I read last year that GM was considering an ad campaign saying that they were sorry (!) for past quality problems and were doing something about it.
I never saw an ad like that, so I guess they decided not to admit to poor quality-or, maybe they decided not to fix 'em!

jimmyj
04 F150 XLT SCab 5.4L in Dark Shadow Gray
LUV IT!

 

Their glad to give away 1000 cars right now, nice campiagn, 1 in 5500 I like those odds

 

I think if they did, then Ford and Chrysler ought to be right behind them with ads apologizing too!!

Ron
00 Excursion Limited 4x4 V-10

 

I drove my uncles 1993 Chevy 1500 350 CI it was all good accept the interior was loose it had sqweeks and rattles all over it just my 2cents

 

I can't vouch for GM's ears, since I don't know what they've heard, but by looking at their products these days - I'd say their eyes don't work too good.

 

I totally agree with Ron. I came from driving a long line of full size GM PU's and 'burbs (the wife drives an Escalade) to the Ex I'm driving now. I haven't owned or really even ridden in GM or Ford cars for quite a while so I can't comment on those. My impression is quite the opposite of the truck interiors. The GM interiors are very well made and very refined compared to the Ex. Ford is behind in interior appointments and their function, IMO.

Overhead light is terrible, exterior temp indicator on the heater control panel is out of place, auto temp control does not work as well as GM's, no ability to turn the mirror heaters on/off, the outside mirrors don't dim when the inside rearview one does, steering wheel controls don't work consistently (some buttons only need one push to function, some need two), non-power lumbar, not enough 12v plug ins on the dash, doesn't have seperate driver and passenger heat controls, etc.

The Ford Lmtd interior LOOKS nice and does have some nice features. Double door map pockets, bigger center cosole bin, power rear window vent controls (do newer 'burbs have this?), passenger dash bins, adjustable pedals.

Some of it is just personal preference but I've owned the Ex for 4 months now and still shake my head at some of these things. I've also had zero problems with any of our GM's interior functions, door handles, etc. Same with the Ex so far.

 

I saw the ad where chevy was appologizing. It was in a motor trend mag last summer. Everyone is dead on about the cheap quality of the new GM products. Our explorer took a nasty hit in the rear end in an accident. While it was in the body shop we were given a new Trailblazer to drive and had it for a couple of months. I was taking it through a carwash and had a magnetioc mount radio antenna on top. I pulled the antenna off and laid it on the dash. When I pulled it off of the dash the magnet which weighed about 2 pounds left a nasty scratch on the cheap plastic dash. I can only imagine what the dash would look like after a couple of years of normal use. The rest of the vehicle was just as bad, no power until you had the engine wound up so tight you thought that it was going to blow, the A/C would quit for 20 or 30 minutes for no apparent reason. The check engine light would intermittantly come on and off, the front end rattled all of the time, it blew bake light bulbs at a rate of about one a week, I could go on and on. We were actually curious about the Trailblazer before we were forced to drive this one. I was sure glad to get my explorer out of the body shop.

 

I'd guess most body shop rental vehicles are not in top shape. That's why they let you and anyone else drive them and beat on them.

Speaking of cheap plastic, I'm shocked to see how quickly the door sill plastic at the bottom of drivers door on my Ex is getting badly scratched from just 3 months of getting in and out of it. The plastic on the top of the rear bumper is getting badly scratched just from letting the bird dogs out, too. That never happened on my GM's. Does anyone know if someone makes some better quality parts for those areas?

 

yup, Gm Does!!
now can we get it to fit somehow?

Ron
00 Excursion Limited 4x4 V-10

 

This was a brand new Enterprise vehicle with 4000 miles on it.

 

who rides around with a heavy metal object on the dash anyway, One cracked windscreen from that and you wont do it again, nothing sits on the dash of any of my cars, when I drove junk wore out pickups I rested soda cans up there, the vibration of the trucks wore the soda can circle spot on the dash down to smooth plastic from textured.

I like both GM and Ford so I dont really complain one way or the other, but I've rode in alot of 90-03 gm cars and trucks and I dont see a noticable difference in either interior and as far as wear and tear goes, wehn I see something that does noticable damage to something I stop doing it b4 it gets worse, if my socks have holes in them I better start picking up my feet when I walk, If my boots clank into the sill plate everyday after work I know its gonna be dinged up down there, I would lift my feet higher maybe........my thing is honing oil, which will blacken a carpet real quick like, my cars carpet is black colored but I change my boots b4 I leave work, I also have good heavy floormats

I will admit my 95 Coagar and 95 GTP have the seat messed up on the drivers side right by the door, I do it too, but you really put a bunch of weight on that area getting in and out so it gets messed up, I have seen many other cars like this, both ripped the bolster material away from the seat back material

 

I can,t believe you guys are arguing with me about the dash thing. I could drag that antenna across the dash of my Explorer or my F-150 a thousand times without a scratch. The scratch that was left reminded me of what it would look like if you ran your fingernail accross some brown play dough. Come to think of it that dash had a look, feel and durability consistant with play dough. No matter how you look at it, the quality was not there in the Trailblazer and I would never own one.