[Rupert]

Last Holden I owned and the last GM car I ever plan to have.

I never bought another GM product. Three weeks after purchase the A/C went out...in the middle of the Arizona desert at 115F. Later after a four day layover while they tried to get parts to repair, the brakes totally failed before I got out of Phoenix. When reaching LA the entire electrical system shut down on the Hollywood freeway in the middle of rush hour traffic....damn near got me killed and did cause 10 car pile-up. Hell, I was afraid to even drive it to the grocery store. In the end, two cracked pistons and a good lawyer ended my misery. I had enough GM to last me several lifetimes.

The dealers kept saying..."it's a new model and you should expect a few little glitches." No kidding!

My 97' Jeep Wrangler......new model with lots of changes. I had one glitch the first week, gas gauge showed 1/4 tank but it stopped running. I had special ordered the 19 gallon tank and they had the wrong gauge in it. Other glitches? Never had another.
GM .....still famous for engineering "throwaway engines".

End of rant.
Regards!

[VoiceOfReason]

Heh, and here I am with a 2006 Chevrolet HHR with the 2.4 (though it was reprogrammed to up the oomph from the original 175horsepower) that has 267k miles on it and still going great. No check engine or abs lights, even the leather still looks great and everything works. Bought it in 2010 with 44k on it as a GM certified used, ran the warranty out fast. I plan on 500k or more from it.

[robtcorl]

Loved my 1967 Pontiac Firebird!
Put over 200K each on of a pair work Suburbans with no major repairs other than replacing brakes, etc.
Man did I drive them in some rough places!
My 2001 Silverado is still going strong.

I do understand though, once burned, twice learned.
Several years ago a guy in our area had a Suburban that he drove around with a giant lemon on top, and a sign blasting the dealer for selling him a lemon.

[eddie1960]

Yes.



Pretty much.

I do like Bombay Sapphire.

Keep it in the freezer. Pour a short shot of it and sip it........10 herbs and spices.......and way better than the Colonel's chicken.

for GT i have Tanqueray Rangpur (speaking of empires) in the freezer. has an addition of Indian Rangpur limes mmmm ....good neat also

[Rupert]

Not to say there are no great GM stories....or Ford...or others. It is truly that once you have a horrific experience, it is very hard to chance another one. I like the new GM lineup, and Mrs Rupert is in for a new car, but it will most likely be another Ford for her...or possibly an Audi SUV? We have a Ford dealer local, no Audi dealer, so that will be a big factor.

I was so easy on that Camaro, never pushed it too far and it just fell apart anyhow. The Roadrunner...drove it like Racer on steroids and it never let me down. It's the one I got a warning ticket for 142 in a 55 zone down near the Mexican border. It loved to run wild...... and did!

The Jeep....just rock solid. Total trust in it even after 20 years!

I think when it comes to vehicles, luck always plays some role in what you get?

Regards!

Luck...One of Otis' offspring waiting patiently for hours for the sap spout to erupt. ISO 12,800....Good luck!

[tim60]

I

The dealers kept saying..."it's a new model and you should expect a few little glitches." No kidding!


Regards!

My first problem:
The drivers door rubber seal had been distorted in the factory and caught on the door, and tore. The dealer tried to tell me it was not a warranty matter - after cutting the trade-in price of my 1974 Mazda 1300 by $400 for the equivalent fault.
Second:
At the first service I as for a price before leaving the car, so I could come back with the right money. (It was the days of cash.) When I got back they told me they did the normal service, did not describe any additional work, so I must have been paying extra from the mechanic's toilet visit, or something. I much prefer the fixed price services that have become normal now.
Third:
One night, while standing in the driveway the coolant ran out. Apparently when it was cold the coolant cast might shrink (temperature effect) leaving a non-seal with the plastic hose which shrank at a different temperature coefficient.
Fourth:
The main voltage regulator failed, resulting in non-function a some of the electronic systems. At least it was primitive enough to be drivable to the repair place.
Final fault:
After I got my trade-in signed up for a Corolla I went away for a weekend. On the way home the temperature gauge went up and up and ended in the red just as I drove into the garage (something English drivers never do). AFter it cooled down, several hours late, I refilled the coolant an found it running out of somewhere at the back of the block, between the block and the firewall. Decided that we would not drive the car till the day we took it to the dealer for the rade-in, and we would do that immediately after filling coolant and driving straight there. "Do not pass go, do not collect $200." That idea worked and that car was never my problem again.


The Toyota people treated me far better. So I bought several more rounds of Toyotas before I move on to another brand.

[tim60]

One should not have to rely on luck when buying a car. The makers make them by the million, so some makers play statistics. Others actually learn from their millions of cars to make sure they find all the ways to weed our all the problems.

[BigMackCam]

One should not have to rely on luck when buying a car.

We shouldn't have to, I agree, but we do. No production process is perfect, nor indeed any quality control - especially when costs are "optimised" to reduce the selling price and/or increase profit margin. So, I think luck does come into it, whether we like it or not. Pay $1M and we can expect perfection. Pay $100k, and we can expect one or two minor issues... $10k and we can reasonably expect more than a few. Doesn't mean we should sit back and accept them, of course. A new car is a new car, and should be good for its warranty period at the very least.

[robtcorl]

I always looked forward to reading "Uncle Tom" McCahill when my Mechanix Illustrated came each month.
One of his "Mail for McCahill" questions and answers stuck with me over all these years:
Reader: Why do they put one dollar jacks in cars these days?
Uncle Tom: Because they ran out of fifty cent ones.

[Rupert]

One should not have to rely on luck when buying a car. The makers make them by the million, so some makers play statistics. Others actually learn from their millions of cars to make sure they find all the ways to weed our all the problems.

Was down along the Mexican border around 1970 on my Triumph motorcycle....around Hondo Tx area. Noticed I was seeing a lot of masked cars alog the same loop I was taking through that part of the country. Lots of them. On my way back from Mexico a week or so later I saw them again, at night. Didn't really think much of it at the time, maybe some sort of test runs?

Years later I was on a flight to San Fran and was in 1st class (it was an accident, but I took it!). Sat next to a Japanese fellow and as usual, I struck up a conversation. He worked for Toyota and had worked for Nissan. The conversation quickly went to quality and he explained he had just come from Hondo Tx...did I know where that was? Yep, I sure did! He went on to explain the cars being tested there would log 100K miles and every part of them would be examined for durability. He said other testing areas were located in cold climates and used the same rigid procedures. Th cars ran 24/7 with intervals to stop and re-start.....it was all very interesting. He was also proud to tell me the Japanese were the only ones using such rigid testing. Over the years, it appears it paid off nicely for them.

Regards!

[Racer X 69]

Was down along the Mexican border around 1970 on my Triumph motorcycle....around Hondo Tx area. Noticed I was seeing a lot of masked cars alog the same loop I was taking through that part of the country. Lots of them. On my way back from Mexico a week or so later I saw them again, at night. Didn't really think much of it at the time, maybe some sort of test runs?

Years later I was on a flight to San Fran and was in 1st class (it was an accident, but I took it!). Sat next to a Japanese fellow and as usual, I struck up a conversation. He worked for Toyota and had worked for Nissan. The conversation quickly went to quality and he explained he had just come from Hondo Tx...did I know where that was? Yep, I sure did! He went on to explain the cars being tested there would log 100K miles and every part of them would be examined for durability. He said other testing areas were located in cold climates and used the same rigid procedures. Th cars ran 24/7 with intervals to stop and re-start.....it was all very interesting. He was also proud to tell me the Japanese were the only ones using such rigid testing. Over the years, it appears it paid off nicely for them.

Regards!

Saw these at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley a few years ago.

[Racer X 69]

Reader: Why do they put one dollar jacks in cars these days?
Uncle Tom: Because they ran out of fifty cent ones.

Dollar jacks?

I don't get it.

[BigMackCam]

Dollar jacks?

I don't get it.

Like yours, Racer, but twice the price

[Racer X 69]

Like yours, Racer, but twice the price

Huh?

[BigMackCam]

Dollar jacks?

I don't get it.

Like yours, Racer, but twice the price

Huh?

Sigh... I didn't want to boast, but...

OK, half the price of my jacks.

I like quality. Buy cheap, buy twice, as they say...