16 November 2008, 10:24 am
Ford, GM and Chrysler. And the desire of the Democrats to bail them out. AGAIN! Did they not learn after giving Lee Iaccoca 1.5 billion in loans in 1979, and it still did no good? I put this in politics because of this article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081116/ap_on_go_co/auto_bailout Just to get things started. Mine are that they are basically a dinosaur. They're stuck in the early decades of the 20th century with the UAW still being involved. Something I feel that has led to such high costs of outlandish wages and benefits and resulting in low quality products. If you look at the worst ten auto's for 2008, all are American made, and Chrysler really topped the list with 7 or 8 of them. I've owned several cars in my life time, a few being Ford and GM products. Just with those experiences alone, I refuse to even consider a GM or Ford car anymore. Today I own a Hyundai Santa Fe, made in Montgomery Alabama. It has around 125K miles on it still with no problems. Just regular routine maintenance. My wife owns a Chevy Monte Carlo SS with 60K. She's putting it in the shop almost every two months and spending $500 to a $1000 each time, seriously considering getting rid of it and buying a Honda Odyssey. Lets just say if they did fail, and closed all production. Would the workers be willing to let companies like Honda or Toyota come in, retool, and give them good paying jobs without the UAW being involved? Because if they weren't willing to not let the UAW back in, Toyota, Honda or even Hyundai probably wouldn't even consider these areas. Joshua Chrysler did repay the loans. At .30 to the dollar. Costing the U.S. taxpayers millions. And Chrysler is not doing great. They're in talks with GM to keep from folding over completely. stumped: In no way was I trying to downgrade the quality of the workers. I was trying to point out, would they be willing to take a job paying a little less with Honda or Toyota and getting rid of the UAW. But I do disagree with your "design" philosophy. I've yet to see an American made care go past 50K miles without needing major parts replaced. Alternators, starters, water pumps etc. My Mom had a GM made Oldsmobile that blew a head gasket at 40K miles. I have seen many Honda's and Toyota's go over 300K without failure. Not needing any major component replacement until they hit 150K miles. That isn't design issues. That's because the Big Three are entrenched in the UAW, and have to cut costs in quality. The Foreign auto makers don't have the UAW to worry about, so they can invest in higher quality. Have you been in a Chevrolet or Ford lately? They have the feel of a mobile home.... Read More »
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