Car Bloat
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Why can't we have small cars?
- Because they aren't as safe. Simple physics at work.
- Because they aren't as comfortable, especially on longer drives.
- Because they don't haul as much stuff.
- Because American carmakers are head-banging stupid.I
Let's talk about number 4...
American carmakers do not build a good small car. Tinny, disposable pieces of crap is all they build. And it takes very little extra effort to build something good. The problem is that car companies are being run by bean-counters and not car guys.
Criteria for a great American small car:
- Durability. Dial back some of the government crap in the car biz. GM made a good engine in the Iron Duke 4 and in the Buick 3600 V6. Those were 200,000 mile engines. The Ford 300 in-line 6, was a great half-ton truck motor. All three engines were killed by increasing government regulations.
Want hybrids? Fine. I don't think any American makers build a good Atkins cycle engine. They need to do so, with an eye towards durability.
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Quality. Pull out a jeweler's loop and look at the crankshaft of a Chevy vs. a Toyota. Like comparing the face of a 16 year-old with acne to a ground glass table top. If the UAW wants to continue to exist, they need to up their quality or they need to die. Same for the manufacturers.
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Parts. A huge advantage of American makers is parts availability and cost. They need to keep that advantage. They also should be mandated by law, that after the warranty expires, that ALL repair manuals and computer codes are open book, available to all.
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Warranty. Car dealers don't make much money on sales. The money is made in the F&I room and in the shop. Quality-built cars break less and warranties should reflect that. 100,000 miles drivetrain, 5 years/60,000 miles on everything else. Preserve your dealer network for repairs and warranty work, and let the dealers sell OEM parts competitively.
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Price. Make your money on volume. There is no reason an American manufacturer cannot make a good, Camry-size car without a jillion bells and whistles for $25 or less. There is no reason they cannot make a small sedan the size of a Civic for $20k, same criteria. There is no reason they cannot make a small, body-on-frame truck for $22k.
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Styling. I know there's only so much you can do and make things work in a wind tunnel, but styling used to be a hallmark of American cars, even the small ones. Bring back the car guys, the ones with imagination. Styling doesn't cost money, but it requires imagination.
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Not a small car, but note what I said about styling...
Link to video -
The problem has been the elimination of the full sized sedan. It pushes people into the SUV…
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
$$$$$
Profit on car = USD$3000
Profit on truck = USD$17000 -
What do you consider a full size sedan?
V6 for a start. Taurus, Impala, Mazda 6, even the damn Charger is being discontinued. There are still a few, but they are prohibitively expensive.
When we bought in 2022, my wife wanted a V6 Subaru Outback (the last remnant of the once mighty station wagon, but now called an SUV. Unfortunately, they were discontinued as manufacturers have to meet newer and harder emissions standards. We want a V6. In our area it’s not unusual to have to make a left turn across 4-6 lanes of traffic from a stop with cars driving 45-50 MPH. You need power, torque, and immediate acceleration. The last thing you need is freaking turbo lag.
We’re also frequently hauling A LOT of weight up 10-13 degree inclines. 4-bangers don’t have enough juice for the squeeze. The Outback would have been ideal, but instead we had to go with a much larger SUV to get the power to weight ratio we need.
The emissions requirements pushed our family into a much larger vehicle, I am sure it’s happening to others.
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I'm not a fan of turbochargers in most cases. There is the mentioned lag, when you put your foot in it. I don't like them because they shorten engine life.
Manufacturers like them because they can give improved fuel mileage under EPA conditions. Fuel mileage numbers they can't meet in the real world.
The Chevy Silverado ships with a turbo four-banger as the base engine. Man would have to be an idiot to buy that thing...
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I know a bunch of people who drive those massive trucks into work every day, all by themselves, with nothing in there but a laptop. They also tend to complain a lot about the price of gas.
I think there might be more at play here than aerodynamics, load-carrying capability and the EPA.
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When you live in the country, a pickup is as handy as a shirt pocket. I still have my 2011 Sierra. When I bought it, my work commute was 32 miles, one -way. Something smaller would have been nice on gas, but I only had money for one vehicle, not two.
A smaller car, even a smaller truck, just wouldn't do. When you hook up to a 16 or 18 foot trailer, that is loaded with 4000 pounds of tractor and 900 pounds of bush hog, a car won't pull it. A Taco truck might, but it darn sure won't stop it.
That's an extreme use, but I've still hauled a lot of firewood, riding lawnmowers, mulch, four-wheelers, building supplies and on occasion, even crushed limestone in the truck bed.
I understand your point and some people buy trucks that don't need them. It's their money, though...
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
When you live in the country, a pickup is as handy as a shirt pocket. I still have my 2011 Sierra. When I bought it, my work commute was 32 miles, one -way. Something smaller would have been nice on gas, but I only had money for one vehicle, not two.
Yeah, I get that. When we were in Canada I could see the point of the pickup. The irony is that more people seem to drive them in Massachusetts than did in Ontario.
When we were in the UK last month we noticed that the car size seems to be increasing there, too. It doesn't make any sense, the roads are narrow, parking is limited, and there are congestion charges. Still, that seems to be the way it's going.
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ill admit. i have an Isuzu d max (sorry not available in the US)
(https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a35729438/isuzu-d-max-its-the-only-pickup-truck-i-want/)
(https://www.motorbiscuit.com/time-right-for-isuzu-bring-truck-back/)
the reason i got it, after my jeep patriot aged too much, (besides just wanting it) is that i still need time to time to shchlep big items, wood for example every year for the wood burning stove, items from the plant nursery for the garden, and just in general moving various bach kids furniture here or there. i hate having to pay someone else to move or deliver stuff that i can do myself. and i may be 65, but im not dead yet, as the monty python gang like to say.
yes its a diesel, and maybe not very eco green. but i do like her. jet black.
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@bachophile said in Car Bloat:
ill admit. i have an Isuzu d max (sorry not available in the US)
(https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a35729438/isuzu-d-max-its-the-only-pickup-truck-i-want/)
(https://www.motorbiscuit.com/time-right-for-isuzu-bring-truck-back/)
the reason i got it, after my jeep patriot aged too much, (besides just wanting it) is that i still need time to time to shchlep big items, wood for example every year for the wood burning stove, items from the plant nursery for the garden, and just in general moving various bach kids furniture here or there. i hate having to pay someone else to move or deliver stuff that i can do myself. and i may be 65, but im not dead yet, as the monty python gang like to say.
yes its a diesel, and maybe not very eco green. but i do like her. jet black.
Would love to have that truck in the U.S.! Diesels produce torque and that's needed in a truck.
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I often regret selling my pickups, an 88 Jeep Commanche (GREAT little pickup - huge clearance) and my 2000 Ram. I don't need them very often these days, but when I do....
Buy a used one. It's just you and the missus.
Or, if you don't need the hauling and towing capacity, there's a butt load of Maverick competitors coming from Dodge, Toyota, Suburu, Hyundai and others.
