Who sells the most cars and trucks in America?

Malibu Maxx: MSRP 23K (base), 23 mpg in the city.

Be scared Toyota. Be very scared.

 

What are you basing this statement on? I had asked for some source you could point to other than your own words. Even though most here at PriusChat might agree that information from malorn, the never exaggerating, always honest, unbiased, Buick-selling, internet poster, should be considered 100% trustworthy, humor me. ( am I laying the sarcasm on too thick?)
Am I to believe because you said "period" at the end of your sentence that it must therefore be true?
Here's what CR said about the Century which has been discontinued--no doubt due to its phenomenal reliability they probably decided they didn't need to build anymore because the ones that are ready built will last forever.-- again, couldn't help the sarcasm. Anyways, here's what CR said on the 2005 Century:

Overview: The Century has felt out-of-date for 10 years or more, despite redesigns. The ride was spongy on smooth pavement, and hopped and wallowed on bumpy roads. The Century has unresponsive handling, mediocre brakes, and a merely adequate 3.1-liter V6. A smooth, quiet ride at low speeds is its major virtue. In 2005 the LaCrosse was introduced to replace the Century, which was sold for one final year. It handles better, and interior fit and finish are improved. But rear seat room is still tight, and the base 3.8-liter V6 is coarse and thirsty. The uplevel 3.6-liter V6 is more refined.
Link: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/mo...el-overview.htm

I guess since CR didn't say "period" at the end of their review it has a lot weaker credibility than your statement. They only have mountains of data from owner surveys, and experience in meticulous analysis and evaluation of vehicles for decades to back up their statements.

Also, from CR on the reliability of the Malibu. This is what they said about the Malibu Maxx, which did get a Recommended Rating for it features and value, but regarding reliability:

RELIABILITY

We expect reliability to be average, according to our latest subscriber survey.

Here's the link: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/mo...ack-maxx-ls.htm

Let me have them answer your question about where the Camry is. Go here to take a look at this chart: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/re...view.htm#family
Prius is number one on predicted reliability , Honda Civic Hybrid number two, Camry is three, Honda Accord is four. Where is the Malibu? Second to last in a list of 27 cars in this category of Family Sedans, only the VW Passat V6 was worse. To throw you a bone, the Buick LaCrosse actually tops the list in predicted reliability in its category which is Large Cars--but it does come with an asterisk by it meaning this:
In cases where a vehicle was new or was redesigned last year, or where we simply lack sufficient data, we may rely on one year's data--indicated by an asterisk (*)--if that's all that's available. Otherwise, the score is based on at least two.
Anyways, that is still good but not the same category as the Camry and Malibu. The Buick Century was not in the list of Predicted Reliability for new cars I expect because it has been discontinued.
Here's something else to make you feel better, malorn, CR has an article titled, "US Autos Narrow The Gap." Here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/re...05/overview.htm
This is in reference to quality. So overall quality is improving on American makes but they have not yet surpassed the quality of the Asian makes--primarily Toyota and Honda.

Lastly, what in the world would cause you to call Consumer Reports cult-like? Because it's non-profit? Please explain. The data they gather is from owners out in the world without any exclusion, coercion, or deception that I'm aware of so give me some examples demonstrating it's parallels to a cult?

 

Amen......and I'll add the manufacturer's overall attitude and business philosophy to that as well. Case in point - my Chevy Suburban versus my Aunt's Honda Accord.

When my local Chevy dealer hosed me on the extended warranty (by not sending the paperwork to GM) and later went belly up, GM was completely unsympathetic and I, as a result, was out of pocket a few grand for repairs and the cost of the warranty. According to GM, it was out of their hands......nothing they could do. Well, of course there was something they COULD have done; they COULD have simply given me the extended warranty that I had already paid for. Of course, that would have been inconsistent with their general business philosophy which parallels the common law rule of "tough".

When Honda discovered transmissions in certain 2000-2001 models were experiencing a higher than average rate of failure, they promptly extended the warranty on the affected models. Since I had purchased the car, I received a letter on my Aunt's behalf, to the effect that the warranty on the Accord's transmission had been extended to 7/100,000......gratis. Now THAT'S how you keep customers and sell more cars. Later, when I was in the market for a new vehicle, I bought a CRV.

 

QUOTE(malorn @ Jan 5 2006, 06:21 PM)
Century and Malibu are the two highest quality cars in the class period. Where is the Camry? Or are you going to continue to hide behind that consumer reports cult-like reliability rating system?


Actually, I'd love to check that out... i think like many consumers, we sort of now "assume" foreign cars are simply better in almost every respect... Incidentally, as an alternative to the SUV/Truck I was looking at, the only other vechicle I wanted was a Cadillac CTS....

Regardless, I do have to throw this in:

No one makes trucks like Ford and Chevy. The Jap trucks feel waaaay too "flimsy"....

 

Toyota is well aware of that too. When Toyota and Ford were in patent negotiations regarding hybrid technolog they did a bit of a trade. Toyota waived some patent infringement concerns in exchange for some cooperation from Ford on truck technology.

Out here, though, the Toyota Tacoma is wildly popular. A buddy of mine has a '92 Toyo pickup (the precursor to the Taco) and he parks it outside. He's had numerous people come up to the door or leave notes on the truck asking him if he's interested in selling it. So Toyo is definitely doing something right in the truck world.

 

Oh yeah, the Tacoma is nice indeed, very popular up here in NE too... I think one of their biggest "problems" with the truck market, is realizing that American males, particularly the ones that buy trucks, are typically BIG guys. I remember thinking WOW when I first sat in my F150 and found the seats were significantly wider than my shoulders. It felt nice to be able to move around with ease in a nice big cab, something I REALLY MISS..... uggh, I have to stop talking about trucks... I swear I'm going to break down and buy one...

 

That's not what happened. Toyota licensed their hybrid powertrain patents to Ford in exchange for licenses to use Ford's patents on diesel engines (specifically to do with fuel injection I believe).

 

Close second in most, if not all of those years was the half ton Chevy Silverado 1500. But if you add the Chevy Silverado 1500 to the GMC Sierra 1500 numbers (since they're basically the same vehicle), they beat the Ford F-150 numbers.

 

I took this from the smoke and mirrors thread.....

So now you are a Ford dealer? Or are you one of those big guys who owns multiple dealerships?

 

Ah, the heck with it. We're wasting our time arguing with one of the American auto company dinosaurs. Notice he never answered any of my questions? He can't because everything he says is hot air and hyperbole. I'm not going to pay attention to this blowhard any more. Time for the ignore button. Bye, malorn, you can't sell me a car and you can't get me to listen to you any more. Both are from the same basic problem: you don't listen.

 

Combined Car & Truck Sales
As of 1/1/2006, GM's market share dropped 4% from year ago levels, and Ford dropped 4.9%.

So despite Malorn's attempts to spin the sales crown as something positive for GM, it is just two companies going down the drain, but Ford circling a bit faster.

 

Not that Malorn can't speak for himself, but I remember him saying in some other thread he has Ford dealerships and is looking into getting into Toyota also, with his brother?

Perhaps his family has been into Chevy and GM products, but he is a Ford man?

 

Jack - I'm with you on that.

I find it ironic, and also wonder what his employees think about him sitting in his office at the Ford (or Chevy) dealership all day on the PC forum. At first, he stated he was here to do research and see how people felt about their Prius and Toyota in general. But now he lives on the forum.

It is pretty addictive though.

 

The means to the end being a way of getting yourself a Prius below MSRP? :lol: :lol:

 

there is a reason for that and its not because the F-150 is that desireable. its a good truck, but they over build it and at the end of the year, they sell individual trucks at bargain fleets discounts. i know because i have bought two of them that way.