GM Shoddiness & Crappy Build & Materials Quality

Never before in my life did I actually believe that a car would be built to last only 150 or 200k miles so you had to purchase again.
Then I owned a GM.
Biggest. Piece. Of. Cheaply. Built. Failure. I've ever had to deal with.
Never again.
Bad starter selenoid. Leaking sunroof vents. Broken door interface switch. Broken sunroof tracks. Bad front suspension. Blown head gasket. All before 135k miles.
Screw you GM.
Starter solenoid would freeze due to the dielectric grease GM used. Apparently they did not test it below 28*f (Common, no recall, car will leave you stranded, Nytelytette was late to work several times from this before we figured it out). Sunroof vents failed because GM failed to put $.01 zip ties to hold the tubes to the drains. (Common, no TSB, will soak the seats and ruin the interior). Sunroof tracks were made out of some plastic that turns to dust after being in the sun and break, leaving a gaping hole in your roof that you cannot seal. (its on the roof of the car, COME ON!? Pay an engineer to think of this crap!!)
Vehicle was properly maintained (Oil, filter, lubrication, vehicle needs were all done on time per the recommended service interval). All of these problems were due to poor build quality, poor material choice, and crappy workmanship. Bought a Toyota, its sitting in my driveway next to a VW.

We got a VERY good deal on a 2012 RAV4, also Nytelytette's first new car, 9 miles when we got in it, even test drove a different one so my abusive "How fast is it? How good are the brakes? Does it slide around this corner at way too fast?" were on a different car. She's thrilled, got the color & trim we wanted (4wd, 4cyl, auto, BT, all the rear cubbies, good stereo), we have our planned vehicle for kids and our dog (and a little trailer for our bikes) and hopefully this will be reliable and efficient for us for a good while.


Also, if anyone in the area is interested, I had the best dealership experience I've had at Hatfield Toyota in Columbus, OH. I can't recommend them enough. (For salesman's name PM me, its worth it if you are in the market).

TL;DR:
GM sucks balls, explode and kick puppies. Glad we've sold it, bought a Toyota, very happy.

I own a 2003 RAV-4 with 78,000 miles on it. Whenever I'm ready to buy a new truck, it'll be another RAV-4.

345k on my 4runner, no rust, runs clean.

Hopefully her rav4 is as good or better.

My mom loves here RAV4, I'm still surprised how big the damn thing is on the inside. That goofy rear hatch and spare sure free up some space.

Just for information purposes: what make, model, and year of GM vehicle?

The OP can't be very old. Back in the 50's and 60's, a car was wornout at 50-60K miles. Even in the 70's it was rare to have a car survive 100K miles.

I myself swore off from purchasing another GM product ever again after buying two loosers in a row, a 1981 Cavalier and a 1983 S10 pickup.

All I drive anymore are Toyota's and Honda's.

My daughter's Camry is a total pile of crap. 142K miles and we've had to dump $1000 just so it won't randomly stall. Still can't trust it.

The blue interior has turned an odd shade of green in many areas as well as starting to disintegrate.

Not a huge GM fan any longer, but Toyota's aren't without problems either. I don't think I would buy either make at this point.

Also, getting 200k out of any car is doing pretty good. Wasn't too long ago that every car was scrap after 60-80k.

Yep, and cars came with a 12/12 warranty that covered only major things like the transmission falling out, and then only if you had dealership service receipts and they couldn't blame it on something like towing.

I was going to say the same thing. When I was a kid (70's and 80's) my parents traded their cars in at about 80,000 miles because they were worn out. The exception was my dad's pickups, which were always older, third vehicles used for hunting and fishing.

Any car is likely to need some possibly serious maintenance at around 100k or more. My first brand new car was a 1995 Nissan and EVERYTHING broke on that car. My in-laws had a 2nd Gen Honda Odyssey and the automatic tranny blew at 110,000 miles. They were not pleased and they bought a Chevy Traverse to replace it. It has 80,000 on it now and not a single problem.

187K on our '96 Rav 2WD -- minimal extra attention needed. Synthetic fluids, top tier gas. Only non-scheduled maintenance was the brake booster at about 160K and a rusted-out exhaust resonator. Easy on gas, maintenance & consumbables (it's only on it's 3rd set of tires; got nearly 90K out of the OEMs). Still has original clutch!

Paint hasn't held up that well, though -- but it's still got it where it counts. Here's to 250K

I'm looking at front struts and a steering rack on mine.

Those OEM tyres... ever tried to get some more the same? $600 each for mine ... good tyres though. If more people bought them maybe the price would come down

Poor design is a major no no for any manufacture these days, they have CAD to see what doesn't fit, or fits too tight. Or get too hot etc etc. Poor choice of materials can be seen as a cost cutting thing.. but you loose reputation.

Is this why consumers buy overseas products - they have the product quality that is EXPECTED? And probably why 'we' are loosing jobs overseas. Personal I put it down to the managers, a recent public example was the car executives flying in in their private jets to ask for money from the President... no wonder they are going down hill. No common sense.

On the other hand, my 2009 Matrix was the biggest turd of a car I've ever driven. Simply look at that car wrong and you're likely to leave a dent and it rattled and creaked right from the get go. It also had ridiculously huge blind spots on both sides due to poor rear window design. It'll be a very long time before I own another toyota, a brand that I had immense respect for based on a mid-80s corolla hatchback (fx16) I put 200K trouble-free miles on. They are all more than capable of making shit cars and they all tend to get complacent about the need to maintain quality. It seems to me that going for the up & coming brands that have just reached maturity as major international brands is the way to go. Toyota and Honda of the 80s and 90s are maybe the Mazda and Hyundai of today

Toyota Matrix was the worst POS I have ever owned.The company vehicle that I now drive is a 3 year old Toyota Tundra,another POS.Both have/had transmission problems(shudder,flair shift,harsh shift),interiors that rattle and squeak,seat belts that don't work properly,doors that don't latch,engines that surge at idle and when going down the road,intermittent CEL/SES,and the list could go on.The Matrix was purchased new,and was never right.The Tundra was purchased new and had major transmission issues before 70k.

Toyota Matrix aka, the Pontiac Vibe.

2005 Saturn Ion Coupe, manual trans.

True, I'm not that old @ 29. But my first car was a 1991 Miata, autox'ed it, drove the snot out of it, beat the heck out of it. Bought it with 220k miles, sold it with 252k miles, only maint was standard stuff + spark plug cables & a roof seal.
Had a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, bought with 180k miles, sold it with 215k miles, standard maint + new front calipers and the radiator ate a tree branch... can't blame Jeep for that one.
2001 Honda civic, purchased with 80k, sold with 180k last February. ONLY thing not standard maint was when it got thumped by a truck (hood, headlight, radiator support). Fuel, oil changes, tires, brake pads. Replaced it with my GLI because I don't slog that much highway anymore and could afford to, not because it needed it.

This Saturn was CONSTANTLY needing adjustment, correction, fiddling, etc. Left her stranded on multiple occasions. 'Used oil', I couldn't figure out why, GM tech said it was normal for that engine. The amount of small annoyances were astonishing, like the spray-on chrome on the shifter peeled, was sharp enough to cut you. Front driver's side door speaker went intermittant a week ago. The wingnut that held the spare tire down was made out of some form of metal putty and snapped off, had to be removed with vice grips (try dealing with that on the side of the road when you have a flat tire). The sensor that told the car that the driver's side door was opened failed, which means the radio doesn't turn off when you get out of the car (a GM 'feature') so the battery died. When that switch went intermittent the alarm would go off whenever it felt like because the car thought the door was opened. A-pillar trim just fell off one day while Nytelytette was driving down the highway. Sunroof tracks made of plastic that disintegrates in the sun!?
And then the head gasket lets go at 137k miles.

Maybe my expectations are too high. Perhaps I've been spoiled by a lucky run of well made vehicles. I take care of my cars, maintain them appropriately, and expect them to give reasonably trouble free service. If I abuse something and it breaks, I blame myself, not the vehicle. I never blamed my 2nd miata's engine finikyness, as it was making 252HP/212ftlbs (stock is 116/108), same when it lost the diff on the racetrack (stocker is rated to about 180HP). Didn't blame the Cherokee for the radiator (off road tree branch), of my civic SI for eating brakes (autox'ed), or my Wrangler for rust (I got that thing muddy & salty, never cleaned it).

A well maintained car that is driven nicely on modern roads should NOT have the issues that this experienced. These problems ( and most of them are common for these vehicles) are due to poor workmanship and shit quality of parts.

The Matrix is a rebadged Pontiac Vibe. I do notice that the Toyotas made in the US seem to have more problems than the ones made in Japan. Just look at all the recalls Toyota has made in the past couple of years. I agree with what people said about the cars made in the '70s. Growing up my parents had various cars and around 60-70k the cars needed everything replaced. We never owned a car past 80K miles.

The Pontiac Vibe was a rebadged Toyota.

07 Tundra

Worst car I've ever had. Won't EVER buy another Toyota, not due to the cars but the shitty 'tude of the dealership.

Since we're talking worst used cars, I had a positive experience with a Saturn. My worst was a Mercedes.

Then go check the BMW boards and they are proud to only replace the front end and cooling system at 80k.