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Re: The Lucerne is no Buick
It's unfortunate you got a poorly assembled Lucerne. The loose seat is obviously not a design problem, but an assembly problem.
The bent wheel (supplied by Reynolds or MMC in Japan - Look at the back flange if you don't believe me) is obviously not a design problem.
IIRC, Continental is a child of Yokohama Tire. That means that two of your four problems are only due to Japanese quality, and therefore can just as easily occur on a Lexus. Of course, you might be able to blame the UAW and/or Teamsters for mishandling the wheels in production or shipping and bending them.
The oil leak is likely even an assembly problem, and not a design problem. Don't blame GM for the UAW's shortcomings, and don't reward either for poor performance. If GM goes under, both will go down. Too bad that half of them don't realize that.
As for the idea of using a 5 or 6-speed automatic, and GM being "behind" the rest of the world, you may want to refresh your information. GM had 6-speed automatics in service by 1974. It took the rest of the world 30+ years to catch up. Then it took someone to build passenger cars that actually needed a 6-speed - To have such inadequate torque for their weight that they can’t get moving with less than a 5:1 ratio, and to still enable the underpowered cars to get fuel mileage to compete. GM has been getting it done with higher stall torque converters for years, and accomplishing the same sort of thing.
More isn't necessarily better. OTR trucks have had 18-speed transmissions for decades. They also lack adequate power and have engine without a sufficiently broad torque band to enable them to use fewer ranges. When you underpower a car to a similar power/weight ratio, the same thing happens. When you have four lower gears to get the slug moving, and three upper gears to keep it moving at highway speeds, and an "ultra-smooth" 1.8 liter, sixty valve V12, you need a nine speed transmission to cover all the bases. My '96 Impala gets 27 highway, and I can put a Lexus in the trunk as a spare. It has four speeds, and only makes it to 122 MPH in 1320' as a result. I guess I need more gears.
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