New poll shows Americans like American cars best now

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100421/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ap_poll_cars

Well, they didn't ask me. I've owned all brands, and my Lexus is hands down the best . I'll never buy another American car.

there's less and less difference.
There are American cars I'd LIKE to have, but they are insanely overpowered. The Dodge Magnum, for instance. Great little fastback/station wagon, sporty, roomy, cool... but it's got a 400 hp motor!!!! Why???? Are they nuts? In reality world it would be hybrid.

It's really instructive to live outside the US and see the kinds of cars American COULD have, except they can't.
I call my island LegoTown because of all the little teensy trucks and tricabs and stuff running around: most of it made in Brazil or China or Mexico.

Taipei was the same way, back in the day. Human and animal powered vehicles, but also lots of Messerschmidts and teeny Fiats and Vespa fullbody trikes and Isettas and such.

The Urvan, sold in Mexico, is like halfway between a VW van and American van, and way better than either.

I drove an Escort for 10 years and put over 100,000 miles on it. I sold it the day before I left Houston for San Antonio. The only reason I was replacing it was that I figured it would be like Holmes' "One Horse Shay" and suddenly go all to pieces on me. I would have bought another, but I was too late. The last Escort had been sold off their lot the week before. So I was talked into a then brand-new car they called a Focus. That was eight years ago, and I'm still driving it; it's almost like new still.

I tried a VW Rabbit once. It got struck by lightening the day Sadat was assassinated, and never ran right afterwards. It was only six months old. We started calling it Anwar. It was two years old - and not paid for - when I had to give up on it, because it was costing me more to keep it running than my monthly note.

America has always made some good, durable, reasonably priced cars. I've learned to stick to them.

Ann

Quote :

It got struck by lightening the day Sadat was assassinated, and never ran right afterwards.

Were you scantily clad at the time?

Ahh! That explains it!

Ann

I had a Gremlin. It was a homely little tan car, it started every morning, did not use a lot of gas, got me there and back, did not cough a lot, had cheap tires, did not use a lot of oil, had no AC, no heat, but it kept on going.

I gave it to someone who needed a car when I got the little pickup. She drove it for another five years. It would still be on the road if she had gotten new tires. Some people think that when the tires go, the whole car is trash. It is an attitude of 'what can I do!"

I hate that attitude. There is always stuff that can be done.

Love,
Betty

4/22/2010

Growing up in Brooklyn in the late 50's we
had a 1958 Ford Fairlane, then in 1963 my
Mother bought a brand new four door Ford
station wagon , cost $2,000- It lasted 10 yrs.
I have a 2004 Ford Focus , 24,000 miles , it
still purrs like a kitten...

Cheers..Joe

Older car models were simpler to maintain. Do it yourself was possible. Today new models are so electronically controlled that only a mechanic can fix it, and fixing it most often means replacing an entire unit. Outside repair service seems to be a built-in scheme by the manufacturers.

The more fancy features a car has, all the more that can go wrong.

The hand crank for windows or a sun roof are rarely seen. Smaller cars still have them. Simplicity is cheaper and makes sense. The manufacturers cater to the lazy lifestyle of the consumer. The consumer wants everything done for them, and they can get it. They also get the cost associated with maintaining it.

4/22/2010

Abe..

My Ford Focus has crank down windows,
no fancy gadgets, I paid with interest in 2004
$14,000- brand new, today they go for $18,000-
$20,000-

Here in Santa Fe, NM, twice a year they
have an old car show, cars owned by locals from
the 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. All
these owners bought them and maintain them. If
my brother was alive he would go nuts, he was an
old car collector........

Cheers..Joe