GM's commitment to quality.Caution longish post.

[chevys]

Originally Posted by Number 3

As a GM employee, I can guaran-damn-tee you that GMs commitment to delivering quality has NEVER been more focussed. It is part of nearly every discussion and our current Quality and Validation leadership have this as priority one.

Now I always caution people on judging quality on a car you don't know the history on. For all you know the car wasn't maintained. Do you know how many oil changes were performed? How the car was driven? Who has worked on it?

Even my own family has bought high mileage used vehicles and had problems with them and told me, "see they just don't make good cars". If you don't know the history it's a crap shoot. That is one reason why buying certified used "can" be an advantage. You get a 1 year warranty and a certified GM inspection. I'm not sure what you get buying a certified salvaged car.

Thanks for your insight and I understand your comments about buying used and agree. My faith has been killed by parts that fail on cars and trucks that are bought new and maintained to the tee. Im talking about alternators, starters, water pumps, Ac compressors, various sensors, electrical gremlins ect.... Im talking 50K miles here. It just seems like they cut corners and put the cheapest thing they could on to get you out of warranty. My stuff has fallen apart around the engines. I dont for one minute think that GM is the only company that has done this. I would say it was dumb luck but I have had too many GM cars and trucks and know otherwise. Granted most were 90's vintage but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you plop down 600 bucks for a AC compressor just out of warranty.

Has that mindset changed? I was told once by a guy who worked in quality control at a factory that made power window motors that they could build a motor that would last for xyz motions but nobody would pay for it. I believe you when you say quality is a major deal these days. I just hope somebody is looking at long term durability issues. Im about to make a long trip in a older Gm truck and the last thing on my mind is the engine. Its everything else.

I know its a delicate balance on quality parts and cost. I wonder if you could shed some light on any of this?

[Hylton]

When I read your first sentence, I thought you were going to talk about the plastic chain tensioner on the LS3 vs. the more rugged setup on the LS1.