rgreat76

I try to stay out of the discussions on the forums when it comes to political or economical discussions because, simply, if you don't know what your talking about, it's good to keep quiet. This is just my perspective of things. It seems like GM (and Ford, Chrysler) has been taking alot of heat for years for doing the right thing.

Ever since I was a kid, the auto industry was a dream job. My uncle lives in Iona, MI and worked for GM from the time he came out of college. He retired from the Grand Am/Alera plant. He always had good things to say about how he was treated. The "American Dream", good paying job, good benefits, health insurance, and retirement. GM provided that to him. Now, they get criticized for it. I don't understand. If they didn't provide a good benefits and such, they would still get the same criticism.

I get tired of hearing that GM should build what people want. People wanted SUV's and trucks. GM built them. We need them.

All GM vehicles are gas guzzlers. GM builds cars with better MPG ratings than Toyota and Honda.

5 years ago my wife needed an AWD vehicle to drive. She wanted a 4 door sedan. We bought a Subaru Legacy AWD. I was happy because it was built in Indiana. We get smarter as we get older. Hind site, wish I had bought a domestic. At that time, this is what we needed. I'm not sure there was any AWD domestic 4 door sedans out there at the time. I could be wrong. None the less, we still have the car and it has treated us well. When it is replaced, I now have better choices. It's funny, I feel bad about having the car sometimes because I'm suppose to practice what I preach. Anytime someone I know is looking at buying an Accord or Camry, I tell them, go look at the Malibu or Fusion first. Maybe a Charger. I am glad that I have 3 Camaro's and my Dodge Ram (it was a toss up between it and a Silverado but Dodge was throwing away money that year with rebates).

My last gripe for the day, is when I hear, domestic cars don't last. I don't know how it is in other areas of the country, but here, if you see a vehicle on the road that is more than 15 years old, its domestic. Last couple of weeks traveling to and from work, I've watched the types of cars I've passed. I'm proud to say, at least here, domestics still out number the foreign makes. The sad thing though is, at my son's school, the teacher's parking lot is full of Toyota's and Honda's. My office is seeing a BMW takeover. I guess if your an architect, you have to have a BEAMER. Oh well.

I think back about Pearl Harbor and that time period when a person would do what ever it took, to protect there country and family. It's sad but I think that way of life is slowly fading from our society. There is so much disrespect in the world today. I compare what is happening today as an Economic Pearl Harbor Attack. The only problem is alot of people have forgot what side their own. Sad.

Thanks for listening.

ckt101

You're right, it was a dream job. But for too many of the workers and their union bosses, it was never enough. Every chance they got, they put a gun to GM's head and said 'WE WANT MORE!". It is only now when the ship is almost sunk, that they are backing off and trying to save their dream jobs.

HuJass

Very true.

Couple that with a selfishness and a self-centered-ness that's permeated society (and I'm not talking about UAW members), one can see the road we're heading down.

SCNGENNFTHGEN

Good read rgreat76! It's like back then, people where proud to love their country, now they're proud to hate it! I have said a long time ago, certain people were out to bankrupt the country.....Don't look now, but I hate to say I told yall so....

super83Z

I remember years ago on this site I would read how us gearheads who love cars and RWD and V-8's were a dying breed, now it seems like those of us who love this country and what it stands for are a dying breed.

Dan Daly

I love GM cars and my family has owned nothing but GM cars, save for one time out of the last 30+ years, but these micro examples are getting tiresome. The numbers don't lie. We can sit here all day giving examples of Sunfires with 200k miles on them and anecdotes about seeing a Civic on the side of the road, but in the end, the numbers don't lie. Just because some some of us decide to look at the facts and the macro statistics (versus the micro), doesn't mean we don't love our country or don't love GM. But I'm a rational person and the numbers are what they are. Living in some sort of dream world isn't going undo what GM or any of the other Big 3 did to themselves over the last 25 years. Facts are facts.

patriotpa

Two short sentences:

H8 rice.

LOVE GM.

SCNGENNFTHGEN

Sad, sad days...and to Dan's reply, I'd have to say, numbers may NOT lie, but people sure do!

Dan Daly

Uhhhh what? That's hardly an intelligent rebuttal.

super83Z

Everything is open to interpretation. In another thread someone pointed out how GM extending the warranty on the 03-04 Saturn Vue was proof that GM knew it was a POS and thats why GM is in the situation it is in. Yet Toyota "live up to their commitment" on the Tacoma and they are viewed as the golden children of the auto world. No matter what GM does they can't do it right in the publics eye.

SCNGENNFTHGEN

Where do you get your #'s? Likely it was people, who made this list of....numbers....!

Eric Bryant

Dan, you gotta admit he's got you with that one!



I'm pretty sure we've just observed a textbook example of "impenetrable logic". It causes the mental equivalent of clutch slippage - heat, smoke, bad odor, and a whole lot of noise but little forward motion.

SCNGENNFTHGEN

And that right there, is the sad part!! It doesn't matter what they do, it'll never be right in the eyes of the public...It's irresponsible journalism like this, IMO that IS largely responsible! The people I deal with, much like this idiot, don't have a clue about cars or GM for that matter, and yet they continue to spew out much of the same crap!!

Dan Daly

Yeah, I'm getting quite tired of these threads!!! It's the same thing over and over!!! People who think with their heads, and people who think with their emotions!!!

97QuasarBlue3.8

I tend to disagree with your perspective. There is a reason why American automakers are in serious trouble and it's not because "woe is GM/Ford/Chrysler" and the American people are turning unpatriotic because they're buying foreign cars. You're presenting two very different issues, and only one has to do with cars. So let's keep on topic. The American automakers are failing because of their product lines and overall quality.

People on this board will argue until they're cyanotic about how long American cars last. There's no arguing that they can last. They do.

As American consumers, we vote with our dollars for the products and services we want. It's clear to see how many people are voting these days.

So, to that I say, let it rest. Americans as consumers are smart and there's a growing population that's tired of American crap. Foreign makers have pretty good reliability, better warranty programs, and better dealer services. American automakers have been lagging for years, and when faced to choose between a product that pleases and a product that does not please, the consumers have been speaking. And the American automakers chose not to listen.


You guys are a match made in heaven! It's consumerism, not patriotism. If you want to be patriotic, go fight a war and spend even more money on countries that aren't ours. Better yet, go buy a huge house you can't afford, or go pump some Arabian gas into your huge gas guzzling American SUV. That'll help us all out

This won't be the first time an American car company has failed financially. Anyone remember AMC? Delorean?

Fact is, when Buick is the best selling passenger car in China, and many "domestic" cars are built in Canada and many "foreign" cars are built in the United States ...it would be wise for all of us to undo the rectal-cranial inversion regarding placing "American" car companies in their own sad little silo. It's global now...it's not "us versus them". It's about making products that people clamor for, and in the end, our own American consumers have voted "no" to the stuff American car makers are selling in our own country.



I mean, how often do you see a Korean flag sticker on the bumper of a Kia? Chances are the guy/gal driving it wanted a cheap, reliable car with a warranty. That same person probably couldn't give a **** less about Korea or supporting the Korean economy. I don't put a German flag on my GTI... It's not about nationalism. Simply stated, I and many others buy what we WANT--because we feel it's the right choice and that our money is going to have the greatest return on those choices. If GM/Ford/Chrysler wants a part of that then they're going to have to try harder.

If you must bring your arguments back to patriotism, then to that I say: Americans have a history of being unpatriotic. Why didn't we just stay in Europe 200 some odd years ago? Yeah, we were tired of the same old thing for centuries. Given the chance to have something great and new, and potentially better, or stick with the same old problems...meh...American consumers have started a revolution and if our own manufacturers want to remain in "super-power" status, they're going to have to offer something worth trading for (i.e. better than what other markets are giving us).