@mountainbike I’ve never blown a trannie (automatic) and have had them since 1965. The only REPAIR I’ve ever had on a transmission was a band replacement on a C-4 unit in my 1971 Mercury Comet. That set me back $186 dollars in 1976.
$186.00 1976 dollars = $763.44 2013 dollars.
When my Vega went on the lift, it turned out that the tranny bolts were slowly withdrawing from their holes, making the tranny input shaft lateral loaded as well as torsionally. I’m tellin’ you, every major system in that vehicle failed within the four years that I owned it. I truly liked the car, but the absolutely pathetic quality left me with a bad taste for GM that’ll never go away.
GM rushed to production on the Vega. I too had major problems with my Vega…but again I liked the car. At that time GM did NOT want to build a small car. The smaller the car…the less profit. The attitude of some GM executives and works was that - they thought the problem wasn’t with GM - but the ungrateful buyers for demanding smaller cars.
During the period of time the Chevy Vega was in production, all the major US vehicle manufacturers suffered from the delusion that that Japanese vehicles were cheap, poorly designed, poorly assembled copies of what the US manufacturers were producing. There was an element of truth in that, but this did not stay constant.
The Japanese refined their assembly methods, improved their designs - while the US manufacturers concentrated on reducing cost. The result was the Japanese came to own the small car market. The US manufacturers are still trying to dig themselves out of that hole.
During the period of time the Chevy Vega was in production, all the major US vehicle manufacturers suffered from the delusion that that Japanese vehicles were cheap, poorly designed, poorly assembled copies of what the US manufacturers were producing. There was an element of truth in that, but this did not stay constant.
Toyota first imported cars to the us in late 50’s. And they were cheap…and poorly designed and made. But they learned their lesson in the 60’s introduced the Corona and then later the Corolla.
Toyota (and pretty much all the early Japanese vehicles) suffered from premature rust. Probably not much of a problem in Texas…but it was a major problem in the North East. That wasn’t fixed until the mid 80’s. Mechanically they were far superior to their American counterpart…but they rusted out badly.
@B.L.E Using the Consumer Price Index, that’s probably right! Still not bad for driving automatics for 48 years, and towing trailers with 5 different cars.