"Dodge has high hopes for Caliber"

Scott

"Art" wrote

It was designed by Ford of Europe. That goes a long way to explain why it has been the world's best selling small car for several years.

Hardly. People haven't been "all over" the Matrix.

Matt

And one of the least crash worthey.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote

Huh? 4 star rating without side air bags, 5 with. Equals or exceeds most competitors. Look it up. Anyway, back to Chrysler topic.

I have looked it up.

Matt

Honda and Toyota can make higher quality cars for the same MSRP as DC, GM and Ford because they don't have to deal with the unions. That's why Honda and Toyota can open factories in the U.S. and build their cars here with non-union labor and sell a higher-quality car at competitive prices. I know some folks will say that unions are there to protect the workers, but what good are they if the workers end up with no job (ala Ford)?

"Matt Whiting" wrote

This was NOT "overall". It was for side impact without side air bags only, which is plainly stated on your reference, had you read it. It did well to very well on the other types of crash tests. Competing cars had similar results. Consumer Reports is a questionable authority, but for what it's worth they later revised their ratings and reinstated it. They realized they needed to deal more intelligently with the new standards of side impacts and air bags.

The overall summaries on the page I referenced were poor. Yes, this was for side impact which is what I believe I clearly stated earlier was the problem area for the Focus.

When did they "reinstate it?" I'm a subscriber to CR and don't recall seeing that. Which month's magazine was that?

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote

I have to admit I read that second-hand in a post. I don't have the mag.

If you did read the test results summary page then it should have been obvious to you from the start that the Focus is in the middle of the pack, not at the bottom as you said from the beginning. I'm not going to argue with you on this further, anyone following this thread can go and look up the facts for themselves.

I'm not surprised.

Good idea. Arguing when all you have is second-hand hearsay isn't a good idea.

Matt

I just don't know. Maybe it all comes down to working hard for less money. I'm sure You could get a lot of satisfaction that way.

When I was at NAIAS, it got me thinking that we did something unusual. While leading the world in building cars, we rejected the cars made in our own country and took other people's instead. Other countries that build good quality cars drive their own cars. There's really only two possible explanations for what we did. Either we're all bent on hurting the US economy and / or the automakers, or we're just rational and the cars themselves were terrible. I think the cars were really that bad at one time. Certainly the unions have to shoulder some of the burden for terrible cars. Not all of it, though. A lot of the designs were poor as well. Service was poor too, and still is. Everybody that wouldn't consider an American car has his own private reason.

Hi Joe...

Think it's quite simple... this is the "me" generation, with incredible greed for a motto.

We want to be paid the absolute maximum we can get, with every possible perk, and unions to guarantee we get it deserved or not.

Then when we get it we stampede to walmart to be sure we get the absolutely lowest possible made in Asia price.

Us old timers knew a long time ago that we can't have our cake and eat it too - now the "me" generation is about to learn it the hard way :(

Take care.

Ken

I think you're optimistic (in thinking that they will learn it).

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

You seem to blame the ordinary worker and unions for the me generation attitude but it starts at the top, for example, with airline management going into bankruptcy so they can get their big bonuses and screw the ordinary workers.

I think they will, but it'll take something close to a the Great Depression to teach the lesson. I'm not sure the roaring twenties were all that different from the 90s, but those folks learned a lot in the 30s!

Matt

Number One in UK since inception. Well, it's predecessor, the Escort, was top of the tree, too.

The Focus drives well and seems well put together. I get them from the car hire companies sometimes.

Not Germany, thought, where the VW Golf reigns supreme.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

PS. The 2004 Focus scored 5/5 in the EuroNCAP test:

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

This is true, but it is a Corolla.

I saw a Caliber for the first time today. Does anyone know the price? Can I fit a 4 foot bass amp (that's bass as in I Play Bass) in it?

It was COOL!

If I hadn't signed a contract to buy a 2003 Toyota Solara...

Should have unassed it sooner, Chrysler!!!