[daddythreepointoh]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Also a reason Ford isn't.

I personally don't like GM or Chrysler, but can't deny how long every one I have owned have lasted.

Well, to each his or her own I say, but out of curiousity, how much money did you have to put into these long lasting cars/trucks? I myself, as 1 example, had a Chevy Cavalier that we put THOUSANDS of dollars into over the years. It was a total piece!

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by daddythreepointoh

Well, to each his or her own I say, but out of curiousity, how much money did you have to put into these long lasting cars/trucks? I myself, as 1 example, had a Chevy Cavalier that we put THOUSANDS of dollars into over the years. It was a total piece!

So far I have changed tires on the Suburban ($450; great buy on some new tires a dealer was starting to carry, and at close to 12,000 miles on them I really like them a lot) in addition to oil changes, yearly tune-up, and gas. The prior owner had the tranny rebuilt at 150,000 miles, and nothing more than routine/ scheduled maintenance. (I know him very well, friends for years before he bought it with 25,000 miles on the odometer.) First owner is one who buys a new vehicle every 2 years no matter the reason, he replaced the grill when he hit an Owl of all things, early one morning. I also know him. Sure the body is in BAD shape right now, but I still tack on 15,000 miles a year without anything more than gas/oil/and a yearly tune-up.

Last GMC Van I had I replaced the original transmission at 185,000 miles. My 05 Ford Freestyle I just this week had to replaced the alternator at 61,000 miles and am a bit disappointed it didn't go further. Nothing other than tires and maintenance for that as well. I don't put thousands of $ into vehicles to keep them running, it they start to cost me I get rid of them and move on.

[allistercrowly]

Ihad a GMC van that had to have the eng. rebuilt [350] at 75k and the Transmission at 90k. I had a Dodge truck 360 eng. that had to have the Trans rebuilt at 56k, Had a ford that had a lot of little problems, it was a van with 351, and had many little problems, like radiators going out, leaks in the fluid lines like the power steering and it rusted out fairly fast. All got horrible MPG, but was a necessity for work. If I did not need the size for work I would not have even looked at the POS. The dodge had a lot of problems, the radio went out, the HP fuel pump went out, the Gas line rusted through and caught the truck on fire, which could have been dangerous but since no one got hurt and I got 10k from insurance it was a good thing. Here is a photo of the after math of the truck HP gas leak.

[seamusnh]

Originally Posted by Jwo85

Another thing is many of GM cars use a Toyota Engine.

Really., which GM cars have a Toyota engine?

[daddythreepointoh]

Originally Posted by Bydand

So far I have changed tires on the Suburban ($450; great buy on some new tires a dealer was starting to carry, and at close to 12,000 miles on them I really like them a lot) in addition to oil changes, yearly tune-up, and gas. The prior owner had the tranny rebuilt at 150,000 miles, and nothing more than routine/ scheduled maintenance. (I know him very well, friends for years before he bought it with 25,000 miles on the odometer.) First owner is one who buys a new vehicle every 2 years no matter the reason, he replaced the grill when he hit an Owl of all things, early one morning. I also know him. Sure the body is in BAD shape right now, but I still tack on 15,000 miles a year without anything more than gas/oil/and a yearly tune-up.

Last GMC Van I had I replaced the original transmission at 185,000 miles. My 05 Ford Freestyle I just this week had to replaced the alternator at 61,000 miles and am a bit disappointed it didn't go further. Nothing other than tires and maintenance for that as well. I don't put thousands of $ into vehicles to keep them running, it they start to cost me I get rid of them and move on.

Well, like I said, to each his or her own...but in my experience and of those people I've discussed this...sounds like you got lucky! Good for you though.

[seamusnh]

For a lot of people who have owned cars from the big 3, it is a case of "once burned, twice shy." Pick up a copy of the consumer reports car issue and compare the reliability (over years, not initital reliability) of Honda/Toyota/Nissan compared to GM/Chrysler/Ford...
I have not had an "American" car in over 10 years but have had cars made in America. My 00 Toyota Sienna (214k miles) has been great; it was made in Kentucky by Americans.... They did some nice work...

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by Bydand

I still say it depends on maintenance, I have a old Chevy Suburban (1989) that has 280,000 miles on it and still runs like a top. I would drive it across Country again tomorrow if I had to. Not saying that because I live in Michigan, but because it is the truth, I have always had better luck with domestic vehicles than foreign. So have most of the people I know in other places I have lived (most recently, Northern Maine for 20 years).

To a degree, it does! Case in point--in the early nineties, people were having problems with their vehicles overheating,head gasket blowing and the heater core rotting out with antifreeze oozing on the floorboard. Come to find out, it was a simple case of not diluting the antifreeze. One thing i give Toyota credit for is taking the guesswork out for the customer as how to take care of a car and what to look for. It's a very important and understated concept not mentioned often.Not everyone is an auto mechanic and knows what to look for in his/her vehicle to be proactive instead of reactive.

[Bearcat]

Guys let me tell you a story that is true, in my family we have owned a total of 4 Non-American cars.
Austin ---electrical problems too many to count...
Honda Civic -- When hot weather outside the engine would start to miss and it had a nasty lane change when you went to pass somebody..not to mention it was a rust bucket!
Toyota Tercel (93 model) caught fire once but TWICE and had to have the engine replaced twice and the transmission as well before 80K!!!! JUNK
Datsun B210-- Rust bucket and never knew what the word HEAT means in the winter.
this car also killed more bugs from the smoke when it first started, it was the only other plus it had outside of the gas mileage it got. When it got below 32 degree..forget it..it would never start.
VW Bug-- ran forever..never knew what happen to it since my sister owned it.
Let me tell you we have owned
Chevy- Father loved these cars..always kept them until they hit 150k and then gave them to us kids.
oneof them a 72 Impala had 250k and it was passed to sister to the youngest sister and then to her father in law after 280k..then the engine went into a Chevelle.
Ford-- Ford Mustang 67-- must had well over 200k when I sold mine, just started to rust under the driver side floor but not bad, ran great until my ex-wife ran 8000 miles and ran it out of oil, it never ran right again. Sold it to a collector.(can kick myself for that one now days)
Dodge-
I own a 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z and it must had 175k when I got it, it had a bad piston so I rebuilt her and now days she has over 325k on the clock, little rust on the bottom, the interior is holding up very well for a 21 years old car, better than some 5 year olds I have seen. Gas mileage has been awesome, well over 37mpg!
My father had a 74 Golden Duster with a slant 6, now that car ran and ran until the timing chain broke somewhere around 250k, lost track of the car.
My Grandfather had a 72 Dodge dart.. this car took the cake
He gave it to his daughter who drove it for years, then sold it to her brother(my uncle) and he drove it, then it got passed t 2 of his sons before he got the car back . The body held up, the motor a slant 6 was still running but with low oil pressure but it reached 500k!
What did the car is..the brakes were totally shot, it would cost more to replace the brakes than the car was worth.
my only down side is our Dodge Stratus 2004 sxt
This car has about 90k on it.
20k the tranny had the computer reflashed - dealer fixed it
at 45k the cat clugged up and shut down the car... dealer replace it.
at 52k the fuel pump when out-- replaced by dealer
at 66k the water pump went out--so they replace both the pump and timing belt. $100
when I got the car back it vibrated when placed in reverse or when you came to a complete stop.
Tap the gas and it smooth out..we took it back and they could not find out what was wrong!
I drove it and found it was idling 100 rpms too slow so somehow when they change the belt they altered the idle and then said they could not fix it.. last time it went back to the dealer here.
So our 2004 Stratus drives great and gets great gas mileage (32-32 HWY) HOWEVER this story is not over yet. at 88k the outer tierods went bad!!! WTF?!
My old Turbo Z Daytona had 180k before the tierods/ball joints went bad..what the hell happend to this Stratus??? When I come to think about it, Dodge does not maek the cars but vendors bid for the contract to who can make them the cheapest,this tells me the car company themself are not the problem but the parts their supplier gives them are the problem.
My replacement part was beefer tha the part it replaced so maybe there was a known issue..who knows. but in the end I would buy another Dodge,Ford and maybe a Chevy any day of the week.
becaus eit could be my job that is affected if I don't!

[michalina]

I have owned several cars, from a Buick Road masters and Chrysler New Yorkers to Ford Focuses and now a Dodge Stratus. All were very reliable and required few if any significant repairs besides regular maintenance. I think there are lots of people who don't maintain their cars properly and maybe they have some complaints..

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[daddythreepointoh]

This is going to make people mad, but it just seems to me that Michiganders have more "our foreign car sucked and our American car runs like a top" stories than I have ever, EVER heard anywhere in the country.

Must be a coincidence.