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> Way back when I was in high school, and they actually offered driver's
> education classes, one of the first things we were taught after
> fastening our seat belts was to give it a good tug to make sure the
> belt fastened. Maybe that is what should be stressed onto the public
> until they can get this very minor piece of the belt BUCKLE fixed. >
> And, yet, the media, anti-GM as they have been for decades, spin this
> as a 'seat belt failure".
>
>
> Wonder how they compare this defect to the major problems the Japanese
> manufactures have had over the past 10 years that were basically
> unreported until recently, when the sheer number of defects, in the
> tens of millions, DEMANDED something be said? How does this seat belt
> glitch, which, if you pay attention, is not a problem at all to begin
> with, compares to the MILLIONS, of sludged engines, rusted frames,
> braking failures, steering problems, and yes, run-a-way accelerations,
> the Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissians have had???? Really pales by
> comparison, but you know when something goes wrong at GM, it is front-
> page news, just like it has been for 30 years.
It seems that most of the posters of these types of articles are not doing it as a public service to alert readers of the possible dangers that the recalls address, but just more of the anti-American sentiment that they have against almost anything American.Of course, there are the number of owners that seem to think that all American cars are junk, and the one they own made in is the next best thing to sliced bread.
I've owned many vehicles since my 1955 Chevy in 1963, and I have found that if a car is well maintained, it will last a good long time. Some have inherent problems (the Chevy rusted over the headlights terribly), and some don't, but I've never owned a vehicle that caught fire by itself, ran off the road on its own, or failed to stop because of a component failure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen; it's just never happened to me, and some of the vehicles I've owned had safety recalls that I had taken care of sooner or later. I feel it's not a case of "You get what you pay for" as much as "You keep what you take care of." I've owned a couple of foreign cars in all the time I've been driving, and have found them to be no better or worse than the American cars I've owned. My mother (88 and still driving :-o ) has owned Honda's since the '70's and swears by them, even with the problems (some minor, some not so minor) she's experienced with them. Now THAT'S loyalty.
As far as giving the seat belt a tug, peope today depend on the idiot lights in the dash way too much. Most of them wouldn't know what an oil pressure gauge or ammeter was if it bit them :-)
Of course, these are just my opinions, and everyone has the right to disagree if they want. That's their right as an American; that's what our military personnel fought and died for!
-- SC Tom