11th Nov 2011, 07:09
If I see a recall on a make and model, I simply buy another model and drivetrain. That's why I would not buy a 6 for example from Honda, only a 4 cylinder. I love GM LS engines. If I read a 3.2 had issues, I would avoid it. Same with any other car. There's plenty to choose from the same lineup; maybe just order a different motor.
11th Nov 2011, 17:41
No auto maker in history has had the number of cars recalled that Toyota has (nearly 23,000,000 as of today, probably 24,000,000 by tomorrow at the rate they are going). Toyota has recalled more cars than some major car companies have built in their entire history. If this is how a "quality" builder builds cars, I'd rather ride a horse!!
11th Nov 2011, 18:09
Please re-read comment 20:16 and tell me how on Earth you can arrive at a figure of just over ONE YEAR per car. In fact, one of the GM cars (still owned by my family) has been driven for FIFTY-SIX YEARS. It was originally purchased by my father. One GM was driven for 33 years. Another (a Ford) was driven for 18 years. Also, note that I didn't say "ALL of those cars were driven 100,000 miles". One was driven 300,000+ (Ford), one was driven 277,000, (Buick) one was driven 240,000 (Dodge) and many were driven over 100,000 miles. Several were traded before 100,000 miles. One was traded after only 800 miles because my wife's friends made fun of the color.
It has not been unusual for us to own up to 5 cars at a time. Owning three new cars at a time has been pretty common. We are car enthusiasts and love cars. We also used to drive a lot. I once drove 180 miles round-trip to work every day. Now that I am semi-retired, we drive much less. We now own a GM SUV, a Ford Fusion and a customized Mustang for weekend fun drives. The Fusion gets driven the most because of its 38 mpg fuel mileage, and the Mustang is driven the least because it rides roughly and guzzles gas. My wife generally drives the SUV.
As for the list of supposed "problems" cited, we never experienced a single one of those in any of our Ford, GM or Chrysler vehicles. They were all flawless from day one. We have rebuilt the engine once in our 56-year-old GM car. The transmission in that car is still the original 4-speed hydramatic and it has never been touched. It still shifts as smoothly as it did new. The body is rock-solid with not a hint of rust. Not bad for 56 years of reliable service. In all that time the car has never left us (or my father) stranded.
We did, as I said, give Japanese cars and German cars a chance. They were all far less reliable than even the worst of our domestics, so I see little point in throwing good money away on another one. I do think the reliability of the German cars (with the exception of Mercedes) has gone up, while there is no doubt that the quality of Japanese cars has declined drastically.
10th Nov 2011, 16:54
Yeah, and what about all the issues that Toyota, Honda and Nissan are have been prone to in the past decade? I'm not gonna sit here and list them, that could take all day.
Also, could you please stop with the whole, your domestics are imported from Canada, Mexico and Italy comment. if somebody prefers a brand name and it serves them well, and they continue to buy it, for the last time, who cares where it is made, it's still the brand of car somebody prefers!!!