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'The Supremacy of Japanese Cars Has Been 40-Plus Years In the Making' (bloomberg.com)
American business journalist Joe Nocera writes in a Bloomberg article about "how badly things have deteriorated for the U.S. car makers," after the recent news that both General Motors and Ford will soon be exiting the sedan market in the country. Slashdot reader gollum123 shares the report: Much of the analysis about Ford and GM's exit from the sedan market stressed that sedan sales have lost ground in recent years "as consumers have gravitated toward pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles," as the New York Times put it. If you look at the historical sales figures of the top Japanese sedans, you'll see a small decline in recent years, but nothing like the big drop-off in sales that have hammered the American companies. So in addition to the overall decline in sedan sales, there is a second, largely overlooked, dynamic taking place: Americans have only stopped buying American sedans, not Japanese sedans. The American car companies now say they are going to count on profits from trucks and SUVs while moving toward autonomous and all-electric vehicles. They had better hope that transition takes place quickly.
I couldn't help noticing that while the top three selling vehicles in the U.S. are, indeed, American-made trucks, No. 4 on the list is Nissan's top SUV, the Rogue, the sales of which have gone from 18,000 in 2007 to 403,000 last year. No. 5 is a Toyota SUV, the Rav4 (407,000 in 2017). No. 6 is the Honda CR-V (378,000). And the leading American SUV? It's the Chevy Equinox. Last year, Chevrolet sold 290,000 of them -- 100,000 fewer than the Toyota Camry.
I couldn't help noticing that while the top three selling vehicles in the U.S. are, indeed, American-made trucks, No. 4 on the list is Nissan's top SUV, the Rogue, the sales of which have gone from 18,000 in 2007 to 403,000 last year. No. 5 is a Toyota SUV, the Rav4 (407,000 in 2017). No. 6 is the Honda CR-V (378,000). And the leading American SUV? It's the Chevy Equinox. Last year, Chevrolet sold 290,000 of them -- 100,000 fewer than the Toyota Camry.
Honda just hit 300k miles. You'd be lucky to get 80k from a GM or Chrysler
American cars are generally very reliable, but not as reliable as Japanese and Korean makes.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Ford, GM and Chrysler haven't given a shit about selling cars since the 1960s. As far as they're concerned, the car is just a tool for selling you a loan.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Once the US automakers have all gone belly-up, someone should buy the rights to their body designs at the bankruptcy auction, and sell vehicles with modern drive trains that look like the classic American designs.
I'd buy a carbon-fiber version of a 1970 fastback Mustang in a heartbeat. I'm sure plenty of people would go for a '57 Chevy or a '69 Corvette stingray, too.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
These American brands are so full of foreign parts that I stopped caring about "Buying American" as the foreign brands are often more American than the native labels. Then it's just about who is raking in the money at the top, and I don't care about that.
The "chicken tax" to which President Trump refers in that Tweet is a remnant of retaliation against hysteria in 1960s Europe about factory farming.
Given how the modern automotive industry works, I'm not sure if it matters. Japan manufacturers a lot of the cars that it sells in the U.S., in the U.S. so I don't think there's much worry over jobs being lost. Also, all of the Japanese companies are publicly traded, with a few of the largest shareholders being American companies, American banks, or other foreign firms that are in turn partially owned by Americans. If it gets American companies to invest in electric vehicles in the hope of regaining market share, I don't see how anyone could really complain.
He knows that. He doesn't care. He just copy and pastes what they pay him to. Don't confuse this guy for a US citizen so angry and dedicated that he simply can't help but troll every single article with off-topic drivel. He's just another paid Russian troll. Over there, they're just called "human bots." But it's actually cheaper than writing software to do this. How this helps the Russians exactly is unclear to me, unless they just pettily see making both sides angrier as a goal in and of itself, like some old 90's era internet meme about the Satanic Bavarian Illuminati playing both the winning and losing side so that no matter which side wins they win.
cars.
Rust was the worst issue, but when Japanese and Korean cars started flooding the market for less money and lasting about 30-50% better (in terms of mileage and gas economy)
it seemed to be a wake-up call for US car makers. This was hubris on the part of Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler... They had their cheaply manufactured, planned obsolescence system and they were going to stick with it.
I'm guessing at this point, more US vehicles are produced in Canada and places like the Toyota factory in South Carolina build more vehicles than Detroit.
New technology (self driving cars, electric cars...) eventually mean that people don't need to buy a vehicle unless it's for work. Need a ride someplace, just order a car...
Hard to mourn the end of the "American" car maker.
In a perverse and odd turn of events, Japanese cars are made in America, and Ford/GM are frequently made in Mexico, Canadian, Germany, China, or elsewhere.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/sc-auto-cover-0628-most-american-made-cars-20180621-story.html
So, if you want a car made by an American car company, buy a Honda.
So this story is not about American car companies, its about multinationals that started life in the US but are more multinational rather then American.
Study US and UK weather conditions.
Listen to what people who buy and sell cars say about local conditions.
Cold morning in winter? Car has to start to get car owner to work on time. Test car during design until it can start in cold weather conditions.
Understand normal people have jobs and have to get to work on time. Having a car that can start without needing repair work is important.
Understand the politics of pollution. Have something like CVCC ready for political winning.
Make car look great every year.
Car should drive well for size.
Understand reliability in different harsh export markets. Find smart engineers who understand engine design for dust, heat, cold.
Have spare parts. Have support network for parts all over nations car is exported to. Support should be easy for any skilled mechanic.
Make good marketing in nation for a good car.
Have car inspected before it is sold to ensure all parts work and are in good condition on a new car.
No strange gaps and missing parts on a new car.
Keep up with advancements in engine technology in years not over decades.
Dont test new robots on a production line. Select only the best skilled workers.
Use robots and skilled workers selected on merit to ensure quality car production every year.
Make car size people want with very different technology to support new car deign weight and size.
Dont design decades old heavy engine into every new car. Think about power and weight in a new way.
Dont meet pollution standards by altering a decades old heavy engine. Have the advanced engineering skills to have a new engine ready.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I wanted to buy a Chevy Cruise back in 2012, but then I remembered how much "fun" my GM Alero had been. Also, I was still stinging from the $1000s I lost in stock when GM got its bailout. I bought a Mazda 3i and I love it. By by American cars forever.
According to https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-gm-plant-closing-restructuring-20181126-story.html, six models were scrapped at GM: the Buick LaCrosse, the Cadillac CT6/XTS, and the Chevrolet Cruze/Volt (but not the similarly-named all-electric Chevrolet Bolt).
There are still a number of other sedans listed at https://www.gmfleet.com/overview/cars.html including the Buick Regal/Verano, Cadillact ATS/CTS, Chevrolet Bolt/Impala/Malibu/Sonic/Spark, so "exiting the sedan market" seems to be a bit of an exaggeration unless more model cancellations are planned.
The real story here is the job losses and a man in the White House who sold people on the idea that he alone could wave a wand and magically fix them (which means we also get to credit him with a failure to do so).
I think it's more that trucks and SUVs are protected by tariffs, so the Japanese brands make them in the US competing with the other US brands. But they can do it cheaper without all the legacy stuff. Cars aren't protected, so it's cheaper to import and US brands can't compete. Sure they tried making them in Mexico, but quality dropped and people stopped buying them.
I don't know, but it works for me.
My last three care were Toyotas. The first I traded in with 250K miles - it still ran fine. The other two I still have, one with 100K and the other with 8K. I've taken the factory tour and there were a lot of US employees working seemingly happily there. I would be happy to buy a Ford or GM if they were as reliable as the Toyotas are.
Hillary's campaign manager fell for an obvious, Apple-themed phishing email and gave up his iCloud credentials which were then leveraged to get more shit.
Over 2 years later, that's all we have any actual evidence of.
https://lmgtfy.com/
They lost sales because they cost too much.
They can aggressively price their cars, offer incentives and it will sell.
Those cars sold more in the previous years because they got the dealerships to sell more with financial incentives.
Go out buying a car and the prices of cars are all over the place. There are leases being offered that are hundreds of dollars different between the same class of cars. Even the same car can be leased for $300 one year and it's $550 the next year.
I've noticed that east and west coast don't have many American cars. When I was in California, the most prevalent American car was Tesla. Since I don't live there I don't what's going on there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
Have gnu, will travel.
Brother-in-law lives and works in the city. So he bought a sedan. Sorry state of city streets has messed up his car's suspension several times in the past decade. He keeps looking at my 40 year old Landcruiser (no mechanical problems), thinking about what he should by next.
Have gnu, will travel.
Surprise!
The refinery complex down in Port Arthur, Texas? Owned by Saudi Arabia.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Is that you, Sarah Huckabee?
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
The reason the US car makers favor trucks is that the japanese trucks have a 25% tarrif since 1973. It's much more profitable for US automakers so they emphasize this category over the thin margins on sedans. Additionally one has to consider the labor and material costs. For some cost structures it's much better to sell one high ticket item over two smaller ticket items, favoring the production of trucks over cars.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Are you sure? The "tailpipes," are vibrators now.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Since everyone is sharing stories..
Back in 2006 i got a mazda 6, and in 2007 we needed another car. I wanted my GF to get a mazda CX9. She didnt want to drive a japanese car (She's chinese) and went with a chevy uplander. Lets fastforward a number of years.
Repairs done to the mazda:
Brakes
Tires
Repairs done to the Uplander
Hub Bearings (3 or 4, i forget).
Brakes
tires
battery
Traction control almost never works (the wire connecdting the speed sensor keeps getting ripped out??).
I got rid of the uplander a few months ago as the power stearing pump was failing. Mazda, still runs fine...
GF now drives a lexus GX 460, i drive a Hyundai Elantra, kids still drive the mazda 6.
point of the story - I have a huge regret buying that turd of an uplander.
what about japanese cars made in the USA?
in with the new.
America is stuck in the present and too goddam greedy to be farsighted (just look up Gary Larson).
The old Capitalism was, "If you don't have to change, then fon't spend the money."
Long-term planners see around corners and are flexible and welcome the capital advantage of change.
The American automobile manufacturing plants are going the way of textiles, shoes, toys, etc.
Every goddam time David Muir presents the "Made in America," snippet, the fucking stuff is mom & pop and useless as tits on a boar hog.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
what about all the japanese cars made in the USA? how are they still better vs a "american" car company?
My mazda 6 was like 80% "domestic" and even has a UAW sticker on the door.
First time I've heard someone claim that new car buyers are concerned about having to buy two sets of spanners to work on their car.
I doubt enough people work on their own cars to affect sales in that way.
It was the 4th car I'd owned, first one bought new. Biggest pile of shit I've ever driven. Remember, this was the days of "Quality is Job 1". Within a year I'd replaced every light bulb in the car. At 2 years I went out to go somewhere, dead battery. No warning, just dead one day. Fortunately it was a stick so I could push start it (by myself, yay me!) to get a new battery. The fucking seat broke. This was when I was still a skinny ass, maybe 170 lbs fully dressed with full pockets. Took it to the dealer (it was still under warranty), basically got told lose weight. The cruise control, well, the nut holding the cruise control on the steering column loosened up during normal driving and went from the 11 oclock position to the 6 oclock position. Every time I drove it. Even after using Loc-tite. The floorpan rusted through within 5 years, and I live in San Diego (that is, no salt and not much rain).
The final insult? Had issues with sending payments so for the last year or so I'd been driving to a Ford place in Mission Valley to pay my monthly payment. Made my final payment. Driving back to work I ran over something and flattened a front tire. I realize this wasn't Ford's fault, but it perfectly summed up my previous 4 years of owning the car.
When did I sell it? After about 6 years and 70,000 miles a belt started to squeak. Took it to a mechanic, the crankshaft pulley was wobbling. This meant either a complete engine rebuild RSN, or stranded somewhere RSN. I sold the car and bought an import.
Oh, that broken seat? Was a recall, about the time I sold the PoS.
I'm on my third car since then, bought new. I haven't looked at a domestic car in 30 years, they've all been imports (1 BMW, 2 Infinities).
Once you get a bad broad reputation, it's hard to kick. Your newer stuff has to be better than the competition to correct the reputation. "Equal" is not strong enough. That's just human psychology in action.
It's like somebody with a notorious reputation for lying. To clean their reputation, they'd have to lie less than average for a good while to get back in good graces. Lying the same amount would supply enough lies to reinforce their existing reputation.
You hear that Microsoft, Oracle, Comcast, and IBM?
Table-ized A.I.
... from now we will be reading an article saying that "The supremacy of *Korean* cars has been 40 years in the making", and in 30 to 40 years from now, we will be reading an article titled "The supremacy of Chinese cars has been 40 years in the making"
that is the cycle of such things. Happened with cars, consumer electronics, tvs and monitors, computer components, appliances, the works.
I was born in late 1972, and I do remember a lot of things...
Remember the the 70's when japan was the place were cheapo-low-quality plastic toys and shoody appliances were made? everyone wanted a Zenith or GE, or RCA TV. No stinking toshibas, or Hitachis! And cars, everyone wanted a chevy or a ford (or a european). Japanese cars were a synonym of cheapo-low quality.
Remember the 80s when having a "Samtron" monitor in your computer was a sign of low quality? Rember in the 80's, when no one in their right mind would buy a Hyundai car? Nope, everyone wanted a toyota then, and a trinitron TV, or a NEC monitor. Samsung and Lucky Goldstar TVs were for loosers!
Remember the '90s and early 00's, when no one in their right mind would buy a Chery or a Geely car? Or a Haier TV or appliance? What now, GE appliances is a wholy owned subsidiary of Haier, which is the bigest Appliance manufacturer worldwide, while Geely owns both volvo and Lotus, and chery is assembling jaguars and land rovers for the chinese market.
So, countries upend other countries. do not dismiss them on the base of "percieived" quality (it will improve) or "perceived lack of innovation" (for they will innovate). Just take solace in that, just like in Japan, the chinese juggernaut will stop, and be upended by someone else...
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
They wanted to get caught because it is the best way to improve their public image while damaging the public image of the US, I guess?
And they succeeded. But they had to work at it some because over the years they accidentally put out some perfectly fine cars.
I drove a Pontiac Grand Am (with the aluminum 4-cylinder, not the iron V6 boat anchor, up front) all over the country for more than a decade, my brother drives it still. And I bought it used. The Ford Fusion of recent years was my preferred flavor of rental car, vastly better than getting stuck with a Kia on trips. I always thought that it would be nicer if it stuck out a little less front and back and didn't force you to sit so low. Turns out there was a car exactly like that: the Mazda 6 that Ford stretched and otherwise over-complicated to make the Fusion. Guess what I drive now?
Our Honda Civic Hybrid was a dog. Lots of transmission trouble and other weird issues. I've owned Nissans and Toyotas and after 5 or 6 years they start falling apart and turn into beaters.
Our 2008 Mercury Mariner has been trouble free for over 10 years. Our 2013 Tesla Model S has also been pretty much trouble free.
In my experience, the supremacy of Japanese cars is a myth. They are not more reliable. Don't get me started on Jaguar and Volkswagon... If you wisely select the right models, American cars are better.
Greed is the root of all evil.
I loved my Saturn. Though late in Saturn's life it was clear that they abandoned the original concept of being an autonomous entity and were back to using generic GM frames and parts.
Friend of mine has a '87 Nissan truck, one of the first built in the USA. It's all metric accepting perhaps the wheel lug nuts. At that, my '98 Ford seems to be all metric accepting once again, the wheel nuts.
Still the Americans screw it up, my Japanese trucks only used a few common sizes, 8,10,12,14,17,19mm basically covered most everything. My Ford uses, 7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18 at least. Some of these sizes I didn't even own such as the 16 which wasn't in many sets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
If Camry outsold the Equinox (290,000) by 100,000, then 390,000 Camrys were sold, more than the CR-V (378,000), ranked #6. But Camry is not one of the top six listed. If the basic facts are wrong, why should I believe the conclusions in this article?
I think the author mixed sales numbers for the full year 2017 with a list of top sellers for the first half of 2018.
I found a page that has 2017's top sellers as
1. Ford F-Series 896,764
2. Chevy Silverado 585,864
3. Ram Truck 500,723
4. Toyota RAV4 407,594
5. Nissan Rogue 403,465
6. Toyota Camry 387,081
7. Honda CR-V 377,895
8. Honda Civic 377,286
9. Toyota Corolla 329,196
10. Honda Accord 322,655
11. Ford Escape 308,296
12. Chevy Equinox 290,458
Those numbers match the ones on http://carsalesbase.com/us-car..., cited as the source of numbers in the article.
According to that list, the "leading American SUV" is the Ford Escape (not the Chevy Equinox). In 2017 Ford (not Chevy) sold 79,000 (not 100,000) fewer than Toyota sold Camrys. To me, that doesn't change the gist of the article. Ford and GM are dropping cars from their lineups to focus on more profitable trucks and SUVs, while Toyota and Honda are still selling plenty of cars, while the Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4, and Honda CR-V are handily outselling Ford Escape and Chevy Equinox.
Next time the price of gas goes up it'll be bailout time once more for Detroit.
I had an 80s chevrolet and what was the most used socket? 10mm. Like every other car.
You don't know what you are talking about. All cars have been metric for a while, and even a basic 30$ socket set has sae and metric for the odd sae time.
I have a kia and i love it. So much leg room which is kind of unexpected, but it had more leg room than any american car in the same segment i sat in. And reliability and performance are excellent.
-
That summary reads like a case study straight out of Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline... Detroit making all the wrong decisions for short term gain (and long term demise). Don't they read Senge in Detroit?
For that matter, the software industry with their Agile fad should also read it.
Anyway, my 19-year-old Toyota pickup truck with 230 000 miles on the clock still goes like a rocket (as far as diesels CAN go like rockets...). And despite all the scratches and dents (but without rust), not a week goes by without an offer to buy from some entrepreneur that wants some transport to start up/expand his building or transport or garden service business (I'm outside of the US though).
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
I wanted my GF to get a mazda CX9. She didnt want to drive a japanese car (She's chinese) and went with a chevy uplander.
[...]
point of the story - I have a huge regret buying that turd of an uplander.
Did you buy it or did she buy it? When I bought my wife a car I didn't ask her detailed opinion first - it's my money, my car, my responsibility. She got to say what type of car she wanted (hatchback, SUV, whatever) but not which brand or which model.
of course, when she bought her own car she had full and complete autonomy to spend her money as she saw fit but she *still* asked me things like "Is this a reliable brand? Is this expensive to maintain", etc.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Counter anecdote: In college, my friend had a Chrysler Lazer which was the uptrim sibling of the Dodge Daytona. Biggest piece of shit ever. Something was always breaking or else the engine was burning up.
I enjoyed poking fun at it until I wrecked my car and my pop got me another used car as a "surprise". Boy my heart sank when I saw it was the same piece of shit Chrysler model my friend had. So many things broke on that thing: steering wheel almost came off in my lap, brake cable snapped at an intersection so I had to stop by driving it into a ditch, gear shift kept popping out so I drove the last 100 miles until home forcefully holding the lever in place and destroyed the transmission, in my first job post-college, I saw flames coming out from under the hood as I drove into the parking building so I coasted it into a spot, opened the hood, and beat the flames out with my coat. Then I walked to my office. I left the car there sitting there and so wanted to just abandon the fucking thing, but they don't let you do that, so I donated it to the high school auto shop. They had that thing running in days, and the kids working on it told me, "Cool car!" It was like passing a psychotic ex-girlfriend off onto someone else.
Guess how we know that you're lying?
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Sorry, but the data disagrees.
Interesting how a collectivist society that works its people to death fails to keep up with a society built on freedom and innovation.
I had a 2014 Nissan Rogue. It's actually a rather nicely designed vehicle with a good layout, nice controls, and a lot of functionality. It is also one of the few mid-sized vehicles with a 3rd row seat. This is essentially, a modern station wagon with AWD.
However, I encountered two issues with my Nissan Rogue AWD.
ISSUE 1) Fuel Economy - It never came close to the estimated EPA mileage - not even in the ballpark. In fact if you review
RATED: 25 City, 31 Highway, 27 Combined.
Over the life of the vehicle I averaged 23.5 MPG. Now I drove nearly a 100 miles a day, mostly highway. And if you look at FuelEconomy.gov, you'll see my mileage was the norm.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/fe...
Frankly, I believe that Nissan used a computer algorithm to put the vehicle in a more efficient low-power fuel economy mode for testing. I believe you only enter this mode if you are driving like 50 MPH. It is one thing, to expect EPA estimates to be off. But usually, when you buy a vehicle, you at least expect your HWY mileage to be better than the CTY rating. And considering my prior vehicle was a Nissan Versa, rated at 30CTY, 37HWY, 33C, in which on the same commute I averaged around 36.5MPG. So yes, I felt very deceived.
ISSUE 2) 36K/3YR warranty - so I added the extended warranty at purchase as well. I had an intermittent issue with the AC they told me to bring it in when it was occurring. However, when it finally did and completely failed. The vehicle was at 37,000 miles and 13 months of age. Took them a week to diagnose and fix the problem. Which they claimed was the blower motor fuse, and that the blower motor was fine. Nissan refused to cover it under warranty. A 13 month old vehicle that had the problems in it's first year. Fuses are considered replaceables, so the extended warranty didn't cover it. $700+ to fix a brand new car. I fought with Nissan national, and they finally covered half the cost. Within 6 months, the problem was back. Nissan wanted more money to diagnose.
Driving a 100 miles a day in summer heat sweating while going thru a nasty divorce and battling depression is NO FUN. There were days I damn near wanted to drive the thing off the road, or into a showroom. Finally, I gave up, why fight to struggle and pay for a vehicle that wasn't working. It needed a set of four new tires - runflats so about double the price. And I gave up and let the bank take it.
Thanks Nissan...
Love the car, but the fact Nissan wouldn't stand behind their product when it was only a year old. NOT COOL!!!!
(And without a doubt they are cheating on the EPA mileage and need to be penalized on it like Kia was.)
A divided, distracted enemy is weaker, so yeah, this is exactly what they, and other unfriendly nation states are doing.
It's also easier to believe a Russian troll is a concerned US citizen when they point fingers back at Russia, so the ROI is worth it for them.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Uh, not all these things happened on the same day.
Engage brain, dear reader.
You should do the same. Brakes don't work with cables, and transmissions don't get more damaged than they already are by holding it in when it pops out.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Trying to keep Tesla (panel quality rivaling that of 90's era Kia according to Sandy Munro) from being associated as yet another American manufacturing disaster.
Panel fit and finish are important, because they're the first thing people notice. But they're actually one of the least important things about the vehicle when it comes to function and safety. What's important in the unibody is how many of the welds and other fastenings are successful, and whether the corrosion protection functions. Everything else is gravy. Back in the 80s Hondas used to have premature paint failure, but it wasn't catastrophic failure — they didn't rust away. Today, almost nobody remembers Honda's crappy paint.
What of these well lubed Musk boypussies?
Rei
WindBourne
K. S. Kyosuke
drinkypoo
Woo, I'm boypussy #4! Yeah baby! If I get to #1, will Elon mail me a Tesla? Any model will do, they're all better than anything I've ever owned or driven. Best not to be an original roadster, though, because I'm fat and tall.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
He keeps looking at my 40 year old Landcruiser (no mechanical problems), thinking about what he should by next.
Probably not one of those, in case he has a problem with it. Definitely something with AWD, lots of sidewall, and fully independent suspension. I'd go for a Subaru with steelies.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I had an 80s chevrolet and what was the most used socket? 10mm. Like every other car.
In the 80s Chevrolet was using basically every goddamned drive for fasteners that mankind has envisioned. Powertrain components were overwhelmingly SAE, but the bodies were generally metric. Screws were a mix of philips, torx, hex, and even so help me god clutch-tip screws. What a bunch of wankers.
On the other hand, I doubt a statistically significant number of people refused to buy American because they might need more tools. Almost nobody works on their own cars. More people did it in the 80s, but it was pretty well dead already by then.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You should do the same. Brakes don't work with cables,
What? Yes they do. They're called parking brakes.
and transmissions don't get more damaged than they already are by holding it in when it pops out.
They said the shift lever popped out, and they held it in. That had nothing to do with the brakes.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You should do the same. Brakes don't work with cables,
What? Yes they do. They're called parking brakes.
You should read more carefully - loss of parking brakes don't result in "driving into a ditch to stop the car". That's how we know he is lying.
and transmissions don't get more damaged than they already are by holding it in when it pops out.
They said the shift lever popped out, and they held it in. That had nothing to do with the brakes.
You really should read more carefully - poster claims that the transmission was destroyed when they held in the lever after it popped out. Neither he nor I claimed that had anything to do with the brakes. I only claimed that poster is lying because he thinks that holding the stick in a gear when it pops out destroys the transmission.
It's obviously clear that he's lying about these things: a brake cable snapping doesn't mean you have to stop by driving in a ditch and holding a gear in place doesn't destroy the transmission.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
I only claimed that poster is lying because he thinks that holding the stick in a gear when it pops out destroys the transmission.
Eh, if you damaged the shift mechanism badly enough it could require a transmission out to repair, which is functionally the same as destroying the transmission for the average owner.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I only claimed that poster is lying because he thinks that holding the stick in a gear when it pops out destroys the transmission.
Eh, if you damaged the shift mechanism badly enough it could require a transmission out to repair, which is functionally the same as destroying the transmission for the average owner.
Maybe, possibly ... but taken in context with his other blatant lie about driving into a ditch to stop the car after a cable broke, I doubt it.
That's the thing about including one lie in with a whole bunch of other statements - you lose your credibility.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
The Subaru Brat (what I assume you are thinking of) got around it by literally bolting seats into bed.
The way to get around it now is to build your pickups in the US, since it only applies to trucks that are actually imported, not the "import" brands. So it really only serves to keep out more niche vehicles that are sold overseas that wouldn't be sold in the numbers worth building in the US, but possibly worth importing in smallish numbers if they weren't slapped with a 25% tax.
I used to be a total Nissan fanboy. But then the alliance with Renault happened and I knew they would go straight down the tubes. I had a 1989 240SX which is probably the best car I ever owned or will own. It got amazing mileage (~30 mpg @ 65mph) and it was trivial to work on. But those days are long, long gone.
In spite of mileage cheating, Korean is probably the kind of car to have today. They are still trying to fight the image that they are not as good as the Japanese, so they're still trying
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Turns out there was a car exactly like that: the Mazda 6 that Ford stretched and otherwise over-complicated to make the Fusion. Guess what I drive now?
Yes, this is something that Ford has long done that I have never understood. Take Mazda, make it uglier, sell it. What? The worst example was the Ford Probe. Not only was it spectacularly ugly, but it was spectacularly uglier than the MX-6.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Sounds like management SOP.
Create a business unit sopposed to make things better by doing them different, then limit them to the same parts and designs as before.
bickerdyke