Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sorry your mommy could only afford a Honda Fit and you never rode in real cars
You will understand when you hit puberty. You will be older.
Just remember us old fogies have been where you are going.
Neither of my parents have ever owned a Honda, Fit or otherwise. You seemed to have missed the part where I said I have no issues with older people in general (we all get there). Now go sit down, think about what you've done and try harder not to embarrass yourself further next time.
Sorry your mommy could only afford a Honda Fit and you never rode in real cars
You will understand when you hit puberty. You will be older.
Just remember us old fogies have been where you are going.
The Honda Fit, being neither cheap, nor insubstantial (it's the largest, roomiest car in the subcompact class), is a rather bad example. The OP's article offers great fodder in the form of the miserable Toyota Yaris, yet the obvious is ignored.
And all I see with those extra-long sedans is packaging inefficiency. Way too much length wasted by the hood and trunk in relation to the interior compartment.
And all I see with those extra-long sedans is packaging inefficiency. Way too much length wasted by the hood and trunk in relation to the interior compartment.
The long hood afforded extra protection in a collision. The rear overhang made for a large-size trunk. With quite a few classic cars, you could see all four fender tips from the driver's seat... a lot different than modern cars with their stumpy proportions.
I just have to love the people that say "I got burned by brand "X" 57 years ago and I'll never buy another one"......really ?
If you get burned badly enough, it lingers for a long time. In 1991 my Saab 9000T was hit by a drunk and sidelined for 3-4 months. I was in a small town on a 6-month consulting job, and the only rental cars were from a Dodge dealership. I told them I wanted the best car they had available. They started me with a Dodge, then switched it to a Chrysler after awhile. There was no real difference between the two. They were... oh my! They were just awful! I didn't expect to like them as much as I did my Saab, but I just hated driving those boats. To this day, I don't think I could bring myself to buy a Dodge/Chrysler. I'm sure they're nothing like they were 25 years ago, but I hated those things with enough passion to last a lifetime.
Yes, times have changed, but trends can move glacially. Cars that have burned me (excluding stuff I bought with Space Shuttle mileage that could never be as reliable as something within the normal range):
Pontiac. Three, yes, three times. All with less than 40k miles when purchased. Four if you count my ex-spouses car (when you turned on the A/C, the cheap dash plastic would shrink so much the dash would rattle around...I am not making this up...and the car was bought new). They stranded me repeatedly, blew up batteries, master cylinders, shift linkage fell off, just crazy stuff all the time. Finding out GM skimped on ignition switches just to save a few pennies did not come as a surprise, sadly. I wanted to like them. Really.
VW: Purchased with less than 35k miles. Recommendation - purchase a folding bike and leave in trunk. Fuel injectors, struts, interior bits fell off, etc. A/C never really worked. Love the way they drive and the interiors, still tempted by Golf, Jetta, Passat, even the new Beetle, but just can't do it.
Ford (Focus): Fuel pump failed once, but otherwise not a lot of issues. The one thing was that the interior seemed to be made of gum and balsa wood. Rented a couple of Focuses, and they still seem this way. The passenger rear window just refused to go up one day and then promptly fell into the door. The parts in the door holding up the window were made of nylon plastic and had shattered. I have yet to ever see something like this on a Honda. I get in my 12 year-old-Honda and the dash, armrests, seats, and console are solid as can be. This is a feeling of quality that has affected every owner its had, or will have.
Cars are becoming much more global, and I believe this is the reason for a lot of brands catching up to the 80's/90's Toyota/Honda benchmark (common suppliers, techniques, etc.). Strangely, all the European brands seem to be a lot farther behind even the U.S. brands in durability. Toyota has lost a step or two. I've been in some newer Camry's and the solidity and feel of the interior plastics is no longer what it was, but the reliability ratings are still pretty solid. Not Lexus, though. Test drove a Lexus RX350, the salesman hid the mileage, and had no idea until we got back that it had over 100k miles (nice trick). Quiet, smooth, and solid as brand new!
CR's lists are always entertaining. The most reliable vehicle on the road is an American made pickup truck but you'll never see that from the rice wine drunks from CR. If it's made in the USA it must be crap according to them. You can't really take these clowns seriously. The auto industry doesn't.
I've been following CR's readers' poll reliability reports for over 30 years. I've owned various vehicles from all of the Big Three American manufacturers, as well as Toyota. The CR reports have been pretty much dead-on accurate with my real-world experience with just about every vehicle that I've owned.
I've also owned a number of pickups over the years. An American-made pickup is a lot of things, but "the most reliable vehicle on the road" is a bunch of BS. I've owned several that were complete money-pits as far as reliability goes.
Toyota/Lexus consistently score high reliability ranks because, well, their vehicles ARE reliable. Maybe if the American auto makers (and the UAW) DID take the CR reliability reports seriously, they might then actually build some consistently reliable vehicles instead of a stream of overpriced crap.
11-21-2014, 06:45 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thegonagle
The Honda Fit, being neither cheap, nor insubstantial (it's the largest, roomiest car in the subcompact class), is a rather bad example. The OP's article offers great fodder in the form of the miserable Toyota Yaris, yet the obvious is ignored.
And all I see with those extra-long sedans is packaging inefficiency. Way too much length wasted by the hood and trunk in relation to the interior compartment.
Don't forget the lack of maneuverability and needless waste of valuable parking spaces. I occasionally see one of those old boats driving around the city. They can't navigate corners without spilling over into other lanes. They can't be parked in reasonably sized spaces and waste enormous amounts of street parking.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
