Give me a break...

[fastraxsg]

So did anyone poll the union workers to see if they thought their top dog really represented them this week? Would they have said, take the money and let's keep working? Did anyone in the UAW offer to work for a buck next year? Did anyone ever see any transparent figures on what the top folks at UAW make and if they pay union dues? How much of a union worker's salary goes to his union dues and does he have a choice to be in or out of the union( I thought choice was still an American freedom or was that unionized along the way). Is a closed shop an American tradition? Time for the UAW to live up to what their real original purpose was and that didn't have anything to do with making cats fat at the top or hijacking American manufacturing.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

I own a 2500 HD Diesel (that I have towed 16,000 pounds with, try that with a Jap POS), a Jeep wrangler (6 years old and nothing has broken), a 1983 Dodge D150 work truck (still going strong), a 1949 Cady (also still going strong), and a 1997 Harley Davidson (not an American car, but still an American product). All of the above vehicles have been great. I think a lot of people think of a mid 70's quality vehicle when they think of American, but most of the new vehicles are very good.

Since 1978, my wife and I have had 8 Ford cars and trucks....

my 05 2500HD Diesel Supy Duty lost it's turbo at 4,000 miles, my wifes 02 Taurus was in the shop 4 times before it had 30,000 miles on it....needed injectors,catalytic converter and rotors, and a few other little odds/ends, wind noise, rain leaking in the car etc.,etc., her T-bird caught fire and nearly burned to the ground while going to work one morning, it had about 20,000 miles at the time.....

By contrast, I'm on my second Toyota company car, first did 250,000 miles with only routine mantince,traded it in on the present one, as of today it's got a tad over 406,000 miles!!!!!!! had to replace the fan belt at 225,000 miles and the valve cover gasket at about 300,000 miles, still going strong.....only routine mantinence.....

In my line of work I see wrecked cars all day, every day....High mileage Hondas,Toyotas,Nissans,etc. are the rule, high mileage American cars/trucks are the EXCEPTION.........

I still own and drive Ford products, but the foreign brands are better,hands down..........

David

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

Since 1978, my wife and I have had 8 Ford cars and trucks....

my 05 2500HD Diesel Supy Duty David

A 2500 HD is a GM product. A Super Duty is a Ford. Do you actually own an American truck truck?

I owned many Toyota trucks back in the late 80's, and I have friends that still buy Toyotas and they are not free from problems. On top of that try pulling a 16,000 pound boat 1400 miles with a Toyota. Go to a launch ramp where big boats are being launched and all you will see is American trucks. Same goes for big 5th wheel rigs. The Jap trucks will not do the job. I have a friend that towed boats for a living and he put over 400K hard miles on his 99 Ford Super Duty Diesel, and the truck ran strong until the day he sold it.

I think the B3 have serious problems, with the biggest one being the UAW. They do build some quality stuff though.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by SP01715

A 2500 HD is a GM product. A Super Duty is a Ford. Do you actually own an American truck truck?

I owned many Toyota trucks back in the late 80's, and I have friends that still buy Toyotas and they are not free from problems. On top of that try pulling a 16,000 pound boat 1400 miles with a Toyota. Go to a launch ramp where big boats are being launched and all you will see is American trucks. Same goes for big 5th wheel rigs. The Jap trucks will not do the job. I have a friend that towed boats for a living and he put over 400K hard miles on his 99 Ford Super Duty Diesel, and the truck ran strong until the day he sold it.

I think the B3 have serious problems, with the biggest one being the UAW. They do build some quality stuff though.

My mistake in typing, IT IS an 05 Crew Cab Super Duty Diesel, should have left off the HD, you want me to post a picutre for proof????
Since buying my first Ford truck in 1976, I HAVE OWNED NOTHING BUT FORD TRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do love the truck, I tow a race car and a bass boat as well as a bay boat and it does the job effortlessly......but, at 4,000 miles the turbo went out and I purposely waited for the 05's so I could get the intergrated electric brake controller which, BTW is a piece of crap in the 05's, 2 different dealers have worked on it a total of 4 times and it still doesn't work half as good as an under dash aftermarket unit.......just check with any ford truck diesel forum and you'll see what I'm talking about.........

As stated, bewteen my wife and I, we have had numerous Ford cars and trucks. I've had one truck (1989 model F-150) go beyound 100,000 miles without any major problems, ONLY ONE......We have not had a Ford car even make 100,000. One almost burned to the ground at around 20,000 while driving 30 mph down the road.Others need major work once they passed 60,000 miles....

At the present time, I have the 05 F-250, wifey drives a Taurus and I have a 65 Mustang and a 66 Mustang, we are a Ford family... I just re-counted and since we've been married, we've had 12 Ford cars and trucks...(would you like for me to list them for proof???)....Just saying Ford doesn't neccasarily make the best cars and trucks out there...............

For every high mileage Ford/Chev./Dodge truck/car you can find, I'll show you 10 Toyota/Hondas with the same or more mileage.....I do this for a living, I see on the average "only" 1,200 cars and trucks a year, for the last 14 years, so I do know a "little" of what I'm talkng about.......

David

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

My mistake in typing, IT IS an 05 Crew Cab Super Duty Diesel, should have left off the HD, you want me to post a picutre for proof????
Since buying my first Ford truck in 1976, I HAVE OWNED NOTHING BUT FORD TRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do love the truck, I tow a race car and a bass boat as well as a bay boat and it does the job effortlessly......but, at 4,000 miles the turbo went out and I purposely waited for the 05's so I could get the intergrated electric brake controller which, BTW is a piece of crap in the 05's, 2 different dealers have worked on it a total of 4 times and it still doesn't work half as good as an under dash aftermarket unit.......just check with any ford truck diesel forum and you'll see what I'm talking about.........

As stated, bewteen my wife and I, we have had numerous Ford cars and trucks. I've had one truck (1989 model F-150) go beyound 100,000 miles without any major problems, ONLY ONE......We have not had a Ford car even make 100,000. One almost burned to the ground at around 20,000 while driving 30 mph down the road.Others need major work once they passed 60,000 miles....

At the present time, I have the 05 F-250, wifey drives a Taurus and I have a 65 Mustang and a 66 Mustang, we are a Ford family... I just re-counted and since we've been married, we've had 12 Ford cars and trucks...(would you like for me to list them for proof???)....Just saying Ford doesn't neccasarily make the best cars and trucks out there...............

For every high mileage Ford/Chev./Dodge truck/car you can find, I'll show you 10 Toyota/Hondas with the same or more mileage.....I do this for a living, I see on the average "only" 1,200 cars and trucks a year, for the last 14 years, so I do know a "little" of what I'm talkng about.......

David

Sounds like you have had bad luck. The only American vehicle I have had problems with was an 04 Ford Excursion the first year they had the 6.0 diesel. In the past 15 years I have owned a 94 Chevy 1500 Z71, a 98 Dodge Durango, a 99 F250 Super Duty diesel, an 02 F350 diesel and the above mentioned 04 Chevy and Jeep. All have been great.

The last Jap truck I owned was an 87 Toyota. I had an 84 before that that did not make it past 100k. It was probably because of pulling 33" tires that I had on it, but my American trucks have had no problems with bigger after market tires. The small 4 cylinder Toyota's were pathetic in the HP and Tourqe category.

It sounds like we have had different experiences. Look at the latest Car and Drivers list of the ten worst cars to own because of problems, and the top cars on the list are not American.