Posted on 03/02/2006 6:09:12 AM PST by Graybeard58
Then I bought an AMC Hornet Sportabout. The seat covers shredded at about 30,000 miles.
Then came a 1977 Chevy Impala. It was a pretty good car.
Following was a 1983 (I think) Buick Century. Freeze plug fell out of the engine and the dealer couldn't figure out how to fix it...had the car for over a week.
My wife bought a 1991 Dodge Caravan. It ate two transmissions, replaced the fuel injectors, had to replace the temperature control module in the dash, starter and cruise control among other things.
I owned a couple of Volkswagon Sciroccos and had trouble with both.
Then I bought a 1991 Acura Integra. Had to replace a rear shock in warranty and that was it, other than scheduled maintenance, for 100,000 miles. My wife now has a 2000 Toyota Sienna with which we have had no problems and I have a 2003 Acura 3.2CL. It has been through two recalls for some items but no problems.
When, back at the end of World War II, the Big Three auto makers told Edward Deming to pound sand that is when they sealed their fate.
The rest is history.
Our only choice is to use prison labor and eliminate child worker laws.
I wouldn't touch an SUV from Chevy.
Give me my Jeep.....
I wish Honda or Toyota, or any of the car manufacturers, for that matter, would produce a hybrid minivan in the US. There is one on the road in Japan already. It is a Toyota, but a little smaller than the Siena.
Yeah. I've been wondering if Ford might do a Freestar Hybrid. I also don't see why they couldn't do a Freestyle Hybrid. I think they're cute; they kinda remind me of the Subaru SUV/wagons.
Then it would stand to reason that low-wage America is more in need of a Ford plant.
As an aside (general question to the forum), does anybody else here think that some of as are confusing Consumer Reports with the Consumer Union?
In Japan, Mazda (aka in Japan as Matsuda) is considered the Fords of Japanese cars.
My 1987 Toyota Van Wagon has over 345,000 miles and the engine hasn't been touched yet.
I purchased a Nissan Pathfinder in 1992, drove it to 160K, never did a thing to it, swapped to my brother-in-law for a ratty old pick-up I needed to do some hauling. The Pathfinder is still running and over 250K. Brakes and a timing belt are all the maintenance it ever had.
I bought a 2002 GMC Envoy and it's a piece of crap. The coating on the radio knobs wore off in about 2 months. They replaced the radio and the new coatings wore off in the same amount of time. They said "we'll replace it every time". That's what's wrong with US-designed cars, they think you want to visit them to have things fixed. Japenese-designed cars don't need fixin'. The Envoy also has multiple pieces of lose wind-seal rubber that I push back on every day or so, a poorly fit rear door, and a bad ride. It sits cock-eyed and has since I bought it. No dealer has been able to fix this, claiming it's made that way, driver-side bias one fool claimed. It's the last US-designed car I'll ever buy.
Instead, I can buy a Japanese-designed, US-built car from Honda, Toyota or Nissan, from a plant with highly skilled, well-paid US citizens as employees. I can also purchase stock in these companies, as any Japanese can purchase stock in GM/Ford. It is not patriotic to support inefficient, poorly run US auto companies when the Japanese companies will soon employ more Americans than they do. Capital should reward value and quality, not complacency and laziness. Read the WSJ article about the auto industry job bank if you want a taste of how foolish these companies are. If you like the product, fine, but nobody should claim that buying an American lemon is something that's good for the country.
I want a Vincent Black Shadow.
To be serious, maybe if the big three didn't pay billions for people not to work, the prices would be lower and the quality would be higher.
And folks wonder why consumers buy Japanese cars instead of 'Murican.
My Acura Integra has held up VERY well. I've had ONE "premature failure" of a piece of equipment on it--the radiator "sprung a leak" at about 100K miles and had to be replaced.
From what I know of the American automotive industry there are very serious problems they can't seem to unlearn.
I changed the original water pump in my 1987 Toyota Van Wagon at 340,000 miles.
I don't put much stock in these consumer magazines. They rank the Ford Ranger low and the Ford Ranger has proven to me to be a very reliable, cheap and worthy small truck.
I don't care how good you folks tell me the Jap cars are, I don't like them and I'm never going to buy one. I find them overpriced, overrated, overhyped, underpowered and uninspiring.
I once had a co-worker who said he would never buy an American vehicle so he went out and bought a Mazda Tribute. I had to explain to him he just bought a Ford Escape with Mazda badges. He wouldn't listen.
Like BMW in South Carolina, Hyundai in Alabama, et al?
Most of the Japanese brands are manufactured in the US or Canada with up to 75% domestic-made parts. The names are high on the list because of engineering, not because American workers suck.
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