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From: warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Badmouthing American-built cars
Message-ID: <1994@ihnss.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Apr-84 15:09:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ihnss.1994
Posted: Thu Apr  5 15:09:00 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Apr-84 03:36:18 EST
References: <610@ihuxn.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 26

I think that a lot of the problem may not be in the cars but in the
way that they are driven and maintained.  Sure, some cars have
design problems, but usually this is not a major contributor to
repair bills.  (The infamous VW valve seal was only a $140 repair
job if you had to pay for it.  That won't even cover a service check
and tuneup from a dealer.)  I think that much of the trouble people
have with cars comes from poor driving habits (or just a poor mix of
types of driving), lack of awareness of minor problems in their cars
before they become major, and poor quality of mechanical work.  I
have a friend who used to work for GM and claimed that GM cars were
designed to run for 5 years with the hood welded shut, because that
was about all the attention they usually got.  In the past at least,
I think that a larger proportion of foreign car owners have been
more aware of cars.  They bought foreign cars because of their
performance (and treated them lovingly) or their economy (and
learned how to do a lot of maintenance themselves or found a good
mechanic).  Stories of american cars lasting forever abound as well,
and just as in the VW that went over 200K miles, the cars were
usually owned and maintained by people who understood cars and got
minor problems fixed correctly before they became major ones.
-- 

	Warren Montgomery
	ihnss!warren
	IH x2494