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Also, anything Geo, Suzuki Sidekick, Fiat Multipla MkI {UK version}, Fiat Panda, Austin Maestro {yes, yes another UK hit...it talked to you, you know...just like KIT from Knightrider}, ....and KIT from Knightrider.
1) Most reliable vehicles i have EVER seen, bar none, including my 1990 sentra xe with nearly 234,000 when I sold it, and my in-laws 87 Toyota truck. it lasted 278,000, but had to have the engine re bored at 150,000, it was closed due to "gunk" in the engine.
Trakcers? Traded his 92(he got it used in Oct 95) in 01 for a jeep grand Cherokee(which he replaced the tranny at 110,000), at 214,000+ miles. Never had one problem, ever.
Same for in-laws 97 tracker, currently at a little over 80,000 miles.
Most solid cars I have ever seen, and I been alive for a long while.
Seen Buick Regal catch on fire, due to electrical firs in july 79(my mom's car, in fact) less than 5000 miles.
All of my cars have had issues from minor to extreme, but the Suzuki's, Nothing .
2) I would not own a Tracker: Just worst when it comes to NVH. Driving one is no pleasure either, More like plowing the fields.
Most reliable, yet, most horrible, things I have ever driven, even worse than the 90 Excel we test drove, in Feb of 1990.
Now, the new Suzuki's, I am just awaiting the so-called Sporty edition of the 07 Reno, reworked by Suzuki(engine and all?) . From what I "heard", it should be a decent car, that is fun to drive!
I tested a Reno, and aside form slow 0-45, and low MPG, I liked it. Tons better than the Suzuki/Chevy Tracker.
Honda/Acura
Toyota/Lexus
Kia
I say this all the time. For example, I would much rather buy a two-year-old Chevy/Ford or 5 year old Honda/Toyota than a brand new Kia. There are way too many Tauruses and Malibus out there that are only a year or two old with less than 20k miles selling for about 11,995.
As for cars I would prefer not to drive:Neons, Escorts, Cavaliers, pretty much any compact car under $20,000 excluding the Civic and the Mazda 3. Also no Kias or Hyundais of any kind.
I try to explain(sometimes in too long of detail for some?) why I like/dislike something(see my post 2-3 replies above this one, for an example).
I do not care for most for GM items, but do like the HHR, IF they ever add more shoulder room, leg room(for rear occupants) and maybe a little more head room, for when ya have the sunroof.
G6 is fine, to me, any ways, and is a decent deal on sale, if not, I would pass.
Ford? 500 is ok, but not thrilling looking, and when on sale, not too bad of a buy.
Dodge?
PT is alright, but there's like 10,000 of them in my area.
New Caliber may be ok, when it comes out.
Toyota: tC is a very good car. had ours 42,000 miles in 16 months.
Would I buy a 25K Camry though? No. Over price, IMHO, for what you get these days, from other makers.
Honda: civic is decent, but too pricey for me.
Nissan: Got burned on our 97 200sx..had to dump it before it self destructed(again) at 67,000 miles.
Versa might be interesting, if it is a Renault.
Kia? I gotta agree with one person said No Kia's.
They are just cheaper versions of Hyundai, minus maybe the Sorento, or the JD Power APEAL award winner of 2005 Kia Amanti.
Hyundai: only reason why I would not buy now? BORING looks, and MSRP's are waaay up over 05 models.
Example: Elantra was 12-14K, and Accent was 9999-11,999. Now? 2006 is 11,000+ up to 15,000+!!!!
No thanks.
Yaris? I like it except the odd center speedo thing.
Safe? As safe as any other car in th e(nearly) 170-177 total length category is, i would suspect... that can include many cars, like almost all compacts by all makers.
Mitsubishi? Like the Eclipse, Dislike the MSRP.
They should do a Hyundai, and GT (maybe one model?) and 18K for the V6. They would fly off the lots, versus their 22-24K msrp.
Suzuki? I mentioned it before: civilian tanks: last forever w/o any extra issues.
I would consider their next generation vehicles, that are coming out in the next 1-3 years.
Anyhow, sorry to digress, and possibly annoy some on here with my rambling.
I am just curious why these " I hate"(add company name here).... and no reason why.
Is it just from reading reports, or you had a friend or family members with a bad experience, both?
:confuse:
Me , I try not to "blanket hate" any company.
If you do, ya might actually miss out on one decent vehicle they make, and you might actually like, if ya tried it.
Only company I would not consider(maybe 2, for now) would be Isuzu, and VW(due to their reps),a and Isuzu, we had a Spectrum(Isuzu I-Mark, 87) and it was pitiful.
if not for GM, Isuzu would be long gone by now.
They also changed their warranty, again. it went form 10/120K, to 7/75K for this new isuzu(chevy) truck they have.
Plus, one dealership every 100 miles? Maybe!
Do not think so.
DAV
83-94
I don't know. I would be moderately embarassed to have a Camry as my sole mode of transportation, and slightly less embarassed to have an Accord just because of the "sensible shoes" personna these two project.
I am 18 years old and a college student, and drive a brand new Accord EX sedan. I can't say that I'm married, or castrated, or that I'm moderately embarassed to drive my car. In fact, I have a girlfriend, a very reliable car with loads of features, 40 more horses than my old car, plenty of room for my 6'5" frame, and I get over thirty miles to the gallon to boot! If that makes me sensible, so be it. Last I checked, that wasn't such a bad thing to be at my age. I also save my scholarship money, buy things on sale, and don't drive with the throttle pinned to the floor.
If I worried about my persona relying on a car, I would have spent much more money on much less car and gotten a Mustang, Jumbo SUV, or some other (I'll get criticized for this word) impractical vehicle for someone in my position.
Rocky
Nissan/Infiniti
Honda/Acura
Toyota/Lexus
Kia
May we ask why?
Rocky
I'm hard pressed to say that I wouldn't be caught dead driving anything. I've been turned off to domestic makes for a while. My primary car in an 03 Altima. I've been very pleased with the Alt, but with a recent move to the suburbs, we needed a second car so we picked up a 93 LeSabre. The car is a big boat with horrible ergonomics but the price was right (free) and it runs fairly well given it's mileage (114k). I don't particularly like the car but do I think about it much when I'm driving the one mile to the train? Not really.
So anyway, there are few absolutes when it comes to what we'd "never" drive. I guess that I'd put a Chevy SSR on my list. With it's bloated weight and price, I could do much better. I also couldn't see myself in a 90s Pontiac given their reliability and over the top styling.
I think it's because the SSR seems an attempt to meld a bunch of different vehicles into one that's kinda functional/kinda cool, whereas the Prowler is so proudly an over-the-top niche vehicle.
One can drive a nicely maintained Taurus and people will likely think you are just frugal, but if you switch to a Kia, I don't think people will give you the same consideration.
I have bought two of them and all of the anti-Kia hype is just, well, hype. They have switched me over to driving imports and I drive them with glee.
My 1999 Kia Sephia was fun to drive and a very reliable car. I also prefer it's styling over the mundane looking Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. It beats them both hands down. I bought the Sephia when there was no Long-Haul Warranty from Kia. I made it just fine and traded it in on a 2001 Kia Sportage 4x4 in September of 2001. The Sportage 4x4 has gotten me out of icy corners and inclines with it's 4WD system several times and has been a little sparkplug of an SUV. I have burned out no lightbulbs so far, and my odometer just went over 106,900 miles on the Sportsman. I also just changed out it's SUV tires at the 102,000 mile mark. That's right, the OEM Hankook tires Kia installed at the factory for me lasted the SUV's first 102,000 miles with nary a blowout or problem of inflation or any poor handling issues of any kind. Just carefree pleasurable driving, knowing that the Kia Sportage body design also cleanly blows away Honda's mundane looking CRV and Toyota's only slightly better looking RAV4.
Now it's just the question of trade in for a 2006 Kia Rio5 or hold onto the Sportsman for a tad longer. It's a wonderful problem to have, car enthusiasts.
Now, excuse me while I go fix myself another hot cup of Taster's Choice instant coffee with some Carnation dairy creamer plopped in and mixed around. Clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I confess to having been a Kia basher. I have probably went a little overboard, but when the Kia lovers bashed Porsches, I just went a little nuts. I will try to refrain from any further negative stereotypes about Kias.
That being said wouldn't that still mean that the lawyer is overcharging?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I think we all know the average trial lawyer is overcharging.
However, then we turn to the CPA, whom we trust with our hard-earned (or hard-won by the sleazy lawyer with the hot red 911). Now if the CPA had a hot red 911, that might give the image that he's hot-headed, impulsive, too risky with money, etc.
You might get a nasty letter from the state CPA society but the state will not revoke your license. I have yet to hear of that happening.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I could repeat my 3k mile tire story, for balance =].
But hey, good post.
I think it's alright to bash specific models. Like the Kias that have ugly headlights, or the Cayenne version that gives you 20 more hp for $20,000 (or the Cayenne in general, if you're me).
I still can't bring myself to drive my wife's Odyssey without the family in it. I really needed to bring it to work this morning so I could haul a bike home, but I just couldn't do it.
My friends panel van that clucks like a chicken (yes he installed a horn that makes animal sounds and he set it to cluck like a chicken)
Anything with expensive but practically useless bells and whistles (can you say navigation systems).
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Anyway, I think if you get a set of good tires with a high treadwear rating, and have them on a fairly lightweight vehicle, you can get a lot of miles out of them. I'm not sure what size the tires are on his '03, but the '06 Corolla comes standard with a 195/65/R-15 tire mounted on a 15x6 wheel. And it only weighs around 2600 lb.
Just for comparison, my old '79 Newport would have come standard with only a 195/75/R-15 tire. I don't know how wide the wheel was, but I know it was less than 7". And the car weighed around 3800 lb. So basically, you had a car with an additional 1200 lb of weight forcing itself down on tires that were only marginally larger.
My personal record for tires is about 47,000, from a set of cheap General Continentals with a 520 treadwear rating I put on my Intrepid when the OEM Eagle GA's wore down to racing slicks at 30,000 miles. The Continentals still had plenty of tread on them when I put new tires on the car, but I was having other problems. At one point the car had gone out of alignment and did chew a patch of tread unevenly on one tire. One tire had two plugs in it from nails I picked up in Texas. And one tire had developed a slow leak, where it would deflate down to around 20 psi and then hold. So basically I had one good tire left. If the car hadn't gone out of alignment, picked up those nails, and gotten that slow leak, I would've gotten many more miles out of those tires.
At 77,000 miles I put a set of Yokohama Avids on, with a 620 treadwear rating. The car currently has around 113,000 miles on it, or 36,000 miles on the tires, and they're still in great shape. And I'll confess that I haven't rotated them in awhile now!
Now I seriously doubt that the tires will last 102,000 miles, which would be another 66,000 miles, but they still have some life in them. My goal is to get 62,000 miles total out of them. I figure that if the OEM tires, which had a 300 treadwear rating, lasted 30K miles, then the 620-rated tires should go around 62K miles.
I dunno if that's a good generalization to make, but I do have a set of Firestone Firehawks on my '79 NYer, which have a 420 treadwear rating. They started off on my '89 Gran Fury, and between the two cars probably have close to 40,000 miles on them. They're not worn down to racing slicks just yet, but it'll be time for new ones soon.
me: I drive in enough rain and snow, that I consider anything past 1/2 tread-life to be getting dangerous. If you're running tires that long just to brag about it, I think you might want to consider how your safety has been decreased while getting every mile you can out of it. Penny-wise and pound-foolish IMO.
Also IMO, if you're buying an economical car that you don't necessarily like or does not get good safety marks just because you drive a lot, you might be making a bad choice. When you choose a lifestyle, whether it be where you work or the type of work, you should not lower your safety for those reasons. Make the priority-decision be your safety, NOT you pocketbook. If you can't afford to drive a decent car 40K miles per year, then I'd say change whatever you're doing that causes you to drive that far. I wouldn't lower my safety 1 IOTA, for any other reason. If your dead or crippled it makes little difference that you saved $1K/year or got to live in a nice suburb and work 50 miles away.
Ford recommends not using tires that are 6 years old, even if they have never been used and tires should be replaced after they have been in use for 10 years.
Tires are not good one day and bad the next. They gradually go from good to bad, so after they are about 5 to 6 years old, you should keep checking for deterioration.
I have a friend that is a financial planner and he found that his Z 06 corvette was bad for business. I think that people looked at that and thought, "How much money is he making on me?" or "He blows so much money on a toy and I'm going to take financial advice from him?". Cars are depreciating assets so too high end a car is a sign on financial imprudence.
Oh wait, lots of people get their taxes done at H&R Block so that answers that.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
It's WAY OVERPRICED too
That is pathetic.
If you need help, we can counsel you. A few ways to look at it are... Your daily driver isn't a minivan. Minivans have big engines. Your wife is stuck with one - be fair to her and be stuck with it now and then. Some businesses use them for their interior space. They're great for hauling bikes. The minivan would appreciate some macho driving sometimes. You DO have a family. You DID buy it.
Suck it up! This thread wasn't supposed to be serious!
me: The safety you are referring to is structural safety, and not being completely slick. It is probably safe to drive on an 1/8" or even a 1/16" tread on a dry road. But in the rain or snow those sort of tread depths leave no room for the water or snow to go - you get hydroplaning. Deeper treads allow the water and snow to channel along the direction of the tire rotation. There's a big difference.
I don't know. I would be moderately embarassed to have a Camry as my sole mode of transportation, and slightly less embarassed to have an Accord just because of the "sensible shoes" personna these two project.
I am 18 years old and a college student, and drive a brand new Accord EX sedan. I can't say that I'm married, or castrated, or that I'm moderately embarassed to drive my car. In fact, I have a girlfriend, a very reliable car with loads of features, 40 more horses than my old car, plenty of room for my 6'5" frame, and I get over thirty miles to the gallon to boot! If that makes me sensible, so be it. Last I checked, that wasn't such a bad thing to be at my age. I also save my scholarship money, buy things on sale, and don't drive with the throttle pinned to the floor.
If I worried about my persona relying on a car, I would have spent much more money on much less car and gotten a Mustang, Jumbo SUV, or some other (I'll get criticized for this word) impractical vehicle for someone in my position.
Hear hear. I applaud you for your good sense. Good sense is not typically applauded here, though plenty of peopel are criticized for not having any. Hypocrites. Most of these threads are not in support of folks being practical. This site is filled with posts making fun of people driving Camrys and Accords. That's just the nature of the beast. Many folks here think of themselves as real gear-heads - if you don't have more horsepower than the next guy, then you are a eunuch. If you drive a minivan, you are a eunuch.
I think these people hate CamCords in order to validate their love for horsepower. Why? To each his own, eh? Some people value horsepower, whereas others value dependability. Is there something wrong with that?
How dare you be reasonable in these threads!
It's always interesting here when the enthusiast threads intersect with the practical threads. Usually they (and their participants) never meet, but when they do there's always the "wuss!" vs. "grow up!" fireworks. It's just good theater, and with any luck, people will get their aggression out here and not take it onto the roads.
Oh, and Kias suck. Or maybe they rule. :P
pretty weak
I don't think that person is really an "enthusiast" - I think a person who makes that kind of a statement is really just very insecure about his manhood. Who the heck would think that driving a minivan or a CamCord is a reflection on one's manhood, unless that person has a real problem with defining "manhood?"
and if a guy thinks that he is "a man" because he drives a truck, or a Mustang, then he really has some growing up to do. I'd say such a mindset is proof positive that that guys is still a BOY.
I will likely end up buying my wife a slightly less useful and more expensive but "cooler" Pilot or MDX in the near future.
By the way, it isn't a manhood thing really either. I am perfectly comfortable driving a Miata - well not physically, but mentally.
And I don't think less of a guy who drives a Camcord. The "castrated" comment was poking fun at a comment Lemko made earlier.
Personally, I would NEVER be seen driving any foreign car. I'm a great believer in this country and its workers and its industry. People are always throwing up this crap about how Toyota and BMW and Honda have plants here in the USA, so what difference does it make. But those plants assemble cars out of parts made overseas and send their profits back overseas as well.
Be American, Buy American!
Lol, if only that slogan worked for GM. Dont get me wrong I respect American cars but a lot of people dont.