[Mr.PD]

I know about the personal experience thing.
The last (almost) GM car I ever had was a early 80's Monte Carlo that was a POS. I swore of GM forever. I did break that vow to buy a Corvette once, but I figured they were special.

About that global auto connection. Yep. I have a Chrysler Sebring that when you open the hood it says Mitsubishi Motors all over under there. Due to my preconceived notion that Japanese cars are better, I bought that Chrysler thinking it may be built better than the last Chrysler I owned. I actually have only owned one other Japanese vehicle, a 79 Toyota pickup, and I didn't keep it long enough to have any trouble with it.

Yes, I know my Mitsubishi Chrysler is made in the USA.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr.PD Yes, I know my Mitsubishi Chrysler is made in the USA.

Strange...

I'm driving a 1999 Chrysler Sebring convertible, and it's built in Canada...

 

[aphex944]

German manufacturers make everything way too complicated, that's for sure

You also have to take in the consideration of the -quality- of the cars. A BMW 325, in my opinion, is a hell of a lot nicer than a Pontiac Sunfire. While the BMW may develop more problems, there's a big difference in the driving experience and satisfaction going on.

I have this to say, American manufacturers are getting better and better. Especially with the latest generation of Cadillac and GMC offerings, they're starting to get better. I think Dodge and Chevy need some styling advice, though

The thing I've never liked about American cars is the brute-force method they use in their engineering. I always find it great that a 5.7L V8 Camaro SS has lower horsepower than a 3.3L inline-6 BMW M3.

Great point too, you need to check where the car is made. My friend recently bought a VW Jetta VR6, and it's just assembled pretty poorly. My sister has an older Jetta which is much more robust. My parents own Volvos which are excellent. They're just rock solid.

I currently drive a 1985 Peugeot 505 Turbo. It's got old European grandma styling, but damn, I love the sound of a turbocharger

 

[Daemoth]

Quote:

Originally posted by aphex944 I always find it great that a 5.7L V8 Camaro SS has lower horsepower than a 3.3L inline-6 BMW M3.

The lower horsepower rating just means there is more potential left in that baby for car tweakers out there.


I don't really think perceptions of quality will matter all that much longer at the rate car companies are buying each other. I know GM and Ford are buying companies out as fast as they can. I figure probably by the end of the next decade and at most two decades the car landscape will look like this: GM, Ford, Daimler-Benz, and Toyota.

I suppose 4 companies will be enough to keep competition up... I hope.

 

[aerius]

Quote:

Originally posted by Edwood Personally, I would never touch a GM car with a ten foot pole. But I have a personal grudge with them, but that's another story.......

Heh, in my case I'll never touch anything other than a GM car. My family's owned a vehicle from every single GM division except Cadillac, and all of them have kept on going until the body got rusted to hell from all the salt they put on the roads here. We just did regular maintenance on them and they never gave us any trouble, other than the bottom of the doors rusting through after after 12-15 harsh winters. The cars just worked. Maybe we got lucky, maybe we just took better care of the cars, who know? In any case I have no reason to buy anything else.

 

[Tuberoller]

My 2001 Trans Am, with the 5.7 V8 rated at lower horspower than a M3, will run big,smokey circles around ANY BMW. I've owned a 2002 M3 and I'm speaking from experience. This is one of,if not THE ,most over-rated car on the planet. BMW owners have been lead to believe that "Ultimate Driving Machine" **** until they think it's gospel.

 

[aerius]

Yup, that's the fun part about large displacement American engines, they have huge broad torque & power curves so you have tons of power at almost all RPM's. A lot of imports have relatively narrow power bands, as soon as the engines fall out of the 5000-6000 RPM range the horsepower & torque drops like a rock, in layman's terms the engines are really peaky. That's why I could toast Acura Integras in stoplight races with my dad's 1990 Bonneville.

 

[Mr.PD]

Quote:

Originally posted by RickG Strange... I'm driving a 1999 Chrysler Sebring convertible, and it's built in Canada...

Yeah, I bet it is.
The Sebring convertible and the Sebring Coupe are two completely different cars. The only part that is similar is the name.

I don't know why they named them the same.

 

[Edwood]

I like the M3, but it's really just a riced 3 Series.

-Ed