GM Quality Gap Real, or Perceived?

Bloomberg.com ^ | 11/18/2002 | Doron Levin

[Lassiter]

One of these days I plan on getting a King Ranch F-150. Check this bad boy out!

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/glance/index.asp#King_Ranch_F-150

[cruiserman]

I've been buying Toyotas for years. I've got a knowledge base investment in tools, repair manuals, and how the rigs are put together. It would hard for me to switch to another maker, much less GM.

Why take a chance when I've been very happy with Toyota?

[cruiserman]

I think Ford uses Mazda transmissions on their mid-size cars and light trucks/SUVs.

Ford has had a lot of problems with the Mazda-supplied 5 speed transmission in the early Explorers.

[cruiserman]

When I was an undergrad my dad lent me his 1989 Ranger. That truck had nary a problem for 162,000 miles until the engine finally let go (a little four-banger)

It's quite common to get over 200K miles on Toy pickups. Change the 22RE timing chain at 200K miles :).

[Alberta's Child]

I think Ford owns 25% of Mazda. Someone told me that the Ford Taurus never had a good reputation until they started using the Mazda transmissions in them. Once they did that -- presto! The Taurus became one of the best-selling cars on the market.

Gotta love that 4.0-liter V-6, too. Not quite enough power for a "big" mid-sized SUV like the Explorer, but if you usually drive it like a car you'll get plenty of life out of it. When I bought mine I wanted to get 200,000 miles out of it -- but now that I'm over 190,000, I think I can get at least 300,000.

[Lassiter]

It's quite common to get over 200K miles on Toy pickups.

So I've heard. Likely if it wasn't for the sentimental attachment I have to Rangers I would have gotten a Tacoma. A friend of mine had one that had practically a million miles on it before he sold it. He regrets getting rid of it.

[americanMel]

Awesome looking truck. I think I may just go check that out and trade the POS I have in on it.

Thanks!

[Lassiter]

I took the Ranger out to Colorado last summer. It scaled Pike's Peak, Old Stage Road (a dirt road through the mountains between Colo. Spgs. and Cripple Creek) and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park like a champion. As light a body as the Ranger has, plus the standard tranny, I was able to get quite a bit of power out of it.

[Scoutmaster]

You owned a Monza, eh?

Wasn't that the GM car, introduced about 1975, where the first ones off the line were designed so that the engine had to be lifted from the body to change the sparkplugs? Or maybe a fender panel had to be remvoed?

No, I'm not joking. I remember a fraternity brother who bought one, and I remember the Saturday morning he trudged back into the house after going to the parking lot to change his plugs -- and finding he couldn't reach 'em.

I was about 20, but I learned a few choice new words from him that day.

[Lassiter]

That King Ranch looks like a sweet, sweet ride. I hope you wind up with one of 'em!

Hey, you're in Texas; haven't you seen any of those rolling around out there?

[Lee'sGhost]

"Dear Mr. GM man...try getting in MY face about quality."

Ditto that. These dips gave us crappy cars built by overpriced union labor and then cop an attitude bec they finally get a good report card? Yeah, I'll but American. Let's see, which "foreign" cars is it that are being built in the US now? THAT I might consider.

[americanMel]

Oh yea, just thought I would stick with the GMC, never been much of a Ford person. Why? I really don't know at this point.

I'm a real tomboy so trucks are my thing. I'm definitely checking this one out.

[John Robertson]

you should approach the dealer, and then approach the manufacturer. it's not unheard of for the maker to make good on a major repairs out of warranty, especially if, as it sounds in your case, it should not have gone out at this early stage in its life. worth a try.

[Lassiter]

These dips gave us crappy cars built by overpriced union labor and then cop an attitude bec they finally get a good report card?

Here here! Just because it's American doesn't mean I have to buy it. Crap is crap is crap, regardless of its point of origin.

[Lassiter]

Oooh, the Ford/Chevy switchover! lol

In my opinion, Ford makes a far superior truck. Better performing, better looking, better quality.

[americanMel]

I tried. And since I'm single, my dad even tried for me, since they usually see single women coming from a mile away.

They didn't even offer to pay some of the repair cost. They did, however, admit that they see this on almost all of the SUV models...as several of my friends have now pointed out to me.

They just lost ANOTHER customer. Not that they care.

[americanMel]

That's what I hear!

I think I'm truck shopping this weekend!

[Lassiter]

Sweet! Let me know how it goes.

[Alberta's Child]

I hear ya. I lived for two years in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies -- that Explorer lived through two dust storms, three prairie blizzards, sudden snow squalls in the mountains, and temperatures as low as -32F. I needed 93 octane gas to get me over Kicking Horse Pass into British Columbia, since the engine would knock with anything lower than that. Otherwise it was perfect. Got 20-22 mpg on the highway, too (the engine is rated for 14 city / 18 highway) -- I think the elevation and thin air had something to do with that.

I also drove the Forestry Trunk Road through the Alberta provincial forests from Hinton down to Crowsnest Pass. No huge grades there (it's in the foothills east of the Rockies), but that dirt road can get pretty chewed up if some jackass tries to move some heavy logging or gas/oil drilling equipment after the spring thaw. I nearly had to spend a cold night up there when I got mired in a foot of mud in a place called Seven Mile Flats out west of Sundre.