I purchased three years ago a 1988 Cadillac DeVille. It has 123k miles and runs like new. I am very impressed with the ride and drive quality of this car. It is hard to beat, even at 20 years of age!
I know GM and American cars are getting some bad knocks, but this car is awesome. I have to say GM did a great job – and the car gets 22mpg average! Thanks for letting me share.
Well even a broken clock is right twice a day. Looks like you got a car that worked like it was supposed to and has been reliable. As for more subjective things like ride and drive quality to each his own. Having been in these cars they feel like a boat on wheels.
I’ve owned GM cars since 1968 and I’ve got to say they have all been good cars with the exception of the diesel Olds that was a disappointment. I get multi hundreds of thousands of miles on them and since the 86 models, MPG is always over 25 with a full sized car. Everybody has their own less than scientific opinions but when you come right down to it, sometimes their real issues are more with unions than cars.
I’ve had my best success with the 5 GM cars I’ve owned over the years. This includes 3 Fords, an Austin, and a VW.
You reminded me of fond memories of an early 80’s (IIRC) ElDorado that I bought well used. It had one of the smoothest automatic transmissions I have ever experienced. The ride was fantastic even with the advanced mileage on its clock. It had all the bells and whistles too. I especially liked the automatic climate control which was elite for that era and the supple leather seating. You can get a lot of car for very little money if you’re far enough down the depreciation curve. I put very little money into that car and drove it for quite a few years before selling it.
come drive in my 2002 montecarlo ss you will hear alot of knocks.43.500miles i dont know if i will buy a chevy again.i have owned quite a few.they dont make them like they use too
IMHO GM produces so many different models you cannot label the entire maker good or bad.
Personally I think its the neglectful or apathetic owners mostly why most of these cars do not last. They have their duds but the majority are adequate or better.
The bad knocks are not really the products themselves but their ability to supply what the market wants or perceives they need.
I have a lot of relatives who are predominantly GM owners and they’re all happy with their vehicles. These vehicles, for the most part, get driven a lot and get driven hard. Mileage in the 200k and better range is nothing and several of my brothers in law use their vehicles for business use also. Some of those pickups hit 350k and in one case a bit over 450k miles. The latter got one transmission replacement and that’s not bad for a truck used to haul heavy loads.
HEY ANDREW MAYBE THE ANWSERS YOU PUT IN IS PATHETIC.INSTEAD OF THE PERSON THAT HAD A BAD EXPERINCE WITH A CHEVY MODLE LIKE I HAVE IN THE 2002MONTECALOSS.BUT THE OTHETS THAT I HAD WERE VERY WELL MADE.AND MAINTEND
GM makes parts in many different plants and buys many parts from others. They are then shipped to their final destination plants for assembly. If there’s a problem with one of the Parts plants (i.e. Engines) then ALL final assembly plants will be having problems…across ALL platforms…This is/was the case with GM’s V6 and V8 intake manifold problems. Since pretty much ALL of GM’s line used these engines they ALL had the problem.
Now every manufacture will have problems…that’s a fact. What I have a problem with GM…is they are so slow to respond when problems arise. They are either to arrogant to think it could be their problem…or too greedy to fix the problem because it will cost them too much money NOW to fix the problem. That’s why it took GM over 10 years to fix the intake manifold problem…It affected so many engines that there have more then ONE class-action lawsuits against them. Same thing with their ball-joints on their mid-size SUV’s and pickups. Premature failure for YEARS.
Toyota had smudging problems with their 3.0l V6. Took them less then 3 years to fix this problem…although I do think that was too long…but it took GM 3-4 times longer to fix the intake manifold problem.
I’m still waiting for GM to start building quality vehicles again. I’ll be first in line to buy one.
GM definitely knows how to make nice big cars and trucks-- it’s their economy cars that have been most of their stinkers over the years. It was when the Japanese started building really nice economy cars that they really started to lose market share fast. Of course, there’s also the fact that a lot of GM economy cars are just rebadged cheapo cars from other manufacturers or foreign subsidiaries that have nothing to do with GM’s North American operations.
Agree, GM takes a while to get a problem corrected. Having said that, all the GM cars I’ve had were good cars; 1948 Chevy stovebolt 6 in college(drove till 1962, then gave to kid brother), a 1966 Chevelle Malibu 283 V8, 1977 Pontiac LeMans V8, 1980 Oldss Delta 88 Rocket, 1984 Impala V8, 1988 Caprice V8. All good cars, and quite reliable. The Olds was the best, it ran 75,000 miles with only routine specified maintenance, no repairs or replacements whatsoever!!
I had GREAT luck with GM cars…right up to my 74 Vega…
67 Malibu SS…
69 Firebird
66 Fleetwood
72 Monte Carlo.
coughAveocough
come drive in my 2002 montecarlo ss you will hear alot of knocks.43.500miles i dont know if i will buy a chevy again.i have owned quite a few.they dont make them like they use too
A space would be nice to have after the period, it helps to tell when you’ve finished a sentence.
Grammar Nazi-ism aside, are you using the correct grade of fuel to run the car? Have you maintained it according to the owner’s manual(Do you even know what the owner’s manual looks like? :p)?
Most new cars made today are only as reliable as the owner maintains it. I posted a question on another forum asking for cars to try out that are under $30k and one suggested I go look at a used Lancer Evo or WRX STi. I would rather own a Prius than buy one of those 2 cars, simply because of the demographic that buys them. Sadly, Honda and Toyota are not on my list because of the way they do their options(mostly Toyota, but Honda is guilty as well). If I want something like heated leather seats, I have to get a package that include things I don’t want, like a sunroof and/or HID headlamps and/or a navigation system. Also, both makes most likely won’t have much wiggle room when it comes to final price.
Unfortunately, every vehicle I’ve test driven, I’ve liked for one reason or another. The Vibe for being relatively inexpensive and the cargo room(and being about $5k less than the same exact car with a different badge on it), the G8 GT for the get up and go, and the interior room. The Mini Cooper Clubman for the fun factor and different styling of both the car and the rear doors(regular doors instead of hatch), and the way I was treated by the salesman there. The Fusion for its funky looks and the partnership pricing(X-plan) I can get through my job. Insurance is another thing to worry about too. The G8 GT is the least expensive($611/6 months) of the cars I gave to my insurance agent to check prices on(didn’t give her a fusion VIN though) the Vibe and Clubman cam in 2nd by about $7/6 months, followed by an Impala SS for $10/6 months more than the Vibe and the Clubman/convertible S models came in last with nearly $700/6 months for insurance. Next up on the list is a Ranger and Escape, possibly a Scion and Mazda will be considered, a Subaru is stretching it since I can’t justify AWD even living in Ohio(though, since I moved a couple months ago, I’ll give it a winter to decide since they may not plow this area like they used to plow my other place)
They did a pretty good job on the Saturn. In the immediate family, we have a Toyota, 3 Nissans and one Honda along with the Saturn. The Saturn has the second best reliability record of the bunch. Had another Toyota but that one got wrecked recently. Only the new Toyota has a better record than the Saturn, but only barely.
pure luck!
Garbage Motors.
just rebadge the thing and call it what you want.
M/O.
Glad you got a well made car. GM and Ford are better than what people give them credir for, although, all manufactures have thier well made cars and thier junkers. It’s been awhile since I have had a GM but Ford for example has a great car (IMOO) in the Taurus but after owning the Windstar, which is a rolling piece of garbage I will not buy any Fords for awhile.
For what it’s worth, farming out parts is common to every car maker from Audi to Zundapp.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler ball joints, example, are manufactured by the same people who build them for Nissan, Toyota, etc.
Electrics, brakes and even transmissions are farmed out. Even the cigarette lighter in my Lincoln is not made by Ford.
I was all for Dodge until the 2.7 engine they wouldn’t stand behind. We recently tried a Chevy and have loved it.
However, add the steering shafts to your list that GM had no real fix for and now sells thousands of them to GM car owners. I see where you’re coming from. They owed the repair to customers, as did Dodge.
Also, I agree each manufacturer has its problem areas. One has to do a little reserch before a purchase.
Just a few addendums about the Asians “doing the right thing”…
http://epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/amerhonda.html
(JMHO, but I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with Toyota ball joints; just like there is nothing wrong with GM or Ford joints. A class action can be filed over anything (imagine that) and as I always say, there is more to the part failure than is known)