I hope you understood that I totally agree with you. And, you and those people are doing exactly what they should be doing. Sometimes,criticism of the commodity owners verges on the sarcastic, and is as inappropriate as commodity owners criticizing ‘pleasure’ owners.
I am 65, and over the years have developed a strong opinion that true education involves respect for the different viewpoints on all morally and legally acceptable issues. I assume I am somewhat biased on this issue, because I came from a very racist, narrow-minded family, and my wife is Mexican. So, this issue of tolerance is quite important to me.
The differences between those who buy cars as a reliable commodity vs. those who see a car as having personality is so trivial, to me, that I cannot imagine truly educated people worrying about it. There are major disagreements to worry about.
Enjoy your fun cars, Andrew. I sure enjoy my bulldog Sienna. It feels funny to look at it parked in the dust in the mountains of rural Puebla, and remember that a few weeks ago it was parked in Virginia, nearly 2400 road miles miles away, and in a few months will be there again. Usually with no problems, just drive and drive. My pleasure comes from the places I go, and the ease with which I go there, the reliable car is the tool I use to make my experience; it is not the experience.
Yet, I remember I had a different attitude when I was younger. Man, oh, man, did I want a Corvette. I saw the first one in Benton County Arkansas, that first year, 1954 or 1955, whatever it was, at the County Fair in the dealer’s tent.
It’s time I try the other cars in the market. I have started looking at Nissan & Chevrolet. I also have good feedback on the Suzuki & Subaru. I will not rush into it. This time I will get feedback on their customer service records.
I suggest Honda, Mazda, and Hyundai as well. If you are going to look around, don’t limit yourself too soon. Unfortunately, I think all those companies use timing belts, but I could be wrong and it may vary with different engine models.
As for the commodity vs. soul discussion. I find it amusing. I personally own a BMW K75RT motorcycle. In motorcycle circles this is known as an “appliance” because you can just change the oil and filter and keep riding it for 10s and 100s of thousands of miles. The thing is, I love it. I know I can go out and ride any day the roads are clear. I enjoy the ride, not the quirks of a funky machine. I feel the same about cars. I enjoy a well made, well thought out, car that doesn’t need a lot of attention. I enjoy the drive far more than fixing dumb stuff that goes wrong. To me “appliance” is not a bad thing. Reliable and fun are not mutually exclusive.
I had bad experiences with Toyota Motors & their dealers…
I include the quote because the last posting didn’t go where I thought it would.
I am well aware that Toyota service isn’t perfect. As long as they give me a great car, I haven’t needed that much service. I will say the first time I had the transmission flushed and refilled, the ten-thumbed mechanic in McAllen over-filled it around 1.5 quarts. I kept trying to check the level, and concluded for some reason I couldn’t read it correctly. Some 20,000 or 30,000 miles later, when I decided just to pull the plug and then add back 3 quarts of fresh fluid, I finally realized some idiot had way over-filled it.
So, if I must take a car there, I check things out pretty good before and after. (I hate working on cars. I do the oil and transmission fluid and minor filters for my own sanity.)
I do agree wholeheartedly that a major part of the decision on buying anything important, TV, dishwasher, or car, one must place high points on service.
Nissan Sentra & Chevrolet Cobalt & Malibu have timing chain. They also have from 2.0 to 2.4L. The feedback I mentioned is from current owners but I have yet to look at the cars. Honda has timing belt plus interference engine. I used to ride the old BMW motorcycle “R” models. I have the 500 CC engine. I called them the Mercedez Benz of motorcycle. They have the front shock absorbers by the wheel, not the current long telescopic ones. The rear shocks are also by the wheel but are adjustable. It had a level to adjust from softer to harder ride. Those motorcycle left the factory usually in black color. Man, I really miss those models.
Toyota have great cars. What they don’t have is customer service or customer relations. They think they have great cars & people will just buy them, ignoring service. Are you going to be a repeat customers & a loyal customers if the company only cares about increasing revenues without providing good & excellent service? I am not talking about the minor oil change, t/m change, fluid flashing, etc… I am talking about the overall company’s facade. They want people to see them as a customer-oriented company (on the outside) but it’s a different story on the inside. My experiences go well beyond & I have put them behind me. All I want is a car except Toyota. Thanks for your concern.
Back to the timing belt/chain issue…I know the new Mazda3s and 6s have timing chains. I think the older Proteges had timing belts though. I’m almost positive 2008 Hyundai Elantras have timing chains now too.
We have a close friend that wanted support from me to encourage her husband to buy a Tacoma instead of a Chevy Colorado. Knowing we own nothing but Toyotas but want to keep their friendship…I remind them there are many reasons to buy different makes. Maybe they like the dealership that’s nearby that they have to do bussines with. It’s Chevy; they bought the Colorado, we’re still friends and I’m not a “know it all Toyota Snob”.
All Ford Focuses (Focii?) model year 2005 or newer have a timing chain. In addition, any Ford Focus older than the 2005 MY equipped with a 2.3L engine has a timing chain.
They’re certainly reliable as well as inexpensive. They’ll cost you thousands less than a comparably equipped Civic.
If the OP is looking for a new vehicle, he will not find a Baja in the Subaru showroom because that model was discontinued last year, IIRC. As a used vehicle, he may find one if he shops around a lot, but the Baja was never a big seller, which is why it was discontinued.
Can’t go wrong with a Ford product, but try to stay away from the fadish “Green” cars. The technology involved in “Green” cars is to young and unproven. We may be getting away from petroleum based emissions but what are we going to do with all those spent batteries from the pedal-at-the-stopsign-cars (Flintstone mobile)? Let Al Gore and his little Eichmanns make their money off of the perpetual victims of the modern media, then look into a car that is “Green” and has had all the bugs ironed out of it. Like my Ol’ Dad used to say, “Never buy a first-year production car.” He also said, “A liberal and his money are soon parted.” I love the smell of monoxde in the mornings! There is nothing like fireing up my old over-carbuerated 396 Corvette (The only good car GM made) to go cruizing around the old-smoken-hippie hangouts.
I’m somewht baffled by “thousands less” than a Civic. Last year I bougth a new Corolla, after pricing the Elantra, Civic, Focus and others. The Focus, “COMPARABLY EQUIPPED” was $700 less than the Corolla, and the Civic was about $600 more than the Corolla. The Elantra needed a luxury package to get cruise control, which put it $2300 more than the Corolla.
Considering the lower design quality of the Focus, a $700 saving was not worth looking at.
You are aware that batteries are recycled, aren’t you? How do you dispose of your old car batteries?
You might not want to compare American political figures to Nazis. It could lead to unfavorable critique of our President. To be fair, George W. Bush is nothing like Hitler. Hitler was a decorated war hero who came to power by getting a majority of the votes. Besides, it is more fun to draw a comparison between drunken lemurs and Republicans who spend borrowed money like it is going out of style.
I’ll be happy to show you a 2005 VW with a 2.0 liter engine and a 2005 Honda with a 1.6 liter engine. Guess which one would be slow and sluggish?
Unless the difference is very large, engine displacement just isn’t a meaningful number. The tuning of the engine, weight of the car, and transmission matter far more when it comes to performance than the size. Stop focusing on it.
There was a college student on here a while back. He said that he and a lot of his friends bought Chevrolet Cavaliers. Cavaliers are not always perfect but are cheap to buy and durable enough. College students have to know how to stretch a dollar. I will add that dealers are everywhere, even in small towns unlike the oriental brands.
