GMs serious corp quality issues effects on camaro

[beebumble]

So the news about gm and their corporate culture is a little shocking for me being a first time GM owner... Loved the camaro 5 the first time I saw one.. First chance at buying myself a car that was not my wifes and the choice was obvious to me... But now I must admit I am concerned about the quality that went into this car... Lowest bid parts, fast assembly, the list goes on.

So what say you camaro5 members... Are any of you as concerned as I am now? Granted my camaro seems fine but she is a very low milage car that I baby....

Disappointed... To say the least.

[beebumble]

Do not misunderstand me... I love my car... Just very concerned about what GM sold me as I expected a long lasting top quality car and now I am not so sure that that is what I now have.

[mangloid]

You understand that's how most corporations and our government works right? Its all bids, and a good chunk of the time - the lowest bid will win.

[Angrybird 12]

I've been buying GM cars for 45 years, no worries here...

[bluBlud]

The cynic in me says they're all guilty of overlooking quality issues and GM is the one who got caught this time. Look at the trouble Toyota has been in over the past few years and they're name is supposed to be synonymous with quality... hell, they even have a book "The Toyota Way".

That doesn't make it right, but what's going on doesn't make me concerned over my C5.

[beebumble]

I work for large corporations... High tech stuff for 30 plus years and have been contracted to government for two decades off and on... I have no illusions... But no, that is not a one size fits all statement... Everyone does not ignore quality issues and not everyone accepts substandard parts just because it is the lowest bid. Not a good excuse.

[squat]

What news are you talking about?

[beebumble]

GMs massive forced recall of ignition switches has resulted in an internal investigation and report... All over the news.

[beebumble]

Originally Posted by bluBlud

The cynic in me says they're all guilty of overlooking quality issues and GM is the one who got caught this time. Look at the trouble Toyota has been in over the past few years and they're name is supposed to be synonymous with quality... hell, they even have a book "The Toyota Way".

That doesn't make it right, but what's going on doesn't make me concerned over my C5.

Good point... But still.... Not a good enough excuse for the issues I am reading about.

[PalmerGA]

Originally Posted by beebumble

I expected a long lasting top quality car and now I am not so sure that that is what I now have.

Well, the Gen5 will soon be in it's 5th model year of production and I don't think there have been any more quality-related issues with it, than with many other autos of the same type/price range. I know there must be many owners out there with 100K+ miles of trouble-free permagrin and many more to come.

And yes... quality should be of prime importance to GM (and every other auto company) but the fact is, "profit" is the driving consideration. If they can get a good quality part for $10 vs. an excellent quality part for $50 and the impact of failure is negligible... they're going with the cheaper one every time.

Now, critical safety issues? "Profit" should not be the driving factor - but I'll bet it still is.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by beebumble

Good point... But still.... Not a good enough excuse for the issues I am reading about.

Let's see replacing the switches in over 2 million cars, firing people responsible for designing it and for the failure to do something about it in the first place. What else do you want them to do?
I used to own 4 different models of the cars that have this issue and not one if them ever shut off unexpectedly...

[jd10013]

Originally Posted by beebumble

I work for large corporations... High tech stuff for 30 plus years and have been contracted to government for two decades off and on... I have no illusions... But no, that is not a one size fits all statement... Everyone does not ignore quality issues and not everyone accepts substandard parts just because it is the lowest bid. Not a good excuse.

no, your pretty much right. my camaro was the fist American car I've bought since the 80's. and even though I love my camaro and will almost certainly keep it till it dies; the quality just isn't on par with what I'm used to from Asian car. I know most people here (and understandable as it's a Camaor fourm) don't want to accept that, but that's just the way it is. the domestics have been falling behind and loosing market share for the last 30 years for a reason, and it isn't because the Asian cars are cheaper. your going to pay more for a Camry than you are for a fusion or Malibu. your going to pay more for a civic than you are for a focus or whatever little crapbox GM is selling in that category. Cobalt? Hell, if you take the commercial vehicles and trucks out of the equation and just look at passenger cars the gap is massive. but the bottom line is, you could ask 100 mechanics what are the best built, best quality cars out there and 95 of them would tell you Toyota. if you asked them which was second, they'd tell you Honda.

[BigRed585Lbs]

An occasional ignition switch failure is not unexpected, considering the amount of crap I've seen some people have hanging on their keyrings.

What's next; a massive recall because interior rear view mirrors are falling off the windshield due to the "junk" hanging from them?

[jd10013]

Originally Posted by BigRed585Lbs

An occasional ignition switch failure is not unexpected, considering the amount of crap I've seen some people have hanging on their keyrings.

that's sounds nice and all, but that wasn't the problem. it's a nice talking point, but completely false. engineers identified a problem with the ignitions (no, they didn't test drive with anything hanging from the keys) and recommended it be redesigned. it took GM several years to do that, with the bad ignition being put into cars while that was happening. after a new one was finally designed, GM decided it would be too expensive to recall all the old ones and have them replaced.

has nothing to do with things hanging on keychains, or the other internet favorite, drunk girls on dirt roads. it has to do with an ignition that GM knew was flawed yet choose not to do a recall on in order to save money. that is also why the justice department is investigating and will most likely hit them with a billion dollar plus fine to settle it.