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Chevrolet Volt turns one: Federal investigation caps year of sluggish sales
Even Ruess isn't convinced...
Saw a Volt zoom onto the outer belt of Louisville and away. Doing great.
Tried to connect my car to the Bing charger, or whatever the name is, here at the Hampton Inn. Couldn't find a place to connect it! Odd to see EV charging stations, but then I'm in the home of Nissan and a finger count of miles from their Smyrna truck plant and future source of Leaves.
Maybe my next GM wil have a Bing connection for charging.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I went through a few pages of listings and almost all were premium models meaning a 46k+ MSRP. That's pretty steep. Even with the credit you're looking at $40k.
That could help boost sales a little.
I tested a Saturn Outlook before buying my van. Back then there was no backup camera option, no DI on the engine, but later those things were added.
Despite not buying it for the reasons above, GM hit a solid home run with the Lambdas. Notice they addresses the concerns I had, even. Continuous improvement (DI arrived soon after launch).
Lambdas are GM at their best, IMHO. They focus on GM strengths - truck-like towing capacity exceeds competition, big cargo room, etc. The different brands are nicely differentiated (Saturn and GMC were too similar, IMHO, but then the Saturn was dropped). The Enclave is a lot more upscale than a Traverse, and they don't look alike.
Even with incentives they sell for higher transactions costs, and odds are happy owners will buy another GM when it's time to replace them.
When GM makes a sincere, complete effort, they can create a hit. Let's see that thinking applied to other segments.
Yet I do remember you telling us about major work in fairly early miles on one of your GMs (sorry don't remember the details). You were pleased that the dealer stepped up and helped out. But AFAIR it was not only one or more trips to the dealer that shouldn't have had to happen, it was mechanical failure(s) that should not have happened at all at the mileage you indicated. Please remind us of the details, and let me know if I'm not remembering properly.
My Uplander van, in one visit, had a TCM installed and a steering rack installed, free of charge, at 79K miles and without an extended warranty. The vehicle was five years old, and this was after the bankruptcy.
I drove an STS-v in 2006. While I found it to be a nice car in many respects [ and with published acceleration times almost identical to the coupe I drive today ] I decided on a different GM car at the time. For several reasons.
- Ray
No GM in the garage right now . . .
Oh I have and I would have wished they were something like a recall, instead of one problem after another and being stranded out in the boondocks..
That wasn't on a GM vehicle, but a Ford a while back.
Also when I was just out of HS, my dad ordered a '92 Crown Vic in early '91. It to was quite troublesome the first year, then went on to 250k relatively trouble free miles. It traveled to the dealer on a hook once, then had several annoying small issues the first year.
And to be fair, campaigns 10V426000 and 10V457000 were for the same issue ("STEERING:GEAR BOX:SHAFT SECTOR"), so I doubt any single car had both problems.
That means at most 2 visits to the dealer.
The first one only affected 5,893 cars, and 3rd one only affected 60 cars, so incredibly rare.
Total Sonata recalls = 144,307 per these guys:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm
Cruze in the same year had 233,419 recalls. Malibu has zero, but that just goes to show what a v1.0 model suffers before they get it right. You were smart to get a Malibu after issues had already been sorted out.
Doesn't seem like the Sonata recall experience was atypical. Just v1.0 syndrome at play.
Proof that an older model on the market for a while has issues sorted out.
I found 53 TSBs for the 2011 Malibu vs 38 for the 2011 Sonota.
2011 Ford Fusion has 22, so that does match most reports I've seen regarding the Fusion being one of the most reliable vehicles in the class.
I didn't look through them to analyse the problems, but more TSBs tells me their are more documented technical issues.
Four recalls in a year is pretty bad.
Regards,
OW
We should be clear on terminology - that is "recalled cars", not "recalls". Obviously a better selling car may have more calls recalled for the same problem, if more vehicles are out in circulation.
I've never seen recalls as nearly a big of a problem as actual failures on vehicles. Take my Acura TL - a recall for the external temp sensor, fixed at an oil change. No extra inconvenience on my part at all.
In my experience, most recalls are minor and can be handled during a non-urgent routine service, unless the recall is some super-critical or likely failure scenario. But obviously quantities of recalls do reflect overall quality control issues.
If that's what it takes for Ford to build a better car so be it. I've seen what comes out of Ford's chicago plant and it's pretty sad.
The fit and finish of my brother's '10 Fusion shames my wife's '11 Taurus.
Sure, I prefer to see the domestics build their cars in the US, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Fusion.
Either that, or Ford is less responsive to field issues.
That certainly is a possibility, but I haven't seen any data to back that up. OTOH, JD power, CU, truedelta, etc, all rate the Fusion extremely well. Now I know some have issues with some of these sources, but when they all agree it's a bit harder to dispute IMO.
My brother has 20k on his '10 Fusion sport and it's been flawless. Last time I was in it I found it extremely solid. I don't like all the lower Fusion trim levels, but I do like the Sport model a lot. Looks decent, and performs well with the 3.5 v6.
I may be a Ford guy, but I'll be the first to Ford has a lot of faults and I certainly will not go blindly to Ford for my next vehicle. Service is one area they have fallen short IMO. I've been burned several times and that's why I've owned many non Ford vehicles.
I think the latter is far more likely.
They could have mistaken a TSB/complaint of theirs vs. an actual recall.
Same guy also changed that to "does not always honor" yet you keep forgetting.
Don't shoot the messenger. I also point out when circle Dub is wrong.
I think the latter is far more likely.
They could have mistaken a TSB/complaint of theirs vs. an actual recall.
Take a look at the mag. They detailed each recall.
I think it's far more likely that when they're documenting items for a long-term article, a bunch of motorheads will get the info right, over whatever's listed on a government website (no offense to any government employees here).
Might have to take that back, on Automobile Mag's website they claim no recalls;)
You sure about that?
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/12_month_car_reviews/1106_2011_hyundai_sona- - ta_se_may_update/index.html
went to the dealer for its 22,500-mile service ... The dealership also acted on two outstanding technical service bulletins while our Sonata was in the shop. One campaign addressed a sticking fuel-filler door. We've never experienced that issue with our car, and the technician determined there was no need to make adjustments to our Sonata's fuel door
So that is a scheduled visit and both TSBs not recalls, not to mention their car did not even have the fuel door issue.
with a month to go in our long-term test, the Sonata can still claim a flawless reliability record
Not quite the 4 unscheduled visits nightmare picture you painted, eh?
How'd they like it overall? Let's ask them...
the Hyundai Sonata is still earning praise for how well it masters the basics
I checked out the current issue of Automobile, they have a long term page with a Fiat and two other cars, none of them even Korean.
I did, you said current issue, it has a Fiat and two other non-Korean cars.
At this point you need to retract your statement and apologize, or name a specific source, month and pages, please.
Right now I can verify, with 100% certainty, that this statement is absolutely false.
At least one recall was the intermediate steering shaft, I can recall that from the recent article.
From someone tossing out accusations like that, no less... :P
That was false.
And I can claim with 100% certainty that I feel like I'm arguing with one of my teenage daughters now.
By now, it must be last month's magazine...not the May wrap up that someone else posted here earlier, and not about the previous generation car. Sheesh.
(Links are never wrong).
Month, page? You don't even have it in front of you, yet you're quoting from it like it's gospel?
I'm sure those TSBs are included, even if there is a new update that has not yet made it to their web site.
4 unscheduled stops? Since June? Impossible at this point, you simply cannot be telling the whole truth.
Anyone have the December issues of Automobile?
You'll see it at your doctor's or dentist's office soon enough. But please folks, don't post old stuff that isn't what is being discussed.
Heck I don't know, I thought it was the 2010;)
FWIW, Motortrend lists 3 recalls for the Sonata.
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/hyundai/sonata/recalls/
I don't have a dog in this issue. The recall issues don't phase me all that much. Heck, recalls can be convenient. GM had a fuel pump wiring recall on my '00 Suburban. My fuel pump was having issues prior to the recall.
I needed to have the fuel pump replaced and I had it done at the same time as the recall. That saved me a few hundred dollars in labor as the dealer agreed to only charge me for the pump and not any labor.
100% relevant to the current discussion.
At this point, we have to ask, are you sure we're even talking about the same car? Maybe it was a Volvo or MINI.
Those were actually in the current edition.
Born from jets.... died from GM!
LOL!!!
The four cars that were predominantly delivered to seniors — and are now dead — were the Lincoln Town Car (90 percent were purchased by seniors), Buick Lucerne (87 percent), Cadillac DTS (85 percent), and Cadillac STS (71 percent). As it so happens, all four model lines are no longer in series production.
There’s a silver lining to this black cloud, however: many of the cars on the list are also being updated. The DTS and STS have made way for the imminent release of the XTS sedan, which blends the sportier character of the STS with the luxury of the DTS."
Lincoln Town Car 90 percent
Buick Lucerne 87 percent
Cadillac DTS 85 percent
Cadillac CTS 74 percent
Cadillac STS 71 percent
Buick LaCrosse 59 percent
Lincoln MKZ 54 percent
Toyota Avalon 54 percent
Chevrolet Impala 51 percent
Hyundai Azera 25 percent
The cars, the seniors, or both?
The good news for those who like those types of cars is cream puff samples should be available for years to come at a local estate sale.
There is an old lady down the road from me (she's gotta be 80+). I always try to get by her house before she pulls out or I'll be stuck behind her going 20mph.