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The Current State of the US Auto Market
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Comments
Sorry to hear about your RAM having issues; guess you didn't get a ringer this time.
As for my Ram, who knows? Maybe it's just having teething problems? The first time it stalled out, I was hoping it was just a fluke. But, if it did it a second time, I'm sure it'll do it again. Oh, and a few weeks back, it pulled a stunt where it stayed stuck in 4th gear and wouldn't shift up or down. Even a Hemi has no power when it has to move out from a dead stop in 4th gear! Luckily, that old IT barb "Have you tried turning it off and on again" rang true here, and doing so reset it and I never had that problem again.
Maybe it just needs a re-flash or something, to clear out some bad codes or something? Hopefully, it doesn't turn into the reincarnation of your Neon! :-P
Same as the number of licks it gets to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie pop. Either the third time is a charm, or, "the world may never know..."
No offense, but what is surprising is that you had a significant faith in Chrysler at all.
We all seem to like what we grew up with. For me it was VW, but the world of good cars was too big. I've tried German, US, and Japanese cars of many makes. It's great to get perspective in the only way you can - by owning different brands.
Give some others a try!
Ditto from me. I think it's been shown beyond a reasonable doubt that reliable Chrysler's are like finding a needle in a haystack. If you got one in the past, then the chances of hitting the lottery again for a second time are even lower than the first time.
For instance, a TL-SH AWD is about 200 lbs heavier than an S4. However, the TL is a bigger car, and Acura does a decent job of keeping things light too.
Fully loaded, you can get the TL AWD up to about 4,000 lbs. with every option checked.
Audi's use decently thick sheet metal, and the cars are built like bank vaults, both for handling rigidity and for having tank like strength in an accident (should one ever occur). They do use extensive lightweight materials, particularly aluminum to make up for that. The AWD Quattro is a weight penalty too.
My A3 with a 2.0T weighs almost as much (just about a tie) as my Accord Coupe V6 3.0 did.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2390373/BMW-drivers-really-aggressive-dr- - ivers-prone-road-rage-wheel.html
Seems like the 'tone' of posters here rings some of this survey to be true, too.
Did they mention New Jersey in the survey, though?
Looking in the mirror?
There are jerks driving all makes. Stereotyping one group of owners is idiotic IMO.
But then again, the article mentions a study done in the UK and this topic is "State of the US market" so...
But it's so much fun!!
BTW - what's the difference between a BMW driver and a porcupine?
Can't say the same about the La Mesa PD officer on a Harley that ruined my back bumper supposedly chasing some red light runner (I wasn't moving at the time he collided with me by rear ending me) I'm sure he had the same low skill driving capability of the CHP officer who couldn't remember to put it in neutral and killed his family in a Lexus.
I think it just depends on the person. Some people are going to be jerks no matter what they drive, but other people may change their habits, depending on what they're driving.
For instance, one of my friends used to have a 1998 Tracker convertible, which was horribly slow. I used to have an '89 Gran Fury ex-police car, and I held onto it for a few years after I bought my 2000 Intrepid, just to keep around as a spare car. Well, I let my friend drive it sometimes when his Tracker went in the shop (it went through transmission issues roughly every 20K miles). He said he liked driving it because of the extra power, and he liked how people got out of his way.
So yeah, sometimes the car *can* change the person! Today he drives a 2006 Xterra, which has a LOT more power than that Gran Fury did, let alone his old Tracker. His driving habits changed alot since he got it, too. He tends to take off a lot faster, and drive faster, simply because it's a more capable vehicle. But, I notice he tends to brake faster, and tailgate a bit more than he used to.
And sometimes, if the car is smoother and quieter, it might make you drive faster, simply because it doesn't *feel* fast. I remember the day I brought my '79 New Yorker home from Pennsylvania, and my friend followed in his Xterra. At one point, he called me and wanted to know why I was driving 80 mph. I said I'm not...I'm only doing about 68. And he said NO, you're doing EIGHTY!
Oops, it turns out, the speedometer really was off by about that much! And, to paraphrase Chevy Chase, "It sure didn't feel like it, did it honey?" :-P
From what I've seen, I pretty much agree with the article, although from my experience, color really doesn't seem to matter much.
Here's the question I'd like to know the answer to... Of the aggressive BMW driver segment, how many bought their BMW new .vs. used?
Again, from my experience, by far the majority of aggressive BMW drivers NEVER buy their car new. Add to that (again, my perception) this group seems to be populated with the ones that gripe and complain the loudest when they have mechanical issues with their cars.
Just my opinion...
Toyota agreed to pay about $1.1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from complaints of unintended acceleration in its vehicles. The complaints to NHTSA for "speed control" problems with Toyotas are 10x almost any other manufacturer.
That particular well publicized incident resulted in another undisclosed certainly substantial settlement to the officer's family. I wouldn't cast aspersions on the driver or the passengers who are all dead.
"As an Audi driver, I can say I've gone over 103,000 miles in it without ever causing an accident in it. "
WOW! That's amazing. I'm sure most people cause accidents every few thousand miles. A gold star for your bumper....
Cause of these accidents remains undetermined.
"Another document is a Technical Field Report from Toyota’s Cyprus dealer written in January 2009. The dealer pleads: “ Engine revs stick at 6000 rpm without any reason. This issue occurs without any warning and at random cases. (there were) two big car accidents in which the drivers miraculously escaped injuries. the vehicle accelerated in an uncontrolled manner more than 5 times the Accelerator Sensor Assembly was replaced. This issue could cost lives!!”
In another communication, a driver reported a Tundra zooming to 80 miles per hour, uncommanded, with ineffective brakes. When the truck was fixed, the technician noted, “short (circuit), insulation defective,” and replaced the gas pedal sensor assembly. The same document lists 547 pedal position electronic sensor assemblies that were replaced to fix speed control malfunctions that had been attributed to a mechanical “sticky pedal.”
Japan engineers also noted or investigated many varied electronics-related causes of UA and speed control issues. They include short circuits in the pedal position sensor, cruise control, poor wiring connectors, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and voltage irregularities. Numerous times throughout the documents, the electronic Engine Computer Unit (ECU) is mentioned as a possible cause for vehicle behavior that they could not understand.
Another document shows that Toyota investigated speed control issues in the car of Crown Prince Naruhito in 2008, and admitted the cause was the endless problems with the ETCS’s many components.
In spite of all of the internal discussions about electronics, Toyota stuck with its public story through its PR campaigns, advertising, sworn testimony and in its recalls, that UA is caused by floor mats and sticky pedals.
When evidence surfaced that there were other, electrical-related causes, and independent experts advanced plausible theories, Toyota never changed its public story. In several cases Toyota representatives disparaged these experts and even sued."
This and other evidence is the reason why Toyota is settling these cases. There are still around 200 UA lawsuits pending. Not one will go to trial because the evidence will come out. Ever hear "Cover-Up"?
Conspiracy theories go on forever, because they are based on speculation. They are not evidence-based allegations. There's "someone in Cyprus" and an "engineer" but the truth is....nobody knows and nobody has proven anything.
When looking for answers, first look to the most obvious, or as they say in medical school, "when you are in Texas and you hear hoofbeats, think HORSES! or CATTLE!...not Zebras!"
No one, not even NASA has proved any gremlins or issues with Toyota's electrical systems. Toyota paid out in this particular case because the dealership put in the wrong floor mats, but again, neutral solves that.
There has not been one documented case where the engine can overpower the brakes if driven properly.
Is it possible? Sure, anything is possible, but that still doesnt mean you have a right not to do something as simple as shifting to N or turning the ignition off (turn key or hold start button 3 seconds).
The mat in the Catalina, a cheap rubber one, would always stay in place, but I remember on Grandmom's LeSabre, that mat was constantly sliding forward, over the gas pedal, but at the same time bunching up under the brake pedal.
It seemed more annoying than dangerous, though, as it wouldn't jam the gas pedal down, and if you hit the brakes, the pedal would still go down despite the bunched up mat behind it.
With that Lexus that burst into flames, didn't they have some kind of all-weather mats in the car, that had the extra thick lip around the edges?
It was also found that a lot of the drivers who actually crashed had mistaken the gas pedal for the brake pedal.
Still didn't stop a GM dealer near me from putting a wrecked Prius up on a 3 story ramp outside the dealership with a big sign "How safe do you feel?" on it and ads running for extra conquest cash if you traded a Toyota...
Of course, there is some relevance in that once media sharks get an automaker by the ankle, it can really damage them.
It's like "trial by media" for automakers.
FWIW, my brother had a thick aftermarket floor mat in his Nissan Sentra Spec V several years ago. He was driving it aggressively one night and the gas pedal got lodged in the floor mat and was stuck 3/4 of the way down. He simply pushed in the clutch and let the engine bounce off the rev limiter (which avoided a UIA case).
He threw out the floor mats that night.
Seems to me they were sending a mixed message. On one hand they wanted to diminish the value of owning a Toyota by suggesting (quite blatantly in fact) that it isn't safe, but on the other hand, by offering conquest cash for Toyota trades, they are saying that there is value in a Toyota...extra value in fact because the trade was a Toyota. = fail
I think you're right. There's not a car dealer in the world that wouldn't pair their cars with Toyotas in the same showroom if they could buy in cheap.
Which leads me to ask. Why can't you have Chevrolet and Ford in the same showroom, or can you?
That's what I'm talking about. I always put an aftermarket mat over the factory mats in my cars. Not even close to the gas pedal.
Dunno about Chevy and Ford, but the dealer I bought my old Intrepid from sold both Chevies and Dodges. It was all one big building, with Chevies on one side and Dodges on the other, and the service department in the middle.
Eventually they dropped the Chevy franchise, and picked up Chrysler/Jeep. But then a few years ago, about the time Fiat picked up Mopar, they dropped everything and simply closed up that dealership.
There's another dealership near me that used to sell Dodges and Pontiacs in the same showroom. And that was an era when the two were in closer competition, back when Dodge was supposed to be (but wasn't always) a step up from a Ford/Chevy/Plymouth. They dropped Pontiac long before GM did though, and picked up Chrysler/Plymouth, and are still in business today.
Never seen Fords and Chevies in the same showroom, though.
A while back I took out the driver's side floor mat. But the van is at 189k anyway, so super clean carpet doesn't matter anyway.
Perhaps the entire old dealer model should crumble. If I can have General Mills, Post, and Kashi cereal all in the same store, why not cars, too?
Best idea on these forums to date.
Chevy and Toyota sharing a building still seems funny to me, but I guess they did have some agreements.
Once upon a time, that dealer sold Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos, Chryslers, and Imperials. I'd imagine they went to Dodge only around 1960, when Chrysler decided to organize into two divisions: Dodge only and everything else (ultimately Chrysler/Plymouth). Dunno at what point they picked up Pontiac, though. I just remember my grandparents bought their '75 Dart there. And in 1981, I remember going with my Mom and one of her friends, who bought a K-car, and seeing a St. Regis and Catalina in the same showroom.
My uncle went up to that dealer one day in 1990 to look at the Grand Ams, decided they were too cheap and plasticky looking, and ended up with a used '88 LeBaron coupe.
Wow, so innovative. I wonder how well this would go over in a UAW shop? It's amazing what can be done if all the old ideas are thrown out and new blood comes in.
Are the Mercedes factories union?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
>General Mills, Post, and Kashi cereal
Aren't the shelves in a grocery divided up on a paid basis from the companies? In other words, to get my new Imidasoda onto the grocery shelf, I have to pay a fee to Kroger. The more I pay, the better placement for my product, i.e., shelf placement near the end or on an endcap even. Or higher rather than lower.
So I go to Meijers, and all the General Mills cereals are in a group. All the Post and Kelloggs in their own section of the aisle. There still is segregation rather than having the bran cereals from the various companies all intermixed next to each other like having a Nissan and Fusion side-by-side in the area Ford showroom.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Do robots cost jobs? Sure. Would you like to be replaced by a robot at your desk tomorrow?