Thanks for clearing that up, Tom. Yep, after emerging from bankruptcy, Kmart bought Sears for 11 billion dollars. The new company is called Sears Holdings with stock symbol "SHLD." (Kmart's symbol is history--gone.)
The combined company is now based at Sears headquarters outside Chicago.
The new Sears Holdings operates both Sears and old Kmart stores. Hundreds of Kmarts were converted to Sears. (Info from CNN money.)
And how many Toyotas that were built in the 1980's and early 90's do you see still on the road compared to domestic brands?
Personally I think that all manufacturers design and build cars to last no longer than 10 years now before they fall apart. I had a 79' Datsun B-210 that the steering box rotted away from the chassis somewhere around 1988 or so. I was going down the road at the time of failure. I've been skeptical about the build and design of Asian built cars ever since.
I do own at present a 97' Hyundai Tiburon with approximately 195,000 miles on it that hasn't given very much trouble, but when there is a problem I have found that it takes a long time to get parts and they are very expensive compared to domestic parts.
...Ron
--
68'RS Camaro 88'Formula 00'GT Mustang
Isn't that what I first posted?
Think about what you are writing. There is nothing wrong with setting a goal of fewer quality lapse incidents. It is a good thing. When someone pulls the cord, it means that the system has failed and needs to be fixed.
The trick is that you d>>Adam wrote:
Come to think of it, there was one more failure (DOA rear power window). Wow, that's quite a few failures in 5 years.
Too long ago to matter.
Sorry , that's just not what I see at the Toyota dealer near me . Service department is ALWAYS dead .
?If you can?t be happy where you are, it?s a cinch you won?t be happy where you ain?t.?
| >
| > The only reason Chrysler is still around is because the Germans bought | > them. If Hyundai buys out GM sometime in the next 10 years (not that I | > expect it to happen, but simply as a thought experiment) will you consider | > that to mean that GM is "still here"? | >
| > As businesses GM and Ford are both in trouble right now. | >
| > Do you remember when Sears was the 800 lb. Gorilla of US retailing? It | > was not very long ago, and today Sears continues to wander in the | > wilderness of great businesses. Sears long time nemesis Montgomery Ward | > is completely gone ... even oil company money couldn't save 'em. | >
| >
| > John | | You do realize Kmart bought Sears, right? | | Actually, I believe that it was classified as *a merger* with KMart pulling Sears out of the doldrums. Whatever, they are a couple now...And, I thought that Chrysler went into the DC merger in great cash flow shape, and the Germans drained the $$$ in a hurry.
The tendency for many Hondas to overheat front rotors, that eat up linings and rotors. Nest time you walk down a busy city street take note of all the Hondas that you see parked that have wheels, particularly aluminum wheels, that are brown or blacked with brake and rotor dust. ;)
mike hunt
Are you happy with it? Do you feel you got a good enough deal, or otherwise got enough value out of it, to justify having it sidelined to fix these problems?
If the answer's "yes," then GM should make another sale to you, presuming they build a vehicle that fits your identified needs. If the answer's "no," GM's got a problem to address.
I assume adults know how to distinguish fact (i.e., defect rates, hours needed to produce each vehicle) from opinion (i.e., GM designs and executives are bad), and the popularity of any brand of vehicles doesn't change opnions about it to facts or vice-versa.
Yes I do, and both combined continue to wander in the business wilderness. What really happened is that a real estate speculator bought K-mart out of bankrupcy and then bought Sears. Then he renamed the combined company Sears.
20 years ago Sears was #1 and K-mart was #2, much like GM and Ford. Now Sears-Kmart is one company and together is still a basket case.John
Well, a third party bought K-Mart out of bankrupcy and then bought Sears. Then he renamed the whole thing Sears, just to keep it confusing.
John
Hmmm, the average Toyota dealer in the US sells three times as many vehicles as does the average GM dealer, so your observations don't really mean a whole lot.
John
I assume people know how to distinguish between fact (failure rates, costs, labor hours) and opinion (design and leadership are bad), and the popularity of a brand of vehicles doesn't change facts about it to opinions or vice-versa..
Your derivation of that corellation is a very bad attempt at trying to disspell his experience. As a matter of fact, more owners complain of problem on their GM vehicles than the Japanese imports. To me, that is the definition of bad.
The is factually incorrect. Perhaps you meant to say the average dealer, that sells Toyota BRAND vehicles sells more vehicles per dealership? Since there are far fewer Toyota brand dealership, than say the average Chevrolet dealer or Buick dealer which would be factually correct. The ratios is nowhere near three times as many however. In the US an average GM dealership sells far more vehicles than an average Toyota MOTOR Company dealerships sell Toyotas, Lexus and Scion vehicles. FMC and Chrysler Motors dealers sell more vehicles, on average, the Toyota Motors dealers, as well.
One needs to peruse Toyotas press releases and ads carefully. Toyota missives have a tendency to confuse buyers. The only vehicle that Toyota Motor Company sell in the US, in a comparably high volume is the Camry that sells at a rate over 600K, and some what the Corolla. Nearly all of their other models sell in volumes less the 300K. Toyota for example gives the impression they sell more cars than any other manufacture in the US, which in not factually correct. The sell more cars with the same brand name on the hood but not more cars with more than one brand name on the hood. GM and Ford sell more cars. In addition GM, Ford, and Chrysler to a lesser extent, sell trucks alone in numbers two to three times greater than any cars Toyota sells .
mike hunt
Is that the reason you believe Toyota is in fourth place behind GM, Ford and Chrysler in the US? Based on the many Toyotas I have owned I believe Toyota makes great vehicles, but I have found that they are generally over priced, under powered and no better than any other brand. The reason Toyota sells the number of vehicles in the US that it does is because buyer buy the vehicle they believe to be the best for them and their money. Obviously you buy the brand you buy for the same reason. The fact is more buyer choose GM over Ford, Ford over Chrysler, Chrysler over Toyota and Toyota over Honda. Whether you agree with the reasoning of those buyers, or not, that is only your opinion.
mike hunt
Awww, you forgot to say "in my opinion." And your opinion is... interesting. These are things that a prospective buyer will notice right at the test drive. Things they can not help but notice at the test drive.
"Gosh, this car hardly moves." In fact, I said that myself when I test-drove a Chevette in 1979 or so. "Gosh, this car is $x,000 more than that car."
Never mind the esoterics of projected life-cycle cost, reliability, resale value or whatnot. If what you say is true, these are qualities that every buyer should be well-equipped to notice and judge at the time of test-drive and purchase.
So, why, if what you say is true, would anybody buy a Toyota? Why, if what you say is true, is Toyota making money?
Here's an alternative explanation that fits the facts: Maybe Toyotas are actually reasonably priced and reasonably powered and your opinion is just WRONG.
Just an idea. You might give it some thought.
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