Another Example of Poor Build Quality

I service a friend's 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the V6 Diesel. Nice to have the filter on top, but the factory filter is EXPENSIVE! Like $70...
I noticed a rubber weatherstrip missing under the hood; they replaced it on one of the numerous recalls.

But Debbie still loves her GC!
Yup - transmission filters will be twice as much as my GM …
(and lifetime my donkey)
 
I've been hearing about "cars these days too complicated, you can't even work on them" etc for at least 30 years... they might finally be right, though!

As well as, "domestic cars USED to be junk, but now they are a match for the imports"... not so sure about that one, but I buy well-used cars.
The quality of the Japanese cars dropped.
 
The quality of the Japanese cars dropped.
Toyota’s turning point was the Prius. Honda’s was not making a transmission that handled the torque of their V6s. Nissan had Carlos Ghosn, and Subaru had the bastardization of GM. A friend was a little shocked and awed when I told him his Forester used the same steering wheel as a Cobalt or a Corvette minus the bow tie.
 
"domestic cars USED to be junk, but now they are a match for the imports"... not so sure about that one, but I buy well-used cars.

Depends on how much you pay and what you are buying. You cannot expect a $65K domestic crewcab to be worse than a $13k Hyundai, you cannot expect a $18K domestic "car" to be as good as a $45K Lexus.
 
Depends on how much you pay and what you are buying. You cannot expect a $65K domestic crewcab to be worse than a $13k Hyundai, you cannot expect a $18K domestic "car" to be as good as a $45K Lexus.
It’s gotten better in the last 20 years with the domestics and F&F/NVH, while Toyota started getting cheaper. Still, it’s not equal. Cases in point - the Chevy Equinox I rented from Hertz a while ago had a decent interior but some corners were cut. It wasn’t like a GM product of the 1970s-2000s with lots of cheap, tacky plastic. I’ve been in a Ford Edge/Explorer and F-150 in carpools and Ubers. And they felt decent as well. Ford tended to have better interiors than GM or Chrysler. Still has cheap plastics regardless.

Now, Toyota. I felt their 1990s efforts were good. The Prius and 9th gen Corolla marked Toyota making cheap interiors a la GM. I was in a new Highlander(Uber) a few weeks ago and it seemed tacky - the synthetic leather felt cheap, like bus or airplane seats and the hard plastics had a smooth texture that made them look cheap, like a 1990s Chevy. But, Toyota interiors in general tend to hold up, even with Lyft/Uber abuse. I can’t say the same for the Escape/Fusions I’ve seen in taxi/rideshare use. Honda’s base interiors aren’t terrible, I know people with Fits and CR-Vs who have dogs or gear in their car - they take a beating decently well. Just don’t get leather on a Honda.

VW for some reason has a sick obsession with soft-touch surfaces but those get beat up.
 
It’s gotten better in the last 20 years with the domestics and F&F/NVH, while Toyota started getting cheaper. Still, it’s not equal. Cases in point - the Chevy Equinox I rented from Hertz a while ago had a decent interior but some corners were cut. It wasn’t like a GM product of the 1970s-2000s with lots of cheap, tacky plastic. I’ve been in a Ford Edge/Explorer and F-150 in carpools and Ubers. And they felt decent as well. Ford tended to have better interiors than GM or Chrysler. Still has cheap plastics regardless.

Now, Toyota. I felt their 1990s efforts were good. The Prius and 9th gen Corolla marked Toyota making cheap interiors a la GM. I was in a new Highlander(Uber) a few weeks ago and it seemed tacky - the synthetic leather felt cheap, like bus or airplane seats and the hard plastics had a smooth texture that made them look cheap, like a 1990s Chevy. But, Toyota interiors in general tend to hold up, even with Lyft/Uber abuse. I can’t say the same for the Escape/Fusions I’ve seen in taxi/rideshare use. Honda’s base interiors aren’t terrible, I know people with Fits and CR-Vs who have dogs or gear in their car - they take a beating decently well. Just don’t get leather on a Honda.

VW for some reason has a sick obsession with soft-touch surfaces but those get beat up.
The rental Sienna we had in the states had tons of broken plastic bits for the second row seating, it didn't seem well planned. I posted a review of it a few years back, was pretty surprising.
 
Found this while browsing $43K Nissan Frontier’s on the web. This being crooked would trigger my OCD.
E967F5C8-18EC-4A78-9136-6D05E41D8A93.jpeg
 
Found this while browsing $43K Nissan Frontier’s on the web. This being crooked would trigger my OCD.
View attachment 91704
Of course in reality its probably out of your line of sight when your sitting behind the wheel. That's one of those things you "live with" so they don't screw up something else while trying to fix it. OCD can get you in to trouble many times.
 
Just last evening, I was watching a video titled, "Which one had PROBLEMS on this adventure?" It was a Father and Son exploring out in California with a Jeep Wrangler and a Ford Bronco. He mentioned having an electrical problem with the Bronco the week before and after some investigating, he had found two ground wires that had not been tightened and a couple of fuses that did not feel as if they were seated properly. After resolving those issues, the problems went away.
 
This brings back some memories from the past ...

I have a collection of '50s and '60s LIFE magazines, mostly involving the space race. One from about 1965 included an article about hydraulic logic gates, being developed as a hedge against an EMP knocking out semiconductors.

And the other one involves one of the novels in Harry Turtledove's alternative history "Balance" series. The premise is that this incredibly technologically-advanced but very methodical and slow-to-change alien race scopes out Earth c. 1000 a.d. and finds it ripe for colonization.

They return in 1940 prepare Earth for the colony ships, and are shocked by the incredible strides humanity has made in "only" 900 or so years. It's inconceivable to them that the inhabitants, who so recently were fighting with swords and lances on horseback, have now discovered gunpowder, powered flight, and are on the verge of splitting the atom.

The aliens drop themselves into WWII, and various strange alliances result. The humans were not the pushover the aliens had anticipated.

All that to say that at one point the aliens are shocked when their sophisticated weapons don't take out the sensitive guidance systems in the humans' bombs and shells. But of course the humans are not using smart bombs, so they're impervious to the aliens' EMP anti-bomb defences.
I recall it was the fact that there WEREN'T semiconductors...vacuum tubes won't be destroyed by an EMP.
 
4Runner owned by a guy at work had the exhaust manifold problem just like our RAM's. Unlike the RAM's, apparently updated studs aren't the fix and if you put on a new OE manifold, it will do it again. Ended up getting a set of stainless headers for it from Summit in hopes to avoid having to do it again.
I think Nissans also have chronic manifold stud issues too. My parents had a Quest, Ford-built 1st gen(1993-1997) model when it was a weird love child of an Altima and Windstar. Exhaust studs broke just past the 100K mark and it ticked ever since. I almost always hear an old Altima/Maxima/Quest/Frontier with broken studs. Also happens to Infinitis and Z cars.
 
I think Nissans also have chronic manifold stud issues too. My parents had a Quest, Ford-built 1st gen(1993-1997) model when it was a weird love child of an Altima and Windstar. Exhaust studs broke just past the 100K mark and it ticked ever since. I almost always hear an old Altima/Maxima/Quest/Frontier with broken studs. Also happens to Infinitis and Z cars.

Ford Crown Victorias with the 4.6L engine also seem to have problems with broken exhaust manifold studs.
 
Until companies stop focusing so much on profits and shareholders and start focusing more on product quality and satisfied customers, these QC problems will only get worse. Ironically, better QC and better products will create more sales and more satisfied customers, which will in turn result in more profits. Capitalism, the short-term solution! LOL :D
 
This was a long time ago. A neighbor worked in the Ford plant in Edison NJ. They were building Mustangs. He said the cars were coming through the assembly line too fast for him to screw in the back seat with all the proper bolts/screws. He would screw in one or two screws and toss the leftover screws under the seat.

Years later I bought a used Mustang and there was only one screw holding the back seat in and a few loose screws under the seat.

This is from memory so the story is mostly accurate but may not have it 100% right.
 
My 2012 Ford Transit Connect didn’t make it home from purchase before the A/C switch went bad on a 90 degree day. Dealership replaced it. Besides a wheel bearing, valve cover gasket and a water pump at around 180k it still runs like a top at 210k miles.
I find most problems like my a/c switch show up early and after a shake down settles down.
Another vehicle I had, a 2003 Denali Yukon had a pressure sensor on the a/c go out while on a trip with under 5k miles on it. Ran flawlessly up until the day I sold it at 180k miles.
 
Lol right
Those of us that driver newer cars know this. I hate to break it to you-but new cars can be just as reliable as the beaters so well loved on here.

What dinosaur do you drive?
 
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