The right to work...Death of the Big Three

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Screw that. Survival of the fittest, I say. My sis bought a new Acura back in 03 or 04 and has never had to bring it in for anything except regular maintenance. My dad bought a new Buick in 02 and the thing has been in for everything from the windshield wipers to the transmission. It has been in for repairs at least 6 times. Simply from things ceasing to work. On a brand new car. And let me tell you, if I had to lend my truck to either of them, it'd be my dad. Dude drives like an old man (because he is).

My buddy bought an 05 Dodge Ram a couple years ago and has spent thousands of dollars fixing random crap that breaks. Even my old Jimmy would break down on me constantly (but dang, I loved that truck).

This time I bought a Toyota. I'll not buy another domestic until they get a bunch of years of good press for being quality vehicles. And it's not just me. One by one, people I know are switching to Toyota or Honda. IT may be a little more expensive, but I just simply don't want to spend any time at the repair shop. I don't care if it's covered by warranty, like in my dad's case. He bought from Shaganappi but he lives in the south. Taking the car in for repairs is a major pain in the arse, even when the warranty covers it.

The big three need to fix their own sh1t. I won't spend a nickle on their products until they're worth buying again.

And I've bought 5 brand new fords in the last 12 years and never had a single problem with any of them.

My antecodotal evidence is superior. North American cars are great.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, gotta go with the general sentiment that the big three need a new business model. As 4X4 said...how many fricken models does GM have, how many factories to build all of these? Why?

Easy solution, scrap Buick, GMC,Pontiac, and Saturn. Go with two brands Chevy and Cadilac and build about 6 models of car for Chevy, full size pick up, compact pick up, compact SUV, midsize SUV, and fullsize SUV. For Cadilac you keep the CTS, the Escalade, and maybe one more larger car to go against the Mercedes E class, BMW 5 series, and possibly the smaller SUV they have. That way you're only focusing on what you sell, and you're only worried about those vehichles.

Same for Ford, build the Focus, Fusion, Mustang as cars an the Escape, Edge, Explorer for SUV's as well as the F150 and Ranger, maybe keep the Flex to be your it's not, but it really is a mini van vehichle. Other than that do they sell anything? Not really, I just named 90% of the vehichles they sell, so build and focus on those for fart sakes. The imports have done this for years.

But I still remember a letter my Dad received in 1990 from General Motors. After driving GM vehichles for like 30 straight years, and often Buick's he had received 2 straight lemons that basically broke down after 80,000 km. Worst was that the dealers had no idea what was wrong and just tried to sell him a new vehicle. He got fed up with their service and attitude and bought a Ford and wrote a letter complaining about their service and quality of their cars. Eventually he traded up his T-Bird to a used Benz when he came accross a deal he couldn't refuse and never went back to anything else. GM basically told him too bad so sad you bought bad cars but they were the biggest automaker in the world and they would be fine without him as a customer, there was no shortage of people like him so no apology or anything. They actually took time to write him a letter saying no apology we weren't in the wrong. I know I've always remembered that, and always will.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Easy solution, scrap Buick, GMC,Pontiac, and Saturn. Go with two brands Chevy and Cadilac and build about 6 models of car for Chevy, full size pick up, compact pick up, compact SUV, midsize SUV, and fullsize SUV. For Cadilac you keep the CTS, the Escalade, and maybe one more larger car to go against the Mercedes E class, BMW 5 series, and possibly the smaller SUV they have. That way you're only focusing on what you sell, and you're only worried about those vehichles.

Same for Ford, build the Focus, Fusion, Mustang as cars an the Escape, Edge, Explorer for SUV's as well as the F150 and Ranger, maybe keep the Flex to be your it's not, but it really is a mini van vehichle. Other than that do they sell anything? Not really, I just named 90% of the vehichles they sell, so build and focus on those for fart sakes. The imports have done this for years.

But I still remember a letter my Dad received in 1990 from General Motors. After driving GM vehichles for like 30 straight years, and often Buick's he had received 2 straight lemons that basically broke down after 80,000 km. Worst was that the dealers had no idea what was wrong and just tried to sell him a new vehicle. He got fed up with their service and attitude and bought a Ford and wrote a letter complaining about their service and quality of their cars. Eventually he traded up his T-Bird to a used Benz when he came accross a deal he couldn't refuse and never went back to anything else. GM basically told him too bad so sad you bought bad cars but they were the biggest automaker in the world and they would be fine without him as a customer, there was no shortage of people like him so no apology or anything. They actually took time to write him a letter saying no apology we weren't in the wrong. I know I've always remembered that, and always will.

Wow. That is a bad story. What the hell were they thinking?

Re: everything else -- don't forget the Malibu for Chevy. That thing got them more good press than anything else in recent (or at least my) memory.

I knew a guy who was doing research for a new car and he said at one point "I'm just going to get a Malibu, that seems to be the only one everybody likes". I think in the end he bought an Audi or a Volvo, but he was apparently sold on the Malibu just on internet reputation, even though it was way out (by being lower) of his price range.

[HOZ]

The problem with the big three is NOT that they lack the ability to produce good or even great cars. Nor do they lack the ability to provide decent service for the customers.

The problem is that it is so......occasional. Not usually or most of the time. Just occasionally.

Good businesses don't do it JUST occasionally.

They have don such a piss poor job and now they want they same people they have urinated on for so long to help them.

Don't think so. It is going to hurt but boy does that industry need a enema!