10 Cars That Sank Detroit

[crokett]

This link was posted over on WN. Good read so I thought I'd post here.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchar...k-detroit.html

Another observation I have is the car manufacturing process. I read somewhere once that GM had 65,000 ways you could buy a given model of one of their cars by the time you figured colors, engine, packages, etc. Honda had 220. Shopping for an Odyssey, I can tell you Honda has 3 trim levels, the same 6-8 exterior colors and the same 2-3 interior colors across all 3. There are only 2-3 option packages for each. This all makes inventory management, manufacturing, etc much simpler.

[cgallery]

I've been amazed at the longevity of Japanese models and the willingness of U.S. manufacturers to walk away from a model.

What about the Fiero? Right after they figured out all the problems, they killed it!

[Hoover]

It is truly sad, instead of listening to the consumers, the big 3 only tried to copy each other. The innovation factor got lost, and blandness prevailed.

[jackellis]

Based solely on what I've read in the business press, I think one important difference between the American and Japanese badges is the Japanese obsessive attention to detail. Another is the availability of fuel-efficient vehicles from Japanese badges that are stylish and fun to drive.

It's entirely possible the reputations of American badges are still suffering from mistakes they made earlier, which only point up how difficult it is to repair one's reputation once it has been damaged.

If the Feds provide loans or other forms of governement-sponsored financial support to the American badges, then the managements have to go. Some have suggested putting Steve Jobs in charge of GM. I think that's a great idea, but probably unrealistic.

[crokett]

Another is the availability of fuel-efficient vehicles from Japanese badges that are stylish and fun to drive.

This is true. My Vibe is a Pontiac that is built by Toyota. Just for grins I test drove a couple other cars. I remember the Chevy Aveo competes with the Toyota Corolla and I can tell you the Corolla has a much nicer fit and finish and is a whole lot more fun to drive. The Aveo seems too little car for the money, the Corolla seems like more for the money.

[herb fellows]

IMHO, the bottom line is that the American manufacturer took the American consumer for granted, and incredibly, they still do! They think they are in the business of business and unfortunately for them, the public thinks they should be in the business of making better cars, not just trying to convince us that they do.

The Japanese have been their competition for over 35 years now, ,and they still can't compete! How is that even possible?!

I'm all for buying American, when they make the effort to produce a quality product. I will not buy American just for the sake of doing it, it only encourages them to continue to produce crap.

[fbrend123]

Just got rid of a '98 Dodge Avenger coupe that I bought new in '99. 207,000 trouble-free miles, and it's still on the road. What a fun car that was to drive! It was built on a Mitsu*****i Galant platform.

Replaced it with a new Chrysler Sebring, which is on crokett's list, and I love it, despite the opinion of a USN&WR hack that probably lives in NYC, and has never owned a car in his life.

I checked our their choices for the 10 cars that would save the industry, and most of them are pipe dreams. Half of them aren't even in production, and the rest, with the exception of the Escalade, aren't big enough to carry a family (how did the Escalade get in there, anyway?).

Don't much care for the rest of USN&WR's endorsements, either.

[crokett]

Replaced it with a new Chrysler Sebring, which is on crokett's list, and I love it, despite the opinion of a USN&WR hack that probably lives in NYC, and has never owned a car in his life.
.

Good luck. My brother's wife's Sebring engine blew last spring. They spent the last 3 months they had it paying it off while it sat in the driveway. A guy on my team at work drives one. He opted to replace the engine after his engine blew last summer.

[fbrend123]

Good luck. My brother's wife's Sebring engine blew last spring. They spent the last 3 months they had it paying it off while it sat in the driveway. A guy on my team at work drives one. He opted to replace the engine after his engine blew last summer.

That's interesting. Haven't heard of any problems. Were they 4 or 6-cyls? Mine is a 4. Same engine as in my LOML's '07 Dodge Caliber.

[germdoc]

For some reason Japanese designers just seem to understand what a driver needs in a car, nothing more, nothing less. American car companies seem to try to convince a driver he should want what's in their cars.

Here's another amusing list of worst cars ever:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/20...658545,00.html

Come to think of it, just about every AMC car made in the 1970's could be on that list.

[Russianwolf]

I've owned 3 New Chrysler products in the last 8 years.

A 2000 Jeep TJ - great vehicle with a bulletproof engine. Totaled by the wife.

A 2001 Jeep XJ - great vehicle with the same bulletproof engine. Daughter sold it when a motor mount broke loose (at 120k miles) and I was 3000 miles away and couldn't fix it. It's still on the road after her friend replaced the mount. She got decent money even with it vibrating like crazy.

A 2002 Doge Ram - GREAT TRUCK. I miss that beast. Sold to get a Saturn Vue so my wife could drive after she totaled the Jeep.

Between the three we logged over 220k miles and the motor mount was the only thing that took one off the road for more than a day. And I could work on ALL of them. Try that with your Toyotas and Hondas.

My wife and I will be looking at new cars soon. The Dodge Caliber or Jeep Patriot are at the top of our list. I know I won't be able to work in the engine like the others, but they are nice cars that are as good as the competition. At some point we will have both a TJ/JK and Ram back in our driveway.

On the flip side, I had a 1989 Honda Civic that the computer had to be replaced to the tune of $2k. And that was in 1995. I had a Mazda RX-7 that the engine seized, at 8 year old. And my buddy's 300zx died on the highway and nearly got him killed. The computer again. And that car was less than a year old.

I did have two Mazda trucks that I loved (this was before they became Ford Ranger Clones)

ALL car companies have cars that aren't right and die. If you want to lay blame on one manufacturer then you have on blinders.

[fbrend123]

Checking out the list of worst cars of all time, I remember with great fondness the Renault Dauphine. Only because I watched some guy roll one over in a parking lot! Some local car club had a mini road rally, and they had a course set up in the lot. Everytime this guy went around a turn, the inside rear wheel would lift up off the ground. Finally went up and never came back down. He wound up on his roof. This was back in '57 or '58. The guy couldn't have been going over 20 MPH when he flipped it!

[dbhost]

What, no AMC Pacer? Sheesh...

I have so far been very happy with my Ford Trucks, but except for a Mustang, you couldn't pay me to take a post 1974 Ford Passenger car. I think even less of GM except for the Saturn line which seem to be decent cars considering they use so much plastic...

I have had LOUSY luck with Nissan and simply won't even look at them again.

I really like the Jeeps I have owned, and have never heard a bad word about Dodge pickups (post 1994 that is) except for there were a couple of years with some pretty bad transmission problems...

I do know Ford is still doing STUPID things in regards to not acknowledging or taking responsibility for their screw ups. The 2003-2005 5.4L 3 valve per cylinder V-8 engine for example can, and often does have the spark plugs break off in the cylinder head. Ford dealers performing the spark plug changes have been trying to make customers pay for this. And the repair is EXPENSIVE... This impacted the F series light trucks, Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, and Lincoln Mark LT.

[Daryl]

I have always thought the auto writers were biased against US autos.
Back in the 60's they bemoaned the fact that US makers didn't follow VW's example and make a tin bucket on wheels and never change the design. Now they bemoan the fact the Cavalier stayed much the same while it was being produced. I owned one back in the 80's and it was a good reliable car. They should take a look at the abuses of the unions in the plants and how they are controlling what rolls off the line.

[Black wallnut]

Is this the same list that Foxnews.com had on their home page today? As i went through the list many were destined to never be top sellers and where not marketed as such! The H2, nothing more than an SUV body pan/ frame and running gear for a whole bunch more money, no wonder in my mind why they did not sell. Several other ones were at the extreme high end of the price range for what our average motorist could afford. The import makers have been mostly doing things right as far as making dependable products with long life spans for fair prices. The big 3 on the other hand make goo vehicles when one is shoping the late model used market.