Reply #7: I keep my cars for years, so reliability is critical to me. Most American cars of

[Honeycombe8]

the type I've looked for in my lifetime have not been reliable.

Let's see...your thinking is along the lines of: We make a product that is unreliable, but instead of fixing that problem, we should heavily tax people who buy, instead, a product that is reliable and of better quality?

I have a Subaru that is 11 1/2 years old. It has very low mileage (70K). Still, nothing has gone wrong with the engine. Ever. No fuel pump gone bad, no broken water pump, no malfunctioning carborator (if cars still have those). Nothing. Zip. Nada.

What that means is not only did I buy a high quality vehicle for a reasonable amount of money, it has ended up costing me less over the years because of the money I have not had to spend to repair it. Not to mention the hassle of repairs, or getting stranded on the highway.

It's easy. All GM has to do is manufacture small to medium sized, safe, reasonably fuel efficient, high quality (reliable) vehicles. That's what all the successful manufacturers do. They DON'T do what GM's CEO did years ago: Scoff at global warming and people who want fuel efficient vehicles, make a decision to manufacture and push 5 mpg Hummers, and decide not to compete with Honda and Toyota.

When I bought my Subaru, I looked first at American made cars. Ford, Chevrolet, Jeep, GM, Chrysler. They simply didn't make anything like the Subaru Forester. They weren't after ME as a market. They were aimed at young men who want to drag race (Mustang, Camaro, etc.) and older men who want big guzzlers to prove their manhood or that they were financially successful. So that's what they got. Unfortunately for them, that's not what drives the auto market, apparently.

Oh, and the Forester is not only decent with gas mileage, it was also one of the highest, if not the highest, in safety, for its class and size. So...why would I buy a less safe car that uses more gas, uses more money to repair, and won't last as long? I can't afford that. It'd be easier for the Hummer buyers just to buy a second Hummer to keep GM's doors open.