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I live in a touristy area, so for me it's basically anybody in a rental. They seem to think that the vehicle will self destruct if they have to execute a U-turn, so they'll gladly stop in the middle of the road and hold up traffic until they can cut someone off once the adjacent lane begins moving.
I currently own a Hyundai Elantra Touring. It just went over 100k miles. Nothing but oil changes the entire time. Maybe in 1977 that was true (though it's more likely that was some lame UAW propaganda), but today you can't afford to neglect an American car. Or most European cars actually. But most Asian cars will take it.
My '66 Dodge Dart GT V-8 already had over 100,000 miles on it when I took ownership! (109,000 miles, to be exact.)
Quote:
The Town Car isn't a secret. Everyone knows about it.
I repeated what a mechanic told me. When I was shopping for a Lincoln Town Car, I asked him his thoughts about those cars. His answer: "They are Ford's best-kept secret."
Quote:
Few people are willing to drive them unless there's money in it...you DID notice most of the drivers of said cars are being paid to do so, right?
I am not being paid to drive my '95 Town Car.
I see quite a lot of Town Cars in my area... most being driven by private owners (not being paid to drive them).
My '66 Dodge Dart GT V-8 already had over 100,000 miles on it when I took ownership! (109,000 miles, to be exact.)
I repeated what a mechanic told me. When I was shopping for a Lincoln Town Car, I asked him his thoughts about those cars. His answer: "They are Ford's best-kept secret."
I am not being paid to drive my '95 Town Car.
I see quite a lot of Town Cars in my area... most being driven by private owners (not being paid to drive them).
I never see a single Town Car in the area without livery plates.
I never see a single Town Car in the area without livery plates.
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They aren't popular around here either. The most common places to see a Town Car or its siblings is......
1. Police parking lot
2. Junkyard
3. Livery parking lot
They aren't Ford's best kept secret. Everyone knows about those cars and there is a good reason they aren't popular other than use as a fleet vehicle. Ford's truly best kept secret is the Aussie Falcon.
Tempo, Skyhawk, Topaz, and Corsica. My sister and her husband owned two Tauruses, same result. My parents owned a brand new Citation that didn't even last 6 months, which was all kinds of funny. Their Cavalier sucked too. The Escorts they bought new were probably the best of the bunch, they weren't too bad.
Add my Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee to that list.
My German and Japanese cars have lasted forever and rarely had to be in the shop, not so much with my American cars. Plus, American cars are always 5-10 years behind the competition now. They are generally very ugly on the outside and generic on the inside. The performance is mediocre too.
Then again, we're trying to convince a guy who believes that "Fox News Rules" and who has expressed many opinions on this board which reveal a certain kind of personality and set of opinions. He's one of those Amurika! types...you know the type, the kind of person who watches Fox "News" and takes every Glenn Beck "fact" as truth while blaming every problem in the world on "liberals" (or his delusion of what "liberals" are).
I remember a letter printed in Motor Trend magazine from 1977. A letter from a mechanic who said, "We have more problems with foreign cars which are carefully maintained than American cars which are severely neglected."
You do realize that 1977 is 36 (THIRTY SIX) years ago, right?
A LOT has changed since 1977, namely the oil crisis and the expansion of the European and Asian car companies.
That was 9 years before Hyundai existed in the US. Obviously Kia didn't exist yet. Sure, there was Datsun, but there was no Infiniti or Nissan. Ditto for Lexus and Acura. BMW, VW and Mercedes have all improved greatly.
Then again, why are we even listening to the opinion of someone who quotes a THIRTY-SIX year old article about which cars are more reliable?
Add my Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee to that list.
My German and Japanese cars have lasted forever and rarely had to be in the shop, not so much with my American cars. Plus, American cars are always 5-10 years behind the competition now. They are generally very ugly on the outside and generic on the inside. The performance is mediocre too.
These days the Focus is right up there with the foreign makes..probably even beating Honda and Toyota (then again, Kia and Hyundai are top end these days). The Cruze...well, it might only be 5 years behind max. It's heavy and underpowered, but there's hope for it. The Dart is actually a nice design, it's just not picking up any steam.
After 47 years and a million-plus miles, the following stereotypes are generated by actual observation of other drivers, mostly in the DC area. NOTE: These are generalities that only apply to a subset of drivers in each group, don't get your panties in a twist.
- Worst dangers on the road: Young white boys driving VWs, like the GTI, Golf, Jetta, etc. Doubly true if they're wearing a baseball hat backwards. These clowns are too inexperienced and think it's the Indy 500 out there, weaving in/out of traffic, cutting people off, speeding 20-30 above the limit, doing everything wrong.
- Best drivers on the road. The Mercedes-Benz driver, with but a few exceptions. These were the real adults on the road, driving safely and with courtesy to others.
- Worst Wannabes on the road. BMW drivers. Mercedes wannabes. Arrogant. Rules don't apply to them because they're so precious and special. Mostly former VW drivers. They wish they had a Porsche so they could really show you who's boss. Mostly materialistic yuppies.
- Most Arrogant Drivers. The Volvo crowd. I've seen numerous Volvo drivers, whose appearance is that of a professor, trying to read a book while driving 60MPH in early morning rush hour driving on the DC Beltway. Volvo used to have an ad showing 7 of their cars stacked up one atop another to prove how impregnable they are and many Volvo drivers think that their cars are indestructible and will pull right out in front of you, had it happen many times. The Volvo ads were later found to be a fraud as the cars in that stack of cars were specially strengthened to withstand the weight being placed upon them.
- Most Amateurish Drivers. The hot rod Mustang crowd takes the cake on this. These meatheads just gotta jam their foot on the gas to hear that loud muffler and impress people. They do this at every opportunity, even changing lanes. Everyone is so impressed. The Corvette, Firebird and Camaro dudes act much cooler, for the most part. Every time I see a Mustang, especially a 5.0 or SHO, I give these clowns lots of room to go show off like a bunch of macho dorks. No one cares about your horsepower. No one.
- Old guys with AAA stickers. These guys think they're Knights of the Road; they got that AAA sticker on their cars and think that makes them perfect motorists. They throw on their turn signal to change lanes, and then change lanes without looking, after all, you were warned. Be careful of these guys.
That's the main bunch of stereotypes that I've amassed from 47 years and a million plus miles. Remember, these are generalities that apply to only a subset of each group, but if the shoe fits and you see yourself in here, consider becoming a smoother driver.
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Last edited by Mike from back east; 04-08-2013 at 09:33 AM..
How did this thread turn into an argument about American and Asian cars?
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