An open letter to General Motors

[oldag]

Had a late 80's Cavalier. Only repair was an alternator at 100,000 miles. Sold it with 165k. New owner still driving it last I heard.

Late 80's Suburban went over 200k with no significant issues. I recall replacing a starter and a fuel pump well past 100k. Had people come up and offer to buy it several times every year. Looked showroom. Gave it a relative who promptly trashed it out.

Put lots of miles on Blazers. Gave one to a relative who got t-boned by a truck. No injuries to their family. Other one got hit, repaired the damage and sold it.

Have several GM's now that have run great. One with well over 250k miles. Another past 100k. Granted not many miles on the third. But they are not recent models. I take care of cars and drive them forever. Hopefully will never have to buy another car, expect they will outlast me.

Was a mopar man in my young days. The 413 and 383 were great engines. But we all know what happened to Chrysler in the late 70's.

 

[Grumps21]

Two historical analogs come to mind.

In the 1960s (I think) Porsche started a long-life vehicle project. They concentrated on using materials that wouldn't rust and designs that were easy to service. They managed to put together a chassis before the project got canceled. The bean counters were scared that 911 sales would be cannibalized by folks who would buy new Porsches slowly, if at all.

One company that drove themselves out of business in a particular market was Rollei. If you wanted a twin lens reflex camera, the Rolleiflex was unbeatable quality. In the 1950s, serious photojournalists had them all over the place. But they were too good. Eventually, everyone who wanted one had one and none of the damn things ever broke. They went out of the TLR business in, iirc the early 1970s. Later, they re-entered the market with limited editions of oddly spec'd TLRs with prices in the stratosphere but the principle stands.

Make a product too well and you can put yourself out of business.

I wish car makers didn't adhere so strongly to that principle.

Kind of the same approach the lightbulb industry followed. Planned obsolescence.

The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy

The Phoebus cartel engineered a shorter-lived lightbulb and gave birth to planned obsolescence

spectrum.ieee.org

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Lightbulb still burning after 120 years...

World longest burning bulb

 

[TexMex247]

As a professional mechanic of over 26 years now I can tell you they all have their shortcomings. The golden era of vehicles worldwide was the early to mid 2000s. Back when most brands were made where the companies were based. Many a 5.3l Chevy could turn over 300k. They have definitely overdone modern vehicles with too much tech. The end result, car batteries never last much more than 3 years, a minor glitch can throw a car in limp mode and something like an air shudder on the front of your vehicle can cause a cryptic code with an engine light that will make your car fail state inspection.

Even Toyota is not what it used to be but they sell based on reputation. Most of the 2010 and up Rav4s and everything that runs the 2.5 l have terrible timing chain rattle from a vvt sprocket that varies cam timing. I've seen a 2017 Tacoma with defective front axle bearings in the 4wd diff. I've seen their soy based wiring chewed up like an old dog toy by rats and mice. Nissan hasn't made a reliable cvt transmission since they first debuted and now even Subarus are problematic.

Everyone has replaced aluminum with plastic and reliability for marketability. All that being said, the number one cause of major failures is still the loose nut behind the wheel. If it's noisy, overheating or doesn't feel right, don't try to limp it home. Too often someone has a pegged temp gauge or oil light on and says "I was almost home". Hyundai and Kia have come a long way but the 2.0 and 2.4s are still plagued by random catastrophic failure.

Just have to pick your poison but I'd be pissed too if my 60k truck took a dump anywhere under 150k miles.

 

[oldag]

As a professional mechanic of over 26 years now I can tell you they all have their shortcomings. The golden era of vehicles worldwide was the early to mid 2000s. Back when most brands were made where the companies were based. Many a 5.3l Chevy could turn over 300k. They have definitely overdone modern vehicles with too much tech. The end result, car batteries never last much more than 3 years, a minor glitch can throw a car in limp mode and something like an air shudder on the front of your vehicle can cause a cryptic code with an engine light that will make your car fail state inspection.

Even Toyota is not what it used to be but they sell based on reputation. Most of the 2010 and up Rav4s and everything that runs the 2.5 l have terrible timing chain rattle from a vvt sprocket that varies cam timing. I've seen a 2017 Tacoma with defective front axle bearings in the 4wd diff. I've seen their soy based wiring chewed up like an old dog toy by rats and mice. Nissan hasn't made a reliable cvt transmission since they first debuted and now even Subarus are problematic.

Everyone has replaced aluminum with plastic and reliability for marketability. All that being said, the number one cause of major failures is still the loose but behind the wheel. If it's noisy, overheating or doesn't feel right, don't try to limp it home. Too often someone has a pegged temp gauge or oil light on and says "I was almost home". Hyundai and Kia have come a long way but the 2.0 and 2.4s are still plagued by random catastrophic failure.

Just have to pick your poison but I'd be pissed too if my 60k truck took a dump anywhere under 150k miles.

The 5.3 was a real workhorse.

 

[Younggun]

The 5.3 was a real workhorse.

You spelled 5.7 wrong.

The 350 was the best engine GM ever built.

 

[leVieux]

Cars were much better when you had to sit in the driveway on a cold morning working the throttle until it warmed up enough to idle on it own.

Back in my day we set the points on the distributor, AND WE LIKED IT!

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Gee, if you are ‘’YOUNG’’ Gun; how do you recall hand throttles in pickups ?

I can barely remember those.

LIke PTO’s in the front bumper area, ‘’spark advance’’ levers, & floor button starters. . . . . . . .

I even recall vacuum windshield wipers, which operated off a little line to the intake manifolds. They made the neatest ‘’splash-woosh-thump’’ music when they were running.

Oh, and the electric clutch activators on the steering wheel hub, by the horn.

I have passed my expiration date by a bit. . . . .

leVieux

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[leVieux]

You spelled 5.7 wrong.

The 350 was the best engine GM ever built.

<>

I had a bunch of those, no complaints,.

But the 396 cid in my 1970 GTO was DA BOSS. It would leave a 454 or a 426 sitting. And, with decent fuel mileage.

Sigh, I recall gas as low as .27c/Gal.

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[benenglish]

I had a bunch of those, no complaints,.

I always had a soft spot for those 400-inch small block Pontiac engines. I guess I'm weird.

 

[Lead Belly]

I always had a soft spot for those 400-inch small block Pontiac engines. I guess I'm weird.

Good motor. I had Checker Marathon (taxicab) that I dropped one of those in. Was a great car (battleship). Scooted.

 

[Tex62]

Had an uncle that drove Marathons.

Dad had a couple of Catalina’s with the 400. The 67 ran well. The 72 had too much emission crap on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[leVieux]

I always had a soft spot for those 400-inch small block Pontiac engines. I guess I'm weird.

<>

Mine was in a new metallic gold GTO.

My car was destroyed in Hurricane Celia, @ Corpus, August 3, 1970. All of the local Auto Dealers’ new cars were ruined by Celia, too; so I was afoot.

My little Brother found the GTO at a small town dealer’s in LA, and brought it to me. It was a sweetheart of a car; but cheap ass GM had put 2-ply rayon US Royal radials on it.

I immediately found a full set of 5 Pirrelli’s, and all was well, A 140 mph car shouldn’t be running cheap-ass tires.

leVieux

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[Wudidiz]

A glance into the past.....

 

[benenglish]

The golden era of vehicles worldwide was the early to mid 2000s.

From my very limited experience, I agree. I wonder if there are any makers/models/specs that are still produced the same way.

 

[Younggun]

I always appreciated the cheap parts and easy maintenance of the pre fuel injection era.

A hopped up V8 with a carburetor sounds and feel better too. Sometimes there’s more to life than peak HP.

 

[Paul Saver]

Dodge as well with mds

 

[innominate]

Ineos Grenadier is the closest you'll get these days.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

See one in the wild today

 

[Lead Belly]

See one in the wild today

INEOS Grenadier Pricing to Start at $73,100​

I paid $20,000 for my first house, with in-ground pool- in Tucson. Now get off my lawn.

 

[Paul Saver]

You spelled 5.7 wrong.

The 350 was the best engine GM ever built.

Hey younggun.. is it true that you really are a certified jackass..? Asking for a friend............

 

[billtool]

You spelled 7.4l wrong.

The 455 was the best engine GM ever built.

FIFY