My wife got the following Facebook update from her nephew Ben yesterday:
“Ben will be buying Japanese for the rest of forever. *@#&ing Jeep.”
Reminds me of when I was a kid…. for years we drove this big blue rusty 1974 Chevy Caprice. A nasty boat of a car. Consumed more gas than a Hummer, but it got the job done. Finally, Dad saved up his money and bought a 1981 Buick Skylark.
He loved that car. For once, a car that he looked dignified in, driving down the street.
Dad died in ’86 and he went to his grave never admitting that it was a LEMON. He’d say things to me like, “Perry, you just don’t know how much it costs to own and operate a car.”
I’m thinking, uh, yeah dad, I think I do, and this one’s too much. Cracked engine block, it’s in the shop about once every 3 weeks….
Dad had cancer. Long sad story I won’t repeat here. But after he’s gone, I’m sayin’, “Mom, I think we need to replace this stupid car.”
One day I spied an ’85 Tercel station wagon. Mom says, “Dad would NEVER buy a car like that.”
I said, “Yeah dad bought that stupid lemon instead and look where it got us.”
I talked her into it.
She drove that Toyota for at least 10 years and hardly EVER had a problem with it.
Even today – more than 20 years later – there is probably nothing anybody could say to convince me to buy a Buick. And it’s probably no coincidence, I also have little remorse for General Motors’ present plight.
Why?
Because I simply never felt that General Motors took care of me as a customer. They sold my dad a bill of goods.
I remember how it felt to be financially held hostage by that stupid car. I will never forget that feeling.
Oh, and the car I drive today is a Toyota Avalon. I like it a lot.
It’s one thing to occasionally drop the ball and have a customer service problem. We all do that. Hopefully we do our best to fix those problems.
It’s another thing for a customer to experience gross negligence, incompetence and apathy. And to feel that the company that sold something to you couldn’t care less.
I have no doubt that part of the huge uphill battle GM faces right now comes from millions of people who’ve had this kind of experience.
The lesson to all of us business people is so obvious, I won’t even bother saying it.
I wish you a Happy New Year, and many satisfied customers in 2009.
Perry Marshall
Lemon stories of your own? Post ’em below….
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
34 Comments on “Gratitude is short. Grudges are long.”
It’s not just “grudges”, it’s also inertia.
For many years I used TurboTax to prepare my tax returns. I was a satisfied customer, and saw no reason to consider an alternative.
Then back in 2003 TurboTax introduced a “product activation process” to chain each copy they sold to a single computer, to prevent the “piracy” (as they saw it) of sharing TurboTax on multiple computers or with friends. It was an understandable concern on their part as they tried to maximize their revenue.
But in fact it was a disaster. When you upgraded to a new computer, or your disk crashed and you had to reinstall all your old software, you could no longer easily do so for TurboTax without going through a lot of hassle or buying a new copy. Even worse, they clandestinely installed their “product activation” without letting their customers know, and (at least initially) there was no easy way to uninstall it. It did not automatically uninstall when you uninstalled TurboTax — you had to download a patch (which they eventually made available) from Intuit’s website.
The Wall Street Journal exposed the whole thing and it caused a big stink. In my case I was pissed off enough that I emailed all of Intuit’s top officers and Board of Directors to let them know they had permanently lost a customer. First they sent some canned responses trying to defend the practice. Later, when the backlash got so bad that they had to discontinue their “product activation”, they sent some nice emails trying to entice me back.
But I’d already switched to TaxCut, and I was equally happy with their competitor’s product. I’m no longer overly angry with Intuit, since they semi-apologized and semi-admitted their mistake. But I have no reason to switch back, and I’ve used TaxCut ever since.
Perhaps if Intuit had offered me a whopping discount as part of their mea culpa I’d have switched back, but they didn’t. My point is that there is an acquisition cost to getting customers. Once you’ve lost a customer, there’s an acquisition cost to regaining that customer (if it’s even possible). Customers
have options, and companies which ignore that simple fact will pay for it heavily in the long run.
Umm… just because Apple, Google and FaceBook are solvent and doing well at the moment does not in *ANY* was shape or form negate the generally dismal shape our economy is in.
The banking system imploded, people are loosing their jobs by the 10’s of thousands, homes are being foreclosed…
This doesn’t mean you should give up but I hardly think acknowledging there is a crisis is being “dragged down to their level”.
I’m reading Atlas Shrugged now. Those who criticize me for charging for lunch are the same as the people in the book who want to outlaw owning more than one business to keep competitors more “equal”.
There’s a lot of mediocrity enforcement going on out there.
Another version of it is the press constantly trumpeting how b-a-a-a-a-a-a-d the economy is. Well…. Google’s going OK. Apple’s doing OK (how many billion do they have in cash right now?). Facebook is doing OK. A lot of my customers are doing just fine, thank you very much.
How bad is it out there? Depends on who you listen to.
There are always people who will try desperately to drag you down to their level. Resist them.
Perry Marshall
Perry,
I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t feel sorry for any of the “Big 3” right now although I do feel bad for all those good people that are about to be out of a job.
Those executives that run those companies have no excuses for their poor management especially when it came to negotiating union contracts.
For years I drove nothing but Toyota’s, but back in 1999 and 2001 I decided to buy two Ford products a F250 Diesel and an Escape. Although Ford makes a fairly decent truck the bottom line is I was visiting the Dealer at least 3 or 4 times a year. Just little stupid stuff that starts to wear on you.
I’m now the proud owner of a Toyota FJ Cruiser and couldn’t be happier. From the day I first sat in it a sense of relief came over me that I was finally back into a Toyota. It’s been 32,000 miles already and I haven’t been back to the Dealership. The Escape will be sold this year and the wife wants a VW convertible, no problem, Germans build great cars too.
Thanks for sounding off Perry on the plight of American car manufacturer’s, I thought I was the only that felt the way you did. Steve Tarini
First in response to Daniel – In my opinion you’re missing the point of Atlas Shrugged, yes all that stuff happens in the book, but that’s not what it’s about.
One of the main ideas I picked up in the book was how a country much like ours was creating a system that instead of rewarding the people who deserved it and did the work they rewarded the people who did no work but said they deserved it. It was about a fundamental shift in people’s morality and basic principles and how good men typically stood by doing nothing not realizing what it cost them.
Mark Stanton is right America is losing her identity as a nation. We’ve created a system that rewards those who don’t work or work dishonestly. We’ve supported Socialist programs while they erode our foundations as a Country. We’ve supported the prevailing thought that the Federal Government WILL take care of us. We’re slowly taking the capital out of the people’s hands and placing it in the state’s hands much like Communism.
Now this can be fixed, but not by injecting money into companies that aren’t viable on their own. This is just a wake up call to America that we need a little corrective action in our legislation and corporate thought processes. Obama’s right “Change is coming!” Let’s make it a positive change ensuring our children’s children’s futures. Let’s elect and hold accountable people with sound fiscal policies who believe in our rights and the things that made this Country great. America is calling out for leaders will you answer?
I agree with Mark’s comment. There are a lot of problems in many industries and in the government; however, without a bailout the loss of so many jobs would be so enonomous in many industries that it would be even more damaging to the economy. The executives of the Big 3 have been so incompetent and have driven the companies into the ground. GM has not made a profit in over a decade and has borrowed to even pay the interest on its debt. A prime example, is Chrysler. Does anyone remember Lee Iacoca (sp)? He went to Washington with a Plan and received funding; however, he paid it back and he paid it back EARLY. Does anyone keep their word? I am beginning to doubt it. The Big 3 exec’s went to Washington in their private jets without a plan–even on a napkin. And it show how incompetent they were. Yes, they would not be able to answer all the questions proposed to them before Congress, but they had NO answers–only–begging not to go under!!! There didn’t even seem to be any humility. Their return trip vehicles were different and their decision to accept $1 as salaries and not to take their bonus packages, which if they had any sense, should have been done before their first appearance in Washington, did not leave a whole lot for them in the way of reconstruction or maybe resurrection ailing companies. By the way, they didn’t deserve the bonuses anyway and hadn’t for years, since their respective companies were hemorrhaging in the streets. Let’s hope someone with some sense gets control of the situation, for the sake of thousands of hard workers and their families.
I’ve never owned anything but Ford’s, and never had any trouble with them. One of my earliest recollections from grade school history is of Henry Ford and he became something of a hero to me. Personally, I see this automotive “bailout” as a smokescreen for the government.
America is losing her identity as a nation. It is largely due to corruption on Wall Street and especially in our government. Social engineers have seen to it that this country is in a constant state of discord and decay. The American family, the institutions of education, marriage and religion, all have been under attack for decades. It shows everywhere you turn. It is almost fashionable to denounce America and silly old fashioned values. The values that made us great. Back when we bowed to no one and commanded respect.
I’m a firm proponent of survival of the fittest and think any business or industry that doesn’t innovate and grow deserves it’s demise. However, when a corrupt government controls incrementally increasing aspects of it’s people’s lives (media control, confiscatory taxation enforced by thugs, etc.) and begins regulating every aspect of business (with one hand out receiving graft and payoff), then the fittest is now defined as the one with the most money or the most guns. Or both. A stinking corrupt government is our bigger problem. Why isn’t everyone worked up over the $700 Billion they simply handed over to the banking industry? It’s because people are generally ignorant of the banking industry and just how rotten it is on a global scale. But, almost everyone has had a bad experience with a car, or a sleezbag salesman.
The debate isn’t about who makes a better vehicle. They all make good vehicles. It gets down to individuals at the store where you bought your vehicle and just how vigorously they perform their job. I work for a Ford store and I guarandamntee you, if someone has a problem with one of the vehicles we delivered it is going to be fixed. If we have to fight with the factory and threaten to dangle the vehicle from the flagpole on the evening news, it will get fixed. And if, as it happens with EVERY MANUFACTURER, a lemon slips through production, it gets replaced. The way the Japanese run their business is smarter in that they still believe in and adhere to codes of discipline. Codes that they enforce all the way down the chain to the dealership level. There’s great honor in that. Here in the U.S., the Peter Principle thrives yet today from our unhallowed halls in Washington trickling into every private sector industry throughout the nation with the incompetents rising to the highest levels. I bet any of you who still work in the traditional work force can think of 3 or 4 buffoons who SHOULD be on line at the soup kitchen. I’d bet there might be one or two of you looking over your shoulder right now hoping no one thinks YOU should be in the soup line.
But, there are many of us who still believe in the greatness of our experiment in democracy. Who still hold pride in the country we once were and who deliver 110% of ourselves to our families and our work every day. When you paint an industry as a loser you wrecklessly paint many good people with that same brush. People who work at the grunt level every day to change for the better. People who may not share your belief that foreign car makers are far superior to those of America. But, hey, it’s always good to have one more line to divide across, right? It’s not like, “United We Stand” or anything.
Perry, I have a great deal of respect for you and what you do here. If you’re ever in Ohio and want to drive in a real luxury car, I have access to Fords, Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Mercurys. These are the foundations of the World’s Automotive Industry, 100+ Years Old and still looking forward. And, the Good Lord a willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we aren’t going anywhere.
Happy New Year, people.
First, thanks Perry for all the great info you provide us. I really enjoy your escape from the cubicle story, partly because I know what DeviceNet is.
I know about DeviceNet because I’m one of your readers that hasn’t escaped from the “job” yet. And my job is at the factory that built your Avalon. So thanks for buying our products and also for the plug.
Your point about the long life of a grudge is so true. Truth is, almost everyone builds good cars these days. Industry data shows the quality gap between Toyota and everyone else has shrunk a lot.
But because the gap was once huge, and the Big 3 seemed indifferent to fixing the problems, they may never overcome the perception.
Another example of the long life of perceptions is found in many of the comments to this article. I’m always amazed by the “buy American” comments. In fact, the domestically produced content in our cars is higher than most of the Detroit cars. Our factories employ Americans and our suppliers employ Americans. Yet our cars are seen as foreign cars.
So, how has Toyota climbed to the top?
You hear a lot of things tossed around in the news, but I’ll share a couple of items that any of us can take a lesson from.
Toyota was the last of the Japanese companies to build plants in this country. They were one of the last to build a large SUV (and no, SUV’s weren’t dumb vehicles. They were hugely popular – and high profit margin products – that American car buyers loved). Everyone has a “crossover” vehicle. We are just now bringing one to market (the Venza – built in KY). Toyota doesn’t chase fads. They study first. But once Toyota enters a market, it’s done with gusto.
While slow and prodding, Toyota embraces change. Slow, daily incremental change is part of our culture. We constantly test and adjust. When we have to make changes because of market conditions, it’s not a tramatic experience.
Toyota has one advantage over the Big 3 that you don’t hear on the news. They pay cash for everything. There is no cost for debt service in the price of our cars. I think this is huge and a good lesson for us all. Stay out of debt.
Happy New Year.
This time it’s the US Car Industry. The US Airline industry deserves to go the same way. The only thing saving it is that they won’t allow the foreigners in to compete!
Happy New Year, Perry–
Although I have never had the misfortune to own an American car that was a “lemon”, I have friends who did. Your lemon post is right on.
More years ago than I care to count, when I was 16, I ran over my Zippo lighter with my ’48 Plymouth, damaging it (the lighter) beyond repair. Being curious if the Zippo company would honor their “Lifetime Gurantee” I sent the damaged lighter to them along with a letter honestly telling them what happened and that it was due to my own negligence. The company replied with a personal letter and a brand new lighter. I never forgot that.
When I started my own manufacturing company 25 years ago, I remembered my “Zippo” experience and placed a “Lifetime Repair or Replacement Gurantee” on my products. To this day, we are the only company in our industry that still offers that guarantee and I have never regretted it. A satisfied customer is the best advertising there is, and no amount of advertising can heal the damage of a single dissatisfied customer.
Thank you for all you do.
Perry,
Your story about the lemon really hits home for me.
When my wife and I had been married a little over a year we took a Ford (can’t remember which model, probably an escort) on a 6 hour drive to the beach, the car was only 2 years old and was chosen because of great gas mileage blah blah blah. But that $HI^^y car left us stranded in a strange town for about 12 hours while I found a local mechanic shop and had to change out some parts to eventually get us home.
I have always driven Honda, Nissan or Toyota and have NEVER experienced something like that expecially when I always stayed on top of maintenance etc.
When I got back home I vowed never EVER to drive Ford EVER!
My last 2 vehicles since that? Toyota Tacoma and Toyota 4-Runner with absolutely no issues whatsoever, except when I backed into a UPS truck hehehehe.
Have a great New Year Perry and thanks.
In response to Kenn
Funny but I’m the exact opposite. The *less* I spend on somethign WAY cool – the more proud of it I am. As for love… I don’t know how anyone could *love* a car… or ANY inanimate object for that matter. Heck, getting love right with a *person* is hard enough to figure out. Personally I feel if you can love a car or a toaster or whatever you’re wired all wrong and could never get it right with a member of the opposite sex. But I digress…
Tenacity? Uphill battles? Ever heard the saying “Cut your losses and run”? Anyone who invests an inordinate amount of time in an uphill/loosing battle has their priorities all out of whack and would probably do better in life if they learned how to spot a loosing proposition early on and grew the gonads to dump it.
Oh and not everyone has to spend currency on their wife to love her (and based on your theory the more I spend on her the more I shold love her right?). Personally I find that a very disturbing and, frankly, sad, outlook on life. Of course, to each his own but, seriously, did I already mention the whole priorities all out of whack thing?
I think maybe this is one of the less appealing side effects of our capitalist system. People place more weight on monetary value than anythign else.
I think maybe you need to step back and take a good hard look at things and figure out what is *really* important in life.
Just my humble opinion of course.
———————————————–
Other random comments… LOVED the Anne Rand/Atlas Shrugged reference but I don’t see the connection. In Atlas Shrugged the main character, John Gault, convinces or coerces all the worlds great thinkers and creators into going into hiding and once they have all disappeared the world begins to grind to a halt. The idea there being that the majority of us are sheep and lambs and there are but a few sheep and goat herders that make the world function. This point is driven home when Gault is captured and taken to a cave and tortured. His captors. The world is falling apart and his captors want to know whee he has hidden away all the people that can fix it. To get this information out of him they are torturing him with a generator and, in the middle of the interrogation, the generator breaks down. No one there, except for Gault, knows how to fix it. To drive the point he has been trying to make point home Gault tells his captors how to fix the generator so that they can continue torturing him. When he does this they realize the implications and run from the cave; Gault having gotten his point across.
Did I mention? GREAT book.
And, one last comment for anyone mentioning the cost to repair a vehicle… If you don’t wan to spend a lot of $$ in an auto shop. Spend the $$ on a decent set of tools and a shop manual. A car is not that hard to service and you’ll save a lot of money. I’ve never bough a new car (and never would) and I’ve never taken a car to the shop. I bought the tools and learned how to fix them myself. the years I’ve spent WAY less than I would have on mechanics and in the process I’ve built my own shop – complete with air tools, a media blast cabinet and the works.
My personal philosophy is that if you are not willing to take the time to learn how to service somethign then you probably shouldn’t own it as it will eventually become a money pit.
That goes for cars to computers to houses.
It’s really sad but modern society has made most people weak and incapable. A man should know how to fix a car, build a computer, write a book, cook a meal, plant and grow his own food, etc. Specialization is for insects.
But again, as is my wont… I digress…
I seem to have gotten off topic…
I see a lot of comments about the current mess the Big Three are in up in Detroit. I thought that the capitalist system was all about he who makes the better mouse trap catches the mouse so why did we even entertaining the idea of bailing them out much less do it?
Doesn’t bailing them out go against the grain of the capitalist philosophy? If you make bad business decisions then you *deserve* to go bankrupt. It isn’t fair to the companies who *did* make good sound business decisions. They read the market right and were careful with their funds. They deserve to beat out their competition. If the government bails out the Big Three they are giving them an unfair advantage over their competitors.
Seem like all we do in this country any more is bail out failing businesses….
Hi Perry
I’m based in the UK and we went through a similar bail out of our motor industry about 30+ years ago when our politicians threw shed loads of money at the once mighty but ailing British Leyland.
At the time I was selling storage and materials handling equipment and did virtually no business at their main plant as their preferred supplier was a German company, which was pretty amazing considering their main marketing message was Buy British!
Because of all the success the German supplier was having their deliveries went out to 16 weeks, and so I thought I’m going to get my share of all this wasted money and go for this account big time as I could deliver a comparable product in 4 weeks.
Long story short, within 4 weeks I had my first order and never looked back. At the peak of their spending binge I spent every Friday on site had 68 contacts and was getting £30,000 worth of orders a month. Nearly lost the account when my salesman got a Nissan company car and took it on site, they weren’t happy bunnies!
Predictably it still all ended in tears and all that’s left of the site is a small section run by a Chinese business which bought the rights to one of their Marques. But at least I got my money’s worth out of the waste.
And there’s a fair chance of history repeating itself as Jaguar and Land Rover are putting pressure on the government to bail them out, still it’s only pounds and they’re worthless anyway so what’s to lose?
Hi Perry,
Happy New Year!
Just wanted to share my experiences re the car theme. My father often bought Fords and I observed that they didn’t seem to be as high performance as the GM’s that my uncle purchased. So my first car was a – get this you guys – 1969 Firebird 350 convertible. I drove it off the lot. Inheritance $$$ from my grandfather. Folks thought I was totally fiscally irresponsible. However… being a Ralph Nadar fan from way back paid off. I was NOT interested in planned obsolescence, and wanted to have a car that I could drive for many years…. Must have been the original “green”. Unlike my father’s approach which was to trade in every few years.
I bought the proverbial “Wednesday car”. It has never disappointed and in fact, is still with me. I bought it in January 1969 so I will have been proud owner for almost 40 years. (Ok… am dating myself a little bit here, but shhhh….) The car is presently “in retirement” in the garage and my son… the #1 on the list for possible next owner has indicated that it’s OK for me to sell it instead…. Just getting a web page prepared and will upload it in a few weeks when I’m back from a holiday and can monitor the response.
Based on such a GREAT experience with Pontiac, in the late 1970’s we purchased a “Pontiac Grand LeMans” While not a “lemon”, there was a major defect in the paint they used, and the company reps who examined the car gave each other a “knowing look” but refused to accept any responsibility or offer to have the areas repainted. My cost. Also a deposit in my VERY long memory banks.
To give you an idea of HOW long my memory can be…. Another case… and I’m sharing this as an example of the wrong way to treat customers… what NOT to do.
This example relates to a payment I made for my Visa bill. I’m one of that rare breed who actually pays off the balance every month. On time. I suppose that I’m not really their “ideal” customer, as they don’t make a lot of money from me on the usurious interest that is typically levied on unpaid balances.
On this particular occasion, September 1985, I was away on a business trip. I had taken a few bills with me and completed the cheques, envelopes etc. while away, and mailed the bills with LOTS of time for them to arrive. The Visa payment was ultimately posted to my account THE DAY AFTER THE DUE DATE and they assessed interest. Subsequent communications with Visa fell on deaf ears… they would not reverse the few paltry dollars of interest, in spite of my flawless payment history to that point.
So I’ve been a faithful user of Mastercard ever sense. I still maintain that Visa card as there are the occasional merchant that only takes Visa. I put a few transactions a year on it. Nothing like the workout the Mastercard gets , that’s for sure. So, even though they don’t get “interest” payments from me, they have lost the revenue they assess the merchants for all those transactions… over 23 years that adds up to a lot of lost revenue. Perhaps when we get to the quarter century mark, I might even get my pen to paper and let them know how much that stupid decision has cost them. Lifetime customer value…. Think about it.
You Vote With Your Dollar
Hi Perry,
Happy New Year although I know there’s about 3 or so hours before it reaches you.
I only feel sorry for those workers probably the more mature ones but maybe some of the younger ones, that started off with ethics morals and scruples and saw them eroded through the greed of the top executives.
When I was young cars were built like sleek tanks and were reliable and SAFE and most people could do the necessary jobs on them and took pride in doing so, things like changing oil, filters, wipers and so on but with the advent of computer models, steel as thin as aluminiun and unashamed greed,let’s do it in the cheapest posible manner who cares about safety or anything else, that all went by the board.
I can only imagine how those workers with pride in their jobs felt as they were made to drop their standards to the mess of today. How will these people cope because you can bet there’s no couselling to help them through it. Now of course not only have they been forced to produce shoddy work but will they still be producing anything in the near future?
Here in Oz in 1972 we elected (don’t blame me) the God inspired Prime minister Gough Whitlam. After only about 3 months in office our fabulous hospital system which was the best in the world started to crumble due to this same mentallity and every Labour government we have caries it on. Our hospitals are in the same crisis as your car companies and the pollies blame everybody else, it’s never them. As I was a nurse in the halcyon days before GGW I guess I went through the grieving of watching the same sort of stuff happen. I try never to get sick these days and if I do please God I will still have been able to afford my private health cover because I “should” get decent care unless I have an operation and end up with some rampant infection that if I’m lucky will knock me off quick smartly. Youngsters wonder why you bang on about the good old days.
I really hope there is some justice for all those workers and their families.
Many thanks, Maureen
Ok Perry,
I’ve been marketing to the U.S. auto industry over 25 years and have seen many satisfied customers. You’re picking on one manufacturer out of several dozen. Every manufacturer has had there share of lemons. Of all the chevy’s I’ve owned only one gave me a problem and the dealership stepped up and fixed it. I have a Chevy Tahoe with 214,000 and it still runs great.
With that out of the way, I think Toyota has the number one products in the U.S.,then Honda, Mazda, etc. However, the top selling product outside the U.S. is an american manufacturer. Go figure.
The generation that swears that american made is the only way to go is a dying breed. My father too, only bought american. he said we needed to buy american because we are american. I understood it but I don’t agree with it.
Before everyone puts the american made car manufacturer in the gutter, maybe some of you should look into how much Japan has put into their car manufacturers.
Besides the above statements, I just want to thank you Perry for all the insight you have given me and I really appreciate all the lessons learned. I believe you are one of the best “Guru’s” to follow in this day and age.
Thank you and Happy Successful New Year.
Hal
I currently own and drive a 1992 2- door, 5 speed Honda Accord with 334,000 miles on it.
I am the 3rd owner(previous 2 owners were females). Other than routine maintenance items such as change water pump and timing belts as suggested I have had 0 defects or problems. I have replaced a few wheel bearings(kinda hard to miss the roaring noise) and valve cover gaskets leaking a little oil there have been no problems whatsoever. Me and my family have owned several Honda’s over the years.
It sure is hard to expect a better track record than this with Honda’s.
The only reason I tried Honda cars was when I was younger I was around Honda motorcycles and I stated if the cars were half as good as the motorcycles then I wanted one. I believe the cars may even be better.
Honda cars are not as pretty as Toyota cars in my opinion but I just cannot let go of the experience I have had with them.
Oh and by the way my cars rides and drives like a new car and gets 32-37 mpg NOW!
I call it my experiemental car even though I know what to expect with it. And did I mention the engine has never had any work done on it?
Lynn
Hi Perry
Two things:
First, I was born in Iran and brought up in England from my school days.
While I was still in Iran my little Dad bought a huge white Chevy Impala- early 1970’s. It was an import back when Iran and the US were the best of friends. We all loved it. It worked like a horse and looked great for its day.
I managed to jump it over a huge flood ditch and as there was no other way out, my Dad had to drive it back out over that ditch. It coped beautifully. It pulled other cars out of trouble too. Its air con never failed to delight us in our 9-month long summer seasons.
We all had a lot of respect for GM & all the other US autos (there were many in those days) but we never suffered the poor customer service given that all our cars (my friends’ parents’ cars included) were imports from the US.
I feel sorry for the workers and families and subcontractors of the big 3 … while witnessing, with disbelief, the grotesque act of their execs visiting Washington in their luxury jets.
Like Richard I learnt plenty about Professor Demming and his monumental impact on the Japanese industry and the tragic US failure to benefit from its own homegrown genius.
This brings me onto my second point. I am foucused on a couple of things and Adwords isn’t one of them. But YOU are as far form GM as Toyota and Honda are, in quality terms.
I have learnt so much from your emails and free audios. And for that I am truly grateful.
I do regular, free, website optimization training webinars. No sales pitches and no promotions are included during the (very long) training sessions. The mentions of Perry Marshall and his phenomenal insights feature regularly (as do his URL and book title etc).
Just last night when Jack B personally Skyped me and was kind enough to tell me about the opportunity to help spread Perry’s work, I didn’t hesitate.
I told Jack I was not interested in making money from this (as I had been spreading the word since July). But for reasons of accountability and tracking I joined your program officially.
But all of that is because I wanted to give my webinar attendees the very best that I could. And your work, Perry, was and is instrumental in my achieving that goal.
Perry I thank you for all you have done and wish you and yours your best year yet.
Sami
GM builds quality products
GM’s brands (Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac), representing 80 percent of our total volume, are ranked above industry average as measured by 2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality.
GM and Ford tied for the leadership position in the 2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study – 11 models ranked in the top three of their respective segments.
Since 2002 GM has earned 65 percent of all J.D. Power North/South America assembly plant quality awards (more than all other manufacturers combined.)
Since 2006, the total number of warranty repairs at GM dealerships have been reduced by 48 percent.
GM dealers are among the best in the industry when it comes to a quality experience for customers. Since 2004, all GM brands have ranked above the industry average and better than many of the top Asian brands according to J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index and Sales Satisfaction Index.
For more info goto
http://gmfactsandfiction.com
Marty
Hello,
Talk about timing. My GM product is giving me a huge headache right now. Yes, I have a warranty which counts for nothing as everything going wrong seems to not be under warranty. Imagine that! I can relate to your dad though as I like the car and hate to admit that I bought a problem. My wife also swears by Japanese models. I have stuck by the American models. All are good and bad, there are lemons in every batch.
Tim
Hi Perry,
While I’d like to think the Big 3 will wake up & smell the stench, market conditions seem to indicate otherwise. I observe GM spending big $$$ on full page newspaper ads extolling the virtues of themselves & why they are worthy of receiving our hard earned $$$ for new car purchases.
I switched careers 15 months ago from print advertising sales into new/used car sales. What an exciting time to be venturing into retail automotive! Today marks the end of my first full year, a successful year to boot. Can you guess the type of dealership? Yes, it’s an import dealership (Mazda) and I’m loving it.
Fortunately our management/ownership team believe in and understand the concept of good customer service. This goes a long way toward making our jobs easier and also enables the enjoyment of showing up every day.
So if you’re looking for a Mazda (or Toyota) I’d be pleased to help find the car that’s right for you.
Warmest winter regards,
Rod Sider
Waterloo, Ontario
Perry, You’re absolutely right in your comment regarding the arrogance of past GM managements. And that makes bailing out such a difficult decision. But I say there’s no alternative considering the long term good for our country and our kids and grand kids that we step in and help out. This country became wealthy only by doing one thing well and that was making things “widgets” if you will. We have now succeeded in making China wealthy and they are indeed owners of most of our country’s wealth. Look what happened to PC’s.There’s none manufactured in the USA, look at printers, Xerox is the only surviving US company on the other hand with printers made here with union labor.So my point is that future generations of Americans need a manufacturing segment and GM because of it’s large presence would deal this sector a mortal blow and would delegate us to complete dependence on overseas manufacturers to provide us with the “widgets” that we think we need to enhance or enrich our lives.
My two cents worth, joyous and prosperous New Year to you and yours.
Tony
I think I will agree with Richard, one thing in life is take things as they come and learn from mistakes, for me I come from a family here in Nigeria where you take pleasure in any thing that comes your way, so I believe what we need to know is different strokes for different folks
Hi Perry,
The whole U.S. car industry story is one of ignorance, missed opportunities, dropped balls; whatever its name it applies but most of all, corporate hubris. Those old style – and still in charge – Detroit car guys just never took the Japanese seriously until it was way too late.
To this day, Bob Lutz – and having been born like him in Zurich, Switzerland, I feel some affinity with the obviously smart guy who has achieved a lot in his illustrious career – has a hard time giving them credit for actually pushing Detroit as far as they could in building better cars but never really getting on par. In the ’90s Detroit came up with the most stupid vehicle type ever invented – the SUV, claiming it to be safer until they started rolling over, being built on truck chassis. This got them side tracked from building reliable, stylish sedans or great sports cars, the Corvette being the only exception but hardly main stream, to compete with Toyoda, Honda, Nissan, not even to speak of Audi, BMW, Acura and Lexus.
Even with some of their cars today being of higher quality than in the past, they have a huge perception problem with a large part of the public and they are unable to change those perceptions with their equally bad and ineffective marketing.
Despite the financial injection they are now getting from the government, in a shrinking overall car market their future outlook is truly bleak and I haven’t even touched the subject of the UAW in this scenario.
Dear Perry
i took this story like a message on breeding care of the customers,or friends, your loved ones,as you love to name it.To respect,really try to understand,fix someone’s problems and give your hand in need.
If you write honestly,with strong desire to be perceived and bringing a message to others,it will get people’s attention.
I have no car,so i wouldn’t talk about-let others write their experiences.
If *Writing* to be my good,as any other good it has own price-must be done excellent,words to come from heart and say someone’s personal story.
Happy New Year!
Wishing you best year ever!
I know what you guys are talking about, my first car was a 1986 Pontiac Fiero. I loved that car but it didn’t love me, I was constantly cranking on it due to poor execution of a great idea. Bean counters got in the way and had 10 year old parts installed instead of using the best technology they could muster.
I have a friend that had a 1988 Honda Accord run 240,000 miles until it was stolen. My girlfriends Toyota Camry just needs it’s oil changed to run like a top, same with my BMW 330Ci
I’m constantly astounded when I see people buy GM products. Go sit in a mid level GM or Ford sedan then go sit in an import, you can feel the difference. Sit in a luxury american sedan then sit in a BMW or Mercedes, you’ll know if your eyes are open. The only thing America still does semi right is diesel trucks, but Fords still have some work to do on their engines.
What scares me most out of the whole situation is how much America is following the path laid out in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I don’t understand how our leaders think it’s okay to foot the bill for an insolvent company to continue doing business. Is it somehow going to magically become solvent?
Perry,
On the thing about your dad’s car, my friend has bought cheap cars all his life and has sometimes been in a similar quandry. The problem is whether to go with the “devil you know” and pay for a repair, or to start all over again and take your chances with the next one.
Maybe your dad was in the same kind of situation?
A number of years ago I had a real lemon, a Mercury Sable, that was completely falling apart at only 80,000 miles. Even before that, there were so many problems with it, especially the AC. I won’t even get into my more recent bad experience with a Chevy.
My husband and I have an Avalon, too, and we love it. I met another Avalon owner who has more than 200,000 miles and has had no problems. There is no doubt in my mind that the next car I buy will be a Toyota or Nissan.
The big three wouldn’t be having such huge problems if they made a product as good as Toyota or Nissan.
I was raised by parents who would only drive Japanese cars because of lemons like your dad’s.
In fact, the one time I did buy an American made car I think my parents just about disowned me (they at least questioned my intelligence). Let’s just say it was not a good experience, and I have not bought American in years for a similar reason. However, it all boiled down to the customer service when I bought the car.
I bought a Plymouth Breeze about 13 years ago. The back seat floor mats were missing. The salesman took my number and said he would get some and give me a call when the floor mats came in.
He NEVER called. I called HIM at least 15 times that month, and several times over the next few months. I NEVER got the original matching floor mats for my new car.
The worst part about it was that after a while when I would call I could hear the salesmen make comments in the background about ‘it’s the “car mat” lady again’ and then their laughter. They did not think car mats were important enough for their time.
I can’t tell you how many times I have told that story. I CAN tell you that everyone I know has heard it and then some, since I use it when working with clients.
I’m not sure how many other people didn’t buy or even shop for a car from that dealership because of my story. I can tell you I have purchased or leased 4 cars over the years since, and not one of them was from that Shuman dealership in Walled Lake, MI.
I still cannot believe to this day that the sales staff was so cocky about getting the sale in the bag that none of them considered all the cars I had yet to buy in my lifetime (or my friends)…thousands of dollars in commissions lost all over two lousy back seat floor mats.
I don’t feel sorry for the American car companies either. They never really got the concept of Kaizen. They certainly don’t seem to have ever applied it to customer service.
Have to disagree. I see your example more as some people have too much pride to admit a mistake, whether it be the car, or the wife, they purchased. A smart business person and a smart person in general knows when to cut their losses, whether it be with a car, a computer or a person in their life that simply requires too much effort and creates too many problems, financially, emotionally or otherwise. I’m all for perseverance but one has to know when to abandon ship!
Your article really made me think. And unfortunately I think it’s spot-on. In fact, I believe that within 10 years many American products just won’t compare to products made overseas. And that’s due in large part to social cause issues that have become the very fabric of corporate America. US Corporations today are more interested in issues such as diversity quotas, PR and hiring the cheapest workers than hiring the best workers, paying them reasonably and focusing on competence and quality.
Look at Toyota in Japan. They don’t focus on PC PR causes or diversity issues. They strictly hire based on competence and quality and think long term. They don’t have the strings attached that US corporations seem to like to get tangled in.
Hi Perry,
It’s funny how history repeats itself. US auto makers had a similar issue in the 70’s. I remember learning about Dr. Edward Deming and his TQM (Total Quality Management) principles in school. American car companies were not interested in what Dr. Deming had to say so he went to Japan. Today, when you walk into the Toyota world headquarters building you will still find a photo of Dr. Deming.
In reading a recent automotive report, it is apparent that all of the US auto makers missed the mark in forecasting what kinds of vehicles Americans would want to buy.
I remember back when I was 19-20, I had a VW Golf. I put 300,000 miles on that car. My buddies would always look at my odometer to see when I would hit the 300k mark. You don’t do that with an American vehicle.
Perry,
I just wanted to thank you for all the helpful information I have received from you in 2008, and wish you a very happy new year.
Sue
Perry,
You miss the point about your Dad’s car. My Dad who is also not here with us had a Renault which was every bit a Lemon as lemons go. My poor Mom tried for the longest time to have him get rid of it. here are the lessons I’ve learned
1) Tenacity, being committed to something or someone you love regardless of how uphill the battle is
2) You only love something when you spend currency on it. This is the reason many stupid young men opt to going out on dates with strange women and buying everything under the sun, because investing in something means you really truly care. It’s why you charge premium fees for advice regardless of how small. In the love-o-meter, your loving dad probably loved his lemon more than you do your Avalon.