Thread 28557153

What was the lowest point for American auto manufacturers? I'm talking about build quality and reliability as a whole.

>>28557153 (OP)
2010s
>Ford powershit
>Cruze and Darts in general
>Death of the sedan

>>28557153 (OP)
mid 2010s-present
2nd place goes to malaise era

>>28557154
>>28557161
>new car bad

>>28557153 (OP)
1981-82-ish was rock bottom for the longest time. Cadillac v864 and then the dreaded ht4100, gm X-cars, ford "blunder"bird, chrysler insolvency to k-car pipeline, automatic-only corvette, and general QC apoalypse. Imports were... better... but either race to rust back into the earth or were supremely expensive
...At least, until 2021 rolled around. Now it's a competition to make the worst possible car, it's like a fucking game "who can make the shittiest product and get away with it" type of shit. I'll take an american car from 1981-82, even a friday-after-lunch built car, any day over '21+ cars. At least peak malaise cars let you fucking drive and fix them (ac is still super cold too)

>>28557154
>>28557161
>>28557241
>suggesting modern cars are the lowest point of anything
the cope and delusion is fucking real.

>>28557230
>new car not bad

>>28557153 (OP)
Was it really necessary to ask AI to generate a photo of a car that actually exists

>>28557318
You can look at statistics, let's say they're 100% reliable for argument's sake, and say "yeah new car good they break down less"
Yes but your principles are shit; you don't have any fucking control over it. I can wrench a bit. If by malaiseshit breaks down I could fix it, and the more I fix it the better I get at fixing cars in general and fixing the exact make/model/engine/AC system/etc. New car? It breaks and you're fucked. 1200 dollars for a headlight BITCH, plus weeks/months of waiting. Might be dealer only and maybe partnered shops if you're lucky so it's more like 2-3 grand :^)
>This bullshit is the same thought process behind the praise of self-driving cars. Even if the tech is good and it is, even if "statistics say so." NO. You're making the world a worse place to live in. You're removing personal agency and skill. The less people need to excercise agency, the less they have in other areas of life, and thus society degrades. Need I go over usury too, how it negatively affects even responsible spenders? What's next, ban guns because "but muh you might uh muh kill yourself or your kid will shoot -" I've heard this talking point, I distinctly remember an art teacher I knew saying this. GenX, of course. They say all the right things, emote all the right ways, they seem like great guys and might help you in a pinch but a quick poke at their true alignment reveals a soulless void of safetyist doom.
Anways, you're an automaton. Or a damn good troll.

>>28557351
It's worse, I recognize that purple. OP got it from a Chinese scam 'parts site' that has literally 2000 images of different car makes and models that they made by having an AI hallucinate the model. Sometimes it's close, sometimes it's horrible. Search for any car model in Google and you'll probably find it. It's been around a while, Curbside Classic pointed it out to some.

>>28557153 (OP)
>What was the lowest point for American auto manufacturers?

1974 to 1984. The 73 fuel crisis combined with new emissions and safety standards caught them totally off guard and they ended up butchering their current cars into abominations to meet the new rules and to try and get them to have over 10 MPG. The result is massive V8s that get 150 horsepower powering giant landwhales and a series of poorly designed economy cars like the Gremlin and the Pinto. After this Detroit adapts by entering the Malais era as the daring designs of the early 70s are replaced with dull soulless boxes.

I'd say the current gen is also a low point with Obama's regulatory push creating a generation of overpriced, unreliable cars filled with start stop systems and 1.5L 3 cylinder turbos. At least the 70s regulations made a degree of sense as opposed to the climate change nonsense agenda. Combine that with crossovers and SUVs killing off all the sedans and coupes and 90% of cars being white, black or some horrible shade of NPC grey and these are truly dark times.

I hope Trump's deregulatory push gets us out of this slump.

https://youtu.be/FSt6FPsDhaA

>>28557153 (OP)

Almost the entire OBD1 era

>>28557318
>every brand is having timing chain failures
>0 weight oil
>rod knock is becoming common under 150k miles
>cvt
>electronic steering
>automotive design is the worst it's ever been

>>28557153 (OP)
Ford Pinto

>>28557629
>cvt
This is mostly a small car problem.

When it went to fwd from big body V8 rwd

It just went downhill from there.


Only buy Japan now

>>28557153 (OP)
absolutely modern day with interchangeable gray NPC cuckovers filled with spyware, creating dozens and dozens of points of failure, catering exclusively to soccer moms.

>>28557361
good post

>>28557409
I still hate that my car is white :(
It was a crazy good deal, like $5000 less than what similar condition versions were going for, so it would have been retarded not to get it, but fuck are white cars boring

>>28561003
Better than silver.

82 83 84 85. You can’t even show me a pic of anything still running.

>>28557153 (OP)
1977-1983
a real dark age for the automotive industry

>>28557230
Yes.

>>28557318
current era is so 'good' that smog era cars from 50 years ago have become more desired than ever because their problems are mostly solved

>>28561003
>>28561170

My car is silver; but at least it has a lot of chrome on it which works well with the silver paint. Still I wish I could have found a blue one.

I'd take silver over white personally. And I'd take a bullet to the head over NPC gray.

>>28561196

I still see a fair number of 1980s Ford Crown Vics running around. I wouldn't mind having one of the Crown Vic Country Squire station wagons, the last of the old land whale station wagons.

>>28561196
Hi anon, here's my 1982 Z28 I drive on the weekends. Coldest AC I've ever experienced

>>28562096
Is there enough room for the v10 under that hood?

>>28562117
Yes, but the Triton V10 sucks major ass so hardly anybody bothers with it for the most part

>>28557629
>under 150k miles
I said to my father once “dad why do you drive these cars, they’re always in the shop”
And he says to me “they’re extremely reliable”
How can that be when they’re always in the shop anti electrical gremlins and little problems?
Well, he remembers when 100k miles without stranding you was basically a miracle. He’s had transmissions fall out of cars (all Japanese in the 80s btw), he’s had engines combust, he’s had brakes outright fail, all on new and lightly used vehicles. He remembers 100k miles as when you get the top end and transmission totally rebuilt if you’re really in love with a car.
The historical ignorance to say “under 150k miles” like it’s lower than ever is staggering.
Say what you want about modern cars and their myriad problems, but the engine and drivetrain are more reliable than ever.

>>28562111
The 2 door vics are boss but they're all posted by mexicans with "transmisión es mala" featured somewhere in the ad

>>28562122
>he engine and drivetrain are more reliable than ever
Well this would be fine but a new engine is 15 grand and the old ones are non-rebuildable. And you can't put the new one in yourself thanks to dealer lockout.

>>28562121
>Triton V10 sucks
Even if you leave it stock? A Lincoln towncar with a v10 has a cool factor?

>>28562133
You wouldn't have much choice other than to leave it stock, the Triton V10 has nearly zero aftermarket except for whatever happens to fit from the 4.6/5.4. They'll make the 362hp/460tq they so make all day long for 200k+ miles but they're big heavy boat anchors that can't rev, as far as performance applications are concerned. Fine in a work truck but you'd be better off just building the 4.6 it came with (or even swapping in a 5.4 and building that) if you want more out of it than that. If you just have to have a V10 and don't care about anything else but the "I have a V10" factor, more power to you.

>>28562151
That's the whole point of leaving it stock. Its a Towncar, not a dragster. Crack the throttle and enjoy gobs of torque while you drive slow.

>>28562121
What about that new "godzilla" big block v8 that was made to replace the shitty Triton?

>>28557154
hey my powershift is still fine and I like the way it drives

>>28557241
You forgot about the wonderful 350 diesel but spot on mate

>>28562299

Any of the modular V8s and V10s plug in pretty easily. The Coyote or the Godzilla.

>>28557318
>fucking wet timing belts and wet oil pump belts
If one of those was the last car on earth I'd rather fucking walk

>>28557241
Give me a malaise'd base model 1980 Cutlass with a carb and head gasket problem and I'll show you a 45 year old vehicle that will run for another 45.

>>28562313
Oh don't forget about the 4.3 diesel V6 too. Not (quite) as blow-up-y as the 350 but it's even more insulting

>>28562333
I was going to go look at a perfect 1981 cutlass v6/th200, white w/ brown, 20k miles, original INSPECTION STICKER down in houston but it's owned by a mex in a shit part of houston. Houston is a SHITHOLE. It's a fuckin SHITHOLE. As a texan, I vote to nuke houston. It's the birmingham of texas; the delhi of america; the bangladesh of the western hemisphere. Just put them out of their misery.
>marketplace/item/9559413987460908

>>28562333
I’ll show you 45 years of rust in the northeast lol

American cars were never good.

>>28562400
>birmingham of texas
Birmingham, Alabama, or Birmingham, England?

>>28557318
Heavier, less reliable, more compex and therefore harder to repair, more expensive, more contingent on meeting outlandish emissions requirements. Yeah they're worse in almost every way compared to their predecessors.

>>28562133
V10 is a medium-duty truck engine. It's like driving two and a half Iron Dukes strapped together, no amount of mods could change that.

>>28563275
same difference

>>28557153 (OP)
If this had a Japanese badge, you'd all be jerking off to it.

>>28562544
American cars were the world standard for he first half of automotive history. Most of the shit you take for granted was pioneered by americans. Kill yourself.

>>28564235
Looking at 60s European 'economy' cars vs 60s American 'economy' cars is fucking hilarious
Other comes with AC, power steering, electric windows, central locking, the other one is basically on par with a Model A
The latter of course being the European cars

>>28557153 (OP)
When they were trying to force fake automatics

>>28565142
>fake automatics
???

>>28565162
What is easytronic?

>>28562151
There are some youtubers who managed to cobble together a pair of 5 cylinder heads from 4 Cobra V8 heads. I can't remember the channel at all, but it makes some impressive noises.

>>28557241
Agreed , especially when it comes to longevity. I did rather enjoy my Mazda GLC, for a time, but by 6 years old it was trash Late 90s to early 2000s were the absolute peak when it comes to almost all metrics.

>>28562122
>drivetrain are more reliable than ever
>everything runs a zf8 or derivative
>it's plagued with valve body problems

>>28557153 (OP)
>he posted a pic from the chink aislop boomer scamming site
LMAO MURK YASELF OP

>>28557361
>1200 dollars for a headlight BITCH, plus weeks/months of waiting
man. i used to think only allowing 5.75 and 7 inch headlights was backwards as fuck but after seeing how easy it was to just grab a replacement housing at any auto parts store, im wishing it came back. housings that take h4 lamps are even better because you can replace one or the other if one breaks instead of the entire assembly.

>>28564116
lol. when the xv10 camry came out people would ask dealerships for a J vin vehicle because they were perceived to be built to a higher standard than the US built ones

>>28562096
>I'd take silver over white personally. And I'd take a bullet to the head over NPC gray.
Silver is NPC grey.

>>28557153 (OP)
Creation of the CVT and all the years that followed

>>28564321
Jokes on you retard, I prefer 30's cars.

>>28557154
The sedan was an indicator of how poor we were as a nation. We were all rolling around in those cheap ass eastern euro/asian mobiles. The standard car being a crossover was an indicator of our immense wealth. Now, we've collapsed and will have to start riding bikes again.

>>28561196
Runs like a dream, actually.

>>28557153 (OP)
2020-Present

You will not see any car made in 2020 on the road in 2030 unless it was babied by some boomers and garaged 99% of the time

>>28567546

America was never wealthy, it was all a debt fueled spending frenzy never intended to be paid off by anyone but the youngest generation before a planned social cataclysm.

>>28567391
>umm nanny regulations are akshually good when they benefit me

>>28557361
You failed at greentexting, therefore your post is invalid

>>28568363
Libertarians have never dealt with real-world people and/or systems in their entire lives

>>28562125
>a new engine is 15 grand
Not an issue if it doesn't actually die, unlike some Northstar turd or something
>and the old ones are non-rebuildable.
Skill issue, wrenchlet detected
>And you can't put the new one in yourself thanks to dealer lockout
Not a thing

>>28564321
>electric windows
Disongenious faggot, most of 60s boomer barges had crank windows, those hydraulic (not electric) power windows were rare and mostly in luxury cars

>>28568371
>light bulb goes out
>buy a new h4 one in supermarket
>replace it
>works again
???
And it actually does a decent job at being a headlight, unlike some sealed beam piece of shit that's worse than the small flashlight I have in my keyring

The modern era is so fucking bad and gay I just want to smash someone's head in. Car insurance has gotten even more bullshit too, which I didn't think was possible. They want fucking $200 a month if you drive a reliable 10 year old car with 60k miles on it in comparison to a new model car that's a massive pos and breaks down all the time.

>>28568363
they benefit you too. or do you not like having easy to service and cheap headlights that are readily available everywhere and still come with glass lenses?
>>28568388
sealed beams sucked because the power for them ran through the firewall, up the dash, through the headlight switch, back down the dash, through the firewall again, and back to the headlights. if you use relays instead they become so much brighter. I prefer the H4 conversion housings though so that way if either the housing or bulb breaks you can just replace one while keeping the other.

>>28568421
>they benefit you too
So do emission regulations because the air we breathe is cleaner, yet we all consider them gay, rightfully so

The first two posts are indeed the best posts.

Only soulless bugmen contend them.

>>28568421
>>28568429
And so do crash safety regulations because we don't get turned into dog food when Carly T-bones us in her Explorer because she was watching 10 Dances To Help Ukraine on TikTok, because they make cars ugy

>>28568435
>because they make cars ugy
yet we all hate them, because they make cars ugly*

>>28568429
>>28568435
yeah but sealed beam housings with replaceable bulbs are comfy. Emissions regs should've stayed at what it was in the late 90s/early 2000s.
LEDs running at full brightness with only a flap to act as a cutoff and requiring an entire housing replacement when one diode goes out are gay.
Cars should feel more dangerous so people drive more cautiously.

>>28568452
>yeah but sealed beam housings with replaceable bulbs are comfy.
They are ugly and make a cars look the same, which is what everyone here complains about in new cars
>Cars should feel more dangerous so people drive more cautiously.
No one wants that, except /o/tists that don't buy new so that their voice doesn't count when it comes to car design

>>28568583
i dont think they look ugly at all. they might make a car look old but then again like you say, people here complain about new car design. they (and i) also bitch about having to fork out 1k for a new headlight assembly and it gets worse when production pf the part stops. i'd much rather have serviceability. popup headlights were one way to get around needing sealed beams and we know people did like those. it also shows that manufacturers can and do find ways to innovate when things are restricted for them.
and emphasis on "feeling" dangerous/more exposed, not necessarily actually being any more dangerous. people complain about how shit drivers have become but they also insist on more and more safety nannies that just encourage more complacency and more aggressiveness behind the wheel, on the basis that the car will save them from themselves. ideally we'd improve driver education but you and i both know that isn't happening any time soon.

>>28557373
Kek

>>28568376
>Skill issue, wrenchlet detected
No, I mean physically non-rebuildable, not just "complex." The internal coatings applied to them cannot be put on with anything other than an OEM-exclusive multi-million dollar machine

>>28568363
>>28568388
>>28568421
>>28568429
>>28568583
Cars looked better when the headlights were all the same. You had to do something with the car instead of changing the headlight housing and calling it a day. Midsize cars have been plenty safe since 1968, and even the smallest of snubnose fagcars have been safe since ~2000. Emissions regs were fine until 1990. EVERYONE wanted cars that were more dangerous until the jews decided that we'd had enough fun in 1971, it's no coincidence that our currency, cars, and space program were all murdered at the same time we decided to throw our money into the black hole of the third world.
>>28568420
Here's a good barometer: The gayer the mustang, the malaise-ier the era.

>>28568420
>in comparison to a new model car
No they want even more for a new model because a 5 mph tap puts it out of commission for months

>>28557318
Anon, those cars are 10 years old, at least

>>28568780
>cars looking all the same, modern: >:(
>cars looking all the same, old: <:O

>>28568780
>Midsize cars have been plenty safe since 1968
Lol
Lmao even
Get inside a 70s barge, drive it into a wall at 30 mph and then we can talk

trucks made from like 2020 to now are straight ass. every newish used ram my shop sold fucking came back for every issue imaginable. drivetrain, electrical, body, interior panels. they're so ass. fords aren't as bad but chevy is up there with ram right now, honestly

>>28568793
Illiterate nog
>>28568796
>he doesn't remember the anon who crashed his '68 firebird into a tree in a ditch and was fine

>>28564321
yes and that's why you still see plenty of fiat 500/600 2cv beetle etc. in europe while american cars of that era are extinct and the few ones alive just kept as garage princessess by boomers

>>28568793
this but unironically

>>28568796
>then we can talk
They wont be alive to talk. Car will be perfectly fine though, just in time for a zoom zoom car guy to stroll up to the resulting estate sale and swoop it up.
I'm the zoom zoom btw

>>28560428
I can't even tell you how much I detest the plague of crossovers. Butt-ugly without exception, mediocre in ride quality at any price, needlessly bad aerodynamics, no more ground clearance than sedans but still bad at cornering, awkward driver ergonomics, and rather poor acceleration even when you wind their unreliable drivetrains up to 6K.

>>28570599
>no more ground clearance than sedans
No, there's couple inches more. Enough to hop a curb which is a necessity for female and asian drivers but that's about the extent of their offroad capabilities if "offroad" includes the sidewalk.
>mediocre in ride quality
Poor. It's just poor.

>>28567997
Based. Post interior. You won't.

>>28570630
Last year I had a courtesy ride from a hospital in one of those Ford crossovers cops everywhere seem to drive now. He wound that shit up to 6K passing under conditions I do the same at 3K. How does anyone driving such trash win in a high-speed chase?

>>28557153 (OP)
2008 pontiac
good fuck

>>28557153 (OP)
Right around here, my man.

>>28562133
Not really, no.

>>28570649
>How does anyone driving such trash win in a high-speed chase?
they just keep up with the suspect until he makes a mistake and/or his luck runs out

2010's to now for anything that isn't a muscle car or a V8 truck.

>>28557230
correct

>>28557318


This is what 50 years of technological progress can give you.

>>28568363


The real problem with bureaucratic intervention - or at least one of the primary ones - is not even to do with the particular details of any particular intervention, but the overall systemic cardinalities of the structure itself.
To wit: it's impossible for a regulatory bureaucracy to ever 'decide' that any given position is 'enough' regulation; there is only one way that the ratchet can turn, and that is more regulation. Any theoretical optimum points in an abstract sense never exist in practice as they are immediately blown past over the course of events regardless, until everything that is real is choked out by the creeping kudzu of intermediation, and the edifice collapses, and new players build a new structure over the ruins of the old, and the cycle continues.

>>28570807
The new 500 is vastly superior in every metric.

>>28570977
>being bigger and heavier is superior

>>28570977
all sorts of metrics except the ones that matter to the bottom line
really the biggest issue is that it shouldn't even be a competition, yet here we are

>>28557153 (OP)
what car is this actually?

>>28571130
If you are computer illiterate how did you manage to end up here?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/what-if/ai/

>>28557153 (OP)
USA cars from the 80s

J
U
N
K

>>28557318
They are though, manufacturers (not just of cars but anything) recognized they could scam the public by making shit easier to replace than to run.

>>28557153 (OP)
Generally agreed to be the so-called "Malaise Era" (1972-1985).

>>28570634
I know it's dirty I've been trying to clean her up, but it's been an active fight the entire time