Hold everything!!! '99 GMC Safari Van -- best van made in my opinion. Wish I could buy another one when this one eventually dies. Have 170,000 miles on it and have put in minimum repairs and it still burns NO OIL between changes, and I get better than 20 mpg ...
taborekle wrote: Just my two bits worth into the void...
Use to own a Ford, currently own a Toyota. The quality between them was night and day.
My mananger use to own a Toyota Tacoma. He gave it to his kid at 150K miles (with no problems) and treated himself to a new Chevy S10. Nothing but problems, problems, problems. He rated it a piece of junk. Couldn't wait to get back to a Toyota product.
For those of you that say, "But wait, the NEW IMPROVED American car manufacturers are now building quality cars", well, back in the 70's and 80's and 90's they told the American public that they cars were NEW IMPROVED quality cars and were superior. The Americans that bought into them got burned, and had a better car experience when they went foreign manufacturer. That's how the Toyota and some of the others got to be big in the US. It's because they made a better car and they did that decade after decade and slowly they won over a domestic car buying base.
Just look at the Towing and Trailering Forum on RV.NET for people trading out their stock GM hitches because they were inferior.
Larry
Well, I must say you have certainly summed up the problem in a very few words. Typical attitude if it is foreign built it must be better because of " In the old days".
Want to tell old day stories? I sold Toyotas in 1968 and they rode terrible, handled worse, were built very poorly, and were unsuited for American use. Doesn't have much to do with today's Toyota which is an excellent vehicle the same as many Ford and GM vehicles are. At some point we should wake up to the fact it is an economic problem for the US and not a question of what used to be!
Neither company has built anything that remotely interests me in the last 5+ years. Neither has built a truck that interests me since Reagan was in the White House.
Very happy with my Dodge Magnum.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
Quote: You got me on the 4 banger Malibu. I haven't looked at 4 bangers for midsize cars
Nope, you haven't...the Malibu is a compact, no matter what car-rental companies might tell you. Chevrolet no longer builds a mid-size (the Impala is considered fullsize, IIRC). The Generic Morons have done essentially nothing right in many years, but they seem to finally be coming around with the Malibu, CTS, and even the Cobalt.
The old mid 90s to 2007 Malibu might have been a compact (I don't know the cutoff). The new 08 Malibu is a midsizer. Interior space feel rivals the Impala. North American Car of the Year. But lagging a bit in V6 fuel mileage (apples to apples. I didn't look at the pushrod 3.5 numbers since only the 3.6 is a match in power and smoothness for Toyotas 3.5 liter, 24 valve VVT engine).
It always makes me laugh how long it take some people to update their minds.
Some new 4-cylinders offer more HP, than the older "classic" 454. BMW pumps 340 HP from 6-cylinders.
My friend drives Honda Civic with 4-cylinders. Quite a big car and with over 150 HP it actually kicks. Manual transmission helps.
Ride comfort is another story.
My step-mom in in Toyotas for a generation. Couple of Camrys and Avalon lately. Those are luxury vehicles with good performance.
Pessimist sees dark tunnel, optimist sees a light at the end, realist sees lights of coming train.Engineer sees 3 idiots on the tracks.
Both of the GM vehicles I owned were case studies in planned obsolescence; I'll never buy one again. While domestic automakers are more concerned with cosmetics the Japanese and others have put their R & D dollars into quality, performance and reliability. Sure, they were cheesy products in the 50's & 60's, but that's all changed now, hasn't it?
taborekle wrote: For those of you that say, "But wait, the NEW IMPROVED American car manufacturers are now building quality cars", well, back in the 70's and 80's and 90's they told the American public that they cars were NEW IMPROVED quality cars and were superior.
I have a friend who has 395,000 miles on his '93 C1500 Chevy truck, built in an era when no manufacturers vehicles were built as good as they are today. The heads, intake manifold, or oil pan have never been removed. The tranny has never been unbolted from the motor. Yup, they just don't make 'em like they used to.
Drbolasky wrote: Both of the GM vehicles I owned were case studies in planned obsolescence; I'll never buy one again. While domestic automakers are more concerned with cosmetics the Japanese and others have put their R & D dollars into quality, performance and reliability. Sure, they were cheesy products in the 50's & 60's, but that's all changed now, hasn't it?
Yes, it has changed. The American manufacturer has caught up.
Offline
