12th Dec 2007, 14:51

That's funny about the Trailblazer. The single worst vehicle I have EVER driven was an '03 Blazer that a family member owned. That ridiculous piece of trash had 30,000 miles on it and felt like what an '85 Toyota truck might feel like only if you bounced it through a quarry every day for 400,000 miles. And the Toyota engine would still sound better.

At 20,000, it regularly overheated, rattled, had squealing belts, had been through 2 sets of brakes, the sloppy paint job peeled off of the cheap plastic rear bumper long before that, the panels were literally loose, it clunked when you put in into gear, and felt like the wheels were going to fall off when you turn a corner in 4 wheel drive...

If I'd have had the money to do, I would have driven it right up to the edge of a cliff, (if it would get there), pushed it off, laughed, and bought her a Toyota. This was my sister's vehicle, which she basically drove to the grocery store and back. I can't think of a single good thing to say about it. GM should shut its doors permanently out of embarrassment over the Blazers, and most of everything else they make.

16th Dec 2007, 12:50

My Trailblazer SS is the finest vehicle we have ever owned, and we have owned many imports. I wonder how many commenters on here have even been in one? 0-60 as fast as the Hemi Charger, and a rev limiter at 130 mph when you are driving solo. Outstanding braking and handling for a family vehicle... I cannot own 2 seaters any longer with a family, and this is a great family vehicle to own if you still wish to enjoy performance.

16th Dec 2007, 15:09

17:03 The trailblazer had THIRTY thousand miles on it, not 300,000. It's not a Toyota, it wouldn't have had a prayer of getting half that many miles on it. It wasn't battered either. It was a year and a half old. I guess all it takes to 'batter' a TRAILblazer is to drive it to the grocery store and back for a couple of years.

And, lack of automotive knowledge is what causes people to drive GM's in the first place. Those whom know(automobiles) buy Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

17th Dec 2007, 09:28

Go to Google, type in "J.D. powers car ratings". Select "new cars" (the 2007 Grand Prix is still listed in the new car section). You will note that it has not only a 5-star rating in mechanical quality (the best), but also is rated "Best in Class". This class includes the Toyota Avalon. Then go to Mustang. You will note it ALSO has a "best in class" award (in a field that includes the Toyota Solara).

I scrupulously checked both J.D. Powers and Consumer Reports before buying my last car. To my knowledge (I didn't check EVERY car) there are NO Toyotas in any "Best in Class" categories.

17th Dec 2007, 10:18

I'll step up to the plate. I've rented no less than four domestic cars in the last year. Remember; these are all brand new cars that had less than 20,000 miles on them. The cars I rented were: A: 2006 Pontiac Gran Prix. B: 2006 Ford Mustang C: 2007 Chevy Cobalt. D: 2007 Chevy Malibu.

The Pontiac actually had a lot of power, great fuel economy, and a pretty comfortable interior. But in the mornings, the car made an awful racket when started. It sounded like grinding plastic. That said, out of all four cars, this one was my 'favorite' if I had to choose.

The Mustang was... OK. The interior was sort of cheap and low-rent. The fit and finish of the body panels was about the same. The worst part of it is that it got HORRIBLE fuel economy. This was a V6 convertible, and despite what Ford's web site mentions for economy, it got roughly 15MPG freeway. That's totally ridiculous.

The Cobalt was perhaps the cheapest, most uncomfortable, poorly designed car I've driven. Ever. The whole thing was just cheap, cheap, cheap. The body, interior, and components under the hood were bottom of the barrel scraping cheap and shoddy. The interior was poorly laid out. You could barely see the gauges becase the tiny steering wheel was in the way and positioned just perfectly so that no matter how it was adjusted, it was in the way of some vital gauge. The seats were cramped. In fact, I hated the car so much that I took it back to the rental agency the next day to upgrade... which brings me to the last car.

The Malibu was also cheaply manufactured. One look under the hood told you that. The engine head looked to be originally molded with a foam forming process. The stupid part is that GM failed to machine the foam texture from the original casting. So the head actually looked like it was made out of Styrofoam. While I was under the hood, I also noticed a number of cracked hoses. Secondly, on the second day, the E-brake cable came loose under the car. I tied it back up with some wire. The front end of the car was so flimsy that when the hood was closed, the bumper, lights, and grille shook as if it was about to come apart.

All in all, the cars I rented were in no way even close to being on par with the Toyotas and Hondas I've owned or driven over the years. I tried to keep an open mind when I rented these, but the quality is simply not there yet. So try as you might, nobody has yet to convince me that anything produced by the Big Three is of the same quality as the majority of the Japanese brands.

17th Dec 2007, 16:37

"I'll step up to the plate. I've rented no less than four domestic cars in the last year. Remember- these are all brand new cars that had less than 20,000 miles on them. The cars I rented was: A: 2006 Pontiac Gran Prix. B: 2006 Ford Mustang C: 2007 Chevy Cobalt. D: 2007 Chevy Malibu."

I've rented a number of cars in the past couple of years as well.

2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo: smooth, quiet, comfortable, lots of power even from the 6 cylinder, 20 mpg on the highway at 65, unbelievably smooth on heavily washboarded dirt roads in remote Nevada. Very nice -- I'd buy one if I could afford it.

2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser: cramped, odd seating, cheap interior, very uncomfortable, very poor power. Hated it.

2007 Hyundai Sonata: base model, utilitarian, spartan interior, but relatively smooth and quiet on the highway, 35 mpg doing 70 on the interstate, not good on dirt roads, but all in all, not a bad little car. I liked it.

2007 Ford Crown Victoria: leather, loaded, beautiful ride, whisper quiet, a modern full-sized car, 21 mpg highway. I'd love one except the mileage is lower than I'd like.

2006 Chevy Malibu: leather, loaded, smooth and quiet, great power from the 6 cylinder, beautiful interior. I thought it was great.

2007 Pontiac G-5 (or is that a G-6?) : sporty, nice, tight little car, great power, really smooth on the highway and on secondary roads, quiet, good mileage, utilitarian interior, but in a tasteful way, not a cheap way. I really liked it.

2006 Ford Taurus: a nice car, I liked the shape, it was comfortable and had good power, and rode nicely on the highway, and got good mileage. Lots of room, I really liked it.

Ever since 2005, I've thought that the domestic cars have been really nice. I remember when low-end Pontiacs and Chevies like Grand Ams and Cavaliers were so cheap that the cheap vinyl was pulling out of the armrest seams on brand new cars, and the cheap plastic door handles were falling off the cardboard door panels. That was back in the mid-90's and I thought GM was junk then. But now they seem to be making some really nice cars, and I have to give them credit. Ford, too.

I haven't driven a lot of new Dodges, although I was disappointed with the Intrepids of a few years ago because although they were plenty room, they didn't seem to have enough power for their size, and the Chrysler Sebring Convertibles that I've had were pretty nice, although once again, seemed underpowered compared to the GM counterparts.