Wouldn't be prudent..... We still haven't, and as long as I have my way, won't, purchase a foreign auto in my family. I know that american cars have their problems, and I have dealt with a many of those. I cannot help but feel though if just 50 percent of americans were staunch on purchasing US automobiles only, and buying american when possible......We would see somewhat of a turn in this economy also. Unfortunately, I like many of my friends and many others am spoiled. I want this and that and so on, and as a result....we end up purchasing the cheaper, sometimes lower quality import, so that I can afford something else I want. Bottom Line is People.....we have to start buying American!!!!!!! And as a manufacturer in America, You have to start giving us our money's worth when we do spend it!!!![/SIZE] :af: My dad told me that in the early 80's, and today I still believe that is true. It surely won't solve all our economic issues, but it will help us get back on the road to recovery!!!! I am not 100% pro-union, but they are correct on where/how we sometimes spend our money. another $.02 from me....
I still like GM trucks, and I need still need one. My 97 has been excellent, no problems or major issues in the 5 years I have owned it, now with 150,000 miles on the clock. GM spent 5 BILLION on employee related health costs last year..that is the entire R&D budget of Toyota...no way can they sustain that. We all own GM cars or we wouldn't be here. That said, their product lineup has nothing at all for me except for another reg cab shortbox, the vette I can't afford and the caddys don't appeal to me. I hope they smarten up. Being as good as the competition is not enough, they need to be better..with the anti GM sentiment in the car mags and the general perception of their cars as crap (which may or may not be true depending on what you have, our family has had no major issues), they are going to have to prove they are better. Good luck. later Tim
:rant: Because it will stomp the stupid Corvette again.... like it did back in the 80's with the GN AND Ttype's :rant: and GM can't have that...... :rant: Same with oldsmobile if they would have put the 403 in the 442's & H/O's insted of the lame 307 that would have probably stomped the P.O.S. corvette too...CAN'T HAVE THAT....R.I.P. GM......
G M It's been said before, but I'll throw in my two cents. Give the American consumer what he wants and the American consumer will purchase American.
Yeah, I have 2 Fiero GT TURBOS one auto and one stick and they run low 14s/high 13s. GM was thinking abouts offering them with turbo.....then the Covette people started whining that there should only be one fast 2 seater in GM.
Apparently the average American consumer wants a boring, reliable Camry........ not me.....I like the challenge of an unreliable GM car. :Brow: :laugh:
One thing nobody seems to be mentioning: GM owns about 25% of the market. Which still makes them the biggest automaker in the world. In today's marketplace, I think it would be impossible to build a car company to that size. I think Toyota, Honda, hell even Chrysler and Ford would kill for a market that size. I think really, what we are seeing here is not so much GM failing as the playing field leveling out. Sure GM isn't really helping themselves with a line up that is really really lame,but I still see a lot of GM product on the road. What GM has to figure out is how to make money like the other guys. How is it all these other companies do more with less?
Well....GM always wanted to be a corporate manufacturer and compete in a global economy, so they will be once they get taken over by a foreign automaker. I, myself is disappointed with GM and probably won't buy one for quite awhile. They lost alot of comsumer confidence and that's the major problem they're dealing with now. GM doesn't have the product available that captures the interest of potential buyers and there's a quality issue they need to contend with. Those are the problems GM is dealing with on the consumer side. Somehow, GM feels the healthcare is causing these problems since it adds $1500 to the window sticker. I'm sure the $1500 healthcare costs didn't affect GM last year when they were making a profit. So, I can't see how the corporation can be so blind to see that it's the lack of interest that keeps people from purchasing a GM vehicle. Also, they are so out of touch with the American public that they decide to invest more money into their gas-gusseling SUV's with the ridiculous gas prices, instead of the innovating vehicles they were going release. The management of GM needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Another problem where GM is losing from is the union. The Japanese automakers that have operations in the south are non-union and they have happy employees making quality vehicles. As long as there are unions for the American automakers, I can't see how they are going to surpass their competition with Japanese automakers. The only way they can do so is make a better product and that's going to be very difficult for them to achieve. My parents had a '99 Pontiac Grand Am with 68,000 miles and it was a piece of junk. After an abundent amount of the seals and gaskets going out including the power rack and pinion, they decided to purchase a Toyota. Before so, my family wouldn't think twice of buying foreign, but GM lost them as a customer after the frustration they caused them. I hear people saying not to buy foreign, but until those people start making the payments for my family or my vehicle I don't want to hear about it. My family and I work hard for our money and it's going to be spent wisely. GM doesn't give a damn about it's consumer, so why should the consumer care about them? Also, the Chrysler Town & Country minivan they have had numerous amounts of recalls from quality issues. I guess that's why Toyota will be the #1 automaker in a couple years. They deserve it, because they are working for it.
I got a letter from the local chevy/buick dealer where they were offering a bunch of service offers, one was even free where they would check the whole car to see if anything was wrong with it. It said that all GM cars were welcome, so I thought maybe I should take the Centurion there to see if hey could see something I might have not seen. Then I told my girlfriend about this, and she says, don't do it, you know how they will find things that aren't wrong with the car and otherwise something could become broken.. I'm like, yep you're sooo right, in he trash the letter went. Screw them........ I don't trust them..
That's the beauty of being in The good 'ole US of A. We can all have our own opinions, and those of the one's around us...heh heh....... But don't complain cause Kim-Chi's son can eat, and we are all standing in a cheese line somewhere. If we aren't part of the solution, we may be part of the problem. If you don't like GM'S Car, buy another American made product and show them through sales that we will buy American when the American product suits our needs. I have always been brand-loyal, but If a Park Avenue no longer suits my needs, maybe I need a Crown Vic..........But not a Camry........ It all boils down to the simple fact that every US company that fails right now, their market share is heading off to foreign soil. If we don't start looking out for ourselves.........prepare to learn to speak another language. I believe we can do as much to help the economy as we can to hurt it. :blast: What are we up to now? My $.08 or my $.10 worth? :grin: :grin:
but you trust you local Toyota dealer. A girl here at work took her 99 Solara in for an alternator and came out with a $450 bill for the alternator and over $1000 worth of other stuff: some kind of water leak and a CV boot. Happens all over but yeah you're right my cars never get NEAR the dealers!!!
Keep in mind that the Evan's article wasn't blaming the unions. He was stressing the point that the unions would have to be willing at this point to accept the fact that either by bankruptcy and or thru mass layoffs, that GM will reduce costs. It makes sense. If my company doesn't have a good year than I just may not get an increase in pay, a bonus or better benefits. But in the auto industry it doesn't matter. The union simply threatens, forcing the company to spend more to support workers even though it's profits don't show the ability to do so. I'd be willing to bet that as a GM worker you have more beneifts, health or otherwise, than most folks in other industries. Yes, you can say the union fought to get that for you. But it is a two edged sword. The issue regarding health care cannot be laid at the feet of George Bush. Don't think for a minute that Clinton did one thing to relieve you of your health care costs. This has been an area of concern that has been brewing well before Bush took office. I would have to agree with the others here about the quality of GM products. For example you would be hard pressed to find any member here where they, a relative or a friend has not had a problem with an intake manifold gasket on a GM car. My mechanic (who I'd put up agianst any others) had done 92 of them in 1.5 years. Now,what did GM do about it? Nothing! No recall. Why? Becasue it's not a safety issue. By saving a few pennies on gasket sealer they upset thousands of customers. I actually went and looked at a Ford Crown Vic as opposed to a GM car for this very reason. Last night on the news it was reported that Toyota was increasing the price of the Camry by over $900 to help offset the imbalance of their share of the market over the domestic makers. And guess what, it won't matter. People will still pay that much more because they know they are getting a quality product. It doesn't make me happy at all. I prefer that Americans buy U.S. goods whenever possible.
*"For example you would be hard pressed to find any member here where they, a relative or a friend has not had a problem with an intake manifold gasket on a GM car"* I must be lucky: my 96 Regal 3800 has original intake and gasket, 165,000 miles. So does my 98 GS but it's intake is a supercharger :Brow: Also, my 97 GMC truck has the orig intake and gasket. Time bombs, I guess.
perhaps if unions hadn't jacked wages and perks to the ceiling GM wouldn't be broke.Remember this is a perfect example of AMERICA WORKS LESS WHEN IT SAYS UNION YES!!! Tim
How many members of management and how many GM designers belong to the CAW or UAW? None. It wasn't union brothers and sisters who came up with the crap GM sells today. Look elswhere for GM's problems, certainly not at the union. Solidarity forever. CAW local 887
