When I took my Corolla in for maintenance and gave my list of issues with the car the service writers first comment was "It has to be one of the US made cars" [turns out it was] "because we don't have those complaints on the ones made in Japan. It is things like that which instill us with the feeling that US autos are not of the same quality as foreign built. I do hope reports of that changing over the last decade or so are true. BillR
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Hargrave Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 1:52 PM To: 'Mercedes Discussion List' Subject: Re: [MBZ] Cerberus wants money back Customer complaints were not about service, they were about quality. And the companies who reviewed the products supposedly rated each on the product's individual merits. This pretty much leaves the dealerships out of the loop & brings customer perception to the front of the line. Also, the biggest customer quality complaints were issues like squeaky brakes. Does this mean that the Toyota & Nissan customers were more tolerant of these issues than GM & Dodge customers were? Thanks, Tom Hargrave www.kegkits.com 256-656-1924 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rich Thomas Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 12:42 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Cerberus wants money back So after spending billion$ on advertising, they still can't beat the competition with the exact same car, tarted up (hmmm maybe it has something to do with the dealers? Don't know. Or overall reputation for quality and commitment?). That makes me want to give them billion$ more to help them out. It boggles the mind. --R Tom Hargrave wrote: > Rich, > > The issue is not quality or cost but America's perception of small American > cars. > > For example, when GM & Toyota manufactured cars in the US as a joint > venture, the Toyotas had consistently higher reviews and reported less > warranty issues. But the two product lines were the exact same cars, > manufactured by the exact same workers, with the exact same parts. The only > difference was the trim package. > > Chrysler's joint venture with Nissan netted the exact same results. The 3000 > GT rated higher than the Dodge Stealth. And these were also the exact same > cars with different trim packaged. And even today, the old 3000 GT has a > much stronger following than the Dodge Stealth. > > Thanks, > Tom Hargrave > www.kegkits.com > 256-656-1924 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Rich Thomas > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 10:28 AM > To: Mercedes Discussion List > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Cerberus wants money back > > OK so that means the consumers don't want their (small) product but they > do want small products from the Japanese companies. (And I have heard > that Ford, and maybe the others', cars are doing well in Europe and > elsewhere v. the competition, why there and not here?) I guess we can > mess with the market by providing (taxpayer-paid) incentives for people > to buy cars they would rather not have, for cost or quality or utility > or whatever other reasons, to keep an inefficient inept (insert your own > in-word here) "American" company in business, just because it is big. > When does that stop? Have not heard the good answers to that, and the > senators have no clue either, and the guys who are telling them are the > ones they say they want fired. Who to believe? What to believe? > > The military thing is a different kettle of fish. Not sure that relates > well to a well-paid (hard-working?) auto worker, except for a similar > level of ongoing benefits, you can see the reasons. An apple v. an > orange, but it does raise an interesting issue as to how all this gets > paid for on an ongoing basis when the till has only so much (real) money > in it. Where are the choices made? How much do you personally want to > send to Unkie every month to carry the auto industry, the retired > military and GS workers, the people who lose their jobs in market > shakeouts, banks, credit card companies, door/window manufacturers, > people who "bought" more house than they could pay for, on and on and > on. Do you run your family finances that way (like a lot of people seem > to do)? > > Do Honda and Toyota have large retiree commitments, like Big3/UAW? I > don't know the answer to that. > > --R > > Tom Hargrave wrote: > >> The big three have built smaller cars here in the states. They tried >> repeatedly & we would not buy them. We wanted mid-size & larger cars from >> American auto makers. One great example of this is Saturn, who built a >> > long > >> line of smaller, efficient cars. Saturn is performing so dismally that its >> one of the brands GM needs to can. >> >> As far as legacy costs go, I suppose you also want us to cut all of our >> military retiree benefits? Their retirement & medical benefits represent >> much greater legacy costs to our economy than the auto workers retirement >> benefits. But I guess it's OK with our armed forces because the cost is >> hidden in the Federal Budget? >> >> The only way to shed enough cost right now is to drop the retiree benefits >> and that's not going to happen. Ironically, if this were 20 years later, >> Toyota and Honda would be in the same position because their retiree base >> will also be past their active employee base by then. >> >> Thanks, >> Tom Hargrave >> www.kegkits.com >> 256-656-1924 >> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15/1834 - Release Date: 12/6/2008 > 4:55 PM > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15/1834 - Release Date: 12/6/2008 > 4:55 PM > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15/1834 - Release Date: 12/6/2008 4:55 PM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15/1834 - Release Date: 12/6/2008 4:55 PM _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
