I Now Understand Why GM Is In Trouble…
I rented a car yesterday, and it’s made the problems in Detroit utterly clear to me. The vehicle in question is a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, a vehicle so heinous that it makes it clear that no executive from that company ever even tried to drive it around a test course. It is a vehicle that is utterly devoid of design concern for the user, and has such poor fit and finish that I surmise they would have trouble giving them away for free.
You need to understand one thing: while I am not a small man, I am also not incredibly tall. I am am a hair under 6 foot. Yet in the Cobalt, with the seat fully adjusted, at eye level, I am looking over the visor. In order to look through the windsheild, I must hunch over. Even then, my head is hitting the roof.
When I knew I was getting a Cobalt, I mentioned it to a friend and he quickly told me to ask them for something else. “My mother and brother rented one recently and they both said it was the most uncomfortable car they’d ever ridden in.”
Prior to trying to ride in the beast, I thought they were full of it. Now I realize that “uncomfortable” was actually a polite description of the vehicle.
I’d tell you that I crossed Chevy off my shopping list because of this incident, but honestly, my experiences with my former 1997 Chevy Blazer did that 5 years ago. 3 rear ends, 2 gas tanks (how do gas tanks go bad?) and a slurry of other uncommon and unacknowledged design flaws had me swear the whole company off. Prior to that, since 1984 I had bought nothing but Chevy Blazers.
The new car search is still in its infancy. I will try to buy new this time, and have generally narrowed the list to something with 4wd and something with two seats (ruling out a standard pickup). I like the Nissan Xterra, and will also be looking carefully at the Subaru line after a rave testimonial by Peter Kuhn. I’d like to buy American, as I always have, but I really don’t see anything I like. So I’ll at least take a look at Ford and Dodge, but I expect I’ll for the first time have to buy foreign.
7 thoughts on “I Now Understand Why GM Is In Trouble…”
looking at your choices, you may want to try Murano. OR, get a used Lexus RX.
PS: I like your posts 🙂
Funny you should mention the Murano. My sister in law has one and loves it. The reason I had the Xterra on the list is that as a fishermen, I hope to have a boat sometime in the next year or two and the Xterra has a full frame under it which is good for towing.
You used to like the Blazer, a couple more you might want to look at…. I’m very happy with my Acura MDX. When I was shopping for the MDX, my second choice was a Toyota Highlander, the MDX got the edge because of my thing for gadgets, but probably the 2009 versions of the Highlander have all the requisite gadgets now.
Gadgets are a factor. I commute for 2-3 hours a day. High on the list is Ipod integration and blue tooth.
Mark,
you should take a look at Chevrolet’s European offerings. ( http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/ ). Very different to what you see at the US.
So, did you buy anything yet?
My truck was actually repairable. The problem came from the brake job that was done several months ago. Although 2 front rotors were ordered for a 2wd ranger, apparently we were given 1 for a 2wd and one for a 4wd. They saw the 4wd version and priced accordingly, but when they looked again, they found it was less than half the cost to do the job. Still looking, but not buying right away, as my wife’s 05 Impala blew its head gasket at 58,000 miles the next day after my car broke. I’ll lay that problem at Chevy’s feet as well. Who ever heard of a mid-size car with 58,000 miles needing a head gasket?