to spend 58% of what you will so you can drive gas free for the next 3 years.. I demand a drive in your car as compensation.

Yeah! We all get a ride in JG's new car...I have shotgun at Sebring!

Blasphemy!!!

That was my first thought at GRM and a Volt.

But, it's a car. Car guys do things to cars, and make them cool, whether it's low riders, stretch/poke, straight axle drag cars (way bitchin'), or sporty cars.

Besides, before "they" were racing cars, it was horses.

Rock on JG!

By the way, I have an interesting comparo for JG. Just realized that I have had the 911 for three years. Yes, there's an engine rebuild in there, but at the same time the car's value has nearly doubled. So, which car is the better long-term deal?

David S. Wallens wrote: By the way, I have an interesting comparo for JG. Just realized that I have had the 911 for three years. Yes, there's an engine rebuild in there, but at the same time the car's value has nearly doubled. So, which car is the better long-term deal?

Can you start your 911 from your iPhone?

Oh, snap!

jg

In reply to JG Pasterjak:

I'm not sure if he's yet figured out how to dial 911 on his iPhone.

lol - if you could see the entire list of boondoggles your tax dollars were bankrolling, your head would explode.

Winner of the Most True Statement award.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote: By the way, I have an interesting comparo for JG. Just realized that I have had the 911 for three years. Yes, there's an engine rebuild in there, but at the same time the car's value has nearly doubled. So, which car is the better long-term deal?

Can you start your 911 from your iPhone? Oh, snap! jg

Just totaled up all the major expenses from the past three years. Now I need to add in gas, oil and insurance. This could get interesting.

JG Pasterjak wrote: yadayada...I'll say that I'm going into this project passionate about the car, but maybe not very excited. Professionally, I'm very much looking forward to doing the research and getting to exercise my "journalist" muscles. Personally, I'm worried that I'll have to drive a boring car for three years. ...yadayada

I'm totally on board for this. It's GRM to soup up your race car in all the smartest no-compromise ways. It's also totally GRM to make the smartest choice for your necessary appliance-mobile, then make it as fun as possible without compromising it's core function and strengths.

Like has been said, the gas-electric hybrid is becoming one of the common answers. I'd expect nothing less than for GRM to dive head first, leading the way, into the question of if you can bring a vehicle of this type into the enjoyable, or even just pleasantly tolerable, range of automotive perspective that most of us live in. I've been sort of waiting for something like this, actually.

What sort of benchmarks are you considering? Think you can get it to match a street tire stock Miata (or other common Answer) in an auto-x? Can you get it to tow something useful?

I'll also chime in that I'm glad it's you, JG, doing this particular set of articles. Don't hold back on us, something like this is as much about the subjective as the objective, and I (as I'm sure many others) enjoy your written sense of humor.

Oh, and as a partial shareholder in your vehicle you have my official blessing to blow it the berkeley up in any and all manners you can dream up so long as you get video and wear the pink Rutledge suit for it. Ok, in this case day-glo green would also be appropriate.

I am shocked! Watt are you thinking? I believe most people will find this revolting! Is this your current thinking about how to take charge of the industry?

Ok I am out of puns......

Stealthtercel wrote: Having a Volt in the hands of a knowledgeable, articulate person we trust does not have a down side. Fight the misinformation! This is the best idea I've heard today. (Mind you, I spent the first half at the dentist.)

yea, this. (except my dentist appt is next week)

bluej wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: yadayada...I'll say that I'm going into this project passionate about the car, but maybe not very excited. Professionally, I'm very much looking forward to doing the research and getting to exercise my "journalist" muscles. Personally, I'm worried that I'll have to drive a boring car for three years. ...yadayada

I'll also chime in that I'm glad it's you, JG, doing this particular set of articles. Don't hold back on us, something like this is as much about the subjective as the objective, and I (as I'm sure many others) enjoy your written sense of humor.

Thanks man. I'm glad folks are getting the spirit of this thing. Like I said, I'm not completely stoked to drive this thing just yet, although I admire the technology. I am, however, very stoked about writing about it.

Also, spending my own money on the thing was a very deliberate decision, rather than going to Chevy for a long-term loaner. Should Chevy not appreciate what I have to say about it, they can take it up with my $369 a month.

I want very badly for it to not suck, though. Three years is a long time. I may have to get an emergency Miata just in case.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: I may have to get an emergency Miata just in case. jg

I keep one tucked away in the corner of the garage just in case.