R.I.P. General Motors (1931-2006)

Also--the guy might be attempting to impress a customer (eg real estate
salesman) by taking the customer to a 5-star restaurant.

 

Back when all manufactures began experiencing head gasket failures Toyota
was NOT repairing ANY engine with a bad head gasket that was our of
warranty. It was not until after Fords out of court settlement with the
gasket manufactures over the problems that developed with the government ban
on asbestos, that Toyota and some other manufactues started to make repairs
that were 80% paid for by the gasket manufactures. Up until then the gasket
manufactures were blaming owner neglect. Since the gasket failures were not
catastrophic but rather a slow deterioration, a leaking head gasket should
have been detected with normal maintenance long before it leaked enough to
damage the engine. So you really should be thanking Ford


mike hunt

 

This is one of my hot buttons. I don't disagree with your claim that your
Toyota has served you well, but the fact is that an equal number of domestic
cars are still on the road at ages like yours and have served equally as
well. Toyota has no better of a record of nearly 30 year old cars on the
road than GM or Ford, or anyone else. It's not a matter of the domestics
learning to build a car like your 78 Toyota.

What do you mean when you say they had a recall but it was out of warranty.
Recalls and warranties are two different things.

Having said that, my one and only real beef with GM is precisely what you're
getting at there. The gasket issue is a prime example of something that GM
should have stood behind the way that Toyota stood behind your 4Runner.
Hats off to Toyota for that.

Well - you'll be a lot worse off getting in even a minor accident in your
Toyota. Ask a body man about working on Toyotas and Hondas sometime. They
love them. And not because they're so easy to fix...

 

I'm sure he meant the #1 selling car company, worldwide but esp. in NA

 

25% on a $3,500 worth of crash parts is better than 25% on $2,000 worth
One thing import buyers forget to take into consideration are the very high
prices of import parts. Insurance companies KNOW the difference. That is
one of the main reasons they get so little of the fleet business, no matter
how hard the try. Higher insurance rates and higher part prices


mike hunt

 

I don't get the connection of GM to Chrysler,
unless you mean GM will totally upgrade their product line using the
best technology from around the world.

IMO I can't see such staid GM management taking such a step.
GM stands out as not responding to current car trends.
Ford and to a lesser degree Chrysler do.

If GM tries a Chrysler 300 move it's too late, there's no more room for
another ugly, heavy, overpowered mid sized car.
The 300 never did sell that well in our market and you can now get
slightly used a 2005 model for around half price.
A bit more than half price if you buy one of the NEW Magnum or Pacifica
(an earlier heavy gas eating beast)
models still sitting waiting for an owner.

 

You're comparison is flawed. Toyotas don't cost 10 times as much. If
GM's and Ford's cost $1 for their feces invested burgers, then Toyota
are $1.05 for their pure USDA choice ground beef. So Toyota buyers
are smarter! That explains why you don't own them.

 

People who don't understand why medical costs rise as they do also don't
understand (or want to understand) the enormous costs of bringing a new drug
to market, the fact that each new successful drug that makes a profit also
has to fund not only its own huge development cost but that of a far greater
number of drugs that failed in various stages of development and that will
never make a penny, that the developer has a limited amount of time to
recoup costs and make a profit before the drug goes off patent and generics
come to market (whose makers don't share in the either the risk or cost of
new drug development). And that's before we get into the realm of hordes of
lawyers just itching to sue if there is a hint of a chance they can get a
jury award for a problem that might surface when a drug comes to market.

If you think that drug companies are sticking it to the customer and making
huge profits, you should try to convince Wall Street of that. Virtually all
of the big drug companies stocks have been in the dumper for years simply
because their profits and prospects are so poor.

 

I don't recall Chrysler discontinuing early any vehicles as a result of
the Mercedes takeover.
Mercedes bought Chrysler to lower costs by sharing components, such as
Chrysler V8 engines and Mercedes drive trains, etc.
That Mercedes drive train meant RWD, which also was needed for the very
large 300C V8.
Chrysler has the volume to lower costs that Mercedes doesn't.

Ref: Chrysler 500 and the twice the price large Mercedes,
plus recently the Chrysler Caliber and the Mercedes B200.

It has backfired a bit in that many of Chryslers existing mid size
customers didn't buy the 300 and Mercedes lost large sized big engined
customers to the Chrysler 300.
Chrysler ends up making money due to the high priced 300, Mercedes loses
money.

 

There are desperate measures taken

"The letter, signed by 36 of GM's dealers, lauds Mr Wagoner as "an
excellent leader, father, husband and human being". It calls on
Americans to support the company, saying "for the good of everyone,
they must succeed and they need our help. We pledge ours. We hope you
will do the same"."

everyone in this case is GMs dealers

The nails in the coffin gather around

 

wow. what market are YOU in? for 1/2 price, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
JP

 

I will thank Ford. When I need a new work truck, it'll be another F-150.
That's the one domestic I'll buy again. If only I could get one with an
I-6 5 speed.

 

I don't think domestics were creating reliable 4-cylinder overhead cam
emgines in '78. Foreign companies have much more experience with modern
engines. I'm not saying a Chevy 350 of and Olds 455 aren't reliable. But
even when domestics went to fuel injection systems, they were putting in
the TBI's, while foreign already had MPI. They enjoy a similiar lead in
hybrid technology, while GM keeps cranking out Suburbans and Hummers.

Domestics may have been a little more resistant to rust than foreign.

Fortunately, I don't have one of the newer Trail Blazers with the piston
slap issues. I've read that Blue Book value takes a $5000 hit on this
issue. To be fair, Toyota had issues with this too.

I can change out a fender on a 4runner in 1/2 hour and it costs $70.
Plus I don't waste my older 4runner in the winter salt. I have a Blazer
for that.

 

If we're talking body parts and the car is 5 years old, one can buy
imported parts for the same price. It is alot harder to find used parts
for foreign autos.

As for parts like, ball joints for instance, they may cost a little
more, but on a Ford they need replacing at 100K. While on a Toyota, they
go 200K. Plus, they're easier to change; bolt on.

Parts aren't always cheap either. This 4runner appoaching 300k finally
needs an idler arm, but surprise....it's rebuildable for a grand total
of $8.00. Maybe you can to that with a GM or Ford, but I've never heard
of it.

 

A better statement would be: On average, Imports have better reliability
than GM and Ford. Some GMs and Fords do better than the imports on
particular applications. I don't see many import police cars. Most are Ford
Crown Vics and Chevys. Corporate fleet managers learn which cars work well
for their fleets and buy those. And some imports have big reliability
problems. Most don't.

Jeff

 

They killed the whole Eagle brand right away as I recall, though maybe
that was before Daimler got involved. Not long after, Plymouth his the
dust bin.

One of the things GM needs to do is to scrap at least 50% of the
brand/model combinations it has right now.

John

 

It is never a good sign when people are signing pledges of support for a
boss. Never a good sign at all!

John

 

Hello,
The first couple of years of the take over resulted in almost no major
changes in regard to the vehicles made by Chrysler. I don't have a list in
front of me but I subscribe to Car and Driver magazine. It's obvious that
Mercedes-Benz is now in the process of not making any models that are
losing money in terms of sales records. They are also installing engines
made by Mercedes in some of the Chrysler models. I don't think that any
car company in the World would continue to make a model that was losing
money. An example is the Aztec.
Jason
Jason

 

One other factor that will have an effect on car sales in 2006 and 2007
are the really small cars (example: Honda Fit) that will be sold by Honda,
Toyota and Mazda. Those car companies have been selling these really small
cars in Europe and Japan for several years but they are now bringing them
to America. Those cars will cost about $15,000 which means that almost
anyone that can afford a new car will be able to afford a Honda, Toyota or
Mazda.
Jason

 

Speaking as a nurse who sees the drug company reps at the office every day,
I say a lot of the bloat has to do with their marketing.

They always buy lunch for our 50-some-odd employees (Not McDonald's but
expensive catering). They give the staff and doctors very pricey things
they and we certainly do not need. (I've seen reps give docs PDAs!)

Most cholesterol meds cost about $10 per pill, which is obscene, since
these people will probably die if they don't take the stuff, but what
choice do they have when they fall in the middle? (Not poor enough for
Medicaid, but can't afford good health insurance). It blows. To be fair,
though, most drug companies offer an 'indigent patient' program for such
patients, but the process is costly to the doctors (Staff time filling out
papers, doctor time doing out same) - it's quite cumbersome, and you can't
bill the patient or insurance company for it, which is why most docs don't
even mention it to the patient. (All docs I've worked with always have,
though).

As a doc I used to work with years ago said (And he always refuses their
'freebies'), "If they'd stop wasting money on shit nobody needs, they could
lower their outrageous prices for the patients' medications!"

Amen, Charlie.

Natalie