Originally Posted By: tig1
Well if every American bought American then our car companies wouldn't need bail outs. So instead of driving very good American cars we can just drive foreign, let the taxes go overseas, reduce our tax base, increase our debt for our children, see to it more Americans loss their jobs, and drive cars that are sludgers with above average noisey engines, and sky high prices for parts down the road.
Yeaaaaa Foreign!
You mean like my '94 Geo Prizm. Is that foreign or domestic? It was built in a UAW plant in Freemont, CA in a joint venture by Toyota and GM.
That car at 235K miles is far quieter than every Cavalier I've heard from the same vintage.
Parts don't seem to be more expensive. Sure I've done two timing belts since I bought it at 106K miles. But then I don't have a lot of other repairs to do.
When I look at my wife's Camry at 204K miles today, only ONE repair in 7 years. No timing belt, and the 2.4L 4 cylinder you can barely hear run. No sludge, no failed transmissions, etc.
Just do brakes and tires and struts, oil changes, two tune ups and transmissions services, put gas in it and it goes.
Why would I look at another GM, after fixing transmissions before 100K miles in over 1/2 of the GM's I've owned to date? Or replacing head gaskets in a 1990's Pontiac Sunbird before 75K miles.
And before you say that's the past, I'll say that's the problem. I've been driving GM since 1981. My '66 Nova was bulletproof and survived me as a teen driver.
The problem is my GM experience never got better than that, and I tried.
If the only car to survive and thrive was the one abused, then what did that say about GM's for those 20 some years I gave them a chance?
One day, I saw this used Prizm for sale, it was in good shape at 106K miles with service records. Only failure it had in that 106K miles was the Delco alternator that was replaced by the PO. So I bought it almost 6 years ago today.
Now, nearly 130K miles later in the past 6 years, and I'm convinced. Far fewer repairs than any GM, Ford or Dodge I've previously owned. I met my wife, she came from Fords and after one too many Taurus transmission failures, she bought a 2002 Camry.
Her experience was night and day.
Do we care for our cars any differently? Not really. The only difference I would say was with how I treated the '66 Nova. It was flat out abused and hung in there.
Everything else was meticulously maintained. Yet the ownership experience and cost/mile is night and day. Our Toyotas are far less expensive to own and operate, and I have the data. I save ALL the costs in my PDA. So I know.
The Prizm is easily 6-7 cents/mile cheaper to drive than the Buick it replaced, and while it gets a little better gas mileage, fuel is about double what it was most of the time I had the Buick.
The difference is repair costs.
So you can tell me I'm the problem, if you would like. But I'm not buying it. The problem was my prior experience for 20 some years buying GM.
I don't hate GM. I hope they succeed. I'd like them or Ford to consistently become and REMAIN the top brands when it comes to reliability, value and resale.
But they are not there yet.
They are moving in the right direction.
But as I said, it's not a position that will be corrected over night. They have to get on top and STAY there for a generation, that's 20 some years, in my opinion, to regain the market share lost with mediocrity and complacency.
Well if every American bought American then our car companies wouldn't need bail outs. So instead of driving very good American cars we can just drive foreign, let the taxes go overseas, reduce our tax base, increase our debt for our children, see to it more Americans loss their jobs, and drive cars that are sludgers with above average noisey engines, and sky high prices for parts down the road.
Yeaaaaa Foreign!
You mean like my '94 Geo Prizm. Is that foreign or domestic? It was built in a UAW plant in Freemont, CA in a joint venture by Toyota and GM.
That car at 235K miles is far quieter than every Cavalier I've heard from the same vintage.
Parts don't seem to be more expensive. Sure I've done two timing belts since I bought it at 106K miles. But then I don't have a lot of other repairs to do.
When I look at my wife's Camry at 204K miles today, only ONE repair in 7 years. No timing belt, and the 2.4L 4 cylinder you can barely hear run. No sludge, no failed transmissions, etc.
Just do brakes and tires and struts, oil changes, two tune ups and transmissions services, put gas in it and it goes.
Why would I look at another GM, after fixing transmissions before 100K miles in over 1/2 of the GM's I've owned to date? Or replacing head gaskets in a 1990's Pontiac Sunbird before 75K miles.
And before you say that's the past, I'll say that's the problem. I've been driving GM since 1981. My '66 Nova was bulletproof and survived me as a teen driver.
The problem is my GM experience never got better than that, and I tried.
If the only car to survive and thrive was the one abused, then what did that say about GM's for those 20 some years I gave them a chance?
One day, I saw this used Prizm for sale, it was in good shape at 106K miles with service records. Only failure it had in that 106K miles was the Delco alternator that was replaced by the PO. So I bought it almost 6 years ago today.
Now, nearly 130K miles later in the past 6 years, and I'm convinced. Far fewer repairs than any GM, Ford or Dodge I've previously owned. I met my wife, she came from Fords and after one too many Taurus transmission failures, she bought a 2002 Camry.
Her experience was night and day.
Do we care for our cars any differently? Not really. The only difference I would say was with how I treated the '66 Nova. It was flat out abused and hung in there.
Everything else was meticulously maintained. Yet the ownership experience and cost/mile is night and day. Our Toyotas are far less expensive to own and operate, and I have the data. I save ALL the costs in my PDA. So I know.
The Prizm is easily 6-7 cents/mile cheaper to drive than the Buick it replaced, and while it gets a little better gas mileage, fuel is about double what it was most of the time I had the Buick.
The difference is repair costs.
So you can tell me I'm the problem, if you would like. But I'm not buying it. The problem was my prior experience for 20 some years buying GM.
I don't hate GM. I hope they succeed. I'd like them or Ford to consistently become and REMAIN the top brands when it comes to reliability, value and resale.
But they are not there yet.
They are moving in the right direction.
But as I said, it's not a position that will be corrected over night. They have to get on top and STAY there for a generation, that's 20 some years, in my opinion, to regain the market share lost with mediocrity and complacency.
