[91 s-10baja]

September 19, 2005

Chris Hay isn't shy about pointing out that for the last five years the Canadian-built Chevrolet Impala has outscored Toyota's Camry in initial quality. Five straight years.

"I doubt most Canadians know that," says Hay, who has a reason for bringing this to everyone's attention - he's the Assistant Marketing Manager for the Impala, which for 2006 is getting "1,000 refinements and a return of the small block V8 engine."


2006 chevrolet Impala LT. Click image to enlarge
Still, there is no denying that the Impala was beaten only by its Buick Cousin, the Century, in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS) of owner-reported problems in the first 90 days. Another GM cousin, the Pontiac Grand Prix, was a runner-up in the Premium Midsize Car class of the 2005 study.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jc/quality.htm

My 1991 Chevrolet S-10 BAJA
My 2004 Cadillac CTS

 

[Ralph]

Dooooooh, you beat me to it. I was aware of the quality for the Mercury Grand Marquis and Crown Vics out of Ontario, but not this. I heard that 2 plants in Ontario took 1st and 2nd place in NA.

There are still many people who will buy an import over a Chevy regardless because of the "perception" of superior quality. Look at Mercedes, even with the electronic problems they are experiencing, people who are not car enthusiasts will still buy one on name alone. Lexus could start cost-cutting and selling crap and for the next 10 years people would STILL buy them based on past quality, and or perception of superiority.

Here is some supplemental info......

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/autos/

I checked out the Impala SS today, VERY NICE!

 

[91 s-10baja]

Lexus could start cost-cutting and selling crap and for the next 10 years people would STILL buy them based on past quality, and or perception of superiority.

Wow, never thought of it like that? So true

 

[davesdeville]

Domestics are back. Most people don't know it yet though.

 

[Ralph]

Domestics are back. Most people don't know it yet though.

and most people will refuse to believe it because they are happy driving that new Lexus or Honda. It's easier to "put down" a domestic car than to believe new information that seems to go against the accepted norm.

 

[Playdrv4me]

The difference in those vehicles is that 10 years from now the Camry will still be mostly rattle free and drive like the day it rolled off the showroom floor with even average maintenance and care, while the Impala will really be showing its age with rattles, squeaks and other minor quality issues. Not anything major, but I can tell you Ive sat in Lumina's from the mid 90's (the Impala's predecessor) and Camry's from the same period and there was quite a bit of difference between the two.

Its good that quality is improving, but simply to call people shortsighted for going with the brand they know and trust is a little far fetched.

 

[Randy_W]

The difference in those vehicles is that 10 years from now the Camry will still be mostly rattle free and drive like the day it rolled off the showroom floor with even average maintenance and care, while the Impala will really be showing its age with rattles, squeaks and other minor quality issues. Not anything major, but I can tell you Ive sat in Lumina's from the mid 90's (the Impala's predecessor) and Camry's from the same period and there was quite a bit of difference between the two.

Its good that quality is improving, but simply to call people shortsighted for going with the brand they know and trust is a little far fetched.

You're being short sighted for saying that 10 years from now the Toyota will be better. Remember, 10 years ago the Toyota had much higher initial quality ratings that the Lumina, now it doesn't! If you extrapolate that info, then it would make sense that the Impala will be the better car!:thumbsup:

 

[Ralph]

The difference in those vehicles is that 10 years from now the Camry will still be mostly rattle free and drive like the day it rolled off the showroom floor with even average maintenance and care, while the Impala will really be showing its age with rattles, squeaks and other minor quality issues. Not anything major, but I can tell you Ive sat in Lumina's from the mid 90's (the Impala's predecessor) and Camry's from the same period and there was quite a bit of difference between the two.

Its good that quality is improving, but simply to call people shortsighted for going with the brand they know and trust is a little far fetched.

That's strange, my Dad's 1979 Nova still doesn't have a single rattle, nor does the 1978 Bonanza truck. We've also NEVER experienced the "headliner sinking" problem that some people have claimed with older GM cars, in fact they have been the best cars my entire family has owned. Now my aunt's new Nissan Altima (2005 model) had 10k on it and refused to start twice, had to have keys re-encoded for the remote and stalled numerous times and with a new fuel pump, it STILL stalls!

I'll drive a GM with confidence, thank you.

 

[ben72227]

Hey, Ralph, don't go dragging Nissan into this. They recovered from a major decline and they're pretty hot right now...

Anyway. About this:

Lexus could start cost-cutting and selling crap and for the next 10 years people would STILL buy them based on past quality, and or perception of superiority.

They could do that, BUT they don't have Roger Smith running Lexus:devil:. Unlike GM, the Japanese (with a few exceptions - *cough* Mitsubishi *cough*) take GREAT PRIDE in their vehicles, and if they make a crappy vehicle, they make sure to correct it. Just like Toyota correcting that...uh...glitch...with the Echo (Ralph knows exactly what I'm talking about )

 

[Ralph]

Hey, Ralph, don't go dragging Nissan into this. They recovered from a major decline and they're pretty hot right now...

Anyway. About this:


They could do that, BUT they don't have Roger Smith running Lexus:devil:. Unlike GM, the Japanese (with a few exceptions - *cough* Mitsubishi *cough*) take GREAT PRIDE in their vehicles, and if they make a crappy vehicle, they make sure to correct it. Just like Toyota correcting that...uh...glitch...with the Echo (Ralph knows exactly what I'm talking about )

LOL, ya I know that Nissan was something like 18 Billion in debt a few years ago and they are coming out of it, but there really is still no excuse for them not to properly fix her Altima. I mean, my Dad had to go down there with her to get them to want to look at the stupid thing!!! I've NEVER had trouble getting service at a GM dealership or Ford.

My Ex-fiance's parents had good friends with a new Altima (in 2003) and it had constant suspension creaking and bobbing up and down, they still hadn't fixed it properly the last I heard.

Here's how I would personally rank the major Japanese manufacturers for quality...(just my own personal thoughts and feelings on it)

1. Lexus-Toyota (being the best)
2 Acura-Honda
3 Mazda
4 Nissan
5 Mitsubishi (being the worse because they are having some financial trouble currently)

Nissan IMO is near the bottom, and I would never equate them with the likes of Toyota or Honda. I like the look of the new Eclipse though.

Perhaps Nissan should take even greater pride in their vehicles if they are that concerned about how they look when they break down....

 

[mccombie_5]

The best made car i have ever owned was a 1994 Mercedes Benz S320L it had the best build quality ive ever seen on any car

My two worst are the Maserati BiTurbo and the Citroen XM

 

[Ralph]

The best made car i have ever owned was a 1994 Mercedes Benz S320L it had the best build quality ive ever seen on any car

My two worst are the Maserati BiTurbo and the Citroen XM

A lot of people say that the older MB's were bulletproof...

 

[mccombie_5]

A lot of people say that the older MB's were bulletproof...

I would agree with them, i had a new S500 in 2000 and the build was no where near as good as the 94. It was silent inside, it ooozed quality, i belive they were simply top of their class at the time on build, there was no better. I wish i'd gotten the 500 or the 600 in 94 i might still have it