should i buy some GM stock

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

GM will get a limited bailout. You mark my words, the Obamathon gravy train is about to start rolln' on thru - FIRST STOP....Detroit.

I will be so pissed. GM has treated my family well, but I honestly wouldn't mind seeing all of the big 3 fail in the mistakes they have made.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Ya know, a secondary irony of that bailout was that Chrysler came up with the "minivan" after the bailout which saved its *** for years. I find it funny now that the same mechanism that saved the company then is whats killing them now. No one wants to buy a gas guzzling SUV, Minivan, or anything else that doesnt get 30 mpg.

Wasn't just the minivan. The K series of affordable cars did it too. Iaccoca saved their *** not the gov.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Why should they not bailout GM when they are bailing out the banks? Especially when the GM bailout pales in comparison to the financial bailout.

They shouldn't have bailed out the banks either. Ido agree in one way with you though. If you are gonna bail out one, bail them all out. This includes the asshats homeowners.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Dodge Omni....
what a POS.

Yes, but the whole series was cheap affordable cars with decent gas mileage and acceptable quality in a time where we were recovering from gas crunches and the japanese invasion.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Do I care what Joe Blow down the street thinks about his Cobalt? Do I care that he thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread? That he ranked it 100% and 11/10 in every category because it's the best car ever? No, I don't.
Do Timex owners understand why people purchase Rolex's?

Will a Taurus owner be able to grasp someone spending $300K on a Phantom?

Of course I'm refering to comparisions when mentioning quality... What do you determine to be quality if you have nothing to compare to? The magazines are doing what every smart consumer should do - comparing the competition.

And as I mentioned, the commuter vehicles, the bread and butter vehicles, are typically failing.

As far as driving by and stopping at the Tech Center - excuse me for not clarifying, I was unaware we would be dissecting my wording here. Would you like to know for how long I was in the parking lot, scoping the scene? An approximation of how many foreign cars to how many domestic?

WTF

You mention timex to rolex comparison then why are we talking about GM and Toyota?

Then you should compare GM to Rolls Royce, but that would turn you into a bigger asshat.

 

[04silverz 10+ year member]

I could see GM being merged with a foreign compeitor like Nissan.

wasnt this talked about a couple years ago as a possibility? or did they just collaborate on a project together?

Job losses are soaring, the stock market is sinking, consumer confidence is going down, the retail industry is taking a hit, so yea it's newsworthy. Besides reading your posts is almost as bad as reading SethPhillips.

nver said things werent bad in america right now. all im saying is the media is fanning the flames.

if youre so tired of reading my posts, gtfo of my thread and go back to your union job.....oh wait...they fired your ghey as$

 

[04silverz 10+ year member]

Ford had some of the best quality ratings the past year. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

says who? the latest edition of car and driver? jd power? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[97gp 5,000+ posts]

Im not reading all of this shit but if anyone is interested in buying stock consult pvaudio first. Im sure this was already said a couple times in here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

says who? the latest edition of car and driver? jd power? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

You're right. We should only trust what your friends say //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[Lugnutz 10+ year member]

wasnt this talked about a couple years ago as a possibility? or did they just collaborate on a project together?


nver said things werent bad in america right now. all im saying is the media is fanning the flames.

if youre so tired of reading my posts, gtfo of my thread and go back to your union job.....oh wait...they fired your ghey as$

I never was technically in the union because they hired people for the change over and let them go before they entered the union.

You're right. We should only trust what your friends say //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Don't you know everyone has a buddy who at one point or another has owned, experienced, used anything and everything? That out ranks respected and trusted publications. I mean I have a buddy who owns a foreign car and says it's a piece of shit.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

I never was technically in the union because they hired people for the change over and let them go before they entered the union.


Don't you know everyone has a buddy who at one point or another has owned, experienced, used anything and everything? That out ranks respected and trusted publications. I mean I have a buddy who owns a foreign car and says it's a piece of shit.

my bad. I keep forgettoing evertone with a plyskool steering wheel is anexpert.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

American workers at Toyota make the same as Big 3 workers //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Strange, because the Honda plant dont. I have a friend who works for them and got hired in at 11 dollars an hour and currently making 15 something 3 years later. Hell guys that have been tossing boxes at the Kmart distribution center and have 10 years in make 18 an hour.

Oh really? Because my aunt works for them, and only makes ~$15 an hour....

More places are doing the lower starting rate. My mom worked for Delphi Packard but took the early retirment to keep her health benefits and get 1200 a month instead of the other offer of bringing her back at 10 dollars an hour. I also heard they were topping out at 17 bucks an hour after being there so long. My mom was making 28 dollars an hour and was there for over 10 years.

If you wanna post nonsense, post it somewhere else. As I stated the matter of ugly is preference. It is also completely irrelevant to the discussion. We were having an intelligent conversation.

Don't have a "fit" Chad. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

The Focus is made by Ford but very small. I rode in one a few years back and it was not as "sturdy" feeling as my Civic. There were noticable rattles and creeks. I was not impressed.
The Fusion is nice but it is a Mazda. I have to admit that I do like my friends '08 Fusion SE. It is loaded with leather and all that stuff. He paid around $28k for it. Too expensive for me however.

I drive a '97 Civic. Bought and paid for many years ago and still kicking strong.

Sooner or later I will need to replace it though. When I do, I will be going for max value over brand. I could care less where it was made, if it was made sh!tty. While I would value a US made car over a foreign made car, it is not enough for me to take a "risk" if I felt it was not the same quality.

The US cars that I have liked lately are some of the GM cars like the Malibu and the G6. I am just afraid that the nice design does not equate to a better quality vehicle. I should drive one before I make up my mind though.

I owned a '94 Grand Am at one point and remember driving it off the lot (my first new car) and thinking what a nice car. Then a month later it started falling apart. The alt went within 30 days. The radio was next, then the A/C, and finally the sunroof. I sold that thing within 6 months of owning it. I lost $5k. Never went back to a US car since.

I know plenty about these cars as I test drove both the Civc EX and Civi SI and ended up buying a ST Focus. All of them are really nice and do well, but the EX was slow as balls! SI out of my price range, but was sweet and the ST Focus was a happy medium for me. Faster (Than the EX), but not the same fit and finish. The interiors are nicer in the Civcs, but I can deal with that, but not sure where you get they have a lot more room? Might be a little bigger, but so seldom, you couldn't tell much and I am a big guy at 5-10 255 pounds...........actually I was pushing 300 when I bought the Focus almost 3 years ago. And as far as rattles go, that is fine. My car is quieter now than the SI and way cheaper. 300 dollars of deadener goes a long way, lol!

Also you do realize the Focus is basically the Mazada3 right, just they have a better fit and finish.

It's difficult coming from a car enthusiast board to another non-car board and discussing cars, I automatically assume everyone knows what I'm talking about. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif
Without a doubt American cars are up there with reliability, but unfortunately, reliability alone doesn't always sell cars.

Interiors, interiors, interiors.

Where do you spend almost all of your time? From design to fit and finish, materials, etc, the interiors seem to fall short of the competition.

Subjective looks may be, but there's a reason the new Malibu's are selling at MSRP as opposed to the previous one, which was discounted and rebated to all hell.

Probably right about the interiors for most people as that is a big selling point. Me, I would rather have the driveability and performance rather than all the fancy shit in the interior.

Im not reading all of this shit but if anyone is interested in buying stock consult pvaudio first. Im sure this was already said a couple times in here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

No one even mentioned him.

 

[04silverz 10+ year member]

You're right. We should only trust what your friends say //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

hmmm....should i trust someone i know and deal with everyday....or some douche who has way more money than me and gets paid to make cars look goodin mags? not saying their opinion doesnt matter, and not saying friends opinions are the end all be all. and really to be honest, nowhere did i even metnio my friends. just saying it seems every car commercial has some award or another.

I never was technically in the union because they hired people for the change over and let them go before they entered the union.


Don't you know everyone has a buddy who at one point or another has owned, experienced, used anything and everything? That out ranks respected and trusted publications. I mean I have a buddy who owns a foreign car and says it's a piece of shit.

hmmm...pretty sure you said earlier you were part of a union. local 160 or something or other.

btw something else taht pisses me off. flight attendants taht make more money than the mechanics that fix aircraft. i mean seriously...who has a more important job? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[04silverz 10+ year member]

I never was technically in the union because they hired people for the change over and let them go before they entered the union.


Don't you know everyone has a buddy who at one point or another has owned, experienced, used anything and everything? That out ranks respected and trusted publications. I mean I have a buddy who owns a foreign car and says it's a piece of shit.

actually while on that topic...i was getting a ride back from raleigh airport a couple years ago from a total stranger. he was a marine too and had droped off another marine at the airport and was giving a ride back to where i needed to be through the uso. anywya, he had a trailblazer and hated it. kept talking about the poor quality and customer service he had had while trying to get various things fixed. could totally sway a perosn one way or another. yet i ahve never had any major problems with gm vehicles and when i have, dealer has been great. so yeah peoples opinoins could be good, but everyones situaion is different. when my 350z needed a recall done, the as$hole dealer put my whole rear end of the car together wrong. cuold have turned me off to nissan, but i know nissan isnt at fault. also the Z looks just as cheap on the isnide as domestic cars do

 

[funkyab 10+ year member]

actually while on that topic...i was getting a ride back from raleigh airport a couple years ago from a total stranger. he was a marine too and had droped off another marine at the airport and was giving a ride back to where i needed to be through the uso. anywya, he had a trailblazer and hated it. kept talking about the poor quality and customer service he had had while trying to get various things fixed. could totally sway a perosn one way or another. yet i ahve never had any major problems with gm vehicles and when i have, dealer has been great. so yeah peoples opinoins could be good, but everyones situaion is different. when my 350z needed a recall done, the as$hole dealer put my whole rear end of the car together wrong. cuold have turned me off to nissan, but i know nissan isnt at fault. also the Z looks just as cheap on the isnide as domestic cars do

Build quality of north european cars are incredibly superior. it is simply due to engineering and more specifically the tolerances allowed in the manufacturing process.

expensive as hell to fix here. i must admit.

i can compare from a more than average point of view, and this may seem silly.

While living in sweden for 6 years i had a couple of cars. First was a '90 BMW.

aside from this i had a 1996 Ford Mondeo. JEEZE!!! it was sooo expensive to fix but i was relatively happy with it. Most of my friends asked me "why the hell would you drive a shitty car like a ford that is so expensive to fix when you could get a saab, volvo, or bmw??

when i moved back to the states 6 months ago, I bought a 2005 Saab 93 linear turbo.. One of the nicest cars i have ever driven much less owned.

friends here,,, why would you drive a car that the parts are so expensive for..

Big difference between the day to day cars here and those made in northern europe is extreme attention to detail and overall engineering quality.

granted,, cars like toyota have a better average of lower cost of ownership, especially regarding maintence, they are just not as fun to drive..

I would always be willing to pay a bit more in the long run, even if the original purchase price is the same for a car that i actually have fun driving and feel proud to own, versus buying some for completely utilitarian reasons.