Automotive Forums

Yes, American cars sucks - big time.

When it comes to

- Safety (both active and pasive)
- Technology
- Enviromentals issues (energy for making, using and resirculation)
- Quality
- Design
- Interior

Thanks to your politicians, and their tax-policy, making the F series Ford - pick-up as one of the most sold cars in USA, your car industries lags 15 year behind in technology, inovation and in enviromental issues. Now its pay-time for neglecting this issues with the result of 50.000 employes is sacked from your large car producers.

My thought goes to the american people wich will have to pay for your ignorant politicians.

Best regards
Leifgk  

I agree with you agreeing with me, of course.  The funny thing is that the Ford F150 is an excellent vehicle.  It's safe (five stars front, four stars rollover), emissions-friendly, well-built, boasts a terrific interior (cribbed from the Range Rover Design Department) and the sheetmetal looks clean and modern.  Oh, and it's not a car.

I think the areas where American car lag are--

- Engines
- Ride
- Handling (especially steering)
- Interiors

The reliability is there.  With the 300, retro-Mustang and Solstice stirring things up, US car design ain't so hopeless as before.  But yank tanks are still not much fun to sit in or drive.  And that's a pity.  

   

well, interesting mix of views we've stirred up here.

"...gi-normous, gas guzzling vehicle with a coil leaf suspension."

questions:  gi-normus? all US manufacturers have abandoned full-size rear wheel drive cars except Ford. (I haven't looked at the newest round of offerings from Chrysler, maybe, maybe not)  The import luxo-cars are all building larger cars for the US market. They used to all be pregnant roller skates or PRS that handled well and accelerated quicker than other PRS. The US has made the mid size car the largest thing available and the imports now offer mid size cars of their own.

gas guzzling? sorry, no arguement, check the mileage ratings for the euro & asian cars. they have their own batch of really thirsty sports cars.

coil leaf suspension? lost me there. I've seen coil spring & leaf spring suspensions but never a coil leaf. Coil spring works perfectly well, BTW, for our american roads and speeds while contributing to a more affordable vehicle. Leaf spring suffices very well on 3/4 ton and larger trucks. show me a pickup with coil springs and I'll show you a truck with very limited load and trailer towing capacity, plus in a 4X4 coil springs will fold up under the vehicle in rough country where you're truly pushing the limits of the trucks capability.  Chevy uses the vaunted torsion bars up front. it works, but is very difficult to upgrade or modify short of complete replacement. also very difficult to repair and limp home in the event of an off road failure.

Pauto,  thanks for the 1st person view. I have a friend who is a lexus/porche/rolls/bmw/etc mechanic and he says it takes a certain amount of sickness & lots of patience to work on anything involving german engineering.

Hmmm... breakdown rates. Bimmers and GMC's may have similar breakdown rates. maybe not. figure the average repair bill, then we'll talk. I said before, get a quote on a water pump replacement for a porsche, olds, ford & a bimmer; I can guess which I'd rather pay for.

"...reliability is the last refuge of a man driving a crap car."

In my experience, reliability is the first defense of a man driving an overpriced Ego-mobile.

I will continue to buy and drive American cars. They do what I need, on admittedly crappy american roads, in the most economical manner I can find.

 

Meanwhile, the GM Joke Factory tells us they're coming out with something like twenty "new models" in the next year - or something like that?  I actually hear that in a commercial.

How about concentrating on improving the models you offer now?  How's that sound?

I swear, it's like they've got a class of junior high-school kids making these things- drawing them up on a piece of notebook paper..."Let's make mine next!  It's got a built in automatic sandwich maker and anti-gravity cup holders!  Cool, huh?"  

So out comes the parade of gimmickry-laden planned obsolenscence, pandering to the short attention span of GM loyalists, who plan an annual visit to the dealer to trade in last year's eyesore for something new and "outrageously stylish" (this year's eyesore).  After a year or two, GM can pitch the entire model, bend some more sheet metal at ridiculous angles over the same old crappy chassis and engine, call it something new, and people will buy it, based on GM's brilliant 1952 calculation that everyone wants to be the first on their block to have the latest...whatever.  Oh - and then rebadge it, call it the Cadillac Eyesore, and sell it for $18K more.  

Well, if you're looking for the reason US cars suck, I couldn't agree more.  

US automakers make too many cars.  There's a simple correlation beween the number of models a manufacturer creates and how much money they spend developing, improving and marketing each one.  US carmakers' fascination with niches reveals both their boredom and their stupidity.  

Honda makes one vehicle per segment: Ridgeline (truck), Civic (economy compact), Odyssey (minivan), etc.  They then spend all the resources on make the vehicle better and better, trying to carve out as much market share as possible.

GM, with its eight divisions and 70 models is a joke.  More specifically, the vast majority of the cars they produce (and rebadge) are a joke. Is it any wonder?  

I completely agree with you.  And not to mention the resale value of an American car SUCKS even MORE!!  

The arguments here are still silly in the first place. European cars are pricier than American cars, higher price could equal higher quality. All of the people arguing on this board are using BMW and Mercedes as their basis of comparison, these aren't exactly economy brands fellas. Is the next thread gonna be about how Korean cars suck and Italian cars rule? I'd love to hear it, some guy talkin' about how his 360 Modena is way better than any Kia Sephia that he's seen. Or even better, a Kia owner talking about how he got a good deal for the money. Can't we all just get along?
 

blitwack wrote:

All of the people arguing on this board are using BMW and Mercedes as their basis of comparison, these aren't exactly economy brands fellas.

yes you are a idiot. if you live in this country you should buy american car end of story. FORD    GM   jerk    AL  

hey buddy, first of all american cars are better. A ford pinto is a piece of junk. Try a camaro, firebird or corvette, youll get a different ride.  

a ford pinto stinks. its a piece of junk .Try a camaro, firebird or corvette . youll get different results!!  

Yes, American cars do suck. With exception to the corvette. Euro cars are nice, but they are too expensive (i think so). The best cars are japanese cars, they are reliable, affordable, and quality. GM has had their head up there *** for the last 20+ years. They have way too maney brand names, buick, cadillac, chevy, GMC, Oldsmoble, Pontiac, Saturn, saab. They need to cut off most off those and have two or three specialty brands; Chevrolete and Cadi. Its that simple, but no, they have 8+ different brands that suck (with exception to the corvette). Ford isnt as bad, But GM car just suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been driving Japanese made cars for over twenty years, and I must say that, "When will the American car industry ever get it right"?  Japanese cars are sporty, fun, quality and a car that one can depend on...I don't think I'll drive an American car, unless they start manufacturing them as the Japanese/European cars...Just my thoughts...

Yes American Cars do suck, I rather by  a honda or a toyota anyday of the week than  a piece of *** car from ford or  gmc.  You can ask any mechanic they all know that fords and all those other cars are recycle cars.  Check the  engines on any american car. they all waste too much gas, even the design on american cars suck. I rather buy a car from a Japan since they are smarter. I am an American but I always tell it like it is. If it suck it sucks..... The only good thing american make is weapons.  

Time for some facts folks.

Toyota makes about 2 car platforms, which they adapt to fit whatever.  This is simply their version of "badge engineering" all over again.

Americans have their priorities in what they look for in automobiles, and their top priority is their wallets.  The uniquely American market determines content priorities, how much money to spend on which parts.

When American workers and retirees demand top wages and benefits for what should be bottom jobs, material costs get shortchanged.  Thus, things like the interiors get shortchanged, because the market perception is that Americans don't care that much about the interior materials.  (personally, I think that perception is mis-read, but hey, I'm a transmission engineer, not an interior guy).

'German technology' is a joke.  What the Germans have is simple--cash to throw at the cars over and over again in a rather wasteful retooling process until the product is finally launched.  The American side of DaimlerChrysler manages to build a decent vehicle, and keep Mercedes afloat.  And do it for a lower vehicle price than what the Germans can do.  BMW engages in a whole lot of rather low-tech tricks to enhance the 'road feel,' but what you're feeling here isn't the road, it's a tuned perception of it.  Marketing, not technology.  Technology is what American suppliers have in order to make decent quality components and still manage to stay in business.

The Japanese have some great stuff, and some hard-core lies as well.  Their published fuel economy was in the news as being a bit over-optimistic lately, especially with the hybrids.  They're notoriously tight-lipped about recalls, which do happen.