So recently my parents got a new car and did a lot of consumer reports research prior. They discovered that basically any new GM car is crap, and that was Ford was only a few notches better.

The way I've always regarded quality is based on consumer reports, internet reports and just the eyeball test, how many old models of that car you see on the road. For example, I see old Mazdas and Hondas and Toyotas all the time.

My question is, if GM is so crappy then why is that you see more old Buicks than Caddys? Anyone have experience with old Buicks and Caddys? It just seems like everyone I know with a Caddy/Chevy has issues and I know 3/4 people with Buicks and they all last with little issues.

The reason I ask is I been looking at a lot of 2 door Buicks from between 1980-1990 on craiglist and most of them are under $1800, been thinkin about gettin me a hoopdee.

Edit- I also been seeing a lot of Ford LTDs and been looking for Lincoln ones. Anyone with any experience with these cars would be great

 

MOST cars will only be as good as the care that they received. The newest GM cars are the nicest they've ever been, as are the fords. It's all the 90's plastic rattle traps that are crap IMO.

I see a lot of the old fords and GM's running around. And they are quite a bit easier to work on for the most part.

 

buicks have had their share of trouble. any man made product you dont take care of and beat on will break. 99% or the problems are people not taking care of it, and then pointing the finger at GM(or others) when its not covered under warranty because no regular maintenance was done.

and none of the GM cars any good? not sure what your reading. the cruze, malibu, equinox, terrain, all the crossovers, and the trucks have best buy awards. cruze won car of the year, and has the most standard airbags of any production consumer mid-sized sedan. besdes the warranty on powertrain of 5yr/100,000 miles (160,000kms), their cars are one of the few companies that do a roof crush test. throw in stabilitrac, abs and dynamic traction control, they are one of the safest vehicles in production right now.

Take one for a drive before ya make an opinion. I'm a ford fan with my ranger, but their a truck company. they cant build a decent car to save their lives. they are taking dodges place of plasticy crap.

BTW, i work for GM Canada. any questions about their cars Msg me. keep an open mind when shopping, and buy what fits your needs best. but dont go off OLD reviews when shopping for NEW cars.

 

Consumer Reports is biased against Toyota, for instance. I see a lot of older Ford's (mainly Taurus's, Ranger's, and F-150's) that are still around. It really depends on owner maintenance.

 

buick and caddy are both gm...

 

It's the model not the make. I usually hit up forums for that car and see the ups and downs. Get it from the horses mouth while you are infiltrating there scene. haha

It also is about the motors. For example the GM 3800's are great motors and run forever beat on of not if you take care of them. Northstars...Ehhh....For every can anything and everything depends. A care might a great something, but also has trouble in other area's...Just do research that is not from mainstream mags or sites.

michael wilson (fithranger) is right. A lot of those places have bias opinions. Sometimes I think they are paid to say certain thing. lol As sad as it is to say.

 

I was about to say this...OP is talking about them like someone else makes Buick. So yea, buick and caddy are both GM products.

 

You can't say you see more cars of one type on the road and therefore they must be more common and better. Ther'es tons of subarus here in my town because it's full of hippies. tons of rangers in minnesota because they were made there, etc

 

lol

Ive been in a mountain area of my state recently. I see a lot of subarus and a good amount of rangers.

 

Any car GM makes other than Cadillac I consider a throw away car or a rental car special. No non luxury car brand today in my opinion comes close to fords new line up. The interiors and exteriors are top notch. As far as reliability goes it's pretty much how you maintain your vehicle. Any car is going to be unreliable If you don't maintain it.

 

Within 1 mile of every direction from my house I can drive around my neighborhood and spot close to 15 rangers. (I'm not kidding either.) They are all stock though. :-/

 

Vancouver is full of BMW, MB, ferrari, Lamborghini and level 2 fx4's :) so buy one of those

 

How can you compare new gms to old?

Old cars are crap across the board, maintenance and previous life will dictate how they will treat you.

 

I know my grandmothers caddy was a huge POS, broke down everywhere. Then she got an Oldsmobile, the engine exploded after having it for a year, and now she has a Lincoln.

 

I've had tons of GM's (still have a few)
And i've had tons of Fords.

I've had ZERO problems with the 2010 LaCrosse my Fiance drives daily. I've only had to change the oil in it, and the cabin ait filter. I've had it for 2 years and its got 16k on it.

I've had tons of older Buicks too (Had a few 80's regals before the GN) and they we're ok. But by far the BEST and i mean BEST GM's i've ever driven or seen has been the mid 90's Park Ave's, Rivera's, and LeSabre's They ride nice and the motors in them can get to 200k and still run like a champ.

If your looking for a nice DD. Look for a Park Ave, or a Lesabre.
something with the 3800 Series 2 motor in it. That thing gets sick mcnasty highway MPG's. I've had a ton of them. buy them cheap and resell them for a few grand.

Like this one, I was in it for like $1200 bucks, sold it for $3000

 

^^^ x2...Like I said 3800 ftw.

 

I have no brand recommendations.

Here's my example of good maintenance going a long way to preventing problems.
I flush my brake fluid every two years. Never had brake problems (other than replacing
items that normally wear out) on my vehicles:

1980 Renault Le Car (two, both had upwards of 150,000 miles before they were sold)

1988 VW Jetta GL. Still have it, replaced shoes and two rear wheel cylinders. 194,000 miles

1993 Ford Ranger. Replaced brake linings, rear wheel cylinders, flexible brake lines (as a
precaution). 265,000 miles. On the other hand, good brake maintenance has no effect
on a transmission wsearing out!

 

My wife was driving over 80 miles a day to work from Conroe, TX to downtown Houston, TX and was doing it in a v8 4.7 Jeep Cherokee, After about 3 months of paying through the nose on gas, I sold the Jeep and we went out car shopping, we ended up at a Chevy dealer and ended up financing a Chevy Cruze for her.

Granted, the Cavalier was replaced by the Cobalt, and the Cobalt is now replaced by the Cruze, but the gas mileage is pretty good, getting roughly 30mpg. Financing was easy and what really was the final push for a GM product over Ford was the fact that Ford only offered a 60,000 mile warranty while GM offers 100,000. We've had the car now for 6 months and have had a recall, it wasn't major, they just needed to update the computer system and replace a gasket in the motor.

When I bought my Ranger, within 3,000 miles the transmission tore up and had a recall for having the wrong ATF installed.

I don't believe that any one brand is better than the other, like mentioned above, it's how you take care of your car/truck that matters in the end. I prefer the 5 year 100,000 miles warranty over the 3 year 60,000 warranty and as a cherry on top, the dealer, Lone Star Chevrolet in Houston added lifetime factory oil changes for $14.99.