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I was saying it should have said it SHOULD have been GM.
Well Caddy sales are up. As a matter of fact Caddy outsold Mercedes in Calender Year(US sales)2005. Caddy outsold the VW brand as well. Thats hard to believe that Caddy outsold VW!
"The majority of people still don't rely on information about vehicles from Consumer Reports, J.D. Powers and Associates, Edmunds, etc. to make their purchasing decisions. It's all about the "word on the street".
I(myself)do look at Consumer Reports for reliability ratings mostly. Your right though word on the street does matter alot though in regards to people buying cars. I was saying that same thing in the other thread "What will it take for people to buy American" that if people have one good experience with Honda and Toyota cars they will likely buy another Honda and Toyota and not look at any other car makes. I like Honda don't get me wrong but I look at other cars too on the road too to see whats new in the car world.
:surprise:
As for the trans problems, there are a lot more total GM cars, old, new, wornout, under-loved, undermaintained, all around this area. They don't sit in front of the trans repair shops in proportion to their numbers. This even despite many of the H bodies from the 90s are now being bought by the low cost, no maintenance group of buyers. What are there are many foreign brands out of ratio to their numbers around this area. But they look like several years older models and probably 2nd owners and on.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
No too hard when they were practically giving them away with employee pricing.
All drawings internally have been metric since about '89 or so.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Weird name on that Buick though
Unless I am mistaken, the vast majority of the fasteners on my '02 TrailBlazer LTZ were indeed metric.
Ron M.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Actually the lug nuts are 19 mm (.75" = 19.05mm) and the alternator bolt must be 13 mm( 12.7mm = .5").
For 3 year Dependibility Chevrolet is 232 pph just a few problems better than industry average (237). Buick/Cadillac are 163/175. So the average for the 3 is probably around 210?
What would Broderick Crawford think!
http://www.highwaypatroltv.com/AutoWeek2005/
Loren
Loren
Yet, the cars have no soul. It's not that they build bad cars, just that there is always a better option for the same segment/money if you check around. So his next car will be something else. He's thinking of Lexus and I can't think of a reason why not to buy one.
I think the downfall of GM is the InterNet. No, really - lol - hear me out. The problem with GM as I said is that they don't make the *best* car for any particular segment or use. People use the InterNet for everything these days - as much as 50% of the U.S. population now, and it's just a click away to find a better car.
Need a 4*4? GM makes.. oh look... I know about the Toyota FJ coming months before I would have even ten years ago. Need a fast little roadster? The Solstice is fun, but look at the reviews and how all these other cars beat it on the racetrack...
So how to fix this? There's really only one way. GM is doomed. So I suggest something radical. When the time comes, Chrysler splits off and merges/buys out what's left.
What we need is a company with GM's quality and Chrysler's vision and designs. I don't know how that will happen at this point, but it or sometihng like it will need to happen sooner or later.
Seemed like everyone wanted a Buick. Those were the days.
Saw the new Lucerne the other day. It was $33k and had the 3.8V6 in it. Maybe I was seeing things? The interior looked pretty rich. The exterior had the usual new styling feature of the big eyes. Massive head lamps. Overall, a bland car, and one that may work for some. Personally, it looks $10K overpriced to me. Never want another car with a foot brake again. I thought that went out with the hula-hoop, but I was wrong. Portholes are back.... they look strangely out of place though. Not sure if it is just the shape, location, or size, but they are well, just wrong.
I had fun driving the ol' LeSabre back in the 60's. Style baby! The car I learned to drive with.
Loren
That definitely won't get me interested in GM.
I have. 270hp/6-speed. Quite impressive and competitive with Toyota's 268hp and Nissan's 280hp V6's. That was my first impression. But then I realized these numbers would be good if the Enclave went on sale TODAY. Until the spring of 2007, a million things can happen. That's one of GM's main problems. They never seem to realize they are aiming for a moving target, and always end up missing the boat.
Look at Toyota for example with the new LS460. They didn't aim to outpwer the STS' 320hp or the BMW 750Li's 360-hp. They knew this might not be enough when the car goes on sale. The Lexus will have a class-leading 380hp from a very high-tech 4.6L, hook to an EIGHT-speed auto tranny. That's right. Eight gears. Result is 5.5sec acceleration and V6-like mid-20 average mpg. Now that's the kind of stuff need to have to get noticed.
I agree with your point though. If GM styles all their upcoming cars like this newest Buick, we won't have as many of these GM problem threads.
This thing is downright hot for a Buick:
Now if GM doesn't cheap out on the interior Buick should have a much needed hit on their hands.
M
The LS460 doesn't compete with the S550, but the S450 which is still probably more expensive than the LS460. For the S550, Lexus will release the LS600h.
M
M
Back to GM. The Enclave is a very stylish car and a good effort from GM. I just hope they don't screw it up in a way or another like they have done on most of their products.
Looking at the two cars on paper, it will be just for some that I'm sure. On paper the LS430 did the same thing the less powerful S430. They always position the LS right in between the two V8 S-Class models.
Yes, I too hope GM doesn't mess up this most promising concept. It is actually a good looking design from GM, something we don't get from them that often. It doesn't have that typical Generic Motors look.
M
1- Cheapen out the interior.
2- Price the product so high then offer incentives.
3- Offer that 270hp V6 as an option with a standard 210hp pushroad. Yuck!
M
I may be a car nut, but know little about engines.
OHV engines do have their plusses, like fuel economy, but they don't have the refinement a product like this needs, especially if Buick wants to be the American Lexus.
M
Article says 3.6 standard with V8 optional.
That's true. In OHV, valves are open and closed by pushrods that are operated by cams in the crank case. Those pushrods extend from near the bottom of the cylinder to near the top, making them relatively long. The pushrods get exposed to extreme pressures and heat, making them elongate and 'tend' to bend, causing a deficincy in valve timing. That's exactly why pushrod engines get out of breath at higher speeds and loose their refinement. Variable Vavle Timing should help with the efficiency, but the pushrods are still there and still subjected to the same heat/stress.
In OHC engines, the valves are driven directly by the overhead cams, and therefore totally eliminating this problem. The operation here is as smooth in high-speed as it is in low speed. In fact, Overhead Cam engines can rev very high, but limited by the durability of the materials it is made from, and by the movement of fluids themselves inside the cylinder.
I didn't realize Buick was #3 in production behind Chevy and Ford. No wonder Buick has so many devotees in people who are in their higher years because Buick was popular in their youth.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Have you done much shopping through various brands to compare interiors? I've hit several showrooms again and don't see anything without plastics. The closest I've come are my neighbor's three 3.5 RLs with leather all over the place and nice dashes. Too bad he has to look forward to trans problems and other high dollar repairs.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
However, The UAW like most unions fight against the very things I just mentioned. Whether you like em' or not the UAW, like all unions are about the only voice left for your average Joe or Sue in the United States."
Re-read my last post.
Two of the three companies I offered as comparison - Boeing and General Electric - manufacture world class airplanes and locomotives with UNION labor. And the third company - Marriott - is consistently named as one of the very best companies in the country for women to work at. They offer exceptional child care programs and have a history of promoting women into the executive ranks. No union required.
The fact is, we don't live in a country where someone with limited education can expect lifetime employment at the equivalent of $75+ per hour tightening bolts 35 hours a week. At least not as long as it's a democracy and not a socialist regime. And that's precisely why my (and perhaps your) grandparents left everything behind and endured a boat trip to get to the United States. Not for a guaranteed free ride, but for an opportunity to make the most for themselves and their future generations.
You think the Gambino friendly Teamsters and UAW bosses care more about "average Joe" than Bill or Alice Marriott? And who of them should be avoiding a mirror?
Don't break a leg falling off your "my morals are higher than yours" horse. That dog doesn't hunt here.
And GM is perfect? At least your neighbor will have a car than when everything is working, is refined, and feels like quality vehicle. Unfortunately, in a GM vehicle (most anyway), you can only hope for reliability, cause the car over all "feels" like a POS.
Someone mentioned earlier transmission problems in his Trailblazer at low miles, and his trans shop told him they see these problems often. That's interesting, my trans shop told me the same thing when my trans died in my Suburban.
For fun, look up drive line clunks and rear end noises regarding GM trucks/suv's. You'll spend all day reading about these problems that are more common than most on this board want or are willing to believe. My Suburban has both problems, annoying rear diff. whine between 45-55 mph and a loud clunk in the drive line when shifting between 2-3 gear at low speeds. This drive lash problem is considered normal by GM and the dealer told me nothing can be done. I've talked to my local dealer and trans. shop and both said not to waste my money trying to get rid of the whine, cause it has a good chance of coming back. Yep, that's quality.
Now your Brougham uses the THM200-R4, which is the overdrive version of the much-maligned lightweight THM200C, so I can't explain why that one's held up so well! :P Although my Grandma's LeSabre had that same tranny, and it was fine at 157,000 miles when we got rid of it. My Mom's '86 Monte Carlo had that same tranny, and it was still fine at 192,000 when the car got totaled. I think for the most part, GM got the kinks out of that tranny after it had been on the market only a few years.
Don't you tend to overdo it when it comes to maintenance, Lemko? That might be one reason you've had good luck. My Granddad always maintained Grandma's LeSabre, and my stepdad was kinda anal with the Monte, so that might be one reason they held up so well.
Heck, a little preventive maintenance is better than a major mechanical failure or the need to purchase another car. Shoot, if Toyotas and Hondas are as good as so many claim, I could probably keep one running for forty years or more.
loren
Huh? Pushrod's bend, lose breath at higher speeds, and lose refinement? Sorry, pushrods don't bend unless you overrev an engine. No modern pushrods run out of breath at higher speeds. Heck, my LS2 revs higher than most OHC engines while pulling harder in the upper revs. And refinement is more of a function of engine isolation than the engine itself - hence the job GM did in the CTS-V to tame the LS6.
Loren