Posted on 04/12/2010 8:05:57 AM PDT by throwback
If you want to drive something dependable and long-lasting, steer clear of these vehicles.
With a 22% improvement in sales last month, and despite the six-month, $4.3 billion loss it announced Wednesday, General Motors is likely to have its strongest spring and summer in years. Plus, the automaker had critically acclaimed new products at the recent New York Auto Show and the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt is due out this fall.
More from Forbes.com:
• In Depth: Worst-Made Cars On The Road
• Navigating Your Way Through Traffic
• Cars With the Best Gas Mileage
Year-over-year sales of GM's Cadillac division alone are up almost 76%; sales in the Buick, Chevrolet and GMC divisions were each up more than 40% for March. The industry as a whole was up 24.3%.
Unfortunately just because GM's cars are selling well now doesn't mean they're the best bet for durability or value -- yet. It'll take awhile before GM's new direction shows up in tangible new products at the dealership.
Four of the seven vehicles on our list of the worst-made cars on the road come from GM brands.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
That isn’t a car designed for 20 years of use. It is a marketing plan to get Americans to give up the idea of driving a personal motor vehicle wherever they want to go.
It is a transitionary device to get people into less purposeful vehicles, carrying very little about, and eventually giving up the “headache” of a car altogether.
It’s a clown car without the costume.
Stupid Smart Cars, they look like they are going to flip sitting still.
That's discrimination against rednecks!
So: what do you do with your Prius when it has 100,000 miles on it and it needs a new $6,000 dollar battery?
“Government Motors may still have some quality issues.”
Government Motors doesn’t have to worry. If things get really bad, Obama will simply mandate that we buy their cars on grounds that the company needs its “fair share” of the market and that evil profit-maker Ford needs to have its “obscene” profits trimmed to “socially acceptable” levels.
It's hard to argue with someone who simply states an opinion without a reasoned argument or facts. It's your opinion, and you are entitled to hold it.
The visible difference in track width from front to rear is the part that I find disconcerting - it makes the Smart Car look like an enclosed grocery cart.
It would come in last in a go-cart derby.
It can be accomplished by making the older cars illegal same as they have done away with functional toilet bowls and incandescent lighting.
I suspect the rating on the F-250 has a lot to do with the 6.4L Powerstroke engine. They were very unreliable, very costly to repair and nothing at all like the previous 7.3L in terms of longevity.
You've put 90,000 miles on a truck since Obama bailed GM out?
At 6'5" and 250 pounds, I just don't fit comfortably in those tiny econo-boxes. If I'm not comfortable, I cannot drive safely
That'd be covered by the "General Welfare" reference in the Preamble, I reckon.
Actually one of the best-made cars on the road. Don’t confuse small with poorly made. It gets safety ratings the equivalent of much larger cars.
But....but....but.....test after (government-sanctioned and developed) test has shown that these compact cars are safer than 95.4% of every other vehicle on the road!
Wait....wait... "I'm a good enough driver so that I don't NEED to worry about getting turned into a red smear on the road."
Oop...wait.... "Dammit! It's my life and my prerogative, and I can risk it by driving whatever car I want to, Dammit!"
Does that about cover all of the FReeper arguments for the "smart car" thread? :-)
FWIW, I think that in a big car, the car takes the beating and in a small car, you take the beating. It's simple physics, really. But logic and reason have no place for "what car to drive" threads. :-) :-)
Never had a lick of trouble out of the 1999 until a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned giving it to my daughter when we buy a new one, then the oxygen sensor went out the very next day. I told hubby "truck is angry" (Poltergeist II movie reference), LOL! We got it fixed for less than $200 through a neighbor.
I had to replace the wheel bearings on the 2005 after 95,000 miles. Other than that, not a bit of trouble out of either vehicle. We also owned another GMC truck prior to that and never had any trouble out of it. The only Ford we have owned was a 1986 Tempo and that was a total POS.
My late Dad was a GM employee...non-union, he risked his life to cross the picket lines many times...and while I am not happy with the bailout and bankruptcy, I will continue to buy GMC trucks for their quality. Sorry, but I won't spend that much money on a vehicle that has to last me at least 5 years based on emotions.
However, I do agree with your comment "FUBO!!".
Isn’t the Escalade just a tricked up Chevy Suburban?
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