My parents bought GM. They had used Pontiacs in the 50s, New Pontiacs in 60, 61,62, and 64. I learned to drive on the 64, 389 v8 with a stick shift. We always had stick shifts up to that point. When Dad left and took the 64 with him, we had used Fords and Chevy's. They were all reliable. I always had Used American cars, 55 Ford, 55 Chevy (Hot rod), 54 Olds, 58 Olds, 57 Plymouth (with a Chrysler 392 Hemi I transplanted into it), 61 Ford Convert, 56 Merc, 61 Chrysler. When I married we had the 64 1/2 Mustang (Falcon running gear), 71 Mustang, 72 Ford Truck. All these vehicles had good reliability, with the possible exception of the 64 1/2 Mustang which, for no apparent reason, grenaded its 170ci six on the freeway in the fast lane, stranding my wife. In 82 we bough a 74 Volvo (our first foreign car) used, from a co-worker that was going back to Japan to live. After numerous electrical issues and a cracked head on the little anemic 4 cyl Volvo engine, we traded it in on our first New Car, the 84 Toyota Celica, which we still have, and it gets driven everyday. Yes, it's a bit ragged now and I had to put a clutch in it. But, if I had to drive to the other coast with it, I wouldn't be worried about it getting me there in back. Same is true for the 72 Ford truck I've had over 30 years, and the 90 Mazda we got from the Mother in law when she died. I wouldn't trust the 89 Camaro we bought new in 88 on a trip farther than 200 miles. Something expensive goes wrong with it every 1000-2000 miles on average. If I had paid someone else to repair that every time it broke, the total cost investment would be triple the purchase price. Fortunately, we've never needed that car for basic transportation, for which, it is not worthy.
The only car that I've had with worse reliability was the 55 Chevy. But, that was a hot rod that I beat the living crap out of every single day I drove it. (You could have replaced the accelerator pedal with an on off switch on that poor abused car.)
I have far more experience with American cars than Japanese makes. So, as is my way, I did research to find out if my experience was an aberration or indicative of reliability trends. One interesting source, is Consumer reports. I bought the 2007 Used Car Buying Guide.
Up front they say that reliability of vehicles has improved substantially from 1980 to 2000.
They do, however have a page listing the most reliable vehicles, and another listing the worst, with a side bar on each page noting those that are especially good bets, and those that are the worst.
Focusing on GM products, 3 actually made the exceptionally good list. Buick Regal, Chevrolet Prizm, and Pontiac vibe (which is a branded import not actually made my GM).
The rests of the best are Acura (7 models), Honda (9 models), Infiniti (5 Models), Lexus (7 models) Mazda (4 models), Nissan (3 models), Subaru (5 models), Toyota (15 models). Oh, and the Lincoln Town Car was also on the list, too.
Where GM cars do figure prominently, is in the Especially "Bad Bets" list. There are NO Toyotas or Hondas on this list. There are 2 BMWs. 5 Chevrolets, 4 GMC, 3 oldsmobiles, and 4 Pontiacs from GM. 4 Mercedes, 2 Nissans, 5 VWs, 2 Lincolns, 1 infiniti QX56, 2 Jaguars, a Jeep, and a Kia Sedonna, finish up the stinky list.
Let's look at the Chevy cars on the good list, and while I'm surprised, there are some.
Prixm, Tracker, Silverado (2WD), Monte Carlo V6 ('03), Avalanche 1500 '05-'06.
On the bad reliability list are these from Chevrolet.
Astro, Avalanche 1500, 03-04, Avalanche 2500, Aveo, Blazer, Camaro, Cavalier, Cobalt, Colorado (2WD and 4WD), Corvette, Equinox, Express, Impala (V6 and V8), Malibu, Monte Carlo V6 '98, '00-'01, S-10 (4WD), Silverado 1500 (4WD), Silverado 2500 (4WD), Silverado (Turbo Diesel 4WD), Suburban, Suburban 2500, Tahoe, Trailblazer, Uplander, Venture (ext), Venture (reg).
There aren't ANY Toyotas on the bad list. And only the Honda passport on the cars to avoid list (isn't that a rebadged Susuki rodeo?).
I'm not going to list them all, but in total, American made cars take up over half of the entire Avoid list including the GM brand. The rest are predominantly European cars. And, a small handful of Asian manufacturers/models.
Even if I admit that GM cars have improved their reliability since the 80's, they still haven't approached what the Japanese top Brands routinely produce. Perhaps there aren't as many stupid and blind consumers as the American manufacturers were counting on fleecing? I would much prefer to buy an American made car. But, I can't condone paying extra for incompetence, or charlatans.
Even if you discount my personal experience with the crappy Camaro, Consumer Reports statistical sampling, show that American manufacturers are STILL behind in the quality/reliability to the consumer aspect of product manufacturing. And, while they SHOULD focus on improving that, if they are going through a penny pinching phase, what are the odds they will have added focus on quality/reliability improvement?
Why aren't we better off without GM?
Cheers,
