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On the other hand, some USA parts suppliers manufacture parts used in not only domestic vehicles, but imports as well. For example, Guardian West, one of the world's largest bumper manufacturers, makes bumpers for practically all the pickups, domestic or imports - and, they're located in central Illinois, and western Indiana.
"I still have a problem swallowing the 5 year/100K thing. Does that mean their cars rust away if you don't drive them a lot? Does it mean that they are designed to last only 5 years no matter how much you drive them, then on year 5 and day 1 they fall apart? "
I hope you are joking because that statement is ridiculous. It's not even possible to design components so precisely that you could ensure their failure after 5 years and one day. Also, the point of the 100k mile part of the warranty is to show that GM believes their powertrain components will last for 100K miles+ without a problem. My question is this: why dont Toyota and Honda offer healthier warranties if their products never have problems? People say GM should "stand behind their products" and offer 7 year/ 150k bumper to bumper warranties and yet the highest quality players in the game dont even do anything CLOSE to that. If a 5 year warranty doesnt inspire any confidence in GM products than I dont think anything will. Even luxury automakers dont offer more than that in spite of the high prices they command.
Free maitenance is largely overrated because today's cars dont need much maintenance. If GM offered free maintenance for 5 years it would save you a couple hundred bucks at the most because GM cars only need oil changes and air filter changes for the most part. No tune ups, timing belt replacements, etc.
"Also, Honda steps up to the plate and covers things that should be covered, whether its under warranty or not. "
I havent heard good stories about import dealers stepping up to make warranty replacements. This is news to me. I NEVER had a problem getting my warranty work done without hassle, even on minor items like a squeaking door hinge that many people would've ignored.
I looked into their stock on the nippondenso.com webpage for investors so I could invest in this American company and it's traded on the Tokyo exchange. Is that on Wall Street? I'm bad in geography, apparently.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2. There are cheap four cylinder domestic cars on the market now: Ion, Cobalt, G5, HHR, Caliber, Malibu, Fusion, Focus. The Astra is coming later this year to replace the Ion.
3. GM redesigns its cars every 5-6 years. Toyota uses a 5 year cycle in most cases. The Highlander is on a 7 year cycle though. Most import "refereshes" are a joke and are barely noticable to the average buyer. MB, BMW and Toyota are famous for this.
4. Domestics often drop model names due to baggage with those model names. Some people feel this is logical while others do not. Import companies are constantly introducing new model names. Remember the Legend, Vigor and Integra?
5. With the exception of the luxury car class domestic vehicles usually are the most powerful in class. The Cobalt is more powerful than it's peers as is the 300C, Outlook/Acadia, Tahoe, Impala SS, Corvette, Mustang GT, etc.
It's only logical to produce as much as possible where you sell the finished product -- greatly reduces shipping costs and insulates the automaker from international currency fluctuations.
The latest trend for the newest assembly plants, for both the traditional Detroit automakers and the import brands, is to build supplier parks adjacent to the plants, or in some cases, have the suppliers inside the plants.
I'd rather know what the WHOLE picture is.
If I were running a small business, I suppose I could say I would have made a profit this year, except I had to make a "one-time" charge to replace the roof of my plant.
More damagingly, I think, is that in this survey, the people who didn't buy/consider American makes did so for reasons to do with the car -- reliability, style, etc. The fact that such a huge percentage of domestic sales are spurred on by what can only be described as jingoism doesn't bode well for the American manufacturers, imo.
"What are you saying that Asian car detractors are not a growing demographic(not in the midwest anyway.) I'll agree with you if thats what you are saying."
Yes -- I think the demographic that would reject Asian makes simply because they're Asian is a shrinking and old-skewing demographic. As the unions continue to diminish in power and influence, as young people from the Midwest flee to the coasts and to the sunbelt at the earliest opportunity, and as folks with bad memories of WWII age, the number of people who harbor a non-product-related bias against Asian makes is going to eventually dwindle away to nothing.
Hopefully by then the big 2.5 will be able to field a competitive product line across the board, because "This is Ouuurrrr Country" ain't gonna cut it anymore, not even to a limited extent.
Hey, you asked me to spread the word, no?
But when the warranty came out there was no increase to cover it.
None are "swept" under the rug. If you look at the releases all the data is there. My point was that GM is making profits on their vehicle sales. However it cost money to buyout employees, etc. AND they make money selling assets (GMAC/Suzuki).
You are absolutely right on the overall cash burn and GM hopefully will not have huge money outlays in the near future and get back to making money overall.
likely will be flat from last year in the second half, he said.
I'd be very interested in knowing the specic models that 120K will involve.
gas is cheap again and incentives are high on older models.
Though import players haven't played a huge role in the recovery, there are also signs that their large SUVs are drawing more interest.
James Akinola, new car sales manager at Castle Toyota in Baltimore, said SUV sales are booming despite mild conditions this winter that could have otherwise threatened demand. He credited improved conditions at the fuel pump.
"I can tell you a lot of people are coming in to buy pickup trucks and SUVs, and you can attribute that directly to gas prices being low." He noted strong demand for Toyota Motor Corp.'s 4-Runner SUV and an unusually robust appetite for gas-guzzling V-8 engines.
As bigger vehicles meet stronger demand, Castle Toyota's hybrid-electric vehicle sales "are at a standstill now," Akinola said. The dealership is offering a $3,000 discount on hybrid SUVs and a $1,000 discount on the Prius sedan.
You need to go check the Equinox, G6 or Cobalt Problems & Solutions forums for a start.
Do you have this set-up as a template?
Would you care to elaborate on what baggage means?
Do you get those spills and handprints at GM or Mr Goodwrench? Don't think it was at a Honda or Toyota dealer.
I do not have access to individual model data anymore but the 2006 JD Power VDS (3 years reliability) has Pontiac at Industry average at 2.3 problems per car. Toyota at 1.8. Not a heck of a lot of difference.
For initial quality Pontiac is at 1.3 while Toyota is at 1.1. Again not much of a difference.
Toyota's 1.8 problems is probably a loose plastic panel on the interior, and a power seat that isn't perfectly smooth moving up and down. $$ small money items.
Changed NEON to Calibre... OK.... Whatever you want to call it, it doesn't matter to me.
Named another new vehicle the Nitro..... too close to Neon.. dangerous baggage there!
Baggage would be: That was the biggest piece of junk I ever bought or drove. That is definitely a car I'll never buy again. That was the worst service I've ever received at a dealer, and I went to 2 different one's in Sacramento and one in San Luis Obispo. They all cheated you. But the biggest cheat of all is that they didn't sell these for less than 4 figures, which is how much they are really worth, even brand new.
Its just too bad the early ones had all of the head gasket problems.
An ACR Neon is on my short list for a future NASA Rally Car or SCCA RallyCross car.
Its just too bad the early ones had all of the head gasket problems.
You know... the Neon was a fairly decent car when it ran. Problem is it seemed it was in the shop all of the time, consistently, over the years, even though it was babied and taken care of very well. The Neon's just didn't run reliably or dependably, and it seemed every problem it has was a $200+ problem.
The truth is it was more than just the early models that had head gasket problems. I've read through the forums both here and on msn, and it seems that Dodge never made an effort to ever improve the Neon in the slightest bit; especially regarding Head Gaskets and Auto Tranny. It's my father's fault I got the 3 speed auto version that only lasted 65K miles, I'd of taken the 5 speed, but still, it only lasted 65K miles! He said I would of crashed the 5 speed, he felt auto was safer.
But besides head gaskets, you had faulty electrical wiring and batteries that corroded starting at the terminals, finishing at the starter. You had leaky O rings, bad O2 sensors, bad serpentine belts, bad rattles and wind noise, bad parking brakes, bad windshields and body structure, bad auto transmissions, inefficient gas guzzling engine when you forced it to act like the 132HP engine it was supposed to be. When you drove for efficiency it was weak and slow, and not really that gas efficient. You had bad dashboards, bad seals, bad glues, bad door/window trimmings, leaky gas tanks.
About the only thing that never went completely wrong was the engine (if you don't count head gaskets leaking - which in turn led to low coolant, which in turn led to overheating), and the ABS brakes (though they were loud). Over the years, the car felt like it was falling apart in that the rattles got worse, louder, and occurred in more places.
Oh yeah, I forgot, one of the more expensive repairs, the AC compressor failing literally on day 1 after 3 years/36K mile warranty expiration, which in turn led to a burnt timing belt that had to be replaced. The AC replacement is very expensive!
Do leaky head gaskets fall into powertraiN? If not, then it was just 1.. the tranny failing. Out of like 100 issues.
Toyota's 1.8 problems is probably a loose plastic panel on the interior, and a power seat that isn't perfectly smooth moving up and down. $$ small money items.
Probably. I'm sure you have the data to back it up. Or is it just more opinion and what you think? I'm sure it is because of those expensive powertrain issues that GM has the 100,000 mile warranty and Toyota does not. Makes real sense doesn't it? GM takes on a warranty program that will put it out of business? NOT. :P
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=csr&story=csrCsi&ref- erer=advice&aff=msnbc
Uhh, yea the engine head gaskets would be part of the powertrain. What vehicle/year are we talking about?
Cars.com Customer Service Satisfaction Retention
is that Buick Customers LOVE their dealers
Customer Service Ratings
Lexus 912
Buick 911
Cadillac 909
Jaguar 908
Sales Satisfaction
Jaguar 889
Lexus 888
Buick 878
But Buick's Customer retention rate is below average:
Customer Retention
Industry Average 48.4%
Jaguar 48.3%
Subaru 48.0%
Audi 46.0%
Saturn 45.0%
Dodge 44.5%
Buick 44.4%
Note that Buick isn't the lowest by any means, but I didn't want to past the whole table here.
Same with Jaguar. What's going on here? We know it isn't reliability with Buick.... they've done well.
Not to perpetuate a stereotype, but maybe the reason Buick's retention rate is low is because its customers die before they can make another trip back for a new car?
You know.. the morning after delivery (first morning I had it/first full day cause it arrived late in the afternoon) it didn't start in the morning. Faulty fuel pump and sensor or something like that. That was the first time it had to be towed, right out of my garage. That should of been my signal to scream and holler for a refund. That was like an evil omen, only I didn't heed the warning.
I had my Neon garaged, and washed religiously every 2 weeks. Although it wasn't garaged the last 2 years I had it, it didn't display signs of peeling (yet) on the paint. Good quality car washes with good quality soap and polishers and waxes make the difference. Like I said; I babied it; unfortunately, the thing was designed to require tow truck service to move.
attempted to trade in my Impala (2LT 8500 miles, Bose, 6 CD changer, ABS, Traction) on a 2006 program Cadillac and got a quote of $13,000 from the Chevy/Cadillac dealer. He is selling program Impalas for $16,800-18,000. If you ever want to get rid of your Impala sell it privately. I for one will never again purchase a new GM product. A program car with a few thousand miles costs $7,000 less. I guess I'll probably do what thousands have already done henceforth and head to Toyota or Honda where the cars hold their resale value. Must be a reason why. A $10,000 depreciation in 9 months on a midsize domestic car seems rather steep!!!!
#2179 of 2282 Re: Trade In Value of 2006 Impala [dispencer1] by charts2 Dec 19, 2006 (5:26 pm)
I like the Impala BUT I have been stating for a few years now its better to buy a used Impala then a new one. No one knows that some circumstance might force a person to sell their car earlier then anticipated and get the surprise of their life of the terrible resale value of these cars. Its near impossible to sell these cars privately, there are thousands dumped on used car lots every year by fleet customers depressing values including LTZs and a few SS cars. Its a win situation and a buyers market for 1 or 2 year old Impalas. I am not knocking the car just giving the facts. GM is reducing the number of cars sold to fleets. Last year Honda/Toyota sold around 11% each to fleets. 2005 over 40% of Impalas went to fleet services.
•17 am)
#2180 of 2282 Re: Trade In Value of 2006 Impala [charts2] by billwfriend Dec 20, 2006 (5:27 am)
I'm sorry you didn't do your homework ahead of time. Domestic automakers fill rental fleets with their vehicles (something Toyota is begging to do now too), so they depreciate ALOT over the first 36 months, as supply of used domestic vehicles far outpaces demand.
This isn't anything new... been this way for a couple decades now....
I know that GM started cutting their fleet sales back last year, but it looks like there's a long way to go.
Most people seem to like the cars... but not the resale.
Ok, I hope not. Im' 38 and own 3 Buicks
I can only surmise but most likely these buyers are not coming back because this Buick is their last car. Buick buyers are an older demographic (average age around 65). We all know that. So about half of the buyers are over 65 at time of purchase.
The cars are of such high quality that they are keeping them a long time and older folks tend to keep cars longer because they do not put as many miles on them, etc.. So if a 65 year old keeps his car 10 years he is 75 and is probably not going to buy another one. About half are over 65 at the purchase time so many buy at 70, 75, etc. and are rally not going to get another car at 80, 85, 90.
make sense?
Also.... during one of the many breakdowns I rented a Chevy Cavalier... didn't seem much better to me.
Also.. I read a lot of 1998, 1999 Neon reviews and consumer statements and not much different from the writers of the 1995/96 Neon owner commentators.
Would I buy a GM car before a Dodge. Yes.
Main reason: GM has upped their warranty and Dodge hasn't, plus chrysler dodge screwed me on repairs and never offered to pay for anything after 3 yr/36K mark.
Why haven't Ford and Dodge followed suit to copy GM's warranty plan? Seems to me that there maybe be American autos out there that are even worse than GM's offerings.
You know, weird as it seems, it just may be true!
A quick sweep of the web says that the average age of a Buick owner is 63 (compared to 58 for Cadillac)"a number that hasn't changed in five years"
Buick
That would mean that about half of them are older than that... and that the "last car" theory might be true.
Lemko, of course, skews the statistics enough to make up for a two or three of the 90 year olds!
Actually one of the smartest things they did offer with the sale of the car is free oil changes for the life of the car. It brought people into the service department where they could a. gain money servicing and b. kept toyota's imagine intact by repeat buyers.
The dealer changed ownership after ten years and the oil changes went out with the new owner. In addition, I don't really don't seem to care for the new owners. They are not as friendly at all and i don't see the attetion to detail the other ones had.
However the dealer my mom got the avlon from seens again to be a friendly place.
With the small family-owned dealerships going the way of the dodo bird, and the large dealership chains taking over, it really doesn't matter what automaker's nameplate is on the building.
The sales and service experience will depend more on the dealership's own policies.
So if you find sharks at that dealer's Chevy store, you'll find the same at the Toyota store, more than likely.
Actually the data shows that you are more likely to get the sharks at a Toyota store.