I'd like to give GM a shot as well. I've been sort of waffling lately. Caught between my desire to own a vehicle I want, or buying American under some pressured obligation.
Vehicles are too important to just roll the dice on. I'm not a daily commuter, I do a lot of traveling. Most of the time, the wife and 16 month old baby girl come along. I'm not going to take a leap of faith and go buy a used GM, or Ford, or Dodge, with 70k+ miles on it then pack the family in it for a 4,000 mile trip and hope everything goes ok. I don't care how many shining examples people can pull out of domestics with 200,000+ miles on them. I've seen a few first hand myself. One friend with an early 80's Mercury Grand Marquis with over 220,000 miles on it, last I heard. Another with a mid 80's Pontiac Trans Am pushing 200,000 miles right now. I have no doubt that they produce a high enough volume of cars for some of them to be highly reliable and go on forever.
I have a few American cars that I'd like. The HHR, Fusion, Magnum, Charger, possibly a Ford or Chevy pickup when the time comes to own one. Problem is, a lot of it has to do with priciple. Why do I want to deliberately support these companies other than the fact that they're American? A lot of their cars are assembled in Mexico. They constantly leave their cars out on the market for years and years, getting destroyed by the ever-evolving competition. Sometimes, they just pack up and leave the segment for a while and focus their attention somewhere, possibly leaving me out in the cold when the time comes to buy. They rarely try to rush out and cut off the competition with something great, they aim low. (Until very recently it seems. Some newer domestics are better.) But the Cobalt? I wouldn't give it a second look. I would go straight to a base model Civic or Corolla. Better build, better fuel economy, not a lot more expensive when you're talking base model comparisons. With the family growing, I may want a mini van next. Like I'd be caught dead looking at an American mini van. First stop would be a Toyota or Honda dealership.
It seems like these companies aren't even that concerned with actually getting or keeping any customers, just making the bottom line. Now, as the ship is already sinking, they start desperate actions to bring in some more people. I can't believe how it took a crisis style "crunch time" to get some nice looking vehicles out of these guys. And it's my duty apparently, so eat up this garbage.
Part of what pisses me off, is the level of hypocracy with some people around here. If I say "SUV's are stupid. You don't need a V8, 4WD, sport utility to drive your family around and occasionally deal with a few inches of snow fall or rain water. Do America a favor and sell it off, and get something more fuel efficient" And I'm sure someone would bite my face off with a reply like "I'll drive whatever the hell I want! It's a free country! If I want to drive you off the road in a Hummer, you can be damn sure I will! Welcome to America, Hitler!"
But if I say, "I think American cars aren't very good, and I'll continue to buy Japanese because I think they're built better, they're generally more solid, reliable, and fuel efficient. I feel like it's a good purchase." I can expect to hear "Good job dooming the American economy! It's people like you who are responsible for the downfall of Ford and GM, and why my great uncles best friends neighbor lost his job. Thanks a lot asshole. Take your Jap crap and get out of the way of my Suburban! LOL"
God bless America. *salute.*
I don't really see how it's my, or anyone elses responsibility to rush out and go buy American cars now, just to help out these sagging, failing companies. Maybe they shouldn't have spent the past 20 or 30 years producing high volume mediocrity, they wouldn't have driven away so many customers. Now they've focused all of their efforts on SUV's and let their cars stagnate and fade. That's great, except I don't want an SUV, or their brand new cars. I'd happily drive off any lot in a 2000 - 2003 Honda or Toyota car. Couldn't say the same for any domestics, except maybe the Vibe. That is unless I was on an incredibly tight budget and had to try to get the absolute best value. In which case I'd probably just look for an older Honda or Toyota with more miles on it.
I hope GM and Ford can turn it around. I would love to own a domestic, and be proud of the purchase, rather than picking it up on the cheap or as a last resort of a car. It would be great to see them hold some ground, start bringing some jobs back, make higher quality cars, and start earning some nice reputations. Start going on the offensive, rather than constantly trying to play up to some perception of "Almost as good! But cheaper!"
Vehicles are too important to just roll the dice on. I'm not a daily commuter, I do a lot of traveling. Most of the time, the wife and 16 month old baby girl come along. I'm not going to take a leap of faith and go buy a used GM, or Ford, or Dodge, with 70k+ miles on it then pack the family in it for a 4,000 mile trip and hope everything goes ok. I don't care how many shining examples people can pull out of domestics with 200,000+ miles on them. I've seen a few first hand myself. One friend with an early 80's Mercury Grand Marquis with over 220,000 miles on it, last I heard. Another with a mid 80's Pontiac Trans Am pushing 200,000 miles right now. I have no doubt that they produce a high enough volume of cars for some of them to be highly reliable and go on forever.
I have a few American cars that I'd like. The HHR, Fusion, Magnum, Charger, possibly a Ford or Chevy pickup when the time comes to own one. Problem is, a lot of it has to do with priciple. Why do I want to deliberately support these companies other than the fact that they're American? A lot of their cars are assembled in Mexico. They constantly leave their cars out on the market for years and years, getting destroyed by the ever-evolving competition. Sometimes, they just pack up and leave the segment for a while and focus their attention somewhere, possibly leaving me out in the cold when the time comes to buy. They rarely try to rush out and cut off the competition with something great, they aim low. (Until very recently it seems. Some newer domestics are better.) But the Cobalt? I wouldn't give it a second look. I would go straight to a base model Civic or Corolla. Better build, better fuel economy, not a lot more expensive when you're talking base model comparisons. With the family growing, I may want a mini van next. Like I'd be caught dead looking at an American mini van. First stop would be a Toyota or Honda dealership.
It seems like these companies aren't even that concerned with actually getting or keeping any customers, just making the bottom line. Now, as the ship is already sinking, they start desperate actions to bring in some more people. I can't believe how it took a crisis style "crunch time" to get some nice looking vehicles out of these guys. And it's my duty apparently, so eat up this garbage.
Part of what pisses me off, is the level of hypocracy with some people around here. If I say "SUV's are stupid. You don't need a V8, 4WD, sport utility to drive your family around and occasionally deal with a few inches of snow fall or rain water. Do America a favor and sell it off, and get something more fuel efficient" And I'm sure someone would bite my face off with a reply like "I'll drive whatever the hell I want! It's a free country! If I want to drive you off the road in a Hummer, you can be damn sure I will! Welcome to America, Hitler!"
But if I say, "I think American cars aren't very good, and I'll continue to buy Japanese because I think they're built better, they're generally more solid, reliable, and fuel efficient. I feel like it's a good purchase." I can expect to hear "Good job dooming the American economy! It's people like you who are responsible for the downfall of Ford and GM, and why my great uncles best friends neighbor lost his job. Thanks a lot asshole. Take your Jap crap and get out of the way of my Suburban! LOL"
God bless America. *salute.*
I don't really see how it's my, or anyone elses responsibility to rush out and go buy American cars now, just to help out these sagging, failing companies. Maybe they shouldn't have spent the past 20 or 30 years producing high volume mediocrity, they wouldn't have driven away so many customers. Now they've focused all of their efforts on SUV's and let their cars stagnate and fade. That's great, except I don't want an SUV, or their brand new cars. I'd happily drive off any lot in a 2000 - 2003 Honda or Toyota car. Couldn't say the same for any domestics, except maybe the Vibe. That is unless I was on an incredibly tight budget and had to try to get the absolute best value. In which case I'd probably just look for an older Honda or Toyota with more miles on it.
I hope GM and Ford can turn it around. I would love to own a domestic, and be proud of the purchase, rather than picking it up on the cheap or as a last resort of a car. It would be great to see them hold some ground, start bringing some jobs back, make higher quality cars, and start earning some nice reputations. Start going on the offensive, rather than constantly trying to play up to some perception of "Almost as good! But cheaper!"