[AT] OT GM downward spiral was Big Truck Pickups

[James Peck]

In the early 90s, wife was driving an 80 Chevy Malibu wagon that got hit in the driver side quarter behind the rear wheel. I cut a large patch panel out of a salvage yard car paying maybe $25 for it. I GMAW welded the panel in and touched up the paint. They do not let you keep and repair totaled vehicles anymore. We had bought an 83 Malibu wagon with the settlement so I sold the old one.

Now I really liked the looks of that 83 Malibu wagon . I later bought an 83 V8 El Camino that matched in. I also bought a low mileage 82 Malibu 4 door that had a gasoline 250 swapped into it because the original V6 diesel had been run low on oil. My plan was to get them all painted the same and keep them forever. Besides being visually appealing but low quality vehicles, something happened to everyone. Those cabbage heads that ran GM then dropped the line in favor of the less appealing Celebrity.  No wonder GM went bankrupt. Toyota did not go bankrupt even though all their products are unappealing. The Chevy 3.8L V6 was a little bit lemony anyway.

https://itstillruns.com/history-chevy-38l-v6-8538589.html

Mike Meulens AT List member (meulenms at gmx.com) ; Well, It'll be a long time before I buy a new pickup at the prices they are at now. I have a 2010 Silverado with 110,000 on it, and the rust is beginning in all the suspected spots, the rear wheel well being the main culprit. It'll be a fender flapper in a couple of years, but as long as it's reliable I'll keep it. I've heard rumors, not first hand information that body shops are having a hard time learning how to work on the aluminum body panels. Sure would be nice to have a truck that doesn't rust out before it's service life is though. You guys in the south many not have this problem, due to little or no salt ever being used.  What bothers me is that my wife's Camry has 70,000 more miles on it, gets driven every day in the salty slush, zero rust.