quote:Let me tell you a story of three guys and three trucks.
My one friend bought an f250 diesel manual trans. He bought it new from a dealer his brother worked at. Before 50k he had to replace:
Turbo 3 times
Brakes and lines (cracked calipers)
Ecu
Two gears in the tranny
And all the usual service items.
A second buddy bought a gmc diesel 2500. Before 100k he had to replace:
Stearing rack. and it was admitted that the dealer screwed it up putting it on a lift.
A third bought a ram 2500 gas powered. He had no major failures but had to replace the truck with a Honda civic as the damn thing ate him out of house and home. It was the cheapest feeling of all the trucks and lots of little shit went wrong but nothing major.
I bought my F-250 new in 2004 - 5.4L gasoline 6spd 2wd Crew cab. 6yrs later, 80,000mi, I am just now doing brakes. Truck has
never been in for service, other than routine maintenance (oil change, front end alignment). It was making a throwout bearing noise for a while, but that has disappeared recently. I traded in my 1990 Ranger (2.9 5spd) for it, after 7yrs, w/180,000mi on the odometer - only because I couldn't get 3 kids on the cab... and it was literally falling apart due to rust.
Lest you think me a shill for Detroit... we replaced my ex-wife's 1992 Saturn after 180,000mi, with a brand new 2000 Saturn. The first had been so trouble free over 8yrs, we didn't even look at anything else. Just went straight to the Saturn dealer.
Biggest piece of crap I ever owned or drove, and dealership experience was a
nightmare. Yeah, they had the fixed pricing first, and touted the "different" nature of the company... blah, blah, blah. Body panels never fit properly, things broke, fast interior wear, rattly, squeaky, etc, since day one.
American cars tend to be painted with a broad brush, as severely inferior to foreign products. I've loved all my Fords, and 50/50 GM-wise.
We probably get more industry news than most of you, but the most insightful thing I ever read about the industry, is that American car makers haven't yet figured out that cars have become a mere commodity. They're not the status symbol they were in the 50s/60s. They have yet to grasp the idea that
anyone can make a quality product, and after 100+ years, the technology is so familiar to the end user... people just want their fucking cars to get them from here to there without any trouble.
I just want them all to get their shit together and start selling lots of product. 14% unemployment rate is playing havoc with job & housing market here.