According to JD Powers American cars have averaged better than Japanese cars in dependability over the last 3 years... You're just still falling victim to all the negative media american automakers get.... Toyota has recalls too

 

Ummm...look at all the factors, both short term and long term dependability. American cars have definately faired better the last 2 or 3 years in short term reliability. Long term reliability (3+ years) they have not...granted the latest cars we obviously dont have the data available to make any firm conclusions. But I can tell you the interior quality and driveline refinement is still subpar for the most part. Especially interior qualities. My wifes 10 year old rav 4 has tighter gaps on the inside than my buddies 06 equinox. While my wife's car admitedly has more rattles and wind noise its got 100,000 miles, where his has about 5000...

American manufacturers have to build a better car if they want to win back buyers.

 

One more thing, Ford is building good interiors. Better than GM and Chrysler.

 

Only car-illiterate people think 'all japanese cars are good'. I'd depend on a GM or Ford LONG before I'd depend on a Mitsubishi, for example.

Honda and Toyota are the big players that GM has to topple. They've done well in JD Power's initial quality surveys, but 90 days is a completely different ball game than, say, 90 months for example. Something that's wrong in the first 90 days is the fault of somebody at the factory. GM does well here (according to JD Power, at least). Where they haven't necessarily proven themselves is long term, where the people at the assembly plant matter very little - long term duraiblity/dependability/quality depends far more on how much the manufacturer cut costs 'under the surface', how well the car was engineered, etc.

And while JD Power is a good source, I don't recommend depending on them soley; I don't recommend depending on one source for information, ever, and this is no exception.

 

Are you kidding? Ford interiors are nasty.... The only Ford cars with half descent interiors right now are the Fusion/Milan/Zephyr and those are half DENSO (A.K.A. Toyota) parts. Chrysler IMHO has the best interiors currently, but my GTO is probably one of the best i've ever seen.

 

Have you ridden in (or pushed) a '88 Corsica or Lumina lately
Or what about a Pontiac Grand Am of around the same year...that's why people have a bad taste in their mouth about GM cars.

 

But your wife's 10 year old RAV4 also has gerbils on a wheel instead of an engine and a trans thats lucky to survive 80k miles let alone 100k.

 

I'm not talking about what it looks like I'm talking about quality. Ford is using better interior parts than GM and Chrysler...do I care for the looks? Only on the 3 you mentioned...but the other cars have quality interiors.

Chrysler has decent looking interiors but the quality is horrid. In the 15 or so magnums, chargers, and 300's I've been in the overall fit and finish has been mediocre at best and sometimes downright poor.

 

If GM wants to do well it has to build GOOD cars that are specialized.
Here are the problems I most often here people complain about:

1) Bland exterior styling
2) Crappy interiors
3) Bad reliability (this, as we know, is more of a carry on from the old days.. but is still part of public perception).

The main thing is, GM has to make cars that it wants to stand out for it to change its perception. Seems like GM likes to make cars that are OKAY.... okay doesnt get the higher end customers.

 

I hate the new K-chassis Chrysler interiors... they look like they all look very similar and look like they came out of the Dodge Ram! (which is fine for a truck but not for a car!)

GM's GMT-800 Tahoe/Escalade/etc interior looked and felt cheap as hell (painted hollow plastic dash? come on!) but I must say my father in law's 04 Tahoe LT has far fewer squeeks and rattles than their 03 Expedition EB (which is less than 2 weeks away from being replaced by the Toyota Seqoia they have had on order). So the Expedition's interior, to me, looks nicer, but has not held up as well.

The GMT-900s seem to be poised to change that; they not only look nicer but will probably still hold up better than the Expedition. Then again I think Ford's only a year or two away from redesigning the Expedition again, aren't they?

 

What?

What does power or lack ther of have to do with quality?

The motor has been pretty good, we had one problem with the car, an ignition module that went bad. Thats it, no other problems at all and for 100k miles thats great if you ask me. The module was 82 bucks and it took me about an hour to put it in. Not bad for 10 years of ownership. The engine and 5 speed manual are still going strong, the only disappointment I have with the car is the gas mileage which is about 23 or 24 on the hwy.

 

My first car was an '89 Grand Am. What a pile of sh*t.

I personally have lost faith in GM and won't be buying from them again unless they really turn things around. I must also admit that I've been impressed with Chrysler in the last couple of years.

 

Honda has been losing market share the last year. Toyota is the company that is kicking the most *** lately. Nissan continuers to have excellent profits also.

GM definately needs a big warranty to draw back scared consumers who got a total GM terd in the past. Their interiors are still not up to par, but I really do like a few of the new cars coming out from GM. I wish they went more crazy with the styling liek Chrysler did, and damn was it the right thing to do!!..... and better interiors even though there is an improvement lately. Their new SUV's are too wierd looking and too much like the previous versions. But the interiors look pretty damh good from the pics.

 

Thats exactly right...

In the 10 or 11 magnums, chargers and 300's I have been in/looked at 4 or 5 of them had loose fitting parts on the dash. It was ridiculous