Sometimes I just get so sick of hearing the same old boring mantra . . . "Japanese cars are more reliable! Get a Japanese car because they never break, and American cars dont work and rust and break!"
Ok, yes, the American car companies, especially Chrysler, had some quality problems in the 80's. In the 1980's the Japanese had a very pronounced edge on us in terms of quality and reliability. This is 2004, and you can show me any Accord with 200,000 miles . . . and Ill show you an Impala or a 300M or a Taurus (yes, a Taurus) with 200,000 miles on it too. With any car made since about 1996, reliability is almost a non-issue. Similiarly priced cars will be equally reliable. The Accord and Camry are WAY overrated (especially the Camry). My dad has a 1994 Taurus wagon with 430,000 miles on it . . . . original engine and tranny . . . (although you have to be gentle with the accelerator . . . the automatic doesnt work quite like it used to, and you can easilly rack the tranny if youre not careful)
As for me, I have a 1995 Firebird, and I f-ing love it. Acuras can go screw themselves . . . my car beats any Acura from the same time period in terms of looks and general feel. Penis car! Pfft! 8)
Well, Groverat, you made a good decision. Youll love that car, guaranteed. Now me, Id rather go with a 1994 Eldorado . . . but thats just me!
My sister has a 97 Firebird that she could not sell for $4,000 and guess what? The thing died. The computer went out on it and the thing drives like absolute crap. Trust me I have driven it, her husband has driven it and she has driven it and 3 out of three of us all agree the car is total crap. Pontiac did a horrendous job with that piece of plastic.
I have an acura that gets 27 all around fuel milage and 31-33 on the highway and this car is a tight and well engineered car (unlike the firbird above) which was bought new and I have driven it when it was new.
I have had 5 American cars over the last 10 years and American quality is much better than it was prior I agree. The problem now is that to get good quality on american today it is all found in the trucks and SUV's. The cars tend to be either junk entry level crap like Chevy Cav or senior cit cars like Buick and Mercury.
For young people who want to drive something other than just another mustang and firebird (boring) needless to say something that gets good fuel milage one has to look around.
After going to the Dallas Auto Show several weeks back I came away from it with this impression:
American cars have gone to the old people market.
American trucks are good quality but get awful fuel milage.
Honda / Acura has a hell of a product linup for the respective prices.
Toyota aside from hybrids and some small cars are bland and overpriced.
Mercedes is very nice but you pay more.
Same for BMW (I would consider both)
I like Audi but have reservations about their reliability.
Bottom line is me and my friends saw the GM crap at the auto show and the awful build quality of the interiors not to mention pretty boring pontiacs that were ugly as sin with sticker prices higher ($26,650) than nice acruas which had much greater fit and finish and have better performance and fuel milage.
The thing is however that none of us have the "right" answer with cars. This is why there is such a huge variety.
Thanks to everyone for the congrats. One of my motivations for getting the car was that I think it will hold up well over time, not just mechanically but style wise. It might be the kind of car I could take good care of and keep for a long time, maybe even keep it around for collecting or handing-down purposes. It was garage-kept and looks fantastic.
I will look for some of that Maguire's, if not I will drop by the Harley dealer here and get some S-100. Saturday morning I'll get up early and take it to the car wash place and spend and hour or two claying and waxing it.
Once I get it cleaned up (and my beloved Longhorn affixed) I will take pictures.
Need to spend more time here. Didn't finally click on this thread until today. Well, it's too late to give you advice, groverat, but maybe this'll help somebody else. The Lexus is certainly nice and I know you'll like it but it's basically a Camry - also a nice car but with less pizazz than the Lexus. Me, I'd have bought a Camry.
Going further down-market a Geo Prizm is also a very good choice. It's the SAME CAR as the Toyota Corolla but less expensive. You're not paying for the Toyota name when you get the Geo but you're still getting a Toyota.
Anyway, congrats on the new car, grover. 8) Don't get any tickets. It'll help keep your insurance rates down.
Comments
Enjoy it
Originally posted by Mac OS X
Sometimes I just get so sick of hearing the same old boring mantra . . . "Japanese cars are more reliable! Get a Japanese car because they never break, and American cars dont work and rust and break!"
Ok, yes, the American car companies, especially Chrysler, had some quality problems in the 80's. In the 1980's the Japanese had a very pronounced edge on us in terms of quality and reliability. This is 2004, and you can show me any Accord with 200,000 miles . . . and Ill show you an Impala or a 300M or a Taurus (yes, a Taurus) with 200,000 miles on it too. With any car made since about 1996, reliability is almost a non-issue. Similiarly priced cars will be equally reliable. The Accord and Camry are WAY overrated (especially the Camry). My dad has a 1994 Taurus wagon with 430,000 miles on it . . . . original engine and tranny . . . (although you have to be gentle with the accelerator . . . the automatic doesnt work quite like it used to, and you can easilly rack the tranny if youre not careful)
As for me, I have a 1995 Firebird, and I f-ing love it. Acuras can go screw themselves . . . my car beats any Acura from the same time period in terms of looks and general feel. Penis car! Pfft! 8)
Well, Groverat, you made a good decision. Youll love that car, guaranteed. Now me, Id rather go with a 1994 Eldorado . . . but thats just me!
My sister has a 97 Firebird that she could not sell for $4,000 and guess what? The thing died. The computer went out on it and the thing drives like absolute crap. Trust me I have driven it, her husband has driven it and she has driven it and 3 out of three of us all agree the car is total crap. Pontiac did a horrendous job with that piece of plastic.
I have an acura that gets 27 all around fuel milage and 31-33 on the highway and this car is a tight and well engineered car (unlike the firbird above) which was bought new and I have driven it when it was new.
I have had 5 American cars over the last 10 years and American quality is much better than it was prior I agree. The problem now is that to get good quality on american today it is all found in the trucks and SUV's. The cars tend to be either junk entry level crap like Chevy Cav or senior cit cars like Buick and Mercury.
For young people who want to drive something other than just another mustang and firebird (boring) needless to say something that gets good fuel milage one has to look around.
After going to the Dallas Auto Show several weeks back I came away from it with this impression:
American cars have gone to the old people market.
American trucks are good quality but get awful fuel milage.
Honda / Acura has a hell of a product linup for the respective prices.
Toyota aside from hybrids and some small cars are bland and overpriced.
Mercedes is very nice but you pay more.
Same for BMW (I would consider both)
I like Audi but have reservations about their reliability.
Bottom line is me and my friends saw the GM crap at the auto show and the awful build quality of the interiors not to mention pretty boring pontiacs that were ugly as sin with sticker prices higher ($26,650) than nice acruas which had much greater fit and finish and have better performance and fuel milage.
The thing is however that none of us have the "right" answer with cars. This is why there is such a huge variety.
Different people, different cars
Fellows
I am so happy you got a car that did not get you into debt and one that you like as well
That is what it is all about
Fellows
I will look for some of that Maguire's, if not I will drop by the Harley dealer here and get some S-100. Saturday morning I'll get up early and take it to the car wash place and spend and hour or two claying and waxing it.
Once I get it cleaned up (and my beloved Longhorn affixed) I will take pictures.
Going further down-market a Geo Prizm is also a very good choice. It's the SAME CAR as the Toyota Corolla but less expensive. You're not paying for the Toyota name when you get the Geo but you're still getting a Toyota.
Anyway, congrats on the new car, grover. 8) Don't get any tickets. It'll help keep your insurance rates down.