When Did Detroit Start Building Cars Like Japanese dSLRs????
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From: (PeteCresswell) on 8 Nov 2009 20:10 Per Bill Graham: >This is why I abandoned the US auto manufacturers about 30 years ago. I have >owned nothing but Subaru's for the last 12 years. I have one with 150 >thousand miles on it, and it only quit once, when the speed sending unit on >the transmission failed. And even then, it still ran, but didn't run right, >so we had to replace the part ASAP. I've got a Chevy Suburban: first (and probably the last...) new car I've ever owned. Might buy another GM product, but it would only be because I couldn't find anything else with the ergonomics for my right-of-the-bell-curve body dimensions. Before the 'burb it was a series of beaters. The 'burb has stranded me more times (six) than all the beaters put together (one). Google "4L60E valve body" and you'll get a little glimpse.... One story I've heard - that rings true to me - is that American auto companies tend to be run by business school graduates, while Japanese auto companies tend tb run by engineers. -- PeteCresswell
From: Bill Graham on 8 Nov 2009 20:21 "(PeteCresswell)" <x(a)y.Invalid> wrote in message news:ukqef59m5khcvb1egbeh76bq2m8qpgstrt(a)4ax.com... > Per Bill Graham: >>This is why I abandoned the US auto manufacturers about 30 years ago. I >>have >>owned nothing but Subaru's for the last 12 years. I have one with 150 >>thousand miles on it, and it only quit once, when the speed sending unit >>on >>the transmission failed. And even then, it still ran, but didn't run >>right, >>so we had to replace the part ASAP. > > I've got a Chevy Suburban: first (and probably the last...) new > car I've ever owned. Might buy another GM product, but it would > only be because I couldn't find anything else with the ergonomics > for my right-of-the-bell-curve body dimensions. > > Before the 'burb it was a series of beaters. > > The 'burb has stranded me more times (six) than all the beaters > put together (one). Google "4L60E valve body" and you'll get a > little glimpse.... > > One story I've heard - that rings true to me - is that American > auto companies tend to be run by business school graduates, while > Japanese auto companies tend tb run by engineers. > -- > PeteCresswell All of my life, Detroit built what they wanted to build, and then hired Madison Avenue people to get the buying public to think they wanted it. The Japanese polled the public to find out what they wanted, and then built it. This is the main philosophical difference between the two, and it is the reason why I now buy strictly Japanese. (Although I was very pleased with my BMW K-100 motorcycle.)
From: Larry Thong on 8 Nov 2009 20:43 Me wrote: > I'll be buying Mercedes this spring > > Read user experiences in this forum first: > http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/ > > Post 1980s MBs are one of the biggest marketing cons thrown at US > consumers. OUCH! Thanks for the link as I never knew this.
From: J. Clarke on 8 Nov 2009 21:20 Larry Thong wrote: > Me wrote: > >> I'll be buying Mercedes this spring >> >> Read user experiences in this forum first: >> http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/ >> >> Post 1980s MBs are one of the biggest marketing cons thrown at US >> consumers. > > OUCH! Thanks for the link as I never knew this. Germans used to build good stuff. They're too in love with technology for the sake of technology today--they need to get back to making good stuff.
From: (PeteCresswell) on 9 Nov 2009 10:41
Per Neil Harrington: >but some American cars have been very >poorly assembled. My suburban was assembled in Mexico. One of the first things I noticed were the streams of rust bleeding down from where they aligned parts of the front body using iron or steel spacers that were already rusting badly on Day 1. The second thing I "noticed" was smoke pouring out of the right rear brake - which locked up on day 7. Turns out the prevailing wisdom was "never engage the parking brake in freezing weather because it tends to lock up". Assembly or design? Dunno... but you'd think they'd have something that basic worked out after 50+ years design-wise. As of now, the roof metal around the left side roof rack attachment points is rusting so badly it's starting to blister. I can't even disassemble the racks/attachment bolts bc it's all one big mass of rust. I pulled the right-side bolts to have a look and was scared by what I saw: just holes drilled in the body metal with these little clips on the other side of the bolts. No nut welded to the other side, no backing, no after-assembly rust proofing. I was hoping to go for a quarter-mil miles, but this could be the precipitating factor in getting rid of the thing. -- PeteCresswell |