So would you buy a new GM truck now?

[gemini5362]

I think the talk about problems with cars bring up an interesting point. Mercedes Benz remade the Mclaren (sp) at around 450,000 + a pop. Within a year after they started selling them they had to recall them because the alternator was not getting enough air moving accross it and caught on fire catching the car on fire.

 

[gemini5362]

The first new car I bought was a 89 S-10 Blazer 4x4 with the 4.3L. It was junk. At about 30,000 miles it blew the engine so bad that some of the rods came through the hood. It took 6 months, a lawyer, and many phone calls and letters to get it fixed. All this time I was on my own for a vehicle to drive and still had to make the payments on it.

Less than 4,000 miles later it locked up the transfer case while I was going about 40 mph. The drive shaft snapped and dug into the asphalt and nearly took the rear end off the leaf springs. Once again it took 6 months, a lawyer, and the same run around to get it fixed.

At about 500 miles prior to the 36,000 mile warranty running out I took it into the dealer and had them go over it. They found many problems including a leaking master cylinder, a bad cad converter, and a cracked exhaust manifold. I believe the manifold was screwed up when the drive shaft snapped because it ripped the exhaust out from under it.

I traded it on a Toyota 4 cylinder 4x4 truck that would out work the Blazer any day of the week. Especially the year it sat during my 3 years of proud ownership. I drove the Toy for 160,000 miles with not one problem other than a bad plug wire and a replacement of a $20 slave cylinder on the tranny. It only had 3 sets of tires and 2 sets of brakes. It did rust out and I traded it on a Civic that I drove for 2 years with no problems at all. I then started buying Ford Trucks which I have now owned 8 since 1997 with nearly no problems other than a power window, a bad dash cluster, and a few recalls.

I broke down in 2004 and gave GM another try and bought the great Dmax everyone brags about. It was a SRW 3500 4x4 and I got it 2 months after buying a 2004 F-250 with the dreaded 6.0L Powerstroke. The Ford I still own with zero problems. It has not been in the shop 1 time. It has been great even though I chipped it, changed the intake, and basically run the heck out of it. The Dmax on the other hand was plagued with electrical problems form day one. It also had paint peeling that was resprayed by the dealer but the big problem was the Glow Plugs and Injectors. This truck lasted me only 9 months and I traded it for another Ford 6.0L Powerstroke that I still have. It is the truck that had the bad dash cluster. It was frustrating but the dealer took great care of me and loaned me a new dually while my truck was in the shop for 4 days.

It all comes down to luck I guess. I have had bad luck with GM products and especially the dealers while I have had good luck with other makes. I did own one Dodge for 2 years and it had its share of problems but they fixed it even out of warranty and always gave me a loaner better than what I had. I really like the dealer but just could not trust the Dodge. I was afraid to take a 1 year old $35,000 vehicle more than 50 miles from home.

Chris

Chris I had an 1985 or something close to that year s-10 blazer 4x4 4.3 engine, at around 110,000 miles I had to replace a bearing on the front spindle so I replaced both of them. I drove it for 185,000 miles during that time I may have replaced the alternator and maybe the starter each once. at 185,000 miles it used maybe a quart or less of oil between changes. started and run perfectly. at 185,000 I gave it to my wifes son as a first vehicle he drove it another 6 months then someone pulled out in front of him as he was going down the road and he totalled it. I was very pleased with it. Years ago I bought a honda civic CVCC I believe it was. Was the absolutely worst car I have ever owned. Different people have different kind of luck with different cars. In my 50 years or so of driving I have found that the old dodge slant six engine, the small 6 cylinders they used in ford falcons have been the most rugged engines I have ever seen. They could take a lot of abuse and keep on trucking. But they were massive amounts of steel in them and no one worried about what they weighed. In more modern times I think the most rugged car I have had and seen others drive is the chevrolet/geo tracker they have a lot of nitpicky things that seem to happen with hinges and door handles etc but as far as giving to a kid and letting them beat it up they are great. It is also the best 4 wheel drive automobile I have ever had. I also think they are made by suzuki so is not an american automobile. As far as part of the problem with american made automobiles the problem is partly the fault of the consumer. A friend once told me of an experience he had I dont know that it is true but I will repeat what he said. He told me he was stationed in japan and went with a japanese friend of his to buy a car. He said when they got to the dealers the japanese friend got out a pair of coveralls and had them put the car he was buying on the lift Then he spent an hour going over the whole car with a mechanic making sure that everything on it was right. If that story is true it is a lot different than getting in it liking the feel of driving and the color and then buying it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Reliability is an important, but my biggest concern is the service you get when a problem does occur. GM policy is, "It is your problem". Now that they are the ones with the problem I tell them what they taught me, "It is your problem".

Thats how I felt with the Blazer. The Dmax they did fix without much fuss but I just keep having problems so I dumped it at a loss and never looked back. I will say even with all the problems I had with the Dodge they were minor nit pick stuff like Gemini said he had with the Trackers but the dealer was great and always fixed it even out of warranty once. It seemed like the GM dealer locked the door when I pulled on the lot.

I actually drove by the GM dealer yesterday. Had not been that way in 4 months and was pleased to see he had went out of business. I stopped on my way back at the Wendy's across the street and got a sandwich. The kid working the counter told me they closed in September and had big plans to sell the property to either Applebee's or Walgreen's. He said they were in a bidding war up until a month ago then both decided not to buy the property due to the economy.

Had to say it put a smile on my face. Could not have happened to a better bunch than the owners of that dealership.

Chris

 

[WilliamBos]

"Investors were rattled after the bailout for Detroit's struggling Big Three automakers failed in the U.S. Senate. The collapse came after bipartisan talks on the auto rescue broke down over Republican demands that the United Auto Workers union agree to steep wage cuts by 2009 to bring their pay into line with U.S. plants of Japanese carmakers."



CANOE Money - News: World markets plunge as U.S. auto bailout fails

If they end up in bankruptcy, does the UAW honestly think the next offer will be better??

Typical Union slime.

 

[jeffster]

I think you guys are totally right in that the dealer is way more important than the manufacturer. I am close to my Chevy dealer so they have always treated me well, so absolutely no complaints there. My boss is a big Ford guy and Ford ended up buying back his 2003 6.0 as it was in the shop more times than I can count. However, I think the dealer was pretty decent to him all things considered, so he bought an identical 04 from them to replace the 03 (I guess Ford gives you the option of a replacement or cash, or something like that). He tows a 10k lb. horse trailer with it and other than some turbo hose issues, it has been relatively problem free for him.

However, my neighbor has a new 6.4 Ford bought from the same place and they actually have window paint with a saying that says "thanks for selling me a lemon". To be honest, not sure what the deal is there, so it may be the customer being a pain, who knows.

One thing I do know though is that we had a little Mazda car we bought new about 10-12 years ago. It was the first new car we ever bought and we were so happy. Well, we bought it at a remote dealership, which was about an hour's drive for us. When we got it home, we noticed that there was a leak from the windshield wiper reservoir. No problem, took it in the next day to the local Mazda place which was also a Dodge dealership (I know, sounds weird since Mazda and Ford typically go together). They fixed it alright and returned it with a HUGE set of deep scratches in the back bumper. They were like, sorry, it wasn't us, now please leave. WTF. Needless to say, as great as the new Dodge truck might be, I know I'll never even look at one from there and I would LOVE to see that particular dealership go out of business (btw, there is a long list of horror stories with them, which of course I didn't hear about until after we took the car there).

 

[Dargo]

If they end up in bankruptcy, does the UAW honestly think the next offer will be better??

Typical Union slime.

I received memos last night at my office telling me that the UAW is spending tens of millions of dollars right now creating TV and radio ads that spread the lie that if an automaker goes bankrupt that they close their doors. The UAW is even giving money to local dealer associations to run similar ads. The theme will be the same; bankruptcy will push the country into a depression and you need to call your congressman or senator right away and tell them to support giving the auto industry billions immediately.

The fact of the matter is that filing chapter 11 may not cause an automaker to miss a single day of production. All it does is puts a bankruptcy judge in control of reorganizing the company's debts and it immediately voids the UAW's contract on the automakers. The bankruptcy judge will be commissioned with getting the worker's wages and benefits in line with similar workers in similar companies that are successful. Read; make their pay and benefit package reflect non-union automakers. It is also a fact that this doesn't necessarily dissolve the UAW. It only breaks the contract they currently have that is killing the automakers. If the UAW dissolves it will be completely due to it's greed and unrealistic demands. If the UAW pushes too much, they may die a well deserved death. Now is their chance to stay in and regain the country's support and respect. Right now 8 in 10 people are against the UAW according to many polls. The UAW should see that as a sign that they are not going to get much public support for their demands.

 

[em14]

I really dislike going to a Toyota or Honda shop ... they were as bad as any other US shop ... then I found an outstanding Chevie Shop ... and after going there several years for maintenance items I bought a new 3500 from them and they have continued to perform as before ... Outstanding ... so I feel it's just like buying a tractor ... Search for the good dealer and then buy your vehicle ...
Leo

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Actually if you look at government agencies the Postal Service has fully funded their retirement system and they do it all with income from the services they supply they get no public money from the government

Now, that's just not fair! The US Postal Service doesn't count since it's the only government agency that is completely self funded. No tax dollars pay for your mail. Even after years of competing with FedEx, UPS, etc. they are still profitable.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[WilliamBos]

I received memos last night at my office telling me that the UAW is spending tens of millions of dollars right now creating TV and radio ads that spread the lie that if an automaker goes bankrupt that they close their doors. The UAW is even giving money to local dealer associations to run similar ads. The theme will be the same; bankruptcy will push the country into a depression and you need to call your congressman or senator right away and tell them to support giving the auto industry billions immediately.

The fact of the matter is that filing chapter 11 may not cause an automaker to miss a single day of production. All it does is puts a bankruptcy judge in control of reorganizing the company's debts and it immediately voids the UAW's contract on the automakers. The bankruptcy judge will be commissioned with getting the worker's wages and benefits in line with similar workers in similar companies that are successful. Read; make their pay and benefit package reflect non-union automakers. It is also a fact that this doesn't necessarily dissolve the UAW. It only breaks the contract they currently have that is killing the automakers. If the UAW dissolves it will be completely due to it's greed and unrealistic demands. If the UAW pushes too much, they may die a well deserved death. Now is their chance to stay in and regain the country's support and respect. Right now 8 in 10 people are against the UAW according to many polls. The UAW should see that as a sign that they are not going to get much public support for their demands.

I think this route may end up being the way. Burst the UAW's bubble.

 

[Renze]

I would wait. My fear would be the warranty. Like stated before, you could loose your warranty but still have to pay for the vehicle because the loans are through a third party.

Chris

I dont think its wise to buy cars ON LOAN anyways... Actually its the worst thing to do: If you happen to crash your car into a tree, the loan will stick around much longer than the car will.... Worst thing is that youï½´re going to need to buy a new car too....

Off course anything can happen, but at school i was taught to only get loans for things that keep their value like houses (well, different time, different country, different rules perhaps) and the worst thing to get a loan for, was a quickly depreciating car....
If you need a loan to buy a car, you're trying to get more than you can afford....

Around this forum, a lot of blame is put on the media, wall street, the government, but nobody wants to start with themself: If you dont have the money: dont spend it. And when you are tempted to loan anyways: Remember that a loan is VERY expensive, because you have to pay interest and you HAVE TO PAY IT BACK someday....

I also got a credit card when i requested a new bank card... I just threw the credit card away. I dont buy on credit, its the easiest way to stay out of trouble.