American Perception Problems of the American Auto Industry

[Rich Parsons]

American Perception Problems of the American Auto Industry[FONT=&quot]

Ford and General Motors have taken turns besting the Toyota Camry in
quality surveys for the past two years, but if you talk to many Americans -
especially the ones who would never consider supporting home-based auto
companies - you'd never know it.

Last year, the Chevrolet Impala beat the Toyota Camry in initial quality
according to J.D. Power & Associates, and Consumer Reports just announced
that both the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan scored higher than both the
Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord this year.

After the announcement, Ford's Director of Global Quality Debbe Yeager
commented "It's a perception gap," referring to the struggle American
companies have had overcoming the perceived and seemingly untarnishable
reputation of their foreign rivals.

_________________________________________________________

Roger Simmermaker is the author of "How Americans Can Buy American: The
Power of Consumer Patriotism." He also writes "Buy American Mention of the
Week" articles for his website http://wwwhowtobuyamerican.com/ and is a
member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a
frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC and has been quoted
in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many
other publications.

Roger Simmermaker, Author
How Americans Can Buy American
www.howtobuyamerican.com

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Rest of article can be accessed here.


Even with some of the US products reporting better from JD Power then the imports, but the press and the public perceptions are still that there is a lack of quality on the North American Companies.


So is this just lag in perception or has the domestics lost the edge completely?


[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[Carol]

I dunno, my old Prelude had its first repair at 130,000 miles - a popped O2 sensor. This repair was something that never left me stranded, and didn't cost me an arm and a leg to fix. When my husband totalled the car at 135,000, we received an insurance check that was over $5K after deductible.

When there is a domestic car that is more reliable and holds its value better than Honda, I'll consider it. Until then...especially living alone and working weird hours, there is no way that I would personally chance driving anything else.

 

[fireman00]

I was a hard core, die-in-the wool, buy American for 20 years; until the gears in the rear differential of my 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport started to loose teeth at 39k miles - 3k out of warrantee and Chrysler told me to get lost... it wasn't their problem. Then at 42k miles the clockspring broke in my steering wheel - again not their problem, then at 79k miles it developed what's known as the "jeep death wobble" and again I was told - not their problem. So I'm out of pocket 1,800 for the rear, 150 for the clockspring and over 2,000 to replace parts of the front suspension til the death wobble was cured. I had a similar problem with Ford when the fuel injector in an Explorer died at about 40k miles - not their problem, I had it replaced and it died after only 5k more miles leaving my wife and I and her grandmother stranded along Rt. 78 - again not their problem. H20 sensor went bad at 42k; not their problem.

The perception I got was once the sale was made they couldn't care less about service. So now I'm a Nissan fanatic and will NEVER buy another vehicle from an American owned car company.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I have had many cars in my lifetime. Buick, Ford, Chevy, Honda, Volkswagon and Toyota. Of all the cars the two that required the least maintenance and repair were the Toyota and Honda. Basically all I
have ever had to do was change oil, tires & muffler on them. The Buick for an old car was sweet and required little maintenance. My Ford truck was good as well and I would buy a Ford truck in the future. The Volkswagon rocked and still rocks. My chevy experiences were not bad but certainly not up to the others. Just my individual perception.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I had a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am. I gave it away to a friend who went through a divorce and not vehicle even though he got full custody of the kids.

The 93 Grand Am had 193,000 miles on it. Other than Oil changes, tires, and coolant here was the maintenance I did:
Front Struts at 67,000 miles parts covered by the warrenty but not labor. The cause of the failure was me, who at 80 mph would stab the throttle and have the front end of the car bounce up and down. It had not horse power there, but it still had torque to move the front end.
Between 110,000 and 120,000 miles I replaced the Alternator, the belt and the coolant pump.
Around 125,000 miles I did a Trans Oil change (* the only one *)
I did a complete tune up and replaced the coils around 145,000. It was running fine but my miles per gallon and performance had dropped.

On my current 2000 Pontiac Firebird other than Oil changes, tires and coolant here is what I have done for maintenance: (* current mileage 90k *)

I had the rear pinion seal replaced at 65,000 miles as I store it in the garage in the winter. If you do not move it then rust can develop and the seal weeps, not leaks just weeps. Being the type of person who does nto like that I checked into and it was covered by the warrenty.

The Chrome on the inside of my wheels started to peel do to over exposure to brake dust. I went to the dealership and asked what was up. It was not covered by the warrenty, but they knew I was upset so they talked to the regional manager, and I got a set of four rims that would have cost on the street just under $800 for $300 as they ran it through as a partial warrenty charge.

On my current 2003 GMC 1500 SLT Z71 extended cab pick up truck, other than the scheduled oil changes (* done by the % oil life monitor which has been about 10,000 to 12,000 miles - Current mileage is 52,000+ *)
No tires and no coolant changes to date.
There was a recall on the cables fo the tail gate - Covered no cost and done when I scheduled an oil change.

I know examples of really nice performance in all the name brands.

I also know people who have had Honda's that they took back as they could not get even close to the report fuel economy.
The other thread about sludge in engines I know people from Toyota and also Kia who had this issue.

So like I said with the first post, there are improvements as JD Power has shown for a few years now, that beat the imports, and this is what many of the people claim is the reason for buying the imports. So just curious like I said if it is really a lost cause based upon peception?

I mean if you love the sheet metal or look of a car then people buy it. Yet when people are looking for either cheap or functional may times great look is not the top item on their list.

Prime example of perception, Many of the feedback on the Toyota Matrix is bad. Yet the Pontiac Vibe is great. Both are the same car, built in the same plant designed by Toyota. The previous vehicles built there the Corolla and Nova were the opposite in reactions.

So from the feedback I have seen here, there is no hope for the domestic automakers as they will never be able to overcome the perception issue.


As to Dealerships, this is the biggest concern I have about vehicles. Most (* Some law from in the early 19th century prohibits the company to own over a certain percentage of dealerships *) are independantly owned. So service quality from one to the next could be real different.

 

[Ping898]

My two cents without having read everything else.....American Cars are boring! I drive and 04 Jetta. I love it...small car, kind of sporty looking, a TON of cargo room (I can fit as much as some SUV'a with my back seats down) great safety-wise and the car is very heavy for a small car so I don't get whipped around on windy days, it handles like a dream in bad weather and when I am doing highway driving I get pretty good mileage....What's my choice for a similar can made by an american company? the Ford Focus? the Chevy Colbalt? All a step down as far as I am concerned...none will give me everything the jetta does and on the upside I find the interior and exterior of my jetta estetically pleasing...

 

[grydth]

I had a Jetta when I was in the Army in Germany, and would that ever fly on the Autobahn! Forever will have fine memories of what real driving is all about, not the herd of cattle commutes at 30 that we have to endure here.

Now I drive an SUV, an import. Somebody snidely tweaked me once about not "buying American".......... So I asked if I called their Customer Service, would I get an American - or did they outsource all those jobs to India or Bangladesh? Would my car - and the parts in it - be American...... or made and assembled overseas? Were the directors and major shareholders American.... or from someplace else? Finally, since so many things are not made here anymore...... how did HE manage to always and everywhere buy American?

 

[Marginal]

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Rest of article can be accessed here.


Even with some of the US products reporting better from JD Power then the imports, but the press and the public perceptions are still that there is a lack of quality on the North American Companies.


So is this just lag in perception or has the domestics lost the edge completely?

Personally, as long as US automakers constantly strive to produce the ugliest cars possible, they're not going to draw my interest. (That said, I drive a Ford.)

 

[jdinca]

I drive an Ford F250 Diesel. I had a $60 part go out on me twice that resulted in my truck going to the dealer on a flatbed. The electric door lock motors went out, oh, about 3 months after the warranty expired. That said, I've never had any other problem with it and will drive it until the wheels fall off.

I may someday add something small, foriegn and fast though. :ultracool