The many changes made by GM appear to be paying off. While Buick and Cadillac models are now tops in relibility over all other makes, the recent incentives have pushed sales up 41 %. GM has increased its market share from 23% last year to 31% this year. This is expected to increase, as GM drops the incentive programs in favor of lower prices on most models. GM sales in Europe have risen 28% over 2004, while it is closing in on Volkswagen, which is the number one seller in China.
Among the losers is Toyota, which is taken the brunt of the General Motors offensive. It is hard to beat great prices, great reliability and great product!
Interesting. We own a 2003 Honda Accord and a 2002 Olds Silhoette. Both have spent more time in the shop than I would expect to see. The Honda just got a new transmission under warranty while the Olds is presently having the A/C condensor replaced at a cost of $900.
The Honda has gone through brake pads much faster than one would expect and needed new rotors sooner than any other car I have ever owned.
My personal experience is that GM has been improving quality in recent years while Honda has been cutting corners. The gap is not what it used to be.
I could not care less about what happens at GM. Honda products are not perfect just way better then anything GM builds here. Honda has never needed to resort to pricing discounts to sell their cars and have a reputation for quality second to nobody and high resale too boot. Now even in GM's Saturn Vue you will find a HONDA 3.5 v-6 engine , appears like they know whats good also. Scott
I wouldn't buy a Saturn Vue if it came with THREE Honda engines in it . . . You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Resale value may be a bit better on that version, but time will tell :-(
GM resorted to the big discounts to move their huge SUVs. They have a few models that have fared fairly well in Consumer Reports reliability ratings -- like Buick LeSabre and the like, but Cadillac is still in the toilet. I would never trade my Prelude for anything GM makes -- and that includes a Corvette. And, I have owned a couple Corvettes before.
You must be forgetting the first generation Odyssey and that hack job built by Isuzu and sold by Honda. Isuzu called their version to Rodeo. I can not remember the Honda name.
Honda also has rebates on several models right now, including the Accord. They just don't call 'em rebates. They call it "marketing support" to the dealerships and the number is hidden from customers.
see:
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* In a way this is more devious than a straight up rebate as if you don't know about it you may not get as good of a deal as a more informed person does.
Yes, GM currently is discounting it's vehicles more than Honda is, but that is not the same thing as it is to say that Honda "never needed to resort to pricing discounts". Your statement simply isn't true.
Best thing about my Honda and others I see, the paint isn't falling off, like I've seen on alot of GM and Chrysler products, if either manufacture had any balls they would re-paint those vehicles at no cost to the owner.
With recent transmission problems Honda has some catching up to do. Besides, they are now also starting to fall behind on technology. Rear drum brakes on the 2005 Accord? And the interior is in bad need of updating. Tsk, tsk.
The market sets car prices, not the manufacturers. That being said, both the new and the used car market prices HON/TOY products to last about 150,000 miles. Sure, many go much longer and still have some residual worth at
150,000 miles. At 150,000 miles, they become "might last longer" vehicles...but not a great bet. But for GM/FORD the market prices them to go only to 100,000 miles before it's worth merely a residual "might last longer" value. That's why a loaded CR-V can command $23,000 while you can find a similar Ford Escape that they can only get $18,000 for (after all the rebate shenanigans). The market is recognizing that the Escape approaches crap at 100,000 miles while the CR-V probably won't approach crap until
150,000 miles. The HON/TOY is actually cheaper to own. Here the 'Scape costs
18 cents/mile while the CR-V costs 15 cents/mile. And while most people don't own a car from showroom to junkyard, this same pricing pattern will show up at resale time so, again, even for the 2-3 year owner, the HON/TOY is cheaper than the GM/FORD to own. (I will say that with the depth of the GM/FORD rebates today, their cost per mile is approaching that of HON/TOY. But, of course, cutting prices enough to compensate people for this 50,000 durability gap is killing both GM and FORD in the process).
I'd prefer to have drums rather than disks on the rear of my Accord. The primary reason is that they last so much longer and don't have to be serviced/checked every six months.
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