Different car manufacturer personalities

And what I was really thinking (from the dirty-finger mindset) still holds true. When you work on lots of cars you quickly begin to see their philosophy coming out. I actually enjoy working on most Japanese cars. They are very straightforward and make perfect sense (except for that $&#*@ Accord with the brake rotor BEHIND the hub).
American cars are usually just a little more ass-inine and as foxtrapper said, they are engineered for UAW folks to assemble all day long with no fuss so they can EARN that $70/hr.
European cars are...uh...interesting. Before actually starting work on any euro car I look at the component with mirrors and call in a shaman to help me understand how it comes apart. But I'm almost always impressed by the thought that went into said part/system.

4cylndrfury wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'll get more specific: General Motors: hatespew, hate, hater, haters gonna hate, I hate GM, I hate the General, they hate that I hate them, but I hated them first, so hate hate hate hate hate...hate...more hate

Your Opinion is WRONG

Actually, as a current owner of several GM products, dating from 1948 to 2002, I think I have a pretty good handle on the General.

I remember making the transition to wrenchin on asian cars from old american iron. Had to change an alternator on mom's Mitsu Galant. Fought that bastard for two hours once it was loose, leanin over the front of the car. Once I realized it was supposed to come out the bottom it was a 30 second job once the car was jacked up. You really do have to learn how to think like an engineer from a different culture. The Mini has been the same learning curve all ober again

I've found that the one German car I've owned- 95 E36 M3- required maintenance. Not just oil changes, but window regulator and motor changes etc. Consequently, the parts were available. So because it was a great car, and because parts that the Japanese and others have managed to make last the entire life of the vehicle and on the BMW they don't, the parts have to be available on the aftermarket. Funny that. In a way like my MG Midget- if this was a reliable appliance, I can't imagine that there would be any parts available for it.

Also, although I was cringing at the pretty racist U.S. truck/Mexican references, I was LOL'ing. Does that make me as bad as the person who wrote it? I think yes.

Oh, and to add onto the British hating:

"we assume all mechanics have triple jointed fingers and three fireproof arms, so putting XYZ widget which regularly fails under ABC (very hot engine part) seems logical. Stiff upper lip and all."

This is the best thread ever! And I think I am going to take credit for it since my Japanese-only thread got DrBoost and Raze all riled up! I was cracking up when I read both of their posts!

Speaking of crazy German (European for that matter) engineering, am I the only one that thinks lug bolts are the STUPIDEST things ever?!?!? What were they thinking?!

sethmeister4 wrote: This is the best thread ever! And I think I am going to take credit for it since my Japanese-only thread got DrBoost and Raze all riled up! I was cracking up when I read both of their posts! Speaking of crazy German (European for that matter) engineering, am I the only one that thinks lug bolts are the STUPIDEST things ever?!?!? What were they thinking?!

Thanks man! Now, on the lug bolt thing. Man, we are one in the same. I HATE HATE HATE them! Here's the drill.
1) Remove all but one of the bolts, leaving the one at 12:00 in place to hold the wheel.
2) Remove the last bolt most of the way, but not all the way (using impact wrench) or once that last thread has come out the tire falls off and makes your knees bend the way a bird's knees bend.
3) Once there are 2 or 3 threads remaining, lift up on the tire with your left hand (to relieve the tension on bolt) while turning the bolt with your right hand.
4) Jiggle the bolt every 1/2 turn so you are not caught by surprise when the bolt lets' go
5) After one of the jiggles the bolt WILL fall out when you least expect it. You will, though you know it's not a good idea, try to catch, or at least control the fall of the tire.
6) Watch as the tire hits the floor sending the other 3 or 4 bolts under every toolbox in the shop.
7) Watch helplessly as the tire bounces back off the floor and whacks you in the chin, splitting your lip and making you say words that would make your momma cry.
8) Realize, that while the Allies were victorious more than 60 years ago, the Germans won in the end....

Teh E36 M3 wrote: Also, although I was cringing at the pretty racist U.S. truck/Mexican references, I was LOL'ing. Does that make me as bad as the person who wrote it? I think yes.

I'm not racist, believe me, I was just trying to drive home the point by using a reference to something I see on nearly a daily basis, yes I was stereotyping, but again, there's a grain of truth (there are alot of carpet stores around Atlanta)...

How bout this one: (also pertaining to American made trucks) We need to add 3 extra bolts for liability purposes because Billy Bob and his 3 redneck friends are going to take this POS clapped out 4 cylinder Ford Ranger and attempt to tow dolly a 5000 lb full size station wagon on a tow dolly behind it, on I-285 at 65MPH, in traffic, with all 4 of them in the truck, with a regular cab...

DrBoost wrote: 8) Realize, that while the Allies were victorious more than 60 years ago, the Germans won in the end....

Nice

DrBoost wrote: 8) Realize, that while the Allies were victorious more than 60 years ago, the Germans won in the end....

I have often said that Volkswagens were Hitlers last cruel joke on the Allies...

Streetwiseguy wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'll get more specific: General Motors: hatespew, hate, hater, haters gonna hate, I hate GM, I hate the General, they hate that I hate them, but I hated them first, so hate hate hate hate hate...hate...more hate

Your Opinion is WRONG

Actually, as a current owner of several GM products, dating from 1948 to 2002, I think I have a pretty good handle on the General.

what happened a decade ago doesnt count anymore - please see what they sell today. I'll be waiting over here when youre ready to live in the now

Raze wrote:

Teh E36 M3 wrote: Also, although I was cringing at the pretty racist U.S. truck/Mexican references, I was LOL'ing. Does that make me as bad as the person who wrote it? I think yes.

I'm not racist, believe me, I was just trying to drive home the point by using a reference to something I see on nearly a daily basis, yes I was stereotyping, but again, there's a grain of truth (there are alot of carpet stores around Atlanta)... How bout this one: (also pertaining to American made trucks) We need to add 3 extra bolts for liability purposes because Billy Bob and his 3 redneck friends are going to take this POS clapped out 4 cylinder Ford Ranger and attempt to tow dolly a 5000 lb full size station wagon on a tow dolly behind it, on I-285 at 65MPH, in traffic, with all 4 of them in the truck, with a regular cab...

DrBoost wrote: 8) Realize, that while the Allies were victorious more than 60 years ago, the Germans won in the end....

Nice

Maybe I used too strong a word... my moral dilemma was stereotyping a race while laughing at it. Oh the burden of being a white male.

I can't take credit for these, but they made me laugh when I read it. I've tweaked a few of them.

Ferrari would be a super hot chick who just stands in the center of the room and whenever anyone tries to talk to her she sets herself on fire.

Alfa would be an incredibly beautiful woman with a really sexy voice, but when she takes a step forward she trips over her high heels.

Ford would be a good looking girl, seemingly well balanced but she cant use her phone or computer properly so you wind up giving her a bad rating

Dodge would be a redneck chick who can outdrink you and calls you a Bob Costas all the time.

Chrysler would be the Dodge girls sister who went to finishing school. She is a bit more refined and better looking, but isn't all that much different from her sister when you get down to it. She's just going to call you a lightweight instead.

Chevy would be a girl who was just plain boring, a little clumsy and plain. Then one yearshe came back from camp and was transformed. Now she looks better, has more confidence and is displaying a personality that might just be charming, but you're still wary of any underlying problems- and you're sure they are there.

This is probably in the top 5 car threads I have ever read. The first 4 or 5 post had me laughing for sure.

Germans: 'We are the smartest people on the planet so we must, at every turn in our cars, prove our superior intellect. If someone says it is far too complicated for the job it needs to do and is thus prone to early failure, then of course this means they are our intelletual inferiors. Oh, and of course we must cut costs at every point so we can continue to sell $100,000 taxicabs to the snooty Americans for stupendous profits'.

Americans: 'We are the mongrel of the planet with as many different ways of seeing things as there are people. Therefore, we have to build as many versions of the same platform as possible to squeeze every dime out of it, regardless of how that might water down its good attributes.'

Japanese: 'We are as smart as the Germans but more practical. We can add all the fancy electronic junk to our cars they do but we can make it to last. But if they last we can't sell new ones to make a profit. Since our cars last so well, the only way we can get people to buy new ones is to make them boring as hell to drive.'

Koreans: 'We watched the Japanese climb to the top of the heap over the last 50 years. Being frugal, we bought and licensed their old technology and used that to get a toehold in the market. Then we used the profits to invest in our own designs which are nearly as good as theirs, but get this: we can build it a LOT cheaper. We are going to gut their stranglehold on the transportation appliance market. That's how we will get even with them for trying to turn all our women into geishas during that last war.'

Italians: 'We approach cars the same way we approach politics: noisy, flashy, fast but ultimately unreliable. But who cares since they are so pretty?'

French: 'We are different and will ALWAYS be different, even if it means no sane person would dare own one of our cars. So there, snooty tourists. We fart in your general direction (and wonder why you don't spend any money with us).'

British: 'I say, we pretty much invented this industry. So why won't anyone buy anything we build? Just like our political system if it was good enough for our great grandfathers it should be good enough now. No point in changing just for the sake of change, now is there?'

Curmudgeon wrote: British: 'I say, we pretty much invented this industry. So why won't anyone buy anything we build? Just like our political system if it was good enough for our great grandfathers it should be good enough now. No point in changing just for the sake of change, now is there?'

LMFAO...

After starting with a '75 Nova and a '64 Ranchero (and even a couple of Rabbits), I was still stunned at how well all the pieces fit on my first BMW 2002.

It was like the revelation of switching from plastic models from Revell and Monogram to Hasegawa and Tamiya.

But yes, the fanatical attention to detail which caused them to update the dashboard mounting points after my factory manual was printed didn't do anything to shorten the 14 hours it took to get to my heater core...

To borrow and abuse a phrase, "Actually, this is rocket surgery..."

Agree with you on fit and quality.

I've had a number of newer Japanese cars. My 2000 Maxima (owned from 2003-2008) I did all kinds of work on. One thing that I could always be sure of was that if a major component had to be removed, there was a 100% chance the bolt would either strip or shear. And that any plastic trim clips of any design would be brittle and break the first time you touch them.

conversely, my '85 bmw 318.....which I've taken almost completely apart now, and appears to have never been touched or changed since new. Every bolt comes off fine - never strips, never shears. 25-year-old plastic fender clips still pop off like new and can be re-used.

The Germans do some wierd things in terms of "how things are assembled" but at least back then the quality of the hardware was top-notch.

The electrical stuff, on the other hand...

Hyundia/Kia: We are going to kick all of your asses. In fact, we are. already.

I agree with the German "We must prove our engineering superiority", which only extends to the first hour of ownership.

Yeah, never had that good of luck with BMW clips. Plan on buying new ones when you have to remove the door panel to replace the window motor and actuator, which everyone else seems to have worked out.

Javelin wrote: * Pontiac: Screw the GM brass, make what we want! They want us to build an SUV??!? Okay, make it as ugly as humanly possible so they'll stop and we can go back to performance cars. What do you mean we've been "cut"??!?

I may need to turn in my GRM Dork card, but I liked both of their ugliest

Curmudgeon wrote: Germans: '...continue to sell $100,000 taxicabs to the snooty Americans for stupendous profits'.

LOL so true. I remember my mind being blown when I got out of the airport in Denmark and got into the latest E-class which was just beginning to be hyped and rolled out here. Then I realized it had options like vinyl seating and a meter.

It surprised me how the gray market Euro Mercedes I saw were available with cloth seating, manual transmissions, manual windows, all kinds of stuff that's just not available over here. When Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler, they did their best to move it upmarket (that's where the 300C came from). Didn't work so well.

AMC was the "special" little brother of the auto industry:

Mom: "Hey, Chevy, Ford, Dodge! If you're going to play street hockey, take AMC with you!"

Automakers: "Awww MOM!"

AMC: "Hey wait up guys!!"