1988 Pontiac 6000, traded at 122,000 miles- It was 1998 and I had just become a lawyer....10 year old car for a new lawyer? But that was a great car.
If you like foreign manufacturers, I get it and that makes sense because before recently, domestics (especially Chrysler) could be hit and miss. However, in the last 10 years, durability, reliability, etc.- from Kia to Honda to Cadillac, it's really a pick 'em.
But the last two new vehicles we bought were GM minivans. They were flaming piles of dog s**t on wheels. When we got rid of the last one, I swore that was it.
By 2020 Ford says that only 10% of vehicles will be cars. More profit in suv's and trucks.......
They could just use some of GM's plants. I hear a few of them are available
I grew up in an area where just about everybody we knew worked at a GM plant, so it was taken for granted that you drove a GM product. My first job after college was working for GM. I naturally maintained the GM tradition throughout my adult life. 10 years ago it dawned on me that GM had closed all of the plants that my friends and relatives used to work at and moved the jobs to Mexico. Meanwhile, Honda had built a plant in Indiana. Consequently, we bought a Honda Accord in 2009. I will never, EVER, buy another automobile from an American corporation.
That may well be true, but the worm has turned regardless. I'm not going back after seeing how good a car can be.There's still more GM plants in Indiana than Honda or Toyota, if I'm remembering correctly.
That may well be true, but the worm has turned regardless. I'm not going back after seeing how good a car can be.
I grew up in an area where just about everybody we knew worked at a GM plant, so it was taken for granted that you drove a GM product. My first job after college was working for GM. I naturally maintained the GM tradition throughout my adult life. 10 years ago it dawned on me that GM had closed all of the plants that my friends and relatives used to work at and moved the jobs to Mexico. Meanwhile, Honda had built a plant in Indiana. Consequently, we bought a Honda Accord in 2009. I will never, EVER, buy another automobile from an American corporation.
What even is an American Company anymore? Everything is publicly traded and owned by anyone with a computer. Hedge funds, mutual funds, endowments...all purchased or funded by anyone with the capital to buy in. I'll bet there are a fair number of wealthy Chinese, Japanese, German, Indian, and Russian players cozied up to the bar with our traditional American investor.
Couple with that the fact that the modern automotive industry is heavily vendor-driven. That Ford has the same ABS system as that Honda or VW. Same goes for the engine management system. Vendors design entire automotive systems, including the framework to modify and produce these systems. The Automotive "Manufacturer" has become little more than a design, assembly, and marketing house, packaging other company's engineering into a final product they believe their consumer will buy. I think we are beginning to see the end of the "assembly" part of the manufacturer's mission, too. It is becoming ever more common to outsource major assembly to third-party vendors.
The VW Passat and Atlas are builtin Tennessee. The Jetta, Tiguan, and Golf are built in Mexico. German what?
There's still more GM plants in Indiana than Honda or Toyota, if I'm remembering correctly.
...I'll take the word of the guys who bet real dollars on it over anyone who is impressed with a 1988 Pontiac.
It's not that people don't want small cars, its that American car companies cannot compete with the majority of the foreign market. There is not any real money in it when you have American car manufacturing expenses vs those that the foreign car companies have brought over with them.
American car companies want their sales high dollar, rivaling what home sales were just years ago. It becomes very forgiving when people become used to living their whole life with a continual monthly vehicle payment. Compared to a vehicle that will be paid off free and clear in a short few years, to let them understand living without that regular payment.
Bedford - GM Central FoundryWhich ones are left? I know the truck plant in Ft. Wayne is still there.
Which ones are left? I know the truck plant in Ft. Wayne is still there.
Bedford - GM Central Foundry