Ditched the '02 Olds minivan yesterday

Any thoughts on what your next purchase will be?

Your experience is the same as mine and lots of others. Look around, there are several other manufacturers around that still know how to make a quality vehicle. Consumer Reports magazine might be a good place to start your search.

My wife, daughter, and I love our Toyotas.

Regards, Former GM customer

Asta LA Vista.....Jack.

And you are buying which foreign brand??

Good Luck with the next purchase.

Harryface

eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww !!!!!! Ugly. And no more reliable.

Just picked up an Acura TSX. So, our daily drivers are both Honda/Acura products now.

John

Well, though I don't agree with your assertion that GM sucks, I do hope you enjoy your new Acura. Good luck.

Well, our two recent minivans from GM most certainly did suck if you count basic reliability as a criteria. GM might be making some good vehicles, but you cannot tell it by the ones they sold me.

Also, poor resale values as compared to Toyota or Honda vehicles is an objective reality easily confirmed with edmunds.com or kbb.com. Check out the trade-in value vs. original price on any three year old Chevy car vs. it's comparable vehicle from Toyota or Honda to see for yourself.

For example, a 2003 Malibu LS V-6 on edmunds.com shows $7,225 as the nominal trade-in value. A 2003 Honda Accord LX Automatic is $12,824 trade-in. Both cars sold for about $20,000 new, yet the Honda has retained ~$5,000 more of it's value.

This is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact.

John

A vehicle is a matter of preference. If you like Honda's or Toyota's, that's fine with me. Go ahead and drive one. I have always had GM cars and have loved every one of them. Have I ever bought brand new? Nope. Always used, and always with tons of KM's on the odometer. My last car had 284,000KM's on it when I sold it to a family member. 3800 Series II still running like a million bucks, body in excellent shape and not a damned thing wrong with it. As for Honda's and Toyota's, I have only been in a few, but I found them to be extremely uncomfortable. The seats were terrible, and I didn't like the controls. The car also handled like a mac truck. But, like I said, it's all up to the driver on what he/she wants. My favorite out of all my cars was my '82 Trans Am. Got it dirt cheap with only 86,404KM's on the odometer. Put around $300 into it, and she ran like brand new. Not one spot of rust on the entire body, and the engine was mint. Damn I miss that car...

GM has nothing to benefit when you buy used. If everybody did what you do then GM would have been bankrupt a long time ago. But I agree with you that if you buy used american you have very little to lose because of the huge depreciation factor.

Not everyone has the bank account to buy a new vehicle. Plus, every car, and I say again, *every* car will eventually break down, whether it be minor or major, so GM as well as all the others still make money off us poor folk who buy used cars.

A new car purchase isn't always based on how much money that individual has. There are lots of cheap wealthy people who don't care if their car is old and ugly. My neighbor makes 5 million/year and he drives a 92 Cutlass Supreme. He just doesn't care how old a vehicle is he will repair it.

True, but a person who only makes $1000 a month, having to pay rent and bills is very less likley to purchase a brand new car.

Maybe he just loves the car. ;-)

Oh, probably......In the search for a 'status symbol', a lot of those poverty level people buy new, fairly expensive, cars. They don't ask how much it costs...they ask if they can get the payments down to $150 per month (or suchlike.)

Wasn't it billionaire Sam Walton that drove around Bentonville, Arkansas in an old 15+ year old Ford truck?

Perhaps the reason rich people drive older cars is because buying a new car is quite possibley the stupidist thing you can do with your money.No matter what new car you buy you LOSE BIG and it starts just as soon as you drive off the lot.Every time I have to put a little money in my '95 Silverado Z71 with 212,000 miles on it (which isn't that often) I just stop and think about my friends dishing out 5-6 hundred a month plus insurance for their new truck and I smile and write the mechanic a check.I guess it's just a matter of priorities and what makes you happy.I prefer to spend my money on things I feel are more important.

thats what I have done for the last couple years

1976 Chevrolet Nova, bought it, drove it 4 months, no repairs, sold it for $500 profit

1993 Mercury Cougar, bought it, drove it 4 months, no repairs, sold it for what I paid for it

1986 Dodge Aries wagon, bought it, bought new tires, sold it for $500 profit

1991 Dodge Dynasty, bought it, drove it 7 months , no repairs, sold it for $200 profit

1991 Ford Taurus, bought it a couple weeks ago, runs strong, 77,800 miles, as confirmed by previous owner that bought it new. my insurance agent wants first chance at it for her daughter in 6 months or so

some people have car payments, I have computer payments LOL