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Sgeezer - very good point. With each recall for defective parts, this is more obvious. See today's Ford recall of Freestyle Crossovers, 500 sedans, and Mercury Montegos...Spritegeezer said:It isn't workmanship that really kill the big three it's the fact that they use the cheapest material they can get away with.
I think you misunderstand me. I have no problem with the workers, I have a problem with the union itself. While I agree with you on the outrageous pay spread. Putting billions of dollars into keeping workers they don't need leave them with compromises that must be made. Which came first, the underbid selection process or the outrageous labor model? And does it really matter. The Big Three over produce for their market demands. They do this because it is either keep people working before they pay them, or pay them anyway. The reality is that unionization is an almost communist economic practice wrapped over the top of a free market model. And don't get me wrong, I actually think that a more communistic economic model would benefit everyone but that isn't the society we are in. There was a time when unions were a necessity, and they may still be, but there has to be a balance between the union and the business. If the union goes too far they potentially kill the business and thus they also lose out. So yes, there is greed on both sides of the table, and the Big Three are now reaping in what they sowed so long ago and it is hurting them. How do you escape the cycle? Well one, you need to bring the pay spread down, and two you need to lose just insane practices such as the benching of workers. You keep the workers you need and you lay off those you don't need. The fact is that they will probably never do this, the big wigs like their jets and their mansions too much, and the unions like the power they get by controlling so much. And at the end of the day, we will have all our vehicles made by Asian car makers because they get it.Spritegeezer said:Steve, you are right on the money. Workers, Union or otherwise, only assemble what they are told to assemble. It isn't workmanship that really kill the big three (although it can be pretty miserable at time, particularly at the low end), it's the fact that they use the cheapest material they can get away with. I've never had a big three vehicle that looked as good as my son's 14 year old Accord, even after six months. Once had a Chevy that needed repainting after eight months and a new interior after three years. Garbage!
The top guys claim all the credit when things go well. They should step up to the plate and accept responsibility when they don't. I, quite frankly, get a little tired of people bad-mouthing American and especially Union workers (union workers are the easiest target, they actually make a living wage). Ever look at the difference between the pay Honda's top Execs get compared to the guys on the factory floor. It's about 45:1. Look at any of the big three, it's closer to 500:1 or more.
Never had any problem with my 4-litre 5-speed Splash which I just sold Tuesday. Like everything else, there are good and bad ones.shovelhd said:My last truck was a Ford Ranger, which is really a Mazda B series. It had a Ford iron block six and a Mitsubishi manual transmission. The truck was great overall, but the transmission failed once, and was failing when I traded it. For that I don't blame Mazda or Mitsubishi, I blame Ford Engineering for allowing that transmission to be ordered with the big six. It couldn't handle the stress. It's too bad, because otherwise, it was a well designed and built vehicle.