The "I hate American made cars" thread (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stryker]

Count me in as a non-Big 3 buyer until I see significant gains in quality. My 98 Tacoma is pushing 130K, and its only seen the dealer for repairs after a pair of accidents.

Some US cars do have nice styling, but theres always that voice inside my head saying "What will they look like after 3 years? after 5 years?" Almost all the US cars my family has owned have had fit/finish problems surface, to say nothing of the massive reliability problems. And pretty poor handling...I just can't stand the "driving a mattress down the highway" feel I get from even the more sporty GM and Ford cars.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I was so happy when I totalled my Ford Tempo... I ran out and bought a Nissan. My Altima just feels so much "tighter" and solid compared to most American cars.

I do like my wife's Dodge Caravan... still rides as smooth as the day we bought it.

 

[Devin U]

FYI: Have y'all heard of the $60,000+ Volkwagen coming out? Check it out here.

Saw one driving around the other day. We have alot of the major automobile makers test thier cars here (I live about 4 miles from the GM proving grounds, my wife used to work there) and quite often Ill see cars that I see the next month in motor trend or Car and Driver in thier spy sections. That VW is sweet. about the size of a A8. But 60k for a VW?

 

[Hunter P]

I am as patriotic as J6P but I will never buy American when it comes to cars. I am a Honda man all the way. Not only are they very reliable in the long run but they also seem better on gas and emmisions.

Of course I am saying this without any scientific evidence whatsoever but that has never stopped me before. To me, the "rice burners" run clean and efficient in comparision to the big three. It seems like every time I see a car spitting a big cloud of smog on the freeway, it is an American car.

Throughout high school and college I bought used cars. Most of the cars I bought were over 6 years old, sometimes over 10. Besides being old and dirty, my Asian cars were very reliable with no major repairs needed. They also were great on gas. I had two American cars and they were always in trouble. Plus, they burned a lot of gas and produced a lot of smog. I would sufficate if I sat at a red light too long.

 

[Brian Perry]

But 60k for a VW?

That's why the Phaeton is a huge failure in Europe and will be a failure here. It many be a great car, but the attitude is, "if I'm going to spend big bucks on German luxury and performance, I don't want everyone thinking I can't afford a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi."

Speaking of high repair costs, see above...(they're awesome cars, but cost a pretty penny to maintain).

 

[David Susilo]

You mean VW Phaeton, right? It's a sweet car. I don't know whether I'll ever buy a VW other than Jettas (or lower class), though. Then again, I don't really like larger cars.

 

[Carlo_M]

Most of my friends w/ US cars that are bad are the "muscle" cars, Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs - where the engine literally shook the cars apart.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Can car problems also be the way people drive them? As the above quote I'm sure all those friends with the 'muscle' cars when they were young would floor it every single time they hit a green light

Well, my friends were not the street racing type. I'm a conservative driver and never thought they were unsafe. At times did they hit the accelerator a bit? On rare occasions. But if you build a muscle-car type, you shouldn't expect it to be driven by old grandmas either.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Way off topic here, but I am very curious to know what this mystery city in Texas might be. New York, with a population of nearly 8 million, is the nation's largest city. Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the U.S., has a population of 3.5 million (but Los Angeles County is home to several towns, with a combined population approaching 20 million). Chicago, at number three, has something like 3.1 million residents.

Just curious. Maybe you were referring to your county's population?

 

[Henry Carmona]

I dont know, i guess some just get lucky or something.

My grandfathers 78 Chevy truck had over 450k miles on it before we sold it, and his 73 Pinto had over 350k miles on it.

Either some parts parts are better than others, or some take better care of their vehicles.

 

[LanceJ]

When I say "city", I'm also counting where people actually live (not just the downtown area). It's typical to drive 30 minutes to get to a nice restaurant here--we're very spread out here.

And that Lisa Feronda is one major hottie, ain't she guys?! :wink:

LJ

 

[Ted Lee]

thank god my parents only bought american cars. why? because i learned first-hand how trouble-some they are!

while i can't say any of them left my parents stranded on the side of the road, i can certainly say how much trouble they caused them. constant repairs were driving them crazy. how would you like to try to roll down the window and have the handle crack? how about trying to use the power window but having the electronics fry? it's those kind of "little things" in american cars that i seem to notice. it's never a catastrophic failure, it's always more like "a little here, a little there" kind of thing.

i just don't get why gm can't build a quality vehicle?

i've never owned anything but japanese cars and never will own anything else - unless you count my future porsche!

 

[Jason Reich]

After reading this thread all I have to say is....GOD I LOVE MY AUDI!!!! yes it does cost more to fix, but paying more for repairs comes with the territory. My A4 is at 111,000 and still driving like the day I bought it. I am currently shopping for a replacement for my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee limited, that thing has been a NIGHTMARE as far as repairs go....Looks like an Allroad camping in the driveway next to my beloved A4.
Not to mention the customer service I have received with Audi has been top notch- One day when having a scheduled service done the mechanic wanted to show me something under the car so I got down to look under the car- this service area was spotless, you could eat off the floor. Well seems like the only spot of grease/ oil on the floor was right where I was kneeling and I got some on my sleeve of my dress shirt. I noticed it when I got up and was not upset at all. The service manager apologized and walked me into the showroom and told me to pick out any of the Audi button up shirts I wanted- they cost $80, and gave it to me free. I was blown away! Audi will definatly be seeing more of my money!

 

[JeremyFr]

if you looked at how many companys GM owns there's quite a few "GM" vehicles that are quite nicely built. Holden, Jaguar, Hummer(albeit ugly but still well built),opel, and many others.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Jaguar is owned by Ford, not GM. Their JD Power ratings went from rock bottom to near the top under Ford ownership. Too bad Ford can't do the same under their own brand. The Focus is a great driving car--excellent ride and handling and very slick manual trans--but reliability is very low.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

I've noticed in the past few years, 7 times out of 10 it's a domestic car that has failed on the road. I don't know why the cars are stopped where it shouldn't be, but if it looks like there's no reason to be parked, I count that as a failure. This unscientific observation has been consistent for several years, and shared by friends of mine as well. It's no coincidence.

 

[Steve_Tk]

"Your car has an electronic transmission and they just don't last 70,000 miles like you think they should".

This sounds familiar. I paid today for my new compressor. I was told it came with a lifetime warranty. My response was "why the f*ck didn't this piece of sh*t come with that in the first place on the compressor". He didn't respond. He knew I was already very pissed about having the rented car 2 days longer than I needed too because he forgot to call me the day they fixed it and didn't get around to it for two days. Yes I got my money for the rented car.

I will continue to rotate tires, oil change every 3500 miles or so. But the next thing that breaks I'll be buying a new car. Hopefully the transmission will go out soon, I expect it too before 70K.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Hopefully the transmission will go out soon, I expect it too before 70K.

Sad to say, if there's one thing GM can build, it's a transmission. You might be waiting a while on that one (unless you purposely don't take care of it).

Todd

 

[BrianShort]

I currently own a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3. For about another 10 hours

It's been in the shop 8 or 9 times for recalls, it's had it's alternator replaced, and it was just in the shop for 2 weeks having the igntition switch and door locks replaced after I couldnt get the switch to turn. The warranty had run out a month earlier. I bought the extended warranty, but they told me this part wasnt covered. When I picked up my car last week, they said they didnt know what the bill would be, and they'd call later. They haven't called yet, so I guess I'll go in sometime and see what's up. I took a look at the list of parts covered by the extended warranty I have, and it lists the ignition switch, but whatever...

I am trading it in today for a 2003 Subaru Outback Sport (the Impreza variant of the Outback)

 

[Brian Perry]

Sad to say, if there's one thing GM can build, it's a transmission

I think you're right--the transmission in my BMW is supposedly outsourced to GM.

 

[Kachi Khatri]

I'm not sure if you folks are aware that around mid-80's,
planned obsolescence was a strategy that was built into the automobile industry.

As many know those American cars (that we loved) in the pre-obsolesence era were great and built like a tank.

So, roughly after 5 years of owning a new vehicle...expect the unexpected!