WTF! Say it aint Sooooooo GM!

[breeaad]

Toyota has definetly lost control. They tried to open too many American plants at one time, losing control of the fundementals that earned them the Quality rating they had earned. At one point a few years back, they were launching 12 100% new models at one time. That is insane!!!!

Out of the big three, Ford is definetly more refined then the others. But you can't park them in your garage because they catch fire in the middle of the night and kill you. I bought an Explorer recently for my wife and I am putting a $100 a month aside to pay for the transmission when it goes out. Plus I park it a ways from the house. LOL!!!

BMW is a sexy car, and again BUILT IN AMERICA. A friend bought a brand new 325xi and had bad luck with it. He had several ignition coils go out, and had very odd electrical issues. The seat stitching started coming apart, and the sunroof didn't work anymore. He got rid of it before he put 20k miles on it and bought an Infiniti. He said he put more miles on dealer loaner vehicles while they worked on his 3-series then he did on his own car.

One of the best cars built right now is built by a South Korean company, the Hyundai Sonata. But they are becoming a bit pricey, in my opinion. $27K for a loaded one?? Not me. I would take a G37 first for that kind of money.

 

[kornball426]

Wow really? I know people who have had problems with Audi's... But not BMW. That's kind of surprising to me.

I hear Mercedes are really good, but I think they're butt ugly.

I'd always buy American first, then German, than Japanese. Just in the new car market that is... Used cars are different that's not taking money out of the American economy.

 

[tc1959]

 

[kornball426]

Not much of a hijack if the OP abandons his own thread... And it stays relatively on topic. There's not much to say about GM selling out to China, what else is new? China and Russia are killing the US Coal and Steel industry which were two of the biggest industries in the US. And apparently Americans don't have any pride in what they build anymore... Or else we would still be single handed killing everyone else in the auto, manufacturing, aerospace, and high tech industries. All we're good at anymore it seems is being fat and angry, complaining and blaming other people for our problems. The USA is the greatest country in the world... But we seem to be fine with other countries being better than us at our own game.

We should step it up, and show them again once and for all what the USA can do.

Or nuke them all back to the stone age. 8)

 

[gk666]

well the problem is china has been trying to enter the american market for a while but they know if they sold a car called cockwong no one would buy it and they have definite plans on infiltrating out market by 2011 which is like.... uhhh *looks at watch* tomorrow so the best thing to do is let people know what theyr buying so they dont buy it... and no offense but its been a long time since any car maker made anything decent and gm doesnt really have any room to talk most of their "innovations" makes my job just as difficult as every other car that rolls into the shop... in the past 30 years the only real improvements the car industry has made on vehicles in in the suspension... motors have gotten worse, and weaker, looks and designs and appearances worse, and all these useless luxuries like ac and airbags... even chevrolet fell into that trap when they got rid of the w/t so dont worry... unless word spreads china will control everything so just do you best to tell everyone not to buy commi cars

 

[gk666]

oh and, you were suprised people were having problems with bmws >.>.... <.< the car may be built in america but the assembly parts are still from other parts of the world... 80% of a vehicle is assembled with parts from different countries... and toyota's recall.... look at ferrari's and im not a fan of japo cars but the throttle bodies and tps from toyotas new prius' are ac delco parts sooooo just some things... actually if i were to buy a new car which i never would because like someone said real cars havent existed since the 80s and honestly the REAL CARS havent existed since 1974 with emission sh*t but id buy a honda because they probably make the most functional shitty cars... now if i wanted new horsepower id buy dodge because dodge has always been on the bandwagon for originality and power as far as usdm is concerned

 

[kornball426]

Yeah but no one ever bought a Ferrari and said "I bought it because it's economical" or "I bought it because it's reliable". An oil change on a Ferrari 360 Modena cost over 700 dollars when they came out. Why? It has no drain plug, you have to take the oil pan off to change the oil. Two oil costs 70 dollars a quart, and if anyone but a Ferrari technician works on it your warranty is void... :lol: And when they published that fact in the Philadelphia Inquirer way back when... They had a quote from a Ferrari dealership "If you have to ask how much it costs to maintain... You can't afford it".

Ferrari or any exotic isn't a good example to use... They have always been horribly unreliable and crazy expensive.

There have been a lot of improvements... EFI, coil on plug, crank trigger and optical ignitions, etc. But overall you're right, new cars are junk. I don't even think modern suspension is that much better, a few years ago HotRod did a suspension upgrade from Hotchkiss, better rims and tires, on a Monte SS and when they were finished testing and tuning it did as well as a C5 corvette on the skid pad, I think it did max .95G lateral? Or close to it.

See if in 2034 my moms 2010 Ford is still on the road (24 years later)... Like my 1986 Buick is in 2010. I highly doubt it.