i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

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takza
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Post by takza »

My 2004 copy of Consumer Reports has a list of what they consider the best used cars as far as reliability and performance:

Other than the Escort/Tracer...and a Saab......the rest are Japanese....out of 29 cars listed.

Why can't US makers make a reliable car? Only advantage might be cheaper parts costs...and even then maybe not anymore.
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Post by Petros »

I have heard that the Honda Odyssey is made 90% in USA and 100% in North America, while most "American" cars are only about 70% US made. Notice what a difference in quality, being made by American workers in American factories. Clearly it is the management. US makers have been closing factories and laying off workers, at the same time Honda, Toyota, Mazda, etc. have had record sales years.

What a shame. I have worked as an engineer in the US auto industry and have found that the engineers were some of the sharpest people I have ever worked with (even more than in most aerospace firms). So clearly the problem is the decisions being made at the top (probably by the bean counters and the marking department), not with the competence of the employees. Will they ever learn?

Until they do Japan and now the Koreans (and perhaps the Chinese?) will continue to eat their lunch.
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splatterdog
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Post by splatterdog »

I wonder how many more lawyers and accountants are involved in car building than in the good old days.

Oh crap! Just think, these might be the good old days....(sigh)
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Post by ARCHINSTL »

splatterdog wrote:Oh crap! Just think, these might be the good old days....(sigh)
It's so hard to realize and so easy to forget...each generation has its own "good old days..."

I can remember my Grandfather (b.1870) talking about "...when women wore modest dresses (down to the floor) - not like your Mother there who wore those skimpy skirts when she was in school."
And my Mother (who was a real '20s flapper-bathtub gin and all) rolling her eyes at him and asking him if he "...really liked wearing a coat and vest and tie while roasting in the cab of his steam engine in 1898 compared to shirtsleeves when he retired in 1937?"
And of course he immediately changed the subject.

And when I was in 8th grade (1954), EVERY young budding stud wore pink bucks (shoes) and pink pants and a black shirt and a pink bolo tie - or the reverse. Aaaackkk! No wonder my Father was embarrassed when we went out...
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Post by thebigbread »

ties? ackk.. i spent my first 15 years in midtown mobile (think midtown atlanta or bronx, & thats what pretty much it is) & even though that was only 3 years ago i call it "back in the day".

Chuck taylors, baggy jeans, vintage tee shirt & a fedora hat. ROCK ON :wink:
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by terceldude »

FORD - Down the drain (POS)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHEVY - Superior to FORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GM - Also superior to Ford and good but need to see more Toyota engineering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz (Mair-say-days Bentz), Audi, Porsche (porsha) - Great German technology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TOYOTA - The best a man can get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FORD - Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, Fix Or Race till Dead, Fate Observes Revvin Daddy, etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHEVY - Call Him Engine-Varied Yuppie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GM - Guten Morgen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TOYOTA - Toy Of Year Or Talk A**hole, lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Last edited by terceldude on Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by Neu »

terceldude wrote:FORD - Down the drain (POS)
CHEVY - Superior to FORD
GM - Good but need to see more Toyota engineering.
VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz (Mair-say-days Bentz), Audi, Porsche (porsha) - Great German technology
TOYOTA - The best a man can get

FORD - Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, Fix Or Race till Dead, Fate Observes Revvin Daddy, etc.
CHEVY - Call Him Engine-Varied Yuppie
GM - Guten Morgen
TOYOTA - Toy Of Year Or Talk A**hole, lol.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

This people, is the definition of a terrible post.
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by Mattel »

Not enough exclamation marks.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Neu
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by Neu »

Or generalizations.
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by terkill »

Reason why the 7.3 ford power-stroke engine is awesome:

-Not made by ford!
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(and they still get destroyed by any aftermarket add-ons)

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and I am glad I did.
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by terceldude »

Neu, why are you putting down my post? I thought you guys would find it funny....... :(
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terceldude
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by terceldude »

You guys need a sense of humor, capiche? :D :)
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Neu
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by Neu »

because for the most part I like Ford, and chevy's aren't too bad either, Gm does suck.

I just dont like it when people say stuff about all the american brands, and yoo hoo the foreign ones.
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by ARCHINSTL »

terceldude wrote:Neu, why are you putting down my post? I thought you guys would find it funny....... :(
Well, it is - funny...
:oops: for you...
Tom M.
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T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
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Re: i remember why i dont like american vehicles..

Post by terceldude »

They weren't generalizations..... They were jokes. :shock: You guys really need some sense in humor..... :) You guys are always too serious and don't find things I say funny. That offends me and makes me feel ignored..... :x No, it isn't funny just for me...... It's funny for everyone that used to own a Ford knowing how crappy they are made because, for instance, the following is to be said. :lol: I know someone in my speech class who owned a POS Ford Ranger pickup and he showed us a vide on why GM is better than Ford. He showed us why and the major thing I got out of it to prove why is that the frame where the shackles meet the springs rotted out so much quicker than GM due to poor metal selection on Ford's part. Actually GM rules. Ford sucks, why is because GM has been known to have made some cars with Japanese engineering. I'll give you some examples...... The Geo Metro, the Chevy Nova of the mid 80s, possibly the Cavalier, since it has an identical model made in Japan dubbed as the Toyota Cavalier, and now not cars, but pickups: the Chevy LUV, slight Isuzu / Chevy joint venture in making. Whenever I see someone in Wellesley driving a Ford I say "s**** car" and "Lady/Guy you can do better than that!"
etc. The only Ford, NEU, that I would pay respect to if any, but I don't, is the Pinto sedan/wagon. Even they are poorly made I'm sure because they were made by the same company who made my friends' Ford Ranger that after that episode, went to the junkyard as JUNK!!!!! I think the mechanics at my TOYOTA place "backtalked" Ford as well and said that GM cars were also better. Think about the Chevy Nova... I would have bought that than any POS Ford! :lol:
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