I'm extremely nervous trusting GM today. One has to know history to know why it's a big risk. I'll take you back ten years when everyone in the auto press was claiming, "today's GM is far improved, they are great cars, we now recommend them." Now look at what's being recalled today.... those EXACT cars that were heralded when new. This proclamation, song and dance, and promise has repeated itself since the 80's, which is about the same amount of time I've followed cars and GM. I REALLY want to trust them, but because of these recent recalls and the constant broken promises, I'm left too skeptical.

 

The ones that were built 10 years ago (mid-2000s) WERE much better, in fact, than the poor excuses of vehicles that the corporation produced in the 1980s and 1990s (with the exception of the reliable and nice Saturn S-series cars of the 90s). No, they weren't defect-free (the ignition-switch issue shows that), but, neither, in fact, were Hondas or Toyotas.

 

Yes, much of it is in the mind. Alfa Romeos from '79 to '84 had a reputation for poor reliability, especially the ones assembled here. If it broke down you said to yourself: 'yes it is typically Alfa', but if you had the same break down on a BMW it must be some fluke. The moment a manufacturer picks up a certain reputation, nothing is forgiven, while the one with the better "name", gets away with murder.

 

A lot of it is perception from the past, yet a lot of it is hard facts from Consumer Reports. That is where I base my judgements on far as reliability goes. I don't have my book in front of me, but I don't recall CR recommending a whole lot from GM within the timeframe we are referring to. Certainly the recent round of recalls is not going to help their ratings.

 

CR, in fact, did not recommend a number of GM cars before the mid-2000s (or even as recently as the reorganization) due to their poor build quality and unreliability. They make that clear in the article. But, because they test so many cars each year and generally keep on top of it, they were one of the first to start noticing the major positive change at GM in the last 5-6 years.

 

What would the future be then. Will a day come when people look curiously at you when they read these posts or is GM the walking dead, staggering on from the maddening effects of the Obama injection?
Here they sell Chevrolet badged Daewoos and that super reliable Isuzu pick truck (luckily not rebadged). They also say that GM South Africa enjoys absolute financial bouyancy. Marketing is however, a study in what you shouldn't do.
Will it be in GM's best interest to stop manufacturing the traditional American car and concentrate on the few shares it still have in foreign makes?

 

Not sure what you mean by this comment. GM is not staggering. It is clearly building (mostly) better products today.


I'm not sure which truck in South Africa you mean, but if you are referring to the Isuzu I270/350 pickup, it is in fact a rebadged Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon (not an Isuzu design)....a POS, IMO, by American-truck standards. I thought very little of that truck when it was first introduced, and even less of it today. However, is not a product of the new GM. It dates back to several years before the reorganization/buyout, and is in sore need of a better replacement.

 

Some of the posts there is a bit depressing. Glad that you don't see it that way, I don't want to see GM going down, too many happy memories from building Corvair engines for my "test mule" a VW split windscreen pick-up truck. That flat six snarl was just intoxicating.


The Isuzu we get has strong links with the RHD-markets. Have a look at my link. I had the previous generation in 3 liter Turbo Diesel and it was actually reliable to a point of being boring.
https://www.isuzu.co.za/home

 

I am very nervous of GM as well. We have been told that GM has better stuff, but then a fiascos like the ignition switch rears its head. I dunno, I would rather just play it safe and stay away.

 

You mean the same Mary Barra who said only a week ago that they were done having major recalls, only to recall all the 5th Generation Camaros ever built and 3 million more cars for ignition and other problems this past Monday?

Like I said, they haven't changed at all. Barra has been with the company for 33 years, she's just as clueless as the rest of them, female or not.