Hey General Motors, them's fightin words!

[Stephen]

In a recent press conference GM vowed to unseat Ford from it's comfortable seat atop the Light Truck market. They feel their new Yukon/Tahoe will better the Expedition/Excursion, and that the upcoming redesigned Blazer will "...make customers realize what has been true all along. Their money would better be spent on a GM truck than on the Explorer..." If you ask me, them's fightin words. This is one reason Ford is delaying Escape production (they want to make sure the vehicle is reliable and of high quality), and that's also the reason for the Explorer ragtop, the Blazer will have one in late 2001 also.

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Stephen Withrow
StephenLS400@aol.com
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97 Explorer Limited 4X4 SOHC V6
98 Lexus LS400

 

[EB Bauer]

That just figures GM would say something like that. The sad thing is that I have owned GM and just personally I don't think their cars are anywhere near the standards they used to be. The quality is just not what it used to be. I don't even think Ford has a problem with it. They have been in the #1 seat for far to long to be surpassed by GM. The Ford will always be the best in my mind but that is just my opinion!

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Scott Bauer
'91 Eddie Bauer

 

[NoBoundaries]

I have never thought very much about GM's, and that is before I fell in love with my Explorer. All there vehicles seemed to be made with very poor quality and very little attention to detail. Their new trucks don't impress me very much either. Sitting inside a GM makes me feel like I'm in the Graceland of plastic and you can look around and see exposed screws all over the place. I'll admit, their trucks and some of their cars perform rather well, but how much does that mean when the thing starts falling apart around you? GM/Chevy never really impressed me.

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Tim Y.
1996 Explorer XLT
4.0L OHV 4x4

 

[Gigantor]

I alwayts liked GM's that was untill I got my first Ford! My mother still drives her Jimmy. Since I baught my Explorer I have this thing about ridign in here car. The Jimmy may be what she likes, however it is not what I want!

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Nick
'93 XLT 4 Door 4x4
Bosch Plat+4's with SplitFire Dual Core wires and a
K&N Air Filter with a Modified Air Box

 

[Mat R]

You know, I actually like the styling of the blazer, but what has always deterred me from them is they have never made a V6 worth beans. The 2.8 was luckey if it lasted over 100K and the 4.3 produces the same HP as everyone else, but at a cost of 2-3MPG more. I'd stick with the Ford Explorer, and if you can't have that maybe a Ranger...

Mat

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1992 Ford Explorer XLT
Interested in trucks..?
Me too. Check out my web page.
MatnChad.com
www.matnchad.com

 

[rock883]

Antoher thing that I think is stupid on behalf of the GM company is a year before they came out with the newer style silverado, like 98 or somethin, their was an ad on tv about the silverado, and there were these guys sitting around and saw a silverado drive by and the guy said, you can tell its a chevy because it doesn't have that big bubbly look like all the others, or it was somethin like that...then the next year they go with the big bubbly look (maybe cause their blocked look wasn't doing as good as the ford's bubbly look??

 

[The Godfather]

GM is a laughing stock. What do they make that's good? The Vette? The old man's 96 Buick is falling apart at 70,000mi. It's had 2 trannys, 2 sets of brakes, the engine knocks, seat is loose, inner fender fell out, it's got a vibration at 60mph..there's more but I'll stop now. My old 90 Taurus was better built than that. The Eurosport I had before my Explorer was a GM car that was solidly built, of all the cars I've owned, I enjoyed that the most. Ford is by far the best US company. Dodge, I believe is still working out querks. The Durango, while looking good, is filled with cheap plastic throughout the interior, as with most of the Cryslers. I still have yet to see a Dodge engine hold up after lots of miles. Well, we can at least give GM an "A" for effort....I just with Ford would make an enthusists car like PT Cruiser or Prowler.

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93 XLT 4 door
Big, green, and slow

 

[NoBoundaries]

We'll see what happens with the all new Thunderbird when that comes out.

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Tim Y.
1996 Explorer XLT
4.0L OHV 4x4

 

[Stephen]

I agree with all you guys. GM is a company that is in steady decline, and that builds some very low quality vehicles. What's funny is, they don't even realize it.

Scott, I agree, steady decline. The new trucks and SUV's are actually cheaper inside than the old ones, and the bumpers etc are plastic instead of metal. Like a rock? More like one of those plastic rocks you hide keys in...

Tim, The new GM trucks are very plasticky. I drove one a while back, the ride was nice, but the truck's fit and finish was just sad. This was a $44,000 vehicle too.

Nick, Good attitude, respecting what other people like. A lot of "car people" can't understand that.

Mat, I liked the 95-98 Styling. I think what they did to the trucks in 98 was just hideous. If you look at the Bravada, the 95 looks like it should be the remake of the 2000 model.

rock, I agree, they copped out on the style bit. I actually liked the old Chevy truck far better than the F150's style. No more though. Nothing special about it now.

Godfather, Like I said, my STS was falling apart when I turned it in at 60,000 miles. Thank God I leased it!




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Stephen Withrow
StephenLS400@aol.com
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97 Explorer Limited 4X4 SOHC V6
98 Lexus LS400

 

[GJarrett]

I am also of the opinion that GM is making really cheap and "plasticky" vehicles, but I am uncomfortable using that description to separate Fords from them. Regarding that plastic bumper, maybe you guys got a different deal than I did, but my '99 is covered in some sort of plastichrome junk on the front.

I believe Ford is much more devoted to quality than GM, but face it all vehicles are more plasticky and lightweight than before because of emissions/mpg requirements, etc.

When GM introduces a new or radically redesigned model they regularly let their first year customers "beta test" the new design to work out the kinks. Ford seems to work harder at not doing that though they seemed to screw that up a little on the Focus release. If they are taking their time releasing the Escape, then that's fine.

Let GM go ahead and throw down the gauntlet like that. It keeps everyone on their toes and quality/competition on corporate minds, even if it is hogwash.

Just throwin' in my peso.

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Gerald
"Nerves of Steel; Brain of Chipmunk"
~~~~~~~~~
'99 Eddie Bauer 4x4 4.0L SOHC aka "The Jeepeater"
Mods listed in my Explorer Registry post 7/8/99
Dead Link Removed "What the heck is he doing out here in that thing?"

[This message has been edited by GJarrett (edited 04-03-2000).]