Why Drivers Love to Hate Detroit

Business Week readers explain how arrogant dealers, uncaring manufacturers, and all manner of mechanical woes turned them off the Big Three's autos:

I learned to drive on a '71 Gremlin -- until the transmission fell out of it while my parents were crossing the trolley tracks. -- Import owner, Washington, D.C.

GM burned us on quality from '81 to '85 -- five new cars, all trash. A team of horses could not drag us into a GM dealership. -- Mazda Miata owners, Los Gatos, Calif.

In the first year, the transmission went out, [stranding] my husband 850 miles from home. Later, the alternator exploded and the engine died, [followed three months later by] a fire beneath our car. When a person pays $57,000 for a new car, he should be able to drive it without problems. -- Owner of 1990 GMC Sierra, Twin Falls, Idaho

Cadillac's STS is enticing, but with whitewall tires, gaudy gold kits, and vinyl tops...one feels there is a time warp. -- BMW owner, Seattle