Why GM Doesn't Make Good Cars Anymore, What Went Wrong
Scotty Kilmer:
rev up your engines, zack says
Scotty my old family are GM fans, do you
know when GM car started to make them
poorly, my guess would be when they went
bankrupt around 2009, well they started
to make them poorly long before that, even
in the early 2000s they started to make
a lot cheaper stuff, I don't know how
true it is, but I talked to an engineer
and an engineer told me one time that GM
and Ford were going neck to neck and
people thought, Oh GM's are made better
than the Fords and then they did a
little research and GM found out that
they were spending 20% more building
their vehicles and that's why they were
better vehicles back decades ago, well
according to the engineer that I was
talking to, GM looked at and said gee
were spending 20% money more than Ford
building our cars, let's make them
cheaper, so they did and then the quality
went down, I know if it's true or not but
an engineer told me that, but they
have been going but down since the
early 2000s, it's just the nature of the
beast with corporations these days, they
want to make a profit and they want to
make things as cheap as they can and pay
people that make them as little as
possible, so they make more profit for
the corporation that's the way that
things go and sometimes it takes the
wrong turn like GM did and make products
that you don't hold up like they used to,
I learned to drive on a Chevrolet
Biscayne the thing was like a tank it had
a
302 v8 in it and that thing just ran
forever but not the new ones their not made
that wa,y no Oberto says Scotty
I am seriously considering buying the
2019 Land Cruisers, do you consider it to
be
the best quality built SUV I'm aware of
the gas mileage, yes they are for that
kind of a vehicle if you're willing to
spend that kind of money and get that
kind of low gas mileage, they are well build
vehicles my customers with them are all
pretty well happy with them, other than
the horrible gas mileage and if you're
willing to spend that kind of money, they
can last a long time, I got customers
with those thing that have three hundred and
fifty thousand miles on them and they're
still running strong, yeah if you don't
mind spending that kind of money go
right ahead, me I'm too cheap I'd never
spend that kind of money, Rambo ask
Scotty what do you think about me buying
a 2004 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
all wheel drive with 140,000 miles straight
6 for six grand
from my uncle as a first car,
well first of all some uncle he should
give you the car, now I'm not a Jeep fan
by any stretch of the imagination but
back in 2004 they were building much
better ones than they are today now that
Fiat owns them, that straight six-cylinder
engine can last forever I've seen those
things go 400,000 miles, good engines the
transmission that's an OK transmission
it's not great but it's not totally
horrible, it's a 15 year old Jeep try to
get it for a little bit less than $6,000
see if you can barter it, they can be fun
vehicles to drive around, realize they're
somewhat gas hogs because jeeps are
trucks their high up in the air, their not
aerodynamic or anything but it can be a
fun thing to drive, just try to get it a
little bit of lower, Scotty my SUV keeps
going out of alignment I had new shocks
replaced and no one seems to get the
alignment right, any ideas what as to what
it can be,
here's the thing, front end alignment
work we're talking about thousands of an
inches here thousands of an inches there
it's gotta be a pro who knows what he's
doing, so your best to find a
front-end shop that's all they do, here
in Houston I use cotton brothers front
end, they know what they're doing they
can fix any alignment problem, now the
second thing is, modern vehicles
especially the SUVs they're not like
vehicles when I was young, when I was
young they had all kinds of adjustments
there were like six different
adjustments you could do, today a lot of
times the only adjustment you can do is
the caster and the camber that's it
you can't do anything else, so it might
be that the alignment is off because the
struts bent or an a frame is bent, that's
why you have to start with a really good
front end guy, who knows what he's doing
and does good work you have to start
there, because otherwise all bets are off,
Devon says Scotty and I got a 93
3 liter 4runner, it does 16-17 mile per gallon
on the highway but does five to six in the
city any reason why, I live in Fresno
with hardly any traffic on the streets
Thanks, okay first of all, when you're
driving it in town does it get into top
gear, if you drive it really slow and the
transmission doesn't shift into top
gear, you're gonna get crappy gas mileage
like that, 16 to 17 is what those things
get on a highway, so it's working
normally at highway speed, so I'm
assuming it's not shifting into the top
gear when you're driving in town, go 35
miles an hour count the shifts as it shifts
and it should be into the top gear
if it isn't, you got a problem with your
transmission not shifting into gear
that's about the only thing that would
make sense cuz if you have any other
problem with the vehicle, it's gonna get
horrible gas mileage on the highway too,
the only difference is, it's shifting
into the higher gear on the highway maybe
it's not doing it in town, you should
still get at least 12 or something in
the city not 5 or 6, so if you never want
to miss another one of my new car repair
videos, remember to ring that Bell!
The Truth About the New Chevy Cruze, Buyer Beware
Scotty Kilmer:
rev up your engines, Kenneth case of
Scotty
I really like my 2017 chevy cruze
premiere RS I never had a problem
throughout my ownership should I keep it
thanks, well it's a 2017 it's only a year
and a half old, you better not have any
problems, you might as well keep it cuz
I'll tell you the truth if you try
selling that thing now, you'll see how
much money you will lose, what you owe on
it versus what it's worth it would be
foolish to sell it now maybe you got a
good one that's gonna last, I never advise
anybody to buy it and I got a customer with
one he's got a picture of Mickey Mouse
in his back window cuz she's sued them
under the lemon lawn for some weird
reason they gave him back three thousand
dollars and that was it, they wouldn't
take the car back so, you know but if it lasts
drive it around cuz you would lose your
shirt if you sold it now, CK says Scotty
I'm looking into buying a 2004 GMC
Canyon with two hundred sixteen thousand
miles from a mechanic should I buy it
okay
well it depends if it was the mechanic's
vehicle and he took care of it, not a
bad idea but if he's selling it for somebody
else
you kind of think now the canyon was
kind of a bizarre truck they weren't
that bad
I mean look that thing's got a lot of
miles it's still running, I just uh
wouldn't pay too much for it, it's a 15
year old GMC pickup truck with two
hundred sixteen thousand miles if you're
looking for a Knockaround truck to haul
a little bit of stuff around why not but
just don't pay too much, it's an old GMC
truck with a lot of miles on it,
Albee says what's your opinion on police
cars mainly 2013 police patrol vehicle
Taurus with the 3.7 Mustang engine with
100,000 miles on it, well that was a fun
vehicle in its time but the thing is if
it was a police vehicle, generally they
drive them like maniacs and they get
the heck burnt out of them, I mean you generally
expect you're gonna put an engine or a
transmission in them in a short period of
time, but if you are thinking about
buying one use, do not touch it until you
get a guy like me a professional
mechanic and gonna check it out with his
computer and road test it and tell you
what kind of shape it's in. you want to
start there if you do want to buy a
vehicle like that, they can be fun to drive
around but of course don't pay much for
it, a used police vehicle the resale
value is not that much, you don't want to
pay much because
you know you're playing with dynamite
you don't know what's left with that
vehicle, why do you think the police get
rid of them every so many years,
Alvaro Tejado says Scotty I got
a 95 volvo 940 when i start it up in the
morning it makes the metallic rattling
sound when I rev it, it goes away for 3-4
minutes, the engine was rebuilt seven
years ago you know what's really typical
with those things, is the catalytic
converters rattle as they age for some
reason they made them crappy inside your
catalytic converter are these honeycomb
pieces that have platinum in them and
that burns hydrocarbons and as they age
especially on those vehicles it cracks
and they will rattle, but then when they
heat up the metal expands and they
stop rattling check that first now, if it
runs okay it doesn't hurt anything and a
new cat for that vehicle cost an awful
lot of money, you might live with it if
it is the cat rattling and it runs okay
when it doesn't run good, the
temperature gauge run hotter and you'll
only be able to go like 55 miles an hour
not any faste,r then you know it's
clogged up and you'd have to replace it
then, US storm says Scotty I have an 07
Honda Civic LX coupe with rear drum
brakes should I upgrade them to disc
brakes, okay here's the thing the rear
brakes on that car are one thing mainly
most of the power is stopped in the
front disc, the rear drums are there
so the car doesn't fishtail when you
stop hard and when you corner and stop for
normal driving those work perfectly fine
and you're not gonna have any problems
with them, it's kind of a waste of money
putting it in a little car like that it
really doesn't need it it's a light car
and disc brakes for all four wheels are
more for racing because they don't fade
when you stop go fast stop go fast stop
go fast, drums will actually stop a car
just as fast one time but in a race they
aren't that's why they were first used
in race cars because they're slamming them on
and hit the gas, slamming them on and
hitting the gas and the drum brakes will
overheat where the discs wouldn't and
that's why they started using them but
on yours are you really wouldn't want to
spend money for that, my Honcho says Scotty
should I put fuel injection on a Dodge
Dart 318 v8 well it's a good question
but depends on what do you want to do
with the thing, if you're planning on
selling it in the future, no because if
it's stock that's a classic 73 Dodge dart
you're gonna lower the value by taking
the factory stuff off,
but if you want it to drive faster
and get better gas mileage, put it on but
save all your old parts, save the
manifold, save the carburetor because
then if you sell it at some point in the
future
you can say to the guy, look I did this
because I like fuel injection you want
to go back to stock here's all the parts
in the box keep them all, don't throw
any of them away, always do that with the
classic car never throw any old parts
away and if you want to modify it to your
heart's content you're gonna keep it for
years go right ahead
just keep the old parts, so if you never
want to miss another one of my new car
repair videos, remember to ring that Bell!
10 Cars Being Killed Off After 2018 — Discontinued Cars
Insider Car News:
Automakers kill off vehicles every year, mostly
due to slow sales.
While some come as a shock, others go away
without anyone ever noticing.
Here's a look at 10 cars being killed off
after 2018.
The Dodge Viper: Apparently, we didn't deserve
to have such a raw, unbridled monster in our midst.
And now it's gone.
The Volkswagen Beetle: Thanks to the financial
burden of the Dieselgate fallout, coupled
with overall declining sales, the Beetle must
go away for now.
But don't be surprised if this iconic car
comes back in the future.
The Infiniti QX70: Slow sales were what killed
off the QX70, and we'll miss that aggressive
exhaust snarl.
For now, Infiniti is placing its hopes in
the QX50.
The Jeep Patriot: This vehicle didn't live
up to Jeep's image of outdoor freedom.
It was obviously rated for going over speed
bumps and that's about it.
It's no mystery why sales suffered.
The Ford Focus: It's the only victim of Ford
ending the sale of cars in the North American
market for 2018.
The Fiesta and Taurus will follow in 2019,
and the Fusion in 2020.
The Honda Accord Coupe: Honda decided to put
the Accord Coupe out to pasture.
While it was the right decision, this is another
affordable performance car that's dead, draining
more joy out of driving.
The Chevrolet SS: This performance sedan packed
a strong V-8 punch, but thanks to a bland
appearance and little marketing from Chevrolet,
this model suffered from dismal sales.
The Buick Verano: If you want a compact Buick
car, you'll have to go with a pre-owned model,
because the Verano is a goner.
Sales show people would rather have a compact
premium crossover.
The Mitsubishi Lancer: With Nissan now in
charge as Mitsubishi's new owner, the order
of the day is SUVs, SUVs, and more SUVs.
That means we say goodbye to the Lancer, probably
forever.
The Hyundai Azera: If you didn't know this
sedan existed, you're forgiven.
There wasn't much marketing around it, and
as a result, it got pummeled by the likes
of the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.
Here’s Why GM is Screwed and What It Means for America
Scotty Kilmer:
rev up your engines
okay the GM strike is still on it's
about a week later having disputes over
lots of different things but as far as
I'm concerned the main thing is the
shuttering of the plants the closing of
other plants it's only a matter of time
as far as I'm concerned seeing how these
corporations work they're gonna be
moving the stuff to China I can easily
see they're gonna move production over
there look at Tesla soon they're opening
their model three Factory in China
I can see GM's doing the same thing and
this is kind of like the last gasp of
the labor unions going on strike against
them because they really don't have much
of a bargaining chip because the
corporation will just say Oh too much
money we're not making money here we'll
shut our plants down here make them all
in China obviously that's gonna happen
in the long run one way or the other
these are like fighting over in the
short term things from what I know of
the labor stuff they got all kinds of
deals going on at the car factories
they're trying to get rid of the older
workers that have these benefits that
are written in and they're trying to
replace them with younger workers that
they hardly pay anything at all really
is one of the reasons as far as I'm
concerned that GM quality is so low is
because hey they're paying their workers
as little as they possibly can so
they're not gonna be that motivated when
I was a young mechanic in the 60s
working in a factory was seen as a good
job a good paying job middle-class
family they'd raise their family send
their kids to college and stuff but it's
not that way anymore so I think this GM
strike is kind of pretty much the
beginning of the end
producing cars in the United States and
a mass scale that is just gonna be kind
of scaling down from now on and yeah
they'll always make some cars like maybe
they'll be a specialty thing the company
in Detroit that makes gonna be making
all these electric trucks and maybe
it'll make electric trucks there for a
certain scenario they're gonna be a
reasonably expensive trucks in the
beginning so they're going for the
higher end market which is what they
always seem to be going for with these
corporations the United States looking
at the higher end one far as I'm
concerned that's a mistake because it's
the volume one that counts the one that
you sell a whole bunch of them not just
that you sell a few of the high end
ones you sell a lot of the middle
or lower end ones but you know that's the
status thing a lot of those people have
but regardless of that I don't think
that the production of cars in the
United States it's gonna be going
ramping up anytime soon I believe it's Alabama
where they're making cars together
Toyota and Mazda and part of that of
course is a political thing to that the
Japanese realize hey we don't want the
mad at us and banning us from bringing
cars into the country so if we make them
there then they're not gonna kick us off
which is kind of interesting cuz GM's
doing the opposite way they're pulled
out in the States and there the American
car company never come to the point that
Toyota be more an American car company
than the American car companies who knows
mc coy says Scotty I got a 2017 Subaru Forester
with
15,000 miles on it owned it for three
years got brand new and the AC condenser failed
already
now it's jerking when I'm driving it
should I keep it longer or get a Honda
or Toyota rav4 get rid of them get
of them and get the honda if you're in it
for the long run
those Subarus are junk as you found
out the condenser already broke on it with
15,000 miles you know what a piece of
crap Subarus always that air
conditioning problem too and their
engines their automatic transmissions their
a/c systems their all garbage, the
Honda you'll probably be really happy with
I've got customers with and the rav4 is
it good tooo but you like the Honda they're
relatively similar so get the Honda if
you like then in the long run you can
drive there probably for decades if you
take care of it and not have to worry
about it cuz eventually the Subaru will
just fall apart in front of your very
eyes and now at least it's new enough you
can get some money for it just get rid
of the stupid thing and never buy
another, shiny Maddox says scotty I got a
08
Lincoln Navigator 267 thousand miles
I got suspension work done tie rod upper
control arm sway bar got a driver's side
recently when you turn the wheel it
takes a little strength to turn it like
get stuck half way when turning
what could be the problem well any worn
suspension part can do this if you
didn't do both sides odds are the other
side is dragging now you might have to
have the same kind of parts changed or
the steering rack itself is getting old
and it's buying it's got a lot of
mileage on there might try is I got a
video on that fixing binding power
steering just type in to Google or YouTube
fixing binding power steering Scotty and
you'll see how you can flush it out
yourself and if that takes
it was the power-steering rack if not
then you got a suspension part take back
to the guy that did the work have them
check their work I don't have to check
the other side if they didn't do the
other side because if it binds anywhere
it's gonna do that doesn't matter which
side is binding on it's gonna make the
steering turn weird because one sides
binding and they're both connected
together so it'll still do it
even if one side is clean if the other
side is bad it will make it bind, marwadi
says I got an 07 Toyota axio
1.8 with 135,000 kilometers
on it my engine is burning oil and
there's no smoke or leakage in car I'm
upset okay well you kind of screwed
there because some of those in the
United States that's not an American
model but in the United States toyota
had to fix the engines they had to take
them apart put in new piston rings and stuff
just keep adding oil because you'd have
to rebuild the engine and say you're
gonna put in a used engine the only
thing it's gonna fit is another one of
those and it's gonna have the same
problem because they didn't build them
right in the first place so my advice is
just keep adding oil, oil is cheap and
then drive a lot of times I'll say well
you know you try used engine but in that
case no because they're all bad and
you'll just go from one problem to
another just putting a used engine now
if you don't mind paying to have the
engine completely rebuilt go right ahead
but that's a lot of money
so if you never want to miss another one
of my new car repair videos, remember to
ring that Bell
GM Just Threw Away the Chevy Camaro
Scotty Kilmer:
rev up your engines, GM says that the six
generations Chevy Camaro z/28 program
has been cancelled all right now for the
car guys out there that are the muscle
cars
there have been rumors going around that
they're not going to be making the
Camaros in the future they don't have
any particular plans that they have
set in stone with it there's even some
rumors that they're gonna make an
all electric cars which may be what
they're going to do they're canceling a
sixth generation I'm assuming that they
are gonna stop making Camaros they
stopped making the things a few years
back and then they brought them back
again they had a bunch of quality
control with the ones they were making
in Quebec and so then they just stopped
making them entirely I mean those are
terrible machines in the end I had them
where the wiring harnesses would go out
to transmissions and blow up and they
brought them back again I who knows
maybe they'll just eventually have them
only as an electric car and shelving the
production of any sixth generation
Camaro kind of tells me they yeah
they're maybe they're thinking about
making the mental electric cars only
time will tell her that but you're
obviously thinking about getting rid of
Camaro is a muscle car by not producing
these, ash says hey my wife has
an old ML 320 it's forty eight thousand
mile keep it and driving myself for
selling wife wants a new car
forty-eight thousand miles isn't much if
you haven't had problems with it it
hasn't been wrecked flooded or stolen
you might as well keep it you said it's
an old one if it's an old one it has
virtually no value nobody wants to buy
an old Mercedes the resale value was
cramped but with 48,000 miles generally
don't fall apart until they are over
100,000 miles so what the heck you got
it why not use it for your car and then
get your wife another car obviously
you'll put that many miles on the cars
it still could last a while cuz you
getting nothing selling if it works okay
now what the heck I personally wouldn't
buy one but you already have it so you
might as well driving around you'll get
much for it if you try selling it, Bologna is
there any way to buy nitrogen to fill
your tires yeah oh that's kind of an
interesting subject matter realize that
Earth's atmosphere is already something
like eighty percent nitrogen dress is
about 20 percent oxygen some trace
elements but
about 80% nitrogen already so what
difference does it really make if you
have a 100% nitrogen you tires or 80%
for years people tried to sell me as a
mechanic at my shop systems that purify
the nitrogen in our atmosphere and turn it
into almost a hundred percent
nitrogen and filling the tires with
because theoretically it doesn't oxidize
inside and the temperatures don't affect
it that much when they change hot or
cold or they do use nitrogen I believe
in like the jet airplanes because
they're up at 50,000 feet and it gets
really cold there and the pressure the
tires would keep going up and down for
them and it makes sense but you're not
driving your car at 50,000 feet out
there so you know if you can find a
place that sells the stuff go right
ahead but far as I'm concerned you're
mainly wasting your money on that stuff
for a car that you're driving every day
nobody's approached me in the last year
trying to sell me one of these stupid
nitrogen systems and it cost thousands
of dollars so so if anybody has one
they're gonna charge your pretty penny
to fill up your tires cause hey they had
to pay a bunch of money for the stupid
machine
Daniel pina says hey Scotty is the 2007
f-150 a reliable vehicle these days
yeah the previous owner took care of it
2007 f-150 is pretty reliable vehicle
they're much better with the v8 sixes meh
any vehicle if you're talking about
buying a used one have a mechanic like
me check it out before you show your
money out cuz you don't know something's
wrecked flooded stolen there's all kinds
of things you can go around and with our
fancy machines we can tell I spend about
an hour checking out used cars I just
checked out a used car for a guy this
morning you know it's a fourth of July, I
forgot
he made an appointment so I got up
there anyways they can't be great good
cars but you want to make sure there
isn't a problem in it in the first place
cuz you're not gonna get a guarantee
demon says Scotty I got a
2005 Chrysler Sebring Convertible with
eighty two thousand miles my first car
any thoughts baby that thing that was a
big lemon Mobil that they made the v6
engines those things were terrible it's
still running it's 82 thousand miles
let's say it runs and it shifts good now
baby it you got it it's a convertible a
lot of times people think of verticals
are worth money but convertibles aren't
because everybody knows there were
terrible cars but you gotta take care of
a change the oil every 3,000 miles don't
overheat the engine don't race it don't
peel off
pretend you're a little old lady driving
that car and maybe the last one I got
some little old lady
drive them and they're still going okay
because they drive slow but all the men
that I knew that drove them hard they
all burn out either the engine or the
transmission or both, so if you never
want to miss another one of my new car
repair videos, remember to ring that Bell
The Truth About Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company | WheelHouse
Donut Media:
Today on Wheelhouse we’re talking Saturn;
not the planet!
The Company!
Why the company was started, their ambitious
plan to change the game, and how it all came
crashing down.
It’s a sad story of forward thinking, wasted
potential, and self-sabotage.
This is the truth about Saturn.
In the 60s, gas was cheap, so American car
companies paid no attention to fuel economy.
But that thinking had to change in the 70s,
when the oil crisis made gas prices skyrocket,
and sent consumers looking for more efficient
options.
American consumers started taking Japanese
companies like Honda and Datsun more seriously,
and by proxy, so did Detroit; which for years
had been completely underestimating their
eastern competition.
Domestic manufacturers were simply not great
at making small, economical cars at this point.
While cars like GM’s 70’s-era Vega and
Chevette sold well, it was almost a universal
consensus that the Japanese did small cars
better, and soon, cars like Honda’s Civic
and Toyota’s Corolla were dominating the
compact car market.
In the boardrooms of GM, a plan was being...planned.
They didn’t want to make more small cars
under their existing brands, because they
thought customers might think of them as cheap
runts of the lineup.
So they had to build an entirely new car company
from scratch.
In 1982, GM VPs Alex Mair and Robert Eaton
began work on the project.
It would eventually be named Saturn, after
the rocket which carried America to the moon,
winning that other great race that set the
world’s pace and earned us the top place
in the galactic starchase, the Space Race.
General Motors hoped that the totally new
company would overcome any negative brand-associations
buyers had with small cars and American companies.
And when I say “totally new company”,
I mean it was totally new: new car design,
new engine, new production plant, new workforce,
new dealers, and even new ways of producing
the car in the first place.
What made Saturn completely different from
its competitors was the ownership structure
between management, engineers, and the factory
workers.
In other GM brands like Chevrolet and Pontiac,
the Management would tell the engineers what
to build, the engineers would draw up the
design, and the factory would build the bureaucracy-approved
product without giving input on what they
were making.
But at Saturn, the dynamic would be a little
different, and had potential to change the
auto industry forever.
Major decisions at car companies are usually
made from the top down, but at Saturn, the
United Auto Workers union now had a huge input
on their car’s design, meaning that people
working on the factory floor could tell the
engineers and management what would and wouldn’t
work.
This shared ownership of Saturn between everyone
involved had an interesting effect on the
workplace culture:
It turns out if you listen to your employees
and make them feel like their voices matter,
they give you their loyalty and productivity
increases.
GM set up the Saturn factory in Spring Hill,
Tennessee, far outside the influence of Detroit.
People were excited!
Spring Hill is a small town outside of Nashville,
and General Motors is going to build a factory
here?
Making completely new cars?
Awesome!
I remember when we finally got a movie theater
my senior year, this Factory must have been
at least twice as exciting as that.
The car that Spring Hill would produce was
dubbed the “Saturn S-series”, with sedan
models named SL, and the SC coupe.
The largest departure from traditional car
design used on the S-series was the use of
a space-frame design.
This design, which takes structural and crash
load off of the side panels, meant that Saturn
could use their signature dent-resistant plastic
body panels instead of metal
even though the SL and SC were made to
compete with Japanese cars, they didn’t
have the tech of their eastern competitors,
so GM based all of their marketing around
the fact Saturns were built in small-town
USA.
GM was banking that would see how Saturn was
doing things differently, and that they would
want to get in on that excitement.
In fact, Saturn’s slogan was “A New Kind
of Car Company.”
This fresh approach went all the way to the
showroom as well: Saturn dealerships were
haggle free, meaning the price you saw was
the price you paid.
And when you bought your new Saturn, dealership
employees would give you applause as you got
in and drove away.
It honestly looks like a cult
People loved their Saturns.
The company even hosted a ‘homecoming’
at Spring Hill where thousands of Saturn owners
from all over would meet up and party at the
factory.
GM had successfully marketed an American small
car, a feat unheard of just ten years earlier.
By the end of 1995, Saturn had built over
a million cars in it’s short 6 year history.
But the good times wouldn’t last forever.
While the S line was updated
three
times during its life, there was no escaping
that Saturn only really had one car to sell.
This stagnation, combined with the fact that
the “new company” shine had worn away,
meant that Saturn sales were slowing down
While new cars were needed, GM was a bit strapped
for cash, and couldn’t afford to design
a totally new, unique vehicle for Saturn,
like the S-Series.
In fact, GM would never be able to design
a unique Saturn again, making the S-Series
a bit of a unicorn.
Instead, GM would dip into it’s parts bin
from around the world to make future Saturn’s,
and the first car to emerge from this corporate
rummage was the L-series, introduced as a
2000 model year.
The L was basically a rebadged Opel Vectra,
which sucked.
Sensing a shift in the market, GM execs decided
Saturn also needed a crossover SUV.
The Saturn Vue debuted in 2002, and was a
rebadged Chevy Equinox, which was another
rebadged Opel.
GM had created Saturn to operate in a way
that wasn’t like GM.
But now, General Motors was forcing Saturn
to act like General Motors.
Saturn had always been the oddball in GM’s
lineup.
And while it’s employees were happy and
customers loyal, neither of those things meant
new sales, and that meant no money coming
in.
GM had yet to get a return on their investment
in Saturn.
They had spent nearly five billion on development
and the Spring Hill facility.
Since GM was a little light in the wallet,
that meant Saturn was in the crosshairs of
the cost cutters.
If Saturn didn’t start making money soon,
it would mean bad news.
Following the release of the VUE and the L-series,
Saturn would finally kill of their watershed
S-series in 2002.
The Saturn ION would be introduced in 2003
to replace it, and shared its Delta platform
with many GM cars, including the Cobalt.
Despite introducing three new vehicles for
the new millennium, Saturn remained fairly
small-fry in the industry.
Their promise of a haggle-free experience
still proved to be attractive, however the
market was no longer theirs alone, as Toyota
had introduced Scion and their no-haggle price
models in 2003.
This competition, combined with a steadily
worsening economic situation would combine
to hit Saturn hard.
Very hard.
By 2005 Saturn was in chaos, unable to make
any money on it’s own.
Competition within and without GM was stifling
the now-stale brand.
The company was out of options and completely
resigned itself to selling a lineup made of
all rebadged vehicles.
Two years later, Saturn introduced all new
vehicles, with everything except the Vue getting
replaced.
The new line included the Sky, which was Saturn’s
first interesting car since their debut.
But it was also just a rebadged Opel, and
didn’t sell on top of that.
Nothing could save Saturn, as the economic
recession that struck the US in 2008 created
a dire situation at GM.
To save General Motors, the government provided
assistance in the form of their now-famous
“bail-out” package, on the condition that
the plethora of companies GM owned and sold
cars under be paired down
So how did it get so bad?
A 2010 lawsuit found that Saturn’s Vice
president and General Manager Jill Lajdziak
didn’t know whether or not Saturn was making
money.
She said that in a deposition Under Oath.
To a lawyer.
And she wasn’t the only one, their CFO Edward
Toporzycki said he didn’t know Saturn’s
financial condition while he was involved
with the company.
He’s the CFO!
FInancial is in his title!
So in 2010 three GM companies, Pontiac, Hummer,
and Saturn, all closed their doors, producing
their last car, probably for good.
While General Motors ended up surviving the
recession, their grand experiment in “a
new kind of car company”, which they called
Saturn, did not.
I think Saturn could have been great if GM
had let them stay true to their mission.
They created Saturn to be a new kind of company,
and at the start, they were.
What doomed this company that GM created to
run differently, was that GM ran it like GM.
We explore lesser known stories in the car
world every week, so make sure you hit that
yellow subscribe button right there. or right there, or right there, I don't know where it is.
Do you own an SL or SC?
Do you like it?
Let me know in the comments.
Follow me on IG @ nolanjsykes, follow Donut
@donut.media.
Wear your seatbelt, see you next time.
Say GOODBYE to the Chevy Volt
Teslanomics with Ben Sullins:
- Now next I have something which is,
I don't know I have mixed
feelings about this.
GM, General Motors here in the U.S.
they are killing off the Volt which is
the plug in hybrid electric vehicle.
The P.H.E.V. as you will see it called,
which I believe gets maybe 20-30,
maybe a little more than that miles
purely on the battery then
it switches over to gas.
They are also killing the Cruz
which is a small sedan and the Impala.
So they are just getting rid of these.
Now we have already seen Ford to this,
Ford recently cut I think
almost all of their sedans
with the exception of maybe the mustang
and are just focusing on trucks and suvs
as well as they are planning on coming out
with some electric vehicles is
what they have been talking about.
So we will see kind of how that goes.
Now this was a part of a
15% layoff that GM did.
So, I believe that's close to
15,000 people or over 14,000 people.
Now this is despite them
doing relatively well
and beating last quarters
Wall Street expectation.
So interesting, now they
are saying that they
expect car sales to slump in 2019
and we have been hearing this a lot
until you look at Telsa sales and you see
them skyrocketing, so
you know you have that.
Now it's also a part of the GM strategy to
prioritize investment
into self driving cars
and EV's which means
they are cutting the plug
in hybrid electric vehicle
the Volt but keeping
the Chevy Bolt which is
the fully electric one
that does go 248 miles I think on a charge
and costs right around $35,000 depending
on your options and those kind of things.
So that's actually a really legit car,
electric car that's out there.
I know it hasn't really sold that much
the styling isn't for everyone but
I reviewed it and I mean
it seemed great to me.
It wasn't a Tesla by
any stretch of the means
but it was a great option,
it was like if you were
looking at another car and
that one it definitely works.
So as a part of this they are going
to be closing five plants,
five facilities as a part of what
they are calling the restructuring.
Now Senator Sherrod Brown
of Ohio publicly blasted GM
for it's plan to close down
the Lordstown Ohio plant.
Of course the President
of the United States
tweeted as he does often saying
that he is very disappointed
in GM and their CEO Mary Barra
for closing these plants,
you know lots of rhetoric going on.
Then he goes on to talk
about we are now looking
at cutting all GM subsidies,
which include electric cars
which by the way they get a lot of other
subsidies as well in case
you guys didn't know that
in terms of tax breaks
and things like that.
And so this was interesting but it also
kind of opens a door and this
is where I think it becomes,
is interesting for Tesla because
they could buy one of these facilities.
I mean imagine what kind of
Cinderella story that would be.
This is what happened with the Nummi plant
which is previously what the current plant
in Freemont California was called
which was I believe a joint
venture between Toyota and GM
and during the great recession that
we had in 2008-2009 is when
they had the opportunity to buy
it for literally dirt cheap.
I believe prior to that Tesla
was looking at a factory
in Texas so this five
plants, I believe four plants
and one other facility are closing
but a huge amount of them are
going to be available here
so if I were Tesla I would
be seriously looking at this
as an opportunity, because this
could make a huge difference
in their profitability as well as the
acceleration of some of their vehicles.
(jokingly coughs) *ahem* roadster
and so I am curious to see what happens,
I am curious if you guys or
anyone you know is affected
by this please leave a
comment, hit me up on Twitter.
I would love to hear that
story because it is sad,
I mean losing jobs here
because of strategic moves
by a big company is one of the
plagues of corporate America
and the society and the system of commerce
we have built in the United States.
It even goes back to Reagan laying off the
FAA flight instructors or
air traffic controllers
so its one of those things where it sucks
but hopefully some of
this can be rebounded
and pivoted into newer
technologies that are helping
us move towards a more
sustainable way of living
that's kind of my thoughts on it
leave me a comment let me know
what you guys think down below
The Truth About GM’s Huge Layoffs and Why You Should Be Mad About It
Scotty Kilmer:
Rev up your engines,
today I'm going to tell you the truth about
GM's plan to layoff a bunch of workers and
to shut down a bunch of US factories,
well if you remember a few years back they
got the big bailout because the said they
were going bankrupt so the government gave
them a bunch of money, and oh to save American
jobs and now their just leaving anyways, so
what's the truth behind what's really happening,
now I've read and watched a bunch of these
reporters these experts saying, oh market
forces you have to follow the market forces
blah blah blah,
but here's the truth and to understand it
you need to a little about history,
now I learned to drive on a Chevy biscayne
it's kind of like an Impala, it's a big American
car, back in the 1960's when they made solid
cars that everyone in the world knew, hey
they were good cars and they lasted a long
time,
back then everyone said, oh the Japanese cars
are piles of junk what are they making,
well guess what, they kept making better and
better cars as time went on from Japan,
while the quality of the American cars starting
going down and down,
to give you an example, the Impala used to
be a great car, in the 60's everybody wanted
an Impala they were very popular cars their
pretty well built, they could last a really
long time, but not so recently the Impala
was one of the models that their going to
stop making,
basically the didn't build them all that well,
I had customers with them and every single
person that owned one when they finally got
rid of it said, I'll never buy another one
of those pieces of junk I had more problems
with the transmissions and the engines and
the old ones didn't used to have very many
problems,
so these experts that talk about market forces
is forcing them to shut down these factories
and layoff people, that's basically a lot
of bs,
they were just making the cars poorly and
they were making models that people didn't
want like the Chevy Cruze, which not only
was it a model that people didn't really want,
it was really poorly made, I had a customer
with one, he's been through 3 automatic transmissions
that went out completely in the first 75,000
miles of driving that car, that's just crazy,
and look at another one of their failures
that their not gonna making anymore,
the Chevy Volt, hey they tried to compete
with the Toyota Prius and they failed massively,
the cars were garbage compared to what Toyota
was putting out, so they can talk about market
forces all they want, a lot of the problem
is they were making vehicles that were either
poorly made or people didn't want to buy them
because they didn't like the way they looked
or the way the handled,
and unlike the Japanese like say a Toyota
Corolla, they started out with a basic car
and they keep improving it over decades, GM
was like, oh that model didn't work we'll
get rid of that one and try something else,
it's much better to build something and perfect
it over time than to just say, oh that didn't
work lets try something else and see if that
works,
some of their ideas are, oh we'll go to just
a bigger vehicle, SUVs and trucks that make
a lot of money, well talk about short sighted
again, now just because gas is cheap they
think, oh we'll sell these giant vehicles
for a bunch of money, well guess what people,
gasoline is a limited things, the price is
only going to go up and it will probably happen
relatively soon, and then all those big cars
people are going to not be driving those anymore
and then they'll be in a even bigger mess
than they already are,
and as far as I'm concerned, GM's idea of
shutting down these factories down in the
US and laying off all these Americans, hey
that has to do more with them making a profit
in China not the US,
realize that from the last data I could find,
the Chinese produced 24.5 million cars and
at that same time period the US produced 4.1
million cars, a big difference,
and as for GM itself, GM sells 70% more cars
in China than they do in the US, and these
cars are all made in China,
so if things continue like this, I wouldn't
be surprised that if someone in the US wants
to buy a GM car in the near future, it's going
to be made in China not in the US,
even though we taxpayers bailout GM the last
time, their big thank you is, bye we'll see
you in China,
they didn't seem to say, oh the market is
forcing them to do that when they took all
that taxpayer money, you know their giving
these promises about US jobs and stuff but
as soon as they see a way to make their cars
in China, sell them in China and probably
import those Chinese ones over to the US,
hey those guys are basically laughing at the
average American,
and it's bad enough they were making cars
that had faulty ignition switches and then
they cheated and changed the parts numbers
so they think, oh people aren't going to figure
out that we made these bad ignition switches
that some people were killed in wrecks because
the cars stopped running,
you know their not interested in telling the
truth about the problems that they have, but
taking taxpayers dollars and then shutting
the factories down years later anyways and
moving all the stuff to China, hey all I got
to say is, you can vote with your dollars,
don't buy their products, nobody is going
to force you to buy one of their products,
at least not yet, hey take Toyota for example,
they make a bunch of them in the US and they
have for decades, you might end up driving
a Japanese car around that's made in the US,
where if you buy a GM it's going to be a Chinese
made car, the world is upside down on that
one,
so it's really a double edged sword when you
think about why GM is laying off all these
workers and closing all these factories down,
they've often made poorly designed and built
cars that didn't last so their base that used
to be, oh when I was a kid people would say,
oh I buy a new GM car every 3-4 years, well
that base is gone and then they want to make
them cheaper so their going to move all their
production to China where they can make them
cheaper,
now the Chinese factories are all modernized
so they have less labor that they have to
deal with, but from what I read about them,
they have really good quality, for example,
buicks are like the real popular car for the
upper level management guys to ride around
in a Buick in China,
kind of like it used to be in the 1950's in
the US, a little time warp there,
so basically, the real problem is greed, they
want to make their cars cheaper so they can
make more profit and eventually they want
to make the most profit by building their
cars somewhere else where they can make them
cheaper and in the modern factories more efficiently
than in the old factories in the US, my hometown
Niagara Falls had the same fate itself, when
I was young, there were factories everywhere
building all kinds of stuff but they were
old factories, first they moved the factories
over the Mexico, then they even moved them
further to the East because it was even cheaper
there than it was in Mexico,
so if you think about it as a career, hey
you probably wouldn't want to get involved
in either building cars in the US or working
for the company that builds them because you'll
find that your job will probably vanish in
the near future, so if you never want to miss
another one of my new car repair videos, remember
to ring that bell!
2019 BMW X5 Test Results; Which Cars Should Be Brought Back From the Dead? | Talking Cars #187
Consumer Reports:
We talk about our final test
results on the 2019 BMW X5.
We answer audience
questions, including
one about electric vehicle
range in cold weather.
And we talk about the trend
of bringing back old vehicle
names, and what ones
we would bring back
if we had our choice--
next, on "Talking Cars."
Hi, and welcome
to "Talking Cars."
I'm Jennifer Stockburger.
I'm Mike Quincy.
And I'm John Linkov.
So we are back at the track,
Post Detroit Auto Show,
and ready to set into kind
of our normal routine.
We're going to start with
news, and it actually
is news that's kind of an
expansion of the Detroit Auto
Show.
And it's this trend of
resurrecting old car
names into newer models.
And we're not talking about
ones that have continued--
Corollas and Cherokees-- but
ones that died off for a while
and now they've brought back.
For better or for worse.
For better or for worse.
So Ranger, Bronco, Supra--
there was a bunch of them from
Detroit--
Blazer, Passport, Gladiator.
John, why do you think
this is a trend, a strategy
to bring these back?
Oh, goodness.
They're running out of names.
They don't want to
do alphanumeric--
Ford QX962B75.
Well, it didn't work
well for Lincoln.
I mean, they changed
all those things.
Back and forth, right.
I mean, some of it's nostalgia.
These are names with
a lot of equity--
capital, if you will.
So they're going to
attract people to them.
They're going to get a
nostalgia sake-- oh, I
remember my Supra and such.
Now is it attracting
who they want to?
Is it attracting people
who are about to retire
or people even in their 50s
versus the younger buyer who
doesn't care about what
the Bronco was and only
remembers OJ was driven
around in a Bronco?
That's where they might
remember the Bronco.
If even that-- I,
mean they might even
be too young for that.
It's funny, because we
talk about getting younger,
and Consumer Reports
is no different.
We all need to get younger.
However, still the vast majority
of wealth in this country
is controlled by baby boomers.
So these kinds of
names are going right
to the heart of that market.
Yeah.
And I will say I do think
there's-- you talk about
nostalgia-- there is this
general trend back towards
simplifying.
I think of the tiny houses
and living off the grid
and definitely even--
I have a 19-year-old nephew
who took all of my albums--
Journey and The Clash--
The vinyl.
Yes, the vinyl, to play
them on his turntable.
Not Apple iTunes or--
Spotify.
Spotify or Pandora or anything,
but albums on a turntable.
And I do think
there is-- they do
know these names from some
story we told them maybe
or something.
I do think there's some younger
audience coolness to some
of those names.
But they might be disappointed
once they get into it.
You're talking before
the Jeep Cherokee.
That was a loved model--
that squared-off Jeep.
And it really was--
It ran for a long time.
Start of the SUV craze,
or at least kept SUVs--
made an imprint
right on the market.
For me, I don't care if
they call it the Ford Brick.
I don't care if it's the
Toyota Brick if the car is not
a good vehicle, if
it's not enjoyable,
if it's not well-constructed
or thought out.
And that's like the Jeep
Cherokee-- doesn't really
perform well in our ratings.
Not a fuel efficient
vehicle, it's
a little compromised in size.
It's just not a good vehicle.
So losing equity in that
name if you don't build back
a good vehicle.
Yes.
I think it does
get people in them.
But it almost seems
like Hollywood.
I mean, Hollywood can't
come up with a lot
of original ideas for
movies so they keep
rebooting all the old ones.
And some of the names
that were resurrected
like the Volkswagen Beetle,
the PT Cruise, the Dodge Dart--
they didn't work out so well.
They weren't a success,
to John's point.
Exactly what John said.
They rocketed up
with initial sales--
oh, my gosh, nostalgia.
And then they plummeted in
sales once people drove them
for awhile.
Because they weren't a good car.
So here's kind of a fun
game-- if you could resurrect
any old name, old
car, what would it be?
Well, you know, I gave this
about two seconds of thought.
It didn't take me long.
The car that I would love
to see back from the dead
is the Saab 900 Turbo SPG.
Yeah, I know, why?
I don't know.
Saab was early into
turbo-charging,
they were early
into 16-valve heads.
They had front-wheel drive.
They were doing stuff that a lot
of other companies hadn't done.
I just love them.
They're weird, they're
quirky, they're different.
And, honestly, they were last
sold in 1991-- the SPG model.
And it is totally my Saab story.
Oh, my goodness.
Good one.
You set him up for it.
That was good.
I did.
I teed it up and
he just took it.
You?
Anything you'd bring back?
So I'd bring you back the
original Toyota Celica
all-track turbo.
In that I think that the market
doesn't have a lot of that.
They haven't an Impreza
WRX, but there's
nothing that's all-wheel
drive in the affordable stage.
And I owned a front-wheel
drive Celica GT.
I liked that car.
And it's kind of--
that was the attainable
car as a teenager, early 20s.
Yes, I had a five-foot poster
of a Lamborghini Coupe.
As all did.
I had a giant picture
of the [INAUDIBLE]..
That was one of the
things I looked, like,
oh, that would be great, great.
But that era-- that's
what I could drive and get
into and own.
That was real.
I look back fondly with that.
And for all the faults of
turbo-chargers in that era,
I think that there's
a hole in the market
for that type of vehicle.
And what's interesting
about that choice is I
know you're a big fan of Audi.
And in some ways, that was
kind of a less expensive--
The everyman's.
Audi Quattro.
I mean, when the first
Quattro came out in the US,
sure it was five-cylinder, and
turbo-charging and all-wheel
drive, and the all-track had a
lot of that going on as well.
And I owned an Audi
Quattro later in life.
And the Toyota was probably
be far more reliable and less
impact on my pocket as my
'83 turbo Quattro coupe was--
Quattro, yes.
So mine was very--
again, we'll go back
to practical and
my own nostalgia.
But I've said before how much
I loved like the Ford Flex,
right?
So I think that's a great
family car, tons of room.
I'm very wagon nostalgic.
So what if they had
put panels on that
and called it the
Country Squire?
I drove that LTD wagon
all through the end
of high school, college.
I'm a wagon fan.
Again, I would probably want
like the Flex all-wheel drive
on it.
But if they'd called that Flex
the Country Squire, who knows--
The fake wood.
Might have done better.
Just continued to
talk about the Jeep
Grand Wagoneer or
Wagoneer coming back.
We all remember
the pantwood panels
on the side and nostalgia.
Who ever thought we'd be
nostalgic for fake wood?
Me.
Me.
So cool.
All right, well, we've
got to get out of the past
into the present.
It was kind of fun, I'll admit.
I enjoyed our little
back-up to our old days.
All right, so from
the track, we have
just kind of finished
testing of the 2019 BMW X5--
so obviously an
important car for BMW.
We all have had--
I just had one
chance to get in it,
but I certainly
have impressions.
John, thoughts on the X5?
Look, it's $70,000.
You expect it to be a really
good vehicle and it delivers.
It delivers in the comfort, it
delivers in the performance.
What's interesting is BMW has
kind of gotten a good balance
with it.
It was a very rough,
sporty, autobahn-ready model
for previous generations.
And this has, again, a great
balance between ride comfort,
performance--
it's not a Porsche Cayenne
off the block from the start,
but it rides a heck
of a lot better.
Yeah, they're quiet.
It's incredibly quiet.
I mean, you drive down the
road at 70 miles an hour
in that vehicle, and
you lower the window
and you realize how quiet it
is and how much wind noise
and road noise
it's keeping out--
highly impressive vehicle.
Yeah, now just to
clarify, I didn't say--
ours was the three-liter turbo
six, eight-speed automatic.
So I just wanted to
throw that in there.
Your impressions?
I was all ready to not
like it, because kind
of what John said about
it being so expensive.
And we've pinged a lot
of recent BMW's controls
for being way too complicated.
And it's almost like
you-- when we're
checking out cars at
night to drive home,
that goes through my head.
OK, how difficult
is it going to be
if I take this car to adjust
the seats, to adjust the radio,
to adjust the climate control?
And sometimes we'll get a BMW--
or our last-tested
Lexus LS and just say,
I don't have the
patience for this.
I'm tired, I want to go
home, forget about it.
I don't want to repeat
everything that John said,
but I think he's 100% right.
I like this car way more than
I thought I was going to,
because it's so quiet
and comfortable.
The controls are not
ideal, but they're
kind of as we talked about,
the best of the lousy systems.
You know what I mean?
Right.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I'd say that--
They did not frustrate me.
I well put that out there.
And that sounds like a pretty
low bar, but it's a real bar.
I was not frustrated by them.
There was a lot
of redundancy, you
could operate them
different ways.
I think the company is
evolving with their controls.
I think their first
iDrive drove us crazy.
It was a pioneer.
I mean, no one was used to
something like that either.
Right.
And now this one
is a lot better.
So a couple of things struck me.
One was, like you
say, the big stuff.
I was surprised when
I was taking notes
that it was turbocharged.
There was no turbo lag-- we
have talked about turbo lag.
No hesitation.
This turbo spinning
up before it can
do its job and that
hesitation off the line.
It had none of that.
It was super, shifts were great.
One thing that struck me when
I was in it in two aspects
was the visibility.
It is pretty good.
I mean, it's relative, because
many of those sloping SUVs
are so poor,
particularly to the rear.
This was pretty good.
I was like, whoa.
I was very impressed.
The proof is it's
always being signed out.
Yes, right.
I booked it a month
ago for a trip
I was supposed to take
to Portland, Maine--
which, with all the
snowstorms, ended up
cutting it back to Boston.
Incredibly easy to
drive, super comfortable.
BMW owners, of which I'm not,
will find the iDrive a very
short learning curve.
People new to the vehicle
will see it a bit steep
and then it'll drop off
and become familiar--
like you said, a lot
of redundant controls.
The screen is huge and the
Apple CarPlay integration
is fantastic.
Wireless.
Wireless.
Takes a little getting used to,
but you could charge the phone,
but you can connect to Carplay.
Waze is like--
I think it's about this big.
So it's easy.
But with the redundant
controls, you
can scroll your radio
stations or your XM stations
or whatever music you're running
from Spotify, for example,
without disturbing that screen.
And a lot of other ones you
have to go on the screen,
change it, change
it, go back to Waze.
No, it's really well done.
It's really well done.
Well, one other
thing-- the optional--
we bought a premium
package on ours,
which drove the price
up a little bit.
But it had this amazing--
integrated visibility--
heads-up display.
It was so good, because
it showed navigation.
When you're changing
audio, it showed that.
But in the heads-up
display, you didn't
have to do this type of thing.
You could just look
kind of through it.
Really well done.
I thought the heads-up
display was clear.
Turns were just right there.
I thought it was great.
And the seat heaters heat
the armrest in the center.
That's a good point.
And the wheel.
I did use the
wheel in this cold.
We have logbooks that we
keep for all the cars.
And one of the comments that
I loved about that were elbow
rests--
a feature I didn't know that
I wanted until I tried it.
Until you had it, yep.
And I think one other thing--
and you mentioned it--
this balance that BMW
found between sporty
is the ability to select
those drive modes.
You can make it a little firmer
steering a little more weight
if you're on the sporty side.
I sit in the comfort
side-- so where
it's a little less maybe
steering feel, better ride,
et cetera.
So there's a lot for that
money that you can tailor.
So ratings will be out soon.
So we're all done with the BMW.
Maybe this car lives
up to the hype.
Yeah, this car really
could live up to the hype.
I'm interested in
seeing what people--
what owners say about
it, because that's
been kind of a
trend. the 5 Series,
the 3 Series, the
balancing-- but does it mean
the ultimate driving machine?
Their slogan for decades.
Does that mean they're no
longer really that vehicle?
Are they more of the ultimate
comfort driving machine,
where the balances at with
what their true fans are
going to think.
Maybe they don't
care about that.
They just want new
people to the brand.
Or have they managed to get
both somewhere in the middle?
So, again, great vehicle.
We're going to move
on to some questions.
We're super psyched
because we have
four, but four video questions.
We love them.
We especially like
to see you guys,
so keep them coming
either by video or email
at talkingcars@icloud.com.
Let's see the first one--
Ravi from Ontario.
Hello, "Talking Cars."
Love your show.
Would you consider testing
electric vehicles at three
different temperature points?
For example-- at
zero degrees Celsius,
20 degrees Celsius and, say,
30 or 35 degrees Celsius?
So based on the weather
in Ravi's video,
it's pretty clear
why he's concerned
about battery life in the cold.
It's pretty snowy where he is.
So I think each of us has our
stories about decreased battery
life in cold weather.
Mike, anything to add for Ravi?
Well, it kind of
goes to our testing
and how we've seen drop-offs.
And we have a number
of Tesla's here
at the track as well
as a Nissan LEAF.
And we're in the process
of kind of measuring just
when the electric vehicle
sits how much do you lose just
when it's sitting there?
So we're going to have
that information out soon.
And it also kind of
it goes in lockstep
with what we found when we
first started testing hybrids--
just a regular
gas-electric hybrid,
they're seeing a drop-off in
fuel economy in the colder
months as well.
John, we've had some really
cold weather here recently.
So any-- I know you've had
it one particular occasion.
I had it a number of years ago
with the first Nissan LEAF.
We got it, took it
home, because I had--
there was a certain
amount of range.
It was one of those things
where I live close enough,
I could drive it home and back.
Gabe usually takes a lot of the
cars early, but with that range
and even when we
first delivered it,
it was much shorter
than he could drive.
And got home and seemed
like I head 38, 40 miles.
And then put it in my
garage, got up the next day
and it's cold and it's wet.
And I had to turn on the
lights because it was dark
and run the windshield
wipers and the heater.
And I started realizing on my
ride, I can't run the heater.
Oh, my gosh.
Again, early, first
generation Nissan LEAF.
Totally understand-- newer
technology at the time.
But, yeah, I had a roll
off the highway to a stop
and it had a little turtle icon.
And I think the turtle was
upside down at that point.
I had to get picked up
with one of our trailers
about four miles from work.
Didn't quite make it.
Didn't quite make it.
So, yes, not just range
anxiety, range failure.
But it's kind of the limitations
of electric vehicles,
you don't normally
think when you--
say you get into your
five-year-old Corolla
and it's cold out, you
start up the engine,
you get the heat going.
You don't even think
twice about it.
But with an EV, well,
that's what you think about.
Heat and cold--
extremes of either.
Yeah, so to your
point, we're attempting
to quantify some of that,
compare some of that.
It's really kind of
tough, because when
you're doing comparative
testing in anything we do--
you look at our
test procedures, we
have limits on wind
and temperature.
It's really hard
to get consistency.
I mean, literally we were at
zero degrees here yesterday.
We will be 50 degrees
here tomorrow.
So we kind of battled that,
but we are attempting, Ravi,
to make some quantification
of what the losses are.
But if you are an EV owner,
be aware that those ranges
will be affected by the
cold-- to John's story.
I'm interested to
know what people see.
Give yourself the buffer--
charge it a little longer,
plug it in even when
you might not think
if the temperatures are low.
So, yeah.
Be interesting to see.
Our second question is
from Mike in Chicago.
Hey, "Talking Cars," Mike
here from Chicago, Illinois.
On my 2017 Honda Ridgeline,
the oil percentage
is still showing 70%.
It's been almost a year.
The owners' manual
says, yeah, if it
doesn't go all the way down
to 20, just wait a year
and do it yearly.
Is that going to be OK?
It just seems like a long time.
Thanks, I love the show.
So, yeah.
This idea of letting
the car monitor oil life
rather than saying,
you know, every 3,000,
or 5,000, or 7,500.
Any advice for Mike?
From Mike.
From Mike to Mike.
And Monticello isn't even here.
He's not even here.
One of the things
I was wondering
when we were looking
at this question
was how many miles
on your truck?
How often is it driven?
Is this a daily driver?
Is this just a weekend driver?
Because that's going
to affect how much
you're working the
engine, how much it's
coming up the temperatures.
Is it being worked hard?
Is it being worked light?
But generally, the idea is--
I talked to Big John, our chief
mechanic here at the track.
And he says the
operative words when
it comes to the onboard
monitors and what's
in your owner's manual
is whichever comes first.
So within a certain amount
of mileage or time--
whichever comes first.
So that, in essence, is
the answer to the question.
Right and we did-- and
Mike didn't give a mileage,
so it's hard.
But if his manual says yearly,
then stick with that, Mike.
So, yeah.
But at 70%, you must be driving
it very nicely or not too far.
And a good truck, by the way.
And a good truck.
Right, right.
Next is Noah and he's got some
questions about a first car.
Hi, "Talking Cars," I'm
a big fan of your show.
I'm 14 and in a few years
will be getting my license.
I'd like to get a new
car around that time,
but don't know what
I would choose.
My budget would be $5,000
and I would love a sedan,
but it would be OK
with hatchback or SUV.
Also, I'm going to be six
foot around that time,
so I'd like one
with good headroom.
Thanks for answering
my question.
So, Noah-- of course, this
is kind of near and dear
to my heart.
I've been through this.
I also have a 14-year-old
son and he looks every day
at which car will be his.
His aspirations are a bit
higher than yours, Noah,
but he would love some giant--
How much are you
guys spending on him?
I don't know, apparently a lot.
The Lamborghini poster.
So outside of model, Noah
threw out like a $5k.
And that's a very typical--
$5,000 is about what
the normal teenager--
and maybe even a
stretch for some--
of what they can
afford in a used car.
And my advice is,
don't buy too soon.
And I say that
because at $5,000,
we are just starting
to see cars--
used cars-- where you can get
one with electronic stability
control.
And that, we think,
is a huge benefit
for young drivers like Noah.
It was mandated-- has to be on
all new cars 2012 and later.
Like I say, there's
models that are just
starting to eek into that
$5,000 range with it.
If you wait a couple more years,
Noah, until you're 16, maybe--
just maybe you'll start to
see that price point include
automatic emergency braking
and some of the other safety
we love.
Our tagline is, buy as much
safety as you can afford.
So, in going through
our use list,
vehicles that might fit
that bill in either--
either now or in a couple
of years, Honda Fit.
Noah, you said you
were six-foot--
you're thinking you were going
to be six-foot tall, that's
deceptively roomy.
I actually picked vehicles where
our headroom measurements gave
four or five inches
above our 5'9" tester,
so hopefully he'll fit.
Mazda 3, Tucson, Toyota
Corolla, and Accord and Camry--
they're going to be in there.
And the ones I picked have
years of good reliability.
I was going to say--
to make this list, they
need to be reliable,
do well in our testing,
and all that stuff.
Right.
So any others you thought
might be good ones to look at?
I actually took a peek at
your notes before we started.
And those really were
the ones to pick.
I find it interesting that
as automotive safety evolves,
we began by saying years
ago, make sure you get
your car with anti-lock brakes.
And then it's, make sure you
get a used car with stability
control.
And now we're getting
to forward collision
warning and automatic
emergency braking.
Which, just as a
side note, it means
that cars are getting so much
better than they used to be.
And these are the
kinds of things
that you need to look
for as a used car buyer.
And the trickle-down.
It's coming quicker and quicker.
I think the Hyundai Tucson is
a great option in that it's not
the level, in people's minds
in the appreciation of a Toyota
Camry or the Honda Accord.
So you might get a really
good deal on a Tucson.
Right a newer Tucson.
On a newer-- yeah, you might get
a newer year than you think--
than the Hondas and the Toyotas.
Yeah, you can get an
older Honda or Toyota,
but you might get a newer
Tucson for the same money.
So, Noah, we love that you're
already thinking about this.
Keep your tally
for a couple years.
Look for safety and enjoy.
That'll be exciting to hear.
I like that he can see in
the future how tall he is.
So if he has some lottery
numbers or maybe Super Bowl
picks.
Maybe the doctor
told him, we hope.
There we go.
So one last question we have--
Sean from Pensacola.
Hey, "Talking Cars," I hope
you're having a good morning.
Longtime listener,
love the show.
I currently drive a 2009 Toyota
Highlander-- six-cylinder--
love the car, but it is getting
kind of long in the tooth--
what with 185,421 miles.
Love the car, but it's
time for me to replace it.
I'd like to either get
a hybrid Highlander--
2012 model or newer--
or a little more money,
a hybrid Volvo XC-90.
I don't know what the
reliability is on the Volvo,
but I know Toyota--
Highlander in particular--
has a stellar reliability.
So, Sean is looking to replace
his venerable Highlander.
His question drew some very
clear emotions-- particularly
from you, John.
Advice for Sean?
So, look, I would stay away
from the Volvo XC-90 hybrid.
In our reliable
survey data, we've
seen a lot of
troubles, particularly
with the electronics or
the touch screen and stuff
like that.
I actually have a
friend who bought
a first year, or maybe a
second year, XC-90 non-hybrid.
And it was in the
shop so often, he
was given a Land Rover to
drive as the service vehicle
so to speak, and it
was more reliable.
And he had it for a longer time.
That's hysterical.
From the Volvo dealer?
That's not the Land
Rover reputation.
I mean, the Highlander
itself was a great vehicle.
If it served you
well, stick with it.
And stay with the regular
one, in my opinion,
because the V6, with the
eight-speed automatic,
gets really good fuel economy.
I wouldn't even
move up to a hybrid,
because you're
going to be spending
a lot of money for that hybrid.
And then a couple miles
per gallon difference
in fuel economy, you're
going to take a long time
to pay that difference off.
Yeah, unless he has a
short commute, the hybrid
might show some benefits,
but I agree with you.
Yeah, well, the stop and go--
the hybrid benefits.
If that's how Sean drives.
Sometimes people buy and
drive hybrids not necessarily
to save money, but just to
be kinder to the environment.
But I love this story
because it reminded me
of something happened with
my neighbor many years ago.
He had a Lexus GS, and he just
had it in his mind that he--
the point of his
life, he's like,
I want a Mercedes Benz S-Class.
I can get a great used
one, and what do you think?
And I said, well,
you know, Jason,
you're trading probably one
of the most reliable vehicles
in Consumer Reports
Survey for one
of the least reliable vehicles
in Consumer Reports Survey.
But he had this bee
in his his bonnet.
He got the S-Class and,
probably in a month,
absolutely regretted it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we've said before,
if you love it, do it.
But at least you'll be
housed with the information
to know what your risks are.
And this is a big jump
from the Highlander
to the-- in terms
of reliability.
You know, and a lot
of times we say, look,
if you have that S-Class, if
you have that Volvo or something
else that's expensive to
repair and repair-prone, then
spend the money for
the extended warranty.
Now we don't recommend
getting a Highlander
and getting the
extended warranty.
You take that couple
grand, bank it.
And when you have a repair,
you have money for it.
But it's going to--
the other bank is
bankrupt and there's
potential of these
other expensive vehicles
to bankrupt you in
keeping them on the road.
Like my old Quattro.
Yeah, not to mention
the inconvenience
of having to do it.
Well that's all we've got.
It's all about giving
you the information
to make your choice.
As always, keep the
questions coming.
We love them.
Talkingcars@icloud.com.
If you want any more
information about the items
we talked about today,
see the show notes,
and we'll see you next time.
All right, so Sean's
looking to replace his.
Gimme just a beat.
[BEATBOXES]
Oh, sorry.
Wiki wiki wiki wiki.
Why Ford Will Stop Building Cars | WheelHouse
Donut Media:
- The Mustang, the Thunderbird,
the Crown Victoria.
Since 1903, the Ford Motor Company
has been responsible for some
of the most iconic cars ever.
But as the world changes
and new trends emerge,
Ford has announced the company will
stop selling sedans in North America.
When I head the news, I was shocked.
I asked my coworkers what they thought.
But they were speechless, too!
So on this episode of Wheel House,
we're gonna find out why.
The American Automotive industry
has always adapted to the world around it.
Cars have helped shape pop
culture, but if you look closer,
cars are a product of the
time, and not vice versa.
Cultural and socio-economic
events influence
car design more than one
single person ever could.
It may be cliche, but the Model T changed
how the world viewed cars
in the early 20th century.
Automobiles were seen as a luxury,
and therefore inaccessible
to common people.
Rather than court aristocrats,
who already owned luxury motor carriages,
Henry Ford chose to pursue a demographic
that had been neglected,
blue collar working people
who didn't know they needed cars.
Not only was the Model T
redefining how cars were sold,
it was also revolutionizing
how cars were made.
In 1913, Ford introduced
the automated assembly line,
which brought production time down
from 12 hours, to two and a half.
The Model T was probably
the most famous instance
in which a car company succeeded
by adapting a new business model.
(upbeat disco music)
Fast forward to 1973,
American cars were gigantic,
inefficient, but looked cool as hell.
Small Japanese imports
felt wimpy by comparison.
The Chrysler Imperial Le Baron
was the biggest of the bunch,
clocking in at 19.6 feet.
The 439 cubic inch, 7 Liter
V8 cranked out 208 horsepower,
and got a whopping 9.8 miles per gallon.
Pretty extravagant, but
all the extravagance
of the early '70s was short-lived.
OPEC, short for the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
is a group that includes Venezuala,
Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
The organization was
outraged that the U.S.
had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war
and proclaimed an oil
embargo against the U.S.
The price of gas nearly tripled
over the course of the next year.
Suddenly, those small,
efficient Japanese imports
didn't look so bad, they had
great MPG and were reliable.
That meant that drivers
didn't have to wait
in long lines to fill up on gas.
And the Japanese weren't the only ones
giving car manufacturers a headache.
The federal government introduced
the CAFE regulations in 1975.
Cah-fay? Cah-f? C-A-F-E?
Cah-fay, is how I'm gonna say it.
The Federal government introduced
the CAFE regulations in 1975
to improve fuel efficiency
in U.S. produced vehicles
and light trucks.
This throttled back performance,
a pretty important selling point
for American vehicles at the time.
Gone were the days of the muscle cars,
and thus began the era
of small, cheap, and efficient commuters.
The only American made vehicles
comparable to Japanese imports were cars
like the AMC Gremlin and Ford Pinto.
Notoriously crappy beaters.
Cadillac even came out with the Cimmaron,
an 88 horse power sports
luxury abomination,
that delivered neither luxury
nor sport in terms of ride quality.
American car manufacturers were destroying
their reputation by trying to compete
with Japanese sedans,
and they were losing.
However, consumers were
finding that they could
still get the power and room they expected
from U.S. made vehicles by purchasing
one of the few vehicle
types which were not
subject to CAFE regulations, trucks.
(slow instrumental music)
U.S. manufacturers like
Ford and Cheverolet
focused on making their trucks better,
because the market demanded it
and they were less
restricted by regulations.
As their car division became
less and less relevant,
their trucks surged to
the front of the pack.
Cut to present day,
the F150 is the best-selling
vehicle in America
and Ford just hired a
new CEO in Jim Hackett.
The previous CEO was laid
off because of stagnant
stock prices, rising production costs
and so-called uninspired vision
when it came to the Ford product line.
Historically, Ford has always had
rigid leadership and business models.
And Hackett's free-thinking
methods are all but rigid.
In addition to quoting
theoretical physicists,
Hackett uses words like fitness,
Auto 2.0 and design
thinking when explaining
the direction he has planned for Ford.
But when it comes times
to actually describe
what all that means, Hackett
falls a little short.
I guess you could say he doesn't hack it.
That was stupid, alright. (laughs)
The new CEO might sound more like the head
of a new-age start-up rather
than a major car company,
but to be fair, he does
have some progressive ideas
that could usher in a new era for Ford.
Whether that's good or bad is up to you.
Hackett's vision for
Ford is to transform it
from a car company into
a mobility company.
His emphasis is to make smart
vehicles for a smart world
and focus on developing electric vehicles,
self-driving systems and
ride-sharing systems.
The company recently
acquired a majority stake
in an autonomous vehicle
engineering firm, ArgoAI.
They've invested in Japanese
tech company SoftBank
and rolled out a plan to invest
11 billion dollars in
electric vehicle development,
soon to be built in Detroit.
I tried looking up what ArgoAi
and SoftBank actually do,
but their websites are incredibly vague,
yeah they do autonomous
vehicles and technology.
With all that expensive
innovation happening,
something has to be sacrificed.
The sacrificial lambs are the Taurus,
the C-MAX and the Fiesta.
The Focus line was gonna continue
as a weird lifted variant
thing called the Focus Active,
but Ford was planning on
building them in China,
making them subject to the new tariffs.
Tariffs that put a 10% duty tax on top
of what it already takes
to import goods from China.
So Ford said "Alright, nevermind."
And canceled the Focus Active altogether.
This means the Mustang is Ford's
only traditional car left in their line-up
for the foreseeable future.
Those Pep Boys really
like them burnouts, huh?
Hackett and the Board of Directors at Ford
saw the competition with Japanese sedans
and cross-over SUVs as a losing battle,
Americans have been
loyal to Japanese sedans
since the '70s, which is when they
started topping best car lists.
Plus, Ford sees 90% of sales coming
from trucks, SUVs and commercial vehicles,
so contextually, as much
as we might not like it,
this move makes sense,
it just really sucks
to imagine that there might be a day
without any Ford cars on the road at all.
(melodramatic instrumental music)
Thanks for watching Wheel House.
We look at the issues that affect
you in the car world every week,
so hit that yellow subscribe
button right there.
We talked about tariffs
on a previous episode,
check it out right there.
The Director of Marketing at Kia
said he learned a lot
from it, so that's cool.
(laughs)
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