GM Layoffs

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I have a friend who recently bought a 1995 Explorer from one of his customers. He's a mechanic. I once made some disparaging comment about the Explorer (before he bought his) and he said, "No, they're great! Ford did a great job on them!".

Regarding tires, another friend of mine has a '97 F150 with something like 100K on the tires (he rotated them). I told him he probably ought to replace them before they blow out due to dry rot; I'm pretty sure they're getting close to 6 years old.
 
Amkeer, this discussion is about GM, and I never mentioned anything about Ford. I had a bad Ford experience too. I just think GM takes a bad rap. But anyway, it seems like you aren't happy unless you have something nasty to say about somebody.
 
I have never owned a Ford only GM so I can't relate to those experiences. My GM's had stupid things go wrong with them and I got tired of it. When Toyota does that to me I will dump them too. It hasn't happened yet in 21 years. It only took GM 6 to turn me away.

Your last sentence I will disregard.

In any event I will say this again, I hope GM succeeds and gets back to making money.
 
Ironically, the "quality spread" is far closer today than it has ever been. And the American dealerships have no monopoly on the concept of screwing you with a smile.

Tim, my Infiniti dealer charges $12.00 (twelve dollars) for a single quart bottle of the ATF my G35 requires (Nissan Matic-J). Really, I'm not kidding. A full flush-type change uses up around 12 quarts. Do the math. Then try to find a GM dealer that's charging even one-half as much for a bottle of Dexron ATF.
 
"Some may say your 'Asian' car won't last as long as a GM, well, prove it to me, I have yet to see it happen."

We've never had a GM, but currently own two Fords and one Dodge. As mentioned above our Civic only lasted 120k miles, while we currently have over 196k miles on the older Taurus. I'll grant that most would have dumped it at about 170k miles as a lot of problems surfaced after oil consumption increased dramatically when trying a newer 5w30, but since I do my own work we're still driving it. Reliability (lack of failures) doesn't always equate to durability (long lasting), as the Civic was pretty reliable.
 
Get the ATF from a Caddy Dealer.....

I Really beleive that if 'Asian' cars were not as reliable/durable as a GM product, They would not now be enjoying the feast of being #1 and #1 on the market.
 
Huh?

One of the nice things about Ford, and, I assume, GM, is that they don't have separate parts for the Lincoln/Caddy divisions. Any GM dealership can order caddy parts, any Ford dealership can order lincoln parts and if it's the same part as used on other models it's gonna have the SAME part number.

Try getting a Lexus part from a Toyota dealer..or an Acura part from a Honda dealer. They can't do it. In the case of Lexus/Toyota, even the part numbers are different (for identical parts, and yes, Lexus parts cost more..all this according to my mechanic).
 
"I Really beleive that if 'Asian' cars were not as reliable/durable as a GM product, They would not now be enjoying the feast of being #1 and #1 on the market."

#1 at what most people want to buy, but that doesn't equate to #1 across the board. You don't see Japanese 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks towing big things / hauling heavy loads, and in our experience you don't see Japanese sedans with bench front seats taking the #1 spot, as they don't make either.
 
''I Really beleive that if 'Asian' cars were not as reliable/durable as a GM product, They would not now be enjoying the feast of being #1 and #1 on the market.''

I am sure they deserve to be #1 just like Fram and Windows
 
For a long lasting engine GM has made many. Anyone ever own a "4-Tech" iron duke, SBC, Cavalier OHV 2.0 or 2.2, 3.8? That's just what I can think of right now. Anyway, like I said before, GM takes a lot of undeserved bashing on this site and from car rags.
 
I'm not bashing GM, just pointing out their deficiences when compared to the rest of the market. Making underpowered engines is an anti-selling point. Continuing to make coolant leaking OHV engines is another wonderful decision.

I give Ford credit, they've given much of their old technology the heave-ho in favor of newer ideas. The 3.0 24V Duratech makes more sense than that cr@ppy 3.8L coolant leaker. They gave up on the OHV design in favor of the 4.6L family of engines. Yeah, they had their issues, but Ford is willing to move forward, not sit in idle and watch the market slip past them. Ford's CEO is a "car guy", and it shows.
 
..except that pretty much all of Ford's OHC engines happened long before their current CEO did.

Ford's current CEO looks good, but remember, the one before him (Nasser) was pretty bad.
 
"In any event I will say this again, I hope GM succeeds and gets back to making money."

I think every American wants GM to survive...Problem is, with thier bloated internal hand-in-the-pocket pork-rolling, and thier outdated designs, downright crappy service and warrenty fights, it is just a matter of time. Someone earlier mentioned they used to couldnt wait for September to roll around for the new cars. I couldnt either, but it wasn't for GM. It was for one of those 'Asian' cars. Reasoning? The 'Asian' car I thought had better styling, options I wanted, more of those options, powerful engine with decent milaege, lower cost, still built here in the US, and when the engine craps out at 37,000 miles, my dealer will replace it.... A GM dealer will smile and hand me a $4000 repair bill and say Have a nice day!

Some may say your 'Asian' car won't last as long as a GM, well, prove it to me, I have yet to see it happen. You find an Asian 'crapola', I'll find you 2 GM's...The quality of others are there, like it or not, competition is there, old corporate bloated 'buy American' is out. GM is the proof of that seed, and until they cahnge thier whole outlook on manufacturing, quality control, and that super-bloated management, they will fall, and fall hard.

Yes, I hope GM does succeed. THey have been an American Mainstay for decades. I just hope they realise they need change before it is too late.
 
"I'm not bashing GM, just pointing out their deficiences when compared to the rest of the market. Making underpowered engines is an anti-selling point."

Accords and Camrys aren't considered performance vehicles, well, this is the US, so I guess they've sold well because a lot of people consider them so; ".....hang on tight Marge, the forces are almost unbearable, we're going to break the (speed) limit again..." :^)
 
They aren't exactly performance vehicles but still faster than most. Most Japanese V6 sedans will run circles around the majority of cars on the road, and walk away from them on a drag strip. Altimas run low 14's.

What does GM make to compete with that?
 
"Most Japanese V6 sedans will run circles around the majority of cars on the road, and walk away from them on a drag strip. Altimas run low 14's."

2/3rds of Camrys sold are with the 4 cyl engine and an automatic tranny, some more are sold with the manual, so it seems that a good majority are sold with a 4 cyl. I don't about the Accord but I'll guess it's about the same. I'd rather have a larger displacement/lower output engine than a smaller displacement / higher output engine, but I'm biased as our 87 Civic with a 1.5L 4 cyl only lasted 120k miles.
 
quote:
Try getting a Lexus part from a Toyota dealer..or an Acura part from a Honda dealer. They can't do it. In the case of Lexus/Toyota, even the part numbers are different (for identical parts, and yes, Lexus parts cost more..all this according to my mechanic).
Click to expand...
I did that all the time, between Civic and Integra parts from dealer on both sides. The thing is, those parts that you think are the same are actually "slightly different". Yes, it will work if you put it in the other car but they will work slightly different. Example: Timing belt and water pump between Vtec and non-Vtec B series engine on Honda. They will fit, but the ratio is different.

Same goes for things like timing belt cover, radiator, and springs/shocks. If you know who OEM them and buy directly from those OEM, you can get what you want for 2/3 the price what Honda/Acura charges.
 
I grew up with GM, Dodge, and Ford vehicles in my family. My deceased uncle worked for AMC (remember them?) and Chevrolet for years. I have owned three Jeeps in the past 5 years (still drive a Wrangler). Also, I attended automotive school for a while.

In my personal experience, there is a vast difference in quality between American-built and Japanese-built vehicles; the latter being clearly superior.

My wife and I have owned a Subaru for four years. It's approaching 60K, and, to date, we haven't experienced a single problem with it. I can't say the same thing about any American car we've owned for a similar period.

Just pick up any Consumer Report automotive guide and read their lineup of vehicle reliablity reports. American and European cars pretty much tie for c***** quality control.

There are primarily three problems with the big three: 1) unions; 2) federal gov't; and 3) management, in that exact order of least competent to most competent. Now the taxpayers will probably have to foot the bill for this mess: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/03/AR2005120301326_pf.html.
 
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