Legacy GT, Turbo Forester, Mazdaspeed6 would all be larger than the evo/sti and offering AWD turbocharged goodness.
and europeans… 335xi, audi a6, vw cc?
non Z06 C6?
Oh…I don’t know…I paid around 11K for my '01 S-10 and it’s now got 160K on it…
Original plugs & wires…original clutch…
The only thing that I have had to replace on it so far (besides tires & brakes) was the TPS…about $35
Not too bad for a chebby…
If it’s got tits or tires, sooner or later it’s gonna give you trouble, and it doesn’t matter if they are foreign tits or domestic tits.
x2.
My mother has a 2002 9-3 Convertible with a 5 speed, with 98.5k on it. Runs like a top, and has very little problems. Hmmmm?
As Jeff said, everyone has anecdotal experience on both sides of the table. I had a 92 Cutlass Supreme that I beat on through high school, basically only changed the oil - it never broke down once and I sold it in 2001 with 210k miles.
Proper maintenance is just increasing your chances of success, it’s no guarantee with any car. Bob Lutz has publicly admitted that GM quality slipped for the better part of at least 2 decades, and it’s only recently that SOME of the product has really been subjected to process re-engineering. There are interviews with GM assembly workers who have said “in the 80’s and 90’s if it was missing a screw or a bolt everyone just said who cares, ship it.”
Sailor is right that the Volt could be GM’s big hope. There are lots of people who don’t even look at GM now based on their experience with bad quality in the past. Because the Volt is essentially “revolutionary” in the market, it has the potential to make a lot of these people at least pay attention, especially given the amount of hype and media coverage of the car. If GM gets it wrong and the Volt disappoints, those people will never even look at GM again, and I think it will be bankruptcy.
It’s not only the ability to not break down. The materials, fit and finish, ergonomics, styling, etc. of MOST imports are much better than MOST domestics. They’re just put together MUCH better. I fail to see how anyone can dispute that fact.
I think the interior of my Fusion is every bit as good as the comparable imports. I drove a ton of cars a few months ago, mostly imports and was not impressed.
couldnt find an import with one of these bad boys as an option:
The funny thing is you had to just walk to your basement and take that picture… But it’s all good.
i also believe that in most comparision tests the fusion hybrid beat all others.
That is not true. I had to wait for Shaggy’s 30 minute rental period to run out.
like always, get my sloppy seconds.
my original post i was trying to make the point that the big 3 have slipped in build quality/fit and finish they were more or less building shit to just build. im aware that any car will last provided you care for it. my gripe is not about drivetrain. as nowadays, you seldom hear of bad engines or tranny internals. it is mostly electronic related (coil pack, various sensors) that cause problems. and majority of your repair work anymore seems to be normal maintenance and wear and tear on suspension. engines seldom get serviced regardless of brand.
i dont think fiat w/ chrysler will all of a sudden make the fit and finish better. as to be honest, i have yet to see an italian car that is nice. I service ferrari’s w/ plastic peeling around heater controls, leather peeling etc. lambo’s look nice on the outside, but once you start digging away–they are on the sub par build quality. granted, you wil get pussy in either one. but fit and finish are not their strong points. yet the fiat/alfa have solid cars to compete against import companies, as well as the other 2 domestic. right now chrysler has nothing. hell, they killed the neon which had to of been a top selling fwd car.
ford has the biggest pool to draw from. i have worked on european market cars that i was like wtf–why isnt that over here. it is night and day difference. Ford tried to do it w/ the focus, but fucked it all up and americanized it. hopefully they streamline shit, and make all their cars cross market. a new ford festiva would sell here in the states. the new tarus will too. a mustang will always sell.
gm is essentially killing off what i believe is the nicest looking cars in the new saturn lineup. the saturn convertible turns my head every time i see one. caddys have to many jagged edges. no real body line. pontiac looks like it is ripping off bmw. chevy is just chevy. the corvette, although a good bargain for the price when comparing cost of new to what you get, is still no porsche. You can get a 996 turbo porsche used for 40k that will respectably hang w/ a new zo6 vette and have a higher overall quality. Add insult to injury, it will destroy the vette if you toss some money into it. buick, i havnt seen a newer one on the road in ages. may as well died w/ ransom’s olds.
point being, gm better is going to sink or swim w/ the volt. or should i say shine or electrocute?
my last rant, and this goes to every company–why do we need big ass cars? i think the size of cars is getting out of hand. a 2000lb car w/ moderate performance and gas mileage would sell like hotcakes here. there is so many “small cars” w/ moderate power and better mpg that we dont get here due to being to small for the market. example of small car claim-- Suzuki Ignis, Ford Puma and Peugeot 206 XS as well as vw polo.
i think the Volt is sharp.
I agree with everything except the last paragraph. People here want room and convienence in their cars, they don’t want stripped down shitboxes. Plus, I would rather be in a nice big car then a lifted f350 hits me, it’s a lttle safer.
Same here. Driving a relatively long distance ~6 times a year with 4-5 people in a small car is miserable, and with all the luggage, impossible. The amount we spent on rentals offset the difference in gas cost of owning a larger vehicle that is used throughout the year. Granted, there are tons of people with SUVs that don’t need them, but there is still a fairly large market for larger vehicles.
If I were single and only had a few people in the car then yeah, a large vehicle would be useless.
every other country does it, why cant we? face it, its goin to happen sooner or later. its just goin to take a giant like GM to fall for ppl to realize that.
I don’t know, I kind of agree with sailor. I think if they had brought over some of the smaller cars from the European countries that they may have had better sales. I personally would rather have something small, quick, and economical than have a big cruising car. I had trouble finding a “small” car that didn’t weigh a ton.