New GM Trucks

[Diamondpilot]

There's now question that the bailout was a massive UAW payoff..Look what happened to the Chrysler bond holders..That was pitiful...I was trying to stay out of the politics of this. Still, are we better off with GM or without them? I say better with them.

I understand there are regional feelings on the matter...The folks in Lordstown Ohio feel much different than those in your neck of the woods. Not starting an argument, just stating my opinion.

Like I said, I am glad GM is in business. It will make great cars and to me the quality and attitudes of the employees I have came across has improved 100% By them being in business it will drive themselves and the competition to make a better product.

I am sure attitudes are different all over. I just know what has happened to 40% or more of my neighbors. I went to work for a airplane charter company in the late 90's with 12 aircraft worth well over 20 million dollars. In one year they went from turning down trips to bankrupt due to GM. The owner lost everything he and his father took 60 years to build. I had left before it got bad but there alone 50 employees lost jobs from pilot, mechanics, accountants, dispatchers, fuelers, ect. It was liquidated in a auction last fall.

I know guys who worked for GM for nearly 30 years that will not ride in a GM at this point. They buy from the competition. Even the UAW hall is boarded up. The support is gone here. I am glad others keep jobs and those towns are doing well, it just did not happen here. The support is now for those who have brought in jobs. Thats another subject. The city now owns all the abandoned GM plants. They are all contaminated zones. They tried to give some of them to Honda to bring in a assembly facility for the Civic. Honda stated in our paper that they wanted nothing to do with Anderson and its GM way of thinking. Ouch. Unemployment rate 18% last time I saw it published. Things are not good and will not be for a long time.

At the end of the day some came out ok, some did not. My fathers company who made parts for GM, STANT INC. had to declare bankruptcy and all the employees took pay cuts of 20% to keep jobs. The company I work for got the shaft also but we are diversified enough that we were ok but immediately dropped all company vehicles that were GM or Chrysler and purchased Fords. When we rent cars we are to request Fords or foreign vehicles and can only accept GM and Dodge if its the only thing available. I have a Chrysler 300 on my current trip to Perryville, Mo. Things are just looked at differently.

Chris

 

[timswi]

Like I said, I am glad GM is in business. It will make great cars and to me the quality and attitudes of the employees I have came across has improved 100% By them being in business it will drive themselves and the competition to make a better product.

I am sure attitudes are different all over. I just know what has happened to 40% or more of my neighbors. I went to work for a airplane charter company in the late 90's with 12 aircraft worth well over 20 million dollars. In one year they went from turning down trips to bankrupt due to GM. The owner lost everything he and his father took 60 years to build. I had left before it got bad but there alone 50 employees lost jobs from pilot, mechanics, accountants, dispatchers, fuelers, ect. It was liquidated in a auction last fall.

I know guys who worked for GM for nearly 30 years that will not ride in a GM at this point. They buy from the competition. Even the UAW hall is boarded up. The support is gone here. I am glad others keep jobs and those towns are doing well, it just did not happen here. The support is now for those who have brought in jobs. Thats another subject. The city now owns all the abandoned GM plants. They are all contaminated zones. They tried to give some of them to Honda to bring in a assembly facility for the Civic. Honda stated in our paper that they wanted nothing to do with Anderson and its GM way of thinking. Ouch. Unemployment rate 18% last time I saw it published. Things are not good and will not be for a long time.

At the end of the day some came out ok, some did not. My fathers company who made parts for GM, STANT INC. had to declare bankruptcy and all the employees took pay cuts of 20% to keep jobs. The company I work for got the shaft also but we are diversified enough that we were ok but immediately dropped all company vehicles that were GM or Chrysler and purchased Fords. When we rent cars we are to request Fords or foreign vehicles and can only accept GM and Dodge if its the only thing available. I have a Chrysler 300 on my current trip to Perryville, Mo. Things are just looked at differently.

Chris

All of those things have happend around here to people I know for different reasons from different companies...I am not un-sympathetic....I'm in WPA..Everyone knows what happened here 25 years ago. We have recovered pretty well depending on the mentality of the area.

 

[Diamondpilot]

All of those things have happend around here to people I know for different reasons from different companies...I am not un-sympathetic....I'm in WPA..Everyone knows what happened here 25 years ago. We have recovered pretty well depending on the mentality of the area.

Maybe time will tell? Who knows how we will recover. Things have sure changed though. Kind of crazy when you see Long John Silvers, Taco Bell, Old Navy, ect go under.

I will lay off and lets get back to the topic.

Chris

 

[timswi]

Maybe time will tell? Who knows how we will recover. Things have sure changed though. Kind of crazy when you see Long John Silvers, Taco Bell, Old Navy, ect go under.

I will lay off and lets get back to the topic.

Chris

Peace:drink:

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Thanks. I'm the "average Joe" for GM. I've moved my family four times to stay with GM. It's not been an easy road. The Big Wigs in the large, round, glass building in Detroit with their million dollar bonus checks call all the shots. Thousands of our jobs have went to Mexico and Canada. I'm just a good ole boy trying to make a living. I know GM has the ability to make good quality products. I see that first hand every day. The positive is what I try to focus on. I'm thankful for my job and thankful for customers like yourself that help keep our jobs here in the U.S. where they belong. America was once a manufacturing giant. From the clothes on our back to the cars we drove. We made it here. In the 50's, over 60% of Americans had a GM product in their driveway. That's almost hard to believe in today's market.

Speaking as someone who has driven GM product almost exclusively since a 56 Pontiac - all my current vehicles are GM. Can't say I was too happy to find out DW's new Malibu was made in Mexico.

I hear what you're saying about jobs disappearing, however be aware that GM & Ontario / Canada have been linked with GM manufacturing and history since early 1900's. They used to make the Silverado in Oshawa and there are millions of GM vehicles on the road in Canada. GM manufacturing has taken a substantial hit here in ON as well with many of those jobs also moving to Mexico and some to the US. Welland, ON took a 900 job hit when they closed the JD plant and moved those jobs to the US.

Obviously, I have some bias, however, I think it is reasonable to expect there will be continued sharing of GM manufacturing jobs between the US & Canada.

I'm glad to see GM seems to be making a comeback.

 

[Builder]

I will lay off and lets get back to the topic.

Could we finally get past the same stories of copilots, neighbors, brother in laws, etc. anti GM stories and finally put to rest?

I don't know, just a thought, but maybe we could move on to something new rather than the same anti-GM stories regurgitated over & over for the hundredth or maybe even thousandth time?

Gettin kinda old......

 

[Egon]

Not so long ago a fellow who works in the oil fields of Western Canada where the P/u is the main transportation, haul and tow mode for daily work told me;
The Fords come in with limping transmissions. The Dodges and Chevy/GM come in with front end trouble and Dodges are the most popular by far for the choice of truck.

Many of these trucks will be left running all day, rarely see paved roads and may consistently be overloaded whether hauling or towing.:thumbsup:

Second hand hearsay and can't verify any of it!

 

[deerefan]

My 2005 Z71 had the 2 common problems of the steering bump and faulty gauges. I only kept the truck a year and was actually torn on trading it in. Also, I will say gas prices at the time were killing me and we already had 1 truck, so we decided to get a more effecient commuter vehicle (Civic). What tore it for me was I was washing the truck and the windshield started to leak the day we were going to look at civics. I told my wife if they give me what I want, its gone. We did not have a GM product from 2006 until now which was hard for me due to the fact that was all I drove and is all my family owns. It does feel kinda good to be back in 2 GMs , giving them a shot. My wife loves her Traverse, it rides very smooth, no road noise and she said it accelerates rather nicely for a bigger vehicle. The same can be said for the Silverado. I understand we will have issues at some point with the new vehicles, but the 100k mile warranty (big ticket items) provides some comfort. The Civic we had was mechanically sound, but a lot of little items failed. The radio lights went out, both visors broke, the trunk latch broke, the power window switch in the drivers door and the door unlock switch in the passenger door broke. We had the car almost 4 years and traded it with 108k miles.

 

[not2old]

Not so long ago a fellow who works in the oil fields of Western Canada where the P/u is the main transportation, haul and tow mode for daily work told me;
The Fords come in with limping transmissions. The Dodges and Chevy/GM come in with front end trouble and Dodges are the most popular by far for the choice of truck.

Many of these trucks will be left running all day, rarely see paved roads and may consistently be overloaded whether hauling or towing.:thumbsup:

Second hand hearsay and can't verify any of it!

My daughter is an executive secretary in the oil fields and has connections to get me a late model pick-up cheap. ALL of her male friends that are knowlegable about trucks tell me DON'T BUY ONE OF THOSE.

 

[Egon]

DON'T BUY ONE OF THOSE.

Yes, they have usually been well used. I would not buy one.