16th Feb 2010, 11:00

Don't knock all American cars just because you had trouble with a defective one.

We had a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria LX that ran fine up until 127,000 - totaled due to deer.

1989 Lincoln Town Car, only problem the transmission, which is known to be defective in these cars, sold at 192,000.

2x 1995 Cadillac Devilles, one with 100,000 and one with 75,000 miles - no issues.

1997 Buick Century, 92,000 miles - no problems.

What am I trying to say by all this? That not all American cars are bad, Toyotas are complete crap; has this recall taught you nothing? 34 dead since 2000. Yeah I'll go get a Toyota tomorrow!!!

17th Feb 2010, 09:48

Most of the mileages you stated you had on your domestics I would have been lucky to get. None of my Honda's has ever cost me a penny in repairs before 250,000 miles. My first Honda, a '76 Civic had over 500,000 miles on it when I sold it in perfect running condition. Only problems I ever had with it were replacing the starter once and muffler once. Everything else was just basic maintenance.

I bought a '91 Accord with over 150,000 original miles and drove it with zero issues until it had over 250,000 miles when I traded it in on a '96 Accord that I put over 230,000 miles on before trading it in in perfect running condition.

None of my domestics has made 100,000 miles without issues. Most of them serious. My mileage record for a domestic was 140,000 miles on my '04 Ford Focus. It didn't have any mechanical issues, but I don't think I've ever done that many brakes jobs on a single car in my life. I was especially surprised to see that the rear brakes, despite being drums, had to be replaced just as many times as the front brakes, which were discs. (It required four brake jobs in the time I owned it. If you do the math, that's new pads and shoes every 35,000 miles. That's pretty bad, especially considering I drive mostly highway, and none of my Honda's ever needed brake pads before 90,000 miles. Brake pads are wear items however.)

I've never personally owned a Toyota, but I have driven them before and I loved the way they drove (very smooth, can hardly feel the bumps. They were definitely more comfortable than my Honda's, but I never bought one because I kept getting such great deals on Honda's!)

As for recalls, if I remember correctly, not so long ago it was Ford that held a huge safety recall involving cruise control switches that would short out and set the vehicles on fire (4.5 million vehicles were recalled. Only 3.8 million Toyota's have been recalled for sticking gas pedals.)

7th Mar 2010, 16:10

I have a 2001 Cadillac DHS with 85 original miles that constantly is needing something in the way of repairs, as indicated by the trouble lights. I feel that I cannot go out of town, because there is always a light that says Service Engine Soon or Service engine Now. There is always something wrong when I have the Cadillac dealer repair these, but they are so constant that I am afraid they are gonna put me in the poor house. Seems like every repair job ends up somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand dollars. Got any suggestions? I really like the car, even if it uses 2 quarts of oil each week approximately'

15th Mar 2010, 13:06

I bought a 2001 Cadi DHS in 3/13/09. From day one it has given me trouble; 3 window regulators, front brake bearings, antifreeze, leaking from engine block.

I was born in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and it is a sad day when your country sells junk and they are proud of it.

16th Mar 2010, 15:21

2001 DHS. Purchased almost 3 years ago @ 64,000mi. I planned on driving it for a year as a second car and then selling it. Only problem with that is that every time I was in a place to sell it, something would go wrong. On the way home from the dealership, my check engine light went on. Sensor. 2/3 months later, another sensor went. With both of these, my vehicle would actually shut off at slow speeds.

6-9 months after that, my emission pump went, a week or so after that, my left front window regulator broke.

Now at 94,000 miles, I am ready for ANOTHER HUGE bill. I have to fix the intake manifold, and the torque converter (tranny) went too. Took it in on Friday for a quote, and today (Tuesday), left rear window regulator broke.. had to buy some rubber door stops to wedge in the window until I can get it fixed. So now I'm up to $2800 on top of the $2000 I've already spent on maintaining this vehicle.

Oh yeah, my driver side seat warmer no longer works, and my control something or other for my heating vents needs to be replaced because it ticks for a full minute when you start it.

I love the way this car drives down the road, and it really doesn't bother me to have to constantly monitor the oil. My Dad always had Deville's/Fleetwoods before that, but I am done with these cars. We have had, 1 Accord, 1 Camry, 1 Elantra, and still 1 Civic. Loved them all. I just don't understand how a car that cost almost $50,000 brand new, has this many problems all before 100,000 miles!?!?

Getting it fixed and getting rid of it. Unfortunately I will be taking a HUGE loss. I understand cars are terrible investments as it is, but all said and done, between what I paid, what it cost to fix,and what it's worth, I will have essentially purchased this car twice. With only having put on 30,000 miles over 3 years, there is no excuse for that.

Way to go GM, you've scared away an up to now, life long Cadillac Lover.

3rd May 2010, 15:54

I too have a 2001 Deville just hit 80,000 miles. I have also had 2 window regulators break "Which I still do not understand why they use some much plastic on the unit, when all it does is crack and then break". In my opinion should have been a recall item! Replaced a sensor, and now am hearing a knocking coming from the engine.

I have owned lots of Cadillacs, strictly based on the smooth ride. But as far as quality and a long term reliability, I will probably purchase a Toyota or Honda from now on. If we cannot make a reliable car in this day and age, why should I throw money away?