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Automotive News & Views Would You Avoid a Manufacturer Because of Bad Public Policy?
56 messages, Last post on Mar 12, 2007 at 7:37 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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...is that people are avoiding car companies with too many past lemons in the closet - Cadillac Cimarron, Oldsmobile Diesel, Cadillac V-4-6-8, the infamous Ford 3.8 V-6 head gasket eater; VWs that do everything but spew pea soup and speak in strange voices; and way too many Mopar automatic trannies. Yes, some of those vehicles were old over 20 years ago, but, fair or not, many car buyers have LONG memories. Outside these forums, I've never heard anyone say, "I'm not buying this brand of car because of its maker supports this or that policy." It's always because of a bad experience with a lemon, coupled with a dealer who didn't really care about service after the sale.
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Replying to: grbeck (Nov 08, 2006 11:21 am)  's
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 08, 2006 11:37 am)
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Replying to: grbeck (Nov 08, 2006 12:08 pm)
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Replying to: eltonron (Nov 08, 2006 8:29 am) But thinking more about something jrdwyer said earlier (about if public policy positions will take on growing importance as market competition intensifies)... With the Chinese cars, I imagine they'll be Yugo-like at first, but then quickly evolve into something Hyundai-like in quality. So they'll be fairly attractive to buyers in the U.S. But is the fact that they're produced in a dictatorship with an appalling human-rights record and poor labor/environmental standards, coupled with an increased feeling in the U.S. of being economically disadvantaged by China's growth, lead to some people avoiding the cars? Esp. when a S. Korean one is not that much more expensive? As we've just seen, the country is moving leftward...will it more leftward enough for these things to matter in the market? |
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Replying to: john_324 (Nov 08, 2006 6:38 am) |
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 08, 2006 12:11 pm) The people who know - lemon law lawyers, mechanics who work on a variety of makes, people who work at used car auctions - invariably say that those makes have a good reputation for reliability because they have earned it. I have yet to hear anything to the contrary. With the European marques, it is the driving experience and superior build quality (which is different from reliability).
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Replying to: grbeck (Nov 09, 2006 6:42 am) To be perfectly honest I don't think that Honda nor Toyota makes them any much better that anyone else. i keep hearing people on these forums talking about the work they needed to have done on them, I see my family and friends with them having as much trouble as those i know that don't have Toyotas or Hondas. In this case it is more of perception creating its own reality more so that reality shaping perception. Case in point I have a sister whose toyota goes into the shop like clock work still bragging about how much more reliable her car is.
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 09, 2006 7:06 am) For example, I know exactly ONE satisfied VW owner. Everyone else is either having problems with their VWs, or has traded it for something else. And, if we are using anecdotal evidence here, my wife's 2000 Cavalier gave up the ghost at 113,000 miles (and the air conditioning compressor had conked out at 50,000 miles). It needed a complete engine rebuild. But she didn't go to the imports - she bought a 2005 Ford Focus SE sedan, which has been good so far (32,000 miles). And, turning to evidence of a more non-anecdotal variety, the professionals who deal with many makes of vehicles in various capacities all tell me the the same thing about Honda and Toyota reliability - it is based on fact, not mere perception. They also say that the domestics have improved dramatically over the past 10 years (particularly Ford).
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Replying to: grbeck (Nov 09, 2006 9:50 am) Very well but that doesn't negate the fact that these cars with their stellar reputations break down just as much as most other cars, even ones without steller reputations. I know a guy, a master mechanic, who used to work for "steller reputation" motors (you figure out which one). He was one of the guys that came out to dealerships when the factory would "send someone out". For that he used a company car. But for his personal car he drove a GM. I asked him why his reply was "don't believe the hype". perception creates its own reality.
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