What Is The Biggest Utter Failure In The Automotive Industry?

"jkm7680" (jkm7680)
05/10/2015 at 20:35 • Filed to: None

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s Nissan brought the Vanette over to the United States with a larger engine. They liked to catch on fire and overheat. So, what did Nissan do about it? They attempted to locate, buy back and destroy all 33,000 of them. They were to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 to each owner and it was estimated that this process would cost Nissan over 200 million dollars.

It’s unsure how many of them are left out here. Between engine fires, rust and Nissan buying them back and promptly destroying them, there probably aren’t many out there at all anymore.

So, what’s the biggest failure in the automotive industry?

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DISCUSSION (32)

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 20:40

I heard rumors Ford was considering this for one of the Windstar generations since the recall issues were getting so excessive.

TheHondaBro > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 20:40

Kinja'd!!!

Dsscats > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 20:42

Kinja'd!!!

On the cabover van note, we had one of these (except in gold). It was a glorious bastard. We sold it for under $700 running and driving with a new HG.

Amoore100 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
05/10/2015 at 20:42

From what I hear those were awful vans. Actually, most American minivans are awful.

jkm7680 > TheHondaBro
05/10/2015 at 20:44

Ford: “Ok, whatever. Go die we don’t care.”

Chevrolet: “Go blow yourself up hun you aren’t special.”

Nissan: “NOOOOOOOOO SOWWWY.”

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Amoore100
05/10/2015 at 20:44

There is a reason the Town and Country/Grand Caravan are the only American ones still around. They were first to the market, and made the best vans of any of the big three by far.

ranwhenparked > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 20:45

General Motors bought back and destroyed 757 out of the 759 air cooled Chevrolets produced in 1923.

Jedidiah > Amoore100
05/10/2015 at 21:15

*all minivans

PatBateman > Dsscats
05/10/2015 at 21:22

I had rented one of these things a few years ago in the Cayman Islands (five people, needed van). I don’t know what engine was in it, but I had to perform brake stands just to pull into traffic from our condo parking lot.

Go cart engine? Maybe a hamster wheel with a geriatric hamster?

philsphan09 > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 21:55

Miata? :)

f86sabre > jkm7680
05/10/2015 at 22:03

$11.2 Billion. GM Bailout. Now I guess it depends on definitions. I’m not saying that bailing out GM was a failure or a bad idea. Far from. The fact they required a bailout was a failure on the part of their leadership and it cost them a lot. They are still feeling the pain.

Amoore100 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
05/10/2015 at 22:38

They still aren’t very good though compared to what the Japanese have been doing. Every time we rent a GC/Town and Country on vacation our entire family notes the low-rent interior quality as well as the odd and sometimes poor driving behvaiors...when something breaks on them, my little brother always says, “Because American car” (which is a little harsh but definitely used to be true). In comparison, our ‘05 Ody is quick, quiet (but makes nice noises when pushed—I do prefer a Japanese rev to an American rumble), nice handling, reliable, and practically luxurious inside (I’m talking of the quality, not features). Granted that was a good generation for the Ody but even so, the GC has to be better considering that it’s been nearly the same since ‘08 when the third gen Ody was on sale.

Amoore100 > Jedidiah
05/10/2015 at 22:41

Pshhhh. It depends. They are useful and better than modern SUVs for everything but offroading. In our case: more spacious, more comfortable, better mileage, better driving qualities (read: lower center of gravity), safer and overall more versatile.

Jedidiah > Amoore100
05/10/2015 at 22:56

Pretty much every minivan I’ve seen has been made out of light duty sedan parts stuffed in a bloated, heavy capsule. Unsurprisingly, tales of frailty and chronic reliability issues plague simple Google searches when searching for any minivan. I’ll take the handling penalty of solid axles with an SUV. I’ll take a full frame for strength over safety. I’ll take torque over economy. If I can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the back one day and carry 8 people the other, then It’s versatile.

The only reason why minivans are a thing is because people don’t to buy station wagons because thats what their parents drove or an SUV because they’re inefficient while car companies want to make mediocre parts-bin cash cows.

Amoore100 > Jedidiah
05/10/2015 at 23:22

I’m not gonna argue. Your argument hasn’t made me think that you’re right, but there will always be minivan people and there will always be SUV people so I’m not going to fan the flames. Good Day! :D

pip bip - choose Corrour > ranwhenparked
05/11/2015 at 04:29

2 people wanted to keep them?

wonder where they are now?

ranwhenparked > pip bip - choose Corrour
05/11/2015 at 07:13

One’s in a museum in Nevada, the other’s in the Henry Ford.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jkm7680
05/11/2015 at 20:39

Just a thought...

Kinja'd!!!

LJ909 > Amoore100
05/11/2015 at 22:18

Really? Growing up Ive always found the T/C to be really comfortable and luxurious, especially now a days. The Odyssey and the Sienna Ive found to be uncomfortable and cheap to me (I dont count the Quest because its weird to me.)

Amoore100 > LJ909
05/11/2015 at 22:44

Hmm, maybe things have changed now...the new Sienna interior is definitely stupid looking but I do like the Quest in a sort of JDM Elgrand kind of style...

LJ909 > Amoore100
05/11/2015 at 22:45

The Sienna refresh helps sort of. I am a sucker for the Sienna sport package or whatever its called. Especially in black. Its the best looking van. But you really cant beat the Stow n Go seating of the Chrysler twins.

Amoore100 > LJ909
05/11/2015 at 22:48

Yeah but look at this:

Kinja'd!!!

And though stow-n-go is flexible, I don’t find the chairs very comfortable...

LJ909 > Amoore100
05/12/2015 at 01:31

To me that dash looks like it would be comfortable in a Tacoma or Tundra.

LJ909 > philsphan09
05/12/2015 at 01:42

Are you really prepared to loose your life tonight?

RustedSprinter > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/12/2015 at 19:13

Get outta town dude.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Amoore100
05/12/2015 at 20:03

Disagree, albeit gently. Though much maligned, and though they depreciate like a rockslide, I think the Dodge caravan is a decent, practical conveyance, though you did say, “most.”

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Amoore100
05/12/2015 at 20:06

I have a GMC Safari with 250k miles on it, reman trans and engine, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have driven from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back three times in that vehicle.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > f86sabre
05/12/2015 at 20:08

Aren’t we told that this debt was repaid?

Amoore100 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/12/2015 at 20:45

Well, I’d argue that those vans were different from contemporary ‘minivans’. Those were more of trucks, designed for tough usage and therefore able to take it more than say a Chevy Venture or Ford Windstar...

f86sabre > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/12/2015 at 20:54

Sure, but to get into that situation at all is still a form of failure. For the company, they still have more government oversight than they would probably want as well.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Amoore100
05/12/2015 at 22:25

They’re neither fish nor fowl, actually. Basically a C1500 drive train, but unibody in the front. But you make a good point. We bought ours because it was rated for a Class C trailer hitch, unlike the traditional FWD minivans.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > f86sabre
05/12/2015 at 22:37

Yes, I take your point. I tend to view this as part of the Too-Big-Too-Fail debacle, where we learn who really calls the shots in this country.