If you don't want to go to a decent college and get a good degree you can always empty trash cans somewhere. Just don't expect the cushy salary and the luxuries of life if you take that path.
When my kids were teen agers, we helped my buddy lay sod on his lawn, in the middle of the day in the middle of July and we're in Florida. Guess who did all the hard manual labor? It was comical, they were drenched in sweat and muddy as all heck. After they showered and cleaned up, we got slurpies at 7-11 and I took them for a ride in my air condtioned vehicle and pointed out the people mowing lawns, putting on roofs, working concrete, anyone doing hard manual labor type work outside. I told them, without an education, you will be doing what you just did laying sod, for the rest of your life. Manual labor is hard work and doesn't pay very well.
IMO, all HS grads should take a McJob for a year or two before college, or maybe even go through boot camp with some time oversees in a 3rd world country so they can see how good we have it here. Some place w/o electricity, running water, or toilet paper. They would come back with a whole new attitude!
What is a GMT-900? Is that one of the several rebadged GM trucks? And don't kid yourself, the Ford Truck line is by far the best. Looks, features, reliability, heavy duty, gas mileage, looks, sturdiness, off road, Ford wins hands down. I don't care what Consumer Reports says. And they are not living on tax payer's money. :sick:
Air traffic controllers did themselves in, not Reagan. They executed an "illegal" strike. I suppose that UAW workers have generally better behaviour than the contollers in that UAW mostly conducted "legal" strkes.
People today that were children/teens during the Reagan years have not gotten an accurate accounting of Reagan from the liberal and biased media. Add to that the biases of liberal teachers, college professors and revisionist history books provided by our children's schools.
>"I don't care the government (Reagan) could of handled it another way. They were working them like slaves and they were fighting for issues outside of pay and benefits like safety. It's a damn shame a lot of good people lost there jobs for a cause."
What part of they were breaking the law is so hard to understand?
I serviced machines at FAA Hampton (Atlanta) during that period. . Knew several of the air traffic controllers. My wife was good friends with a couple, she kept kids for. They were both controllers.
PAY was a big issue! The Union felt the Pilot and the FAA compensation was too far apart. They wanted to be paid closer to Pilot compensation. There were other issues, such as longer brakes, more paid time off and so forth, and some other minor safety (as they put it) issues.
Jimmy Carter let them attempt to hold the country hostage. As UAW held D3 hostage.
Reagan was elected and gave them a time frame to get back on the job. Negotiations could continue while they were working. They (the union) refused to do so, although many of the controllers crossed the picket line. Those that crossed the picket kept their jobs. Those that didn't lost theirs.
I also serviced a machine at Patco, on Phoenix Blvd, near the Atlanta airport. Watched Patco turn itself into an Employment agency, charging fees to help their members find jobs. How much does that suck?
If top management at D3 had of had some backbone, as Reagan did, they might not have been in the mess they are now.
You know the GMT-9000 or whatever it is called is a perfect symptom of what is wrong with GM. This is their moneymaker, their pride and joy, GM's one sign of life. Yet when they released it, they put a time bomb of a four speed automatic in it. Not only a bad four speed, but one that dealers new would eventually brake. Meanwhile Toyota was adding a player to the game. Only after the Tundra came out did GM realize that they couldn't be cheap anymore and popped in a good transmission. And don't even get me started on the rebadging. No one can even name the GMT lines. And the hybrid version, what an expensive waste of GM's money.
Do all the law breaking politicians and executives lose there jobs when they clearly break the law?
If they defy an order from Barrack Obama, you can bet they will get fired. Heck he fired Wagoner without any trial or hearings. Reagan did the right thing to avoid any more chaos in the US than Carter had left behind. Those that think Dubya left a mess as bad as Carter, were just not around in 1981, or they are clueless to reality.
I drove the Escalade, Denali and Sierra on the new chassis. I was not impressed.
Me neither. I never drove an Escalade, but I drove several 07-08 Yukon XL's and Denali's. I was not impressed at all. Several of them rattled, their suspensions was nearly as floaty as my '00 Suburban. Their tow ratings were unimpressive (lowest of any 1/2 ton SUV). I tried a 3/4 ton Yukon XL to get a higher tow rating, but with rear leaf springs it road and drove horrible. Numb steering with a bouncy buck board ride. Plus the 6.0 with a 4speed (the new 6 speeds are probably much better) was a complete dog and a gas pig. Plus, even with the Denali's 6.2/6speed, I was not impressed. As usual for GM, the trans didn't like to down shift w/o excessive throtle, and the 6.2 v8 was overly loud and lacked polish that I'd expect from a $50k+ SUV. IMO the Denali is the best looking fullsize SUV on the road, but no rear IRS, and no rear fold flat seats, and driving dynamics that disappointed me made me look elsewhere.
I did look at the Sequia's, but while the '08 probably has the best powertrain you can get in a 1/2 ton. (GM 6.2 power with 5.3 like fuel economy), I didn't like the styling inside and out, plus they were to expensive.
On the used market, the 07 Sequoia while nice, where expensive. Plus I need a minimum tow rating in the 8k lb range that the 07 Sequoia didn't offer. Plus I was able to get a loaded used '07 Expedition for thousands less, that offered more power, much higher tow rating (9,000lbs) 6 speed trans with 3.73 rear end, rear IRS, power fold down rear seats (an underrated feature we use all of the time, no more sore back from moving heavy seats).
I know Rock will disagree (which is fine since we're mainly stating opinions). IMO the Expedition is superior to the Tahoe/Denali. Actually the Expedition was the last SUV I drove because I figured I wouldn't like it. But when I reluctantly did, I was impressed by a very solidly built vehicle that is exceptionally quiet and smooth. Sure it don't have HP offered by the Denali, but Ford's 5.4 is a smooth and quiet runner that offers up impressive low rpm torque along with very short gearing that provides effortless power whether running around town or towing 7k pounds, yet tall enough (with 6 speeds) to run 75mph at 2krpm. Plus, it has steering response and feel that rival's many cars. I've never driven an SUV that had such good steering feel. Plus even with the rear IRS is tows great, never feeling stressed.
Employers also realize that employees with 4-year college degree (or more) are "more likely" to want to explore, learn, investigate, analyze, read, grow, etc., throughout their career(s) and their life than merely a high-school graduate.
No wonder he couldn't stand up to the UAW carnivores
That is why Rocky likes the guy. The UAW said bend over and Wagoner, says "how long". His handling of GM will go down as the worst of a long line of horrible leadership. The sooner it is disbanded, the better off this country will be. GM's rein should have ended at least 2 decades ago. And yes Rocky, Wagoner should have been fired just as the Patco controllers were fired. It just should have been the BOD that did it.
I have heard people disrespect Kia Motors for years here on Edmunds.
One of the school districts here in San Diego has a whole fleet of Kia Optimas. The state has bought several Prius. So if our state and local governments are not buying Domestics why should the individual feel guilty for buying the better products from foreign makers?
I will gladly put up GM's products toe 2 toe against anything Ford, makes!!! GM, has overall better quality. You don't see many car of the year awards from Ford, do ya??? :P
Like that means anything other than being a significant new or redesigned vehicle. The Alliance was car of year for god's sake.
I've never seen any data that shows GM has better overall quality. That is one area Ford has improved immensely the past few years. GM has to many losers for every good entry.
How about my dad's experience with almost 300K on his 98 Silverado.
Your dad was smart to hang onto the last of the decent GM PU trucks. I would love to have my 98 Suburban or 93 Chevy 3/4 ton 4X4 back. Selling and buying the 2005 was just stupidity on my part. If I had not hit that big buck with the 93 Silverado, I would still be driving it.
Has my experience been unique also. How about my ex girlfriend who has 310K on her 95' Lumina??? I spent the evening helping her with a cover letter for a job she is applying for. How about my dad's experience with almost 300K on his 98 Silverado. I didn't think you were a gullible person but I'm beginning to have my doubts when you believe every person outside lemko, has had bad luck with domestics. If you truly deep down believe that I truly feel sorry for you marsha7. :confuse:
No one has said a POS undesirable car can't go 300k miles. Those Lumina's were horrible in terms of looks, interior design, and driving dynamics. The were outclassed by just about anything in it's class even making a '95 Taurus desirable. If they were so great, the Lumina name would still be around.
Unless said 18 year-old is a very mature brainiac with a knack for mathematics and science, he's going to migrate away from Engineering or Computer Science. The only guy I know from high school who became an engineer was our class valedictorian who I remember as an extremely bright guy going all the way back to 6th grade. My best friend, who was certainly no dummy, tried to go into petroleum engineering and failed. He eventually went to school to become a physical therapist and did extremely well.
I found that to thrive in Comp. Sci, you have to LIVE IT. Computers have to be your first and only love. If you only have a casual interest in computers, you're not going to succeed. It takes a certain dedication to keep up with all the rapid changes in the computer world.
I guess I have to partially agree with Rocky about double standard with regard to workers and politicians. Patco union members were fired when they broke the law. In contrast, a President had sex with an employee in the Oval Office, was impeached by Congress but not convicted by Senate and fired. Didn't UAW mainly obey the law about strikes and have orderly process to poll members about whether or not to strike? I do recall though that there had been some unauthorized wildcat strikes.
Again why do you buy them if they are junk??? Does anyone else understand why he is ranting yet still buys them anyways??? Something isn't jiving in this pumpkin patch lemko, imidazol97, fintail, gagrice, cooterbfd, dbostondriver, circlew, tlong. Please help me understand????
That is a darn good question. I don't have to be burnt twice in a decade to dump a brand. You can bet I will not be buying any new UAW built vehicles. You know the ones they shove out of the factory with poor fitting parts. It took 30 years for me to forgive Toyota for the troubles with my 1964 Land Cruiser. Then another 14 years to forgive them for the POC 1994 Toyota PU truck I bought for my son. Though he was not what you would call easy on it.
Looks like no one is getting anything. As I'm a taxpayer and we lent GM $16,000,0000,000 I am glad some real brawlers were sent to Detroit to shake things up http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932036083306929.html No one from DC gives a damn about the words "They took our jerbs!"
Cobalt steering wheels in Corvettes? Proof? Last time I sat in a Corvette, the wheel didn't look like a Cobalt. Does the Cobalt's steering wheel feature the crossed flags? I remember seeing the crossed flags on Chevrolet Impalas, but they were 1959-60 models.
Then again, in a true free market, that's what a union would be for.
The AFL-CIO wants to bring all illegals into the Union fold. That should bring the wages down.
Some of the nation's largest labor organizations are calling for legalization of all the nation's undocumented workers and have conceded the guest worker issue.
"There is no good reason why any immigrant who comes to this country prepared to work, to pay taxes, and to abide by our laws and rules should be denied what has been offered to immigrants throughout our country's history -- a path to legal citizenship," said Ana Avendano, assistant general counsel for the AFL-CIO, which represents 53 unions nationally.
The AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition, collectively representing about 15 million workers, or about 12.7 percent of the U.S. labor force, say undocumented workers need to be brought into the fold.
It find it horrible that the future of so many young people is determined by that test. The day I took my SAT way back in 1983 was one of the most miserable days of my life. The weather was rainy and cold. I had to work that morning prior to taking the test. I just couldn't wait to get it out of the way. The only good thing about the day was seeing my Dad arrive at the school so I could go home and take a nap.
Of course, I receieved mediocre score, but it didn't determine my success in college. I managed to get nothing less than a "B" when I was in college and graduated Magna [non-permissible content removed] Laude.
Funny thing is, I actually met a woman who did even worse than me on the SAT and she's now a partner in a major law firm.
Lemko, when was the last time you sat in a Corvette 1980? "We also notice that the steering wheel appears to be the same unit used in the Cobalt." -Edmund's ZR1 Review A $100,000 dollar car no less. GM is super, incredibly, amazingly cheep! http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=134467
I did look at the Sequia's, but while the '08 probably has the best powertrain you can get in a 1/2 ton. (GM 6.2 power with 5.3 like fuel economy), I didn't like the styling inside and out, plus they were to expensive.
I'm not sold on the 2007 Sequoia styling. The ride, handling, performance and comfort are decent. The 2008 Toyota Tundra/Sequoia/LX570/Landcruisers are REALLY UGLY. If Ford would put a smaller diesel in their 1/2 ton vehicles, I would be there. I think Ford has it all over GM now. Rocky hangs around GM dealerships too much and believes the propaganda. My test drives of the top of the line Sierra crew cab was the least impressive. I thought my 2005 Sierra hybrid was noisy until I got into that 2007 Sierra. I posted about that test when they first came out. I test drove the first one in San Diego before it was even detailed. I did not live with it so cannot say if it was workmanship or poor design.
...he was a dyed-in-the-wool Big 3 car guy, never owned an import until retirement...that was about 15 years ago...I think he is on his 3rd or 4th Accord now, and he never looked back...
Funny, he didn't buy an Accord until AFTER his retirement. I doubt any of those Japanese cars made during his career as a travelling salesman would've held up to the rigors of travelling sales work, especially if he was sent to some place where the roads were heavily salted during the winter. I doubt he would've even LIVED long enough to retire if he drove a Datsun or something similar during that time. He'd have been flattened by a semi truck or larger automobile due to its anemic acceleration or killed in a wreck due to the car's flimsy construction.
SAT is ridiculous, but it is only one limiter in getting into a school. If you take difficult courses, get good grade, and participate in school activities you should be able to get into any school.
at first the farmer grew a big crop which was freshly tilled, and he reaped a plentiful bounty. As the years went by the farmer got lazy & weeds started cutting into his bounty. He got lazier and lazier the weeds started taking over and his crop got smaller until eventually all he had was weeds. conclusion: get rid of the lazy farmer who likes to watch the shi77y lions and do coke and drink beer on his lunch break. The farmer always brags how much better his garden will be next year too, just like the shi77y lions do to sell tickets.
Your dad was smart to hang onto the last of the decent GM PU trucks. I would love to have my 98 Suburban or 93 Chevy 3/4 ton 4X4 back. Selling and buying the 2005 was just stupidity on my part. If I had not hit that big buck with the 93 Silverado, I would still be driving it.
Well, I'm not overly impressed with my uncle's '97 Silverado. It's eaten two transmissions, a water pump, had some suspension work done on it, and I forget what else at this point. And it only has around 120,000 miles on it, and it's not like my uncle uses it for anything heavy-duty. Now it's also just a half-ton truck, so it has too-light 4L60E transmission, rather than the beefy 4L80E or whatever it was called that went in the 3/4 ton trucks.
Now granted, that's not to say that a Ford or Dodge truck from that era wouldn't have been worse. Dodge transmissions back then weren't so hot either, and I don't think either the Ford or Dodge 6-cyl from that era was as good as the Chevy 4.3 V-6. But I guess I still just don't see my uncle's truck as any great shakes. If anything, my old '85 Silverado is more impressive IMO, especially considering that it's lived a much tougher life. Stuff like getting overloaded with firewood, topsoil, junk for the dump, towing a boat, hauling hay, using it to drag non-running cars, etc.
Car of the year awards are handed out like candy. Didn't GM win the North American Auto Show car of the year award anyway. That show is filled with old Detroit. Lets see them win the London Auto show. Speaking of, didn't the Genesis and Nissan GT-R win the Motor Trend car of the year. In my book, sales figures are the ultimate award.
Yeah, I guess it's like the dishwasher makes more than the busboy. It doesn't matter because they're both still poor.
So what's your point. You think if the busboy makes $30 per hour and the restaurant is Unionized that the price of a hamburger will be affordable for everyone? That is lunacy at its best. Everyone cannot make the same amount of money and the country survive. Unless you really like the Chinese model. Where everyone except the leaders get slave wages. That is the direction our country is headed with the current agenda. They will not bring the person in the ghetto up to your standards. They will tax YOU down to the ghetto standard. And guess what the rich and elite in the government will continue just as they have since the beginning of man.
In spite of rantings(?) against foreign brands, I recall Rocky stating that he owned, or leased, an Acura at one time and liked it.
Re supposed magazine bias favoring foreign brands cars - As many have pointed out, the CUSTOMER of own free will determines what to purchase after checking out, test driving various brands.
I have heard that UAW members are under strong pressure to buy and drive their company's brand of vehicle to job parking lot lest a foreign brand be keyed or otherwise damaged. They also get discount and thus motivation to buy their brand. With that shield and mindset, they have not and do not even realize the superiority of foreign brands over last 2-3 decades.
In 1984, we had a 77 Chevy Caprice, 77 VW Scirrocco and 71 Trans Am. Owned many GMs, Fords, Mopar in past. Needed another car. Had to be compact, fwd, 4-cyl, manual trans and sporty.
Had an OPEN mind, and we looked at and test drove offerings from GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Never owned a Japanese brand before. The Honda (Prelude) was the last car to look at and test drive and it was what we bought (took 4 months to get delivery). Honda was significantly ahead of American brands in numerous attributes: smoothness and power of engine, silk-smooth manual transmission, paint, dashboard, upholstery, fit and finish, seats, handling, steering (including trun-in), brakes, styling (subjective) etc. Toyota was next closest to Honda, followed by Nissan.
My/our experience has been duplicated millions of times by Americans with open minds simply comparing offerings of various brands and making informed choice.
Lemko, I saw the biggest Buick Station Wagon in the WalMart parking lot yesterday. It had to be 2 feet longer than my Sequoia. I thought of you instantly. So you and Rocky have made and impression on me, and not a bad one. :shades:
they should make a f450 with a v12 and a triple cab. that might be there bullseye vehicle. it could pass everything on the highway except a gas station:) u know u want one...
Not a bad looking car, although it seems kind of cgi to me, and the styling is almost dated already. The main problem is the name though...I don't know if I want to drive a "Koup".
In 1984, we had a 77 Chevy Caprice, 77 VW Scirrocco and 71 Trans Am. Owned many GMs, Fords, Mopar in past. Needed another car. Had to be compact, fwd, 4-cyl, manual trans and sporty.
Yeah, good luck with that, on the domestic front! About the only domestic choices I can think of would be maybe a Cavalier or Citation and their siblings from GM, maybe a Daytona or Laser from Mopar, and, gulp, a Tempo or Topaz from Ford!
So given those choices, I'd say you did quite well with the Prelude!
Geeze, that must've been a 1971-76 Buick Estate wagon. That's about as big as a Buick station wagon got. They are almost as big as a hearse and have big 455 cid V-8s.
>they have not and do not even realize the superiority of foreign brands over last 2-3 decades.
Ooops. That brush is awfully big.
>Had an OPEN mind,
Then that OPEN mind will take a look at more recent products, right? That OPEN mind will look at the real comparison to see how it compares and won't judge it through the lens that attributes of the car I love have to exactly the same in the comparison car or it's JANG. Look at the comparison of JDP and CR. Even CR who makes money off their comparisons admitted that the differences between their red circles and black circles had shrunk in the last many years. Perhaps there was a difference in quality during the 90s. But have you taken your _open_ mind to actually drive a Malibu? And to compare _not_ through the lens of your old car preference?
I recall in earlier years that people used to one of the brand groups of cars often didn't like the two competitors because the dashboard layouts were different or the pedal and steering feel were difference. On the other hand someone already driving one of the two competitors felt the same about comparing with the first car I used in this example. Perhaps the motor of one is geared to rev high all the time while the motor of another had more torque and the shifting was done at lower speeds because of the attributes.
To extend this to specifics, let's use the Accord example. For years the rant was that GM only had a 4-speed archaic automatic transmission (that breaks very seldom and works beautifully on my 3800s and is very cheap if one were to break, unlike Hondas, the transmissions last long times). Honda had a 5-speed automatic which was the cat's meow according to the proponents (bless their hearts). Now, Malibu, e.g., has a 6-speed available with the 4 cylinder motor and the 6 cylinder motor. Where's Accord? I just checked, they're offering their expensive to fix, and replace often as maintenance items 5 speed models. Hehe. They need to get with the times. But maybe all those warranty replacements for failures way below 100 K miles makes it expensive to upgrade. And those replacements people are paying for are $4000 and more even with Honda supposedly "helping" with labor and replacing with a rebuilt...
I sat in Accords a year ago in the winter and the Accords I saw in the showroom were not nice. The plastic was hard and the seats were harder with the effect of being plastic chairs in a waiting room with a little cushion layer over the top. Perhaps the higher models get better seats, but why? when people buy Accords because they used to be inexpensive and people buy the lower-priced models.
Now I read about the VCM problems in Honda's great manufacturing. I read about their early wear on rear brakes. I can scan pages here on Edmunds and cite problems for you, but I'll let you do some of that research keeping and _open_ mind. Same for the Toyota line.
Drove a Mitsubishi Galant last year. It felt kind of tinny but the purplish backlighting on the instrument panel was kind of neat. Prior to that, a friend bought a new Jetta GLI. It had a really nice interior for a small car, but my previous experience with VW told me to ignore the siren song. My girlfriend's brother has a red Mazda 6. Nice exterior, but the interior was kind of bleak and funereal. My Mom's Aveo isn't made by the UAW but GM-Daewoo. The last time I seriously considered buying an import was a new 2002 Lexus LS430 that felt no different than a Buick Park Avenue. My brother-in-law has a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S430 that is scary unreliable. Drove a new Corolla a couple years ago and I didn't think it was much better than a Cobalt except for maybe a nicer looking radio and HVAC controls.
That 84 Prelude was better than the Vegas girl and your girl next door. Had it till 1998 and 195K very good miles and enjoyment. Did not even have to advertise it to sell it. Was reluctant to get rid of it, but a contractor doing work on our property spotted it, took a test drive and made an offer to buy and we sold. That got us down to 4 vehicles at the time.
The only car I'd have purchased out of that lot is the 1977 Chevrolet Caprice.
Well yeah, I'd be happy with a '77 Caprice, too. But Xrunner said that at the time, in 1984, he wanted a small, sporty, manual shift, FWD, 4-cyl car. At that time, there really wasn't anything in that league that the domestics were offering. At least nothing competent.
It was this vintage from the 1990s. Roadmaster wagon. It was a tuna boat to the MAX. I am amazed they ever built anything that long. I guess the older ones were even longer by a few inches. UAW made all the way I am sure.
Re: Last 2-3 decades and open(?) minds of UAW workers.
Point is that UAW workers are naturally beholden and somewhat loyal to their company brand. They also get a discount to buy their company brand. Given that they mostly own/drive these brands, how could they possibly know that starting back in 80's that foreign brands were better than theirs?
Last new car we bought was 2 years ago. When ready for next, will certainly research, investigate and test drive different brands.
OK. That 77 Chevy was a Caprice Classic station wagon that served us well for its utility. But, it did have some serious issues. The camshaft had to be replaced out of warranty and Chevy dealer worked out arrangement with Chevrolet company rep to pick up most of cost. Paint was also a problem and it had to be repainted at our own expense.
Comments
When my kids were teen agers, we helped my buddy lay sod on his lawn, in the middle of the day in the middle of July and we're in Florida. Guess who did all the hard manual labor? It was comical, they were drenched in sweat and muddy as all heck. After they showered and cleaned up, we got slurpies at 7-11 and I took them for a ride in my air condtioned vehicle and pointed out the people mowing lawns, putting on roofs, working concrete, anyone doing hard manual labor type work outside. I told them, without an education, you will be doing what you just did laying sod, for the rest of your life. Manual labor is hard work and doesn't pay very well.
IMO, all HS grads should take a McJob for a year or two before college, or maybe even go through boot camp with some time oversees in a 3rd world country so they can see how good we have it here. Some place w/o electricity, running water, or toilet paper. They would come back with a whole new attitude!
And don't kid yourself, the Ford Truck line is by far the best.
And they are not living on tax payer's money. :sick:
They took our jerbs!
People today that were children/teens during the Reagan years have not gotten an accurate accounting of Reagan from the liberal and biased media. Add to that the biases of liberal teachers, college professors and revisionist history books provided by our children's schools.
What part of they were breaking the law is so hard to understand?
I serviced machines at FAA Hampton (Atlanta) during that period. . Knew several of the air traffic controllers. My wife was good friends with a couple, she kept kids for. They were both controllers.
PAY was a big issue! The Union felt the Pilot and the FAA compensation was too far apart. They wanted to be paid closer to Pilot compensation. There were other issues, such as longer brakes, more paid time off and so forth, and some other minor safety (as they put it) issues.
Jimmy Carter let them attempt to hold the country hostage. As UAW held D3 hostage.
Reagan was elected and gave them a time frame to get back on the job. Negotiations could continue while they were working. They (the union) refused to do so, although many of the controllers crossed the picket line. Those that crossed the picket kept their jobs. Those that didn't lost theirs.
I also serviced a machine at Patco, on Phoenix Blvd, near the Atlanta airport. Watched Patco turn itself into an Employment agency, charging fees to help their members find jobs. How much does that suck?
If top management at D3 had of had some backbone, as Reagan did, they might not have been in the mess they are now.
Kip
Yet when they released it, they put a time bomb of a four speed automatic in it.
Not only a bad four speed, but one that dealers new would eventually brake. Meanwhile Toyota was adding a player to the game. Only after the Tundra came out did GM realize that they couldn't be cheap anymore and popped in a good transmission.
And don't even get me started on the rebadging. No one can even name the GMT lines. And the hybrid version, what an expensive waste of GM's money.
If they defy an order from Barrack Obama, you can bet they will get fired. Heck he fired Wagoner without any trial or hearings. Reagan did the right thing to avoid any more chaos in the US than Carter had left behind. Those that think Dubya left a mess as bad as Carter, were just not around in 1981, or they are clueless to reality.
Me neither. I never drove an Escalade, but I drove several 07-08 Yukon XL's and Denali's. I was not impressed at all. Several of them rattled, their suspensions was nearly as floaty as my '00 Suburban. Their tow ratings were unimpressive (lowest of any 1/2 ton SUV). I tried a 3/4 ton Yukon XL to get a higher tow rating, but with rear leaf springs it road and drove horrible. Numb steering with a bouncy buck board ride. Plus the 6.0 with a 4speed (the new 6 speeds are probably much better) was a complete dog and a gas pig. Plus, even with the Denali's 6.2/6speed, I was not impressed. As usual for GM, the trans didn't like to down shift w/o excessive throtle, and the 6.2 v8 was overly loud and lacked polish that I'd expect from a $50k+ SUV. IMO the Denali is the best looking fullsize SUV on the road, but no rear IRS, and no rear fold flat seats, and driving dynamics that disappointed me made me look elsewhere.
I did look at the Sequia's, but while the '08 probably has the best powertrain you can get in a 1/2 ton. (GM 6.2 power with 5.3 like fuel economy), I didn't like the styling inside and out, plus they were to expensive.
On the used market, the 07 Sequoia while nice, where expensive. Plus I need a minimum tow rating in the 8k lb range that the 07 Sequoia didn't offer. Plus I was able to get a loaded used '07 Expedition for thousands less, that offered more power, much higher tow rating (9,000lbs) 6 speed trans with 3.73 rear end, rear IRS, power fold down rear seats (an underrated feature we use all of the time, no more sore back from moving heavy seats).
I know Rock will disagree (which is fine since we're mainly stating opinions). IMO the Expedition is superior to the Tahoe/Denali. Actually the Expedition was the last SUV I drove because I figured I wouldn't like it. But when I reluctantly did, I was impressed by a very solidly built vehicle that is exceptionally quiet and smooth. Sure it don't have HP offered by the Denali, but Ford's 5.4 is a smooth and quiet runner that offers up impressive low rpm torque along with very short gearing that provides effortless power whether running around town or towing 7k pounds, yet tall enough (with 6 speeds) to run 75mph at 2krpm. Plus, it has steering response and feel that rival's many cars. I've never driven an SUV that had such good steering feel. Plus even with the rear IRS is tows great, never feeling stressed.
No wonder he couldn't stand up to the UAW carnivores
That is why Rocky likes the guy. The UAW said bend over and Wagoner, says "how long". His handling of GM will go down as the worst of a long line of horrible leadership. The sooner it is disbanded, the better off this country will be. GM's rein should have ended at least 2 decades ago. And yes Rocky, Wagoner should have been fired just as the Patco controllers were fired. It just should have been the BOD that did it.
I have heard people disrespect Kia Motors for years here on Edmunds.
One of the school districts here in San Diego has a whole fleet of Kia Optimas. The state has bought several Prius. So if our state and local governments are not buying Domestics why should the individual feel guilty for buying the better products from foreign makers?
Like that means anything other than being a significant new or redesigned vehicle. The Alliance was car of year for god's sake.
I've never seen any data that shows GM has better overall quality. That is one area Ford has improved immensely the past few years. GM has to many losers for every good entry.
Your dad was smart to hang onto the last of the decent GM PU trucks. I would love to have my 98 Suburban or 93 Chevy 3/4 ton 4X4 back. Selling and buying the 2005 was just stupidity on my part. If I had not hit that big buck with the 93 Silverado, I would still be driving it.
No one has said a POS undesirable car can't go 300k miles. Those Lumina's were horrible in terms of looks, interior design, and driving dynamics. The were outclassed by just about anything in it's class even making a '95 Taurus desirable. If they were so great, the Lumina name would still be around.
I found that to thrive in Comp. Sci, you have to LIVE IT. Computers have to be your first and only love. If you only have a casual interest in computers, you're not going to succeed. It takes a certain dedication to keep up with all the rapid changes in the computer world.
That is a darn good question. I don't have to be burnt twice in a decade to dump a brand. You can bet I will not be buying any new UAW built vehicles. You know the ones they shove out of the factory with poor fitting parts. It took 30 years for me to forgive Toyota for the troubles with my 1964 Land Cruiser. Then another 14 years to forgive them for the POC 1994 Toyota PU truck I bought for my son. Though he was not what you would call easy on it.
No one from DC gives a damn about the words "They took our jerbs!"
The AFL-CIO wants to bring all illegals into the Union fold. That should bring the wages down.
Some of the nation's largest labor organizations are calling for legalization of all the nation's undocumented workers and have conceded the guest worker issue.
"There is no good reason why any immigrant who comes to this country prepared to work, to pay taxes, and to abide by our laws and rules should be denied what has been offered to immigrants throughout our country's history -- a path to legal citizenship," said Ana Avendano, assistant general counsel for the AFL-CIO, which represents 53 unions nationally.
The AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition, collectively representing about 15 million workers, or about 12.7 percent of the U.S. labor force, say undocumented workers need to be brought into the fold.
What do you think of that Rocky?
It find it horrible that the future of so many young people is determined by that test. The day I took my SAT way back in 1983 was one of the most miserable days of my life. The weather was rainy and cold. I had to work that morning prior to taking the test. I just couldn't wait to get it out of the way. The only good thing about the day was seeing my Dad arrive at the school so I could go home and take a nap.
Of course, I receieved mediocre score, but it didn't determine my success in college. I managed to get nothing less than a "B" when I was in college and graduated Magna [non-permissible content removed] Laude.
Funny thing is, I actually met a woman who did even worse than me on the SAT and she's now a partner in a major law firm.
"We also notice that the steering wheel appears to be the same unit used in the Cobalt." -Edmund's ZR1 Review A $100,000 dollar car no less. GM is super, incredibly, amazingly cheep!
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=134467
And you can look at the pictures yourself. Malibu, Aura, G5 all have the same steering wheel.
http://www.chevrolet.com/corvette/photogallery/
http://www.chevrolet.com/cobalt/photogallery/
Lemko, you seem like a very learned a smart person. For your own good, test drive a modern foriegn car. Audi A6 is a good start. :shades:
I'm not sold on the 2007 Sequoia styling. The ride, handling, performance and comfort are decent. The 2008 Toyota Tundra/Sequoia/LX570/Landcruisers are REALLY UGLY. If Ford would put a smaller diesel in their 1/2 ton vehicles, I would be there. I think Ford has it all over GM now. Rocky hangs around GM dealerships too much and believes the propaganda. My test drives of the top of the line Sierra crew cab was the least impressive. I thought my 2005 Sierra hybrid was noisy until I got into that 2007 Sierra. I posted about that test when they first came out. I test drove the first one in San Diego before it was even detailed. I did not live with it so cannot say if it was workmanship or poor design.
Funny, he didn't buy an Accord until AFTER his retirement. I doubt any of those Japanese cars made during his career as a travelling salesman would've held up to the rigors of travelling sales work, especially if he was sent to some place where the roads were heavily salted during the winter. I doubt he would've even LIVED long enough to retire if he drove a Datsun or something similar during that time. He'd have been flattened by a semi truck or larger automobile due to its anemic acceleration or killed in a wreck due to the car's flimsy construction.
If you take difficult courses, get good grade, and participate in school activities you should be able to get into any school.
I doubt anyone from the UAW has take the SATs.
uaw=farmer
imports=weeds
at first the farmer grew a big crop which was freshly tilled, and he reaped a plentiful bounty. As the years went by the farmer got lazy & weeds started cutting into his bounty. He got lazier and lazier the weeds started taking over and his crop got smaller until eventually all he had was weeds. conclusion: get rid of the lazy farmer who likes to watch the shi77y lions and do coke and drink beer on his lunch break. The farmer always brags how much better his garden will be next year too, just like the shi77y lions do to sell tickets.
Well, I'm not overly impressed with my uncle's '97 Silverado. It's eaten two transmissions, a water pump, had some suspension work done on it, and I forget what else at this point. And it only has around 120,000 miles on it, and it's not like my uncle uses it for anything heavy-duty. Now it's also just a half-ton truck, so it has too-light 4L60E transmission, rather than the beefy 4L80E or whatever it was called that went in the 3/4 ton trucks.
Now granted, that's not to say that a Ford or Dodge truck from that era wouldn't have been worse. Dodge transmissions back then weren't so hot either, and I don't think either the Ford or Dodge 6-cyl from that era was as good as the Chevy 4.3 V-6. But I guess I still just don't see my uncle's truck as any great shakes. If anything, my old '85 Silverado is more impressive IMO, especially considering that it's lived a much tougher life. Stuff like getting overloaded with firewood, topsoil, junk for the dump, towing a boat, hauling hay, using it to drag non-running cars, etc.
Speaking of, didn't the Genesis and Nissan GT-R win the Motor Trend car of the year.
In my book, sales figures are the ultimate award.
So what's your point. You think if the busboy makes $30 per hour and the restaurant is Unionized that the price of a hamburger will be affordable for everyone? That is lunacy at its best. Everyone cannot make the same amount of money and the country survive. Unless you really like the Chinese model. Where everyone except the leaders get slave wages. That is the direction our country is headed with the current agenda. They will not bring the person in the ghetto up to your standards. They will tax YOU down to the ghetto standard. And guess what the rich and elite in the government will continue just as they have since the beginning of man.
Re supposed magazine bias favoring foreign brands cars - As many have pointed out, the CUSTOMER of own free will determines what to purchase after checking out, test driving various brands.
I have heard that UAW members are under strong pressure to buy and drive their company's brand of vehicle to job parking lot lest a foreign brand be keyed or otherwise damaged. They also get discount and thus motivation to buy their brand. With that shield and mindset, they have not and do not even realize the superiority of foreign brands over last 2-3 decades.
In 1984, we had a 77 Chevy Caprice, 77 VW Scirrocco and 71 Trans Am. Owned many GMs, Fords, Mopar in past. Needed another car. Had to be compact, fwd, 4-cyl, manual trans and sporty.
Had an OPEN mind, and we looked at and test drove offerings from GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Never owned a Japanese brand before. The Honda (Prelude) was the last car to look at and test drive and it was what we bought (took 4 months to get delivery). Honda was significantly ahead of American brands in numerous attributes: smoothness and power of engine, silk-smooth manual transmission, paint, dashboard, upholstery, fit and finish, seats, handling, steering (including trun-in), brakes, styling (subjective) etc. Toyota was next closest to Honda, followed by Nissan.
My/our experience has been duplicated millions of times by Americans with open minds simply comparing offerings of various brands and making informed choice.
I saw the biggest Buick Station Wagon in the WalMart parking lot yesterday. It had to be 2 feet longer than my Sequoia. I thought of you instantly. So you and Rocky have made and impression on me, and not a bad one. :shades:
Rocky and Lemko, when was the last time you drove something not made by the UAW? Be specific. :confuse:
Yeah, good luck with that, on the domestic front! About the only domestic choices I can think of would be maybe a Cavalier or Citation and their siblings from GM, maybe a Daytona or Laser from Mopar, and, gulp, a Tempo or Topaz from Ford!
So given those choices, I'd say you did quite well with the Prelude!
That's pretty much the crux of the flaw of product development for UAW made products.
While Accord, Civic, and Corolla predate my birth....
Ooops. That brush is awfully big.
>Had an OPEN mind,
Then that OPEN mind will take a look at more recent products, right? That OPEN mind will look at the real comparison to see how it compares and won't judge it through the lens that attributes of the car I love have to exactly the same in the comparison car or it's JANG. Look at the comparison of JDP and CR. Even CR who makes money off their comparisons admitted that the differences between their red circles and black circles had shrunk in the last many years. Perhaps there was a difference in quality during the 90s. But have you taken your _open_ mind to actually drive a Malibu? And to compare _not_ through the lens of your old car preference?
I recall in earlier years that people used to one of the brand groups of cars often didn't like the two competitors because the dashboard layouts were different or the pedal and steering feel were difference. On the other hand someone already driving one of the two competitors felt the same about comparing with the first car I used in this example. Perhaps the motor of one is geared to rev high all the time while the motor of another had more torque and the shifting was done at lower speeds because of the attributes.
To extend this to specifics, let's use the Accord example. For years the rant was that GM only had a 4-speed archaic automatic transmission (that breaks very seldom and works beautifully on my 3800s and is very cheap if one were to break, unlike Hondas, the transmissions last long times). Honda had a 5-speed automatic which was the cat's meow according to the proponents (bless their hearts).
Now, Malibu, e.g., has a 6-speed available with the 4 cylinder motor and the 6 cylinder motor. Where's Accord? I just checked, they're offering their expensive to fix, and replace often as maintenance items 5 speed models. Hehe. They need to get with the times. But maybe all those warranty replacements for failures way below 100 K miles makes it expensive to upgrade. And those replacements people are paying for are $4000 and more even with Honda supposedly "helping" with labor and replacing with a rebuilt...
I sat in Accords a year ago in the winter and the Accords I saw in the showroom were not nice. The plastic was hard and the seats were harder with the effect of being plastic chairs in a waiting room with a little cushion layer over the top. Perhaps the higher models get better seats, but why? when people buy Accords because they used to be inexpensive and people buy the lower-priced models.
Now I read about the VCM problems in Honda's great manufacturing. I read about their early wear on rear brakes. I can scan pages here on Edmunds and cite problems for you, but I'll let you do some of that research keeping and _open_ mind. Same for the Toyota line.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Well yeah, I'd be happy with a '77 Caprice, too. But Xrunner said that at the time, in 1984, he wanted a small, sporty, manual shift, FWD, 4-cyl car. At that time, there really wasn't anything in that league that the domestics were offering. At least nothing competent.
http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/1996_Buick_Roadmaster.html
Sounds like the polar opposite of the kind of car I desire. I want a big, luxurious, automatic transmission, RWD, V-8 car.
Point is that UAW workers are naturally beholden and somewhat loyal to their company brand. They also get a discount to buy their company brand. Given that they mostly own/drive these brands, how could they possibly know that starting back in 80's that foreign brands were better than theirs?
Last new car we bought was 2 years ago. When ready for next, will certainly research, investigate and test drive different brands.