21st Aug 2010, 10:12

Maybe the Trailblazer LS guy should just buy a Highlander. It goes both ways; I bought Honda from the 80s up til a few years ago. Honda Accords, Acura Integras, Legends and TLs. We had so many issues we are strictly domestics now. Every year new ones come out. Since I do not get a penny from any manufacturer, I am not loyal anymore like with Honda. We didn't even shop or look at other brands. Service is why we are not loyal to the Honda dealer in our town anymore. We had major drivetrain issues. The cars are real smooth when not running, waiting for a tow truck on the shoulder. People stay because of service, and leave over service issues just as quickly. We did. If we have major issues similar ever with our new domestics, we will leave just as quickly. Get hit with a huge out of warranty repair, and you jump ship.

21st Aug 2010, 12:04

I actually bought a RAV 4 Sport and will never miss the TB. As far as dealer service, it really had nothing to do with my reasons for never buying a GM again. It was simply the lack of high quality and too many repairs before 100K miles. I would have been into the TB about $4K in repairs, had I kept it. That doesn't include brake replacements or tires that are normal wear items... I am just talking ridiculous, poor quality cheap parts that failed!

21st Aug 2010, 12:07

Laugh all you want, but in the real world imports have been wayyyy better than domestics for me over the past 25 years. I don't care who paid who off. The ONLY myth is that domestic cars have suddenly become so great ONE short year after they almost failed completely.

21st Aug 2010, 12:33

Our family has owned both Trailblazers (we currently have two in the family) and GMC Envoys. These vehicles have been by far the best built and most reliable vehicles any of us has ever owned with the exception of one 300,000 mile+ Ford.

Our experience with imports has been awful. Our Honda alone required more repairs than all our domestics combined. With the quality of Toyota dropping to the bottom third of all vehicles now made, we are not about to even test drive one.

21st Aug 2010, 15:48

My vette could not be duplicated by a new import exotic for twice the price. 625 HP, 200 plus mph, 11 in the 1/4. Far from overpriced.

21st Aug 2010, 20:54

Where does this myth that GM is suddenly out of debt with the government come from? GM is STILL OWNED 61% by the government! And AGAIN, the rebates and incentives heavily fueled the domestic car companies for sales. In this economy, people are looking for the best deal, plain and simple. It really has NOTHING to do with a cars quality when you are handed a $2,500 rebate check for purchasing it. Let all car companies go back to offering no incentives, and see who is on top for sales.

21st Aug 2010, 20:57

"The guy condemning GMs may only have driven a couple of low end models long ago."

So you are okay with GM building crap because it is a lower end model? Gee, Honda and Toyota don't skimp on their quality for their lower end cars. They offer just as much in safety equipment as the more expensive models too. I'd rather buy from a company that carries a full line of quality vehicles, and not one looking to make huge profits by only building "good" vehicles that are overpriced.

22nd Aug 2010, 09:51

When I mentioned the poor luck we had with Hondas, it was factory lack of quality that placed us in the dealership. We were very loyal to our Honda dealer who has multiple brands such as GMC in the same new car dealership, and also BMW and Jags. The car came in for trans 1 at 28000 miles. Many others shared our fate. I switched to V8 domestics to match the power of our VTEC 3.2 6, which ran 93 octane as do our current cars. The TLs aren't cheaper than the Trailblazer LS. But the SS is a nice vehicle with no issues.

22nd Aug 2010, 11:37

"Let all car companies go back to offering no incentives, and see who is on top for sales."

A recent article in a national newspaper stated that both GM and Ford have dropped most of their incentives, and are averaging $2000 more profit per car now. The company offering the most incentives was Toyota... and they're STILL dropping like a brick in sales. Honda sales are way down the list, and nowhere near Ford or GM.

22nd Aug 2010, 12:08

"Let all car companies go back to offering no incentives, and see who is on top for sales."

Even with the incentives, I fail to see the domestic companies as being on top for sales. I'm not denying that they are, I'm just saying from my perspective that it's weird that they are.

I live very close to the Automile. It obviously has multiple dealerships both import and domestic. The domestic lots are filled with new cars with signs on them saying "SALE! SALE SALE!" (you know that sort of thing). Yet none of these cars seem to be being sold. On the other hand, the import dealers are selling cars left and right, and the pre-owned lot at both the Honda and Toyota dealerships are filled with used Ford's and GM's (the Honda dealership has at least a dozen Ford Fusion's on their used lot. I lost count of the number of Chevrolet Silverado's out in front of the Toyota dealership).

The domestics may be on top for sales, but they certainly aren't selling well in my area.

22nd Aug 2010, 12:26

Actually buying a low end Honda or Toyota may be wise as I had fewer issues. Delete the power options, and don't put the added strain breaking motor mounts and transmissions on the V6 models we had.

And more than cars, you see plenty of other businesses closing that once thrived prior to the internet and overseas lower wages. I feel sorry people have to be laid off or take half the pay and little or no benefits today. But as long as you can get cheap and it's your driveway, it's a free country. I guess you can make it up in volume.

I switched to domestics and found I have had far less issues. My 70 and 80s low volume Japanese imports were great. In spite of the 12000 mile warranty I had far better luck and kept hoping we would keep having high quality. It all comes down to when you have a really big out of pocket repair to really move on.

The review on this one is going to be a 5 year old car. We sold our many imports every 3 years and for a long time had no issues, but we had early bad luck with ours of late. I could rave about how great our first several were, and our last few just sank with issues. The import hype can be strong til you think it's not just a bad 1 or 2 you had.