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

[Frank Lee]

I wouldn't drag fun into it; I rentd a Focus once and thought it was fun. More fun than a Tempo though? ahhhhhhh....

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I wouldn't drag fun into it; I rentd a Focus once and thought it was fun. More fun than a Tempo though? ahhhhhhh....

That's the very definition of "relative." By pretty much any current standards, a 2,500 pound sedan with 98 horsepower isn't all that fun. But like any car, they grow on you. (Hell, when the '90 Accord first came out, I scoffed at its rounded ugly looks and proudly drove my '85 with its quad square headlights and recessed grille... now the '90 is my favorite body style.)

[Frank Lee]

I think it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I think it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

Hence why the transmission on my Metro was rebuilt three times under warranty. :-)

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

This is great stuff thanks Rick. Reminds me of a story.

Pete and Repete were in a boat. Pete fell out who was left.

Tears me up what happened to Pete. That salty ol' son of a gun...

I suppose the discussion continues anyway.

OK, so I'll make a confession. I like classic cars -- driving them, seeing them at local shows, talking about them. Some of the best ones were not that safe, and drank leaded fuel like no tomorrow.

I think that's why a lot of us are here: simply, we're into cars.

RH77

[Ford Man]

[QUOTE=Clev;156008] People accuse new-car buyers of being "fat gas-hog driving SUV lovers," yet here's the perfect example of wanting an inferior vehicle simply because it's big and heavy. The Lincolns of 1976 handled worse than today's biggest SUVs, stopped slower, sucked more gas and were far less safe.

You are turning around what I said, I said I would rather BE IN the '76 Linclon in the event of such a collision. I know well how the '76 Lincoln Continental Mark IV drove, handled, and what it's braking capability were, I owned one for several years and would probably still own it if I could have justified use vs. cost of totally restoring it.



If you don't drive a lot, don't worry.

I'm afraid I don't fit into that catagory either.



(Hell, if I had a 10-mile in-town commute, I'd be driving a '68 Beetle on those days I couldn't bike.)

So you are saying a '68 Beetle is safe enough for a 10 mile city commute, but not safe enough to drive on rural roads or the interstate where the likelyhood of a collision is less. I forget what the percentage was, but if memory serves me right they used to claim that something like 90% of all collisions happen within 25 miles of home.



You sure seem to be extemely worried about driving a 20 year old car, but like myself you are willing to get on a motorcycle where your safety is very much compromised or maybe your air bag is going to save you from hitting the asphalt. I had the asphalt chew me up once about 25-30 years ago while riding, because a tractor turned left in front of me and I took the option of laying the bike down to avoid going under the tractor and being run over, but I didn't stop riding, I got back on the bike, rode it home and started making repairs to damaged parts so I would know it was back in top notch condition. I still ride and have had many other close calls with accidents from cars pulling out in front of me and such, but I don't park it even though I know that safety is an issue vs. riding in any car.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by Clev

Or that a Focus is less fun than an Escort? (And before you answer, I owned an Escort, so I already know the answer.)

Start talking about my Escorts and I'll really get nasty!! lol I own 4 of them 2-88's, 1-'97 and an '02, as for the service I've recieved from them they are by far the most reliable cars I've ever owned foreign or domestic.

[99LeCouch]

Wow, this turned into a real page-turner!

I know all about rust. My car is getting new rocker panels this summer since the current ones are held together by the paint. It's also getting POR-15 on other rusted surfaces to keep them intact.

For safety, it's a tossup between my fiancee's 09 Honda Fit with at least 2 airbags for the front occupants and half the car made of high-strength steel, and my 99 LeSabre with half a foot of steel in the doors. Hers is 5-star crash rated, as is mine.

Our plan is to run both our cars into the ground. And maybe resurrect it and keep going if it's just a transmission rebuild, with the rest of the car structurally sound.

[Clev]

[QUOTE=Ford Man;156092]

Originally Posted by Clev

So you are saying a '68 Beetle is safe enough for a 10 mile city commute, but not safe enough to drive on rural roads or the interstate where the likelyhood of a collision is less. I forget what the percentage was, but if memory serves me right they used to claim that something like 90% of all collisions happen within 25 miles of home.

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.

You sure seem to be extemely worried about driving a 20 year old car, but like myself you are willing to get on a motorcycle where your safety is very much compromised or maybe your air bag is going to save you from hitting the asphalt. I had the asphalt chew me up once about 25-30 years ago while riding, because a tractor turned left in front of me and I took the option of laying the bike down to avoid going under the tractor and being run over, but I didn't stop riding, I got back on the bike, rode it home and started making repairs to damaged parts so I would know it was back in top notch condition. I still ride and have had many other close calls with accidents from cars pulling out in front of me and such, but I don't park it even though I know that safety is an issue vs. riding in any car.

I did sell mine once I started a family. I would still like one for the occasional weekend, but even then I can't justify it based on three family members that have nearly been killed (one three times) on motorcycles.

I was only nearly killed once--by a drunk roadraging woman in a Blazer who followed me off the road and smashed into the back of me.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Ford Man

Start talking about my Escorts and I'll really get nasty!! lol I own 4 of them 2-88's, 1-'97 and an '02, as for the service I've recieved from them they are by far the most reliable cars I've ever owned foreign or domestic.

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.