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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jul 23, 2008 6:27 pm) Ironically, I ended up with one of those FWD V-6 cars, (1988 Buick Park Avenue) and they're really not as bad as I thought they were 20 years ago. They're extremely reliable, quite durable, and deliver great fuel economy.
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jul 23, 2008 6:27 pm) The V6 you might be referring to is the 3800? The engine that started out as an aluminum V8 and became an iron V6, sold to Jeep and bought back from American Motors? Again do you really know anything? |
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 24, 2008 5:26 am) |
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I promise I am not obsessed...I have not stated that 90% of GM owners have had a bad experience, I really do not know how many have...never knew...but the growth of the imports, and simply having known folks over the last 20 years, who owned American products, tried imports, and said they will not buy Big 3 again...lots of folks, and, multiple that by all the folks I do not know but that now buy imports, and I see, what is to me, the obvious conclusion that there are lots of us who do not see the Big 3 as having the same quality as imports...you may certainly know different people than I do, but there are a lot of Hondas and Toys sold to people that will never buy GM again...it is that simple... I am certainly failing to remember the years of the poorly designed V6s, but my Dad was in the auto parts business at the time, and he was telling me about all the design defects that should have been found by a 1st year engineering student, yet GM was selling cars that had serious engine defects, from simply a metallurgical standpoint...since Dad is no longer with us, I cannot verify with him...
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jul 24, 2008 8:00 am) I will certainly agree that the big three's quality before 1990 was not as good as the Japanese imports. However, quality and reliability are two different things. The big three really started to improve quality after the 80's, and J. D. Power helped them to understand the problems that they had. GM has had a number of V6 engines. If your dad was an engineer and really qualified to design engines, why was he working in an auto parts store? On the other hand, the Buick V6 (or 3800) was a quick and dirt solution to an engine need in the early 60's. It was not a particularly well engineered V6, and was sold off to Jeep when Buick was able to replace it with better engines. In the late 70's some idiot decided that it was a quick way again to get a more fuel efficient engine into production. They did re-engineer the design a number of times to get it to the present day. Your Dad could have been talking about one of the truck engines too... You did say some posts back that "most of GM's vehicles were junk". If most were junk in the 70's and 80's, then by the mid 90's most of GM's customers would have been gone, leaving the company in bankruptcy. Since GM is not in bankruptcy, and is still selling more cars in the US than anyone else, I think your perception of how bad GM has been in the past is completely overblown. I think that a lot of the problems people have with their cars is a result of poor mantinence which is entirely due to the owner.
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Replying to: sls002 (Jul 24, 2008 10:25 am) Not my experience. Ford and Chevy rushed the Pinto and Vega to market. The Pintos were exploding and the Vegas looked nice, drove nice, rusted fast, and engines died very early. If those cars had been competitive then perhaps the reputation for junk would not have been as pronounced. I will certainly agree that the big three's quality before 1990 was not as good as the Japanese imports. So it wasn't the big 3's quality problems, yet the Japanese imports had better quality before 1990? Which side of the argument are you trying to promote? If your dad was an engineer and really qualified to design engines, why was he working in an auto parts store? If we all have to be working at the manufacturers' to be qualified to have knowledge, then perhaps we don't need these forums, as we don't all work for GM and Ford?!!!!! 
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If I implied that my Dad was an engineer, I must have been typing too fast...dad was not an engineer, just an auto parts man, mechanic, and a machinist, who knew his cars cold...I never meant to imply that he was an engineer, so if I said that, I apologize...but he was an expert on his cars, and we saw the junk soon after it was sold, as they only had 12 month, 12,000 mile warrantys...plus, selling parts meant we worked with a lot of local car dealers, GM/Ford/Chrysler, and they would often call us with the warranty work they had to perform, and it was amazing just how much junk was out there...can I give you numbers???...no...but it was there, as we were often seeing the stuff once out of warranty, only a year after it was sold new...
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Replying to: tlong (Jul 24, 2008 9:20 pm)
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jul 25, 2008 8:57 am)
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Replying to: sls002 (Jul 25, 2008 12:29 pm) Let's put it this way, nothing exciting. Regards, OW
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