23rd Jun 2010, 12:25
This may be true, though none of our friends or family have ever had any issues with their Trailblazers before 200,000 miles. We have owned both Pontiac and GMC over the past 9 years, and neither ever had a single problem other than batteries, tires and light bulbs.
23rd Jun 2010, 15:25
You should be given a medal, the first person to own a domestic that didn't need a single repair in 100,000 miles. My domestics cost me thousands to make it to 100,000 miles. And most of them still didn't make it that far.
23rd Jun 2010, 16:31
As a loyal GM man, I owned a 1986 Celebrity: perfect car very few problems. 1991 GMC S15: engine issues (2 times). 1995 GMC Sierra: good truck, only major issue was a transmission failure in the past 15 years. 1999 Blazer (nightmare on wheels). 2001 Sunfire: cheap/efficient/dependable car, previous owner looked after it well. 2004 Malibu: good car has needed a lot of regular maintenance but so far nothing major just a few annoyances. 2008 Pontiac G6: Perfect car in every way, was sad to hear they killed off Pontiac.
23rd Jun 2010, 17:13
I know... I've never made it to 100K miles either with a domestic without $1,000's in repairs. I can only imagine all of the broken parts they are just putting up with to say they never need repairs!! "My AC doesn't work but I can live without it." "It's stuck in third gear but I only drive on the back roads." ha ha ha!!
Sorry domestic lovers, but in my long experience driving cars, my imports have far outdone any domestic cars I have owned as far as needing less repairs. Those are the facts of my experiences so keep telling me that you have had no repairs for 200K miles. I don't care! I did need repairs time and again for things that should have lasted much longer.... like they always did on my import cars.
24th Jun 2010, 18:04
No. We've owned a representative of all 3 of the Big three (a Dodge, a Buick and a Ford), ALL of which made well over 220,000 with virtually ZERO repairs, and everything functioning as if it were brand new.
The Ford actually was traded at 325,000+ miles, and the Dodge was sold at 240,000 miles in perfect condition. The current owner now has well over 300,000 miles on it.
The Buick was sold at 277,000 miles with all systems perfect, and never ANY repairs.
Our current GM has 90,000+ miles, and has had exactly one battery, one light bulb and one set of tires. It is indistinguishable from a brand new one. It still has the original brake pads, shocks, A/C system (never even SERVICED yet) and an engine that has never had anything but oil changes at 10,000 miles, and the K&N air filter cleaned every 10,000 miles.
If I ever had ANY problems with a domestic vehicle from ANY of the big 3 in a mere 100,000 miles I'd be FURIOUS. New GM's are in warranty for that long.
24th Jun 2010, 20:28
My experiences have been the same as comment 17:13. I stopped buying domestics, I was constantly repairing things and never getting my money's worth out of them because they never lasted! Engines, transmissions, you name it, I paid to have them replaced on nearly all of my domestics before 100,000 miles. Not one thin dime of mine has gone to a single major repair on ANY import at ANY mileage, not even the '88 Honda Accord I bought USED with over 250,000 miles on it and drove until it had over 400,000 miles, at which point I sold it while it was still running perfectly.
25th Jun 2010, 15:55
I really find this hard to believe that ALL of your cars need no repairs. Why do domestic car companies have repair shops at their dealers if they never need any repairs? NO ONE is that lucky with cars. My Trailblazer at less than 90K miles has needed about $1,500 in repairs, and just today it stalled without warning and took over a minute to restart, only to have the check engine light on. Now the light is off again, so of course they won't find anything wrong with it. Awesome quality!! I'd rather have any Toyota right now than this truck!
And the GM warranty is exactly the same as Honda and Toyota at 5 years. About 10% or less drive more than 60K miles in the first 5 years and won't ever use that extra mileage. GM is well aware of that average mileage figure, trust me. This is purely a marketing strategy to make it seem like their warranty is so superior, when in reality it is just the same as everyone else.... except Hyundai, Suzuki and Kia of course who offer a REAL 10 year 100K mile warranty. Funny thing is, their cheap marketing ploy works because I see countless people commenting on how "superior" the GM warranty is.
25th Jun 2010, 16:27
When I read a lot of comments reporting mechanical issues with cars, my immediate reaction is "The repair shop/dealer did unnecessary work".
When people report needing a brake job on a car (especially a domestic) at 20,000 miles or less, you can bet they have been lied to. No car (even imports) should require brake jobs that often.
When I see unlikely scenarios such as all 4 brake rotors and all 4 calipers requiring replacement at the same time, I get very suspicious. The odds of that being required on ANY vehicle are less than the odds of being hit on the head by a meteorite. Dealerships and shops love to earn "free" revenue by making up all sorts of problems to "fix" and charge clueless car owners for. Often they do absolutely NOTHING and bill hundreds of dollars. I think this is the cause of many of the so-called "problems" we see reported on here so much. NO CAR should need ANY repairs in 100,000 miles. Most are now warranteed that long.
The "check engine" light came on on a friends van recently, and he, being totally clueless, took the car in to be checked. He was told his TRANSMISSION was bad, even though it was shifting flawlessly. He was charged $900 to "fix" the transmission. All they REALLY did was reset the "check engine" light.
26th Jun 2010, 18:01
I had my 2004 Malibu in for service, fixed loose shifter and had the front bowtie emblem replaced due to age and water damage, with parts/labour plus a free wash, and it only cost me $113. Try getting that kind of service at your Toyota, Hyundai and Honda dealerships...
27th Jun 2010, 13:19
Some GM dealerships are really great. Ours has been very good and has even did minor repairs (such as light bulbs) out of warranty at no charge. And NO, no import dealership is going to match that kind of service.
27th Jun 2010, 16:53
Yeah, so those pulsing brakes were just an illusion? You are pretty cynical in believing that every shop is making up stuff wrong with the cars that come in just to make extra money. Sorry, but GM or any other car maker isn't magically trouble free in every instance. I've had many many problems with all of my GM cars, and much of the work was done by mechanics that I've known and trusted for decades. They bring me the parts to show me what failed and tell me why it failed. Since they are friends as well, I wouldn't think they were taking me for a ride.
Believe me, I wish I could get 100K miles out of any GM product. I usually sell them before then because they just get too expensive to own with ridiculous things going wrong. One of my cars had the rear struts fail at about 75K miles. Of course I was just imagining that the rear end was hitting the ground at every bump and the shop was taking me for some extra cash...heh. That car had so much wrong with it I couldn't wait to dump it.
None of the problems were found without me knowing something was wrong though. Tranny sticking in third gear, brakes completely going, turn signal switch failure which incidentally caused the brake lights to fail (which was really safe) and a common problem on GM vehicles. I see them all the time with only the center light working upon braking. Funny how the same shops don't try to take me for a ride when I bring my imports in though.
All of the imports I have owned have been pretty trouble free for the first 100K miles. It's fine to support the domestic companies but the reality is that they aren't as well built... or weren't until very recently.
23rd Jun 2010, 12:20
"Imports? Never have I had anything major fail on an import before 100K miles"
They must have been TOWED the entire 100,000 miles!! None of our imports even MADE 100,000 miles. None of our domestics ever had a problem in 100,000 miles.