Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

I am very happy with my new Town Car. So far I've needed only a slight adjustment, which took 10 minutes. That was to make the hood closer easier. I needed no appointment. I have been called 3 times since April 10th to see if I was pleased, and if everything was okay. I have been sent a pound of botique oatmeal raisen cookies and a bouquet of baloons for my purchase. The car performs flawlessly, I have no squeeks nor rattles, and fuel mileage is about what was expected. I have zero complaints. My neighbor 9 houses away is in Lemon Law Arbitration over his twice the price of my Town Car, BMW 745i which has been hauled away on a flat bed 7 times in 11 months.
Buy American
OR
Bye America!
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Ummm...don't you mean the Big 2? DC is a foreign owned company....as foreign as Toyota or Honda. And if you want to get technical, Chrysler was surpased by Toyota, so it wouldn't be #3 anyhow.

At any rate, I'm working on components for the following cars:

2004/5 STS (rear wheel drive)

2004/5 Lincoln Navigator (redesigned headlamp, so likely a renewed fascia)

2005 Regal (completely new)

2006 Dodge SUV-like vehicle

2005 Ford 500

There's a few others..just can't think of them now.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

I saw the new Seville. I was UNDERwhelmed by it. A slightly larger CTS. In time it may grow on me, but my initial reaction was a YAWN. I'll bet the Regal will be nice :) Buick knows that it NEEDS to do SOMETHING with the brand.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Sandy,

I call the new STS "the CTS's fat bastard of a brother". :)
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

I long for the enormous Fleetwood Brougham Rear Wheel Drive Sedan. The "3-Box" model.
I'm sick of "traditional" luxury brands, trying to re-invent themselves as "sport-sedans" ~ Compares to a macho-man trying to look suave in a dress! :(
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

I long for the enormous Fleetwood Brougham Rear Wheel Drive Sedan.
Click to expand...

1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance:
http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/mycars/1976/mycadillac/my76cad.jpg
"Measuring 233.7" from bumper to bumper, this is truely the last of the dinosaurs. In 1977, when Cadillac introduced its downsized models, the Fleetwood Brougham had shrunk by nearly a foot. This magnificent car is powered by a 500 cubic inch monster, giving ample power to propel this exclusive land yacht at impressive highway speeds. The ride is unbelievably soft and comfortable and the interior room is unmatched by any other car, except a limousine."

Yeah... something like that. I owned a rose colored exterior with mint black interior model from '78-'84.

http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/mycars/1976/mycadillac/my76cad.htm
http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/gallery/1976/76pics.htm
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

I had an opportunity years ago to buy a mint 1975 Fleetwood Brougham Talisman from an estate. She was white with a black roof & dark blue velvet/velour interior. I was turned off by the 3 colors. Now, I wish I had bought it and taken off the black roof and put on a white roof or a dark blue roof. She was 98% flawless. At the time, she was 10 years old (1985) and had 21,000 miles on her. (2,000 @ yr.).
< kicks self > :(
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Sadly, shortly after these dinosaurs, the BIG 3 started a steep decline lined against the fast upcoming foreign rivals, mainly imports from Japan. I remember when Subaru first came to the US market. Armed with small, economic, sporty base models that got twice the average MPG of a domestic, they certainly garnered lots of attention. Now look, IMO they are just another brand name, option bloated, comparatively mediocre fuel economy, overpriced import. I just do not see the market separation that used to exist, now that it's the SUV's show. Oh well, at least the minivans finally gave way to something.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

My neighbor 9 houses away is in Lemon Law Arbitration over his twice the price of my Town Car, BMW 745i which has been hauled away on a flat bed 7 times in 11 months.
Click to expand...
I know a guy that works for a BMW dealership, he troubleshoots all the electrical problems on cars that come in. In so many words, he said the 745i is junk. Electrical/computer problems out the wazoo.

And I've heard just a many horror stories about Mercedes (especially regarding the M-class). Yet for some reason, people still see these brands as the epitome of quality.

Screw that, give me my Lincoln any day of the week.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Tony, I never knew that you preached Gospel ! :) x 1,000
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Does anyone have a scan of the '05 Lincoln Continental from the september 2003 issue of Road & Track?
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

My neighbor 9 houses away is in Lemon Law Arbitration over his twice the price of my Town Car, BMW 745i which has been hauled away on a flat bed 7 times in 11 months.
Click to expand...
I know a guy that works for a BMW dealership, he troubleshoots all the electrical problems on cars that come in. In so many words, he said the 745i is junk. Electrical/computer problems out the wazoo.

And I've heard just a many horror stories about Mercedes (especially regarding the M-class). Yet for some reason, people still see these brands as the epitome of quality.

Screw that, give me my Lincoln any day of the week.
Click to expand...

Any car that has many accessories has a electrical problems. BMW's use a 40V system instead of 12V, or at least the 745i/L and 760Li.

This was first famous for the first to mid 90's Mercedes. When people say quality they mean built and materials wise. They have the best engineering, and high quality parts, electricity is a different issue. I know mannnnnnnnnnny people with 745's and not much complained about the electrical systems. I say this after having a few BMW’s in my family, and my father bought one a few summers ago while we were on vacation for 45days, and they are some very nice cars.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

One more reminded to my friend,

The U.S. governt still makes money when you buy a Import.

And its not cool throwing accusation and calling people hypocrites. Just because most new American luxury cars don’t fit my taste does not make me a hypocrite like you want to call me when I buy a brand new shiny LEXUS, MERCEDES, or maybe a BMW.

To be honest with you, if it was up to me, I would shut ford down due to their lack of customer support, no wonder ford, mercury and Lincoln scored the LEASTTTTTTTTTTTTTTtt when it came to customer satisfaction.

If you don’t want to believe me, walk into any ford dealership, and tell me how badly you will get ripped off, and I’m not saying they are all 100% bad, but i can tell you that I’m 100% more satisfied when I take my Lexus to the dealership then when i take my Lincoln.

at a ford dealership, when you show them that your a knowledge person, they try to raise their voice, tell you that they know what they are doing, and ask you why you brought the car to the dealership if you knew better then them.

at a Lexus dealership, they praise you, tell you how much of a good employee you would of made if you worked for them (in a joking manner of course), share a few laughs, and bring the mechanic into the office to discuss things with you and see how you want things done.

So even if one day, the moon explodes and Lincoln makes more reliable cars then Lexus, I would still not buy one simply because of the customer satisfaction.

If you still have doubts, please visits the Tampa bay area Lexus dealership, and take a look around.

p.s. I’m no first timer, I have owned a few fords, just ask my dealership of how many cars I brought in.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Any car that has many accessories has a electrical problems. BMW's use a 40V system instead of 12V, or at least the 745i/L and 760Li.

I don't care if it has a 1.21 gigawatt electrical system. It's a $60k+ car that they released before it was ready.

They have the best engineering, and high quality parts, electricity is a different issue.

A car that doesn't run because it's computer is jacked up is no different than a car that doesn't run due to a mechanical failure. Non-function is non-functional.

I know mannnnnnnnnnny people with 745's and not much complained about the electrical systems.

Well, I'm just relating what I heard from a BMW mechanic that has done electrical work on those cars since the day the hit the dealerships. He tells me they come in with problems they can't solve, that BMW doesn't know the answer to. Their answer is to upgrade the various firmware - which is about the same as telling someone they need to reboot to fix their computer problem. I'm not saying there are no happy 745i owners out there, I am saying there are a significant number of unhappy ones out there. And I think that's unacceptable for a brand that is universally regarded as having the best engineering/materials/build quality.

No car company is perfect, even BMW. Anything that can be made can be made poorly. I just don't like the prevailing attitude that ALL American cars are ALL low-quality crap and ALL German cars are ALL 100% perfect in every imaginable respect. Because it just ain't true.
 
RE: Big 3 are closing gap on their foreign rivals

Dealer service is a crap shoot at best. I've heard bad and good things about all types of dealerships. Just because a dealership sells Brand X does not guarantee good or bad customer service. Ever.
 
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