Ever stopped at a dealer to confim how great your current car is?

[Ford Man]

[QUOTE=Clev;156134]

That's because 90% of all driving happens within 25 miles of home. And by "city commute", I mean a city city, with 25-35 mph roads. As I mentioned, my commute is 75% rush hour freeway and 25% two-lane-each-direction winding mountain roads with flatlanders, rockslides, gravel/sand and black ice in the winter.

90% of all driving is probably done within 25 miles of home for most people, therefore a 10 miles commute would put you within that danger zone. I used to drive in Charlotte on a daily basis traveling to and from work during rush hour, but even though the posted speed limit was 35-45 on most of the roads I travelled the flow of traffic on those roads was usually 55-65 MPH and the likelyhood of seeing someone run a red light was probably at least 5 to 1 over seeing somone run a red light on a rural road. There were many times I'd see a light turn red and 3-4 cars go through it before someone finally stopped for it which made my city driving more dangerous than the 30 miles or so of other 4 lane and 2 lane driving. I've never driven the actual city streets of a lot of cities, so Charlotte may be an acception, but I know that every time it rained their crash rate would go though the roof, because of people driving too fast for road conditions.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by Clev

My '93 Escort was actually the exception to my Ford story. The engine spun a bearing at 101,000 miles. (Oil level was normal; never found out what caused it.) This was 10,000 miles after the A/C compressor seized up, and about the time the transmission started shifting funny. Since then I've owned an '86 Ranger, an '85 F250 and an '83 Ranger that all passed the 200,000 mark pretty much trouble-free, and my '96 has over 165,000 miles and only recently had the transmission die after spending its first 75,000 miles towing something heavy enough to need trailer brakes. I had the tranny rebuilt and now use it only for hauling or snow driving.

There are exceptions to all rules, but the largest repairs that have been made to my '88 Pony is the clutch has been replaced 2 times, the fuel pump I think either 2 or 3 times and rebuilding the front end a few times (ball joints, tie rods, and steering rack).

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Clev

So you can't argue the safety aspect or the fuel savings aspect...

I don't think I ever was arguing that newer cars aren't safer. I've just been saying that safety per se is way down the list of my priorities, and also - for different reasons - not a real high priority for Mr & Mrs Middle America.

Much of my driving these days (since I telecommute) is in fact done to get to places where I can have fun doing things - skiing, hiking (with bears & mountain lions, oh no!), flying, riding horses, &c - that most people think are quite dangerous. (And which do indeed have a certain element of risk, though far less than the average person thinks.) So, given that I do these things, why should anyone think that my safety is a real high priority?

Then of course the ironic flip side for Mr & Mrs MA, that while they THINK they are being safe, their behaviors are in fact raising their overall risk of premature death far higher than mine, and as far as I can tell, they aren't having nearly as much fun as I am.

As for fuel economy, I can only drive what's out there (at least until I find the spare time to build a Locost :-)) that I can afford, and the Miata gets better mpg than most cars, and the Del Sol or Lotus better still.

[99LeCouch]

Yep, that's the American Way. Sit at home watching TV eating delivered pizza because it's "too dangerous" outside, or driving to the nearest fast-food place in their brand-new giant SUV because "it's more convenient". Tell me how convenient a stroke is. I've worked with folks who've had strokes, and it's not convenient at all for them or their family.

Well, if we were all at "racing weight" we'd be both healthier and not want new cars every 5 years when the car's suspension is shot slinging 250+ lbs of human around a corner at breakneck speed, or having the struts compress unnecessarily when slingshooting away from a stoplight quickly, only to slam on the brakes 1/4 mile down at the next light.

[alohaspirit]

Originally Posted by 99LeCouch

we'd be both healthier and not want new cars every 5 years when the car's suspension is shot slinging 250+ lbs of human around a corner at breakneck speed,

i thought i was healthy

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by 99LeCouch

...slinging 250+ lbs of human around a corner at breakneck speed...

But, but, but that's what corners are for!

Seriously, I submit that when I'm doing say 50 on the straight, it's more fuel-efficient to keep doing 50 through that upcoming hairpin bend than to frantically brake (risking being rear-ended by the car behind), then accelerate on the other side.

[SentraSE-R]

My Mean Green Toaster Machine saved my toast Friday, in a way that an older car probably wouldn't have. I was driving to our Bay Area Ecomodder meet on a wet road, and a car pulled out from my left at an intersection, so I was behind him. Except the fool didn't keep going. He made an illegal u-turn and started back the way he'd come from, and was now blocking both lanes of the road.

I slammed on the brakes, locking the tires on the wet pavement, and came shuddering to a stop, missing the idiot by less than 6 inches. It was during the shuddering stop that I realized my car has antilock brakes. Try that with your 20 year old econobox.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

I slammed on the brakes, locking the tires on the wet pavement, and came shuddering to a stop, missing the idiot by less than 6 inches. It was during the shuddering stop that I realized my car has antilock brakes. Try that with your 20 year old econobox.

How do you lock the wheels on a car that has anti lock brakes??? My '97 Escort has anti lock brakes and I haven't yet to lock the wheels. Sounds like someone need to have their safety equipment worked on.

[RH77]

Just a curious question...

Where exactly have vehicles weight increased over time?

First issue: model comparison.

The size of a new Civic would have to be compared to an older Accord (or new Focus vs. Tempo instead of Escort, etc). So, the first variable is the vehicle size has obviously increased, adding weight.

The rest? What about a line-item comparison of old component vs. new component...

Aside from the additional weight from add-on safety features (ABS, airbags) and engine displacement, where is it really coming from? Components are lighter these days.

Convince me that it isn't because we have been tricked into buying bigger, with fewer alternatives.

RH77

[SentraSE-R]

Ford Man, technically you're correct. The idiot was so close, I slammed on my brakes hard, without time to think about pulsing the brakes. The antilock system pulsed them for me, causing the shuddering and the grip and loosen cycle that broke my skid on the wet pavement. When I said I locked the brakes, that's what my foot and reflexes did. The modern safety features kept the brakes from staying locked, and sliding me into the accident.

That didn't happen the time a deer ran in front of my '87 GTA. I didn't have time to do any pulsing on that emergency stop, either. My car screeched to a stop after it tipped the fawn off of its feet, and I killed the car because I didn't have time to think about touching the clutch pedal. I thought I'd killed the fawn, but it got up and ran off, apparently uninjured, and with no broken legs.