They had excellent rebates when I bought in Feb 2010. They showed me the cars I could choose from that had $4000 rebate and I picked out a black 1LT Malibu. Then they started at invoice and took off the rebates. Then I had them go look up my GM card earnings of $3450. I had to send in for the last $950 from Citi which took a few weeks to get back. All totaled I ended up well under $16k before the tax. The 7% tax was based on the invoice price of about 23,500 but ended up at 10.7% of my final price for the car only. I don't regret the 4 cyl at all.
All totaled, I spent about $8-9k more on the new car than I did on my last used car.
May never see $4k in rebates ever again on 2008-2012 Malibu. May never see half that on Cruze.
I can always beat that. My mom bought an old advertising promo thermometer at a yard sale, showing a scenic road with a car on it. She bought it for me as she thought the car was a fintail. It's a 58 Olds. Similar color to my car, that's it. I still laugh.
GM was up 7.62%, but Ford managed 8.89% and Chrysler was up over 20%!
Honda and Toyota feeling the full effects of the Tsunami aftermath (both down 20 plus percent), and looks like Kia picked up lots of those buyers (up 28% plus).
The Cruze proves GM has a winner. Malibu slipping tells the tale of the 2012 model waiting list.
The Camry still rules and Honcord is still behind. The other nameplate that impresses is the Escape. Is it that good to unseat the CR-V? Way ahead at the moment but CR-V refresher coming up. If it gets a 3rd row, watch out. The thing with Honda and Toyota is they are resting on their quality. They, too, are under delivering, afaic.
If the D3 can keep the "NEW AND IMPROVED" UAW a partner instead of adversary, they can deliver better products than the ROTW. Now is their chance to eliminate the dissension of the past. Ford is doing quite nicely and GM is playing catch up with their import-derived Cruze. Now build/content them even better...we can only hope!
Cruze is #2 in its class YTD for 2011. Impressive! :shades:
I think any thinking person does have to ask themselves: If the content is so high NA, why did the tsunami affect their production so much, and not the domestic manufacturers? I haven't heard or seen anyone genuinely address that.
I do think it's funny that the Malibu still outsold the Fusion, a car which has outsold it in the past and had a facelift in 2010. It is made in Mexico, versus Kansas City for the Malibu. Not sure that was widely 'out' in past years, but is now.
Why doesn't anybody have the total "Top Ten" list out yet?
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anything, do you not concede at all that Toyota is a Japanese company? This was never more apparent than when Mr. Toyoda was in Washington and the head of Toyota U.S.A. seemed like a deer in the headlights about recall decisions. That company is still run from Japan's headquarters and management.
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...do you not concede at all that Toyota is a Japanese company? This was never more apparent than when Mr. Toyoda was in Washington and the head of Toyota U.S.A. seemed like a deer in the headlights about recall decisions. That company is still run from Japan's headquarters and management.
I think we're well beyond the point where we should be worrying about where the people who are managing the company reside. U.S. citizens own shares in Toyota and partake in the profits. Toyota builds vehicles in the U.S. with more parts than any other model. They create substantial economic value, and more profit than U.S. makes in recent years.
The alternative is supporting the companies that previously were run by U.S. failures like Wagoner, Gettlefinger.
Do we buy cars because the company is run from another country, or do we buy cars because the company is run from the U.S. by crooked idiots?
Or should we just buy the best vehicles that meet our needs?
Do we buy cars because the company is run from another country, or do we buy cars because the company is run from the U.S. by crooked idiots?
Time to move on, man!
I genuinely like domestic product better...the only rental car I've had all year with problems was a Camry with 15K miles that clearly sounded as if needed new control arm bushings, plus the 'Traction Control' light stayed on.
It's clear to all that the domestic manufacturers employ more people and utilize more American suppliers than any foreign company. The fact that I like the cars and dealers better is gravy.
I guess I can forgive you for holding on to your hatred of guys like Wagoner even though they're gone. Being from a military family, I don't think it's long enough to overlook the atrocities of the Japanese and Germans for WWII which occurred only 15 years before I was born..not 300 or even 150 years ago. Yes, in a war terrible things happened and America did some things I'm sure too. But it's obvious to anyone where America came out in the court of world opinion at the end of that war, compared to Japan (ask the Chinese about beheadings and other things in the '30's, too) and Germany (too clear to need to mention here). There are thousands still alive who participated. Ask John Demjanjuk of Cleveland.
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I always respect your view and you are the King for what you buy. But there is one fact. GM is NOT the world leader in ANY category at the moment, not even PU trucks.
Ford F - Series PU 49,104 Chevrolet Silverado PU 33,121 Toyota Camry / Solara 27,016 Chevrolet Cruze 24,648 Ford Escape 24,411 Nissan Altima 21,340 Hyundai Sonata 20,884 Dodge Ram PU 20,311 Chevrolet Malibu 19,529 Ford Fusion 19,318
But what about GM doing such close business with China, including importing whole engines for US market cars? China is one of the greatest criminals of modern nations. It's many of the less savory elements of Soviet Russia and [non-permissible content removed] Germany wrapped up into one big weird murderous party.
The court of opinion is a funny subject...courts are always determined by who owns the court. There's no room for moral high ground here, IMNSHO.
If anyone wants to hate Japan and Germany, do it for how their often better engineered, more durable, and simply more appealing products slapped our designs silly. We were schooled. At least they wiped British industry and arrogance off the map, likely for the remainder of human history. If one hates old crimes, there are plenty to be castigated in that scheme.
Since I'm in the construction/engineering business,
I am too, and that's a terrible example. The construction industry is one of the most right wing conservatively owned industries around. They are total OLD SCHOOL PRO BUY AMERICAN fools. How long have Back Hoes been used in the industry? hardly innovative technology being used.
Perhaps if construction companies had been buying toyota's rather than expensive to maintain and own F150's and Silverado's more of them would still be in business today, despite the recession!
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I'm not the one who brought up where the company was being run from.
As if that makes a difference in a) where the jobs are for the manufacturing; and b) who benefits from the profits of the company.
I guess I can forgive you for holding on to your hatred of guys like Wagoner even though they're gone.
Well as a GM fan, I would think anybody would be upset about executives and union leaders who profited immensely while bringing down the company. I don't know why them being gone makes their performance any better.
Being from a military family, I don't think it's long enough to overlook the atrocities of the Japanese and Germans for WWII which occurred only 15 years before I was born..not 300 or even 150 years ago.
Weren't you the one who said "Time to move on, man!"? :surprise:
I am too, and that's a terrible example. The construction industry is one of the most right wing conservatively owned industries around. They are total OLD SCHOOL PRO BUY AMERICAN fools.
Not always. My uncle used to work for a construction company that used mainly GM for their bigger trucks, like 3/4 ton, medium duty, etc, although for "real" trucks, they'd use Mack, White, K-W, or whatever. But, they also had a lot of smaller trucks to use for light duty, and tended to go with Toyotas.
His company got bought out about 4 years ago, and a lot of their old, redundant stock got sold off. My uncle said there was some decent T-100's and Tundras up for sale at a good price, and he was tempted, but couldn't afford to pick up an extra vehicle at the time.
Weren't you the one who said "Time to move on, man!"?
I understand your point, but when I put 400K U.S. servicemen killed on one side of the scale, and guys like Wagoner on the other side...well, you know.
Nobody from WWII is building Toyotas now. I know that. People who built a lousy '89 GM product, and Rick Wagoner, aren't involved with today's cars either. And even if the lineworker is still employed, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Corporate culture has changed since then. Root for the home team once in a while, at least...it might feel good.
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Root for the home team once in a while, at least...it might feel good.
The only thing that would make me feel good is a full refund in US Dollar bills for the atrocity called a 1995 Dodge Neon that came out of Chrysler's woodworks.
Yes, a 100% refund would do just nicely! I'd even sign an agreement never to post anything negative about Chrysler on any forums ever again for such a deal!
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Perhaps if construction companies had been buying toyota's rather than expensive to maintain and own F150's and Silverado's more of them would still be in business today, despite the recession!
I don't think the companies would appreciate the down time having the rusted Toyota frames replaced every 7 years.
Perhaps if construction companies had been buying toyota's rather than expensive to maintain and own F150's and Silverado's more of them would still be in business today, despite the recession!
This has to be your most profound post to date. The '07 Tundra with the bouncing bed, cracking tailgates, and rusting frames in place of a F series or Silverado HD? Are we talking kool-aid again?
Hey, he's just taking advantage of the free wi-fi that the Audi dealer offers all their customers waiting for their cars to be fixed. What's wrong with that?
So you want construction companies to pay thousands of dollars more for a truck that has yet to be proven. Even brand new whats the price difference between any domestic and the tundra 5k +??? I'm sure with all the new houses and buildings going up in the states atm that would be a great financial decision.
Fuel economy matters to some ppl and the Tundra is the modern day hummer of the pick up's.
I won't argue with you about light/midsize trucks. Toyota is definatly the king there.
Remember how, say, if somebody said they wouldn't have bought a new '65 Mustang because their '49 Ford was lousy, we'd have rolled our eyes and considered the guy a ridiculous old fool. Trouble is, that old guy's thinking seems to permeate this particular forum. Movin' on from a '95 Neon--it's probably time.
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Root for the home team once in a while, at least...it might feel good
lol, there is no "home team" anymore... I worked in the industry, GM did more business with us from their plants in China than they did on their supposed "home turf" which has been closing plants and offshoring them elsewhere to greak away from the union stranglehold.
I'll root for whomever builds the best product that meets my needs and is a quality piece with minimal ownership costs. Honda, Subaru, Mercedes and even a couple of Fords have done that for me. So if there is a "home team" then I guess the same folks working at a Honda plant in Ohio, a Subie plant in Indiana, a Merc or Hyundai plant in Bama, or a BMW plant in S.C. are going to get my money willingly, not by way of bankruptcy through decades of failure
But that's my choice. Welcome to America, enjoy your stay. :shades:
>Fuel economy matters to some ppl and the Tundra is the modern day hummer
What! You mean that not all toyotas and Hondas get 35 mpg? Shameful. Must be an EPA error in their measuring methods for mileage that Tundra isn't the best in class.
If the content is so high NA, why did the tsunami affect their production so much, and not the domestic manufacturers? I haven't heard or seen anyone genuinely address that.
Fuel economy matters to some ppl and the Tundra is the modern day hummer of the pick up's.
Well Toyota's 5.7 shames GMs 5.3 in power and torque. Really it's comparable to GMs 6.2 in power output.
A 5.7 powered Tundra and Sequoia both returned better FE vs a 5.3 Silverado and Tahoe according to CU (I generally use CU for FE comparisons because they seem to use standardized methods for FE).
Sure GM can show well on the EPA tests, but who wants a 3.08 gear ratio if you actually going to use the truck. Ford, Toyota, and Dodge all offer more aggressive gearing for those who want it.
With the 3.08 final gear ratio GM uses as a base ratio mated to the .67 ratio of 6th gear gives a 2.06 final ratio.
Toyota's 6th gear is .588 with a standard rear end ratio of 4.3 which is 2.52. That's a significant gearing difference. Even with GM's optional 3.42 gear ratio, the final ratio is still a taller 2.29.
Considering Toyota's 5.7 develops max torque at lower rpm vs GM's 5.3,6.0, and 6.2, I'd expect it to be more responsive when towing. Same with Ford as their 6 speed has similar gearing to GM's but they also offer a 3.73 ratio. It will hurt highway MPG a bit, but makes a huge difference in towing performance.
I think the main thing that holds Toyota back when it comes to contractors, construction companies, etc, is that, as far as work trucks go, light duty trucks are all they make. Same goes for the Nissan Titan. Most people who buy a truck for serious work get a 3/4 or 1-ton, or even a medium/heavy duty truck.
Toyota and Nissan don't make anything beefier than a half-ton, at least not in the US market. Oddly though, years ago, Toyota actually offered a 1-ton in their compact range. I remember they used to be common for smaller U-haul rigs, Dolphin brand mini-motorhomes, etc.
I think the main thing that holds Toyota back when it comes to contractors, construction companies, etc, is that, as far as work trucks go, light duty trucks are all they make. Same goes for the Nissan Titan. Most people who buy a truck for serious work get a 3/4 or 1-ton, or even a medium/heavy duty truck.
No doubt. I don't want to come across as saying Toyota makes a superior truck. The domestics are better in many areas.
If you tow and/or haul a lot, you really should get a 3/4 ton+ truck. Plus the domestics are far more configurable.
Me, too, Lemko. Mine have had bowties on them. I know that's painfully unhip.
Our Malibu is the first car we've had in a long time where I'll just open the garage door and admire its beauty. Really. IMHO we bought the best color, best color interior, and best wheels even though we got only one model up from the lowest-priced.
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I've heard the Tundra described as 7/8 of an F-150 or Silverado by those in construction / trades. My next door neighbors are in the concrete business and have been for some time. What do they use? Chevrolet Silverados and vans.
Actually, early 1949 Fords were pretty lousy. Hoods would often pop up at the cowl. Quality varied from plant to plant with the best ones being assembled in Texas and the worst in Chicago. A lot of improvements were incorporated into the 1950 model.
I think any thinking person does have to ask themselves: If the content is so high NA, why did the tsunami affect their production so much, and not the domestic manufacturers? I haven't heard or seen anyone genuinely address that.
Fair question...let's take a closer look.
First, even if a car has 99% North American content, that 1% could be sourced from Japan. All it takes to stop an entire assembly line is a shortage one single sensor, solenoid, or computer chip. Guess where those little high-tech parts tend to come from? Ding ding. Japan.
Ford has a shortage of Escape Hybrid parts - I doubt it's a coincidence that it was only the high-tech hybrid model that was affected.
Second, the disaster is a major distraction for the whole automaker. It's like cutting the head off a chicken. It may keep running around, but it has no direction, no leadership. They may (may) be able to continue coasting, but any changes, updates, fixes, improvements, all will take much longer than before, if they're even possible at all.
Toyota is delegating more to its US subsidiary, and again, that's no coincidence.
Third, US-built models, especially ones with a unique design for North America, like the Camry, are chugging along just fine. We just saw Camry re-gained its best seller title. I'm sure production lines in NA are anything but idle.
Fourth, automakers usually built the same car in more than one production plant, but it takes time to significantly alter production volume in those places.
Fifth, and perhaps the biggest issue, is Toyota's "just in time" inventory management system. The quake meant an instant disruption in the supply chain, felt far more quickly than if they had large stockpiles.
Sixth, supply was already short before the quake. I remember Lexus had something like a one months' supply of cars. Norm for the industry is 60 days. They like operating "lean" like that, but the strategy backfired when supply was cut off suddenly and they had few cars to sell.
Why did sales plunge so quickly? Simple - price. In order to balance low supply with more demand than they knew what to do with, they eliminated incentives, and so Camry basically showed up with a knife to a gun fight (at one point there were no incentives at all, vs. $3000 for competitors like Kia and Chevy).
The mid-size sedan segment is cut-throat. When they see blood, well, Camry temporarily lost its sales title.
Although not a Ford guy, I always really liked the '49-51 Ford in a club coupe bodystyle. My parents had a black '50 Ford "Fordor" before I was born.
I also just love the '56, like the '57 and '58 (I know I stand alone on that last one), and love the '61 Starliner. I also like the unibody '61-63 Ford trucks but know they didn't hold up. I kind-of like the '65 Galaxie 500 too.
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I'm surprised people just didn't hold out to buy a Camry if they wanted one so badly. Apparently they bought other new cars in the interim. A couple thousand bucks wouldn't sway me one way or the other.
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Not a single Honda on that top 10 list. Accord was 8th even among only mid-size sedans. Civic also dropped off, and that was before CR kicked the Civic off their recommended list.
This is being a bit disingenuous (on this forum? Imagine that!).
If a GM product had a defective Japanese part, would you say, "That's OK, it's a Japanese part" and let GM off the hook? Unlikely. Toyota did the engineering for those frames and made the executive decision (no doubt in Japan) to buy those frames.
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Comments
You have hit the nail on the head with this one. I agree completely.
Just The Facts: July 2011 Midsize Car Sales
Toyota Camry: 27,016 - Built in and is #1 in American content
Nissan Altima: 21,340 - Built in Smyrna, TN
Hyundai Sonata: 20,884 - Built in Alabama
Then again, that fake Tsunami might have something to do with the rebound... :sick:
All totaled, I spent about $8-9k more on the new car than I did on my last used car.
May never see $4k in rebates ever again on 2008-2012 Malibu. May never see half that on Cruze.
I'm with you on that, but I'd take a Malibu over both.
Hide, man, hide. You're wanted for property theft.
Honda and Toyota feeling the full effects of the Tsunami aftermath (both down 20 plus percent), and looks like Kia picked up lots of those buyers (up 28% plus).
The Camry still rules and Honcord is still behind. The other nameplate that impresses is the Escape. Is it that good to unseat the CR-V? Way ahead at the moment but CR-V refresher coming up. If it gets a 3rd row, watch out. The thing with Honda and Toyota is they are resting on their quality. They, too, are under delivering, afaic.
If the D3 can keep the "NEW AND IMPROVED" UAW a partner instead of adversary, they can deliver better products than the ROTW. Now is their chance to eliminate the dissension of the past. Ford is doing quite nicely and GM is playing catch up with their import-derived Cruze. Now build/content them even better...we can only hope!
Cruze is #2 in its class YTD for 2011. Impressive! :shades:
So the Escape and Cruze are the July standouts.
Regards,
OW
I do think it's funny that the Malibu still outsold the Fusion, a car which has outsold it in the past and had a facelift in 2010. It is made in Mexico, versus Kansas City for the Malibu. Not sure that was widely 'out' in past years, but is now.
Why doesn't anybody have the total "Top Ten" list out yet?
I think we're well beyond the point where we should be worrying about where the people who are managing the company reside. U.S. citizens own shares in Toyota and partake in the profits. Toyota builds vehicles in the U.S. with more parts than any other model. They create substantial economic value, and more profit than U.S. makes in recent years.
The alternative is supporting the companies that previously were run by U.S. failures like Wagoner, Gettlefinger.
Do we buy cars because the company is run from another country, or do we buy cars because the company is run from the U.S. by crooked idiots?
Or should we just buy the best vehicles that meet our needs?
Time to move on, man!
I genuinely like domestic product better...the only rental car I've had all year with problems was a Camry with 15K miles that clearly sounded as if needed new control arm bushings, plus the 'Traction Control' light stayed on.
It's clear to all that the domestic manufacturers employ more people and utilize more American suppliers than any foreign company. The fact that I like the cars and dealers better is gravy.
I guess I can forgive you for holding on to your hatred of guys like Wagoner even though they're gone. Being from a military family, I don't think it's long enough to overlook the atrocities of the Japanese and Germans for WWII which occurred only 15 years before I was born..not 300 or even 150 years ago. Yes, in a war terrible things happened and America did some things I'm sure too. But it's obvious to anyone where America came out in the court of world opinion at the end of that war, compared to Japan (ask the Chinese about beheadings and other things in the '30's, too) and Germany (too clear to need to mention here). There are thousands still alive who participated. Ask John Demjanjuk of Cleveland.
Regards,
OW
Ford F - Series PU 49,104
Chevrolet Silverado PU 33,121
Toyota Camry / Solara 27,016
Chevrolet Cruze 24,648
Ford Escape 24,411
Nissan Altima 21,340
Hyundai Sonata 20,884
Dodge Ram PU 20,311
Chevrolet Malibu 19,529
Ford Fusion 19,318
WSJ Market Data Auto Sales
Regards,
OW
The court of opinion is a funny subject...courts are always determined by who owns the court. There's no room for moral high ground here, IMNSHO.
If anyone wants to hate Japan and Germany, do it for how their often better engineered, more durable, and simply more appealing products slapped our designs silly. We were schooled. At least they wiped British industry and arrogance off the map, likely for the remainder of human history. If one hates old crimes, there are plenty to be castigated in that scheme.
I am too, and that's a terrible example. The construction industry is one of the most right wing conservatively owned industries around. They are total OLD SCHOOL PRO BUY AMERICAN fools. How long have Back Hoes been used in the industry? hardly innovative technology being used.
Perhaps if construction companies had been buying toyota's rather than expensive to maintain and own F150's and Silverado's more of them would still be in business today, despite the recession!
I'm not the one who brought up where the company was being run from.
As if that makes a difference in a) where the jobs are for the manufacturing; and b) who benefits from the profits of the company.
I guess I can forgive you for holding on to your hatred of guys like Wagoner even though they're gone.
Well as a GM fan, I would think anybody would be upset about executives and union leaders who profited immensely while bringing down the company. I don't know why them being gone makes their performance any better.
Being from a military family, I don't think it's long enough to overlook the atrocities of the Japanese and Germans for WWII which occurred only 15 years before I was born..not 300 or even 150 years ago.
Weren't you the one who said "Time to move on, man!"? :surprise:
Not always. My uncle used to work for a construction company that used mainly GM for their bigger trucks, like 3/4 ton, medium duty, etc, although for "real" trucks, they'd use Mack, White, K-W, or whatever. But, they also had a lot of smaller trucks to use for light duty, and tended to go with Toyotas.
His company got bought out about 4 years ago, and a lot of their old, redundant stock got sold off. My uncle said there was some decent T-100's and Tundras up for sale at a good price, and he was tempted, but couldn't afford to pick up an extra vehicle at the time.
I understand your point, but when I put 400K U.S. servicemen killed on one side of the scale, and guys like Wagoner on the other side...well, you know.
Nobody from WWII is building Toyotas now. I know that. People who built a lousy '89 GM product, and Rick Wagoner, aren't involved with today's cars either. And even if the lineworker is still employed, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Corporate culture has changed since then. Root for the home team once in a while, at least...it might feel good.
The only thing that would make me feel good is a full refund in US Dollar bills for the atrocity called a 1995 Dodge Neon that came out of Chrysler's woodworks.
Yes, a 100% refund would do just nicely! I'd even sign an agreement never to post anything negative about Chrysler on any forums ever again for such a deal!
I don't think the companies would appreciate the down time having the rusted Toyota frames replaced every 7 years.
This has to be your most profound post to date. The '07 Tundra with the bouncing bed, cracking tailgates, and rusting frames in place of a F series or Silverado HD? Are we talking kool-aid again?
How does that phrase go? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Hey, he's just taking advantage of the free wi-fi that the Audi dealer offers all their customers waiting for their cars to be fixed. What's wrong with that?
Fuel economy matters to some ppl and the Tundra is the modern day hummer of the pick up's.
I won't argue with you about light/midsize trucks. Toyota is definatly the king there.
lol, there is no "home team" anymore... I worked in the industry, GM did more business with us from their plants in China than they did on their supposed "home turf" which has been closing plants and offshoring them elsewhere to greak away from the union stranglehold.
I'll root for whomever builds the best product that meets my needs and is a quality piece with minimal ownership costs. Honda, Subaru, Mercedes and even a couple of Fords have done that for me. So if there is a "home team" then I guess the same folks working at a Honda plant in Ohio, a Subie plant in Indiana, a Merc or Hyundai plant in Bama, or a BMW plant in S.C. are going to get my money willingly, not by way of bankruptcy through decades of failure
But that's my choice. Welcome to America, enjoy your stay. :shades:
What! You mean that not all toyotas and Hondas get 35 mpg? Shameful. Must be an EPA error in their measuring methods for mileage that Tundra isn't the best in class.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
link title
link title
Well Toyota's 5.7 shames GMs 5.3 in power and torque. Really it's comparable to GMs 6.2 in power output.
A 5.7 powered Tundra and Sequoia both returned better FE vs a 5.3 Silverado and Tahoe according to CU (I generally use CU for FE comparisons because they seem to use standardized methods for FE).
Sure GM can show well on the EPA tests, but who wants a 3.08 gear ratio if you actually going to use the truck. Ford, Toyota, and Dodge all offer more aggressive gearing for those who want it.
With the 3.08 final gear ratio GM uses as a base ratio mated to the .67 ratio of 6th gear gives a 2.06 final ratio.
Toyota's 6th gear is .588 with a standard rear end ratio of 4.3 which is 2.52. That's a significant gearing difference. Even with GM's optional 3.42 gear ratio, the final ratio is still a taller 2.29.
Considering Toyota's 5.7 develops max torque at lower rpm vs GM's 5.3,6.0, and 6.2, I'd expect it to be more responsive when towing. Same with Ford as their 6 speed has similar gearing to GM's but they also offer a 3.73 ratio. It will hurt highway MPG a bit, but makes a huge difference in towing performance.
Toyota and Nissan don't make anything beefier than a half-ton, at least not in the US market. Oddly though, years ago, Toyota actually offered a 1-ton in their compact range. I remember they used to be common for smaller U-haul rigs, Dolphin brand mini-motorhomes, etc.
No doubt. I don't want to come across as saying Toyota makes a superior truck. The domestics are better in many areas.
If you tow and/or haul a lot, you really should get a 3/4 ton+ truck. Plus the domestics are far more configurable.
I remember those and still see one from time to time. Man, those have got to be painfully underpowered.
That's what I've been doing for 30 years and those vehicles often have "BUICK" or "CADILLAC" and a GM logo on them.
Our Malibu is the first car we've had in a long time where I'll just open the garage door and admire its beauty. Really. IMHO we bought the best color, best color interior, and best wheels even though we got only one model up from the lowest-priced.
Fair question...let's take a closer look.
First, even if a car has 99% North American content, that 1% could be sourced from Japan. All it takes to stop an entire assembly line is a shortage one single sensor, solenoid, or computer chip. Guess where those little high-tech parts tend to come from? Ding ding. Japan.
Ford has a shortage of Escape Hybrid parts - I doubt it's a coincidence that it was only the high-tech hybrid model that was affected.
Second, the disaster is a major distraction for the whole automaker. It's like cutting the head off a chicken. It may keep running around, but it has no direction, no leadership. They may (may) be able to continue coasting, but any changes, updates, fixes, improvements, all will take much longer than before, if they're even possible at all.
Toyota is delegating more to its US subsidiary, and again, that's no coincidence.
Third, US-built models, especially ones with a unique design for North America, like the Camry, are chugging along just fine. We just saw Camry re-gained its best seller title. I'm sure production lines in NA are anything but idle.
Fourth, automakers usually built the same car in more than one production plant, but it takes time to significantly alter production volume in those places.
Fifth, and perhaps the biggest issue, is Toyota's "just in time" inventory management system. The quake meant an instant disruption in the supply chain, felt far more quickly than if they had large stockpiles.
Sixth, supply was already short before the quake. I remember Lexus had something like a one months' supply of cars. Norm for the industry is 60 days. They like operating "lean" like that, but the strategy backfired when supply was cut off suddenly and they had few cars to sell.
Why did sales plunge so quickly? Simple - price. In order to balance low supply with more demand than they knew what to do with, they eliminated incentives, and so Camry basically showed up with a knife to a gun fight (at one point there were no incentives at all, vs. $3000 for competitors like Kia and Chevy).
The mid-size sedan segment is cut-throat. When they see blood, well, Camry temporarily lost its sales title.
I also just love the '56, like the '57 and '58 (I know I stand alone on that last one), and love the '61 Starliner. I also like the unibody '61-63 Ford trucks but know they didn't hold up. I kind-of like the '65 Galaxie 500 too.
Quick, sell your Honda stock.
Lemme fix that for you:
I don't think the companies would appreciate the down time having the rusted US-built Dana frames replaced every 7 years.
If a GM product had a defective Japanese part, would you say, "That's OK, it's a Japanese part" and let GM off the hook? Unlikely. Toyota did the engineering for those frames and made the executive decision (no doubt in Japan) to buy those frames.
I think some *did*.
That's why sales bounced back so quickly.
That and the fact that Toyota brought some (smaller) incentives back.
So obviously they did *not* meet all of Toyota's specs.