2009 Hummer H3t Alpha on 2040-cars

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2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Cupholder Mega Test: Will the Nalgene bottle fit?

I absolutely adore the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and so was excited to spend a week with it when the EV landed in my driveway. When I first drove the Ioniq 5 in San Diego, though, I hadn't packed my favorite style water bottle: the big 32-ounce Nalgene. Despite it being the best, its sheer size makes it less ideal when trying to pack light for a short trip. It also means it doesn't fit in most cars' cupholders, but, without the bottle on hand, I'd have to wait until this new opportunity with the Ioniq 5 to find out if it passes the Nalgene check. So, let's get to it. Starting at pole position — the front cupholders — we find ourselves unlucky so far. It's not even close to fitting. Not unusual, but our first option for convenient access to megahydration is denied. In most instances, our next best bet is the molded pockets in the front door panels. Here we have success. It's quite a tight fit, so while our drink won't be knocking or rolling around, it's not as easy as it could be to retrieve while driving, and I'll probably eventually wear out the little plastic tether connecting the lid to the bottle, as that's the easiest thing to grab without looking. Still, I'll give these door holders a pass. How about the folks sitting in back? Where can they stash their Nalgenes? No surprise about it not fitting in the center armrest cupholders after our inauspicious start with the fronts. The fact that it won't fit in the door panels is disappointing. C'est la vie. But one more thing ... you might have noticed another potential stash up front in the storage cubby below the center stack. The Nalgene fits in there just fine, but a little bit of extra room means the bottle will be knocking around. It's actually a decent spot, and more accessible than the doors.

Are orphan cars better deals?

Most folks don't know a Saturn Aura from an Oldsmobile Aurora. Those of you who are immersed in the labyrinth of automobilia know that both cars were testaments to the mediocrity that was pre-bankruptcy General Motors, and that both brands are now long gone. But everybody else? Not so much. By the same token, there are some excellent cars and trucks that don't raise an eyebrow simply because they were sold under brands that are no longer being marketed. Orphan brands no longer get any marketing love, and because of that they can be alarmingly cheap. Case in point, take a look at how a 2010 Saturn Outlook compares with its siblings, the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. According to the Manheim Market Report, the Saturn will sell at a wholesale auto auction for around $3,500 less than the comparably equipped Buick or GMC. Part of the reason for this price gap is that most large independent dealerships, such as Carmax, make it a point to avoid buying cars with orphaned badges. Right now if you go to Carmax's site, you'll find that there are more models from Toyota's Scion sub-brand than Mercury, Saab, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn combined. This despite the fact that these brands collectively sold in the millions over the last ten years while Scion has rarely been able to realize a six-figure annual sales figure for most of its history. That is the brutal truth of today's car market. When the chips are down, used-car shoppers are nearly as conservative as their new-car-buying counterparts. Unfamiliarity breeds contempt. Contempt leads to fear. Fear leads to anger, and pretty soon you wind up with an older, beat-up Mazda MX-5 in your driveway instead of looking up a newer Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky. There are tons of other reasons why orphan cars have trouble selling in today's market. Worries about the cost of repair and the availability of parts hang over the industry's lost toys like a cloud of dust over Pigpen. Yet any common diagnostic repair database, such as Alldata, will have a complete framework for your car's repair and maintenance, and everyone from junkyards to auto parts stores to eBay and Amazon stock tens of thousands of parts. This makes some orphan cars mindblowingly awesome deals if you're willing to shop in the bargain bins of the used-car market. Consider a Suzuki Kizashi with a manual transmission. No, really.

Report: GM temporarily restarts Saturn Outlook, Hummer H3 production

Saturn Outlook - Click above for high-res image gallery
Even though both the Saturn and Hummer brands are being phased out, General Motors has reportedly revived production of both the Outlook crossover and H3 SUV to meet consumer demands.
Last month, GM assembled 1,037 Outlooks at its Lansing, Michigan facility, which is where the crossover's Lamda platform stablemates (Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia) are built. A spokesperson for GM states that production was reinstated to utilize the rest of the Saturn-specific material at the facility, and that the automaker will continue to assemble the Outlook for a few more weeks.