Most Popular Mid Sized Cars

[ptviperz]

Originally Posted by CharlotteFirebird

I guess my Firebird at 13 years old and still running well, is just a mirage. My Firebird was supposed to be a marginal model, in a lower quality era. It runs well and still looks great. My V8 still gets 30 mpg on the highway.

Last GM I had was a '99 TA, previous to that I had a '95 Z28. The tranny went out of the '95 at 35K miles (whew) and I dumped it. The '99 rattled everywhere, the windows worked when they wanted too and the cruise control only worked half the time. I don't call that great in a 30K car. Guess I'm in the minority.

I understand your point, but even if I bought foreign, I'd still always hope that the American companies presented something that I'd be interested in. I'd always at least be open to buying American. These people who don't consider buying American, no matter what, make me ill.

The G8 is kinda interesting but for just a little more money I can buy a G35S with a 6 speed that's just as fast but will, in all likelihood, be more reliable. And when I'm spending somewhere around 35K I want the car to last an easy 200K. I expect that with Infiniti. Every GM I've ever had started nickle and diming me at 80-100K

[ptviperz]

Originally Posted by airglow

Please back up your outrageous statement that the Camry and Accord will last 300K miles. Please provide some data that proves the Camry and Accord last longer than the Impala, Malibu, Fusion, Taurus or G6. I'm waiting.

I'm guessing you have zero data, just a perception based on America's uninformed, unscientific love affair with all things foreign.

Funny thing, I grew up in GM only household and the only thing I bought for years were GM's. GM had to work to lose my business and they did. My dad still only drives a Chevy truck and that's all he will even look at. He still tells me how reliable his last truck was when it went through 3 transmissions and a motor in only 130K miles. I just walk away.

So anyway, according to my experience, I fully expect a Nissan to go 250-300K miles with moderate care. Never been disappointed.

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by jaywestfall

The G6 on Alpha can not get here soon enough. Then this will be the mid size car that CAN.

The G6 is an affordable volume car that's selling in great numbers despite being dated.

I kinda think that replacing it with a more expensive RWD sports car would cost GM a ton of sales, and probably lead to the death of Pontiac. GM needs this division to move metal.

[mpsrent]

I just don't see enough Malibu's to consider the car a success. Fact is, I see far too few considering it has now been on the market long enough to be noticed. In some markets I fear GM's reputation has tainted the potential for this car. The stying is hit and miss, some love it (especially on this web site) and some don't like it (those at the GM dealer I visited today. For all the hype, my local dealer moves Malibu's at a very slow pace.......in a town where Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda do extremely well at selling mid size and small cars.

Perhaps I'm over cautious but I'm going to wait a couple of years before I judge this one as a runnaway success.

[rwagoner]

Originally Posted by airglow

Please back up your outrageous statement that the Camry and Accord will last 300K miles. Please provide some data that proves the Camry and Accord last longer than the Impala, Malibu, Fusion, Taurus or G6. I'm waiting.

I'm guessing you have zero data, just a perception based on America's uninformed, unscientific love affair with all things foreign.

They don't. The perception came from when the regular servicing meant secretly changing parts on the imports and charging you $500 to $1000 for the "20,000 mil service." Even then, they didn't last that long. Everyone i know with a Toyota dumps them just over 100,000 miles because of all the little things that go bad.

And that doesn't count the sludged engines ...

[dallennium]

Originally Posted by ptviperz

Am I the only one who thinks the Malibu is ugly? I see them now and then and just shake my head. Mind you, the new Accord is weird looking and the Camry is ugly as usual but you know they'll both last 300K miles.

You can find 2003 Accords with Transmission failure usually under 100K miles.
mine went out with under 80K. Honda and Toyota are not what they use to be.

[eurohazard]

Originally Posted by rwagoner

They don't. The perception came from when the regular servicing meant secretly changing parts on the imports and charging you $500 to $1000 for the "20,000 mil service." Even then, they didn't last that long. Everyone i know with a Toyota dumps them just over 100,000 miles because of all the little things that go bad.

And that doesn't count the sludged engines ...

There's a lot of assumtions so far, from CamCords going 300k miles, to people dumping Camrys after 100k miles. My camry has almost 175k miles, flawless? No, I had a distributor fail at 170k miles.....$160 later, it's back on the road. Sludge? No signs of it. I fully expect this car to go 250k miles (like my Bro-in-law's 1992 Camry--still on its factory distributor).

Cars break....ALL of them at some point. I hope the new Malibu is as reliable as it is good looking! If my Camry ever dies, the 'bu is on my short list!

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by mpsrent

I just don't see enough Malibu's to consider the car a success. Fact is, I see far too few considering it has now been on the market long enough to be noticed. In some markets I fear GM's reputation has tainted the potential for this car. The stying is hit and miss, some love it (especially on this web site) and some don't like it (those at the GM dealer I visited today. For all the hype, my local dealer moves Malibu's at a very slow pace.......in a town where Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda do extremely well at selling mid size and small cars.

Perhaps I'm over cautious but I'm going to wait a couple of years before I judge this one as a runnaway success.

I see them everyday, mostly LT's. In fact I seen just about every new vehicle GM has released, even the G8 about 5 different times.

As for the person who commented about the little things going on Imports I agree, in the time my father had his Accord we put roughly $5k worth of work into it. We never had engine/transmission issues, but everything else broke or malfunctioned at one point or another.

We know two people who own a Camry, one a 97 the other a 99. The 97 had it's radiator leaking well before 100k miles. The 99 has starter issues, this person had to hit the starter with a hammer to get it started. The one with the starter issues happened at 83k miles.

GM has a 5 Year/100k mile warranty, if problems with the powertrain occured they would have to fix it free of charge.

[Jesda]

I grew up in a Nissan household. Datsun pickup, Datsun B210, Nissan Hardbody, Nissan Sentra... I don't have fond memories of any of them. They were crude, cheap, and prone to rusting to bits. The Sentra was my first car and quite awful to drive.

I did have two Q45s later in life that I really enjoyed, but had serious fuel system issues so I sold both. I also had a Maxima that was, quite simply, fantastic.

I've been happier with the handful of GM products that have come through my family, including a Celebrity wagon with the iron duke my dad bought after he liked it so much having it as a company car, and my 92 Seville. Dad's Astro AWD company vehicle he drove wasn't perfect but it was a big step up from the Dodge vans he got.

[Olds88]

All this talk of reliability and such...

I've had nothing but luck with my GM products. My 91 Caprice is still the most reliable vehicle I've owned. LT1/L03/L05 Caprices routinely go over 500k in police service.

[stk]

Originally Posted by ptviperz

Last GM I had was a '99 TA, previous to that I had a '95 Z28. The tranny went out of the '95 at 35K miles (whew) and I dumped it. The '99 rattled everywhere, the windows worked when they wanted too and the cruise control only worked half the time. I don't call that great in a 30K car. Guess I'm in the minority.



The G8 is kinda interesting but for just a little more money I can buy a G35S with a 6 speed that's just as fast but will, in all likelihood, be more reliable. And when I'm spending somewhere around 35K I want the car to last an easy 200K. I expect that with Infiniti. Every GM I've ever had started nickle and diming me at 80-100K

Tranny out a 35k... on waranty, so what's the big deal? The 99 rattled everywhere... not a sign of how you drove them right?

I have a cobalt and it does rattle a lot, but can I blame gm for the fact that I drove quite fast, don't care to pass on secondary roads with holes in them and that I have a big sound system alway's at the highest volume possible? NO. My friend's one are all working properly and holding up quite well. See the difference is in how you drive! And by the fact that you owned only TA and Camaro you will have a hard time convicing me that you took care of them instead of just putting the pedal to the floor!

If you read other people reply, it's the same thing also: there first car (no matter which brand!!!) didn't hold up as well as the new ones and that's only normal cause when your young you don't take care of your vehicule as much and you drive them harder!

[ptviperz]

Originally Posted by stk

And by the fact that you owned only TA and Camaro you will have a hard time convicing me that you took care of them instead of just putting the pedal to the floor!

If you read other people reply, it's the same thing also: there first car (no matter which brand!!!) didn't hold up as well as the new ones and that's only normal cause when your young you don't take care of your vehicule as much and you drive them harder!

They weren't even close to my first cars and I didn't drive them that hard. My first Maxima with over 100K miles had less rattles (as in zero) than my brand new Trans Am. I drive the heck out of my 6 speed Maxima now and there isn't a single rattle to be found. I really never noticed how much GM's rattled because I was so used to it. It took driving other cars to realize that not all cars did that.

GM cars have a good drivetrain, I loved my LT1 and LS1 motors. Good mileage, great power and they held up well. The interiors were just horrible and really, that's where you spend most of your time. I will say the seats in my TA were top notch.

[the_smurf2008]

Originally Posted by airglow

Please back up your outrageous statement that the Camry and Accord will last 300K miles. Please provide some data that proves the Camry and Accord last longer than the Impala, Malibu, Fusion, Taurus or G6. I'm waiting.

I'm guessing you have zero data, just a perception based on America's uninformed, unscientific love affair with all things foreign.

I agree with you on this one. I used to own a 97 Grandprix that I sold when it have 250,000 miles of it. It is still running around. I have seen several GM products with 150,000 plus miles. I find people tend to want to ignore the number of non import cars still on the road with high milege, and yes, still looking good.

[Jesda]

G35 reliability is mixed. Some are solid, and some are garbage.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...&highlight=g35
"FINALLY sold my POS Infiniti G35S........"

[jorgesalazar521@msn.com]

Originally Posted by ptviperz

Am I the only one who thinks the Malibu is ugly? I see them now and then and just shake my head. Mind you, the new Accord is weird looking and the Camry is ugly as usual but you know they'll both last 300K miles.

yes---and u ride the ugliest of the group---maxima/altima