The only GM or Ford product I'd ever buy is the Cadillac Escalade. All of Ford's vehicles SUCK and GM is fine, but not up to my standards. I'll stick with Lexus and Mercedes.
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GM has 120 days to live, Ford 7 months.
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Problem is, GM seems to be more interested in saving cash than investing for the future like Ford is. As such, Congress may view a bailout to GM dimly while they'll be more receptive to a Ford bailout, given Ford's clear plan to essentially produce their European Ford line in the USA by 2012. And Ford's plan is a very smart idea, given that European Fords are highly regarded in Europe.
No argument from me. Ford has really benefited under Alan Mullally. He seems to get what needs to be done to turnaround Ford. While GM is giving up on things after it failed on the first go around. Prime example is Saturn's turnaround. The Aura, Vue, and Astra are great products, but due to lack of advertising, lack of dealers, etc it hasn't taken off. So now they are redesigning the Aura to look different from the Insignia mainly citing that the Insignia rides on the short wheel base version of the Epsilon II platform and now designing it to be on the long wheelbase version. So in a time where we should be downsizing our vehicles, GM still ops to make the Aura a big mid size sedan. What Saturn needs to be is Opel's arm into the US like how Pontiac is(was) being used to bring Holden into the US.
I have always thought either Saturn or Pontiac need to go, with me leaning towards the latter. If Oldsmobile was still around, I'd say kill 'em both. With the new Malibu taking over the spot were the Aura was, I don't see the need for both vehicles. I've never sat inside an Aura, but I have been in a Malibu and from pictures the Malibu has an edge in all things, including interior design. Don't know about handling or power.
GM's future at Cadillac looking bleak. The Escalade is possibly moving to Lambda, a move that will shock most current Escalade owners and possibly going away in droves. The current RWD SRX is being replaced by some rebadged FWD Saturn Vue-like vehicle; the STS replacement has been cancelled until further notice, and we're stuck with the DTS until then (I like it, but it's old), no Northstar replacement at all (it dies within the next 2 years). XLR is dead; no replacement after 2012. The only bright spot is the '09 CTS-V and the '10 CTS coupe. As you can tell, I'm very concerned about Cadillac.
GM's future at Cadillac looking bleak. The Escalade is possibly moving to Lambda, a move that will shock most current Escalade owners and possibly going away in droves. The current RWD SRX is being replaced by some rebadged FWD Saturn Vue-like vehicle; the STS replacement has been cancelled until further notice, and we're stuck with the DTS until then (I like it, but it's old), no Northstar replacement at all (it dies within the next 2 years). XLR is dead; no replacement after 2012. The only bright spot is the '09 CTS-V and the '10 CTS coupe. As you can tell, I'm very concerned about Cadillac.
Pontiac might be killed as it as no future products past 2012.
As for Cadillac, the new SRX isn't a rebadged Vue. The Vue rides on a mix of Theta and Theta II. The new SRX rides on Theta-Epsilon which is a mix of Epsilon and Theta. The 9-4 will also ride on this platform. True, the DT7 has been shelved until further notice. There will be a DOHC version of the Small Block V8 to replace the Northstar.
Maybe you're the exception to the rule. I purchased a new '05 Chevy Colorado, and 18 months later couldn't wait to trade it in. Everything was cheap and of poor construction, including the body panels which didn't even line up. The gaps on one side of the hood were twice as wide as on the other side, and neither were straight. Half the time it wouldn't start on the first try, and this was during the first 30k miles! New Chevy's are worse than than ever.
Driving a GM or Ford product is similar to using a PC...it just doesn't make sense. I traded my Colorado in on an '06 Honda Civic and absolutely love it. Great quality, ride and mpg.
Regarding the bailout, I oppose it. We need to stop fooling around with the economy and let it self-correct. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game, and if Gm or Ford or AIG or whomever made bad business decisions then they shouldn't be in business. If you or I operated like those guys we'd be bankrupt...why should my taxes pay for their bad decisions?
Screw 'em! Make a quality product we want, or we'll find someone who will.
Or maybe you're the exception to the rule. Why are bad experiences taken as fact, but a good experience taken as a blip? Sure before my Aura, the interior was cheap in my GM's, but they have been reliable. Considering GM's trucks are one of their best products out there, you're the blip most likely as their trucks are generally reliable.
PS: Don't you love the forums double standard. Here anyone with a bad experience with an Apple product is brushed off as having bad luck and say Apple's products are generally reliable. But, when it is something outside of Apple and has a negative perception, the people with the good experiences are the blips and the people with bad experiences is added to the facts that the company make POS products.
On another note, if this isn't enough to convince GM to bring the Insignia over as the next Aura, nothing will.....
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081117.020/opel-insignia-wins-european-car-of-the-year
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081117.020/opel-insignia-wins-european-car-of-the-year
Wait, so we buy the cars we like, then blame the companies for not turning on a dime and producing fuel efficient cars when our bill goes up?
No, they don't deserve our money. Not at all. But then, thousands of employees don't deserve to be fired. I wonder, say, if we limited the top salaries at these companies to 10x base salary pay, and the rest in stock, what would happen. After the bailout, that is.
No, they don't deserve our money. Not at all. But then, thousands of employees don't deserve to be fired. I wonder, say, if we limited the top salaries at these companies to 10x base salary pay, and the rest in stock, what would happen.
After the bailout, that is.
I've always found GM and Ford vehicles to be unreliable after a while. I'm not saying its a 100% sure thing, but I've never had any good experiences even at their dealerships.
Me and the rest of our family switched to Honda cars. I even have a Honda bike. I never had any problems with them. Dad's 98 CR-V runs like new despite hitting 6300 rpm (redline) every day he drives it to work. That thing has 170k miles and all we had to change is oil, add gas, change tires at 50k-ish miles and the spark plugs went out at 165k the very first time. None of the plastic interior or exterior is falling apart either. Except for a few road chips and dents, the car is virtually brand new in every way.
Me and the rest of our family switched to Honda cars. I even have a Honda bike. I never had any problems with them. Dad's 98 CR-V runs like new despite hitting 6300 rpm (redline) every day he drives it to work. That thing has 170k miles and all we had to change is oil, add gas, change tires at 50k-ish miles and the spark plugs went out at 165k the very first time. None of the plastic interior or exterior is falling apart either. Except for a few road chips and dents, the car is virtually brand new in every way.
well, their dealerships should have some niceness also and not charge 100 bucks fee for telling where the ECU is located.
The only Pontiac product worth anything, G8, could easily be rebadged as a Impala SS. I'm sure sales would go up with that rebadge.
As for the SRX, that's what I mean instead of the Vue. I just don't like how it's going from RWD to FWD. I'm sure sales will be better, but I love the current SRX, especially with the redesigned interior and tight handling. DT7 cannot come soon enough. STS is a great car, but the sales have never been where GM wanted them to be; even less than the Seville that came before it. The DTS is also suffering, though I still think it's a decent vehicle. The overall platform is 10+ years old, and it shows. The interior shares too much with Buick Lucerne and Chevy Impala. XLR should've been designed from the get-go with a better interior. The exterior is stunning; get inside, and it just "ehh". Absolutely no competition for the Mercedes SL.
Northstar has been run it's life. It's a great motor, but has had more than its share of problems. From oil leaks to headgaskets, it's time to move on from it. I have not heard of the latest on the replacement though; last I heard, the Ultra V8 had been cancelled due to CAFE restraints and GM not having the funds to build it.
Wait, so we buy the cars we like, then blame the companies for not turning on a dime and producing fuel efficient cars when our bill goes up?
No, they don't deserve our money. Not at all. But then, thousands of employees don't deserve to be fired. I wonder, say, if we limited the top salaries at these companies to 10x base salary pay, and the rest in stock, what would happen.
just like people dont deserved to be laid off but it happens ALL the time.... its a part of life in this country. what about when hp lays people off for buget reasons? i mean seriously, the big 3's arguemnt is bunk imo
these companies deserve to go under for being unable to compete with other auto companies. would there be an outcry if circuit city went under? oh wait they did. oh how about enron? oh waaaaaait. there are countless examples
point is that many people have to suffer in terms of being laid off as a result of bad management of the companies. what makes GM so different? where do you draw the line?
the big three's arguement can be summarized by these 2 points
1) the industry supports many other industries ( i heard up to 4 million jobs)
2) vehicle sales would plummet as cars are a long term buy
to address point one: many industries create jobs in other industries. its a fact of life. for instance apple doesnt make the lcd screen so it outsources those jobs to compaines that do make lcd screens. see what im getting at? what makes GM and them so special? nothing at all
to address point 2: well thats been known as long as the industry has been aound and yet many other car manufactueres have gone away
the only reason we are considering this bailout is to keep workers from losing thier jobs. i dont agree with that at all tbh
to make matters worse, i dont think this bailout would work. these companies have been struggling for some time now even when the economy is GOOD. this bailout would just be wasted money at our expense.
just let capitalism run its course is what i say. i for one do not want to help out yet another company who privatizes gains and wants my money to bail them out
oh btw, this is an interesting article as well from december 2005
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963114.htm
Just though I would point out that you took the spark plugs WAY past their usable life and starting causing emission problem and fuel economy problems. Spark plugs are supposed to be replaced around 30-60k some more modern cars can go to a 100k when they are platinum tipped. But this is honda and they tend to lag a little in those areas so they should of been replaced at the latest at 60k.... It there is one complaint I have about honda is they are the slowest at moving into the technology direction in things like that and a few other fancy gizmos like temperature sensor, gas mileage indicator in the car ect.
That being said honda reliability has always been impressive.
just like people dont deserved to be laid off but it happens ALL the time.... its a part of life in this country. what about when hp lays people off for buget reasons? i mean seriously, the big 3's arguemnt is bunk imo
these companies deserve to go under for being unable to compete with other auto companies. would there be an outcry if circuit city went under? oh wait they did. oh how about enron? oh waaaaaait. there are countless examples
point is that many people have to suffer in terms of being laid off as a result of bad management of the companies. what makes GM so different? where do you draw the line?
the big three's arguement can be summarized by these 2 points
1) the industry supports many other industries ( i heard up to 4 million jobs)
2) vehicle sales would plummet as cars are a long term buy
to address point one: many industries create jobs in other industries. its a fact of life. for instance apple doesnt make the lcd screen so it outsources those jobs to compaines that do make lcd screens. see what im getting at? what makes GM and them so special? nothing at all
to address point 2: well thats been known as long as the industry has been aound and yet many other car manufactueres have gone away
the only reason we are considering this bailout is to keep workers from losing thier jobs. i dont agree with that at all tbh
to make matters worse, i dont think this bailout would work. these companies have been struggling for some time now even when the economy is GOOD. this bailout would just be wasted money at our expense.
just let capitalism run its course is what i say. i for one do not want to help out yet another company who privatizes gains and wants my money to bail them out
oh btw, this is an interesting article as well from december 2005
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963114.htm
problem with your attach on point one is yes industries create jobs in others but the problem with one of the big 3 going under is it is such a HUGE company removed at one time the market just can not adjust to prevent a huge domino effect. I read that if GM goes under it will take ford with it because Ford and GM both have a lot of the same supplier. GM goes under a lot of the big supplier for ford will go under as well. That cause Ford to not have supplies to meet demand and they start falling to.
There is a reason why the big 3 going out all at once would mean over 3 mil jobs in less than a year.
It is thin line they have to tread. We know doing nothing will cause a uncontrolled collapse aka great depression and doing to much does the same. The trick is to make it a softer landing. I do not think the economy today could absorb one of the big 3 going out. When Enron when bust over all the economy was doing just fine and could absorb the lost. Houston had no problem keeping all those jobs. With in a matter of a few months almost everyone who lost there jobs with Enron in Houston found new jobs in Houston.
Modern Hondas, like my RSX and my mom's 08 Civic states, Spark plugs should be replaced at 110,000 Miles for the first change under "Normal" conditions. I changed mine at 50,000 miles because I do floor it a lot, even took it over redline many times, revved at 6.5k down the freeway for about 3 miles, yadada. The spark plugs Honda uses are Iridium, which are good for 85k miles and beyond. Platinum spark plugs are good for 50k miles average.
For fuel economy and emissions, it passed SMOG here in california and at a 25 mpg w/ redlining, dad didn't see much difference in fuel economy.
Anything is possible, but I have purchased a wide array of vehicles and can attest that Honda has proven superior. I'm not saying all American vehicles are crap, just most of them. I owned a 1995 Camaro Z28 which I loved (though the transmission went out at 65K); next I bought a 2000 VW Jetta which was abysmal and in the shop every other week; then the 2005 Colorado which as I said was by far the worst in terms of quality; Now I finally bought a Honda Civic and have NO complaints. My best friend liked it so much he just bought an '09 Civic. My mother recognized the superior quality and is in the process of purchasing a Honda Pilot (My brother currently owns a Pilot too).
And this is NOT normal for us. Currently my mother drives a GMC Envoy and my father a GMC Sierra. Our family has always bought American vehicles in large part due to family members working for Chevrolet, but the lack of a quality product (and the past 10 years of crap products) has led us all to jump ship.
So you could be right, perhaps I am the exception to the rule. All I know is that we basically vote with our dollars and the world is resoundingly saying no to inferior American vehicles. They're going out of business because we don't want what they have to offer.
I am all for American made cars/trucks and I desperately hope they can turn their business model around, but I am against bailing them out. It's survival of the fittest and if our companies are too slow or out of touch to keep up with what we want then we'll find someone who will. In any case I don't want my money bailing out Wall Street or GM/Ford.
GM is starting to put out all the usual signs of filing for BK now, the withholding of payments to dealers for reimbursements of rebates/incentives is under normal circumstances the sign that they may be drawing up the paperwork as we speak for a normal company.
Conserving cash at the expense of their dealer/sales network isn't a good sign.
Tick .. tock
Conserving cash at the expense of their dealer/sales network isn't a good sign.
Tick .. tock
right that the more recent ones. It was more on the 98 one that would lag like that where it but either way it clearly went way past it design life.
good god the need of liquidity has to be absurd that Ford/GM are now throwing their shares on the market in this economic situation
