10th Jun 2008, 20:03
I test drove an Aveo and a Corolla the same day. The Aveo was very quiet and very smooth riding. The Corolla engine rattled and knocked as if it were going to fly apart at any second, and the ride was bone-jarring. I could care less what magazine writers think. The Aveo is a better built car. (and NO it is NOT a GM, it is an import).
10th Jun 2008, 21:48
Driving all small compacts is a better description, than to say all of GM... if your budget allows it. I love when someone condemns an entire manufacturer, and then you hear it's low end comments as usual.
11th Jun 2008, 12:21
Claiming that an Aveo is a better car than the Corolla is like saying that a Yugo is superior to a Honda Civic. But if you want to buy one, go for it.
Also - regardless of whatever car you own, 4-5k for a transmission replacement is about the going rate no matter what vehicle you drive. It's just that Toyota, Honda, and Nissan tend to have less problems with theirs, so you would be less likely to have that procedure done anyway.
11th Jun 2008, 12:36
Having never owned an import that ever made it to 100,000 miles without a major engine or transmission failure, domestics look VERY good to me.
12th Jun 2008, 10:33
Hmm... an "Import". Well, in that case, it could've been a VW, Yugo, Fiat, MG, Hyundai, Land Rover, Volvo, Citroen, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, or whatever other "Import" brands exist out there versus the "Domestic" brands like Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, or what not.
If you're going to use blanket generic statements to add to an argument, it generally helps to mention specific brands and models. If you have owned 2 Fiats, 2 Hyundais, 1 Honda, and 1 Nissan, then yes - these are "Imports", but the quality between each is drastically different as is the same with domestic brands. Saying that all the imports you've owned were inferior to the domestics you've owned isn't making a point. We're talking about specific brands here.
12th Jun 2008, 11:22
The only cars in my circle of friends that has ever required a transmission before 100,000 miles were a Toyota and 2 Hondas. None of our domestics has ever had a problem with either the engines or transmissions before 100,000 miles (which is why domestic car makers have no problem putting a 100,000 mile warranty on their vehicles).
13th Jun 2008, 09:45
All of my friends who have ever owned domestic brand cars and trucks have had major engine and transmission failures well before 50,000 miles.
13th Jun 2008, 15:05
Oh? No domestic vehicle that my family has ever owned had any engine or transmission failure of any kind, and the minimum that we have driven them is 200,000 miles.
13th Jun 2008, 16:31
11:22 No, GM puts a 100,000 mile warranty on their cars, because nobody will buy them otherwise, knowing that because it's a GM, it most likely WILL fall apart before then, and at least they're covered. Maybe.
They can't offer a better car, so they offer a longer warranty as a substitute for quality.
13th Jun 2008, 17:14
In 30+ years of driving, working on cars and talking to other car enthusiasts I know of exactly ONE who had a transmission or engine failure before 100,000 miles in a domestic vehicle. It was a Pontiac Grand Prix and was caused by an oil change shop messing up a transmission flush job, not the car's "poor build quality". On the other hand, NO import we have had has EVER made 100,000 miles without a major repair of some kind. I will never purchase another import.
I also prefer to keep my money in American industry rather than shipping it to Japan. That's why the dollar is dropping in value and we are paying more for everything.
13th Jun 2008, 17:36
I had 2 transmissions prior to 50,000 miles in a 2002 Honda purchased new. However, not one single domestic vehicle in my family has ever required an engine/trans ever. Trust me, I heard about my stupidity buying a import.
14th Jun 2008, 14:16
"GM puts a 100,000 mile warranty on their cars because no one will buy them otherwise". Oh really?? What about the millions of us who bought them BEFORE they instituted the 100,000 mile warranty just a couple of years ago??
Both of my GM vehicles had a 36,000 mile warranty. I gladly bought them anyway. At well over 70,000 miles I've never once NEEDED a warranty. I can't say that about our previous imports.
No more imports here. My friend's 2003 Tundra spent most of it's little 36,000 mile warranty in the dealer service department being repaired. I have better things to do with my time than read magazines in a Toyota service department waiting room waiting for my truck to be fixed for the 15th time.
14th Jun 2008, 18:00
I'm only 33, and I've seen several domestics, owned by friends and family, that needed engines and/or transmissions well before 100,000 miles. Usually it seems around 80-90,000.
However, my friends and I grew up beating the hell out of Toyota trucks for the whole 17 years or so we've been driving, and never once did one of them break down.
We replaced a head gasket in a '91 Toyota truck a few years ago, with God knows how many miles on it. The odometer stopped working somewhere around 225,000 several years ago.
My friends and family have owned several Toyota's, and I make a point of talking to other Toyota owners, nobody EVER has major trouble like the domestics do. I've owned three consecutively over a 13 year span, and have never changed a single part outside of regular maintenance.
15th Jun 2008, 06:19
The Lexus dealer in my town automatically offers a 100,000 mile warranty so that people buy their cars. Seems common sense that it would be instituted on all Toyotas across the board. Maybe they do not have to, but it seems like going the extra mile would be a proper gesture.
I feel glad that the domestics do not cater only to the top. I have had no issues on my 2 new domestics, and the service I have been receiving has been much better. Especially the nice phone follow up. I use to get a call "Your car is ready"; in my mind that's minimal, but the bill was not.
10th Jun 2008, 16:29
I agree 17:35, just set aside 4-5 K for a new trans or engine replacement, as many have faced with imports at low mileage.
I believe advertising is a very strong medium. In many cases people will rush out and buy without fully researching new vehicles thoroughly on consumeraffairs.com, and late model import issues on Toyota and Honda. Maybe you have been lucky, and I was for many years with Honda/Toyota, but no more. I would buy a Hyundai; at least it has a 100,000 mile warranty.
The service shops have you over a barrel; no warranty is no warranty... wait til it happens to you too, and maybe you will not put down domestics...
Why am I driving new domestics is an better question. Great import service would have kept me for life instead of 1969 to 2004 with new imports. I would say I was a loyal customer, but I am not tolerating engine and trans issues again.
With no repairs, my only real outlay is feeding V8 domestics, but it's not much more than having to buy 93 octane in my VTEC new imports anyway. I like not being in the shop anymore as well.