U.S. car companies do poorly in survey

U.S. car companies do poorly in survey
[url]http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/BUSINESS01/603020472/1014[/url]

Japanese cars rule in reliability - Mercury sole Big 3 brand in Consumer
Reports' top 10
[url]http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/AUTO01/603020376/1148[/url]

--
"I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends
respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please."

John Wayne

The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high for
being fairly new.

Mack

"M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=blue]
> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
> for being fairly new.
>
> Mack
>
>[/color]

It's a Toyota, Mack!

Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars, esp
since I was working for a compayn that provided
'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla 1200
got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.

Then I stopped at a Toyota dealer and saw the new Corollas, 1.8 liter, SR-5.
First year model also.
I bought the Corolla.

I only managed to get 224,000 miles out of it before I traded it for my GTS,
and got 65% of what I paid back!

Do I need to tell you about the Citations...

On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:34:34 GMT, "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.GTS> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>"M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
>news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=green]
>> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
>> for being fairly new.
>>
>> Mack
>>
>>[/color]
>
>It's a Toyota, Mack!
>
>Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars, esp
>since I was working for a compayn that provided
>'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla 1200
>got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
>car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
>hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.[/color]

Boy was that ever a dog! I had two friends that bought Citations and
they were in the dealer more than on the road.

[color=blue]
>
>Then I stopped at a Toyota dealer and saw the new Corollas, 1.8 liter, SR-5.
>First year model also.
>I bought the Corolla.[/color]

[color=blue]
>
>I only managed to get 224,000 miles out of it before I traded it for my GTS,
>and got 65% of what I paid back!
>
>Do I need to tell you about the Citations...
>[/color]
--

Scott in Florida

Jim Higgins wrote:[color=blue]
> Japanese cars rule in reliability - Mercury sole Big 3 brand in
> Consumer Reports' top 10
>[/color]
[url]http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/AUTO01/603020376/1148[/url]

I'm starting a pool on the number of posts before someone says "You
can't trust Consumer Reports".

I'll start: eight

"Scott in Florida" <MoveOn@outa.here> wrote in message
news:au8e029rt9kg6jskdv12ko1ev06b159qq0@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:34:34 GMT, "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.GTS> wrote:
>[color=green]
> >"M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
> >news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=darkred]
> >> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
> >> for being fairly new.
> >>
> >> Mack
> >>[/color]
> >It's a Toyota, Mack!
> >
> >Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars,[/color][/color]
esp[color=blue][color=green]
> >since I was working for a compayn that provided
> >'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla 1200
> >got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
> >car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
> >hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.[/color]
>
> Boy was that ever a dog! I had two friends that bought Citations and
> they were in the dealer more than on the road.[/color]

True.

The car always seemed to me to be a really good idea, especially for its
time. Small, transverse 4 with FWD, lots of interior room, good fuel
economy, hatchback for versatility. When it came out, I liked it right
away...

.... but, luckily, I never bought one. It was executed so badly. My dad
bought one with a stick and some sort of clip kept falling off somewhere
along the transmission linkage, so he was always losing 2nd and 4th gears.
Unbelievably bad torque steer - with a 2.2L 4! Everybody I knew that bought
one had trouble with it.

[snip][color=blue]
> --
>
> Scott in Florida[/color]


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from [url]http://www.SecureIX.com[/url] ***

We would rather hear about were you work now LOL


mike hunt



"Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.GTS> wrote in message
news:u8FNf.2748$SJ2.1554@trndny01...[color=blue]
>
> "M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
> news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=green]
>> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
>> for being fairly new.
>>
>> Mack
>>
>>[/color]
>
> It's a Toyota, Mack!
>
> Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars,
> esp since I was working for a compayn that provided
> 'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla 1200
> got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
> car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
> hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.
>
> Then I stopped at a Toyota dealer and saw the new Corollas, 1.8 liter,
> SR-5. First year model also.
> I bought the Corolla.
>
> I only managed to get 224,000 miles out of it before I traded it for my
> GTS, and got 65% of what I paid back!
>
> Do I need to tell you about the Citations...
>
>[/color]

\"Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.GTS> wrote in message
news:u8FNf.2748$SJ2.1554@trndny01...[color=blue]
>
> "M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
> news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=green]
>> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
>> for being fairly new.
>>
>> Mack
>>
>>[/color]
>
> It's a Toyota, Mack!
>
> Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars,
> esp since I was working for a compayn that provided
> 'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla 1200
> got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
> car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
> hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.
>
> Then I stopped at a Toyota dealer and saw the new Corollas, 1.8 liter,
> SR-5. First year model also.
> I bought the Corolla.
>
> I only managed to get 224,000 miles out of it before I traded it for my
> GTS, and got 65% of what I paid back!
>
> Do I need to tell you about the Citations...
>
>[/color]

I bought a 80 SR-5 hatchback used, wrecked it, bought another used one, and
got it to 200,077 miles, and sold it. Previous cars had been a 79 1200
Corolla and a 72 Carina. Next Toyota is the one I own now. In between, I
made the mistake of buying the S-10.

Charles of Schaumburg.

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:44073bd3$0$1101$6d36acad@titian.nntpserver.com...[color=blue]
> "Scott in Florida" <MoveOn@outa.here> wrote in message
> news:au8e029rt9kg6jskdv12ko1ev06b159qq0@4ax.com...[color=green]
>> On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:34:34 GMT, "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.GTS> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>> >"M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
>> >news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...
>> >> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty
>> >> high
>> >> for being fairly new.
>> >>
>> >> Mack
>> >>
>> >It's a Toyota, Mack!
>> >
>> >Back in 1980 I was feeling a *little* guilty about buying Japanese cars,[/color][/color]
> esp[color=green][color=darkred]
>> >since I was working for a compayn that provided
>> >'programmable controllers' to the auto industry. When my '78 Corolla
>> >1200
>> >got wrecked, i thought, perhaps, a nice American
>> >car would be a good idea. I had in mind the Citation X-11; nice, sporty
>> >hatch that could be had with a 5 speed.[/color]
>>
>> Boy was that ever a dog! I had two friends that bought Citations and
>> they were in the dealer more than on the road.[/color]
>
> True.
>
> The car always seemed to me to be a really good idea, especially for its
> time. Small, transverse 4 with FWD, lots of interior room, good fuel
> economy, hatchback for versatility. When it came out, I liked it right
> away...
>
> ... but, luckily, I never bought one. It was executed so badly. My dad
> bought one with a stick and some sort of clip kept falling off somewhere
> along the transmission linkage, so he was always losing 2nd and 4th gears.
> Unbelievably bad torque steer - with a 2.2L 4! Everybody I knew that
> bought
> one had trouble with it.
>[/color]

American car companies haven't known how to build a manual transmission in a
long while. We had a '63 Chevy II 300 with the 194 6 and 3 on the tree.
When it was new, it would jump out of 3d gear on the highway and when it got
old, it wouldn't come out of first. Many's the time Dad had her pulled over
to the side of the road jiggling some plates down by the firewall to get her
out of first gear. Why do you think Hurst shifters got so poplular?

Charles of Schaumburg

In article <MbqdnXdapPbBJ5rZRVn-iQ@comcast.com> [email]n5hsr@comcast.net[/email]
"n5hsr" writes:
[color=blue]
> American car companies haven't known how to build a manual
> transmission in a long while. [...][/color]

Weirdly, they often have close ties to European marques, or own
them outright, where good manual gear shift technology could be
obtained. Eg, GM owns UK's Vauxhall and Germany's Opel.
--
Andrew Stephenson

The people who buy it would love it even if they had to push it.


"M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=blue]
> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
> for being fairly new.
>
> Mack
>
>[/color]

The might not be so happy once the read next months CR. Your automotive
bible CR says hybrids will not save any money, even over time. They will
actually cost anywhere from $3,700 to $13,300 more than their conventionally
powered twins, over five years and 75,000 miles of use. Those figures take
into account the premium new vehicle price, all of the tax incentive and
projecting gas at $5 a gallon. At ten years out and 150,000 miles, it will
get even worse for hybrids as resale value plummets because of the $3,000 to
$7,000 battery replacement costs.. The only up side is they will use less
gas and help the environment for those that can afford those extra costs.
Hate to say I told you guys so BUT....well I did


mike hunt

[color=blue][color=green]
>> "M. MacDonald" <mmacdonald@bc.cc.ca.us> wrote in message
>> news:CSENf.96$aN2.30990@okeanos.csu.net...[color=darkred]
>>> The Toyota Prius with a 95% customer satisfaction rating is pretty high
>>> for being fairly new.
>>>
>>> Mack[/color][/color][/color]

Mike Hunter wrote:[color=blue]
> The only up side is they will use less
> gas and help the environment for those that can afford those extra[/color]

I wonder what the total impact on the environment really is. How about
the energy and emissions required to make and dispose of those batteries
and extra drivetrain components?

"Andrew Stephenson" <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1141397743snz@deltrak.demon.co.uk...[color=blue]
> In article <MbqdnXdapPbBJ5rZRVn-iQ@comcast.com> [email]n5hsr@comcast.net[/email]
> "n5hsr" writes:
>[color=green]
>> American car companies haven't known how to build a manual
>> transmission in a long while. [...][/color]
>
> Weirdly, they often have close ties to European marques, or own
> them outright, where good manual gear shift technology could be
> obtained. Eg, GM owns UK's Vauxhall and Germany's Opel.
> --
> Andrew Stephenson
>[/color]

Well, that's proof that they're not cross-pollinating at all . . .
Otherwise how did Vauxhall's Chevette turn into the Chevy Sh!t-Vette when
brought over here?

Charles of Schamuburg.

CR did not get into that aspect. Those type of questions are left to the
environuts to sort out I guess.. It is sort like using corn based alcohol as
apposed to Methane base alcohol as a fuel additive. Methanol is much
cheaper to produce and the unused menthol is burned of a the refinery while
ethanol production takes more energy the ethanol produces, but the methane
is nor a 'renewable' source while the corn is, you figure it out. ;)

mike hunt


"Travis Jordan" <no.one@no.net> wrote in message
news:FzfOf.120317$Id3.71933@fe04.news.easynews.com...[color=blue]
> Mike Hunter wrote:[color=green]
>> The only up side is they will use less
>> gas and help the environment for those that can afford those extra[/color]
>
> I wonder what the total impact on the environment really is. How about
> the energy and emissions required to make and dispose of those batteries
> and extra drivetrain components?
>
>[/color]