Man, I switched from being a diehard GM man to Ford after purchasing a 77 Bonneville. What a piece of sh!t! From top to bottom the design was a huge compromise. Replaced it with a 78 Grand Marquis and I've been a believer ever since.
I can't believe how many GM owners get burned with their lemons and yet keep going back to GM. Makes no sense to me. I get burned and I'm outta there. No second chances here!
I have no idea how GM has improved over the years. Don't even know if Ford is still putting out quality stuff. The only two vehicles I own are the 77 Lincoln and 88 E-150. No complaints about those two mofos what-so-ever! Maybe I'll give GM another chance if I ever get burned by one of my next Ford purchases. And my next purchase WILL be Ford. I'd be stupid to change after the phenomenal good luck I've had with Ford over the last 20 years.
And I can't comment on the little go-karts from either company. I wouldn't doubt that Chrysler makes the better FWD buggies. Just don't know and truly don't care.
As far as trucks, I had a friend with an 83 Chevy that ruined the cam in a 307ci at only 80K miles. Makes no sense that GM would screw up an engine like that after they'd been building it for like 30 years. But it was par from what I'd experienced with that friggen 301ci in the Bonneville. His auto tranny also puked at about 100K as well as many other small problems. Unreal.
Our shop had fantastic luck with the Ford 3/4 ton and flatbed that were purchased in 88 and 80 respectively. Over 200K on each with very, very few repairs during their service. They were both still running fine when finally sold. They of course were replaced with new Fords because of the excellent service from the first ones.
Tell ya what I would like to buy from GM. A nice big full frame RWD Fleetwood with a 350ci. Ya think I could find one? Nope. For some reason GM dicked around with all kinds of weird engines and 4,6,8 computer controlled crap on those cars. STUPID! No problem. I can still find normally aspirated Town Cars with hulking 460ci and C6 trannys. I love the style of the Caddies, but fvck those bogus engines!