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Posted by Samurai
after seeing firsthand what goes in and out of the average Chevrolet dealership, I'd have to say that GM has got their quality on the right track. It seems to be the trucks that are suffering weirdness. The Malibu has been a success, the Cobalt seems to be tight, the Equinox seems to be tight, the Impala soldiers on, but still sells... Maybe Bandi has some input on this as he WORKS at a GM dealer.
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Well, GM has some solid cars, but Corvette has solid cars, and is in touch with their customers. The rest of GM? Not so much. They're trying to compete with the import market of cars that are less exciting than appliances. The Impala, Malibu, etc... All "good" cars, but very boring.
Corvette makes a reliable car that also happens to be incredibly fun to drive, not bad to look at, and easy to modify and extract more power from. All at an affordable pricetag.
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Full size trucks have been great as of lately, we're selling piles of them. There's a recall out for removing the chunk of carpet insulation about the airbag module because it can retain moisture, you get the odd clunk from an intermediate shaft in the steering (But that's with EVERY vehicle we have with hydraulic power steering), and the odd one comes back with the power lock actuator not working. I think they even have the injector issues on the Duramax Diesels sorted out.
The Colorados and Canyons have some cylinder head issues, timing chain issues, and a front brake job will cost a smooth 7.5 hours since they have the rotors mounted inboard of the wheel bearings.
I'd say the worst vehicle for problems we have is the Enclave/Acadia/Terrain crossovers- they scare all of the techs here. They're a VERY complex vehicle, and have a LOT of electrical issues, suspension issues and brake noise issues.
We've had a few brand new ones while doing the PDI that turned out to have no lights, wipers, etc... all have been wiring inserted into the wrong pins of connectors. Also, the main harness travels underneath the carpet of the passenger's side of the vehicle, and isn't surrounded by conduit or anything in parts, so this is also asking for headaches in the future. Sway bar links last about 20,000 km in these, the upper strut mounts always clunk, and the flip and fold rear seats never work right.
The Torrent and Equinox are bad for hanger bearings and the wiring harnesses breaking off where the door hinges, but are pretty decent.
Cobalts/G5s are bad for hub bearings, power steering motors and control arm bushings, but later models seem to be way better for these.
Impalas are really bad for sway bar links, intermediate steering shafts and premature rear brake wear, plus some of the 3900s have an external head gasket leak on the rear heads, but I've only had 2 or 3 in with that, all basically brand new.
Vibes - 02 sensors and ECUs.
Wave/Aveo - They're a disposable car, everything just kinda falls apart after a few years
Optra/Epica - Lots of brake issues, transmission issues, rear window washer hose tends to rupture (in the headliner)
Minivans- Transmissions, wheel bearings, steering shafts, rear wiper motors...
hi i like cars | |
I should add, too that the 2010 Equinox/GMC Terrain are AWESOME... I can't believe those things only have an Ecotec 4 cylinder in them. Lots of power and pretty incredible mileage, and the central interface is nice (One common screen for HVAC/Radio/Etc)
hi i like cars | |
I'd would want to know with the issues on any car that is brand new if they are from the design or manufacturing quality issues.
Now back to something Samarui said which was he wondered why Ford did not import the Falcon from Ford Australia. I remember hearing from my uncle (former Ford R&D Employee) that the cost of importing a vehicle from Ford Australia does not have the same cost benefits as GM importing cars from Holden to the US.
I'm not sure what the breakdown on cost is, but I have a feeling that Ford's labor in Australia plus freight costs is way more than what Ford wants to spend. GM on other hand from what I understand, the cost of importing a Commodore to the US/Canada is actually slightly less than doing manufacturing a Commodore at Oshawa (which is apparently the lowest cost plant for North America.)
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Also would like to mention, that Ford historically from what I remember (but could be wrong on this) never had good luck with importing cars from its overseas plants. Anyone remember the Merkur line?
It seems like Ford forget about FMVSS 108/CMVSS 108 and it applies to imported vehicles...
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Posted by Agent Skelly
I'd would want to know with the issues on any car that is brand new if they are from the design or manufacturing quality issues.
Now back to something Samarui said which was he wondered why Ford did not import the Falcon from Ford Australia. I remember hearing from my uncle (former Ford R&D Employee) that the cost of importing a vehicle from Ford Australia does not have the same cost benefits as GM importing cars from Holden to the US.
I'm not sure what the breakdown on cost is, but I have a feeling that Ford's labor in Australia plus freight costs is way more than what Ford wants to spend. GM on other hand from what I understand, the cost of importing a Commodore to the US/Canada is actually slightly less than doing manufacturing a Commodore at Oshawa (which is apparently the lowest cost plant for North America.)
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on the first point Skelly had... Most production problems are a mixture of design and manufacturing issues. See, the design works on paper, works great in prototype, but when something hits the assembly line, sometimes the translation doesn't work and the process/item has to be modified. The other times, the quality definitely fails on the line and the quality suffers. I'll give you a 'for instance'... the 2005 Chevy Cobalt was really very well put together. There were minor issues with the control arm bushings and CD players, but other than that, they were excellent.
With the 2006 model year of that car, it was a disaster. There were all sorts of weird quality issues from electrical to mechanical. But in 2007, the quality was back. Weird.
even better... Cavalier production ceased in 2003. However, there were still cars stranded on the line and they were renumber as 2004 and 2005 models in mid 2003... those 04 and 05 cars ALL suffer from same issues: fuel tank, fuel sender, gauge cluster, seats and a persistant check engine light (from the tank issues)... only those two years.
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Posted by Agent Skelly
Also would like to mention, that Ford historically from what I remember (but could be wrong on this) never had good luck with importing cars from its overseas plants. Anyone remember the Merkur line?
It seems like Ford forget about FMVSS 108/CMVSS 108 and it applies to imported vehicles...
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Ther Merkur program was an ENORMOUS failure... they were overpriced compared to their market rivals... I had a Merkur XR4Ti. What was interesting about the Merkur line was the fact they took two fairly plebian European cars, the Sierra and the Grenada, and tried to make them an upscale car here. The Ford Sierra was nothing more than compact car... the European version had a 2.9L V6, where the US version had the 2.3L OHC MPFI Turbo. The American version was far hotter than the European one (sans Cosworth, of course). But after charges, the XR4Ti was just not worth it. Compared to a Mustang, or the departed Capri, it was too expensive for what the buyer was getting. On top of that, the transmissions in the XR4Ti were weak. The decision to go with the smaller C3 and the RAD-style 5speed (4speed out of the Capri/Pinto/Mustang II/Ranger) was a poor choice. Ford shoehorned an overdrive gear into the box and that weakened the box, especially with the Merkurs' hefty curb weight. To try and insure it's longevity, Ford insisted that the owner use synthetic gear oil. Didn't work. (reasoning for the weak box was the shortage of T5's (Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Cougar XR7, SVO, Mustang GT, Capri RS, Camaro 305's and Firebird 305's all used that box).
Today, Merkurs are an orphan car. Most of Fords' parts bins were purchased by Rapido and Tiny Avenger Motorsports and they charge a premium for replacements.
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I wanted to follow up here on something I heard about about the CVPI.
Ford clarified the future of the CVPI. When the Panther platform ends production in 2011, Ford will have a all-new Crown Victoria Police Interceptor based upon a new global platform that will be shared with the Ford Falcon in Australia.
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