Do You Own A Car? If So, Are You Satisfied

[Sprayber]

A friend of mine is always *****ing about her car. She has only had it for three months and she is wanting another one. Another close has found herself in a bad situation in that her car is still controlled by her mother. She pays the payment but it's still in her mom's name. I've noticed lately that a lot of people I know are having difficult times with their veichles. Either because they have found themselves without one or they aren't satisfied.

I have had a veichle since I was 16. My first one was a 1989 Chevy S-10. I bought it myself for 1900. It wasnt the best one in the world but it was mine and it lasted me for as long as I had it. My second one was another Chevy S10 and I also paid it without payments. I bought it with 24000 miles and drove the hell out of it until just 6 months ago. I sold it the other day with 180 thousand miles. The car I have now I also paid for in full only because I stumbled into a great circumstance where a friend had just had a baby and a two door ford escort ZX2 was not what he needed. I got it for a great price. Sure it's not the greatest car in the world but it is reliable and it's mine, not the banks.

Do you have a car? Is it giving you trouble? Would you like a new one?

[Asher]

I don't have a car...but my parents just bought my (younger) brother a 2004 Mazda 3 Sport.

[Sprayber]

Most my mom did was drive me down to the guys house that I bought my first one from. She did pay my first insurance installment as a gift

[The Mad Monk]

I have a 1998 Dodge Dakota. I ordered it in July of 1997 and it arrived at the dealer in October.

I love my truck.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
I have a 1998 Dodge Dakota. I ordered it in July of 1997 and it arrived at the dealer in October.

I love my truck.

Last week I had to move a couch out of my place and I missed my truck and the ability to just throw whatever in the back and go. A plus side is that I no longer get calls from friends needing the service of my truck.

[MrFun]

I am NOT happy with my 1989 Chevy Celebrity.
It has 187,000 miles on it, and when I was in the Quad Cities over my holiday break between semesters, a trusted mechanic told me my car won't last much more than 15,000 more miles.


And so, I am trying to refinance my meager budget so that I can get a GOOD, used car for less than $12,000. I want a year 2000 model -- any suggestions??

[Asher]

Toyota or Honda.

[Sprayber]

I got a 99 thats in great condition for 4000 only because my friend was in kind of a bind. He had just bought a new quad cab Ford and needed some extra money and needed to get rid of the car. I just lucked into it.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Asher
Toyota or Honda.

Let me guess -- not only are you a computer guru, but you're also an automobile guru??

[Asher]

Originally posted by MrFun
Let me guess -- not only are you a computer guru, but you're also an automobile guru??

I'm no automobile guru, but I will tell you that no matter what the oncoming American patriots say -- if you want a car that lasts, go Toyota or Honda.

Nissan used to also be really good, but post-2000 their quality has REALLY slipped (see the JD Powers & Associates lists).

[DRoseDARs]

'92 Ford Explorer: radiator hose broke 'bout two weeks before Christmas. Just this past week other things in the engine have sprung leaks. My stepdad won't be able to take a look until Saturday. I've been driving my mom's '80 Ford Bronco in order to get to work. "The Battleship" has acceleration that is slow as sh!t and has turn-on-a-colluseum steering. Not a fun driving experiance

[Asher]

Check out this site, MrFun: http://www.autooninfo.net/Reliabilit...torVehicle.htm

The more purple something is, and the higher the number (as a percentile, 0 -> 1.0), the more reliable the vehicle is.

Let's compare, say, Toyota versus Chevy:




Any questions?

[Asher]

Guess which one of the cars on this chart of two Japanese auto makers is actually a rebadged American car.

[MrFun]

Asher, the mechanic I talked with said he would reccomend that I get a used Buick LeSabre, or something along that line, and he noted that some domestic models are becoming more reliable now.

[Asher]

Originally posted by MrFun
Asher, the mechanic I talked with said he would reccomend that I get a used Buick LeSabre, or something along that line, and he noted that some domestic models are becoming more reliable now.

Of course the Mechanic is going to recommend you something like a Buick. The more you take your car into the shop, the more business he does.

The statistics speak for themselves, MrFun. It's true that American cars are getting better, but so are Japanese cars. There's still a huge reliability gap.

The Buick reliability chart...