How the once mighty Big 3 have fallen...

[redrumloa]

Worst-Made Cars on the Road

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/ar ... amily-home

Four of the seven vehicles on our list of the worst-made cars on the road come from GM brands. And all of the cars on the list -- including Chrysler's Dodge Nitro and Jeep Wrangler -- are made by Detroit's Big Three. Only one car on the list is made by Ford Motor.

 

[ilwrath]

Well, I'm not quite sure what this piece is doing.

The list is:
Cadillac Escalade
Chevy Aveo
Chevy Colorado *
Dodge Nitro
Ford F-250
GMC Canyon *
Jeep Wrangler

Now, where to begin. First off, the two vehicles I've marked with * are actually the same vehicle with different trim.

Next, you start to see vehicles that are nearing or at end of line of production. As far as I know, GM has already written off the Escalade/Suburban/Tahoe platform. And, if Fiat/Chrysler haven't put the Nitro on the chopping block, they should have, by now. The Aveo wasn't actually a GM product at all, but a Daewoo, and is due for a completely new 2011 model, anyhow. I think GM also confirmed they are ending the small truck platform, so Canyon and Colorado are looking over the abyss, as well. So the lesson of all but two is "Don't buy a vehicle made in a plant that is scheduled to close."

That leaves the F-250 and Jeep Wrangler. Neither of which are really average passenger vehicles. The F-250 is really meant for contractors who need a massive pickup truck. The Wrangler is really meant for people who drive offroad.

So I guess Forbes managed to find two obvious facts:
1) cars that are being discontinued will have crappy quality. (really? you don't say...)
2) cars that aren't meant as daily drivers will suck at that role. (again, you don't say...)

Of course, they probably would have been better off just saying that, but hey, it's more fun to tsk, tsk, over the American manufacturers while trying to sound intelligent.

 

[Glaucus]

So I guess Forbes managed to find two obvious facts:
1) cars that are being discontinued will have crappy quality. (really? you don't say...)

But is that cause or effect? Perhaps it discontinued because it's crap? Not only that, all companies have a car or two that's being discontinued, not just GM.

2) cars that aren't meant as daily drivers will suck at that role. (again, you don't say...)

Again, it's not just GM that sells cars that may not be intended for daily driving.

 

[ilwrath]

But is that cause or effect? Perhaps it discontinued because it's crap? Not only that, all companies have a car or two that's being discontinued, not just GM.

Well, it's an interesting thought, but I don't buy into it. The Escalade, and the S-10 descendants won various awards and were high on reliability and quality lists back a few years ago. Now, to be honest to your point, these vehicles did get hit with a cost-cutting axe just before and during the bankruptcy, which hurt quality. But they still weren't that bad until the announced end of platforms. Sure, you can discontinue an individual model here and there without affecting quality, but if you're cutting the platform and closing the plant(s) that make that platform, suddenly your workers have a very serious case of idontgiveashits and quality falls like a brick. In short, it's a terrible idea to buy a car based on a platform that is going away.

Again, it's not just GM that sells cars that may not be intended for daily driving.

Neither of the cars I mentioned here were GM. It just seems very obvious to say the F-250 is a horrible value for a passenger vehicle customer. It's a contractor's heavy-duty pickup. It's gonna have a crappy ride and questionable passenger safety. If a customer wants a good passenger vehicle, a sensible first step should be choosing to buy a passenger vehicle.

And, while the Wrangler has questionable highway safety, if you're driving a Wrangler on the highway that much, you're doing it wrong.

Next week maybe they'll make an article about how the Big 3 can't make a fuel efficient car, highlighting again the F-250 and maybe throw in the Dodge Viper. Won't that be fun!

 

[faethor]

Well, I'm not quite sure what this piece is doing.

The list is:
Cadillac Escalade
Chevy Aveo
Chevy Colorado *
Dodge Nitro
Ford F-250
GMC Canyon *
Jeep Wrangler

Chevy Aveo is a rebadged Daewoo.

Ford F-250? They must have been gunning for a popular low MPG work vehicle. Anyone in their right mind would take a F-250 over a RAM 2500. Put the RAM on the list. It's resale value drops by nearly 40% the minute you drive it off the lot.

 

[Glaucus]

@red,

Personally, I don't think the big 3 were ever that great. After WW2 there was really no competition for the big 3 because all other possible competitors were rebuilding from the war. Germany and Japan were still smoldering in the 50s when the big 3 were in their prime. Big surprise.

 

[redrumloa]

@mike

I disagree, mostly at least. From the Model-T to the muscle cars of the late 60's to the late 70's were mostly quality cars. The cars didn't start sliding into dog poo poo until the 80's imho.

 

[ilwrath]

I disagree, mostly at least. From the Model-T to the muscle cars of the late 60's to the late 70's were mostly quality cars. The cars didn't start sliding into dog poo poo until the 80's imho.

Well, I think you could push that back to the late 50's or early 60's. Sure, the muscle cars are great, now that they have been rebuilt and restored better than new. But the original versions left the factory with major issues. I remember hearing about the entire dashboard falling out of my dad's new '70 Torino CobraJet 427 when the car was less than a year old. And I remember the '74 he bought to replace it spontaneously catching fire in '77. The new '77 Pontiac Grand Prix he bought to replace that went through a master cylinder a year, and was badly rusted by '80. I also remember my grandpa telling me tales about the mid-60's Falcon he had as a Ford employee car. Bent two valves with less than 4,000 miles on the engine. (Turns out they installed a batch of bad springs and this happened to several hundred paying customers, as well...) And look at original pictures of any early Mopar product. You can clearly see the TERRIBLE fit and finish. Doors that don't line up by inches, hoods that don't latch right (back in the day, those hood pins were a functional safety feature -- the torque of the engine would twist the car so much it would pop the hood!) crooked fenders, etc...

No, the terrible quality of the 60's and 70's was what opened the door for Honda and Toyota to sneak into the US market in the first place.

Things have changed an awful lot since then, though. All the manufacturers do a lot better job. There's no comparison at all. Of course, there isn't a sensationalistic story in that fact.

 

[faethor]

@iwrath,
My parents have a story that in 74 they went to buy a new car. It was a Plymouth on one side and Dodge on the other.

60s and 70s invasion by Japan. True they were able to come to the US. Though what empowered them at home was Toyota worked with the Japanese government. As a result the government funded Toyota research and factories. Not only that the Japanese government kicked GM competition out of Japan. Protecting their home markets helped enable Toyota and Honda grow and propser.