New Car Quality Differences

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Javelin: I don't know about bulletproof, just light years ahead of a few decades ago.

Light years? Not hardly. Better? Than 1982, sure. 1992, maybe. 2002, no way!

Klayfish wrote:

MG Bryan wrote: My father's Sonic was delivered broken, for what it's worth.

If it was delivered broken, then apparently it wasn't worth much, huh?

Somehow he didn't manage to realize that none of the HVAC controls did anything before he drove it home.

Javelin wrote: In reply to tuna55: Apparently you haven't read the formal recall or seen the news last month when one of the packs exploded in GM's plant. Just pointing out that new cars aren't as bullet-proof as some believe. It was just the first GM one to pop into my head since I was trying to be equal, but take your pick of any of their other recent recalls.engineering foibles to make the point more salient for yourself, there's plenty to choose from.

The pack exploded from a durability test and the recall was just some added metal to appease the whistleblower folks - apparently you didn't read the actual articles, just the Drudge Report headlines maybe?

In reply to tuna55:

Fine, conceding the point on Volts. NOT the point I was trying to make. Is this better?

50,000 SUV's for wipers

6,000 SUV's for steering

26,000 pickup's for axles

47,000 Caddy's for airbags

5,700 Vette's for hinges

And that's just the first five search results out of 100+ recalls within the last 2 years...

In reply to Javelin:

I think you are making points for the other side. 30 years ago they didn't issue recalls for stuff like this because it was so commonplace. And tough E36 M3 to the owners.

Javelin wrote: To be fair, at least new Porsche's don't smell like 3-day-old fish inside. Also, Volt battery fires, Tacoma frame rust, Ford CC fires, etc, etc show that we still aren't out of the woods yet.

Heh. That interor fish funk thing ain't nothing new. Mercury Tracers had the exact same problem way back when.

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to Javelin: I think you are making points for the other side. 30 years ago they didn't issue recalls for stuff like this because it was so commonplace. And tough E36 M3 to the owners.

The data says otherwise.

Recalls aren't necessarily a bad thing if they are voluntary, it shows that a manufacturer is willing to address issues with a car before it becomes a problem for owners. Envision it as field quality control.