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GM now worth less than toy car maker Mattel
- Thread starter joeshell383
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See my earlier post and you'll understand why I don't...and why you'd probably be driving something else too if you lived in North America.
You would have been better off with a Subaru. They have some of the safest cars on the road (including the Impreza), and have no trouble getting through snow.
VW beating anyone in reliability (electronics-wise) is still a foreign concept to me.
So far, so good.
And frankly, I'll take shoddier electronics over a shoddier powertrain any day. A broken power window motor isn't going to leave me stranded anywhere. But I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times our old GM cars were towed away to the repair shop.
My father had an '88 Jetta and it was the worst car I have ever had personal experience with. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was absolutely horrible. I have heard that the German-made VWs are significantly more reliable than the Mexican-built Jetta/Bora, though I have no facts to back that up. I have to say though, that when that Jetta was actually running it was a nice car. Unfortunately it wasn't running all that often.
To be fair I haven't had personal experience with any VW made after 1999, though I do have a friend with a New Beetle and it has had a lot of electrical issues.
With that being said only high resale values have kept me from getting a VW. They really own the hatchback market in the US with the Golf, and are the only manufacturer besides MB with a decent selection of diesel cars. When my last car was wrecked in November I searched for a 1.8T Golf/Jetta or possibly a TDI, but people are simply asking too much for them on the used market. That's why I have my Subaru.
If were looking for a hatchback today, I'd seriously consider the Honda Fit. I haven't heard a bad word about the car.
I rode around in a brand new red one this summer and was VERY impressed I must say. It makes a Civic feel flabby, and after being in the Fit my Forester felt like a truck. If I was in the market for a new car I would take a long, hard look at the Fit.
The domestics aren't the only ones to be shortsighted, but compared to overseas competition their product line is very poorly suited to a world in a fuel crisis.
Pretty much every major car manufacturer outside the US has a line of fuel efficient diesels and small city cars while the bread and butter products of US car makers are still mid-size sedans and full-size trucks with V6 and V8 engines. Consumers share the blame of course, but either way the US is behind in the trend towards more fuel-efficient cars. Research in the US is still targeted towards "have your cake and eat it too" hybrid SUVs that still get worse fuel economy than small hatchbacks and diesels.
Pretty much every major car manufacturer outside the US has a line of fuel efficient diesels and small city cars while the bread and butter products of US car makers are still mid-size sedans and full-size trucks with V6 and V8 engines. Consumers share the blame of course, but either way the US is behind in the trend towards more fuel-efficient cars. Research in the US is still targeted towards "have your cake and eat it too" hybrid SUVs that still get worse fuel economy than small hatchbacks and diesels.
Well, your Forester is a truck.
The price is right on the Fit also, and I believe the fuel economy is the best or nearly the best for a non-hybrid.
Well, your Forester is a truck.
The price is right on the Fit also, and I believe the fuel economy is the best or nearly the best for a non-hybrid.
It isn't quite a truck - I've been driving around in a Ford F-350 in the field and trust me it ain't that bad.
I think the Fit gets better mileage than the eco-king Geo Metro does, once you adjust the old EPA ratings.
All of the imports adjusted. Actually, I guess that's not quite accurate. They didn't bet the farm on gas guzzling SUVs remaining a trend like domestics did
Same here. I have always driven a Chevrolet and have never had any problems with them so why change? No car company is going to build perfect cars 100% of the time and it's ludicrous to see some of my fellow Macintosh users thinking they should.
Your comment is exactly one of the blind, unsubstantiated misconceptions that is killing our domestic auto industry. Do we really want to lose another industry?
Excluding the Sienna and Matrix, Toyota has 7 crossovers/SUVs and 2 pickup truck lines (but dare we mention them, or the fact that up until about 6-9 months ago both Toyota and Honda were desperately trying to make inroads in the full-size pickup arena). This Toyota=Eco-Friendly is a myth that has formed on the basis of one (halo) car. I suppose I congratulate their marketing and overall business accomplishments and success.
So then the Impreza must be a truck too, because that's what the Forester was based on.Well, your Forester is a truck.
And I can assure you, the Impreza is not a truck.
They already had small efficient cars for the Japanese market where cars are taxed on wheelbase and track (center of tires on one side to the center of the tire on the other side), and such, due to there not being much room in the cities, and the absence of a need for long trips due to cheap domestic air fare and a solid rail network. Much of the same goes for Europe, just without the taxes on wheelbase and track, and I think higher taxes on gas.
So all they really had to do was tweak a few of those models for U.S. safety standards, change the guages to MPH/F/whatever, and flip the dash. That takes a lot less money than designing a car from scratch.
Of course, Ford could have done that with the new Focus, but they were dumb and decided not to. And then when they redesigned the Mondeo, which has been getting great reviews, they completely ignored the possibility of bringing over here with regards to safety standards.
No one wants to lose it, I'm just not going to do anything to save it. If they manufacture something worthwhile, then I'll gladly take a look, but I'm not going to spend that kind of money on something I don't want just to save a company that made some poor choices.
I believe in Darwinism, and I think that it can apply to corporations just as much as species.
We need more photos. And larger, please.
Well it was meant as a joke.
So what were you trying to prove by posting all of those enormous photos? That Toyota sells big cars? Duh. Now, I can post huge photos of H2s, Escalades, Yukons, F-350s, Expeditions and Durangos to counter your point, or I'll use facts. Since I know forum etiquette, I'll go the facts route.
Average MPG by car company for the 2007 model year:
Source
Well, isn't that a surprise? Honda and Toyota have the most fuel efficient cars. The big 3 have the least fuel efficient cars, and 2 of them have the biggest reduction in sales. Honda's cars are by far the best on gas, and they had an INCREASE in their sales this year while the others had a decrease. What a shocker
Maybe there is something to this whole fuel economy thing after all. Maybe the big 3 have themselves to blame, and not those of us who buy imports, for the trouble they're in.