What is Your Opinion of American Automakers? (F150, 2015, SUVs)

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by American Luxury

Why do you say that? Surely you're not talking reliability wise.

The better question is why would YOU say that?

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by PDD

Perhaps you are correct but ever since we became part of the global economy, the amount of Americans living in poverty and on the welfare rolls has dramatically increased.

Other than killing off all those who will never be able to find jobs, how would you suggest to make our economy grow and bring unemployment back to a respectable level?

Somehow I've been able to survive pretty good buying American made products. Admittedly I have purchased a few foreign autos over the years mixed in with a bunch of American cars but I keep them so long I'm not any manufasturer's idea of a preferred buyer.

BTW American is spelled with a capital A.

i don't want to hijack or go off topic so i will just briefly answer your questions.

i am not smart enough to have the answers to solving the worlds ills or solve unemployment nor do i even want to find my cap key..

but i am smart enough to play the cards i am dealt to tilt things in my favor where i can. in fact i love taking lemons and selling them at a profit as lemonade.

to many people blame the dealer instead of working with the cards.

want some examples of what i mean?

i can not do anything about rising energy costs but i can join the big boys and benefit from them. i own an ETF called USO which is a traded stock that is not a company but rather owns barrels of oil.

everytime oil goes up 1% i make about 100 bucks.

i actually come out ahead from rising energy costs.

when the fed announced they and the world would be lowering interest rates to near zero most folks did nothing and complained how savers were being punished .

on the other hand the fed did everything short of dropping leaflets from helicopters announcing it.

if you paid attention and moved your savings to nice safe,secure treasury bonds you made a killing in capital gains they went up so much.

you were dancing in the street just because of the low rates the masses were crying about..

to many don't play the cards, they spend all their time complaining and blaming the dealer.

unemployment is a problem because the fact is there are jobs but many don't qualify.

we have been hiring for years . we can not find people.

so many can not pass a drug test

they can not pass a simple math test

they speak horribly or dress like the corner drug dealer

if it involves driving they have poor driving records.

they can not pass a background check or credit check and we have not even gotten to their skills for the job yet.

90% of what we see can not even pass the screening process and we have not even judged their skill set yet.

we had applicants tell us they want 25 bucks an hour to load trucks. that is because their unemployment insurance plus working off the books at the local bodega comes to that much so to go back to work on the books they want more.

so much for what the real unemployment numbers are. they are very much skewed by people like the above upward.

all this is in new york city/long island. we have very high unskilled labor unemployment, but it is not because of lack of jobs.

the issue since the downturn is this: companies do not let their core best of breed employees go unless they are going out of business.

i am sure every industry is like mine and when a competitor fails and their core people become available those few best of breed employees are snatched up before ever hitting the streets.

while everyone looking for work thinks they are in that group the reality is they are 2nd and 3rd tier as far as demand in their industry.

we have added 23 best of breed people over the last 2 years and are still looking.

the fact is those unemployed may not be the most desired by companies and between the screening and the fact the companies they were let go from did not see them fit to be cherished makes it hard for them to get jobs.


he have had a few hundred applicants apply and to them they are thinking there just are no jobs.

they are wrong there are jobs, lots of jobs but not for them. they just do not make the cut.

we are still hiring and if there are any electrical engineers, or those with knowledge in electrical control panel building, industrial sewage and water pumps or have an electrical wholesale background d/m me.

[stan4]

I find American cars more exciting than Japanese cars (I can't think of one Japanese car I'd really like to own - though I have a 4Runner as my second 'work' car).
I find them more interesting than most european cars (excluding some of the exotics).
I think they are better value when it comes to performance and technology than the euro stuff.

[sdlife619]

Originally Posted by American Luxury

1. Cadillacs are NOT souped up Chevys and Buicks. I would somewhat agree about Lincoln, but that is changing starting with the MKZ, and especially with the MKC since Max Wolfe was able to design the whole thing.

2. Do you realize that the MKZ and XTS do not compete with the cars you mentioned?

Cadillac's besides for the CTS V still share the same engines with Buick. They also share the same platforms as well. The new Malibu LTZ 2.0 turbo is also in the ATS for crying out loud! I even heard the that the new CTS will offer the same 2.0 turbo charged engine that's in the ATS that's also in the Chevy Malibu.

Lincoln is even more generic, sure the MKZ looks completely different than a Fusion, it still shares it's platform, and this goes for the entire Lincoln lineup from the Navigator to the MKT, all Fords of similar size, just with different exterior skin.

My point was, unlike in the past when both brands didn't brand engineer as much, they were more distinct, more prestigious luxury cars and the buying public respected them for what they were. After sometime in the 90's, when the foreign competition came in, that is when they started to lose their way. The 80's was the beginning of the slow decline of the prestige of Lincoln and Cadillac. It might not of have happened over night, but the problem was, the 80's Cads and Lincs didn't change much styling wise and I believe people were getting tired of their designs. Lexus built good cars in the 90's, were very modern including bmw depending on the model and year tho compared to a Lincoln and Cad.


Even if the XTS and MKZ aren't directly going head to head against the foreign rivals flagships, it's my gut feeling that the day Cadillac introduces it's true flagship as well as Lincoln, they're still not going to be as as nice as their competition on a all out quality level unless maybe they price their flagships in the similar price range of a 7 Series or Audi A8.

The honest truth is, if I was well off, not rich, but wealthy enough to buy a new car, a really big luxury car with first class features and tech. The only options I really have are from the import brands. Cadillac, nor Lincoln has anything in their lineup that is on par with Europe's finest, and that is the sad truth.

The American corporate mentality goal is always short term profit, and this way of doing business usually can hinder any positives on what the companies might really wanna do as executives, but it's stockholders will say otherwise and use any stop gap measures to do so.

[12GO]

They all have lost what they are supposed to be in my opinion. Cookie cutter ugly junk. The only company actually designing a vehicle anymore with decent looks is Chrysler. The rest all look just as ugly as the next junk mobile. When you see a Chrysler product, you know right off what it is in all but thier fiat influanced cars. GM, FORD, TOYOTA, HONDA, AND THE REST YOU COULD TAKE THE NAMETAG OFF AND NEVER FIGURE OUT what the ugly p.o.s. is !

[sdlife619]

I agree that Dodge/Chrysler is the only US automaker that has really gone against popular trends in the automotive world. If you look at the 300 for instance, nothing else on the road looks like it, and as a matter of fact, I drove a 2012 300C for week as a rental, and I will tell you it's one of, if not the most quietest car I have ever driven.

On top of that, it has such a smooth supple ride, the performance of the Hemi is freakin awesome! The interior was very nice especially compared to the last generation 300's, but it's still not on the same levels of other higher end luxury cars. Overall I loved it, and you feel super cool getting behind the wheel of one, boss like status.

Dodge's Challenger, and charger, are also other none PC cars that are attention getters. Some of us like cars like this, and don't want a typical cookie cutter blandmobile that blends in with everything else on the road.

Ford and GM are trying to improve their styling of it's cars, but IMO the Chrysler 300 is still the best looking American barge out there, besides for the sports coupes, ala the Camaro, Challenger, Mustang, and the Cadillac CTS V Coupe.

[28173]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

I agree that Dodge/Chrysler is the only US automaker that has really gone against popular trends in the automotive world. If you look at the 300 for instance, nothing else on the road looks like it, ....

Except Bentley Continental...

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 are both five meters long, which makes them easier to park in Europe. And when they're equipped with a V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission, they can go 0-60 in the mid-6's and get 31 MPG on the highway. There were no full-size cars from any automaker that got 30 MPG on the highway 10 years ago, but today Chrysler has two that do, despite a) being a basic, naturally-aspirated engine, and b) not even having Fiat's "multi-air" technology engineered into it yet, let alone any hybrid technology. In other words, existing technology can be easily engineered in to make already good fuel economy even better in the future. Then there's the compact Dodge Dart, which gets anywhere from 34 to 39 MPG on the highway depending on the engine. And this is a) despite the Dart being at the large end of the compact segment (read: almost mid-size), and b) not yet being mated to the forthcoming nine-speed automatic transmission. Expect highway fuel economy in the 40's once that happens.

Great points. Chrysler rules.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by tstone

Some folks here will do just that- while drooling over and boosting Korean nameplates, and then pointing out how it's unfair you criticize them for building crappy cars until 10-12 years ago. And I think you touched on points some of us have already known-- this may be the most automotive-benign "automotive" forum on the internet. There are some enthusiasts here but the majority or at least most prominent ones you're more likely to find reading & firing off vitriol to Huffington Post on their iPads at the coffeehouse, rather than being a true enthusiast. For many of them, American automatically = poor quality & simply uncool. You can see this with blanket statements and ‘boosterisms’ that have been continuously worn out in this sub-forum.

Nice stereotype. I'm a HuffPost-reading, coffeeshop-occupying Chrysler owner and American car enthusiast. In my experience... it's people who are on the right side of the political spectrum that mindlessly hate the domestic automobile manufacturers due to UAW, Obama's bailout, and the fact that Southern Republicans have spent billions on incentives for Asian manufacturers to develop assembly plants in their states.

[Brian_M]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Nice stereotype.

I see you're not immune to that yourself....

Originally Posted by Evergrey

it's people who are on the right side of the political spectrum that mindlessly hate the domestic automobile manufacturers due to UAW, Obama's bailout, and the fact that Southern Republicans have spent billions on incentives for Asian manufacturers to develop assembly plants in their states.

FWIW, it's tax Credits as incentives.

And you sorta dove head-first into a rant without contributing to the Discussion at hand. Might want to consider using the delete key more often.



And there's still only 1 vehicle that is assembled in the US today that I'd pay for.