[Bibbi]

I think that the big 3 were too slow on the up-take in terms of what consumers wanted. We were pissed off on how fast GM and Chrysler cars rusted in 3 years at one point. We bought Japanese cars because they lasted longer. My mother had at 70 Mazda for almost 20 years without a spec of rust in Canada. I had a 626 Mazda that lasted 8 years without any large maintenance costs beyond $200 or any rust.

The Volkswagen Beetle made a killing in the 70's because of low gas mileage and a price of $2,000 or less. There was no competition from the big 3 at the time. It took a very long time before GM could even master how to make a reliable automatic transmission on a small car.

Then there was the period where most GM and the foreign manufacturers made small cars. The difference however was that the base GM car included the steering wheel and everything else seemed to be extra. Toyota and the others included all the extras in a better looking, more reliable car at a lower price.

Part of the reason GM got into pick-up trucks and SUVs is that a lot of people got into RVs and travel trailers and they needed good power to tow them. Since they were not pulling travel trailers constantly, they wanted something that drove and looked like a fancy car when they were NOT pulling a trailer. Enter the SUV. It was also promoted as safe under less than ideal conditions because it was more like a truck than a car. What the big 3 did not recognize is that the gas mileage on these trucks/SUVs was too low and they were too slow on improving the situation.
Then with cross-overs they tried to improve the gas mileage but reduced the towing power and therefore their usefullness to a lot of consumers.

The bottom line is that now the big 3 do not have a reliable SUV with good gas mileage and the towing power for a travel trailer for a family of 4 (2 kids). Minivans can barely pull a tent trailer or a boat trailer. Many young families want a small reliable car to take one spouse a longer distance to work, and a larger car to take the other spouse a shorter distance to work, but also to serve as the car to pack up for extensive vacations.

[stemmer]

Axeman Axeman:

Consumers are only to blame in that they've supported these shitty companies for too long. Had consumers demanded better quality, safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles 30 years ago, this may have been a competitive industry. Consumers are to blame for their passive loyalty to domestic shitboxes.

30 years ago the Big Three were far better then anything Datsun, Honda or Toyota had to offer... Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas & Datsun 510 & B210 were rusting hulks after 5 years in NA...

AND NO consumers are not to blame for the demise of the Big Three... Liberal trade policies by North American governments are to blame for they allowed our shores to become the dumping ground from nations that do not hold the human life in the same esteem as North American society does...

It irks me Toyota and others traffic in slave labour from Burma and China to manufacture parts for car parts destined to North America...

Another problem with the Big Three are they are too generous to employees. Look what at an employee at GM, Ford or Mopar earn and their healthcare coverage & benefits... Now compare that to Hyundai or Toyota...

Too many people here buy into the myth that imports are better then domestics... AND then use the argument Toyota is more domestic then a Dodge... So which is it, domestic or import????? Make up your mind...

[mtbr]

it's the fault of Maple Leafs fans who drive Toyotas.

[stemmer]

The only person who played for the Leafs who had any class was Eddie Belfour

http://www.belfour.com/index.php?option ... 4&Itemid=2
http://www.carmancustom.com/

No rice in his garage....

[mtbr]

do they grow rice in Cambridge Ontario?

[stemmer]

Do Toyota owners really know quality or are they easy pry for marketing...???

[poquas]

Our only hope for this crap to end is that Stemmer get rear ended while racing down the highway in his Pinto.

[stemmer]

Ouch... While most teenage boys would haggle over who's hotter Ginger or May-Ann, I'm betting you had your eye on Mrs Howell? Now what did Thurston Howell III call her, Luvy? In one of the funnier episodes of Gilligan Island Thurston quipped ""No one can pull the wool over my eyes. Cashmere maybe, but wool, never."

Those believing Toyota is superior to GM or Ford or Mopar have had the cashmere pulled over their lookers.... and are blinded by rice...

[mtbr]

poquas poquas:

Our only hope for this crap to end is that Stemmer get rear ended while racing down the highway in his Pinto.

or while driving down the highway his airbags deploy.
http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/gm/ ... impala.htm



or even better they don't deploy and he goes through the windshield
http://www.automotix.net/autorepair/rec ... 75-recall/