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Went to my local salvage yard to find an exterior door handle for my 97 Chevy Tahoe because it broke from the snow/ice storm we just had. The handle is made of cast aluminum so 19 years of stress on it and the freezing temps finally broke it.
Anyway at the salvage yard all the american made cars and trucks are waaay in the back at the top of the hill in the yard. They keep the foreign cars in the front like Honda, Mazda, Toyota you know all that crap... because it's the most sought after. They had only one of my trucks in the yard.
Now if foreign cars are so superior why is it the most popular and busiest section of the salvage yard?
There is another large salvage yard about 2 hours from me the largest on the east coast acres and acres of cars. They have an online inventory so i did a quick scan... they have 90 Honda Civics, 37 Chevy Cavaliers, 21 Chevy Malibus, and 16 Chevy Impalas.
What does that tell you? Three of GMs most popular selling vehicles still can't beat how many POS Honda Civics are in the yard.
That's some odd logic. Any car is subject to being wrecked/flooded/etc and ending up on a salvage lot. And there are a lot of Civics still on the road generating demand for parts. Don't see many older domestics on the road anymore. They're not lasting as long. Plus, a lot of older domestics just got outright destroyed in the cash for clunkers deal.
That's some odd logic. Any car is subject to being wrecked/flooded/etc and ending up on a salvage lot. And there are a lot of Civics still on the road generating demand for parts. Don't see many older domestics on the road anymore. They're not lasting as long. Plus, a lot of older domestics just got outright destroyed in the cash for clunkers deal.
What is odd logic? The import/foreign car section is always the busiest in the salvage yard. Sure their are wrecked cars but it doesn't make up the bulk of the selection. Also there are tons of older domestics where i live in the busy suburbs 40 mins north of Philadelphia. My tahoe is 19 years old and i see the same style truck and year every day more then a few times on the road.
Yep a lot of good domestics got scrapped because of the program. Not because they were "clunkers" people just wanted a new car.
If a scrap yard isn't stacked with and catering to(like putting up front) popular cars that are on the road they'll go out of business. If anything that's a good measure not bad.
The 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit was the only lemon of the bunch....and it was a lemon in ever sense of the word. I had to walk more than once with that car. I rarely went 60 days without it being in the shop for a "non-maintenance" of one sort or another. Blown fuse blocks replaced at least twice, CV joints failed far to early, failed water pump, clogged up catalytic convertor, random rust spots all over the car (except the roof), wing window that had a glued on hinge and it kept coming lose and they never could get it glued on properly so that it stayed glued, alternator went bad far to soon and on and on and on. I think I sold the car when it had just over 100 thousand miles. I was honest with the new buyer.....but I doubt he believed me as to all I had suffered through.
So, because a Volkswagen built 36 years ago in Pennsylvania was a POS, you think that is useful information about which a prospective VW buyer today should be aware?
All Volkswagens prior to about 1999 were prone to corrosion. Since then, all Volkswagens (except rebadged Chrysler minivans) have come with a 12-year unlimited-mileage corrosion warranty. And most never had to have rust damage fixed under warranty.
Are there any cars today sold by GM, Ford, or FCA that have a warranty like that? Nope.
Every manufacture has cars that are solid, long lasting, quality built vehicles and they all have cars that just don't make the cut and have way more problems than they should. Even changes from year to year or generation to generation in the same line up.
If a scrap yard isn't stacked with and catering to(like putting up front) popular cars that are on the road they'll go out of business. If anything that's a good measure not bad.
You are missing the point. The import/foreign cars are put up front because there is more of a need for parts vs domestic so they put the domestics in the back. The demand for import parts is higher so they put those cars in the front. My point that import/foreign cars are superior is a myth.
No you're missing the point. The domestics are at the back because they're either not worth fixing or there just aren't enough left on the road to drive demand.
High Altitude is right. Most car companies produced some very good cars that are worth fixing and keeping, and others that were ready for recycling before they were paid for.
It is impossible to label any domestic car company, or the entire domestic car industry, as either "reliable" or "not reliable."
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