More bad news for Chrysler.

I remember when the Big Three had 90% domestic market penetration, and our cars were the envy of the world.
How long 'til Toyota buys GM?

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/13/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

 

I sure hope that Chrysler and Mercedes split because other than financial gains for the duo Chrysler has done nothing to support technological advancement of the companies. The way it appears to me is that Chrysler views Mercedes more like an opponent than a brother. Their lack of promotion for the crossfire is just one of the things that makes me think this way, among the main reasons of the cars failure and mentality could of very well been "Oh it is not really a Chrysler, why give Mercedes more promotion". Although there are quiet a few Chrysler cars that I like.

Another reason of the declining sales of the Big Three is the strategic marketing of the Japan's Three... their "our cars are very reliable" is believed by a majority... these people than proceed to lease these cars for a 3 year period... encounter no mechanical difficulties and go on believing that their car was reliable, when actually neither American nor German car of the same level and price would have mechanical difficulties either.

Also for some reason people now days feel that the japan's cars are more prestigious than americans' this boggles my mind as well...

 

My experiences with Hondas and Toyotas have been far better than what I've had with the big three. When I buy a car, I keep it for a decent amount of time. Ex. I just sold my 1997 Prelude, still have my 2001 Accord, and plan on keeping my 2005 4Runner for years and years.

I will agree with you on the 3 year period. Most vehicles will be trouble free during that period. My interest however is with the post 3 year term. I've had Fords, Jeeps, and Chevrolets and for daily drivers - I will most likely never go back.

My Prelude was absolutely trouble free for 9 years and over 130,000 miles. My Accord has been trouble free for 6 years and 80,000 miles. My 4Runner has yet to go to the shop in 36,000 miles.

For my Jeep and Silverado, monthly trips to the service department were the norm.

To me, the quality and reliability (long-term) of the big three is just not there and it would take a miracle for me to think otherwise.

The only reason I bought the SRT6 is because I will not drive it much. If I couldn't a good deal on a SRT6 Roadster, I probably would have gone with a s2000 or a 350z roadster.

In their day, the big three was the best. Recent years have proved otherwise IMO. Though it appears that things are turning around for them in quality and refinement.

As an article in the new Motor Trend suggests, the big three may do better once they are not the big three anymore.

Just my .02.

 

The way I see it is reliability has only a very marginal difference in cars of the same class and price range... There will be faulty ones among every bunch and you maybe the unlucky one to get it, but the most important thing is the way you treat the car and I think at this point both american and german cars are given much more punishment than typical japanese with the exception of a few ricer models...

On another note believe it or not.. but a friend of mine managed to trash the engine on the g35 so badly that it had to be FULLY replaced within 6k miles... YES 6k miles... I never seen a car treated worse, and I am sure that if he treated at least half way decently it would last him 10 times longer? I also know a person back in Russia who has over 350k miles on his piece of **** russian car and still is calmly driving in the same engine as the one he had when he bought the car new...

I am not going to say anymore as I have never owned an American automobile, but as for the Germans I have had very good trouble free experiences...

 

Maybe WE Americans need to start building better cars and not so much crap. We have are FEW good cars. The rest just do not compete.

 

What?!
Good lord. That 3.5 is a heck of an engine, and from what I hear, basically bulletproof.
I'm not sure if I would give your friend a high-five, or shake my finger at him.

 

Sounds like we should make a list.

Current or Recent American cars I like... I am sure I forgot a few.

Dodge Charger - Well priced... real angry look and pretty good performance.
Chrysler 300c - Same as dodge charger with slightly more sophisticated look.
Dodge Viper - Top of the line performance car.
Chrysler Crossfire - Not really American, but sold under an American brand.
Hummer H2 - Massive Powerful Road Hugging Tank.
Saturn Sky - Cute car... you can buy this for your wife or something and feel good about it.
Ford GT - Exotic Performance from an all american Brand... very exclusive...

Jap Cars I like... yes these three are probably the only ones.
Mazda RX-7 - Yea its old, cheap, and ricer ****, but with some decent tuning these things can look beautiful and perform decently well.
Infiniti G35 - Looks, Beautiful exhaust note, decent interior finish.
Subaru Outback - Good for a farmer to drive through dirt roads and slay the car in every imaginable way possible. This car also doesn't require a car wash as it looks dirty regardless the situation.

German Cars... way to many to name.

 

on the other hand my girl also recently leased the g35 (I guess they are just extremely popular around here...) and already has 8k!!! Miles on it and the engine still works... to me it is at least somewhat proof that treating the car correctly is also a dominant factor in it's reliability...

 

I like your pix, but have to disagree with the Hummer H2, it's a as fugly as they come and absolutely useless for city and country off-road driving. The front wheel drive train is an absolute disgrace the Hummer name if not the GMC name and that goes for all 4x4 vehicles GM is recently making, professional grade my ***! Now if you said H1 I would agree there, It's an absolute beast and a great dune machine, but well over priced.
Saturn sky, is an ok car, but should be priced around $10,000 not $20-30k.

 

any car is prone to break and in my opinion the jap cars are not bullet proof. i bought a new tacoma in 2002 and it had 58 miles on it and the fuel pump went out leaving me on the side of the road...that truck was a pos and i got rid of it at 8,000 miles. look at toyotas recalls and hondas recalls lately? all the cars i ever had, the american car has never left me on the side of the road...my vette and silverado have been rock solid...fact: when a manufacture is selling a lot of cars as toyota has been of late your quality is going to suffer...they will not stop the line to fix a problem any more due to time restraints. another thing is toyota is always saying there vehicles are fuel efficient, i would put may silverado v-8, 4.8 up against any of toyotas truck engines...my tacoma v-6 sucked more gas then a night in the p.i. you military guys will understand that one...sooo that's my story and i am sticking to it. rant over...

 

This is just me but I had a new '87 or '88 (don't remember) Dodge Dakota, V6, manual shift, and put 190K on it, gave it to my brother and he still drives it today. It has over 325k on it but it's getting worn out. I put a transmission in it but other than that and a couple of clutches, it was and has been pretty much trouble free. I then bought a '97 Dodge Ram Sport 4x4 and now have 197k on it. Other than a starter that went out at 30k, it has never been in the shop for anything major (just had ALL brake lines replaced because I had a hole let loose while driving, now that is FUN in a twisted sort of way). I plan to keep the Ram for many more years simply because it has been so reliable. Now did I just get a fluke twice in a row? maybe. I do nothing but change the oil every 3k miles and pay attention to how things sound and perform. I did replace the daily driver (Ram) with an Acura (30+ vs. 15 mpg) and that is the first none big three I've ever owned. In 10 years I'll you know how it holds up.

 

Of the big 3, Chrysler products are the most appealing to me. I've always been a GM man, but that has changed. I have a Dodge Ram simply because it looks better than any Ford and especially the newly designed GM pick-ups. GM has struck out again with that new design. GM does not make one single vehicle that would draw me into a showroom. I did look twice at the GTO, but overall I was not in love with it. So I bought the SRT-6. Heck now the GTO is history again because GM couldn't get that right either.

 

Yea you are definitely right about the GTO... it is one ugly thing inside and outside... and chrysler being the most appealing also

To me Chrysler/Dodge from America... Mercedes from Germany... and Nissan/Infiniti of Japan...

 

I always thought Nissan was more of a Mexican company.

 

It is too bad most people think American cars are low quality. I have a owned a few jap cars but not for several years... I try to buy American. My step - dad and I have talked about this several times and he has been in the new and used car business for 60 years. He's says if your typical Impala owner serviced their car like your typical Camry/Accord owner, the Impala would have similar reliability and have a lower cost of ownership. But what really happens is the Impala owner drives the poor car into the ground and never bothers to do any preventative maint. In contrast the Camry/Accord owner does what ever the dealership recommends. I guess there is a very real cultural difference between these buyers and most won't even give American cars a chance. Most of the guys I run with are like this... they drive Porsches and seldom complain about how much they spend to keep them on the road but then in the same breath run-down American cars. Too bad.

 

You my friend are speaking words of wisdom.. everything you said is absolutely what I believe in... with the exception of your porsche opinion.

I mean is there really something one car company knows that another doesn't.. so they can make their quality THAT much better...? I really do not think so... Maybe it was like this over 20 years ago, but it is not so now... The only real thing that differentiates cars now is styling, performance, price, and name brand... depending on what you prioritize the most will depend on your purchase, but purchasing toyotas, hondas, and similar automobiles because of the belief in reliability and good gas mileage is very much BS in my opinion.

I myself drive a toyota car...an older Lexus GS300 I keep it as my **** around sedan, and the car I drive in case it snows or rains, but hopefully will in the near future get a replacement like a c32 or an e55... well something along those lines...

 

The Pontiac Vibe vs. Toyota Matrix
The Ponty Costs less and loses resale value rapidly.

The Toyota Costs more, and
Holds resale value well.

...Same car. Exact same car. What a world.

 

Someone I knew worked for an OEM and apparently their manufacturing standard (some standard, I forgot the name) is different. Japan follows it, but the US does not. That's why the reliability of the Japanese cars is better.

 

I hear that, My grandmother was just about to buy a Toyota, when luckily I stopped her from that mistake. Now she's driving a Vibe and saved a bunch of cash.

 

I'm not sure about that, I know a woman who's an engineer at Lexus, and they where having numerous transmission problems with the IS300, they would call in all their customers for a free oil change tune up, with a rental car, and then sneak in new trannys. Lol see this is the stuff that never gets out. But I'm willing to bet most all car manufactures are equally plagued with problems, it's not an American car thing anymore.