From: greg@gregm.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (new user)
Subject: Re: Sentra E vs. Saturn SL ...
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 13:38:51 GMT

Lines 95:

I wrote:
>> I ...invested..in the future of America' ... when I bought my Ford...

nunn@sura.net (Deborah Nunn) writes:
> since you bought a Ford that sucked, you won't give any other American
> auto maker the chance to sell you a car.  If you bought a lemon of a
> Japanese car, would you then rule out *all* Japanese automobiles as
> being unreliable and not worth your money??

I wasn't being clear here.  I had a *personal* experience with a Ford.
Other members of my family have had experiences with GM.  There are
only three American automakers.  I have intimate knowledge of each.

In any case, it really wasn't the Lemon that turned me off.  It was their
callous indifference to my plight.

It would be harder for me to obtain the same knowledge of all seven
Japanese makes.  However, if Honda were to 'do me up' like Ford did,
I would certainly badmouth them likewise.  If Isuzu made a lemon for
my sister, I would badmouth them.

In any case, the American makes *can* be lumped together.  Much of
the management has bounced around between the Big Three.  They are
quite inbred - so to speak.  Their products are more similar to
each other than to the Japanese makes.  
-------------------------------
> Secondly, you can hardly say that you bought the Ford before the 
> company had a chance to "prove themselves".  After all, how long
> has Ford been in business?  Longer than I've been around, anyway.  

You need to reword this one.  I can't figure out what you are trying
to say or ask, so I can't respond.
-------------------------------
> Since you obviously can't judge a car by the longevity of the company, 
> why not look at what the company has done *so far* and judge it on that.

So far;  sold me a car that shut down in my garage and had to be towed
to the dealer late one night one week after purchase.  [ lots of other
details which I will spare the net but are available on request ]
-------------------------------
> Saturn (i.e. GM) is far from running out of people willing to give them
> another chance.  Saturn sales increased ... they sell the cars as fast 
> as they can get them in.

I wrote that "GM/Ford/Chrysler are running out ... " not Saturn.  Saturn
sales of 250,000 or so cars represents a mere 1.7% of the US car market.
Saturn is - at present - a niche player.  It appears that they will 
become more important thru the years.

GM/Ford/Chrysler need to fill up the rest of the 68% of the market with
cars that people want.  Many people are now driving American makes that
they do not intend to replace with another American make.

It's great that Saturn is doing so well.  Perhaps GM can turn itself
around using the techniques learned at Saturn.  I would like to see
that.  

> Yes, company is unproven, but *someone's* got to give them a chance.
> ... Well, O.K., I'll be the guinnea pig.  
Well, O.K.  *Someone's* got to give them a chance.  I genuinely hope,
for your sake an GM's sake that Saturn turns out to be a winner.  I
really do!  I have heard nothing but good things out of them.  

What will really start me changing my opinion will be tales of driving
Saturns for 100,000 miles with only routine maintenance.  Seeing 
examples of that car with 150,000 miles on it that do not squeek or
have misaligned doors.  Things like that.  The Japanese did not get
where they are in the US market by slick advertising.  Word of mouth
is the best advertisement.
-------------------------------
> You sit back and wait while everyone else takes the risks and 
> tries to improve this country's economy.
I took a risk before.  I was ignored and mistreated by the very people
I *was* trying to support.  You seem to think that I should just keep on
taking those risks.  Should I just keep doing it until I am financially
ruined?  Remember the old saying - 

    "FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU.  FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME."

I won't buy into their system.  I will not support the executives who
make millions per year who have no concept of what it's like to have
a major purchase like a car fail.  (They just get another one.)  I
don't have sympathy for undertrained UAW members who make twice as 
much as I do, but work half as hard.  When was the last time the UAW
went out on strike to protest the bad quality that GM/Ford/Chrysler
are forcing them to assemble?
-------------------------------
I *do* realize that my economic well-being depends, in part, on how 
well the auto industry does.  Even if I was a schoolteacher who did
not depend on private industry for my livelyhood, my ability to buy
a Japanese or European car depends on how well the auto industry 
does.  By failing to meet the Japanese challenge, the amount of 
imports increase year-by-year.  As imports increase, the value of
my currency (the Dollar) decreases and the corresponding cost of those
imports go up.
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