The Life of Taurus.....

[super32]

And old argument

I have owned both, foreign and domestics. I have had 3 toyota trucks, (tacomas) 95' 97' 98'. I had some sort of trouble with all three of them. The 95' was the only one i didnt buy new, and it was the one i had the most trouble with. They gave me camry's as loaner cars and they were fun and very comfortable to drive. Would i buy one? probably not. Im 6'3", somewhat of a big buck. I DONT fit into most import cars and trucks. I originally bought the first toyota truck because i had GM and Ford products that i didnt really care for. One of the Fords was a 91 sable LS. Yes the transmission went out at about 75K. It was about $1500 to have repaired. Ford ended up paying for it. There was also other issues with the car, the most notable was the automatic climate control/air-condition. I learned that AC problems was a "Ford thing" thru the early 90's. The one thing that seems to be common umong american branded cars is electrical issues. I had an 88' town car, and 92' continental. Both of them were plagued with electrical problems. The town car had the least engine trouble.

Since my late 80's/early 90's Fords i have had a few Ford trucks, a Benz, Bmw, 5 Cadilliac's, Chrysler, another Continental, and now a 08' Ram. I'm a person that never really looked at a chrysler twice but fell in love with the Dodge truck after a test drive back in 06'.

All those different makes and models had their issues, some were major most were minor in my eyes. So far the Ram, has had no issues in 7400mi.

I now buy cars because i like the looks, the way it drives, the way i fit in it, and other personal preferences. I see cars as MORE reliable overall these days. However, reliable to 100k. It seems thats the point in which you either make it or breake it.

OK just my $0.09 worth.

 

[mihi]

super.....

you've had good/bad experiences with American and Japanese cars it sounds like. Same here. All in all, all cars are mechanical devices and will have issues.

About Chryslers, I had my first Chrysler product when I was in college, in around 1975. It was a Plymouth Fury III. I loved that car, the front suspension (torsion bar) gave it great handling. It had a 318ci engine I believe. But it also had about 120K miles and burnt valves, so it hesitated a lot. I'd paid $300 for it I think and after about 6 months sold it for $300. I hadn't had a Chrysler until 1999 when I got the 300M. What a car - I love it and still think its the best looking car on the road today. Its been OK, needed a repair along the way (transmission being the main one) but not much else. My intention is to have my wife drive it to 200,000 miles before we part with it. I've grown fond of Chryslers for some reason, can't explain it really.

 

[Cybrvanr]

That repair record looks as good as the one for my 2005 Ford Freestar I drive for work! That van is rock sold! It has 120,000 miles on it and the only thing that has ever broken on it is the windshield wiper motor at 8000 miles, which the dealer replaced. The van handles very tight and responsive, like the day it was new, and gets almost 24 MPG's on the highway. You cannot tell me the Americans build junk when I get this kind of service out of a vehicle...one that's not supposed to be all that good either! Freestars have a bad reliablity record for some reason. Obviously Consumer reports did not ask our shop, as we have 4 of them with the same kind of mileage, and they all have been just as reliable!

Well, onto the GM stuff! I have a 1988 Chevy Astro van that has 300,000 miles on it. I use it to tow my camper around. The little van is great. I cannot say that it's been perfect, but the Air conditioner still works in it after all those miles!!! I mean, on a vehicle this old, the water pump, alternator, and the starter become "routine service" items. The first time it ever left me stranded was over this past labor day weekend when the throttle cable broke on it. It had been giving me some warnings, binding up and being very hard to press the pedal down...but you can't really fault it! Did GM really think these vans were going to last 20 years, and 300,000 miles ?!?!?!? Luckily, the repair was only $25!

I've owned a Chevette too, and I cannot seem to figure out why people thought these were such bad cars! A neighbor gave the thing to me, saying "you can have it, just get it out of my yard!" After filling it with fluids, I took it to a mechanic, and he said all it needed was new tires and a muffler to be drivable again....That was 5 years ago. Since then, I put new brakes on it. It gets 35 MPG's on the highway, starts on the first crank, and handles great... can't shake a stick at a car that's cost me only $300 to both purchase and drive over the course of 5 years!!!!(except for the fuel!)

I owned a 1978 Honda Civic, and I can honestly say, the Chevette has it all over the Civic! The Civic's engine was not geared for American highways...it revved up way too high at 65 mph. The Chevette? Well, it has a 5 speed transmission with Overdrive. The engine only turns at 2200 RPM at the same speed. The Chevette also has real shocks, no McPherson struts, and much more suspension travel, so it can handle the worn-out pothole-ridden roads here in the USA. The Chevette is also sized properly for American drivers, with bigger seats and a taller roofline. I also like the rear-wheel drive, and the better weight balance of the Chevette.

The Honda Civic, well, it was OK on reliablity. My parents bought it new, and I inherited it and drove it during my high school and college years back in the 90's. The car had some carburator problems, along with brakes. The electrical system was very problematic too. But the worst of it was how bad the rest of the car fell apart around what was a pretty decent little engine. The car had terrible rust problems, and the interior fell apart within about 3 years of buying it with the stiching coming loose in the seats, the dashboard cracking, and the cardboard door panels falling apart.

I bought a Prelude just out of College thinking that Hondas had gotten better, but I ended up experiencing different problems... but also Overheating, and again, electrical issues that I spent fortunes on trying to correct, but never could....Honda parts are Expensive (don't give me no BS about European parts after buying Honda parts!!!) On the flip side of the coin, Mom bought a 1991 Honda Accord (to replace teh old 1978 I ended up with), and it has been pretty reliable through the years she had it. The only real issues with that one were a bad factory paint job, and poor quality interior materials that faded and fell apart (flashbacks to the old 1978!). Currently, one of my friends owns it, and he replaced the timing belt and the CV joints.

It's all in what you get! There are good cars out there and there are bad cars out there from both sides of the pond! My family has always been GM and Honda fans, and we've gotten good cars from both, and bad cars from both. The only thing I can say is that Japanese cars break DIFFERENT stuff that American cars do, but the both will break eventually!...it all comes out in the laundry!