@George_San_Jose1. At least the HHR had a glove compartment. My 1971 Ford Maverick didn’t have a glove compartment–just a package shelf under the dashboard and this was the top of the line Maverick which was called the Grabber. I did order some sliding panels from J.C. Whitney that converted the package shelf into a glove compartment of sorts.
I’ll agree that the Equinox of years past is not the best product put out there by GM, I think the rest of the lineup was of a little better quality and engineering. Time will tell how the new version holds up. I do think GM has come a long way in the last 15 years as far as quality and reliability. And I think things like fit and finish and comfort are pretty subjective to each driver. What one finds annoying or unacceptable in a car another might find quite satisfactory.
We bought a new car last month. My wife had a specific list of things she wanted. She test drove–in no particular order–Ford, Lincoln, Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Jeep, Volvo, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Honda, Acura, Hyundai. In the end we bought a GM product. In my wife’s (and my) estimation, it “felt” and looked like one of the better designed and built cars out of the group, better than most.
The Toyota Highlander felt cheap and “plasticky”, the Lexus was cluttered and poorly thought out, the Honda Pilot was quite competent but utterly void of any style or driving pleasure. Is the GM product going to be as durable and trouble-free as the Toyota or Honda? Ehh, probably not. But I’ll bet it will be very close.
During my recent car buying spree, I drove an Impala Premium, Toyota Avalon, and Honda Accord EX-L. The Impala was most comfortable, had excellent fit and finish, and handled very well. The Avalon drove well, but had the least comfortable seats. The Honda won out because everything was very good, and it was about $5000 less than the other two. Road noise is definitely more noticeable, but I can accept that for the big savings.
That’s the only complain I’ve had about my Hondas, was the road noise. You don’t really notice it unless you ride in another brand of vehicle. My Dodge is like a bank vault compared to the noise level of my wife’s Honda, or my old one.
Aside from that, though, Hondas are my favorite.
My wife owned 2 Accords (87 and 96). Current car is an 07Lexus. Reason she bought that one was she wanted a quieter car…and it is. But I suspect newer Accords are quieter then the two she owned. How much - I have no idea. I do know the Lexus is a very quiet car and a very comfortable ride.
Speaking of noisy. The 2014 Rav 4 that I maintain has a noticeable and to the owner annoying noise when braking especially when backing up for the first time in the morning. Before removing the wheels to inspect things I googled the complaint and found that Toyota owners had voiced a complaint on the subject and the factory solution was to offer a kit consisting of different brake pads plus a sound insulation package for the rear. It was not cheap. The owner decided if there was nothing “wrong” with the brakes she would just turn the volume up on XM’s 1960s music. So far that is working fine.Of course whenever the Rav 4 is being serviced the owner is driving my ~30 year old Blazer and quickly realizes just how uncomfortable she could be with leaf springs and an old radio that needs new speakers.
I guess I haven’t really paid attention to the interiors much. I think I’ve always owned at least one GM car and have been comfortable with them. Mostly Olds and Buick though and the interior quality goes up (or used to go up) with the upgrades from Chevrolet to the higher priced models. I’ll probably take a closer look at the auto show.
At any rate I had a new Malibu loaner a few months ago and I didn’t see any quality or performance issues, but it was a very boring car to drive. Just around town so maybe not fair but it was very similar to the Impala I rented a few years ago. Actually that was my impression 30 years ago too with the new Impalas-just boring. Not the same though if you got into the Toronado or Riviera.
I went for quite a period where I didn’t have any American built vehicles, but got back into them with my 2002 Saturn and now a used 2007 Silverado Classic. The Saturn was the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. The Silverado appears to be pretty rugged except for the brake lines I had to replace because the previous owner went “mudding”.
The interiors of both held up well over the years, I don’t see any of the issues some of you guys are seeing.
It is a good thing that the GM vehicles are reliable because when they do need a repair, they are the hardest vehicles to work on. I swear that GM engineers absolutely hate mechanics and go out of their way to make sure that every job is as hard as possible. When I replaced the brake lines in the Silverado, I kept asking myself “why did they do this?”. Everything was designed to be as difficult as possible.
For example, why did the ABS module have to be located right next to the widest part of the transfer case making it impossible to swing a wrench more than 1/12th of a turn. It could have been moved just a few inches either forward or aft and their would have been plenty of room, and there was a foot on either side that it could have been located in.
At least the Toyota’s and Honda’s were easier to work on. It seems that Nissan may have hired a few of those difficulty enhancement engineers from GM though, but it was my second most reliable vehicle, a very close second behind the Saturn.
Full size Blazer ?
Nice truck, not exactly built for comfort, though 
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Want a “bad” vehicle, try a Saab. Sure, Saabs are very nice when new, but time will take a toll on parts, and electrical components; and you’ll be Saabing for years to come. Mine was in the shop about every 6 months until I sold it for a song. My next vehicle was a Ford Ranger–I loved it.
My 03 gm has been fairly good, I hear what you are saying, had to pull the alternator to change a thermostat, power steering lines rusted out near the rack, too much for me, an $800 fix to replace them.