ARGH! I fn' hate general motors

[transient]

So I'm coming home from class at 9:15PM on a wednesday night and I decide I want a frosty from Wendy's. So I pull in, and go to get out of my car, but as I pull the latch, I hear a snap and the latch loses it's resistance. I immediately knew what happened, and since then I've had to get out by either going out the passengers side or rolling down the window, openning the door from the outside and then rolling the window back up. Definatelly a huge annoyance.

So, I grabbed my screwdrivers today and went out to take a look, I got the door panel off and saw that there is a TINY piece of metal that holds the latch to the mechanism that opens the door which had snapped in half. Great, I'm SOL for fixing it myself, so now I've got to go to the dealer and do my best to get it repaired for free since it's a part that should NEVER break. I'll probably end up having to call GM direct and complain for about 5 hours or so just to get anywhere.

So anyway, moral of the story, GM has monkeys for designers.

*End of rant*

[Bill Roberts]

=Planned obsolesence=

My Dad had a good friend that worked in Detroit and his job was to track parts for cars and see "what was not selling". (car parts make up appox 15% of a car manufacturers bottom line depending on Make) Seems as though not one differential went out in 1964-1967 Chevrolet Impalas with the 327 engine. This included biscaynes and belairs. A new design with a less expectant duty cycle was used instead. I am sure by now some have gone out...but during 30 months, not one part was sold based on what my Dads friend told him. This is hearsay..but easy to believe.

Nothing is build to last forever with no maintainence...but those little clips, they keep them in stock I bet. Mazda truck rear tailgate clip was made of cheap brittle plastic. When I drove mine I would see them all the time with the handle off the gate.

[transient]

The thing is, a differential is a wearing part. They are something which requires maintanence. The interior door latch, however, should last as long as the car. There's no reason in the world for it to ever break. It's not like this is the only thing about this car I dislike either. For one thing, they put a crossmember on top of the battery so you have to take it out to change the battery. All these little things I see make me realize how poorly this car really is built.

[Bill Roberts]

I sent you a PM...

[cdlong]

just weld the doors shut and go 'dukes of hazard'

nothing will ever not break. they could have horribly overbuilt the car but the it would weigh 3 tons and cost twice as much, live with it.

with the thing about the differentials, i bet the newer diff was a few bucks cheaper, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. but if they break while under warrenty it will cost the company thousands. it's a gamble, but ultimately it's a buisness decision.

[-E-]

what model GM you got kinda sounds like a Lumina

[kandyflip445]

My brothers LEXUS did that. The clip was plastic though. He had to order it from a dealer. A little over $5 FOR JUST A LITTLE PLASTIC CLIP! All cause it's a Lexus. Come to think of it, it happened in my moms Taurus too....hmmmm.....

[transient]

Nope, it's a freakin Buick Century :P

I want my car back