The "New" GM... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

LUVMBDiesels · #1 07-13-2009, 06:52 AM

Got an email today... Funny but I do not own a Saturn...

Dear Joseph ,

Today we are pleased to announce there is a new GM. Please take note that General Motors Corporation, Saturn LLC, and Saturn Distribution Corporation sold a substantial amount of their assets to a new legal entity, General Motors Company ("GM" or "New GM"). This email is being sent by New GM on behalf of both General Motors Corporation and New GM.

We want to keep you informed about updates that are happening at GM. General Motors Corporation, Saturn LLC, and Saturn Distribution Corporation are transferring your personal information (e.g., your contact information and vehicle purchase history) to General Motors Company. General Motors Company has substantially the same privacy policies in place as General Motors Corporation had. If you do not want to receive marketing messages from GM, call 1-866-MY-PRIVACY (1-866-697-7482) or visit our Consumer Preference System website at gmcontactpreferences.com. To review the New GM Privacy Statement, click here.

We would like to remind you that dealers of GM vehicles will continue to service GM vehicles and honor GM vehicle warranties.

The New GM is positioned for a profitable, self-sustaining and competitive future. What's more, the New GM has several new products and technologies on track to debut, including key vehicle launches in 2009 and 2010. GM has a strong commitment to improving the fuel efficiency of its vehicle fleet, meeting or exceeding new federal fuel economy and emissions regulations, and pushing ahead with advanced propulsion technology. This is highlighted by GM's extended range electric vehicle, to be introduced in 2010. GM also expects to have 14 hybrid models in production by 2012.

If you happen to be in the market for a new vehicle, check out all the great savings on GM's current portfolio of award-winning vehicles. Shop GM Summer Savings, currently online at GM.com/summersavings.

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#2 07-13-2009, 07:47 AM

When they apologize for Dex-cool and the pontiac Azetc and those horrible metal prep jobs on all sorts of cars that led to the paint flaking off and the union. Then I might buy a GM car.

tbomachines · #3 07-13-2009, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helpplease

When they apologize for Dex-cool and the pontiac Azetc and those horrible metal prep jobs on all sorts of cars that led to the paint flaking off and the union. Then I might buy a GM car.

I'd like to add in the Caddilac Escalade Hybrid....now that is a fuel sipper right there.

These "advanced propulsion systems" they speak of...Is that like a flux capacitor or something? What happens when you reach 88mph...?

catmandoo62 · #4 07-13-2009, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

I'd like to add in the Caddilac Escalade Hybrid....now that is a fuel sipper right there.

These "advanced propulsion systems" they speak of...Is that like a flux capacitor or something? What happens when you reach 88mph...?

it's built by gubment motors.it will never be able to reach 88 mph!!

Wodnek · #5 07-13-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helpplease

When they apologize for Dex-cool .

What is up with Dexcool?

tbomachines · #6 07-13-2009, 09:56 AM

So I just searched Wikipedia for a quick Dex-cool description to help out and....see attached! I got a good laugh out of this

Fulcrum525 · #7 07-13-2009, 10:46 AM

I particularly like what was said by some GM executive after the end bankruptcy was announced

"We are going to start listening to our customers so that we can make cars that they actually want to buy"

(It might not have been those exact words but it was pretty damn close to it)

Jim B. · #8 07-13-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helpplease

When they apologize for Dex-cool and the pontiac Azetc and those horrible metal prep jobs on all sorts of cars that led to the paint flaking off and the union. Then I might buy a GM car.

Like what?

A Vega?

A Cimmaron?

A V8-6-4 de Ville?

A 350 "Diesel" Oldsmobile?

A Buick Skyhawk with the engine you have to lift out of the car to put spark plugs into?

A '62 Corvair?

A Delta 88 with the "cellophane" THM200 Automatic transmission?

I could go on.....

lutzTD · #9 07-13-2009, 10:49 AM

I havent heard much about how the unions and retirees will fair. I know with a name change the debts and liabilities are erased, hopefully they wont completely screw them over

Jim B. · #10 07-13-2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fulcrum525

I particularly like what was said by some GM executive after the end bankruptcy was announced

"We are going to start listening to our customers so that we can make cars that they actually want to buy"

(It might not have been those exact words but it was pretty damn close to it)

What?

You mean, helping out hedge fund managers and UAW pension costs weren't alluring enough reasons to buy their cars up to now?

Who would have ever thought that....

tbomachines · #11 07-13-2009, 11:14 AM

How bout the Fiero? A Chevy celebrity and Citation hacked together with a shoddy cooling system! Caddillac Catera, the GM competitor to MB C-class and BMW 3-series

LUVMBDiesels · #12 07-13-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

Like what?

A Vega?

A Cimmaron?

A V8-6-4 de Ville?

A 350 "Diesel" Oldsmobile?

A Buick Skyhawk with the engine you have to lift out of the car to put spark plugs into?

A '62 Corvair?

A Delta 88 with the "cellophane" THM200 Automatic transmission?

I could go on.....

OK, now hold on a minute...

A Vega? OK.. nice car, but rusted at the factory so you got me there...

A Cimmaron? Not a bad car, just not what a 1980's Caddy should have been -

A V8-6-4 de Ville? That was a good engine and very well engineered. The problem was ham-fisted mechanics defeating the system because they did not understand it. There was a great article about this in "Hemmings Classic Car" a few issues back

A 350 "Diesel" Oldsmobile? Again it WAS a scratch built Diesel not a converted gasser. It was a decent engine that was totally misunderstood by the public AND the dealers.

A Buick Skyhawk with the engine you have to lift out of the car to put spark plugs into? OK ya got me on that one...

A '62 Corvair? I LOVED my '63 Corvair. There was nothing wrong with that car either design or build wise. It lasted well over 20 years before succumbing to terminal cancer. Unless the '62 was a totally different animal do't disparage the 'Vairs

A Delta 88 with the "cellophane" THM200 Automatic transmission? I had a '77 Impala with the same Chevette Trans... Done to meet CAFE and abig mistake although after a rebuild with METAL gears replacing the nylon ones it lasted 200k miles...

How bout the Fiero? A Chevy celebrity and Citation hacked together with a shoddy cooling system! Not so. it was a very innovative space-frame design. In fact it saved the life of a friend when he got T'boned by a drunk driving an F150. Pieces of plastic flew everywhere and the car rolled twoce, but kept the passenger cage intact.

Caddillac Catera, the GM competitor to MB C-class and BMW 3-series Not a bad car -- it is an Opel after all...

GM's biggest problems can be summed up in a simple way, they do not SELL cars.

Take the Fiero, they had just gotten it right and turned it from the cheap commuter 'P-car' into a real mid-engined sports car. Then they killed it off. I guess they did not want it stealing potential Corvette owners or something.

Look at the 94-96 Impala SS. This was a great car, big, roomy, damn fast, cheap, and got over 27mpg on the highway (I did that on many trips at average speeds of 80+ mph) Did they market it? Hell no they killed it and al lthe big RWD cars off and replaced it with a POS FWD Accord clone.

Next is the 2004-07 GTO. Here was a potential screamer. Faster than a Ferrari F40 and for 1/2 the price! Did they style it to look like GTO should? No they made it look like another Honda clone. Did they advertise it? Oh no, we will build them and people will hear about them by word of mouth...
Another failure from GM.

Do we need and I could be wrong here but at least 14 different small SUVs? Why can't they build CARS? I would jump at a Chevy Impala or Bel Air built on a RWD platform with a small V8 and either a six speed manual or auto.
Oh what ever... GM will never get it, will they...

nate300d · #13 07-13-2009, 11:45 AM

OK, I will likely get flamed for this but I hope that they truly are new and make it. Not that everything has been perfect, but before I began driving Mercs I was 100% GM and my personal experience has been pretty good.

Currently, I have a 1997 K1500 Silverado with 112K on it and it has been a great truck. It is not flawless, but it was worn very well and much better than other vehicles I have had or known.

On the flip side I did have a 1995 S10 extended cab 4.3 V6 w/5speed manual. It was very dependable, but its design and build quality seemed to reflect 'this is a cheap truck and we don't care'. Seats were worse than awful. Bought at 56k miles, ex wife's son totaled at 148K miles

I had a 2000 Buick Century. Bought at 38k miles and sold at 120K miles. Aside from brakes and fluids only a heater fan switch had to be replaced. Soft ride, but I really liked the dual zone manual AC/heat control.

1996 GMC Safari. Only owned this one a few years. Sold when gas prices were going North in the early 2000's. Have for about 40,000 miles. Nothing ever went wrong.

1992 S10 Reg cab, short bed I4 w/5speed manual. I worked the piss out of this tiny truck. Only 1/2 ton cap. but many times I had far more and it always hauled. The 'Iron Duke' I4 was no big power house, but always managed to do the excessive that I was attempting. bouth at 62k miles and sold at 155K miles. Much better truck than the 1995 S10.

1989 Buick Park Avenue. Had the nicest climate control system that I have ever used. It was a touch pad and offered auto control with several override settings. Outside of a moonroof it had every option. Nice ride, 3800 engine.

1982 Cadillac Sedan Deville. This car had the HT4100. I bought this at 122K miles. I put in a water pump and climate controler unit. The prior owner put in a new transmission but never had an engine problem. The 4100 engine did not have much power, but I had two trips achieving 27.5mpg on this rwd barge. Sold at 168k miles. It was a plain Caddy, but always dependable and a nice drive.

There is more, but too much to list. My favorite one to mention was a 1979 Olds Omega. My father both it new. It was the last year of the rwd. It had the Buick 3.8 V6. At new it has several quirks to work out. It had silver paint that flaked off, but dad had it repainted light blue. At 144k miles I bought it from dad. I don't remember how long I had it, but I did sell it back to him (so many great stories to tell). My dad sold it at 288K miles. It did not burn oil, but the compression rings were worn. Besides the paint the ONLY things ever done to that car were fluids and brakes. Nothing ever failed on that car and it never failed to go. I remember one winter when that car sat outside. It was so cold that the two cars in the garage would not start, but that Omega did. When I was in college the father of one of my roommates was a sales exec. for LTV steel. He saw the car and asked me about the car and I mentioned about its high mileage ad dependability. He told me that some of the best grades of steel he ever sold went to GM for that body.

Just my history with GM products.

tbomachines · #14 07-13-2009, 12:11 PM

Just throwing this out there, I think Ford and Chrysler are much worse on the "gaffs" than GM in general, but since we were on topic with GM bashing...:p

Fiero: Not saying it isn't necessarily safe (though I recall a lot of fire and overheating problems), but the platform upon which it was developed wasn't the best. Suspension was based off of/generally the same as the Celebrity and Citation, not exactly great. The interior was awful as well. Transmission pretty good, the 4-speed Getrag. And yes, they cut it off right as it began to catch fire!

A major problem with the corvairs is that the belt was routed up and over the engine, it would throw them like crazy. I always thought they were pretty cool cars though, I'd pick one up.

Catera, I can't even begin to describe the technical issues, mostly electrical but they plagued nearly every Catera off the assembly line. For a good read, go to Edmunds and read some of the customer reviews for any of the Catera years. 'Nuff said. Not a well built car, and not even close to competing with the 3-series or C-class. I would argue that model is the biggest piece of junk to emerge from GM in the past 20 years, NOT a good car by any means.

edit: btw to above poster. You're the first person I ever heard from not to have a problem with the HT4100. IIRC the only other options in 82 were the V8-6-4 and the 350 diesel

what a year for the caddy!

aklim · #15 07-13-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutzTD

I havent heard much about how the unions and retirees will fair. I know with a name change the debts and liabilities are erased, hopefully they wont completely screw them over

Dems are a majority in the Congress and they are in the White House. They are owned by many entities, much like the Reps are owned by the religious groups. One of the Dem owners is the union. What do you think will happen? They will be fine. Besides, even if not, they should have socked something away in the good years. If not, I don't really care.