(Topic ID: 230350)

Are you being affected by the new GM shutdown?

By cottonm4

5 years ago


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  • Latest reply 5 years ago by sturner
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#101 5 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

One day I'll get the Citation X-11 with the 2.8 HO.

For now, you should just be happy with that old "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder.

GM engineering at it's finest. Who needs a brand new engine? Let's just bring one back from the early 60s and mount it sideways. Not bad considering some of the other automotive experiments of the 80s.

#102 5 years ago

GM makes the shittiest cars on the road whaddaya expect?

#103 5 years ago

When the Saturn line first came out I said "where are we going to get parts for this, Uranus?"

#104 5 years ago
Quoted from Gryszzz:

GM makes the shittiest cars on the road whaddaya expect?

The Chevy Cruze is a under powered barge. Every time I drop my truck off for service (oil/check) they give me one of these to take home till I get back.Yuck

#105 5 years ago

I still remember the Cadillacs that the only way to keep their aluminum engines going was to add GM approved stop-leak to the cooling system.

It then evolved into the Dex-cool I think they still use today. What a crusty, gooey mess that does to the innards of everything.

#106 5 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

With enough friends that are already conspiracy nuts, I'm always ready when a stranger starts laying their head trip bullshit on me.

Not quite the same but a few years ago I was reading the “Da Vinci Code” on a flight and as we land the lady next to me pipes up and say that her pastor told her that the book is full of lies. I look at her and said “well...I did find it in the fiction section at Barnes and Noble”. All I got was a blank look.

#107 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

China will be the place to be.

You’ve never been to China, have you? Chinese companies will be the ones who profit in China. China will see to that.

The time for tariffs on China was sometime in the ‘80s when we had leverage. We’re going to lose this idiotic trade war because China will suffer as long as it takes - decades if necessary - because their government can mandate it.

GM is about as deluded as these moronic tariffs, thinking they’re going to dominate China with their shitty gas powered shitboxes, just like they thought they’d dominate India and Russia.

Quoted from Bublehead:

if China does nothing, we, as a planet, may be fucked.

They’re not stupid people. They know they have a problem. It absolutely sucks there right now, but they will be majority EV and majority renewable power long before us.

That’s because China is way, way, way outspending us on investment in green energy, installing solar/wind/hydro, in creating new technologies, and incentivizing consumers and corporations. By any measure.

I /wish/ I could say the same about us here in the USA. It makes me sick.

https://www.theatlas.com/charts/ry7bvDusz

10
#108 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

He always says a lot without ever really saying anything. And it pacifies the masses. And while the news media is chasing him from one "transgression to another" he keeps moving on and leaving them in the dust. It is just amazing to watch how the leads the media around by the nose. The media is too busy right now trying to cover the border that the issue with him not showing us his taxes is water long under the bridge.

I had a prof in college that used to say "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit". I think of that every time I watch our POTUS give an interview.

#109 5 years ago

I don’t own a GM car, but I’m affected by the constant Chevy commercials showing overly excited customers hooting and hollering.

#110 5 years ago

My 2001 Honda CR-V is still running great after 12 years of ownership.

#111 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

Food for thought:
...
Chrysler dealer flies the American flag. ( Chrysler is now owned by that German company ).
Honda dealer flies American flag.
Toyota dealer flies American flag.
and on and on.
So, it stands to reason that the Chinese auto dealers will be flying the China flag over their dealerships. Don't it? Doesn't it? Does it?
It does not take much of a stretch to imagine that one could see a Chinese dealer's lot full of Buicks getting some shade from under a Communist Chinese flag in China.

Chrysler is Italian owned

#112 5 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

No thanks
My brother just got back from that smog infested cesspool
Climate change? Will it matter what anyone else does in the world if China doesn't reform? Nope.

China and India mainly. USA has the best scrubbers and filters installed on plants.

#113 5 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

Guess they don;t like the Volt much

They don't like the Volt because the Bolt is selling like hotcakes. Volt is obsolete.

#114 5 years ago
Quoted from Zablon:

It's not just GM, my company is doing a round of layoffs right now too. They always do around this time (when they do). It's a corporate thing to add that extra knife twist for being a loyal employee.

My company, Teri 1 supplier for the big 3 (wiring harnesses) did the same thing in Nov last year. In the top 20 most profitable companies in the US right now, walked in one day and the entire dept (logistics) was told our positions were being sent to Mexico, see ya later. I was there 8 years. Now a year later, they found out sometimes you get what you pay for and are re-posting those same jobs back here (as contract openings, no insurance etc). Good luck, assholes.

#115 5 years ago

I'm really sorry for anyone affected by the layoffs. Losing your job, and having economic insecurity, sucks.

We haven't had a really healthy auto market for a long time. We used Cash For Clunkers to pull forward a generation of new car demand. Of course, all those cars sold in 2010 were more reliable than the 80s and 90s cars they replaced. So yeah, combine a much newer fleet of cars on the road with structural changes in the car market (migration to big cities with transit, people are driving less, miles driven has peaked IMHO https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TRFVOLUSM227NFWA ) and people using rideshare and other paratransit... oh and most kids getting out of college now can't afford a new car loan because of their student loans. Hell, my 2009 Subaru has 85,000 miles and my family gets by with one car. We have a strong household income and if we aren't buying new cars, who is?

I thought in the last recession GM and Chrysler should have been forced to merge, not Chrysler / Fiat. I don't think the US can support 3 automakers.

#116 5 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

For now, you should just be happy with that old "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder.

When I was in the car biz, we bought a Firebird with one of those 4 cylinders. It wasn't anything you would want to display at an open-hood car show and you were not going to win any races, but it cruised down the highway smoothly and got good gas mileage even with that hosed up throttle body system. You surely wanted to keep a quiet muffler on---no glass packs

#117 5 years ago
Quoted from Brijam:

You’ve never been to China, have you? Chinese companies will be the ones who profit in China. China will see to that.
The time for tariffs on China was sometime in the ‘80s when we had leverage. We’re going to lose this idiotic trade war because China will suffer as long as it takes - decades if necessary - because their government can mandate it.
GM is about as deluded as these moronic tariffs, thinking they’re going to dominate China with their shitty gas powered shitboxes, just like they thought they’d dominate India and Russia.

They’re not stupid people. They know they have a problem. It absolutely sucks there right now, but they will be majority EV and majority renewable power long before us.
That’s because China is way, way, way outspending us on investment in green energy, installing solar/wind/hydro, in creating new technologies, and incentivizing consumers and corporations. By any measure.
I /wish/ I could say the same about us here in the USA. It makes me sick.
https://www.theatlas.com/charts/ry7bvDusz

Maybe I should have said China will be the place to be----if you are Chinese. Because your 2nd paragraph seems to support China as coming out on top.

I remember reading an article in Business Week in the 80s about accessing the Chinese markets. American business were foaming at the mouth. The assumption was that we were going to be selling and shipping "1 billion toothbrushes" to China. Nobody's crystal ball showed China and Walmart being joined at the hip.

#118 5 years ago
Quoted from trilogybeer:

Chrysler is not owned by a German company . It is part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Quoted from gtxjoe:

Chrysler is Italian owned

I missed that it went Fiat.

Thanks.

#119 5 years ago

Fortunately in my area Tennessee has benefited from several of the foreign car makers opening plants or moving head quarters to our area in the last few decades.

It's incredibly sad to see so many people lose job this time of year. But if something is not selling or making a profit it is going to happen and government bail outs only put a band aid on a corpse. The trend right now is trucks and SUVs and the bigger the better. Probably 1/3rd of the people in my area are driving 4 wheel drive trucks/SUVs that get 16mpg or less. They have never seen a dirt road and the roads are slick here at most 4 days a year. I have a truck as well but I bought it used for 15K and it's for hauling stuff or pulling my boat. Otherwise that gas monster is in the garage. I see people everyday that have a 65K truck, 40K boat and a 60K house. Makes no sense to me to me but to each their own I guess. Seems like the money would be better off in the house which has a chance of gaining value as opposed to cars/trucks and water toys.

#120 5 years ago
Quoted from pinzrfun:

My company, Teri 1 supplier for the big 3 (wiring harnesses) did the same thing in Nov last year. In the top 20 most profitable companies in the US right now, walked in one day and the entire dept (logistics) was told our positions were being sent to Mexico, see ya later. I was there 8 years. Now a year later, they found out sometimes you get what you pay for and are re-posting those same jobs back here (as contract openings, no insurance etc). Good luck, assholes.

Great timing for them, ain't it? With the latest GM news, they will probably find lots of desperate laid off people who will be grateful to just have a job at half-pay and no benefits.

But I thought ALL of the wire harness work went to Mexico in the 90s right after Clinton signed NAFTA. I have a '93 Lincoln Mark VIII and every piece of wire harness in that car has a Made in Mexico label on.

#121 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

But I thought ALL of the wire harness work went to Mexico in the 90s right after Clinton signed NAFTA. I have a '93 Lincoln Mark VIII and every piece of wire harness in that car has a Made in Mexico label on.

Actually, that's where they are assembled, but the production control teams (who get the forecasts from the Big 3 and order the harnesses) and the logistics depts (who coordinate getting them to the U.S.) are still in the US. Or were, until their little experiment went south (figuratively and literally) and now are coming back. Over the course of the past 7 years we also sourced harnesses that were produced in the Phillipines and Far East, but those markets have grown so much that they can barely keep up with their own regions' demand so new manufacturing plants were built in...you guess it....Mexico.

#122 5 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

When the Saturn line first came out I said "where are we going to get parts for this, Uranus?"

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#123 5 years ago
Quoted from jgentry:

robably 1/3rd of the people in my area are driving 4 wheel drive trucks/SUVs that get 16mpg or less. They have never seen a dirt road and the roads are slick here at most 4 days a year.

Same here. One guy driving, no passengers. 4 X 4 crew cab. Lots of them.

Quoted from jgentry:

I see people everyday that have a 65K truck, 40K boat and a 60K house.

Where are you seeing a 60K house at? Someone you know have a nice dog house in the back yard?

Oh, yeah, one other thing. GM talks about moving people to other plants, such as Texas. That would be the plant in Arlington Texas. That area is hot. People already moving in from Michigan. And California. The Cali peeps think the Texas traffic is light and that all real estate is a bargain.

I lived in Arlington 40 years ago. I could not afford to move back down there now with RE prices the way they are. So, GM is going to send you to Texas. You will give your house away in Michigan. And pay thru the nose to buy one in Texas.

#124 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

So, GM is going to send you to Texas. You will give your house away in Michigan. And pay thru the nose to buy one in Texas.

So all you budding real estate house flippers out there, hang onto your pennies, gonna be some cheap housing available in Southeast MI soon.....

#125 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

When I was in the car biz, we bought a Firebird with one of those 4 cylinders. It wasn't anything you would want to display at an open-hood car show and you were not going to win any races, but it cruised down the highway smoothly and got good gas mileage even with that hosed up throttle body system. You surely wanted to keep a quiet muffler on---no glass packs

Yeah, they milked the shit out of that 2.5. Added fuel injection and called it a "Fourtek"

"Hey look, it takes four techs to fix that thing"

All in all it was pretty durable and less prone to leaving a pool of oil in your driveway like the 2.8 did.

#126 5 years ago

No problems with my 6.6 litre....

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#127 5 years ago

The 327 in my 1962 Corvette ran pretty good too.

#128 5 years ago

I'd like to see THEM make a few remakes (body style exactly) from the late 60's early 70's (dreaming )
Not like the crap they brought back and called it a GTO in 2004-2006.

#129 5 years ago

All anybody wants now are crossover vehicles (which are just station wagons with a higher wheelbase and a hump in the roof)

If your plant isn't making those you're done.

Also cars are too damn expensive these days. Plus the millennials don't have any money to begin with and also have zero brand loyalty when they do use their parents money to buy.

-1
#130 5 years ago
Quoted from Crash:

My 2001 Honda CR-V is still running great after 12 years of ownership.

I have had my 99 camry XLE since 2002. My wife always wants me to get new car. The cheap ass in me always says no.

#131 5 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

A product of the Lordstown, Ohio plant. I dated two girls who had Monza's built there....

Lordstown Lemon we call it lol and that car sure was

-1
#132 5 years ago

GM should effect people where I work and possibly me. We make a couple of main transmission parts.

#133 5 years ago

My grandfather was an original ford employee. He lived in east detriot. He was one of the last employees to receive the "a" plan for retirement. I think.
His "generation" of employees, not him personally.

My father, was layed off from ford in the 70s but stayed in the industry working for another company until he retired, he saw the employee reduction way back in the mid 70s.

I personally left Michigan in 1990 for California. I miss the place, I do. All of my family is there.

But now I will die here in Los Angeles, OC ca.
So much home now, just kill me if you try to take me.

I know an old gf in gM she is an engineer has been her whole life. I don't keep in touch with her, but I bet she is being offered some type of retirement now. She would be 53.

I also worked at mechanics uniform in Detroit. 86-90. That's why I left. Partially.

I could not see a future for me in Detroit anymore. Also, I wanted to see other places.

I ramble on.

Take care.

#134 5 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

The 327 in my 1962 Corvette ran pretty good too.

Well hey, brother. Save the Wave. In 1971, my 3rd car was a 1959, base 283, both tops. Gave $900.00 for it. Sold it 3 years later for about the same money.

Then NCRS was born and the Vettes became classics.

I bought a '60 , Cascade Green, tricked out Saginaw 4-speed tranny with a 3-speed Saginaw overdrive attached. The mill was a 350 with a Rochester fuel injection unit. That setup would get 28 miles per gallon on the highway. I had to pay $10K for this one. Sold it in 1986 for $14K.

Only in the last couple of years have I started missing it. If I ever win the lottery, I would like to find one unrestored for a daily driver.

60 Corvette (resized).jpg60 Corvette (resized).jpg
#135 5 years ago
Quoted from ShinyBall:

I'd like to see THEM make a few remakes (body style exactly) from the late 60's early 70's (dreaming )
Not like the crap they brought back and called it a GTO in 2004-2006.

Keep dreaming!

We've got a guy in our town that has been driving the same blue Vega since I was in high school in the 70s. He used to come into the gas station I worked at and I think he said he bought it brand new.

I hadn't seen it in 10-20 years so a while back I was wondering if it or he was still on the road. And sure enough I passed him just the other day. The car looks the same and he looks the same, but his hair is all white now.
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#136 5 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

No thanks
My brother just got back from that smog infested cesspool
Climate change? Will it matter what anyone else does in the world if China doesn't reform? Nope.

They are reforming. And ahead of us on the market facing environmental technologies I believe.

But to your point, why not be the global leader in something 95+% of the world believes - hell, KNOWS - instead of a boorish clown? And I’m talking about the US, not trump.

#137 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

Well hey, brother. Save the Wave. In 1971, my 3rd car was a 1959, base 283, both tops. Gave $900.00 for it. Sold it 3 years later for about the same money.

My 1962 Honduras Maroon Corvette cost me $9500 in 1985. I used to say it was either that or a brand new K car. Sold it in 1991 for $21,000, took the money, went on safari, and never looked back...

#138 5 years ago

Nope. I drive relics.

~Steveo

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#139 5 years ago
Quoted from steve-o:

I drive relics

Holy S, I would love a good cab over!!

#140 5 years ago
Quoted from benheck:

All anybody wants now are crossover vehicles (which are just station wagons with a higher wheelbase and a hump in the roof)
If your plant isn't making those you're done.
Also cars are too damn expensive these days. Plus the millennials don't have any money to begin with and also have zero brand loyalty when they do use their parents money to buy.

Millennials cannot afford a $20,000 car payment over 7 years, pay rent, & fund a 401k, if available.

The problem with GM is really a result of 2007/2008. The government should have let GM fail & it would have created a healthier industry. Tariffs hardly matter when you consider corporations always want the cheapest labor possible. Cheaper labor = more profits. Most manufacturing corporations are investing in robots. They never tire, they never quit, they never ask for wage increases & they cannot strike like the UAW.

11
#141 5 years ago

I had to dig, but I knew I posted a pic here somewhere. That's my old man behind the wheel. Rest his happy soul.
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After a while it got kind of old when every time you pulled up to a stop someone yells at you "what year is it?"

"1987 last time I checked"

13
#142 5 years ago

I work for an automotive electronic supplier. We were told "Winter is Coming" last month and all travel was cancelled, followed by general orders to reduce spending to a minimum. Our company is gearing up for the downturn right now.

GM is a big chunk of our sales. I hope I/we are not affected, but I feel no sympathy for GM. If it were not for all the collateral damage that would have occurred, I would have been happy seeing them go away permanently rather than get bailed out.

After the "New GM" emerged from bankruptcy, the first thing they did was go to all of their suppliers and demand 15% quick-savings on all existing contracts. Failure to comply resulted in blacklisting from all future quotations. They are a terrible company to do business with for a lot of reasons.

There is an article I read somewhere online about GM purposely allowing a single source supplier for a strategic component, something which is usually never allowed. Then they loaded this single supplier with way more volume than they could handle. When the supplier indicated that they needed to raise the price or go bankrupt, GM refused to pay more. The company went bankrupt, and GM was awarded the tooling for the component via the bankruptcy court. Probably was the plan all along.

Where I sit, I see no infrastructure being built for electrification. The few companies that installed charging stations for employees have since removed them. Our electrical grid here in the US is not capable of any significant electrification. I know only one person who has a Chevy Bolt and has solar panels on his house.

Seems to me GM is gearing up for a future that does not exist. Gas is going to go back up, peak oil is real. I think they are going to continue scaling back and just sell fewer vehicles overall.

Young people today are not interested in cars like previous generations. Even if they were, I don't know how they could afford them. Everybody I know leases vehicles, at some point those vehicle compete with the new vehicles. I could never figure out who these OEMs thought they were going to keep selling all of these cars to.

I do pretty well, but I'm also a bit of a gearhead. I do all my own repairs and have not bought a new car in 20 years. When you go a long time without pricing vehicles and then see what they want for new ones, it seems unreal. Especially when they have been pretty successful at busting the unions and shedding costs by squeezing suppliers to death.

Every time I have finally had it with my existing vehicle, I go looking around and get renewed vigor for fixing my old clunker. I take the money saved and put it toward pinball machines instead. Something that doesn't get destroyed by driving while texting. Four of my work buddies have had vehicles totaled this year by distracted drivers. I could care less about having a nice car on our crappy roads with all the distracted drivers anywhere.

#143 5 years ago
Quoted from jgentry:

Fortunately in my area Tennessee has benefited from several of the foreign car makers opening plants or moving head quarters to our area in the last few decades.
It's incredibly sad to see so many people lose job this time of year. But if something is not selling or making a profit it is going to happen and government bail outs only put a band aid on a corpse. The trend right now is trucks and SUVs and the bigger the better. Probably 1/3rd of the people in my area are driving 4 wheel drive trucks/SUVs that get 16mpg or less. They have never seen a dirt road and the roads are slick here at most 4 days a year. I have a truck as well but I bought it used for 15K and it's for hauling stuff or pulling my boat. Otherwise that gas monster is in the garage. I see people everyday that have a 65K truck, 40K boat and a 60K house. Makes no sense to me to me but to each their own I guess. Seems like the money would be better off in the house which has a chance of gaining value as opposed to cars/trucks and water toys.

I agree. I’ve never been a fan of big vehicles unless there is a good reason to own one (towing, hauling, off-road). I’ve also noticed that trend in middle Tennessee.

#144 5 years ago
Quoted from benheck:

All anybody wants now are crossover vehicles (which are just station wagons with a higher wheelbase and a hump in the roof)
If your plant isn't making those you're done.
Also cars are too damn expensive these days. Plus the millennials don't have any money to begin with and also have zero brand loyalty when they do use their parents money to buy.

I love my crossovers. We haven't had a "car" in 5 years now. When she got a new crossover 5 years ago, I got her "old" Escape that we bought in 05. It's an 04 and it's sitting at ~216k miles right now. It's becoming way less reliable, so she got a new Traverse and I got her '13 Journey. Only bad thing about the Journey is its roof is too low to fit a pin, but I'm going to get a small trailer and do it that way.

Bottom line is that the added ground clearance and typically available 3rd row seating in crossovers is a huge appeal and they are very versatile. My worst vehicle is my 04 V6 Escape that gets 22 mpg with the AC on all the time in the summer. The other two are getting 23-25, which I can live with for sure. All are V6's and most getting more HP than V8's did 20 years ago or less.

#145 5 years ago
Quoted from Friengineer:

Millennials cannot afford a $20,000 car payment over 7 years, pay rent, & fund a 401k, if available.
The problem with GM is really a result of 2007/2008. The government should have let GM fail & it would have created a healthier industry. Tariffs hardly matter when you consider corporations always want the cheapest labor possible. Cheaper labor = more profits. Most manufacturing corporations are investing in robots. They never tire, they never quit, they never ask for wage increases & they cannot strike like the UAW.

The point they always forget is they can't buy a car either. If you multiply that by all the other companies trying to remove humans as well, you end up with no one able to afford your product. In an ideal world everyone is a CEO of their own company, with robot workers. That isn't realistic. People can't afford $20k items of luxury on minimum wage.

#146 5 years ago

Not a fan of suvs/xovers but I also will only drive a manual car so not in the majority by a long shot.

#147 5 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

I also will only drive a manual car so not in the majority by a long shot.

You definitely wouldn't feel that way if you lived in Los Angeles!

#148 5 years ago
Quoted from Atari_Daze:

Holy S, I would love a good cab over!!

Cabovers are such a hoot to drive. Driving them is like being on a carnival ride every time and as a bonus they fit easily in the garage due to their super short wheelbase of 90 and 95 inches.
~Steveo

#149 5 years ago
Quoted from TKDalumni:

You definitely wouldn't feel that way if you lived in Los Angeles!

Oh for sure. Plus I couldn't afford a house that would fit my 15 games.
Man the weather is great but you gotta pay to play. I could never live without a basement

#150 5 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

Oh for sure. Plus I couldn't afford a house that would fit my 15 games.

Yeah, you could buy a vacant lot (if there are any left) for $400,000 and set up a steel building.

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