New Car Buyers

[wdb]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Just as a reference point, I bought my '88 five or six years ago. Paid $2700, and got $1100 for my old '84 (carb) that I couldn't get to pass smog in this county. Still going strong (though I did have to replace a radiator cap this year :-(), so the heir thing applies to me too.

I thought about going for a much older truck as well, but I needed it to be trustworthy and comfortable enough for the 85 mile (one way!) commute I still need to do once a week. I decided to kill all of the birds I needed killed at the time with just one stone, and that meant getting a newer truck. Looking back on that decision I may not have made the best one. Time will tell.

EDIT: Then again I'm at a point in my life where I can play a bit as far as vehicles are concerned. It may be just me but used Japanese luxury cars look like a fire sale to me these days; Lexuses (Lexi?), Acuras and Infinitis with bulletproof reliability and reputations for going multiple 100's of thousands of miles, cost $75K new loaded up with everything imaginable, and you can find them all day under $20K with under 100K miles. Heck, you can even be fussy about colors and trim levels in most cases. Tempting...

[Fat Charlie]

And if you can wait a bit or travel a bit, it's not even that hard to be fussy. The internet did great things for finding used cars.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Ah, the old "it's not what you know, but who you know" principle.

Jealous much.......That's really the 'best' you can come up with?????.....:confused:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

I'm perhaps a bit prejudiced, since my family had a bunch of those GM cars from the years when DeLorean was influential in management. There was the '55 Chevy with the shift linkage that'd get stuck between gears, the '59 with 2 foot tailfins, the '65 Nova witha a front control arm that fell off while I was driving it, the mid-70s Vega which, in addition to all its other faults, had a shift linkage that'd get stuck between gears... There's a reason I haven't bought an American car since that Vega.

maybe you should read the book to understand .......a lot.
his book is ABOUT the failure of GM management to listen to his suggestions....duh.

But here is your pattern of comments......
1. "I installed an engine so I know how a billion dollar auto assembly plant should work" fail
2. " I hand built a computer and used a magnifying glass so I know how a computer assembly plant works" fail
3. I go thru an entire biography of a fairly successful person and pull out one fact to 'claim' his entire success is based on that relationship. Ignoring that he was success (very) prior to that relationship. FAIL
4. I quote some guy who make a false comparison to who was responsible on single defects on personally owned cars and blame a person who had NO direct link to the majority of the those individually owned cars. FAIL.

[mcrews]

"I'm perhaps a bit prejudiced, since my family had a bunch of those GM cars from the years when DeLorean was influential in management. There was the '55 Chevy with the shift linkage that'd get stuck between gears,"

In 1955 Delorean WASNOT at GM!!!!! FAIL! IDIOT COMMENT
FACT: a 1955 new car was first sold in September of 1954!!!! And was assembled in spring of 1954. PLEASE tell me how Delorean could affect this car!!!!!!! But more to the point…..HE WENT TO WORK FOR PONTIAC!!!!!!
“In 1956 DeLorean accepted a $16,000 salary offer with a bonus program, choosing to work at GM's Pontiac division as an assistant to chief engineer Pete Estes and general manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen”

"... the '59 with 2 foot tailfins,"

FACT: there was NEVER a 2 FOOT fin on a Pontiac (where Delorean worked until 1965)(and btw, what does tthis design feature have to do with production quality – the whole point of this thread!!!!!) FAIL
59 Pontiac 'fin'

1959 Cadillac fin



"...the '65 Nova witha a front control arm that fell off while I was driving it,"

FACT: Delorean did not get to Chevrolet until 1970!!!!! 6 years AFTER the production of this particular car. FAIL

"... the mid-70s Vega which, in addition to all its other faults, had a shift linkage that'd get stuck between gears..."

FIMALLY, a car that was connected to Delorean!! Well here is my bad. Since some can’t do follow up research on their own…..I should not have deleted this from my wiki posting…

”The Vega was assigned to Chevrolet by corporate management, specifically by GM president Ed Cole, just weeks before DeLorean's 1969 arrival as Chevrolet division's general manager. In a Motor Trend interview August, 1970 DeLorean said, "Vega will be the highest quality product ever built by Chevrolet."[18] By DeLorean's orders, tens of extra inspectors were assigned on the Vega assembly line and the first two thousand cars were road tested. He stated, "The first cars, from a manufacturing standpoint, were well built." But in 1972, General Motors Assembly Division (GMAD) (FACTeLorean had no control over GMAD)took over the Chevrolet Lordstown assembly plant and adjoining Fisher body plant. Their main goal was to cut costs and more than 800 workers were laid off, many of which were additional inspectors. This led to assembly-line vandalism, with workers intentionally slowing the line, leaving off parts and installing others improperly. Incomplete and often non-functioning cars soon filled the factory lot, which then had to be reprocessed and repaired by a team assigned to this task by DeLorean. A one-month strike followed and dealers didn't receive enough cars for the demand in 1972. DeLorean regrouped for the 1973 model year with Vega sales of 395,792. The one millionth Vega was built in May 1973, a month after DeLorean's GM resignation.[19]

"There's a reason I haven't bought an American car since that Vega"



Oh yeah….about those production problems at Chevy……
”DeLorean responded to the production problems by delaying the release of the Camaro, and simplifying the modifications(WOW!!!! EXACTLY WHAT I REFERRED TO IN THE BEGINNING!!!) to the Corvette and Nova. He used the extra time to streamline Chevrolet's production overhead and reduce assembly costs. By 1971, Chevrolet was experiencing record sales in excess of 3 million vehicles, and his division alone was nearly matching that of the entire Ford Motor Company

Finally, you should really research....I know, i'm asking a lot.....the definition of Peter Principal. It is promoting someone who is a little incompetent, to the next higher level where the person is now more incompetent. And finally to their highest level of incompetence. Please explain how that applies to Delorean. .....and please site true facts.


Look the “Peter Principle’ in full force ----.
" DeLorean's years of engineering at Pontiac were highly successful, producing dozens of patented innovations for the company, and in 1961 he was promoted to the position of division chief engineer."
NOT!

[UltArc]

Woah... What did I walk into here...

I gleam the Peter Principal isn't actually from 30 Rock, like I assumed.

[UltArc]

I have Ford A Plan, which usually means a free automatic transmission at base level, more savings if more options are selected.

I bought my 2012 Ford Mustang, total base model, with the exception of the lowest "appearance package" after seeing the 2013s. This gave the spoiler, and a sticker on the side. My directions were "I want the cheapest standard (Manual) Mustang I can get (new)." Our old family dealer would work things out, and it was a surprise, but a great deal. These people...no. "What color, do you want this, blah blah blah..." I wanted a SURPRISE, just cheap.

Wow, this royally sucks trying to type from a mobile device! Why is this site so terrible on mobile! Okay, long story short, under 20k, 6 year 100k bumper to bumper Ford warranty, Roush added my fun bits for 1/5th their/Fords price on average. Seriously, I love this site but I now remember what pushes me away from an intelligent response while away from a computer (98% of my time).

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

DeLorean was an outstanding engineer, too bad he fell under the temptation of drug smuggling and ultimately ruined his reputation.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by wdb

I thought about going for a much older truck as well, but I needed it to be trustworthy and comfortable enough for the 85 mile (one way!) commute I still need to do once a week. I decided to kill all of the birds I needed killed at the time with just one stone, and that meant getting a newer truck. Looking back on that decision I may not have made the best one. Time will tell.

EDIT: Then again I'm at a point in my life where I can play a bit as far as vehicles are concerned. It may be just me but used Japanese luxury cars look like a fire sale to me these days; Lexuses (Lexi?), Acuras and Infinitis with bulletproof reliability and reputations for going multiple 100's of thousands of miles, cost $75K new loaded up with everything imaginable, and you can find them all day under $20K with under 100K miles. Heck, you can even be fussy about colors and trim levels in most cases. Tempting...

This is very true! And while they may not exceed eps around town, the are capable of exceeding eps on the road!

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

DeLorean was an outstanding engineer, too bad he fell under the temptation of drug smuggling and ultimately ruined his reputation.

I agree!
He certainly is not "some idiot" nor even close to an example of the 'peter principle'!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

DeLorean is one of my references when I think about notable engineers, right next to Rudolf Diesel, Zora Arkus-Duntov and Amaral Gurgel.