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You should know after all this time that American cars have lost their once glowing reputation, right? I mean, just because American cars from the 70's and 80's are awful, doesn't mean that ALL are awful. And that leads me to wonder, what American(Detroit automakers only) cars have you owned that have lasted a long time?
And when I say Detroit automakers only, you can NOT talk about foreign BRAND cars made in U.S./Canadian factories! And for foreign car owners, here is why you should NOT brag about your car. First, our economy is down the toilet because of you people not putting America first(most of your hard earned money buying that Civic or Corolla is going back over to the very country that attacked us on December 7, 1941, no offense, Japan, but you DID throw us into the Second World War). Second, they (in many cases) AREN'T going to last longer than an American car. And last but not least, but only for most Asian-made cars, they just are not exciting at all.
Most of my very hard earned money is NOT going back to the world standard of corporate greed, aka Detroit Big Three, because I am staying away from their products.
And American economy is down the sewers not because people buy what they TRUST with their hard earned money, but because Made in USA is no more world standard of quality. YOU, OP, let the quality out. Look into a mirror before blaming it on "you people".
otherwise to your original question. Our 86 Chrysler leBaron made it all the way through 168 000 miles and was a pleasant and "exciting" car, being GTS, but it does not qualify, as it was made in kahutz with dreaded by you Mitsubishi. Otherwise, every pure bread Detroit product I touched was much worse quality than it's Japan made counterpart.
Here's easy fix for your concern. MAKE BETTER VEHICLES. Buyers will come.
Ford F150
GM half ton
Blazer
Bronco
International Scout
Camaro
Corvette
Mustang
Pinto
All these cars were proven to be long lasting, and are collectable today. Very few collect foreign cars even in foreign countries. America is still the automotive world standard throughout the world with combined sales in excess of any other country.
We have owned American cars since 1992 and not one can be remotely classified as troublesome. People brag about their Toyotas making it to 200,000 miles as if nothing else can do it. My son drives a 98 Explorer with 150,000 miles on original engine and transmission, so this is not something new either.
Model, Model, Model/Year. It doesn't matter which American automaker it is, they all have built good and horrible cars.
In my experience, Honda's and Toyota's for the most part throughout their line ups have all built good reliable cars where less smaller parts tend to fail unlike in American car, you might go through a few power window switches, a couple of window regulators, bad A/C blower motor, seat motor failures..a radiator it's always something.
I have never had any of those things happen in my Honda's, only in my older GM and Ford cars these small things tend to fail more often.
But I think mechanically speaking, the big 3 are usually pretty good and reliable when it comes to building V8's and RWD vehicles.
I can't say which brand is better than the other, but personally I have always liked GM stuff, Fords just seemed overly cheap and tend to cut corners more so than GM. Dodge/Chrysler products tend to have worse reliability records than Ford and GM.
Then it depends on the decade. Ford for the most part built better cars in the 70's than GM did, but GM and MOPAR built better cars than Ford in the 50's. By the 60's, all 3 automakers were building very good cars.
I can tell you for a fact that my 94 Cadillac Fleetwood has been a much better car overall and has been much more reliable than my 93 Town Car which nickeled and dimed me to death in repairs. GM's B-D bodies were very good and I feel were better than the Panther platform. But the Town Car has more advanced technology than the Fleetwood which I enjoyed, but you can tell Ford went cheap on the inside and everywhere else in between.
Really it depends, maintenance always plays a huge factor on how long a vehicle will go in it's life. Other times it's simply bad engineering and cheaply designed and built parts.
On style alone, it would be hard to beat the Detroit iron of the late sixties, and I believe my 66 Bird sends that message loud and clear.
Not just because I happen to own it, but it is a fact.
I would put this Bird up against any Asian car when it comes to style and class.
That's a beauty Bob! Cars of the 50's-60's and to an extent the 40's were just so awesome to look at and drive. Nothing today, and I mean nothing! looks as cool as cars from the back then looked.
All the chrome, heavy weight steel, the different color schemes and textures, over the top stylish dashboards, door panels and steering wheels made it feel like you were a million bucks! Cars back then were like wearing a fine piece of jewelry even if they did have some mechanical issues.
We all can agree that once the government stepped in by the very late 60's, they truly ruined the styling and "free spirit" in design of the American car forever.
Hey Bob, how do think Ford vehicles fared in the 60's compared to GM in build quality and reliability? The Lincoln Continentals were great, overbuilt luxury cars as we know, but what about Fords other cars in general.
Regarding that Thunderbird, I sure don't see a red and white interior on new cars! Usually black, beige or grey.
In answer to the question, of cars either I or my parents have owned, these lasted a long time:
1966 Dodge Dart GT V-8 (my first car)
1966 Plymouth Fury III (318) (my brother's first car)
1969 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (parent's cars; they owned two at one time)
1970 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (parent's car, again; 200,000+ miles on the original transmission and drivetrain)
1969 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham (a 45-year-old car with the original engine and transmission)
I used to drive a early 80s Olds. Cutlass Supreme. Great car. It's probably still going out there some where. Chevy Impala from that time was good too. Build like tanks as compared to anything on the road now.
And for foreign car owners, here is why you should NOT brag about your car. First, our economy is down the toilet because of you people not putting America first(most of your hard earned money buying that Civic or Corolla is going back over to the very country that attacked us on December 7, 1941, no offense, Japan, but you DID throw us into the Second World War).
Well, I guess that settles the whole "No Child Left Behind" policy of the Bush administration...
It clearly didn't work.
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