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Are you impressed with late model domestic vehicles?

BruceRPA

BruceRPA

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I recently visited my daughter in Florida. We rented a 2009 Chevy Malibu while we were there and I have to say that I am very happy to be impressed! :thmbsp:

My family changed to Honda in 2000 after owning mostly GM vehicles for the previous 35 years. Although during that 35 year period, a meticulously maintained Ford Exploder was the absolute worst POS that I have ever owned, but that is another subject for another day. The Chevy Malibu performed very well on the highway and around town. The styling was sharp, attractive and was at least comparable to many similar size imports. The fit, finish, and materials was also much better than I expected it to be on a moderately priced domestic vehicle. The ride was almost silent.

The only thing that I did not like was the user interface on the radio (no big deal!). It had XM and a lot of other features that I didn't explore. The thing that I didn't like about it was that it must have been designed by Microsoft. Too many nearly useless gimmicks getting in the way of common functions that should be easy for the user to navigate and use. It did sound pretty good though.

GM has come a very long way in the past nine years. As pleased as I am with my families Honda vehicles (2006 Ridgeline, 2000 Civic Si, 2002 Accord, 2002 Element, 2009 CRV), GM has regained enough of my confidence to once again consider them as a serious contender for my future vehicle purchases. Especially in light of today's economic conditions, I am very happy to report that. :yes:
 
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I have a 2008 Tahoe LT that I spend a LOT of time in. I am very pleased with it.

My previous Tahoe, a 2002 model had 155,00 miles on it when I sold it and had only 2 repairs, a water pump at about 100,000 miles and a fuel pump/sender unit at about 125,000 miles.

Comfort is excellent and I consistently obtain 20 mpg on the highway, which comprises 90% of my driving!
 
I've got a 2002 Dodge Ram, and the doors started rusting after just a couple of years. In New England, you see a lot of them with rusty door bottoms. Hard to believe in this day and age you can't build a vehicle that won't start rusting after just two years.

I own vintage Italian cars, and this Dodge makes them all look well built. I'd have a hard time buying any Chrysler product any time soon (and they just got bought by Fiat - how fitting!).

I rented a Vette last fall and took it to the track. As much as I wanted to hate it, it just blew me away. That was a world class package, very impressive.

bs
 
I recently rented a Ford Focus and was reasonably impressed. The sound system, in particular, was quite good. It had a Microsoft logo on it. The interface was (surprise!) terrible, but the sound was, again, surprisingly good. :-)
 
Well I just traded my 2003 Caddy CTS in a couple weeks ago for a new 2009 Chevy HHR 2LT. I sure do miss my Caddy. Loved that car, but this little HHR is really impressing me right now. Got alot of stuff I'm fixing to put on it. A spoiler, a mesh lower grill, a CGS cold air intake and a CGS, axil back exhaust system. Gotta wait till November before the Jet flow contol sensor is available.
 
I too just bought a 2006 Chevy HHR 2LT, as a replacement for a totally worn out Astro van. I am quite impressed. It gets 25 mpg around town, 30-32 on the highway (I think) and is very comfortable. I like the funky looks, although I appreciate that not everyone would. The build quality seems ok, especially for a cheap economy car, althought the interior falls short of the Jap cars of a similiar nature. I immediately put a rear sway bar on it to tighten up the handling, and have ordered a carbon fiber dash kit to jazz up the interior. Maybe I'll put a cold air intake on it and retune the engine computer. I think that it makes a great commuter/utility car for me, that keeps the miles off my Porsche.

It's just that GM never seems to quite get it all right. If this car came with a 6 speed automatic instead of the 4 speed, if the steering gear wasn't so dog slow, if they had put the rear sway bar on like I had to do, then they would have the best running, best handling small crossover/SUV/wagon on the market. They have the HHR SS, which fixes all these issues and has a 260 HP turbo motor, but is limited production and is not a mainstream vehicle. GM needs to fire all the management flunkies and let the engineers design the frickin' cars the best way they know how.
 
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Ultra-Hog said:
I recently visited my daughter in Florida. We rented a 2009 Chevy Malibu while we were there and I have to say that I am very happy to be impressed! :thmbsp:
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I rented an 09 Malibu on a trip recently and I was also really impressed. I really like that car a lot. Styling is really top notch, feels great to drive, interior is truly classy. I've rented a fair number of cars, and really this is the only one I've been particularly impressed with. I would definitely consider this one if I were in the market for a full size sedan.
 
We just bought an '05 Ford Freestyle, station wago...wait, now it's called a "crossover". It is fantastic. I love the styling, inside and out. And it's comfortable and very spacious. Build quality seems excellent.

I think the Domestics (Ford & GM, at least) are "getting it". Buick topped JD Power's quality survey, over every other manufacturer in the world. I think it may be in part due to the fact that the American manufacturers are working very closely with European manufacturers, and are sharing design and engineering. My Ford is built on a Volvo chassis, with a German transmission. GM has Saab.

This bodes well for the Domestics, IF (big IF) they can pull through the current crisis.
 
i own a 2005 grand prix with the infamous bulletproof 3800 motor. got 48k on her now. best car i ever owned.

i had a 2000 grand prix before the 05, and the 05 blows the 2000 out of the water in every category. GM really improved from the 97-03 to the 04-08 grand prixs. like night and day.
 
3800

Great engine........I had one in an 88 olds.......bought it with 220000Km on it and drove it until it had 440000km on it. engine was still strong and used little oil. rest of the car wasn't so well off. Tranny was starting to slip and the body was going(we get salt on the roads here).
 
We have his and hers 2000 Impala LSs, fully loaded both around 40k miles now, best cars we ever owned and with great gas mileage.
 
I'm driving my second Buick LeSabre.
BigManAndy said:
....with the famous bulletproof 3800 motor.
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The first was a '91 Park Ave. I bought with 93,000 miles on it and sold it after it reached 247,000. The guy who bought it continued to drive it. During the 151,000 miles I put on it, i only had trouble with the air conditioning. It would go warm periodically. this problem didn't develop until after 200k, got to give it credit for that. It never failed to start, stop, steer and be wicked comfortable.

I'm now driving an '01 LeSabre. I got it with 60k miles and is now up to 134,000 miles. I'm disappointed that its starting to rust around the edges.

Both of these Buicks have been very low-maintainence vehicles and extremely quite and comfortable---very non-fatiguing. I think it would be tough to beat the low cost of ownership with any car-even a Honda or Toyota. (Both of which i have owned and loved too).

All this said. I hope not to drive Buicks much longer (I came into both of these Buicks for little/no money). I'm only 42 and would like to have a car fitting of my self-image. maybe an Acura TL
 
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We have two 1-ton pickups; a 1990 Ford F-350 4x4 (Gas 460) and a 2005 Chevy 3500 (Isuzu Diesel 6.6). The Ford has 80K original miles, and is falling apart (interior plastics, has rattles, all 4 power window motors failed, fuel pump failed early, lost a transmission seal, A/C compressor leaks, etc etc). The Chevy has had virtually no problems at all, outside of mice getting in and doing electrical damage. On the highway, the Ford handles like a fishing boat, and the Chevy handles like a sports car as compared. In all fairness, the Ford has better brakes than the Chevy, but that could be due to the fact that the Ford has vacuum brakes while the Chevy has hydroboost brakes (due to Diesel engine).

But sadly for all American cars, I've NEVER had a Toyota with any problem at all, under 100K miles. One of my Toyotas has 340K miles, and the body, interior and chassis are all still tight and rattle-free.

Charles
 
The closest I have come to being remotely impressed with are Ford vehicles. Mainly the original style Focus, the Freestyle (now the Taurus X) and the Flex. I still am nervous about their long term reliability. I still prefer the Volvo V series and older Wagons for all around reliable, practical fun driving which fits my needs best. I do best with station wagons which are mid size. I need room for my wheelchair (non folding) and something I can get stiff limbs in and out of easily. If I need to haul heavy gear, I have Valdez II and III at work.
 
When we vacationed in San Francisco last year we rented 3 different vehicles. First was a Jeep Compass. What an ugly piece of crap. The cheap-looking plastic panels were falling off in the interior. Performance was pitiful, too. And UGLY!! Looked like it was designed by a committee (a camel is a horse designed by a committee).

Then to go to Napa valley we rented a convertable mustang. It was much better than the compass, but felt heavy on the road and the back seat was a joke. Fit and finish was decent, though. Better than my 66 mustang but nothing compared to our '05 Volvo C70 convertable.

Then we rented a Cobalt for a trip down to Sant Cruz. I think it was the POS model. I'm under the impression it was made on a Friday or Monday for some reason. Noisy, rough riding, lousy interior design. Nothing like a Honda, of which I own two (Accord, CRV).

Three rentals that stand out were a Jeep Comanche, which was beautifully assembled and great to drive. Superior fit and finish inside and out. Drove it from Tallahassee, Fl. to Black Mt., NC. and back. A Nissan Morano (sp) was probably the best rental vehicle I can remember ever. Smooth, quiet, and had places for everything. And a Toyota Corolla. Took the Corolla on a road trip from Tampa to Toledo and back. Comfortable and got 36mpg.
No rattles and cruised at 80mph flawlessly up I-75. And people were passing us!

The Ford Fusion will have a hybrid soon, I hear. Their vehicles are getting great reviews (I read Autoweek), too. If I decide to buy American it will probably be Ford. The 500/Taurus looks like a quality vehicle as does the Fusion.

Rick
 
Tapehead47 said:
Then to go to Napa valley we rented a convertable mustang. It was much better than the compass, but felt heavy on the road and the back seat was a joke. Fit and finish was decent, though. Better than my 66 mustang but nothing compared to our '05 Volvo C70 convertable.

Then we rented a Cobalt for a trip down to Sant Cruz. I think it was the POS model. I'm under the impression it was made on a Friday or Monday for some reason. Noisy, rough riding, lousy interior design. Nothing like a Honda, of which I own two (Accord, CRV).
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Strange that neither of these cars would compare well to the hugely more expensive vehicles you compared them to....
 
bshorey said:
I rented a Vette last fall and took it to the track. As much as I wanted to hate it, it just blew me away. That was a world class package, very impressive.

bs
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Wish I would have taken the one I rented to the track so more of the real performance could have been unleashed. 0-60 (give or take ;) ) is fun only so many times even though it comes pretty quick, and no place really to pull some cornering Gs.

Will say though they do a smokey donut REAL easy, like being on wet ice only it's dry pavement, with all the electronic goodies turned off. But, I'm sure you know that.

Oh, and the car makes a lot more rumble and growl around town with the variable exhaust fuse removed.

That handling and that performance (at least what I saw/felt of it) and 26 MPG, 78 MPH highway, yeah, I was impressed too.
 
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