Now Even Consumer Reports is Worried About Detroit

Whenever anyone issues a blanket condemnation of American cars, I feel I have to point out that I drive to work every other day in an 18-year-old Dodge Daytona with 208,000 miles on it–and that the head has never been off the 2.5, and that it still has its original clutch.
My other American-made daily driver is a nine-year-old Stratus with 79,000 miles and it’s been in the shop exactly twice the whole time I’ve owned it, once for a sensor in the transmission and once for a new thermostat and upper rad hose.

Then there’s my ‘68 Fury, built in America, which has 195,900 miles on the original 318.

Yes, the management of the Detroit 3 have made a lot of bad decisions over the years, and they need to make big changes fast, but I don’t think the rest of the country deserves the devastating economic blow that would result from letting them all go under. Three million jobs lost is what I hear. What’s good for General Motors may not be good for America, but what’s BAD for GM, Ford and Chrysler sure as hell is bad for America.

GT- No, thank god. I have the non-oil burning 3.5l V6.

Still… definitely not a nice ride.

I agree that CR should go back to kitchen appliances. They dont even judge a car for its intended use. They bashed a Dodge Viper for having poor fuel mileage and poor luggage space and also for not having a back seat and being too loud…

there only doing their job! criticizing bad cars and quality!

Patrick: ewww… a 96 intrepid? Got that 2.7 v6 in it? If so I’ll include you in my prayers.

Maybe Consumer Reports should have been more FAIR to domestics.
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Maybe it’s guilt setting in that prompted their response?
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Like I’ve said before, the big 3 are indeed guilty of mismanagement and have had, and still have in some cases problems with quality, but they have been unfairly treated by having their products portrayed as being worse than they actually were.
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Among the most recent developments, the heads of Ford, GM and Chrysler didn’t help their own case on Capitol Hill, having flown in at great expense and not being able to answer questions regairding excactly what funds they’ll need to remain operational.
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Worse yet, their CEOs make much more than their Japanese counterparts and unlike Honda, workforce is among the first to go… not the last.
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Detroit Auto Execs MUST lose some of their arrogance and carefully look at what is making other auto makers overseas more successful.

Uh, I drive a domestic POS bud. ‘96 Dodge Intrepid.

They aren’t light years ahead? Were they ever? Not really, they sold their technology to other companies.

What do the Big 3 offer? Less than reliable cars, trucks, and more.

Every domestic I’ve owned (Olds Cutlass, Dodge Intrepid, more) have needed major repair and/or engine overhaul BEFORE 200,000 miles. My Nissan had 355,000 miles on it before it died, and my old Mazda Protege has 180,000 with ORIGINAL CLUTCH, no major work. Is it too much to ask the Big 3 to build a car THAT CAN LAST?

How about actually looking at what the big 3 has to offer instead of just trash talking them. It’s people like you that they’re going under, 1/4 of “Americans” won’t set foot in a domestic showroom, thinking japanese cars are so much better than detroit’s, look again, and this time actually look and you’ll see that the japs aren’t light years ahead as some people like to think.

So you provide no evidence that their methods don’t work. If they showed EXACTLY how they tested cars, any manufacturer could deliberately center their production of a car around the test methods.

Yeah- let the Big 3 fail I said… consequences? Yeah, there are some. Just because workers will be out of a job- has that ever stopped a failing company from going out of business? Should we be bailing out other companies that are announcing job cuts? They’ve already cut tens of thousands of jobs, lets give them taxpayer money so they can buy more people out of their contracts and continue making garbage?

See- that’s the problem. The Big 3 relied SO HEAVILY on SUVs for their profit that they made way too many and are now stuck with the implications of that. A poor business choice for a “get rich quick” scheme that never materialized because apparently the Big 3 FORGOT THAT GAS PRICES MIGHT GO HIGHER.

Detroit makes crappy products, employs tens of thousands of mechanics at small shops nationwide that rely on the Big 3 to make garbage so that they can make a living fixing them.

Odd that Toyota, Honda, etc can build more of their cars in the U.S. that our OWN DOMESTIC CAR companies.

Its going to happen- let em die.

Interesting that the Big 3 NEVER WAS PREPARED TO ASK FOR MONEY until this FINANCIAL bailout of lenders.

Consumer Reports is not biased? Patrick, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
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http://www.allpar.com/cr.html
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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/consumer-reports-dirty-little-secret/
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“Detroit deserves to be trashed”? Oh, my. Letting the Big 3 fail would have far-reaching consequences, beyond just putting UAW laborers out of a job.
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The UAW’s constant whining about pay and benefits is the main reason that Detroit has had difficulty being competitive. It’s nearly impossible to eliminate the union positions from their workforce. And slamming Detroit for making large SUVs is stupid, too. DETROIT WOULDN’T HAVE BUILT SUVs IF CONSUMERS DIDN’T BUY THEM.