mmarshall

Good point.....but not surprising, considering that Fiat, Dodge's new owner, also, I believe, owns Ferrari. They probably think that the Viper's V-10, being truck-derived, though a classic torque-monster, is too crude and unrefined.

LunaVyohr

But that's the point of a Viper!

ggravant

I agree - that engine does make it a uniquely American sports car. But - saying your car has a Ferrari V10 probably would get peoples attention too

Och

iTrader: (3)

Lets also not forget that MB stole what was supposed to be the next Viper from Chrysler and turned it into SLS.

Sulu

You are correct that it does not matter to the production-line workers, but without design engineering being done here, there may be a hollowing out of the intellectual knowledge workers and a portion of the middle class.

There was worry that with production being outsourced to cheap-labour countries (the WalMart effect), that there would be a loss of important manufacturing jobs. If design engineering is also being outsourced, especially to the developing countries (like Korea and China), then there is a loss of important intellectual knowledge jobs also. Would you want your universities to train your sons and daughters in the important (and potentially high-paying) intellectual knowledge careers, only to lose them to developing countries?

caddyowner

If you want a simple illustration of why people buy foreign cars over American, go lurk in some of the current model forums on http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/forum.php .
Having been a former Cadillac owner, I still hang out over there and some of the threads get downright depressing with all the problems, many serious, those owners have. It seems that the only current Cadillac model with few problems is the DTS. You know, the one GM has ignored for the past few years and is now killing.

Kingkrs

iTrader: (1)

After looking through some of those threads I am glad that I didn't go with the CTS-V like I originally wanted. It is really too bad that the Big 3 can't seem to shake the reputation for poor quality especially in such a "nice" car.

This just reinforces my decision to go with a CPO ISF instead of the Caddy.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

most car makers are so close in quality it basically doesn't make any difference. you could have issues with any of the majority of car makers. however, i'd say a car like an LS460 is likely to be just about perfect, but i don't think one can say that about an IS or GS.

what do you base this on?

here it says "Very good" for reliability (JD Powers)
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...llac_CTS/2010/

here from consumer reports it says it has "some issues with reliability, which keeps CR from recommending it" but it doesn't say what they are.
http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1...ability-issues

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

and to further show CR makes no sense... here the CTS 'wins' the luxury comparison, but is still not recommended. it gets 84 and they give the HS250h an 83, proving they are clueless.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/05/c...sedan-comparo/

LexBob2

I think the road test and reliability scores are two different areas. A car can do well in the road test but not in relibility or vice versa.

IMO doesn't make it right or wrong it's just the way happen to do it.

lamar411

ill buy whatever gives me the best bang for my buck and if i like it. Toyota and Lexus have been perfect for me, so ill stick around.

mmarshall

I myself am not the one doing the basing. CR (which I consider the best auto-reliability data in the buisness) gives the CTS a well-below-average reliability rating...the 2Gen model as well as the 1Gen.

I don't completely discount Power's figures (they have some merit), but, given the choice between them and CR, I'll take CR, hands-down, for a number of reasons.

CR spells it out, clear and simple, in the reliability-charts in the New-Car-Buying-Issues they publish twice a year......December/January and April. These charts show clear, half-color, and full-color red and black dots, depending on the percentage that cars of that year/model had for given problems in any given category. The higher the percentage of questionaires returned that indicate problems in any given category, the more likely the chart is to show a half or full-black dot. The CTS, in general (including all of its versions....sedan, SportWagon, CTS-V, RWD, AWD etc...) has had more than average problems in several categories, including drive-line, brakes, body-integrity, and electronic/audio system.

This has been pointed out before, on CAR CHAT. CR can assign a high rating to a vehicle that performs well in their review/road-test, passes the goverbment crash-tests, but still not recommend it for purchase based on the repair history. We see that not only with the CTS, but with a number of other vehicles as well. No matter how good or bad a vehicle does in CR's reviews, it must hace at least an average or better reliability rating to be on the recommeded list.

And CR, today, is more careful about this than it was even a few years ago. In the past, CR would sometimes recommend a new model simply based on its previous repair-history, without waiting to get some actual repair-date on the new model. They got burned on the latest-generation Camry, which, with the 2006-2007 redesign, they recommended simply based on not only their own tests, but also the better-than-average repair history of previous models. Well, when buyers actually purchased the latest-generaton model, they got stuck, on some V6 models, with defective automatic-transmissions and some other quality-issues, and the Camry's repair-rating quickly fell to average or worse-than-average, depending on the specific model. Now, there's no more of that.......even vehicles with previous stellar reliability ratings, like many Lexus and Acura models, on a new-introduction or significant redesign, have to earn their good reliability-rating, and pass all the other government and CR tests, before CR will actually recommend them. The CTS, unfortunately, has not done that yet.

superchan7

I will buy an American car when there is one that fits my needs and wants at a given time. I currently have two cars: A mid-size sedan and a two-door sports car.

My mid-budget mid-size sedan is a Honda because reliability is important to me, but so is interior build quality. At the Accord's price point, there is no domestic competitor with matching interior quality. The Malibu is the only domestic model with a remote chance, but its interior materials are still a step or two down...I've driven one.

My sports car is not American because I wanted a sophisticated performer that turns as responsively as it accelerates. At the same time, I want an interior that, while not necessarily very luxurious and filled with toys, at least has good materials and assembly (Corvette fails massively here). In this not-so-big niche and at this price point, the Cayman/Boxster pair have very few rivals.

If I wanted a compact car, the new Ford Focus hatchback is quite attractive in all areas. So there are new domestic cars coming that are worthy as competitors to the imports, but I'm not in the market yet.

mmarshall

The Malibu's interior, IMO, especially the top-line LTZ model, is actually more plush-looking than that of any Accord. Some of the Malibu's parts inside can compare to the Accord's in material-quality; others can't.



Have you seen the new Focus at auto shows yet? (it has generally not been released yet at deslerships) Since interior quality is important to you, I'm not sure that you will like the new Focus interior as much as that of its rival Chevy Cruze (I know I don't). Ford has done a good job, lately, of improving reliability, but, IMO, some of their interiors still lag behind even the domestic competiton.

Here....you can compare the two interiors.

Focus:



Cruze:

jwong77

Its hard to tell from pictures, but they both look about appropriate for the subcompact economy class. Theme-wise, I prefer both over the overly cartoonish/space rocket Honda Civic interior.