Could GM Goodwrench Nascar Pullout Affect WJ, KJ, etc.? (2 Viewers)

[Kelly]

I totally agree with you Jason. I had owned domestic vehicles my whole life until '99, with exception of a Renault Aliance...YUK! I warped the aluminum head on that thing and the door locks fell out! That would total 7 vehicles.....all had issues after 60K, with exception of the Jeep Cherokee. That sucker was kickin' at 160K when I traded it in.

My last two vehicles were Toyotas and I have been awesomely impressed. The Solara had 140K when I traded it in and drove like the day I drove it off the lot. It was a monthly cost issue. My little Corolla S has been stellar for 3 years and 87K.

If I ever buy another domestic vehicle it WON'T be a daily driver!

 

[Jeff]

Great post Sean.

Jason, the resale values are based on MSRP and not sales price. If you compare based on actual sales price (accounting for the fact that US manufacturers are addicted/forced to discount) the percentages are much closer.

I agree smaller foreign cars seem to have higher quality and better design. I do like my big US diesel trucks, my V8 Dodge Charger has a lot of German parts but is a great car for the money, and my hauler's trailer car, a Chevy Aveo, is really a badged Korean car (I think) . . . I'd love to see more money come into NHRA sponsorship. A Mercedes pro stock would really be cool!

Jeff

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

the main reason the "domestic" brands are struggling is lack of quality.

I'll respectfully disagree. The vehicles I currently own are as follows:
2003 GMC Yukon XL (GMC's Suburban) It's been almost flawless since purchased new as have our previous 10 new Suburbans

2005 Chevrolet Crew Cab Duramax Dually It's not needed to return to the dealership for anything and I have a very good dealership 5 miles away. It'll be under warranty for another year and a half and I can't imagine what might fail and need service prior to that? My son has my old 2001 Duramax Dually and it has yet to need more than standard oil-change type service with three times the mileage.

1972 Corvette with 48K miles. It's worth over 10 times it's MSRP and getting better every day and runs like a top!

2-1963 Chevy II wagons same story as above only replace the 10 with a 5 or so.

Three of my kids have Chevrolet S-10 Blazers from 1994 to 2000 that have been nearly flawless. Most expensive repairs have been alternators or water pumps.

Two of my sons have older full-sized Blazers. The 1992 has over 250K miles on the same engine. The trans was rebuilt at 185K. The 1976 has well over 400K miles. Fifteen years ago my oldest son fell asleep at the wheel of this truck and hit a telephone pole North of Flagstaff, AZ at 60+ MPH. The pole broke off at the ground level and the truck was then driven home to Phoenix immediately thereafter. We replaced a bumper, grill and hood. The truck is still in full service today and I still have my son. Given that the pole was hit in direct line of the driver's seat I can assure you that there has yet to be a foreign car built that could have returned my son home that night, much less operating the vehicle to return.

I have BBC engines that have made nearly 1000 HP that have over 400 passes on them without needing to even grind a crank. Is there any foreign engine making that kind of horsepower that can even come close? I think not.

I could go on and on but for the sake of argument, I'll suffice it to say that with 5 1000+ HP race cars and 5 500+ HP boats running American Built components, I'll match my track record with any foreign stuff. Don't even get me started on price comparisons! The debate will get more lopsided quickly!

The problem the big three are facing can be summed up in three letters.
UAW

We'd be in instant competition if the Europeans, Asians, Germans all had demanding labor unions for the past 5 or 6 decades.
I'm aware there will be many union members who disagree but I believe the facts speak for themselves.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

From Richard - "Samuel, is that a type O? 20-30 million for a NASCAR sponsorship, please tell me you're joking? That's a huge pile of dollar bills, if my math is right that could be 10 NHRA teams. OooHhh MmmYyy!"
According to an aquaintance who pitches Nextel teams to sponsors, entry level bucks for a title sponsorship is $25 mllion. NASCAR marketing execs who land major sponsors can get a 1% to 2% bonus on top of their six figure salaries.
IF an NHRA team was able to hire one of these professionals away from a NASCAR team (offers have been made) - the only thing they would be able to sell is an ego trip.
The demographics don't lie - a very high profile TF team is heading into 2007 without a sponsor after stating that an announcement would be made at Indy. No new sponsors for 2007 - just a realignment of a small group of people who have lots of money and HUGE egos.

 

[BlueStangGT]

The problem the big three are facing can be summed up in three letters.
UAW

There's a ton of people out there, including me, that agree with this.

 

[none]

From Richard - The demographics don't lie - a very high profile TF team is heading into 2007 without a sponsor after stating that an announcement would be made at Indy. .

That's not all together true, an announcement was made at Indy...........by Kenny Bernstein

 

[hellfirejim]

I guess I fall on both sides of this. I have a 95 Hyunda that is my daily beater [80 miles daily] that has 208,000 miles on it and still gets 32 to 34 mpg. However I also have a 98 Ranger that has 198,000 miles and I haven't done anything major to it, just normal wear and tear and maintenance. Maybe I just been lucky.

There appears to be a couple of reasons that the big three are having problems being competitive. One of which is the cost of doing business. Right now the two major costs are health care and labor cost. If the other makes had this handicap then they would be suffering too.

However there is one other thing and that is what I call cycle of production. For example in the 70s when the first gas price fixing started the big three were making big barges while the imports were the economy cars. If you look close it has happened again with the latest price hike of gas. Having the right product at the right time does help.

One final thought, We used to have some really bad quality problems but all in all most all cars today are built well. Of course there is always that lemon but for the most part, pretty good.
jim

 

[BrettV]

Sorry Devallion, you're just mistaken.
Most of the import brand cars assembled here use imported parts.

My 1993 Mercury Villager minivan was made in US and had a Nissan drive train. In the same plant Nissan Quest minivans were also made. The 2 models were practically identical. So other than the nameplate, why was the Mercury considered domestic and the Nissan considered import?

Brett

 

[Baron]

I'm glad you mentioned Mercury Brett.
According to the latest J.D. Powers survey of owners after three years; here's the quality ranking by make. 1) Lexus, 2) Mercury, 3) Buick, 4) Cadillac, 5) Toyota, and 6) Honda. I don't remember the rest of the rankings except that the lowest cars on the list included British, German, and Japanese makes.
My point was and is: good engineers and quality automobiles and trucks are produced in many countries. The domestic manufacturers aren't idiots and the Japanese have not repealed the law of gravity.
When someone tells me "American cars are no good," your example is a good one, as it represents a "Japanese" car and an "American" car which are the same vehicle. The automobile business is global and most automakers use parts and assembly points throughout the globe.
My long-winded original message was intended to point to an unindicted co-conspirator in the difficulties of our domestic producers: our government. We have been let down by a government that refuses to insist on fair trade rules for our exports or on others' imports.
You also mentioned Nissan. They've made some boffo cars through the years, but have had difficulty making a profit. Along comes Carlos Ghosn from Renault do Brasil (the Brazilian arm of French automaker Renault) and he shakes up the outfit and puts it in the black. Ghosn is a Brazilian, but his parents were immigrants to that country. They came from Lebanon. Yes, it truly is a global market.
I don't want to see the imports restricted. I support free trade. Neither do I want people to believe that foreign companies have made an investment in domestic manufacturing that they have not, in fact, made.
By the bye, the Toyota in front of my house was made in Hamamatsu. The Hamamatsu in Japan, not the one in Kansas.
The car next to it was assembled by the largest private employer in Ohio:Honda.
Cheers,
Ed
P.S. After World War II our benighted government extended wage controls in the postwar economy. In order to attract the skilled working people needed to assemble the cars Americans were demanding in that period, Detroit turned to one thing it could offer: big benefit packages.
"Those that do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana

 

[Rocketman 207]

Maybe Bill Gates will jump in and purchase him a NASCAR connection team, research and development group, first class testing equipment and new facility next to their own personal testing track where they can "test the wheels off" their cars?

Didn't Greg Anderson/Summit do that already?...

 

[Mike]

No change for WJ and KJ at this time.

 

[nhdriver]

I'd like to see Toyota, Nissan and Honda in Pro Stock. A good portion of the American population drives them, it would add to the manufaturer rivalries and most of their cars sold here are made here by Americans, not in Canada, Mexico or South Korea.


S/F
D

Not me, The Japenese want everything .They want all the market share in every automotive catagory. They have invaded Nascar and now they have there sights set on NHRA. When I see Kalitta's "Toyota" funny car I at least know it has a good old American Hemi in it. A Camry Pro Stocker would make me sick.Yeah, the cars may be made here but the profits go back to Japan.And in Nissan's case 50% goes to the French Govt.(Renault's owner)