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Sorry, Detroit. You lost me

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by FileNotFound, Jan 30, 2008.

  1. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    I've been a staunch defender of American cars for many years. I'm that guy who believes that, after 20 or so years of putting out nothing but piles of steaming crap, Detroit came around in the mid-'90s and started making cars that were the equal of the offerings from Toyota and Honda and Nissan. I just figured that it was taking the Big Three a while to shake off the damage they had done to their brands since the '70s.

    I've been buying American since 1996, and have been largely satisfied, and have been especially satisfied with the fact that we usually save 10-20 percent compared to the comparable Honda or Toyota. Plus, I've NEVER been treated well by a Japanese car dealer; they always act like I should think it's my privilege to walk into their dealership and be allowed to buy one of their Consumer Reports-approved cars. I thought I was coming out ahead.

    I thought that until tonight, when my less-than-two-year-old GM vehicle left me stranded with some weird electrical problem. For 30 minutes it wouldn't start, although some (but not all) of the electrical accessories worked. When I turned off the headlights, the radio turned on.

    Eventually it started; when it did, the "driver information center" informed me that it was midnight at 8:10 p.m., that it was 100 degrees in January, and that my brakes and engine needed service.

    I went ahead and drove it home. Turned it off and then back on. The "driver information center" informed me I needed to "Service Brake Switch," and it won't shift out of Park.

    I'm sure the onboard computer just needs a reboot or something. (If it had a USB port, I'd plug in a mouse and do it myself.) But whatever. It's time I'm going to have spend tomorrow morning that I shouldn't have to spend on a car with less than 20,000 miles on it.

    Screw it, Detroit. I was your last defender, at least among the people I know. I was wrong and everybody else who is buying Japanese-brand cars are right.
     
  2. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    Honda rules.
     
  3. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Sorry to hear it, FileNotFound. I'm an American-only car guy too, meaning I have an aversion to automotive prosperity.

    I hate the computerized stuff in most new cars. Give me a trip odometer and a 6-CD-capacity radio, the rest they can keep. And I already have OnStar, it's called AAA.
     
  4. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    The reality is that the the automotive industry has pretty much erased any notion of "American-only" cars.

    The Toyota plant in Cambridge, Ontario plant employs 3200 people and produces every Corolla and Matrix for the North American market. (I'm pretty certain of the last part of that statement)

    I've owned a 70's Mercury Monterey, a couple of Volvo's, two Ford Taurus's, a couple of the old Chrysler beauties with the venerable slant six engine, a Honda Civic, a Nissan Sentra and my present Camry.

    The boring old Camry has kicked their collective asses in terms of performance and durability.
     
  5. sportsnut

    sportsnut Member

    I was driving to Palm Springs a few month's back and my Mercedes just stopped in the middle of the freeway. Called the cops and backed the freeway up for like 4 miles.

    If the LA freeway was actually going full speed the car would have flipped over and probably killed us all. After that I am like fuck MB.

    The cop had to close of 4 lanes of traffic to get us to the other side of the freeway where it would be safe for us to move and get out of the car.

    I don't get why car maker's have to add computer's to the car.
    They never used to do that and the car worked fine.
     
  6. apostrophes gone wild
     
  7. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    My family has only has had only American cars, going back to my Dad's 1950 Buick. My first car was a 63 Impala, then a 70 Camaro, a 78 Camaro, an 88 Blazer and currently a 2000 Ford Explorer.
    I sorta felt it was my patriotic duty to buy American.
    When I met the woman I would eventually marry, she had a Honda, which she loved. When she got pregnant, we bought her a bigger Honda.
    Her Honda was made in Mississippi. I needed to buy some parts for my Blazer and they were made in Canada. So WTF???
     
  8. amraeder

    amraeder Well-Known Member

    The latest installment, with the barely-legal apostrophes and the apostrophe-on-apostrophe action? Hot!
     
  9. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    Yeah, the guy makes references to working for more than one newspaper, but it seems very dubious -- he lacks even the most basic grasp of grammar.
     
  10. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    Cars are more reliable and trouble-free than they ever have been, and the electronics are a large part of it.
     
  11. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I got up early this morning.
     
  12. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    fixed
     
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