One Wicked SVT said:
Dude, its true.
GM's are total CRAP, rated JUNK, along with FORD's.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK AROUND AND NOTICE THAT ALMOST EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD HAS A PROBLEM WITH THEIR CAR!
Make a tally and ADD UP the MY CAR DOESNT RUN/BROKEN vs the IM SO HAPPY WITH MY CAR threads.
MY CAR DOESNT RUN/BROKEN will win hands down. LOL READ THE 2005 FORUMS! ITS INSANE!
HOW many members are on this site alone?
Lets stroll into the EXPLORERS forum and add theirs in as well.
blah... its not outdated. Until they figure out that they can actually SAVE MONEY by doing things right, then they will be rated at a higher quality other than JUNK.
Personally I love my 'stangs... but my HONDA with 115,000 on the clock runs with ZERO PROBLEMS and has yet to be in a shop for anything other than the routine shocks/struts/brakes/oil.
Not knocking FORD's or anything as I personally love them, im just expressing my view/facts on things.
Theres a reason for the low 3yr/36000 warranty...
Links to the JUNK RATING ARTICLES:
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/cuts6e_20050506.htm
http://www.webpronews.com/business/topbusiness/wpn-54-20050506FordGMNoBetterThanJunk.html
No offense, but your head is so far up your ass you might as well give yourself a self-colonoscopy.
People here were discussing
QUALITY OF CARS.
You bring up articles on Ford and GM's
CREDIT RATING, which anyone with a rudimentary business education knows has nothing to do with the quality of cars themselves, but with how good they are at turning a profit.
A car company could make the best cars in the world, but if they're not meeting market forecasts or improving their bottom line, their
CREDIT RATING is going to be sh***y.
Have you ever thought that the average 94-95 Mustang might be driven a wee bit harder than your 115,000 mile Honda grocery-getter? Or that this message board is devoted to people who think doing an H/C/I swap, power-adder install, and/or bolt-ons on their Mustang is NORMAL, none of which I'm guessing your 115,000 mile Honda grocery-getter has?
But don't take my word when I say that American cars have gotten much better today as far as reliability and quality than, say, the 80s-early 90s.
Here's the 2005 J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Report:
http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=41041&pg=2
For an illustration that a company can do poorly in the spreadsheets but still make some pretty good cars, check out what the article had to say:
"Having said all that, it must be noted that Toyota and General Motors took 15 of the 18 top model segment awards, with the Japanese firm earning 10 and the American firm five."
GM's making some decent vehicles - they just can't make a buck at it for trying.
Scroll down to the bottom of the article and it has, by manufacturer, the # of problems reported in the first 90 days of new car ownership per 100 vehicles.
Lexus tops the list, as it has for a long time now, at 81 problems/100 vehicles. Ford's Jaguar division takes a nice 2nd place at 88 problems, but here's a nice surprise: both Buick and Cadillac beat Toyota, with 100 and 104 problems versus 105 problems with Toyotas.
There's the Japan fan favorite Honda beating the industry average of 118 problems with 112, but right on its heels are GMC and Lincoln at 113 problems apiece - which beats out Acura, with 116 problems.
So let's get to the point - we're discussing getting a new Subaru after all, so how do they fare? Down at the bottom of the list, new Subaru owners reported 138 problems for every 100 vehicles. New Chevy and Ford owners, by the way, only reported 127 problems. Since the original subject was STIs, how did their competitor Mitsubishi do? 129 problems for every 100 vehicles - the same as the much-beat-upon Pontiac brand.
So what, you say, this is an initial quality survey. How do these cars fare after 3-4 years?
Here's JD Power and Associates' 2004 Long-term Dependability Report:
http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0407/04/autos-198392.htm
Problems per 100 vehicles, here are the top 5:
Lexus 162, Buick 187, Infiniti 189, Lincoln 194, Cadillac 196. Three of the five, which must be said, are American brands.
Subaru is at 288 problems. Chevy and Ford are at 262 and 276 problems, respectively. Mitsubishi is near the bottom of the barrel at 327 problems.
In summary, the continued Japanese reputation for superior quality is built on a single company, Toyota/Lexus, who happens to be the Man when it comes to Quality Control in production. Take away the Toyota/Lexus juggernaut, and American brands would on average be faring pretty close to even with their Japanese counterparts on average, and American brands are already doing better than Korean/European brands.
P.S. Oh yeah, do you know which automobile took 3rd Place in JD Power's 2005 Initial Quality Report, Sporty Cars segment? The new 2005 Ford Mustang.
I saw a white one on the road today. It was lowered, and had the angled exhaust 
. I thought this was supposed to be an Mustang Enthusiast forum not a owner self hate forum. If you hate your stang quit your crying. Sell it and go elsewhere. 
