PacerX,

Great answer.....very informative!

Explain also, why I see some panels with a cancer out in the field of the area and not in a typical spot, like a bottom edge, etc... is it due to impurities?

Do the imports use dip galvanizing or some other over-all rust inhibitor?

The pictures of the Mazda and the Evo appear to be cars without any primer or rust inhibitor what so ever..

 

I just built a V6 Mazda 6 on Edmunds website. Fully loaded with leather, power seats, homelink, bose audio, moonroof, and the 5 speed sport automatic transmission the price was $25,330 before destination. Assume we drop the leather($1500), moonroof(700), bose audio(600) and the homelink(250).thats $3000 off of $25330. So we are at $22330/60 months the payments drop to $372 per month for a comparable Mazda 6 V6. That is a savings of $95 per month. You can save another $900 and get the 5 speed manual(an option not offered by Pontiac). That pushes your savings to over $110/month on the Mazda 6 V6.

Bigger is not always better as some people dont want a car the size of the Grand Prix, which also adds to weight. The GTP weighs close to 400lbs more than the 6 which comes close to voiding the hp advantage of the Grand Prix.

The 6 has side impact airbags which the GP does not. The 6 also a 4 yr/50,000 mile warranty vs a 3/36k for the GP. One more thing, the 6 also has automatic climate control which again, the GP does not. So, when comparing similiar vehicles, I can see why someone would choose the Mazda 6 for app. $100 less per month. Oh, two more things..the 5 speed auto in the 6 is a manually shiftable auto plus the 6 has rear seat heater ducts.

Also, Pontiac does not hand out 0% to everybody that walks in. You have to have pretty good credit to get 0% through anybody.

 

This is not true.

Click here:

http://www.pontiac.com/grandprix/ind...?source=hmlnav

and click on the "Designed to be the safest Grand Prix Ever button."

 

ok, oops, I was going by what the Edmunds site had using the compare features feature

 

Pffft...

I went MSRP for a reason. Edmunds can claim whatever they want to claim, but the fact of the matter is that you have to go in and make the deal.

Secondly, Mazda 6 vs. Grand Prix GTP in an acceleration contest? My money is on the GTP. Give me 30 minutes and $80 and I'll make it really ugly.

Bigger, faster, safer.... and it doesn't seem to rust...

 

Personally, the only v6 coupe i'd bother spending near 30g's on would be the Infiniti G35.

Both the GTP and mazda6 seem to be good values too.

 

Most likely one of the following:

1) Damaged paint.

2) Poor adhesion of the electrogalvanization/e-coat.

3) A corrosion problem that existed before the panel was plated and painted.


I thought so. But they generally use poorer grade steels and tools. The tools are a significant part of the issue.


[/B][/QUOTE] The pictures of the Mazda and the Evo appear to be cars without any primer or rust inhibitor what so ever.. [/B][/QUOTE]

Oh my...

 

Those were msrp prices, I didnt list what Edmunds suggests you pay.......i can screen capture if you wish

Also, I know a GP can be made to be alot faster...but ya know what...my wife and many other wives could care less...lol

I'm not knocking the GP, I like it. I just think the 6 has alot going for it.

 

How can you tell if the car has a rust inhibitor applied? Ya know, besides the rust...lol

 

Theres that awesome foreign car quality that everyone must be talking about

 

Dang, I can't believe this issue is on a Camaro forum. I found this site linked from a Mazda site. I have a Mazda6i and I have light rust on my doors. It sucks.

Anyway, I had to comment on all of the remarks about "foreign" cars.

As some of you probably already know, the Mazda6 is built in Flat Rock Michigan at Auto Alliance International, a factory co-owned with Ford. I doubt Mazda ships steel to the Flat Rock plant from Japan, so "cheap Japanese steel" is not the issue.

Speaking of "foreign" cars, do any of you remember the Chevy ads for the Camaro that said something like "From the country that brought you Rock & Roll.......the Chevrolet Camaro...."

Weird, I didn't know Canada brought us Rock & Roll. They brought us Bryan Adams and the Camaro, but Rock & Roll?

Keep up the cool forum.....I'm a Mustang guy, but I like Camaros too, I hope GM finds a way to bring it back.

 

You doubt Mazda ships steel in? Really, because Bob Lutz says differently. Well your wrong, and I don’t know what the 4th Gen being built at St. Therese had anything to do with foreign poor build quality.

Read this from a recent interview with Mr. Lutz.


Why do you think the Japanese continue to gain market share in the U.S.? Is it simply product-related or does it go beyond that?
Part of it is, of course, exchange rates. Adjusted for costs in the respective countries, the yen is just too weak. And considering the cost of doing business in the United States in U.S. dollars, the Japanese still have a cost advantage of three to four thousand dollars per vehicle, which they can either use to pricing advantage or margin advantage or putting more equipment into a car at a given price. And it doesn't matter whether they produce the cars in the U.S. or not, because a lot of the content is still imported. People say, "Well, Toyotas are built in the United States now." Yes, many are assembled in the United States, many are not assembled in the United States,and even the ones that are assembled in the U.S. contain a high percentage of Japanese or other offshore parts. The exchange rate issue is real. The other thing is, I don't think there is a real, measurable quality difference anymore. If you look at J.D. Power ranking by make — by nameplate — as opposed to by corporation, Toyota is actually now in ninth place. And Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac are ahead of Toyota. It's only when you lump Lexus and Toyota together that Toyota barely squeaks out a first-place position — a little known fact, by the way. So the reality is we've closed the quality gap but the lag in customer perception is still huge. The average person still believes that the Japanese cars' quality and reliability is head-and-shoulders above General Motors, and it simply is no longer the case.

 

Can't expect them to last forever!

 

Actually, according to my window sticker, my car has 50% US/Canadian content and about 25% Japanese content. The rest came from Mexico. The transmission came from Japan and I'm assuming that it counts for much of the 25% Japanese content. If all of the sheetmetal was shipped from Japan, the Japanese content listed on the window sticker would be much more than 25%. Considering NAFTA and the fact that domestic companies are moving a lot of production to Mexico, the whole "domestic" and "foreign" thing is kinda blurred. Buying "domestic" just because it's "domestic" doesn't make a whole lot of sense anymore. Considering how domestic companies are moving a lot of production out of the United States, it seems a little foolish to buy a domestic because it's the patriotic, flag waving thing to do. Moving production to Mexico or Canada certainly isn't very patriotic if you ask me, and besides, my Mazda6 was made in a Union factory by a company that is controlled by Ford. The American workers who made my car are contributing to the local and federal tax base......Canadian and Mexican workers do not.

 

and just to shoot another hole in the "cheap Japanese steel" theory, the Japanese-made Mazda6 that is shipped everywhere but North America does not have this rust problem.