Car Thread

[Rybit]

What kind of car do you have? List your Brand, Model, Year, and Special Options (if applicable).

BMW Z4 - 2007

[Chanur]

1986 Mustang 5.0 5 speed, 1996 Toyota Camry, 99 Dodge Durango 4x4, 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4, 84 Ford F150 4x4, 2000 Honda Accord.

[Kelraz Bladesinger]

Brand new '09 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with a slight scratch on the front bumper because of a damn rock jumping up the weekend after I bought it :(

[Malse]

2000 Saturn LS I4 manual with special not-washed-in-years coat! Previously a terrible 90-something Mercury Cougar I inherited and got rid of when a friend fenderbendered it with no small help from the awesome brakes and handling. The car I really miss though is the Mazda Millennia.

I had thought about getting Z4 a few years back but they wouldn't finance me without frosted tips. For fun and when it's above 50F I have a Triumph anyway. I had wanted an American bike but we only make rattletrap showboats these days :>

[Bylimet Spiritwalker]

2005 Saturn VUE

[Kanyli]

'03 Ford F-150. Nothing really special about it, but I'm very happy with it. With regards to the other thread on buying American, I haven't really had any problems with it and it has more headroom for tall people like me than some of the foreign trucks I looked at.

'07? Prius - my wife's car. For a small car, it also has a fair amount of headroom.

I previously owned an '91 Taurus, which I really liked. The Taurus line went downhill in the later part of the 90's. I also used to drive an '83 J-10 Jeep pickup. A great little truck, even if the engine featured some odd engineering.

[Chanur]

I used to really want a Taurus SHO, despite the one we had being a total piece of crap.

[Palarran]

2002 Mazda Protege5.

[Nydia Ywalmoriel]

Screw hybrids - the new generation of European diesels are the way to go :). 2004 VW New Beetle Diesel here with all the bells and whistles (such as they come with that model ;) ). It gets 51 mpg highway and with respectable punch (160 hp, suck it Prius :) ) to boot - and a Tiptronic transmission should I ever need more torque than I get in lazy-ass automatic mode. Overall I'm quite happy with it although the redesigned Rabbit Diesel gets much better reliability ratings and is better for hauling things - had they been available when I was shopping a few years ago I'd have opted for one as they're nothing like the slow old aluminum cans I had several of back in the '80s.

As I've mentioned to others in the past I'm a dyed-in-the-wool diesel fan and the only non-diesel or VW I ever owned was a Ford Mustang which was a complete and utter piece of crap :/.

[Sixee]

2003 Dodge Dakota Quad cab SE. I got it when I was married, and have less that a year left on it before it is paid off. It's a gas guzzler at 19MPG, and I have an two hour drive to work and back. But soon it will be paid off, so I can't really complain.

[fildien]

2007 Toyota Rav4
2007 Toyota Camry (no idea of the model but it's loaded)

I'm very happy with both cars :)

[Taleren Bloodsong]

I drive a 2006 VW Jetta 2.0T, and my wife drives a 2005 Acura MDX.

[Korlis]

07 Silverado Classic Crew Cab with everything and I just bought my wife an 09 Dodge Journey R/T with almost everything.

[Ibudin]

95 Chevy Z71 Truck 176k miles (purchased used with 60k miles on it, owned for 10 years)
95 Honda Civic 178k miles (purchased used with 50k miles on it, owned for 10 years)
2005 Honda Accord 33k miles

[Kanyli]

The Prius definitely hurts from a lack of horsepower, and it's noticeable when hopping on and off the freeway. I'm used to my bike, which actually has, you know, real power. I was surprised to see the return of diesel engines in smaller cars, and the commercials have been pounding that. My family had an old VW Rabbit left over from the gas crisis in the '70s, and all of my memories of being crammed in that tight, vibrating deathtrap of a car are unpleasant. That said, there is a satisfying roar to my father's diesel truck at 5:00 AM on a winter morning when it's time to brave snowy streets.

[Bylimet Spiritwalker]

That said, there is a satisfying roar to my father's diesel truck at 5:00 AM on a winter morning when it's time to brave snowy streets.


Umm, snowy streets...Phoenix.....does not compute....:p

[Malse]

In his father's day, it was uphill in the snow even in the desert. Hot snow. You kids today.

[LummusL]

1990 GMC Suburban. Driven....oh like 15 miles a year =P. It huge and swills gas but its in mint condition and can't beat it for ski trips and camping in Washington State.

Here in Beijing: 1991 BJC (Beijing Jeep Corp) military jeep. Here is an example:

http://avcom.co.za/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=66861&t=1

Pretty much the same as this, only mine is OD green and has different wheels. Not sure what I am going to do with it once I leave post here, but could ship it back and merge it with a wrecked Landcruiser into something interesting.

Otherwise, I prefer my Harleys.

[Selwen Soulgazer]

2001 Isuzu Rodeo. Best Vehicle I have ever owned. Great in the snow, good on gas and I only have 700 bucks into it in repairs.

[Chanur]

Diesels destroy all hybrids pretty much for reliability and mileage. World record for cross country travel is a Jetta diesel with 58 mpg.

[LummusL]

They still have to work harder to make a small diesel car be anything but lame. Granted, you can't get much else but small diesel trucks and cars in many parts of the world. The 3rd world especially. They use diesel and kero for everything under the sun. Still though its a tough sell in the USA.

Anyone ever heard of the car least likely to be stolen in NYC?

Late 70's diesel VW Rabbit. Any shade of brown. No radio. Adding a nice sheen of black oily soot on the rear of the car seals the deal. No self respecting car/car electronics thief would give it a first glance.

Granted the small diesel car is the wave of the future. Small cars anyway. I drove a Honda CRX for 10 years and didn't mind it but I know one hit from anything over 6000 lbs and I was assured a one way ticket to my grave. That why I moved over to a motorcycle. In a wreck I am just as dead, but at least I had more fun until I bought the farm.

The point of this thread and that article probably has more to do with what is it that our little demographic represents and what the car makers are trying to come up with as being a global, socially and environmentally accepted commodity. It would seem that perhaps that is right on track, but we still want our trucks and other vehicles with utility. Also there has to be a sports car for the "Money is no object set" AKA Rybit. It means that for US makers, they either have to ween us off the truck teet and make us embrace the global status quo of the small urban centric car or trucks need to get more responsible for the global market to accept them. In China for example, you just don't see a pick up of any kind what so ever. Large. Small. Period. The Big Red Ant Farm has too many mouths to feed to even comprehend that people would do anything other than hire a man with a ricksaw to toat their stuff. Thats pretty normal the world over. Trucks are commercial vehicles for hire, not what you drive as your main mode. It will be intersting to see how it pans out for Ford and GM because if cars do indeed become a global commodity with only a few makes and brands for the entire planet, I have doubts a pickup would survive the cut.

[Sanchek]

It will be intersting to see how it pans out for Ford and GM because if cars do indeed become a global commodity with only a few makes and brands for the entire planet, I have doubts a pickup would survive the cut.

This probably belongs on the other thread, but you'd be surprised how much The Big 3 sell overseas. There's this conventional wisdom of who buys domestics and their quality, but it is fairly divorced from reality at this point.

[Chanur]

Europe loves Ford and their diesels. Also Ford makes better cars over there. Much better build quality. Assholes.

[Nydia Ywalmoriel]

They still have to work harder to make a small diesel car be anything but lame.

I'd tend to disagree there - I've had numerous people ride in my Beetle that had no idea it was a diesel until I told them - and it has plenty of pep as well as the greater heft the New Beetles have compared to the Golf/Jetta (paid for with a slight drop in gas mileage). The post-2007 German 'clean diesel' multivalve engines especially are a marvel of efficiency (and low emissions) and nothing to sneeze at - although most of the world is still driving the old dirty underpowered variety which has the advantage of running on virtually anything, under the worst conditions imaginable, and forever.

I had a few of those old Rabbits, my first one having 86 hp and being a tin death trap, as well as a Mercedes 240D standard which after 330k miles needed only CV joints and clutch bearings (I finally got rid of it because the A/C was irreparable and the body was falling apart, but still miss it ;) ). Both had speedometers which only reached 85 mph, and you had to work to get there - if I'm not careful in the Beetle when I'm on a stretch of open road I have to take care or I'm hitting 100 without breaking a sweat (and the speedometer goes to 140 or so although I haven't tried to max it out).

I only wish VW made better quality bodies/interiors as while I have the nice leather seats with lumbar support, etc, various plastic bits are already falling off of it, although that too is much improved from the old days. They are a great and much more sensible high mileage/high reliability alternative to the hybrids, which don't get any better gas mileage and moreover require those expensive, toxic batteries and inverters which have about 10 different rare earths/heavy metals required for their construction and which will eventually have to be disposed of someplace :).

Back to the 'cars we have' topic, Faervas has had two Toyotas over the past 2 decades (one Tercel, one light pickup) and both of them have been more or less bulletproof - ditto for the ex-husband (his Toyotas, not his corpus ;) ).

Regards,
Nydia

[fildien]

All through high school and part of college I drove a 1980 Audi diesel and it was a tank, so much so that I named him Boris. And he totally fit the bill. I loved that car, I could drive from college to home on $5 ahhh the good ole days.

It was a messy beast, I loved puffing smoke on the yuppies. It had quirks though, the only way to start it was to remove the air filter and spray WD-40 into what I think was the carburator? I don't know exactly, my brother gave it to me and I had it for like 6yrs....anyway after him driving it for a few years giving it to me, and then finally my other brother who tried to drive it like it was a hot rod...it caught on fire and died a firey death on I-85 north of Atlanta. I mourned his loss :*(

[Ibudin]

. It means that for US makers, they either have to ween us off the truck teet and make us embrace the global status quo of the small urban centric car or trucks need to get more responsible for the global market to accept them. In China for example, you just don't see a pick up of any kind what so ever. Large. Small. Period. The Big Red Ant Farm has too many mouths to feed to even comprehend that people would do anything other than hire a man with a ricksaw to toat their stuff. Thats pretty normal the world over. Trucks are commercial vehicles for hire, not what you drive as your main mode. It will be intersting to see how it pans out for Ford and GM because if cars do indeed become a global commodity with only a few makes and brands for the entire planet, I have doubts a pickup would survive the cut.


Trucks are a big part of life in the Midwest. Trucks will always be made for utility..the stupid trucks like Avalanches, anything with out an 8 foot bed...would be the only thing disappearing possibly. Trucks are used for more than grocery haulers. They are used for any commercial buisness for hauling product, pulling trailers...ect. They are used for weekend warriors like myself who pull boats to vacation destinations, or people pulling snowmobiles to the trails...ect. The common man may not own a truck, but there will always be a market for trucks here in North America...not just the US.

[fildien]

I would have to agree. Trucks are huge in some parts of the country. I can't speak for the midwest but I can speak of the mountains in NC where it seems everyone has a truck. I often feel inferior driving around my home town surrounded by trucks. To say that there may no longer be a market for them makes me laugh. I think at one time and maybe even for several years Ford's #1 seller was the F-150. I can't imagine them cutting them cutting it.

[LummusL]

"I would have to agree. Trucks are huge in some parts of the country. I can't speak for the midwest but I can speak of the mountains in NC where it seems everyone has a truck. I often feel inferior driving around my home town surrounded by trucks. To say that there may no longer be a market for them makes me laugh. I think at one time and maybe even for several years Ford's #1 seller was the F-150. I can't imagine them cutting them cutting it."

I hate to break it to yah, but the other 92% of the world's population which resides outside of North America doesn't give a shit about pick up trucks. It was not so long ago when the rest of the world could not afford to buy a broken down donkey to pull a cart. Well, the times be a-chang'n. Its not that the West slowed down. The East caught up, and are poised to rapidly surpass.

Hey. I like my Suburban. And there will always be trucks. What sucks though is that most places on the Earth are not the US and we have a tiny fraction of the world's population and very soon, a tiny fraction of the world's market share. With more than 50% of the world's population already urban and gravitating towards Mega-Cities...particularly in Asia where Tokyo ( a city) already has more people than Australia ( a country/continent), the little shit box car is bound to become as ubiquitous as the cell phone, and will not offer a car maker much of a margin. Trucks will really end up being a niche market if the car industry continues to consolidate and India as well as China become the major car making centers. As I previously stated, you can probably bank on less makers with few brands offering maybe one small car and one mid-sized sedan for the masses and perhaps a luxury sedan and sports car.

So you can get your pick-up in the States with a 8 foot box that can carry a sheet of plywood, but you will probably pay through the teeth for it and it might not make sense to buy one unless you own a business that needs it. In about 20 years time, 80-90% of the world will live in vast cities, of which they will seldom ever leave and if they do, they will take an airplane or high speed train. They will never own a snow machine or tow a boat or camper trailer or work on a farm or do construction or even have a 2 car garage or a need to haul things back to the house from Home Depot. They have the ubiquitous tiny apartment, cell phone and a car almost as small as their phone. THAT, is going to be the global STANDARD of which the US is choosing to not conform to right off, but that small car, tight spaces packed living is what the car makers need to cater to, or go under. There is already a lot of consolidation going on as well as going under. Its all part of how the world market is slowing gravitating away from what the North American and European buyers want and more so towards what Indians and Chinese want.

I live in Beijing. I think it sucks but its the new world paradigm. Its crowded. The air is foul. There is not much for trees or even the sun most days. Its a nightmare to drive or even walk.. but this is what the world wants. I miss my wide open spaces, evergreen forests, riding my bikes and taking my gas guzzling road hog of a truck out into the wilderness. The rest of the world seems to think that living like just another drone in the hive is the way to go, unfortunately and the market will move to accommodate. Huge cities do offer the greatest efficiency of resources and rapid sharing of ideas, so they are not going anywhere but taller, vaster and even more crowded.

[Kanyli]

Umm, snowy streets...Phoenix.....does not compute....:pI grew up in Flagstaff, and at the time it snowed much more than it does now. :)

I love my truck, and need it to carry supplies for work, such as the aforementioned 4x8 sheet of plywood, for example. I do have a bigger engine for towing, but I had the sense not to get 4WD since I live in the middle of Phoenix. I would gladly buy a more fuel efficient truck if one was out that was an affordable switch, but it would cost more right now to look at the silly hybrid trucks, and diesel trucks are almost all larger, heavier engines. The truck is one of those odd vehicles where it either has a small, efficient engine but is too small to actually do anything with (yay, 6x3.5 bed), or it's big enough for hauling lumber and tends to have a massive engine.

I'd also rather travel on the highway in my truck for long distances than the Prius - it's much more comfortable.

[Ibudin]

So you can get your pick-up in the States with a 8 foot box that can carry a sheet of plywood, but you will probably pay through the teeth for it and it might not make sense to buy one unless you own a business that needs it. In about 20 years time, 80-90% of the world will live in vast cities, of which they will seldom ever leave and if they do, they will take an airplane or high speed train. They will never own a snow machine or tow a boat or camper trailer or work on a farm or do construction or even have a 2 car garage or a need to haul things back to the house from Home Depot. They have the ubiquitous tiny apartment, cell phone and a car almost as small as their phone. THAT, is going to be the global STANDARD of which the US is choosing to not conform to right off, but that small car, tight spaces packed living is what the car makers need to cater to, or go under. There is already a lot of consolidation going on as well as going under. Its all part of how the world market is slowing gravitating away from what the North American and European buyers want and more so towards what Indians and Chinese want.



You already been in Bejing to long, might as well stay there. I think your view is scewed from being in that polluted shit hole. Rural Wisconsin will always be rural Wisconsin...our popluace isn't going to gravitate towards down town Milwaukee any time soon, in fact the opposite has happened for the last 30+ years. Some company will always make trucks...I am not worried one bit, and I need to over pay for one..so be it. 20 years from now, I'll even live further away from the city, you can f'ing bet on it buddy.

[Sanchek]

Huge cities do offer the greatest efficiency of resources and rapid sharing of ideas.

If only there were a vast Inter-connected network, where you could rapidly share ideas with people regardless of their location.

Someone should invent that. Calling Al Gore!

[Nydia Ywalmoriel]

In response to both Ibudin and Lummus, I think people in rural areas will continue to see the pickup truck cost/benefit equation pan out if they *really* need it for hauling; but the days of the vanity SUVs/trucks clogging roadways in the suburbs are rapidly coming to a close. I was in England for a few days last month and even in the rural areas you saw *very* few (as in over an 8 hour drive, I could count them on my two hands) pickups (although we did see tractors and other farm equipment); the roads even out in the middle of nowhere were totally dominated by little Vauxhall (a Chevy subsidiary) and related econoboxes that make my Beetle look large by comparison. The trucks we *did* see were of the 20 foot panelled truck variety used for deliveries (even these were rare by American standards), which would seem to be how most folks who need something sizeable delivered in or out of the city get it there. At first I attributed this to the narrowness and insanity of London roads and traffic, but the major cross-country highways, which are easily as good as our own interstates, and have no speed limit in open areas ;) are no different population-wise. (Semis were also quite rare given that England does most of its long hauling by sea or rail in addition to tending not to do insane things like ship huge quantities of lettuce from California to Georgia for processing into salad to then be shipped back ;) ).

Regards,
Nydia

[Fandros]

Driving a 99 Grand Am right now but my favorite auto of all time was my 2002 Chevy Avalanche.

Sold it after the big gas prices of 2008, wish I'd have just held on to it and driven the Grand Am for freeway drives.

That Avalanche was the best quality vehicle I've ever had and I've driven Nissan's, toyota's etc etc.

[Bylimet Spiritwalker]

I live in Beijing. I think it sucks but its the new world paradigm. Its crowded. The air is foul. There is not much for trees or even the sun most days. Its a nightmare to drive or even walk.. but this is what the world wants. I miss my wide open spaces, evergreen forests, riding my bikes and taking my gas guzzling road hog of a truck out into the wilderness. The rest of the world seems to think that living like just another drone in the hive is the way to go, unfortunately and the market will move to accommodate. Huge cities do offer the greatest efficiency of resources and rapid sharing of ideas, so they are not going anywhere but taller, vaster and even more crowded.


Welcome to Trantor! ;)

[LummusL]

If only there were a vast Inter-connected network, where you could rapidly share ideas with people regardless of their location.

Someone should invent that. Calling Al Gore!

I should not even respond to this because you know better than this, Sanchek but people still have to live somewhere even if they are just gelatinous piles glued to a computer screen. The Internet, especially e-commerce is even further accelerating the development of mega-cities. Cities still serve as the one compact node for mass distribution of goods and services, no matter how they are ordered. With resources stretch tight, its easier to reach your target demographic as a business owner if you are based in the core of a city where population density is 800,000 people per square mile as compared to 8 people per square mile in Montana. This is why the latest and greatest version of Broadband is only being launched in NYC with the greatest population density. Its also why Asia has the fastest internet speeds. ISPs can offer the faster speed because they are not trying to run infrastructure out to that last farm house at the end of the fire road.

As for the rest of you:

Leave the USA once in a while. You will rapidly discover that the other 90% of the people in this world are horribly alike and also completely unlike us Americans. We don't fit the global mold and that is why we are beloved as well as hated. As Nydia said, most people drive little shit box cars and if they need a truck, they hire one. If their business demands a truck, than the truck is for the business. When work is over there is a little shit box car or motorbike/scooter to get around on and the truck stays at the business. Its like that most EVERYWHERE on the planet outside of North America.

[Cados Evilsbane]

2008 Honda CR-V EX (4WD).

Has served me well so far, including three cross-country trips and snowy Utah roads.

[DiscW]

99 Saturn. Back then they only made 1 model, so it's just called a Saturn.

I'm really sad that Saturn is closing up shop, wanted to get a new Saturn in a year or two, though I'm not surprised with all thats been happening. It's my first car, has 110k miles, and still going strong with only minor problems (getting the ac fixed), is a good reliable car that does well for what I need (going around town, occasional trips around FL).

[Taleren Bloodsong]

99 Saturn. Back then they only made 1 model, so it's just called a Saturn.

I'm really sad that Saturn is closing up shop, wanted to get a new Saturn in a year or two, though I'm not surprised with all thats been happening. It's my first car, has 110k miles, and still going strong with only minor problems (getting the ac fixed), is a good reliable car that does well for what I need (going around town, occasional trips around FL).

Really... They had an SL1, an SL2, an SC1, and an SC2 at a minimum during the 99 model year (they also had an SW1 and an SW2 which were wagon models of the SL1 and SL2 respectively).

[Sixee]

Stop that, you are crapping on his nostalgia!

[Taleren Bloodsong]

I can't help it, I used to have an SC2

[Bise]

Ford Expedition 2008 Eddie Bauer

[Nekko1]

02 Tahoe LT, 00 WS6 T/A, 09 Dodge 1500 Sport

[Kelraz Bladesinger]

Ford Expedition 2008 Eddie Bauer

My dad bought the 2009 Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer edition) recently, the Expedition's little brother. He was in a bad accident on New Years Eve in his 1995 Explorer (hit by a drunk driver, not surprising) and feels he wouldn't have survived in anything else.

[Chanur]

Volvo. Friend got hit at full freeway speeds while he was at a dead stop. Hit him so bad from behind it knocked his headlights out. He walked away with out any real damage at all. A few bruises if that.

[Osgiliath666]

2004 Monte Carlo SC/SS
2005 Chevy Trailblazer

[LummusL]

Jeez. Am I the only person who drives "vintage" vehicles? I know I represent the token "white trash" demographic here on this board but this thread seems to rub it in. :devil

Doesn't anyone here tinker with cars at all as a hobby? Build hot rods, tuners, or restore old cars? How about just seeing how long you can keep a car that's paid for looking and running like new and doing the work yourself? It can be done while still maintaining an air of respectable upper middle class sensibilities which it would seem the majority of you are. I am not talking about mid 1970s F-body GM rust buckets with no engines or gearbox sitting on blocks in front of the trailer.

Doesn't Jay Leno still turn his own wrenches? If he can do it, anyone can.

[Kanyli]

Easier said than done if you don't have a place to work on it. I spent too many years bouncing from apartments to have a place to work on a car, if it ever needed anything. Certainly nowhere I could pull apart a vehicle and take my time fixing it up.

We're moving soon to a larger house though, and I've got my eye on a few classic carcasses near here that I'd love to fix up. It's not that the desire isn't there, it's just difficult in the modern lifestyle and with some of the modern engines out there. Something goes wrong with my wife's Prius and I don't even know what I'm looking at under the hood.

[fildien]

It's just not interesting to me and I find it dirty work. I was forced to do the stupid PMCS on my vehicles while in the military otherwise I'd never touch a car. I'm not a fan of grease or things that stain and I think muck under nails is one of the grossest most nastiest things ever. To me I'd rather pay someone else to get dirty and fix it for me, but really now days I buy new cars with warranties so I don't have to worry about shit like this.

Having said that though, I'm glad there are people in this world who not only don't mind getting dirty but enjoy tinkering with cars. :)

[Sixee]

I did switch my back tires around on my truck this weekend. I don't like to get into anymore than stuff like that if I can help it.

I did mount a net gate on my truck. I tend to be mechanically inclined, so working on vehicles doesn't really bother me, except like Fild, I hate getting grease under my nails.

My dream vehicle is a 1978 Super Beetle convertible with a Porsche engine and transmission. That would be a sweet project to work on, and drive after it's complete.

[Malse]

Jeez.

Doesn't anyone here tinker with cars at all as a hobby? Build hot rods, tuners, or restore old cars? .

I've helped work on a few over the years. Having the garage equipment is an impediment but the biggest obstacle to it would be that you really need a separate regular driving vehicle. With parts for older cars getting harder to find and common modern models being barely servicable, the hobby barrier has gone up quite a bit. I do know some guys who rebuild a half dozen or so Jeeps every year.

[Bylimet Spiritwalker]

Doesn't anyone here tinker with cars at all as a hobby? Build hot rods, tuners, or restore old cars? How about just seeing how long you can keep a car that's paid for looking and running like new and doing the work yourself?

The last car I kept running for a long time on my own was a '71 Dodge Coronet. I bought it with a lot of surface rust and a bad battery and tires for $80, in 1981, with around 140k miles. I drove it for four years after replacing the battery, a used alternator for $20, and some belts and used tires. When the exhaust manifold fell off the engine I let the local salvage yard have it for $30.

As for bikes, I used to be able to do just about everything on my older shovelheads. I hated magnetos, btw; went through too many headlights, for some reason. Boxes of parts to a '61 Sportster became a project chopper, which I sold before completing; '67 sporty got some customizing but the magneto pissed me off and I traded it; '74 Electrra Glide, '79 Superglide and '81 Low Rider became increasingly difficult to work on for the same reason the cars did........ELECTRONICS!!!! Time was, I could stop at almost any gas station and get some plugs and points and make a bike or car run good, if not fine. Everything is tied to a damn brain box now. Even switching out the exhuast on my motorcycle a couple weeks ago cost an extra couple hundred for the fancy part to retune the electronic fuel injection; I used to swap out pipes on my '81 Low Rider in 15 minutes, mounting bracket and all.

It has become too intricate a procedure to play around under the hood of most cars. And too expensive to mess around with the older ones, as people have gotten smarter and are no longer giving stuff away.

[LummusL]

I dunno. In some ways modern electronics have helped to a degree. My 1990 'Burban has Throttle Body Injection so it is computerized and has an electric fuel pump in the gas tanks. Yes, it there are quite a fair amount of sensors but in a way that helps compared to the 1970s and early 80s when everything was a mess of vacuum lines all over the place to run everything from emissions controls to AC vents. With electronics you can do a lot more trouble shooting with just a Fluke multimeter, trouble code flashes or a lap top computer as long as you have some basic voltage output parameters for the sensors or the software and link to the engine management computer. Once you get past that, an engine is still just an engine. The truck has the same 350 Small Block V8 with technology that has not changed much since the 50's and by knowing the sensor voltages and what causes them to go out of spec you can hunt down what the problem is. It can sometimes rob you of the ability to "feel" out where the sweet spots are when you twist your distributor just a little towards retard or advance or fiddle with your carb for that perfect mixture for that day.

Now Hybrids...heh. You have to be a mechanical AND electrical engineer to do anything with those. You have to wonder if there is really any benifit in those cars. The service costs over the period of ownership probably more than offset any fuel cost savings and the embodied energy to create the components might even tip the scale from "green" tech to "brown".

[Akom of Cazic Thule]

Car: 06 Infiniti FX35
Bike: 07 Suziki SV650

[Osgiliath666]

Jeez. Am I the only person who drives "vintage" vehicles? I know I represent the token "white trash" demographic here on this board but this thread seems to rub it in. :devil

Doesn't anyone here tinker with cars at all as a hobby? Build hot rods, tuners, or restore old cars? How about just seeing how long you can keep a car that's paid for looking and running like new and doing the work yourself? It can be done while still maintaining an air of respectable upper middle class sensibilities which it would seem the majority of you are. I am not talking about mid 1970s F-body GM rust buckets with no engines or gearbox sitting on blocks in front of the trailer.

Doesn't Jay Leno still turn his own wrenches? If he can do it, anyone can.


I do.. jsut no budget at the moment for a project rig.. II used to spend a LOT of time 4x4'ing.. Built a couple jeeps and my fav the old K5 Blazer.. Now I help out on a friends circle track car. A late model dirt modified.

[DiscW]

Really... They had an SL1, an SL2, an SC1, and an SC2 at a minimum during the 99 model year (they also had an SW1 and an SW2 which were wagon models of the SL1 and SL2 respectively).

Huh, well I'll be damned. I assumed as much because my title/insurance/etc all has always had just "99 saturn" as the model name.

[zornhedEL]

2000 VW GTI VR6 It is getting long in the tooth and I am sad they no longer make the 6.

[Oipunx the High Elf Cleri]

02 Tahoe LT, 00 WS6 T/A, 09 Dodge 1500 Sport

Ballin ;)