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Chevrolet Malibu vs. Toyota Camry vs. Honda Accord
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Comments
Camry, Malibu, Fusion and Altima are all about the same size.
Impalas are small/cramped inside but big outside; not nearly as space efficient as the Accord. The Accord is large, but not dramtically larger than its competitors.
So all 3 cars have odd looking parts to them.
You are right though about the Accord and the Camry looking very casual. They are both very good utilitarian point A to point B cars. If I wanted a formal vehicle that wasn't causal I would buy a 2010 Dodge Charger R/T or a 2010 Ford Mustang. Now those are "real" cars that are very sharp looking compared to the Accord and the Camry.
Oh Okay. Yes, you are absolutely right. It's probably much easier to get a bigger rebate on a Dodge Charger R/T or on a Mustang than it is on a Toyota. I think that there is a much bigger demand for Toyota automobiles than there are for Dodge Charger R/T's and Mustangs.
I have had American cars in the past and had bad experiences with them in terms of reliability. I would pay a little more for a Japanese car now and recoup the price difference when I go to sell or trade it in 3-5 yrs down the road for another new car. I like the look of the new Malibu since it came out for 09, the 2010 Malibu with the 6sp auto with the 4cyl is a plus(rather than GM's antiquated 4sp auto). Also GM's 5yr/100K warranty is encouraging. GM vehicles reliability is still sporadic depending on which model.
I don't know where you get the "antiquated" as an adjective. I suspect there's not much background on automatic transmissions, or the Honda would not be described as reliable and the Camry has had problems with shift lag in their transmissions. Check Odyssey transmission problems thread for troubles and high "repair" costs. In the past a few critiqued the 4-speed dependable GM transmission with smooth shifts and correct gearing for my 3800 motors while Honda had a 5-speed--and said GM needed more speeds (don't know why, but they seemed to subscribe to "more is better"). Now GM has 6-speed transmissions in Malibu, so Honda is antiquated with their 5-speed automatic... :P
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It was when the GM products had 4 and the Accord had 5. :mad:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That's what I would expect from _any_ 6 speed because of the extremely long gearing for 5 and 6th gears.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/24/toyota-cutting-supplier-expenses-by-30-probab- ly-means-using-ch/
This supplier cost cutting started back in 2005, and its 30% reduction over an 8-year period ending in 2013. Its originally part of the CC21 initiative, Construction of Cost Competitiveness for the 21st Century, and its was recently side-tracked because of the global financial meltdown. Recently, they've restarted the initiative which is why its back in the news.
Basically it has to do with the "China Price", if suppliers are going to stay in business they need to match the price of the Chinese mfg. It not about 'cheaper parts' its about using parts more efficiently, the cost-cutting methodologies have been outlined and openly discussed for a long time, its about making cars so more parts can be shared, economies of scale, better use of materials, better design." This is also from the article - don't forget to read ALL of it.
I am glad you were able to have good experiences with GM though. Just consider yourself lucky. It is certainly not the norm, otherwise GM wouldn't be in the position their in, right?...lol. But, that is separate forum.
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GM problems did not stem from todays cars, they stemmed from legacy costs, poor products in the past and poor management decisions.
Quality at GM has been on the rise for years and Buick ranks #1 in quality (JD Power). Malibu has very good quality numbers and every magazine including Consumer Reports recommend it and the car's satisfation numbers are high. I don't think I am "lucky", Malibu is a good car. The fact don't lie.
This car is less that 2 years old about 25k miles and must replace the catalytic converter - plus there are no parts. Special item order to have a part made out of the country and shipped. Warranty item thank goodness but without the car for 2 weeks, seems ridiculous. Any other malibu's with bad catalytic converter ?
that malibu was the final straw with me and GM; that was about the 4th or 5th GM product in a row that I was putting between 2-4k dollars in when the car was about 3-5 years old to replace things that broke or wore out under the hood
your situation has just reassured me that I made the right decision in not buying GM anymore; at the age of your malibu and the age my malibu was, you should not be having these kind of problems with a car that is still relatively young; these types of problems should not occur until the car is maybe 7-8 years old, at the earliest
I switched to Japanese vehicles and couldn't be happier and have had no problems like I did with the pontiacs, buicks, and chevys I had over the years
being that your car is an 08 and having this problems just proves to me that GM is still in the crapper and all they have done thus far is put a new face on their product but still continue with the same old crap problems under the hood
best of luck with getting your malibu fixed! in all the years I had my GM vehicles in the dealerships for service, three separate dealers in fact, I never once got a loaner car! only a shuttle service, even when it was still under warranty!
While I am sorry about the problems with your 2004 GM vehicle, the 2008+ Malibu is a very reliable car and the catalytic converter is not a common issue.
Making broad statements that Japanese vehicles have no problems is complete and utter nonsense and untrue.
At this time, it is better, but now have the issue with the transmission being jerky and slipping in 1 gear. At this time, I have chosen to be quiet about the issue, its already been brought up, but if I state it again. It could hurt my trade in value with my dealer in which sells other NON GM cars. Not my problem. I now have 26,000 miles on it. I will trade in the Spring.
believe my car is about 60% lemon, according to the issues had thus far.
I never once said in my post that Japanese vehicles do not have any problems; I said that the ones I have had since switching away from GM have not given me any troubles like the GM vehicles I had over the years; you need to start listening and reading more carefully to what people said; I'm not saying that there aren't problems with Japanese cars, even the more efficient and reliable automakers have at least 1 or 2 cars per 100 they produce that are easier put together wrong or have problems
I only commented because the guy with the 08 malibu having problems with the catalytic converter just brought back many memories to me of the stuff I went through for over 20 years with the GM cars I had; you might be one of the lucky ones that has a malibu that has had no problems, consider yourself lucky and enjoy your car!
You can understand that after having GM vehicles for almost 30 years, each one having major problems that costs me a fortune to maintain and keep up, it is going to take me awhile to ever even consider going back to GM or Ford
I am going to give Ford and GM another 10 years before I would even consider looking at getting a vehicle from anyone of them because I think it is going to take that long to really see if things have changed for the better! I am optimistic, at least with Ford, that they will make a comeback!!
I'm sure that German company is not the only company that makes Nav units. GM had choices. Cars are made mostly of parts bought from suppliers, so they have to choose wisely. If my Delphi alternator goes out, do I blame Delphi, or the car company who bought the inferior part, and installed it in my car? If my headlight is poorly designed, and lets water enter it, do I blame Stanley (the maker of the headlight), or the car company, for buying the inferior part? GM is responsible for the entire car, not just the parts they manufactured themselves (which are very few). :confuse:
Then again, the New Accord seems to be having brake wear issues and VCM issues. Perfect? No! Not at all! The Camry has cheap interior parts? Good choice for Toyota? No!
GM to start picking better, quality part, than you could perhaps see a much better product that lasts longer. Holds better value!
Catalytic converters may have a failure rate that is low and occasionally one fails early, much like automatic transmissions. But as most auto mechanics taking calls on radio auto repair shows here say, "Catalytic converters don't commit suicide, they usually are murdered."
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
thats why every GM car I had that I had to take in and get major mechanical and engine parts replaced at 3-4 years old, the service people and advisers acted as if it was normal wear and tear on a car and IT'S NOT- it was utter denial of a problem
Ford saw many years before GM and Chrysler did that their products were of poor quality and reliability and started making plans and objectives to turn their company around ahead of time, unlike GM and Chrysler, and thus they didn't need a bailout through bankruptcy
Hopefully, though with GM they eventually will be able to make a turn around by shrinking their product lines and getting the message to build better quality and more reliable cars - only problem is it is going to take another 5-10 yrs to see if GM really is on the right track because they only just recently restructured in the last 2 years so its going to be a wait and see game if their products remain reliable and hold their value in 4-5 years from now! hopefully, they will! if the new Buick lacrosse and Cadillac products are an indication of their change then GM is heading in the right direction for sure!
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"Substandard Parts" have virtually zero to do with GM/Chrysler bankruptcy. To say so is pure ignorance. Every company has part failures and design flaws, look at Toyota recalling millions and million of cars right now to replace gas pedals and many people think there is also a problem with the computer that controls the acceleration.
AND, the lack of substandard parts have even LESS to do with Ford not declaring bankruptcy. Smarty, did you realize that Ford is living on a $39 Billion LINE OF CREDIT???