citizenkane
Sharpshooter
- Apr 11, 2009
- 724
- 28
Mazda is owned by Ford. The Ford Probe had a Mazda designed engine. I am surprised she bought another Ford.
I hope Toyota comes out with something to haul a full size family.
I don't. You buy what works for you. My POV is a Jeep Cherokee. 125K miles and not a problem...just routine maintenance. I've been lucky...but it IS a Jeep. It's not the most comfortable thing to drive...but you give up some things for reliability and durability.I own a Toyota (don't hate me).
Here's hoping my 07 Focus continues to be reliable. Son has an 07 with 52k miles-mine has 44k miles -neither one has been back to dealer for anything. We both have manual 5 spd tranny(much better mpg).He has 2.3l engine-mine is 2.0 l.We both run Mobil 1 oil(since break-in).He averages 30 and I avg 34-so why buy a car from Japanese or Korean owned company ?? YMMV.For the record, I bought my 2000 focus in 02 with 44k miles on the odo. And until I blew the differential out of the transmission (5 spd) from too much racing at the drag strip and autocross. I didn't have any major problems with that car. And this problem happened at 136k miles. And I beat that car almost daily, it took it and kept on rollin. It would be back together right now, but I've run into a couple issues, along with lack of time/help. Any brand you may find a lemon occasionally, but that doesn't mean that all their vehicles are bad.
Here's hoping my 07 Focus continues to be reliable. Son has an 07 with 52k miles-mine has 44k miles -neither one has been back to dealer for anything. We both have manual 5 spd tranny(much better mpg).He has 2.3l engine-mine is 2.0 l.We both run Mobil 1 oil(since break-in).He averages 30 and I avg 34-so why buy a car from Japanese or Korean owned company ?? YMMV.
...so why buy a car from Japanese or Korean owned company ?? YMMV.
so why buy a car from Japanese or Korean owned company
Because they are better vehicles. The Big 3 picked their priorities (unions benefits and lavish bonuses for the BoDs, not the vehicles and defintely not the customer).
I was shopping to replace my SUV earlier this year and looked at GM's line as my father worked for 34 years for GM (even got his undergrad and grad degrees from General Motors Institute). The salesman told me that it was "normal" for GM cars to burn oil after 50K and said that people were always "bitching" (yes he used that word) about burning oil.
My Montero ran for 250K without burning a drop of oil (I did have to repair the transmission in 2005).
I bought a Toyota. It was made in California.
I will use IIHS vehicle ratings for my next vehicle purchase, new or used. If it doesn't have good ratings for all categories, I am going to pass. Take a look at the various classes of vehicles, notice that only one or two US companies manage to get a vehicle in the ratings, and I didn't see one class where an American company was #1.
I agree about the cost-cutting, but it's not about profit. The Detroit automakers haven't been turning profits lately. Of course every business wants to cut costs, but why would the Detroit 3 be cutting costs more extremely than other auto makers - sometimes to the point of compromising quality? Again, I would say it is largely attributable to the legal/regulatory/labor environment they are operating in. GM employs about 90,000 people, but they're paying the health care for nearly 1 million people. The price of a new GM car includes about $2500 in health benefits for employees and former employees. For a Toyota, that number is more like $70. GM and the other Detroit automakers are operating in an environment where the competition has a $2400 head start on every car they make. Under those conditions, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere to make up the difference, because the buyer sure isn't going to pay a $2400 penalty just for the pride of owning a GM product.
Rick Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company's financial filings show.