GM financial woes have begun

Don't know about any other vehicles, but even if we don't lose power-steering, in my truck, the steering wheel locks solid when the ignition is shut off.

Pretty hard to steer that way. But this whole issue is something else entirely. Has nothing to do with 'failure of a part', it has to do with how a company handles issues that fail.

It's about the attorneys and engineers trying to find a way to absolve themselves of the responsibility. Mostly every mechanical or electronic part fails at some point or in some way, not very part, but at least some of each part or brand. And we NEVER, EVER get the complete story.

How a company deals with that issue is important to its future, and the trust its brings to its customers.

BillyW,

Qouting you:

"So in a typical situation where you suddenly lost power steering, power brakes, etc, while crossing a busy intersection,"

What does losing power while blowin thru a stop sign intersection at 58 mph have to do with anything? To begin with, NO power steering is needed at all at 58 mph in a Cobalt. Next, she would NOT have lost power brakes at all, only the ABS feature that wouldn't have meant squat in the intersection at 58 mph. She would have been all the way thru the intersection at that speed before she could have even gotten her foot on the brake pedal. You are so illoggical and inexperienced and also undereducated and it shows so well! Your youth and inexperience gives you away with your posts!

Have you forgotten or don't even know that a production vehicle here didn't even offer power steering until 1951 and wasn't installed on vehicles until the 1960's as it was mostly an option at extra cost and only for the upper end luxury cars. You also probably do not know that ALL vehicles had Bias Ply tires that were soft and squirrely and turned nothing like the slick radial tires of later. Are you still wet behind your ears? Pickup trucks didn't have power steering or power brakes either, even the 1 ton models then. Owned many new vehicles from the early 1960's and NONE had either! Funny how even you or a little old lady could turn the steering wheel easily to get into a parking space or turn sharp corners and they did! Many of the vehicles were big long boats compared to the tiny putz type mini cars of today. About the same time period for power brakes and WITHOUT ABS as that's only recently been added. Zero power steering or power brakes and never on the little cars and the trucks until later on. My sister's 1968 Ford 1/2 ton 6 cyl stick didn't have either and they carried an 8' hardside TC on it until 1992 and went all over the USA. How could they possibly have driven such a beast without your "girly" power addons??? The older and educated knows and sure did as they had no other choice and so did the little old grandmas do it!

Very apparent who's NUTZ!

BillyW wrote:
So in a typical situation where you suddenly lost power steering, power brakes, etc, while crossing a busy intersection, you WOULD find fault with "yourself" if you didn't make it?!!

I had a 1988 Mustang (piece of junk) where the engine would suddenly stall. It happened at least 3-4 times per week. My wife drove it. We had to be vigilant. We never did completely solve the problem, and we owned that car for 8 years. I grew up driving carbureted cars that stalled all the time without warning.

I don't even like Chevys, and GM handled this situation in a very poor manner. But, the congressional hearings were a joke. A GM executive getting chewed out by a crooked politician? Seriously???

I find it humorous that there are folks in here arguing that a sudden and unexpected engine shut down could NEVER contribute to an accident, even if just by distracting the driver for a second.

My issue isn't that GM had a problem, (all brands do) it's the way it was handled. If a loved one was killed in a vehicle in a similar situation (whether they were angry, sad, tired, or happy) I wouldn't expect the surviving family to rush to the defense of a evidently defective or underdesigned part.

Lessmore wrote:
Some brand loyal individual sees an article unfavourable to what they consider to be the enemy brand and then start a thread....and a range war.
...
There is absolute no value in any of this...it is all a waste of effort on everybody's part.
...
Why...do we never learn ?

Lessmore wrote:
You are correct...I cannot avoid these threads. I find them entertaining.

Lessmore wrote:
and the cab didn't have to be lifted off to replace it. :B

The irony is quite thick in here today...

Sorry, this post was in bad taste. Deleted due to embarrassment. :o

Fast Mopar wrote:
Wow. I actually totally agree with Travelnutz on this thread. By the way, my daily driver is a Cobalt.

My daughter's daily driver is a Cobalt...a 2010 she bought new in 2010.

So far....utterly reliable, except for a new battery....and the cab didn't have to be lifted off to replace it. :B

Wow. I actually totally agree with Travelnutz on this thread. By the way, my daily driver is a Cobalt.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

Lessmore wrote:
These threads get tiresome and very predictable. Some brand loyal individual sees an article unfavourable to what they consider to be the enemy brand and then start a thread....and a range war.

Sides are chosen and are predictable. Brand X fans go after Brand Y fans...and then vice versa.

There is absolute no value in any of this...it is all a waste of effort on everybody's part.

There is, I will admit, perhaps some perverse entertainment.

I include myself. I have opened a bag of regular chips and also have cracked open my favourite beverage...a classic coke if you will.

The moderator has to then eventually lock the thread, as the usual no good has come of it.

Why...do we never learn ?

And yet you click on and even respond to these threads over and over. :B You just can't stay away can you? :B

You are correct...I cannot avoid these threads. I find them entertaining.

They remind me of my misspent youth. When I was a teenager in the 1960's ...my buddies and I would argue about which was the best muscle car...Chevy...vs Ford...vs Mopar.

I recall that we would pore over a copy of the drag racing magazine (can't recall the name) that would list all the NHRA class wins. We would count up the wins...determine which brand was king....then of course there would be vociferous counter arguments coming from the dyed in the wool brand loyalists....the loyalists on the loser side of our class win victory count.

We would do this on a regular basis. Now I don't participate in the car wars anymore....I'm too old and decrepit :B....but I still like being involved as part of the audience.

;) Les

Lessmore wrote:

Why...do we never learn ?

Because we are bored...