MapleLeaf Auto Talk...

[Derek 2.0]

I went Japanese long ago purely over quality of the product, a value-for-money/total cost of operation decision.

Can't beat the quality of a Toyota

[overthere]

Can't beat the quality of a Toyota

wouldn't know, I've had Hondas, a couple Nissans , and a Subarus. Maybe just lucky, but no problems of note with any of them and we put on a ton of kms. The Sunaru was a bit hard on gas with the full time all wheel drive

My neighbour has a driveway full of GM and Chev, 3 of them total and none more than 5 years old. I've given him a ride twice to his dealer to pick up repaired vehicles this fall because none were drivable and not surprisingly the dealer shuttle was really busy, too busy to get him. His new Silverado has been in the shop for 3 months out of the 14 he has owned it with engine electric problems, a $50k truck. The funny thing is that he got the truck when his older Caddy had engine electric problems they couldn't fix at the dealer despite a bill for nearly $2k. So he bought the Silverado. Loyalty is a beautiful thing I cannot afford.

[Derek 2.0]

wouldn't know, I've had Hondas, a couple Nissans , and a Subarus. Maybe just lucky, but no problems of note with any of them and we put on a ton of kms. The Sunaru was a bit hard on gas with the full time all wheel drive

Hondas and Nissans, well that's better........I think the myth of superior Japanese (or German) makers is exactly that, as one could go through every maker and find problems, likewise anecdotal tales of the over guys brand being total lemons.......

[Argus]

My last car was a Pontiac Wave, which I bought new, and paid too much for. It did the job, and gave me no problems, which is what I was looking for. My current car is a Hyundai Tuscon Limited, with all the bells and whistles. I bought it new three years ago because cars are not my thing. I wanted reliability, and if it wasn't reliable I wanted someone who had the responsibility to fix it free. It's not an exciting car but I can't say I have any complaints about it. It's done everything I ever asked of it. Three and a half years in I'm starting to get that urge again, though so far I'm resisting. I had a look at the 2016 Tuscon Unlmited, which is nice and has a lot of nifty gizmos, you simply will not find in older cars, but it's so expensive I can buy an Audi Q3 for the same cost. I will probably start casually looking around next year, might look at the Buick Encore, might look at the Audi, might look at something else like the Subaru Crosstrek. They're all in roughly the same price range, and offer some of the same features in small AWD CUV/SUVs.

I look for safety, reliability, and comfort, esp heated seats and steering wheels, comfortable drives, noise reduction, and a good sound system.

[Wilber]

Why? Do you have too much money and need to dispose of some?

I never return to the dealer except to get warranty repairs or recalls, or at least that is the theory. The last two new vehicles our family has bought are both Hondas, with a total of almost 400k kilometers total on the two. The car has had one recall(for a piece of apparently faulty window trim) and no warranty work required. The truck had had zero on both counts.

All maintenance work is done on or ahead of schedule, 95% by myself, and records are kept.

Several reasons. I don't want any debate if a warranty claim is made and being able to show a vehicle was dealer serviced helps a bit on resale or trade.

Of the two vehicles on warranty that I pay to have serviced, one is a diesel pickup and the other is an Audi. Not vehicles your average garage is used to and very expensive to repair if someone screws something up.

As far as reliability goes, the truck has been very good and the Audi perfect so far. In four years, only a problem with the defrosters on the truck which required a new climate control panel and in two and a half years, zero problems since I first drove the Audi off the dealers lot.

[overthere]

Hondas and Nissans, well that's better........I think the myth of superior Japanese (or German) makers is exactly that, as one could go through every maker and find problems, likewise anecdotal tales of the over guys brand being total lemons.......

Fair enough. We base our decisions first on persoanl experience. Your experience with GM has been to reinforce your buying habits. Mine has been the exact opposite. Never again, although the very worst vehicle(in terms of value) I have ever owned was a Ford Taurus, circa mid 90s.

I have owned my own cars for about forty years now, starting with an old VW Beetle bough a month before I could get a drivers license. I graduated to a series of derelicts which forced me to become intimately acquainted with wrecking yards and tools. I still have the tool addiction but I'm much more particular about where I spend my auto budget.

[bush_cheney2004]

Ebay has replaced the junkyard experience, which I kinda miss. Pulling your own parts from donor cars builds character. Even new parts are available online at deep discounts to stealership prices.

People of a certain age know just how much autos have improved in the past 50 years, taking much of the garage "fun" away. Back in the 80's, I refused to pay outrageous dealer replacement parts prices for a Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection system on a '75 Volvo 164E, so I ripped out the new technology and installed a carburetor instead.

[overthere]

Ebay has replaced the junkyard experience, which I kinda miss. Pulling your own parts from donor cars builds character. Even new parts are available online at deep discounts to stealership prices.

People of a certain age know just how much autos have improved in the past 50 years, taking much of the garage "fun" away. Back in the 80's, I refused to pay outrageous dealer replacement parts prices for a Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection system on a '75 Volvo 164E, so I ripped out the new technology and installed a carburetor instead.

I have noticed lately that dealers have had to react to online pressure, they charge much less for those common parts that can be easily gotten elsewhere, but still gouge hard on the many bits that are 'dealer only'. i help out select friends with repairs just because.....

Cars are undoubtedly far more reliable today with less maintenacne, and they also stop much better.

Edited November 29, 2015 by overthere

[Derek 2.0]

Fair enough. We base our decisions first on persoanl experience. Your experience with GM has been to reinforce your buying habits. Mine has been the exact opposite. Never again, although the very worst vehicle(in terms of value) I have ever owned was a Ford Taurus, circa mid 90s.

Without a doubt my own experiences were reinforced with ownership, I learnt do drive (in the late 70s) my father's '64 Chev stepside and my mother's Parisienne...I've since owned several Monte Carlos, Camaros (on my second now), a Trans Am, an LT1 vette, four Chev/GMC trucks, a Blazer, Yukon and an Escalade.....

Of them, the ones I've owned through the 90s (Monte Carlo and Blazer) were nothing but (namely electrical) problems, inversely a '97 Sierra I owned was a great truck that I only replaced with a Duramax a year after they came out, then have since replaced that with my current Duramax...........

Outside of the two lemons from the 90s, the biggest issues were typically minor things like power windows/sunroofs (funny enough my daughter's Sierra and my wife's previous Yukon were within a model year of each other and the same part broke on their windows), and a connector on the seat warmers on the Cadillac (which was fixed under warranty)......

The only two vehicles I've ever owned, with not a single issue, were an '85 Scottsdale big block and the LT1 Corvette........both of which, I now wish I still owned......

[bush_cheney2004]

Without a doubt my own experiences were reinforced with ownership, I learnt do drive (in the late 70s) my father's '64 Chev stepside and my mother's Parisienne...I've since owned several Monte Carlos, Camaros (on my second now), a Trans Am, an LT1 vette, four Chev/GMC trucks, a Blazer, Yukon and an Escalade.....

I think that is called "GM imprinting"....others got "Ford" or "Mopar". It's a lifelong loyalty that is not easily changed.

[Wilber]

I guess if I have any bias toward a North American brand it would be MOPAR. This comes from the sixties when the HEMI powered cars ruled NASCAR and the original funny cars built by Ramchargers etc ruled the drag strips. They were also the smallest of the big three and I tend toward underdogs. Oddly enough I have owned only four of their products and only one was a daily driver, the other three were pickups and a collector car I restored.

I learned to drive on a 1954 Hilman Minx of my mothers and owned one myself later on. The first car I bought on my own was a 52 Chev and later on I had an older 79 Chev 3/4T to haul my daughters horses. Those two GM's and the four Chrysler products are the only NA cars I have owned.

Other than that I have owned Austins, including two late sixties Austin Mini Coopers which were by far the best fun bang for the buck of any cars I have owned. In 71, we took one of them down Hwy 101 all the way to LA and back. Hardly anyone in the US new what it was or how quick it was in the twisties on the coast road. Had a ball but was hard of hearing and a sore back by the time we got home, Only spent about $50 on 35 cent a gallon premium for the whole trip. I put an Abarth exhaust on the thing and it turned about 4000 RPM a 60 MPH. Loud. The only car I have owned that hit peak power, redline and top speed all within about 300 rpm of each other. Geared to go.

Since then there have been VW's, Fiat's, Peugeots, Nissans and now an Audi.

I have enjoyed them all for different reasons but many of them were back in the day when you could fix them yourself when they broke. Parts were relatively cheap and the vehicles were simple. Buy a shop manual and you were good to go. That is no longer an option with newer vehicles so they have to be reliable.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Wilber