why are american cars generally so bad? (esp gm)

Stealth5 said:
...another thing i dont understand is the '4 speed automatic'... when is GM going to engineer a 5 or 6 speed auto?!?...
What car(s) have a a 5 or 6 speed auto?
 
And has anyone every installed a stereo in a cavalier? Good grief- you have to take the whole friggin dashboard off- american cars=p.o.s. but I do agree on some american trucks- nice ride seem to hold together pretty well.
 
LinuxRacr said:
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(notcool)
Looks like fisher-price molded that interior
 
pr5owner said:
...cavaliers and sunfires are "tyte and teh Shyt"? i sware a girls dream car is a cavalier or a mustang...
just to give u an education... I use to have a cavalier... i had a z24 and a regular.... do u realize the cavalier is a join venture between toyota and gm.... they make the powerplant and tanny together... that is y they run great but everythign else seems to break on it... (if u don't believe me go look in japan or new zealand they are the toyota cavaliers). I ******* drove the car for 2 miles without a drive belt(i.e. no water pump just coolant) and it didn't seise up... that is built/engineering quaility for u... but everything else one it seems to break... (horn, a/c, gauge, radio buttons, seat rails) wtf...

now mustangs
had one as a rental... i have to say the car is very well thought out.. i.e. putting the turning signal on the lower left so u don't have to lift ur hand/arm off the arm/hand rest to switch lanes... everything was very usable... but it looked cheap.

as for engine/proformance,
1. i was taking a turn at 35 that i normally take at 50 in my msp and it go onto 2 wheels(out ward bank)???? scared the s*** out of me.
2. I floored the car, it didn't have any pickup i thought it had a tuned down inline 4 in it....
3. i got 220 mile per tank on the ******* highway using cruise control on flat land going 65 mph... and the tank was 10-11 gallons... wtf 22 mpg? i go 80 in my msp and still get at least 25 mpg...
4. the limited sight really bugs me... i could not see s*** out of hte car... every where u need to look, it is blocked by a ******* piece of metal...(rear window was like 1inch by 2 inch triangle)
 
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i didn't read all the posts ... but more of the 1st 10 ports mention "gm" cars which are Chevrolet ... there's a really big different in interior quality between Chevrolet and Pontiac. My parents have owned 2 Pontiac Transports which both hit about 150,000 miles and were still running great. The last one was stolen and my dad got an amazing deal (practicly free) on a Chevrolet Venture .... i hate the thing. deats are hard as rock, engine doesn't feel as torqy as the Pontiac's (new engine design i think since 1998 i think ? Our last Pontiac Transport was a 96), radio is crap compared to the other one ... everything about it seems to be at least 50% cheaper tha nthe other one

a Civic interior isnt that much better anyway ... i think we're blessed with the P5 which has a GREAT interior compared to most american cars ... but i've been looking at pictures of japanese models and most of them look crappy too =\ (low level economy cars ... not talking about high-end sedans)
 
Notorious said:
BMW, Lexus and Benz, all have 5 and 6 speed autos. They don't use 4 speeds on any of there cars anymore.
benz uses a 7 speed auto on all their cars with v8's or bigger
 
aghahahahhahahah POS POS POS
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the seats in my dining room are more supportive.

and whats with the ****** shifter?!?! it looks like an f-150 shifter they bent up so it wouldnt be too high.

then again any other shifter you wouldnt be able to reach....great design ford
 
ive only owned 1 american car b4 and it was a GM (fireturd to be exact) and it was the worst car EVAR!!! i went through three alternators, 1 rebuild, blown head gasket, door locks never worked, light motors on pop up lights on left side always seemed to brun it self out so that rarely worked, and my anti lock brake actuator (sp) was fried so under normal braking my ABS would kick in and start the brake pulse thing and the dealer wanted 800 for a new actuator installed..WTF!!! and this was only owning it for 30k and 86k total miles...
 
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Stealth5 said:
aghahahahhahahah POS POS POS
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the seats in my dining room are more supportive.

and whats with the ****** shifter?!?! it looks like an f-150 shifter they bent up so it wouldnt be too high.

then again any other shifter you wouldnt be able to reach....great design ford
I test drove a convertable 5.0 auto tranny and it is hard to reach even when you have long arms like me! Looks ghey as hell. They should have repositioned it entirely.
 
yes they all suck, but then why are there so many of these POS on the road?
A ton of BS in this thread as well:
1. MB has a 7 spd AUTO in all their V8 cars? Oh really? BS
2. Pontiac, Chev = same s*** different pile. All they do, or did, to make a Pontiac was slap some huge POS mouldings on the sides.
3. I'm not sure about this one but i'm calling BS on the Toyota Cavalier thing.

My Dad always had GM company cars. We had 4 Grand Prix's and 2 6000's before that. All s***. Unreleiable, the GP was so fat it needed complete new brakes yearly.
The most common problem is large weight, soft/tall suspension = s**** handling.

My buddy had a company van ,a Chevy Venture for 3 years. he had that POS in the shop 4 times during that time to fix the retarded windshield wipers which swing like barn doors opening. They would stop halfway, go off the windshield, whatever.
Same s*** on my dad's GP's as well.
 
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I kinda dig some of the new cars that are coming out- 300C looks pimp, great engine... the new Mustang looks good (at least the extrior) 300 hp for the GT model....the Corvette looks great....I think the Cobalt has potential to be a decent compact.... American cars have surpassed European in term of reliability according to recent surveys. That said, I'll be sticking with Japanese cars for the forseeable future.
 
OK, i stand corrected.
Thanks for the info and thanks for not flashing the pwned sign at me!
Thanks !(cheers)
 
MS MSP said:
OK, i stand corrected.
Thanks for the info and thanks for not flashing the pwned sign at me!
Thanks !
:)

M=SP^2 said:
American cars have surpassed European in term of reliability according to recent surveys. That said, I'll be sticking with Japanese cars for the forseeable future.
yep yep by 2 less defects per 1000 heheheh i think it was like

Japanese - 5 or 6
American - 11
European - 13
per 1000
 
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MS MSP said:
2. Pontiac, Chev = same s*** different pile. All they do, or did, to make a Pontiac was slap some huge POS mouldings on the sides.
The 2 names share models (Sunfire / cavalier, Transport (now Montana) / Venture for exemple). Main difference between the 2 is that Pontiac has a much nicer interior (although its nothing near what i have in my Speed or my old P5).
 
When i had my MP5 and it was in the body shop I got a brand new Cavalier rental. WHAT A POS. Everytime I would hit a bump the dash would shake up and down. The fit and finish on american cars SUCK! They don't finish the edges of the plastic panels off. They use cheap quality plastic that is paper thin. If you knock on it, it feels like it's gonna crack.

Now my Mazda and my Subaru have some of the nicest quality plastic that is soft to the touch and textured. It is very, very solid. Nothing shakes when you go over bumps ect. Fit and finish is superb. Now the Japanesse are know for attention to detail. That's why I would never buy and american car. Unless its a Ford F350 Power Stroke diesel and a Dodge Ram Cummins turbo diesel. Now those are some solid trucks.

A couple months back some firends and I went to my ranch in colorado. We rented a brand new Ford explorer. Now we beat that thing to hell! We were doing 40mph down the county road and would slam it into reverse then park. We started doing sick doughnuts and then get good speed and slam it in park! (rlaugh) We were putting ford's slogan to the test. "Built Ford Tough" and I tell you. This thing would not give up. We drove it through snow banks, slammed the gear shifter through all the gears doing 40-50mph. Nothing! We did manage to screw up the 4X4 system though. Man I tell you...things you can do on a 1100 acre ranch in the middle of colorado at your buddies bachlor party! :D
 
RAAZ227 said:
A couple months back some firends and I went to my ranch in colorado. We rented a brand new Ford explorer. Now we beat that thing to hell! We were doing 40mph down the county road and would slam it into reverse then park. We started doing sick doughnuts and then get good speed and slam it in park! (rlaugh) We were putting ford's slogan to the test. "Built Ford Tough" and I tell you. This thing would not give up. We drove it through snow banks, slammed the gear shifter through all the gears doing 40-50mph. Nothing! We did manage to screw up the 4X4 system though. Man I tell you...things you can do on a 1100 acre ranch in the middle of colorado at your buddies bachlor party! :D
And your reason for doing this was what again?
Destroying other people's property...how old are you? (stooges)
 
actually i dont think so. I know its an option on one or 2 of there cars. I believe the s600 and the sl600.



Stealth5 said:
benz uses a 7 speed auto on all their cars with v8's or bigger
 
wow lol what a rant fest.


ok so lets see

my 1991 Camaro Z28: 197k miles, stock engine and tranny, only rebuilt the rear axle cuz i wanted better gearing. runs low 14's high 13's all day long on 87 octane.

my 1992 S10 214k miles stock engine, tranny, and at 187k still had the stock clutch. still runs perfect

my dad's 2002 corvette: $37,000, manual 6 speed, irs, leather, 350hp stock will go into the 12's off the showroom floor.

^show me a car that compares in all aspects to that in that price range.

only thing i ahve to compalin about is yeah the interiors are cheap, and the new malibu looks liek a mufuggin saturn.
 
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