GM Faces Big Class Action Suit Over Faulty Transmissions

[Wild one]

Actually, I misspoke... it wasn't a Fury, it was a HEMI Belvedere. (Same Body)...

The Belvedere was the one they morphed into the Road Runner in 68,lol.The Road Runner was basically a Belvedere with a cheaper interior,and all the heavy duty under pinnings,lol

 

[1979PowerWagon360]

Do you remember that old TV commercial, where the guy had a full-size Plymouth Fury (440 engine, I think). Anyway, he mashed the gas pedal to the floor, spinning wheels, and went forward then a second later shifted (column shifter) into reverse, then back into forward, repeated a bunch of times, never letting his foot off the gas.

That was just about the most impressive display of transmission/drivetrain durability I ever saw!

I would love to see that!!!! I've never seen the commercial.

 

[RamDiver]

The Belvedere was the one they morphed into the Road Runner in 68,lol.The Road Runner was basically a Belvedere with a cheaper interior,and all the heavy duty under pinnings,lol

1970 Plymouth Belvedere. Looks like it could almost be a Road Runner.





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[Cruzrs]

I remember watching a Chevrolet commercial for the 1966 BB396/T400 Impala shifting from reverse to drive with the gad pedal to the floor and afterwards they drove like no punishment ever happened ! The good old days.

 

[markabby]

why is it so hard to build a quality vehicle any more?

 

[RamDiver]

why is it so hard to build a quality vehicle any more?

Greed and capitalism on steroids.

.

 

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

why is it so hard to build a quality vehicle any more?

When did you begin driving and buying vehicles?

I learned to drive in the 1960’s. My first car at age 16 was a used 1965 Chevrolet Chevrolet Malibu 2-door. Six cylinder engine with a manual shift transmission - shifter on the column. No radio. Manual steering and manual drum brakes. No a/c.

My first new car purchased was a 1975 Chevrolet Nova Custom with the 350 CID and 4-barrel carburetor. The body began to rust after several years.

Since then, I’ve bought a lot of new cars - mostly GM, then Dodge and one Ford.

The quality of new cars in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s was miserable compared to new vehicles today. There is also no comparison to the amount of features today, compared to years ago.

The ride, handling and braking of new vehicles is far superior. The crashworthiness is also far superior.

Anyone remember putting dry-gas treatment in the fuel tank in the winter so the carburetor and fuel line did not ice-up?

Anyone remember starting a car in the winter with a carburetor and choke? Waiting for the choke to open?

Remember the door locks freezing and preventing entry to the car? Remember carrying small spray cans of lock deicer to unfreeze the lock? Heating the door key with a lighter to unfreeze the lock?

Anyone remember doing tuneups every 12,000 miles (plugs, points, distributor cap, condenser, and wires)? How about coolant hoses and drive belts every several years? Remember replacing the exhaust system every 3-4 years, as they rusted out quickly? Engine coolant every 2 years?

Quality is a relative term - but based upon my experience with vehicles, vehicle quality today is light-years ahead of those made 30 years ago or longer.

 

[markabby]

When did you begin driving and buying vehicles?

I learned to drive in the 1960’s. My first car at age 16 was a used 1965 Chevrolet Chevrolet Malibu 2-door. Six cylinder engine with a manual shift transmission - shifter on the column. No radio. Manual steering and manual drum brakes. No a/c.

My first new car purchased was a 1975 Chevrolet Nova Custom with the 350 CID and 4-barrel carburetor. The body began to rust after several years.

Since then, I’ve bought a lot of new cars - mostly GM, then Dodge and one Ford.

The quality of new cars in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s was miserable compared to new vehicles today. There is also no comparison to the amount of features today, compared to years ago.

The ride, handling and braking of new vehicles is far superior. The crashworthiness is also far superior.

Anyone remember putting dry-gas treatment in the fuel tank in the winter so the carburetor and fuel line did not ice-up?

Anyone remember starting a car in the winter with a carburetor and choke? Waiting for the choke to open?

Remember the door locks freezing and preventing entry to the car? Remember carrying small spray cans of lock deicer to unfreeze the lock? Heating the door key with a lighter to unfreeze the lock?

Anyone remember doing tuneups every 12,000 miles (plugs, points, distributor cap, condenser, and wires)? How about coolant hoses and drive belts every several years? Remember replacing the exhaust system every 3-4 years, as they rusted out quickly? Engine coolant every 2 years?

Quality is a relative term - but based upon my experience with vehicles, vehicle quality today is light-years ahead of those made 30 years ago or longer.

yea, ok. forums of any make, even this one, is full of people having problems with their new modern vehicles.

 

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

yea, ok. forums of any make, even this one, is full of people having problems with their new modern vehicles.

True - but I think many people use vehicle forums to post complaints and seek advice on how to repair a problem.

Rarely do people post about their vehicle that runs well with no issues.

Modern vehicles have SO many features today that were unthinkable 30 years ago.

Now, the first spark plug change is at 100,000 miles. Years ago, you were VERY lucky (and probably a maintenance fanatic) if you were able to own a vehicle that reached 100,000 miles.

Heck - even the onboard computer systems points the mechanic (or owner) to what the problem is, when it occurs.

On the flip side - modern vehicles are VERY complex and have a massive amount of complicated parts. No more diagnosis and repair while broke-down on the side of the road, or in a parking lot. No more carrying a set of basic hand tools and tuneup parts, belts and hoses - to make repairs while on a long trip.

Modern vehicle also have so MANY safety features that enable occupants to survive crashes with barely a scratch, that years ago would have been a death sentence. The safety features also enable drivers to avoid crashes (ABS, stability control, automatic braking, etc.).

 

[RamDiver]

While I can see both sides of this position, I suspect you will agree that vehicles are very different technologically today than in the past, especially in the '60s.

Perhaps the real flaw with today's vehicles is the build quality which is often exacerbated by all of the technological advancements. These complex rolling microcomputers of today are far less tolerant of not being precisely assembled whereas, in the '60s, precision wasn't that necessary.

The older cars were simpler, and less capable, but easier to fix at the side of the road. Cold start issues were easy with a carburetor. Pop the cover off of the breather, a couple of shots of Quick Start, and it fired up, more often than not.

The technology of today is great but only when it works. I feel that I've been very fortunate that my '21 has been almost flawless unlike many of the later vehicles. I'm in the group who plan to avoid buying anything in the 2021-2024 years because the make-a-buck-at-all-costs attitude is far too prevalent in our society these days.

I wouldn't dream of buying a newly engineered first release of anything these days because most manufacturing companies use the customers as their QC, look at the recent Tundra engine recall.

My Dad bought a few cars over the years, '60s-'80s and they had some grief but nothing catastrophic like, better bring your car in before the engine implodes.

IIRC, as kids we saw many older vehicles with 100K miles plus, but that wasn't any big deal.

.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

And bring back HeeHaw!

How about rowan & martin's laugh in.

 

[Sherman Bird]

How about rowan & martin's laugh in.

You bet your bippy!

 

[tjfdesmo]

Laugh In is on Binge TV (Dish 218)

 

[Sherman Bird]

Laugh In is on Binge TV (Dish 218)

Is that our Fickle Finger of Fate award? Reruns of Laugh-in?

 

[Marshall]

The "Car" C-6's had 3-pinion, aluminum housing planetaries, and were not capable of that kind of abuse for long. The TRUCK C-6,s (I had this on my 1966 428 CJ powered Galaxie 500 XL) had 4-pinion, steel housings, and COULD take the abuse.

Brother had a '67 "7 liter" rag top with that motor.
Nice car for a Ford, He sold it and always regretted it, so hunted up another one , it has a 4 speed, Does not seem as nice as the first with the auto.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Brother had a '67 "7 liter" rag top with that motor.
Nice car for a Ford, He sold it and always regretted it, so hunted up another one , it has a 4 speed, Does not seem as nice as the first with the auto.

I went through rear U-joints.. I had good year bias belted tire with soft compound tread... 6 inches wide! With the adjustable upper control arm on the differential, I dialed in the ideal pinion angle for those hard launches.

 

[nlambert182]

yea, ok. forums of any make, even this one, is full of people having problems with their new modern vehicles.

AND one important thing to remember is that there were no forums when the older vehicles were on the road. If there had been, I guarantee there would be folks complaining to the hills about the quality of their vehicles.

 

[Sherman Bird]

AND one important thing to remember is that there were no forums when the older vehicles were on the road. If there had been, I guarantee there would be folks complaining to the hills about the quality of their vehicles.

Overall, cars today are FAR superior to those cars of yesteryear, which so many maudlin types pine for. Those old cars would rust our so badly, that I clearly remember being able to see the ground through the trunk floor, or front floorboards. Top that off with drivelines that failed miserably in short order, many times 40,000 miles or so; AND getting 100,000 miles out of a car was a milestone worthy of note akin to getting a Masters Degree, or some other long game milestone.

Today, the government has done a fantastic job of saving us from ourselves through REQUIRING seat belts, SRS, ABS, VSC, laminated glass, impact zones, and so on.

I clearly remember the talk amongst the men at family gatherings when I was a wee lad about car care, breakdowns, the best oil to use, yada yada yada.

My Dearly departed Dad used to say " THESE ARE the good old days, right now!"

 

[Treburkulosis]

I find it interesting that GM is facing this and Stellantis got away with so much major crap including the Hemi tick. GM has their ups and downs like everyone else. Ford does too. Ford lately seems solid and I would say they consistently stay solid. It just took them forever to perfect the Mod motor.

 

[nlambert182]

The 5.0 is a great engine, but I wouldn't say Ford is completely solid right now for the same reason this thread exists. Ford is also facing lawsuits for their 10-speed. Too bad it didn't happen while we had ours. Since we were one of the first to experience the problem, Ford left us hanging big time. Between promising to pay all our rental car fees while our Expedition sat on a lift with the trans on the table for 6 months while we waited on them to redesign the internal components, not following through on that promise (which was in writing from the CSR), and then having the newly rebuilt transmission fail again for the same thing at exactly 88 miles because "we don't think we solved the problem and will need to go back to the drawing board" it was enough.

Writing that $14k check to walk away from ours was bittersweet at best. While it hurt to write it, it was a huge relief from a year long painful session. Counting the rental car fees they didn't reimburse us for WITH written approval to get each one, that failed transmission cost us a total of $19k out of pocket to get out from under it. All with less than 83k miles. Even though it failed at 78k, and the warranty ran through 80k, Ford's only response was to lawyer up.

It's also why there will never be another Ford in my driveway. Tough for me to say considering I spent the better part of 30 years as a huge Ford fan, but they're not doing anything any better than anyone else.