This one is rather pathetic 
zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-3 ā¦ -half-2014
next bailout on its way?
I heard about that. It had to do with ignition failure. When the car got into an accident, the airbag wouldnt popout, thus not protecting the driver with an extra safety feature. This way they already have 13 confirmed deaths due to that failure and they expect a couple of more to come and claim money. They reserved several millions to compensate the families of the people who died.
I dunno why anybody would want to buy a GM car anywaysā¦ They must be kept afloat by the demographic of people who see cars as toasters; another appliance to own a while and throw awayā¦ Every GM car iāve seen, driven, or been in has given off the impression of cheapness and poor qualityā¦ Everything from the Interior to the body panels. Have you looked at a GM recently?.. The body panels have this really plain, cheap, mass produced look like the only thing the engineers cared about was production cost and timeā¦ Hell, modern GM cars make modern Hyundaiās look like high class luxury cars.
Even more troubling is their attitude towards recalls, and their willingness to let people die over a simple fix they could have done years ago, but they would rather care more about their bottom lineā¦
If GM goes out of business nothing of great value will be lost.
Youāve obviously never sat in a new GM car, or at least experienced it in the same way that I have. The new Corvette is a very refined car, and nothing in it looks or feels as cheap as you say it does. The new Impala is great, and donāt get me started on the Cadillac CTS. The new Cadillac ELR is also a very good car,and although grossly overpriced, you cannot put it down in the way you are doing. I was really thinking that we were on the verge of Americaās resurgence in the automobile industryā¦ until these recalls happened.
meh. The GM recalls are being totally blown out of proportion.
I own a GM product, and love it. Is it an econo car? Yes. Is it inexpensive? Yes. Is it cheaply built? I donāt really think so. Yes, the interior is mostly plastic. But it has leather seats (ok they werenāt factory in MY car, but they were factory in a car LIKE my car). Is it fast? Not especially, but itās a $15k car, so if you expect fast, youāre mentally disturbed (yes, I have way more than $15k in my car, but thatās just me). My car has personality. My car has appeal. My car is smoking hot looking (maybe a little bias on that one). I enjoy it every chance I get.
And above all, relative to this post, my car is one of those with a recall (a couple actually) in effect. I have had none of the symptoms described in the recalls. I donāt know about all of the recalls, but the ignition recall associated with my 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt has a back story which isnāt often told. The deaths associated with the ignition arenāt what they are being hyped up to be. Thereās more to the story.
Absolutely, as a commenter on a certain automotive website said, āGM was ripped to shreds for not recalling a product quick enough, and now they are being ripped to shreds for recalling problematic products BEFORE any injuries/fatalities have resulted from them.ā
Iām having trouble following your post. Is what is below correct? Or did I just miss something? lol
Yes, what you corrected is right.
Well its really a matter of opinion, but every GM vehicle Iāve been in has felt extremely cheapā¦ Things like having basically the same gauges and interior in a colbalt as a corvette. (maybe not the newest ones, I havenāt bothered looking at them) Even Cadillac are cheap feeling compared to say European luxury carsā¦ GM has also ruined most of the companies it has taken over, and some under its umbrella. Saab, Pontiac, soon Holdenā¦
As for the body styling, Iāll say it againā¦ Most recent GM cars look extremely cheapā¦ They also have the tendency to come up with all these redundant new cars of various classes that are short lived and very cheap and mass produced looking. Like the Epica, Equinox, Traverseā¦
The only car I can think of thats any good from GM is the Corvette, and even then just the engine and chassisā¦ everything else is cheap and plastickyā¦ That and they are most frequently driven by elderly men, and kids whoās parents bought them a carā¦ so yeah, no thanksā¦
[quote=ā07CobaltGirlā]meh. The GM recalls are being totally blown out of proportion.
I own a GM product, and love it. Is it an econo car? Yes. Is it inexpensive? Yes. Is it cheaply built? I donāt really think so. Yes, the interior is mostly plastic. But it has leather seats (ok they werenāt factory in MY car, but they were factory in a car LIKE my car). Is it fast? Not especially, but itās a $15k car, so if you expect fast, youāre mentally disturbed (yes, I have way more than $15k in my car, but thatās just me). My car has personality. My car has appeal. My car is smoking hot looking (maybe a little bias on that one). I enjoy it every chance I get.
And above all, relative to this post, my car is one of those with a recall (a couple actually) in effect. I have had none of the symptoms described in the recalls. I donāt know about all of the recalls, but the ignition recall associated with my 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt has a back story which isnāt often told. The deaths associated with the ignition arenāt what they are being hyped up to be. Thereās more to the story.[/quote]
28 million cars needing to be recalled, many million of which have an issue that can cause a crash and death to the occupants and possibly others over a 75 cent ignition switch is not āoverblownā. Any company that would so blatantly disregard the lives of its customers for over a decade over something so cheap and simple to replace should be tried for Negligence causing deathā¦ if not straight up murder.
For 15k I WOULD expect fast, but thats just meā¦ Judging by what you have into your colbalt, I assume you bought it nearly new? Iāve never understood why people buy new or nearly new cars myself, there are soo many nice used cars in the 15k range(or lower+mods), why pay that for an econo car?.. To each their own though, iām not here to bash other peoples choices.
To give you an idea of what I would do with 15k, once Iāve finished all the mods on my 2002 Saab 9-3 SE Iāll be into it for around that, and for that money Iāll have a car with 4 doors and a hatch, the most comfortable heated leather seats Iāve even sat in, climate control, a huge trunk, Handling that compares to or exceeds most (stock)FWD sports or sporty cars, around 280-290HP and over 300ft-lbs of torque put through the wheels by a 5spd and a Quaife ATB LSD.
To be honest, Iām not a big fan of GM. Too much politics for me. They certainly hurt the US during the recession, and still make several bad cars even today. My view point on them is that they have accountants which make them put out a ton of cheap things, and then some car enthusiasts to occasionally make an all around good car.
The Elr certainly isnāt an all around good car. Itās certainly a bit more than a little overpriced. $75,000? You can get a Model S for that, with the Tech package, Panoramic sunroof, and better leather. The ELR is slower, less efficient, less practical, less pretty (in my opinion), less safe, and less American.
They do have some good cars too. Off the top of my head, the ZL1, the Cobalt, and the Corvette from today. Not the XTS for sure. I was test-driving one, and the rear center foldy thing is plastic and broke in my sons hand, the center stack is plastic, the car was boat like, and it had a couple of design flaws on the technical department. When I go to look at a car, I first look at a couple things. Being in rainy Florida, I checked the intake height. The opening was right at the bottom bumper. A reasonable puddle would cause water to go in that. The car we looked at already had some rust on the mounts for the fuel tank. There was a clunk in the front left suspension when we went over a speed bump, and the brakes squealed. Not a quality product.
The ELR, as a car, is quite good, but not exceptional like the Tesla. That being said, it costs 30k too much, and encroaches on the Model Sās price range while offering much less.
Yes, my Cobalt was purchased brand new by me with less than 500 miles on it (it had to be brought up from Florida for me to purchase it). It is my first ever brand new car. I wanted a car that didnāt have āprevious ownerā issues, because of the commute I had at the time. I will probably never buy another new car just because of the depreciation, but I intend to drive this one to 300k miles. I did have to do it at least once though. 
As for the ignition switch, some of those deaths were offroad, which is not where the car belongs. There were also a few which had drug/alcohol involvement. They did fix the ignition, in 2007. Yes, apparently it was known about before then, and yes they waited quite a while to actually issue a recall for it. Thereās no denying it. There is still more to the story, however.
That article seems like a perfect example of how much the press seems to overreact to everything GM does
Since the rest of the cars recalled were from the previous generation, my bet is that this is a mistake in the PR department.
My truck has been strong since day one in 2004; I plan to keep it that way. The factory had a hub bearing issue: bad alignment that I knew would never be an issue with itās performance, capabilities, or safety. I did happen to hit something that fell out of the bed of a SuperDuty in front of me and caused damage that would have been expected.
The engineers are largely at fault for these recalls. The CEO fired 15 engineers that were believed to be responsible for missing these issues.
And no, doing it 'rong is GMās PR departmentās failure to provide an accurate recall, and a few of their engineers failing to understand that ignition switches detent plungers needed more torque, period. Only two motor companies I will ever buy from: Ford and GM. Theyāre spectacular. Their engines are bullet proof. Not enough proof? Google Triton 4.6/5.4 or Vortec 4800/5300. They donāt die. Trannys do go, but thatās just what a tranny does; worse when the owner has terrible DD habbits. Save the gunning for emergencies OR the drag strip.
Does this put a kink in their name? Yes
Does it say that the cars are bad? No - A good portion of the issues (ignition issues aside) are fixable. Power steering? Pfft. Do you even lift bro? - Some didnāt even have issues shutting off because of the ignition issue though; they had slight noises - in a truck - a recall for that? Take it to your local shop and get it fixed if it bothers you. Not a serious problem. Iāve got that in my truck - I kind of like it. After asking three professionals in the field for 20+ years, itās not a fatal flaw.
07CobaltGirlās a great example. She got a new Cobalt and made it her own. Itās her opinion. There is NO right or wrong. Audi, Lexus, Porshe, Chevy (GM) and Ford are all personal favorites of mine. I will never touch a Jaguar, Mercedes, or Lotus for the reliability they have in my area. Leather? Iāve found leather to be an unnecessary feature in cars as it can be heavier and creates an unnecessary premium cost. What do I want? Cloth seats, Plastic interior, and a V8. - My opinion.