<VV> GM QUALITY

[Bill Elliott]

I don't think issues were limited to GM cars... just about all American 
cars I've owned from the mid-70's to late 80's had serious issues... as 
a GM fan the list is weighted towards GM (as I bet many here are)

Some excerpts:
'75 Matador: constant electronic ignition issues
'75 Jeep CJ5 304 V8: So much wrong (along with rust) I'm not going to list
'75 Starfire (Buick oddfire 3.8 V6): stopped up cat by 60k, engine 
seized at 80k.
'78 Jeep Wagoneer: Rust, electronic window issues, quadratrack chain issues
'78 Gran Prix: awesome car but ate TH200 transmissions every 30k or so.
'78 Corvette: one of the worst cars I've ever owned (but mine was abused 
before I got it)
'79 Chevy Pickup: no issues other than rust
'85 Firebird: bought new wonderful until it hit 50k.  Pontiac worked on 
it for months and never got it right. When they finally got it running 
well enough to drive I immediately traded it in on a new Taurus
'87 Taurus MT5: which is one of the best designed but worst built cars I 
had drive, By the time it had 15k on it, everything from the head up 
(head, intake throttle body, engine compartment wiring harness, engine 
computer, etc) had been replaced and it still had driveability issues.  
I sold it after 4 years of torture and still owed more on it than it was 
worth.
'86 Dodge 600 convertible (bought "new' as ex-rental). Other than 
replacing the distributor module every 30k, was a reliable if mediocre 
driving car.
'85 Mustang GT; 30k mile car that had suffered carb/driveability issues 
since new. I could never solve them either.
'88 Ford Bronco: ongoing distributor module issues, but not a bad truck 
overall

The designs were much better than the 60's cars, but the build quality 
(and implementation of modern electronics... something the Japanese 
seemed to have little trouble with) was really awful. 

I pretty much swore off newer American cars after that. Have had 3 GM 
trucks ('98 Suburban, '99 Suburban, '02 Avalanche) which have been 
extremely reliable. Only issue was the intake manifolds on those Vortec 
5700's and the fuel pump issues these trucks are known for.

And Guy, I have what is essentially an '85 Opel in the driveway at the 
moment. The issues are similar to your average German car of the era... 
better than American cars of the same vintage but still not great...

Bill

kcvair at netscape.com wrote:

>I'll have to agree with Guy as I must have been lucky over the years after some of the stories I've been reading here.  I've only had a few minor problems with the GM vehicles I've had over the years.  3 Chrysler cars all had engine problems with under 100M miles.  My Astro van ran up 201M and was still running great when I sold it last month.  The major problem and that was back in the 60's and 70's was rust.  If you had a car for 2 years without rust(at least in the rust belt of the country) you probably didn't drive much in the winter weather.    Ken
>
>KCVAIR
>66 CORSA CN W/AIR
>65 CORSA CP
>
>--- GBrandes at loebermotors.com wrote:
>
>From: "Guy Brandes" <GBrandes at loebermotors.com>
>To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Subject: <VV> GM QUALITY
>Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:59:52 -0500
>
>I have  been and am a GM man with everything but an Opel, I have had
>real good luck.  The Opel (when Buick was selling it) was a piece of
>dreck.  I have had CORVAIRs, Oldsmobiles and a number of vans that I had
>very few issues with.  Perhaps is has to do partly with the dealership
>that is doing the service rather than totally blaming GM.  I had a class
>C motor home on a Chevy C30 chassis that I had for 19 years with nothing
>major until the trans band snapped near the end and it had gone thru a
>lot of mountain driving.  I find that one real bad experience can lead
>to a life time of disgust but I never had one that turned me away from
>the General.
> 
>Regards,
> 
>Guy BRANDES
> 
>65 Vair 140
> 
>and 04 Blazer and Chevy Prisim
> 
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