10 Cars That Sank Detroit

Cars

Sharon, you or your husband must be UAW hacks or are fiction writers.

If you were lucky, you GP may have gotten 14MPG and the G van 12MPG.

I had a 82 Chevy 3/4 ton with 6.2l deisel and it got 20MPG, but the engine blew at 70,000 miles.

I still own a '69 Camaro 350c.i. and it only gets 12MPG. It weighs a lot less than your Grand Prix.

Camaro Greg of CA @ Jul 12, 2009 23:59:40 PM

RESPONSE TO YOUR ARTICLE

I have to disagree with most of the article.

Ford...I agree about the Pinto and lets not forget the Firestone fiasco. Ford tends to turn the other cheek when it comes to mistakes.

GM...Has to many brands with little differentiation between them. Badge re-engineering.

Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep...As the US third largest automaker they produce fairly boring vehicles. They should have went out of business the last time they went bankrupt.

Now Americana's love their big cars/trucks/SUVs. There's no doubt about this. When gas prices are low we buy big vehicles and when it goes up we buy smaller ones. Who could have for-casted that gas would hit at over $4 a gallon??? Americans also vote with their wallet. Build a good vehicle and we will buy it!! We bought big SUV's and trucks because we wanted them. We also bought domestic models and not much of the foreign stuff. Foreign manufactures have never been able to crack the grip that Detroit has on the truck/SUV market. NEVER!!! So when gas went up we turned to smaller cars and who had these??? That's right the foreign manufactures. Why did they have them?? Cause we don't buy their big trucks and SUV's, only their cars.

So now Detroit's left holding the bag with most of their manufacturing capacity in big trucks/SUV's. Why is that? Because that is what we were buying the most of, voting with our wallets as Americans do. The foreign manufactures were in the right place at the right time to clean up. If gas prices would have stayed low, that ugly Toyota Prius would be another Edsel. Yes it is ugly!!! Just because it gets good millage doesn't make it any better looking.

Americans are lucky in that we have one of the lowest prices of gasoline in the world. Everybody else pays out the nose for gas. Small cars are the norm for the rest of the world for this very reason. America is the last Sebastian for large vehicles. Detroit just happened to get caught with its pants down. Now throw a recession in the mix and you get what we have now.

Yes I believe the big 3 made mistakes but are not entirely to blame! So when your buying your new small foreign car think about that big SUV you have/had and why you bought it in the first place.

Ken Frey of IL @ Jul 06, 2009 18:09:43 PM

Sebring Convertible

When discussing the Chrysler Sebring one must distinguish the convertible from the sedan. The Sebring convertible is probably the most popular convertible on the road and moderately priced. It is big enough for a family to enjoy the beach with and it has a real trunk for all the gear. A fun, peppy car!

Greg MacNamee of FL @ Jul 03, 2009 01:19:33 AM

Ford Taurus

I owned a l997 Ford Taurus and loved it. It was a great car with little upkeep until I had 90,000 miles. I was looking to replace it in 2004. Since Ford no longer made a Taurus or maybe 04 was to be the last year, I didn't want an obselete model. I ended up buying a Subaru Forester which is great and so far no major problems. I hit a guardrail this winter, thinking I smashed my front end and in actuality I dented the bumper which I replaced for $300 including labor. You can't beat that. Even though I like the looks of the newer Taurus, I don't think I will give up on Subaru. GM take heed!

Carolyn Sanders of MT @ Jun 29, 2009 11:24:31 AM

cars

most people have never turned a wrench on an automobile, so they really can't comment on a repairable car and a throwaway car. the Japanese make a throwaway car Detroit makes a car that can be repaired and driven.

The Japanese have had better marketing and therefore a lot of the young people buy imports because of the sales pitch.

Consumer Reports is a bias and prejudiced magazine because people who comment do not know mechanics,so a lot of people revere what they rate.

There are other factors involved but the Japanese cars will be dethroned when China and India start importing. Maybe the younger people will wake up and smell the roses when they are out of a job with their hondas and toyotas in the driveway

and all the foreign made electronics and then wonder what went wrong

stephen burchett of GA @ Jun 11, 2009 12:22:58 PM

detroit '"wise" discisions.(wise meaning STUPID)

Dumping Oldsmobile, Starting Saturn, Stsrting Hummer, Too many SUV's, replacement Sonoma and S-10s with 4 and 5 cylinder engines. and not building an efficient V-6 engine for these trucks. The 3800 V6 engine which GM decided to drop was one of the most efficient engines GM ever build. I know I own or have owned several.

James Brady of WI @ Jun 03, 2009 17:53:03 PM

Quality parts equal a quality car

I was at the St. Louis Auto Show in January. Several best selling Honda and Toyota cars were built with 65 to 75% USA made parts. While the Ford Mustang that my ex-office manager is driving has less than 35% North American made parts. Quality parts = a quality car = high resale value and low cost of ownership - TADA - the final profit from the car is a small part of the total profit of all the small USA owned companies that make parts for cars (USA or foreign owned) companies. The companies that make the car parts employee more employees to make the car parts that the final manufacturer employees assembling the car or truck not counting all the truck required to move the parts and the fuel, oil, tires, mechanics used to move the parts for those cars. Foreign build parts come in via boats, parts in ocean going container that several hundred are moved on a single train to the point of manufacture of the car.

Honda and Toyota are known for their quality build cars assembled in the USA with quality parts made in the USA. Do you think this would teach the big three a lesson - NOPE!!! I proudly own three GM vehicles but the next one will the Honda or Toyota.

John of IL @ May 29, 2009 16:30:44 PM

The downsizing of Detroit

First to Sharon of IN, 34MPG with a 1974 G.P., a 1988 Astro and a 1990 G Van? Not even if you going downhill, with a tail wind, in nuetral and with a push car. And Obama didn't create this mess, he's been in office for 4 months, try the guy that was in office for 8 YEARS, he helped alot.

Yes the seeds of detroit's destruction were planted way back in the 1970's when the big 3 responded poorly to the "sudden" influx of high quality japanesse cars. The american public watered those seeds by buying detroits low quality cars and japan fertilized those seeds by building better and better cars at lower prices. It is bitter fruit.

Detroit's first play to fight back was tariffs on cars built overseas, japan just built plants here and continued on. The next step was to try and up the quality, but that required 2 things detroit didn't have, higher quality parts from their vendors and higher quality work from their unions. The vendors stepped up and improved, the unions stepped up and wanted more money for the same work. So detriot had achoice better quality or lower price, they tried to compromise and failed miserably.

They still had a chance to survive but refused to see the writing on the walls and promoted and sold big trucks and suvs, expensive gas suckers all, while ignoring the smaller cars that might save them when the bottom fell out. Detroit has been a money drain for a decade and the ones to do anything about it was tha japanesse, who helped open up the pipe. The greed got em in the butt and need the U.S. government to save them and we can't, it's too late. The government will try to save as much as they can only to save as many jobs as they can, more people working, less people on unemployment and welfare, but it's over folks.

Ford will survive but not as we knew it, G.M. may survive, but as a much smaller company than once was, and Chrysler is dead.

Long live companies that listen to the customer and not the shareholder.

David M. Magee of PA @ May 28, 2009 15:59:45 PM