en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3025218 Comments by ksr http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149598661 What about a Malibu? It's reasonably priced, well made, good performance. You may not like GM anymore due to the bailout, but if you looking to replace a Grand Am, they certainly make comparable, "viable" vehicles, except more modern and better in about every conceivable objective measure. Fri, 6 May 2011 22:38:58 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149598661 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149595571 How many millions of cars has Toyota recalled in recent years? Sometime around 7-8 years ago, Honda recalled every single car it made that year over transmission issues. Honda and Toyota have great reputations. Recalls are often not about durability/reliability issues. They're often some small glitch in manufacturing. The wiper bolt mentioned in the article was probably tightened by a machine with a torque setting that was too low for a time. It isn't a good thing, but they happen all the time and they happen to everyone. GM recall numbers in recent years, if you think that's a good measure of quality, which I do not, compare rather well against the similar sized manufacturers. Recalls aren't a good thing, but they just happen. To everyone. The tone of the article uses recall notices as though they only happen to GM. It's dishonest. Fri, 6 May 2011 22:22:53 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149595571 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149594042 If you know anything about CAFE and the "two-fleet" rule, you realize that this was the single most destructive piece of legislation in the history of the auto industry, if not all industry. I don't have a problem with CAFE in concept, but in execution, the UAW was responsible for getting the two-fleet rule put in. This totally undercut the industry's bargaining position. The union knew that GM had no choice but to continue building small cars in their plants to balance out the low-mileage cars. They couldn't threaten to close the plants or move them outside the US. If Amana builds an unprofitable line of microwave ovens, it can just stop making them. They're not required to make them to balance out their natural gas using ovens. Car makers have to make small cars to comply with CAFE or get fined (as though consumer just couldn't turn to another manufacturer if GM or Ford didn't make small cars). And CAFE tells them where they have to build them because of the two fleet rule. That rule was lobbied for by the UAW - you can find that on their own website. It made CAFE about union jobs, not fuel efficiency. Fri, 6 May 2011 22:14:51 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149594042 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149593317 GM required a bailout. Past tense. They're not getting more at this time. I didn't like it. I've said that. I wouldn't have done it. But it's done. GM is currently profitable. They make good products. They've turned profits for five straight quarters which is great considering their recent history. Will the tax payers ever get all their money back? Nope. I don't like that fact, but again, it's done. If you don't think I'm a conservative, you could not be more wrong. I don't like liberals. Check that. I hate them. I despise Barack Obama. But you know what? A healthy GM is good for the country. I hated the bailout. But as I've already said ad nauseum, it's done. That money can't be un-bailedout. Now I hope GM succeeds, and the early results are pretty good. Fri, 6 May 2011 22:12:03 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149593317 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149590610 Oh, I agree with you totally about the tax breaks. I don't think they should exist. I'm defending the Volt as a slick piece of technology. I think GM did a nice job with and I think the technology, as it matures, could really be a partial answer to reducing demand for oil. Yes, electricity has to be generated of course. But electricity, if we had a government that made any sense, is pretty much an infinite resource if we'd build nuclear power plants. Fri, 6 May 2011 22:03:22 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149590610 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149589301 If you read the articles about the Volt in a car magazine like C&D, they do the calculations that you're talking about. I don't remember the numbers from C&D. The EPA assigns it a score of 93 mpg when running full electric, 37 on gas. Obviously your total gas/electric combination mileage is somewhere in between. For a city commuter, you might get the 93. Of course electricity isn't free, no one is claiming that. But the point of the Volt was to be a combination gas/electric vehicle. And electricity has to be generated, something our wonderful president does not seem to understand (though in theory with nuclear power, the supply could be all but infinite). But, the Volt does what GM claims, and very well. But I suppose that you have to agree with the concept, which you obviously do not. Fair enough. Electric rates vary greatly depending on where you live. It's pretty cheap where I live. I have a three bedroom, mid-sized home with old windows that leak badly, but my electric bills even in the hottest months rarely hit $70. Fri, 6 May 2011 21:59:04 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149589301 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149554325 If, as in your example, you were getting over a thousand miles per gallon (and some people would), you'd ber saving one hell of a lot of gasoline money, especially these days. Electricity is far, far cheaper than gasoline. Fri, 6 May 2011 19:19:35 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149554325 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149554075 I don't know how to calculate that and, unfortunately, I don't remember the numbers. Don't know about you, but where I live, electricity is very cheap. It's not for everyone; it depends on your lifestyle. For a lot of people particularly in cities or populous suburbs, there won't be a vehicle that can touch those numbers. The Volt gets trashed by a lot of people with a political ax to grind. It's not "Obama's Volt." GM had this thing on the drawing board long before Obama. As is often the case with new technology, they didn't expect to make money immediately on it. But it works. That's why it's won awards and gotten great reviews from all of the major auto magazines. They review it's merits as a vehicle, not a political statement. Fri, 6 May 2011 19:18:06 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149554075 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149552257 I'm as conservative as you can get. I can't conceive of a situation where I'd support Barack Obama. I don't like the bailouts, but what's done is done. It's time to move on. GM makes good cars. If the government hadn't passed union-protecting laws like CAFE over the years, GM wouldn't have been held at gunpoint during labor negotations and never would have needed a bailout. When you're about to lose billions in a strike, it can make managment agree to crazy labor deals. Do some research on CAFE's UAW-lobbied-for "two-fleet rule", the single worst thing ever to happen to the auto industry. This provision of CAFE completely undermined the industry in labor negotiations. GM and Ford never made money building small cars. This law made them build those car in domestic factories. They couldn't close them, they couldn't move production to Mexico without facing massive fines. The roots of overpaid UAW workers, jobs banks, even scrimping on cars materials and designs can all be traced to this one rule. Fri, 6 May 2011 19:08:44 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149552257 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149551104 What, a GM vehicle with over 137K miles on it! From all the wack jobs posting here, you'd think that was impossible. I've owned 11 GM vehicles. Not one has ever failed to start or has ever stranded me. I've never needed a major repair of any kind and have only needed minor repairs as my cars have aged. I currently have a CTS with 120K miles on it. I don't keep every one that long, but including the CTS, 4 of my 11 GM vehicles have had way over 120K miles on them when I've sold (and they were still in great shape). Fri, 6 May 2011 19:02:25 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149551104 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149549490 A man in California reported 126 miles per gallon total for his first 2,500 miles of ownership, which he said included two trips of over 200 miles each, longer trips being when the Volt uses it's gas engine at 35 mpg or so. I'd say that 126 miles per gallon is pretty damned efficient. And a lot of people don't take two long trips like that in such a short time. You have to calulate it's efficiency in totality, not just harp on a misleading "40 mile range" claim. A lot of trips are to the supermarket and back. For many people, the Volt would use no gas - none - for a good chunk of the time they were using it. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:54:07 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149549490 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149548513 Congratulations. This is the most ignorant post I've seen regarding the domestic auto industry. Not just today. Ever. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:49:02 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149548513 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149548285 GM has two vehicles on the list. They didn't "dominate." The Forbes magazine article, which I believe was a CR article reprinted, mentioned five factors: safety, reliability, quality, economy,and cost. The GM vehicles on the list were there because they are expensive and don't get great fuel economy, which is why Mercedes Benz and other pricey vehicles made the list too. They weren't there because of quality problems. Calling vehicles "the worst" because of safety, reliability, or quality is one thing and is valid. That's not why the Escalade and some other GM vehicle (I forget which one) was on the list - it was because of these other two factors. It's a ridiculous "study." Factors like fuel economy and cost are a buyer's choice. The buyers of these vehicles don't have a problem with the cost or efficiency. For those buyers, those vehicle are efficient and affordable enough. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:47:53 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149548285 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149543580 Regarding the Volt. It IS fuel efficient. Extremely fuel efficient. Have you read a review in any magzine like Car & Driver, Road and Track, Motor Trend, etc? It works really well. Yes, 40 miles on a charge, in fact, maybe less. But I could do my commute every day to and from work and use no gas. None at all. Repeatedly talking about the 40 mile range figure out of context is beyond dishonest. You can drive far beyond that with the gas engine, but the point is, for significant periods of time, you use zero gasoline. A man in California reported 126 miles per gallon total for his first 2,500 miles of ownership, which he said included two trips of over 200 miles each, longer trips being when the Volt uses it's gas engine at 35 mpg or so. You have to calulate it's efficiency in totality, not just harp on a misleading "40 mile range" claim. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:25:46 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149543580 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149542963 Regarding the recalls, this author is either ignorant or just purposely presenting numbers to try to make GM look bad. Every manufacturer has recalls, from Toyota and Ford, both of whom have very recently recalled far more vehicles than GM, to Mercedes, Honda, BMW, etc. They're just a fact of life. They don't mean that a person has bought a poor-quality vehicle. Most of them are very simple fixes, like the windshield wiper bolt. 154,000 Cruze recalls? Have you ever owned a car? The vast majority of those cars will probably be looked at, free-of-charge of course, by the dealer and found not to need any corrections. When you start talking about recalls of 2000, 6000, and 8000 in number, you're really grasping at straws. Pick a manufacturer, any one, and you'll find many, many of these recalls. And in a lot of cases with Japanese makes, they don't publicly announce them to avoid the bad publicity; they quietly send out notices to the owners. At least GM is up front about it. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:22:45 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149542963 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149542875 There is much to criticize about the GM bailout, but this article is the work of a very ignorant man, or perhaps just a dishonest one. First of all, regarding the $3.2 billion profit. Yes, a lot of that was a one-time asset sale. But there were also a couple of significant one-time charges that reduced profit which he conveniently left out. The bottom line is, as GM management pointed out, that GM is headed in the right direction but is still a work in progress. The company hasn't been magically transformed overnight, but they've made huge strides. They're more profitable than the much-heralded Ford even after dropping the one-time asset sale. Fri, 6 May 2011 18:22:24 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2011/05/06/success-general-motors-forced-to-recall-nearly-170000-cars-trucks-and-vans/#IDComment149542875