GM On the Rise

[brianl703]

The service managers/writers at the local Ford dealership are a bunch of idiots.

Ditto for the Chevy dealership in Fredericksburg. One of them outright lied to me about the condition of the brake pads on my mom's 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Classic.

Hmm...let me amend my previous statement:

I wouldn't put much stock in anything a service writer /manager has to say, since lying comes naturally to them.

 

[Rickey]

I drove an Accord, a Camry, and an Impala back in July. I bought the Impala because it felt more solid whereas the Honda and Toyota seemed disconnected and had a loose unprecise feeling in their handling. The Honda had an annoying rattle under the dash when going over tracks. Both imports lacked power on take off compared to the Impala (all v6).I am impressed with my Impala's ability to achieve 33mpg on the highway at 70 mph. GM is building good cars right now and have in the past. I still enjoy chauffering my import driving co-workers to and from their respective dealerships for various problems and fixes to their "trouble free" imports. Some have even noticed that I never need the same for my Chevies.

Rickey


It's hard to sling a bent connecting rod around here without hitting a sludged up Toyota.

 

[brianl703]

Incidentally, the power steering in my Saab 93 is great, although it's not as heavy as some European cars.

 

[LouDawg]

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GM swept the car and truck of the year honors! Infact the Aura beat the Camry by almost 3 to 1! GM keep it up, good job guys

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GM's Aura beat Toyota's Camry by a 3-1 margin in a car show in *Detroit*???? Shocking...simply shocking.

I drive a Honda and a Ford (Accord and Escape), both 2007's. Granted they're two different classes of vehicle, but the Honda just seems more refined than the Ford. However, not by much any more. The Escape is nice, tight, well put-together, drives nice, handles great, and performs admirably for a 4-cylinder. It's just not as refined and it seems like some of the materials are a little cheaper. But overall, I think it is a good product, especially the build quality. And I think U.S. autos are overall MUCH better than they've ever been...period.

I really hope GM and Ford both can get it turned around. I think the U.S. really does need them to be successful. But, with all due respect, the biggest obstacle they are going to have in succeeding is the UAW.

 

[ScottB]

Yeah, awards aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
Seriously, there's no agenda there?

 

[gedcruise]

I'm glad you like your Impala. GM could use a whole lot more buyers like you. It is too bad that only a handful of buyers who can afford an Accord or a Camry actually choose the Impala. The Impala is a great value, as was covered in another thread. GM cars are also more reliable and durable than your average Honda or Toyota would credit them to be. I am glad to see that at least one buyer drove tham all, and bought the Chevy. Maybe GM can recover?

 

[Steve S]

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TheCarConnection Commentary

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"...one cannot dismiss the dramatic improvements the industry giant has been making. Productivity is up, and so is quality."

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"What’s good for GM is good for America…” -GM chairman Charles Wilson, 1955

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CHEVROLET THE HEARTBREAK OF AMERICA. G.M sucks .

 

[Pbert25]

Well I'm sure they can, as long as they build cars people want. Ford has some cars that could turn things around well. GM needs to make the PS Pressure abit higher and Fors needs to make cars that are a little easier to mantian(Sp?).

Other than that, both GM and Fors have some great engines that have been around for some time.

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GM swept the car and truck of the year honors! Infact the Aura beat the Camry by almost 3 to 1! GM keep it up, good job guys

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GM's Aura beat Toyota's Camry by a 3-1 margin in a car show in *Detroit*???? Shocking...simply shocking.

I drive a Honda and a Ford (Accord and Escape), both 2007's. Granted they're two different classes of vehicle, but the Honda just seems more refined than the Ford. However, not by much any more. The Escape is nice, tight, well put-together, drives nice, handles great, and performs admirably for a 4-cylinder. It's just not as refined and it seems like some of the materials are a little cheaper. But overall, I think it is a good product, especially the build quality. And I think U.S. autos are overall MUCH better than they've ever been...period.

I really hope GM and Ford both can get it turned around. I think the U.S. really does need them to be successful. But, with all due respect, the biggest obstacle they are going to have in succeeding is the UAW.

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[Pbert25]

Well with the lack of understanding proper matinance, is one of the reasons for disliking GM cars. I went from having a Toyota Matrix to having a Used Pontiac Grand Prix. The No to Domestics crowd isn't much better than Domestics Only crowd.

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TheCarConnection Commentary

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"...one cannot dismiss the dramatic improvements the industry giant has been making. Productivity is up, and so is quality."

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"What’s good for GM is good for America…” -GM chairman Charles Wilson, 1955

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CHEVROLET THE HEARTBREAK OF AMERICA. G.M sucks .

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[Duffman77]

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Well I'm sure they can, as long as they build cars people want.

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How do I go about this without turning this into 3 pages?
I think that the above statement is GM's problem. In my mind they stopped building cars people wanted to buy when they discontinued the G body in 1988. Why is that you cant get a RWD midsize (GTO not available here in Canada). Outside of the old Camaro/Firebird you could not get a manual transmission in anything besides a 4 cylinder (& MD trucks).
I have bought 2 new vehicles since I graduated university and I have never even went for a test drive in a GM product, and I worked at a GM dealer while at school and come from a big GM family.
My perception of the problem with GM is that it is not run by "car guys" (even though Bob Lutz is suppose to be a car guy).
GM needs to seriously restructure its product lines and build quality cars at the expense of a little profit to build back its customer base.

 

[brianl703]

How many people want RWD and how many people want manual transmissions? I like the option of having a manual transmission--both my cars have it--but I'm well aware that I'm in the minority of car owners in that regard!

 

[Duffman77]

I think you might be suprised, there were alot of disapointed people when GM discontinued the G-Body. I think that the rise in popularity of trucks and full size SUVs were a direct result of GM and later Ford backing away from the midsize RWD platforms. Those platforms are much easier for the backyard mechanic to work on. As for the manual transmission, I wonder how many buyers the north americans lost to the asians because there were no sporty manual transmission cars with a performance engine. I stand by my statement GM builds cars it wants to sell first, cars people want to buy second (the 2 dont have to be exclusive from one anouther).

 

[peterr]

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How many people want RWD and how many people want manual transmissions? I like the option of having a manual transmission--both my cars have it--but I'm well aware that I'm in the minority of car owners in that regard!

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I got a 1994 Mazda MX-3 as my winter car instead of taking my GF's old 2000 Acura EL, with it heated leather seats and all, almost entirely becuase I could not take that automatic transmission as my daily driver.

And my summer car is RWD. Just not as practical for a Winter only car in Canada, although I have driven RWD cars year round (with the proper rubber)

 

[Duffman77]

Agreed, the manual transmission is better in the winter, more control on slippery roads, better feel for putting the proper amount of power down on ice, and the ability to rock it when stuck.

 

[Pbert25]

Even thought I hear that some people want there cars that ways, but for the most part small cars with Autos and Mid Size cars with autos sell. Sporty MT cars really don't sell as some think. I'm sure scence you live in the Provence of Alberta in Canada, you don't have the Traffic that a Big City or Suburban Area has. When you get stuck in Traffic for 30+ Minutes, you become happy that you have an auto. Everything has it purpose and for every S2000 or WRX sold, 2 or more Auto Toyotas,Ford,GM,DCX,etc.. are sold. If sporty MT cars sold well like the old muscle cars, Toyota would be in the Tank right now.

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I think you might be suprised, there were alot of disapointed people when GM discontinued the G-Body. I think that the rise in popularity of trucks and full size SUVs were a direct result of GM and later Ford backing away from the midsize RWD platforms. Those platforms are much easier for the backyard mechanic to work on. As for the manual transmission, I wonder how many buyers the north americans lost to the asians because there were no sporty manual transmission cars with a performance engine. I stand by my statement GM builds cars it wants to sell first, cars people want to buy second (the 2 dont have to be exclusive from one anouther).

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[KBFXDLI]

Well if GM is on the rise...it's news to me. My new YukonXl has been to the shop 7 times for warranty repairs. Now I think I have the bugs out but the selling dealer treated me very poorly. On the other side of the coin..my wifes Lexus RX330 has had 5 recalls.......the daughters 02 used honda crv is flawless....go figure at 1/2 the price of the other two "Luxury" vehicles. I'm looking real hard at another Honda in the driveway. BTW, on my birth certificate it says "fathers place of employment: Chevrolet" and I'm over 50.

 

[LouDawg]

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Well if GM is on the rise...it's news to me. My new YukonXl has been to the shop 7 times for warranty repairs. Now I think I have the bugs out but the selling dealer treated me very poorly. On the other side of the coin..my wifes Lexus RX330 has had 5 recalls.......the daughters 02 used honda crv is flawless....go figure at 1/2 the price of the other two "Luxury" vehicles. I'm looking real hard at another Honda in the driveway. BTW, on my birth certificate it says "fathers place of employment: Chevrolet" and I'm over 50.

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Knock on wood, haven't had a bad Honda yet.

Seems like lots of the so-called luxury cars have more problems than the "regular" cars. Cadillac? BMW? Mercedes? Audi? Lincoln? No thanks...give me a Honda, Toyota, or even a Ford!

 

[Duffman77]

Pbert25,
While you are partially right that I do not endure 35 minute traffic jams, I do live in a city of 800,000 people so I do go out into traffic.
What I am getting at is/was why cant I get a MT in a Charger/Grand Prix/Ford 500 or the next size down (Old Grand Am, I am not up to speed on the current GM lineup).
The reason the Camaro/Firebird died was to get the high HP 6 speed cars you had to spend $40000 Cdn to get it. It had cramped rear seats for a large bodied car and not great trunk space either. It basically came down to being a toy 2nd car and at 40K it was just too expensive. That is why I never considered it, even though I am in that demographic to buy the car. I would like to see GM make the current Impala with V8, only with a MT and RWD. The car needs to be max $30,000 Cdn (let me delete options if I need to). I guess to put it a better way, I want a mustang GT with a more practical body than the current pony car. I will state again that the GTO isnt available here in Canada for some reason, but I bet if it was it would be $40,000 Cdn.

 

[Mokanic]

Are you kidding? The owner's wife drives a LS430 and half the guys in the shop have at least one rice-burner in their yard. To call people stupid or liars becouse they refuse to purchase a vehicle that they see fail on a daily basis due to poor quality is the same arrogant attitude that GM has exemplified in their dealing with the buying public.
While they have their head in the sand Toyota and Honda quietly and consistantly consume more and more of the market share by building cars and trucks that people want and that people can trust to deliver long-term reliability as well as resale value.

 

[norseman]

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I'm guessing you haven't driven a Honda. Maybe not a Toyota either.

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Sure I've driven both. Both are decent cars, but not better than what GM is putting on the street today. The Aura completely out classes both the Accord and especially the new (you might have a 6-speed or you might not) Crapmry. I can’t wait to test drive a new Pontiac G8 by GM Holden!!