View Poll Results: So who will produce your next vehicle?

Voters
102. You may not vote on this poll
  • Who can afford a new car?

    31 30.39%
  • I'd never buy anything domestic in the first place

    27 26.47%
  • I'm a GM/Chrysler guy/gal for life

    13 12.75%
  • I used to drive GM/Chrysler, but will be looking at Ford products from now on.

    14 13.73%
  • I have no opinion

    9 8.82%
  • Why, what happened?

    8 7.84%
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Results 76 to 86 of 86

Thread: GM vs Chrysler vs Ford vs imports

  1. #76
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Colorado Springs
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    2,746
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Karachio View Post
    For my wife and family my choice has been and will probably continue to be Subaru. People can present data otherwise if they have it, but for the money I don't think you can get a safer crash worthy car than a Subaru. "Poor man's Volvo" you might say, though of course, way more reliable than a Volvo.
    My next car will most likely be a Subaru. Subaru is the unofficial Colorado State Car. Lots of people drive them here and they're all quite happy with their Subarus.

    I tried to support domestic auto makers. They hosed me. I bought my wife a new Plymouth in 1991. The transmission went out at under 40K miles. Chrysler fixed it under warranty. I should have dumped the car right then. A few thousand miles later, the tranny went again. And by that time, the warranty had expired. The car was five years old when I traded it in for almost nothing. Because it was a crap car worth almost nothing.

    I traded it for a Jeep Cherokee. It's been an OK vehicle. The straight six under the hood will run forever. But I had to remove the front brake calipers and rotors and throw them away after only a few thousand miles. They were absolute junk. Chrysler denied there was any problem when the calipers were clearly frozen. And the fuel gauge stopped working right after the warranty expired.

    GM turned me off with the Chevrolet pickup my dad used to own. It was a 1975 model. It had a 350 with a Q-Jet. Yet, it was the most anemic vehicle I ever drove. We lived in a rural area and drove all highway miles. But the clutch went out every six months. The rear differential completely locked up while my dad was going down the highway. He could have been killed! Not long after, a front brake caliper seized up and locked the front wheel when he came to stop. Then the catalytic converter became clogged (he always ran unleaded). By this time the truck was about five years old.

    I've heard good things about the diesel powered GM trucks. But it's been almost all bad news for everything else. I used to rent cars every week when I travelled for work. I hated getting a GM car. Every one of them was a turd on treads. It was like I was driving a car built by communists!

    Consumer Reports has recently found reliability for Ford and GM has significantly improved. Ford is pretty much in line with Japanese cars now. But they still have a long way to go before they convince me to by a Taurus. I've also heard very good things about the new Caddys. I still wouldn't buy one.

  2. I'd buy an American Truck. Prolly a Ford. Not a car made by any of the big three.

    For my money not one of the car makers in the US have any interest in making cars that are worth a damn. Marketing seems to have the engineers at all three big car makers in a vice like death grip. I remember back in 1976 there was a study by GM to consider whether to offer an all SST exhaust system. They found it'd cost an extra $15.00 (if I recall correctly) at factory, so they nixed it. When the people making a thing will kill to save a nickel nothing good will come of anything they do.

    So I have stuck to BMW and Benz since 1978.

    I remember the Pinto Gas tanks very well. Even then, it was well reported that the Ford would rather pay the law suits and settle ' cause it was cheaper than the re-engineer the lousy stapled gas tanks
    Talk about loathsome and disgusting.

    On the flip side a manufacturer like BMW or Benz is very sensitive about bad press and will go the extra mile to make sure that no one has a justifiable complaint about their cars.
    Last edited by Cliff Rohrabacher; 07-15-2009 at 4:11 PM.

  3. #78
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Cincinnati Ohio
    Posts
    4,731
    I own a 1997 V6, Ford F150. Have lost coolant since day one. To make a long story short I had to replace the engine at 75,000 miles. Out of warrany of course. $4,000 out of pocket.
    A know problem if you look on the Internet but Ford dealer never heard of it.

    Guys at work drive little Toyota trucks from the 80's with thousands of miles on them with no major problems. The body is rusted off but runs great.

    I won't say I will never buy another Ford. I love my F15. But It will make me go on a Toyota lot to have a look. Something I would have never done before.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  4. #79
    Wheres the "Ford For Life" option?

  5. Quote Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert View Post
    Ford dealer never heard of it.
    After owning Benz cars for years my mechanic talked me into a BMW.

    So I got I one. I bought it used (I hate losing 10 - 15-Gees for the privilege of driving a car of a lot) and some time after my first year owning it, BMW got a hold of me. They send me voucher to have a dealer replace a part in the coolant system so it wouldn't accidentally leak fluid.

    There's something about those effete German car makers

  6. #81
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert View Post
    I own a 1997 V6, Ford F150. Have lost coolant since day one. To make a long story short I had to replace the engine at 75,000 miles. Out of warrany of course. $4,000 out of pocket.
    A know problem if you look on the Internet but Ford dealer never heard of it.

    Guys at work drive little Toyota trucks from the 80's with thousands of miles on them with no major problems. The body is rusted off but runs great.

    I won't say I will never buy another Ford. I love my F15. But It will make me go on a Toyota lot to have a look. Something I would have never done before.
    The 4.2L was not as reliable as the 300 six. Ford should have kept making that engine. I have a 302 with E4OD with over 183K

  7. #82
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Northfield, Mn
    Posts
    1,227
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Wellner View Post
    The 4.2L was not as reliable as the 300 six. Ford should have kept making that engine. I have a 302 with E4OD with over 183K

    What destroyed the 300-I6 was fuel injection. I had an 85' with a carb and a 4spd (basically 3spd), and a 91' with fuel injection and a Mazda 5spd. Guess which one got better mileage? Both were basically the same, 1/2 ton 4 wheel drive.

  8. #83
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Southern Minnesota
    Posts
    1,442
    Quote Originally Posted by Cliff Rohrabacher View Post
    After owning Benz cars for years my mechanic talked me into a BMW.

    So I got I one. I bought it used (I hate losing 10 - 15-Gees for the privilege of driving a car of a lot) and some time after my first year owning it, BMW got a hold of me. They send me voucher to have a dealer replace a part in the coolant system so it wouldn't accidentally leak fluid.

    There's something about those effete German car makers
    Cliff that was a recall notice. It is very very common, expecially if you own a Ford. Usually recalls get less and less common as the age of the design gets older. I always say never buy a vehicle during it first design year, always have lots of recalls. By the way you foregin lovers, toyotas, hondas, mazdas, nissans, scooby doo's, and mitsu's have them too.

  9. #84
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    London, Ont., Canada
    Posts
    2,200
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Schierer View Post
    I didn't vote because none of the reponses matched my thought which is it will depend on price and dependabillity
    Yeah, this. It's kind of an oddly worded poll, IMHO. Nothing really suits me.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Fitzgerald View Post
    It is nearly impossible to buy "100% American" anything.
    My last vehicle was built in Indiana. The one two cars back was built in Cambridge, Ontario. Both were Toyota.

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Trout View Post
    In reality most manufactures make excellent cars compared to 30 years ago.
    ....
    I guess my best answer would be, I would buy the best vehicle for my needs at the time no mater the brand. In reality quality across the board is very close.
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

    Back in '89 I scrimped and saved and also borrowed from my folks, and bought a bare bones Toyota Corolla. It was one of the top rated cars at the time, good reliability and good mileage. The fact that it was Toyota wasn't really the issue, I just went by ratings and reviews. I kept it for 11 years and replaced nothing but mufflers and some brake work. I was sad to see it go, but a growing family forced me into a minivan.

    My most recent vehicle was also a Toyota -- a Sienna Minivan. The main reason we bought this was that Toyota is one of the few manufacturers out there that produces an 8 passenger mini van. Pontiac stopped. The GMC Safari is discontinued. Mazda, Kia, Chrysler, Ford ... No. Honda does now, but didn't when we were buying.

    I do admit that we also went back to the Toyota in part because we had been so satisfied with the Corolla for 11 years. You also get used to the way things are. Recently I drove a Chrysler minivan rental, and the wiper controls drove me nuts. On a Toyota I just stick out a finger and push the wiper control stick. On the Chrysler I actually need to remove my hand from the steering wheel to turn on the wipers. I find that unsafe, as well as unfamiliar.


    Frankly, I hope GM and Chrysler and Ford come through these struggles and turn into better car making companies. I think competition and choice is good.
    "It's Not About You."

  10. #85
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    2,296
    I have never owned a Checy, but i have owned a Saab( GM), and my wife has had 3 fords disintegrate on her at 75k...it oly took 3 to get her to swear off of them

    So i voted " i will never buy another domestic vehicle. I'm 48...so at 3-4 cars every 10 years thats maybe 5 more cars left in my lifetime. Next one will be the mini i hope to buy this weekend..so that leaves 4 more....

    I wish it were not so...but The Japanese and Europeans kick our a$$ when it comes to engineering better cars....

  11. #86
    It doesn't take a genius (or maybe it does) to see that one key to Toyota's success is they make a wide range of vehicles. They don't bet the farm on just SUV's or just pickups or small cars or Hybrids, they build them ALL. In Detroit the short term $$$ were all that people seemed to see, so they built nothing but trucks and SUVs and or copied the same damn thing across all the brands (Chevy, Pontiac, Buick...). Sure, they make other models here and there, but they are inferior in design and not what people want in those vehicles. When will they learn? I guess they are learning now.

    As for quality, I really do think the US companies can match almost anyone now, but they and the unions did themselves in years ago with all that crap. People have memories and getting burned on a major purchase hurts for a long long time. Also, quality is great, but the vehicle has to be designed for what people really want and are looking for. Duh.

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