Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

I prefer the wagon. I'd reject both, but the rejection for the wagon would be a tiny bit less forceful.

Many moons ago I considered buying a Wartburg Knight... Surely my approval means its a good car? :p
 
Could somebody give me some info on the Chevy S10, got an offer to buy a 1999 (or 2000, my mind is a bit shoddy) 4WD. Should i avoid it like the plauge or can it be a decent second car/hauler?

It's not a bad truck, fairly simple and Durable. Do be adbised that thanks to weird front suspension geometry and generic ABS handling in the wet has a tendency towards snap oversteer.

I think spectre has more info on that suspension bit though, I vouch for the overster bit
 
US S10s were also assembled by drunken Cajuns in Louisiana and something like one in four of them has crap welded inside body panels so it'll rattle around while you're driving. Thing is, the S10 wasn't all that good and there are many, many better choices.

They sold lots and lots of S10s because they were really, really cheap but this is one case where cheap doesn't quite overcome suck.
 
:lol: if only that were the case :p

Edit: guess who has to buy a cheap used tire tomorrow because "you know you won't be able to coordinate a replacement car immediately with you working and we can't take you places and you really think your driving on a spare? Forget it!"?

Thanks "voice of reason/Debbie downer" stepmom...ah well, a small chink in my plans but what's another week or two with the failturn going to hurt?

/le sighs
 
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:lol: if only that were the case :p

Edit: guess who has to buy a cheap used tire tomorrow because "you know you won't be able to coordinate a replacement car immediately with you working and we can't take you places and you really think your driving on a spare? Forget it!"?
Penn Tire Exchange or similar. You Pennsylvanians LOVE your used tire dealers and this is the only situation I'd ever seriously recommend one.

And what's a week or two going to hurt? Good question. Time to start up the betting pool.
 
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Penn Tire Exchange or similar. You Pennsylvanians LOVE your used tire dealers and this is the only situation I'd ever seriously recommend one.

And what's a week or two going to hurt? Good question. Time to start up the betting pool.

Yup the number of them here is staggering. Definitely going used was my idea when I heard of this new "carblock" move. She (and the failturn) won't win that easy.
 
Maybe it's time to start sabotaging it. Sand in the crankcase will speed up the inevitable. Also, if they think it's okay to keep driving it, perhaps you can get them to help you buy something else when it dies - i.e., making them put their money where their mouth is.
 
As I posted on a different thread, I'll soon be the proud owner of a new car. My current car, a 2008 Saturn Astra with nearly 80,000 miles(!) is in desperate need of replacement, so I decided to buy the car that I've admired since it was introduced at Geneva(if I remember correctly, correct me if I'm wrong) a few years back. What is it, well I guess we can just "focus" on that. :p Yes, it is a Focus, a 2012 SEL in Race Red with the the Stone leather interior. It has nearly every option(leather, moonroof, 17" wheels, SYNC) except for the absolutely horrendous "MyFordTouch system. I ordered it last week and it's supposed to be arriving sometime in late August or early September. After test driving one I was instantly impressed by this car, a huge improvement from my Astra and and even bigger step up from the previous model Focus which i drove as a rental last year. This car has superb handling in town, good acceleration, a good ride if a bit stiff on Austin's pothole-ridden roads, and a very good amount of interior space. From the inside this feels much bigger than my Astra even though they are relatively the same size from the exterior. In fact, my only gripe is that the SYNC is somewhat complicated at times, but not to the point of being a deal-breaker.

This isn't my exact car (it hasn't been delivered yet) but it's pretty much identical in every single way:

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=newcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=66739376&listingRecNum=6&criteria=sf1Dir%3DDESC%26mkId%3D20015%26stkTyp%3DN%26mdId%3D21138%26rd%3D100000%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-clrId-trId%26zc%3D78660%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-1-1%26stkTypId%3D28880%26clrId%3D27132%26sf2Dir%3DDESC%26sf1Nm%3DactualPhotoCount%26sf2Nm%3Dprice%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26trId%3D24993%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national
 
So much for European build quality there... your Astra was built in Belgium with all the other Astras, and it's already worn out at 80K and less than four years?
 
Oooh, I wish I had a car-mounted camera like Lip's, only with sound.

On my way back from a rib/chili cookoff in Dixon, I'm keeping up with the flow of traffic when I hear a powerful sounding V8 gaining on my left. Car goes by, and it's a Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series!

Then, 10 miles later, I hear a ripping noise and out of the corner of my eye see a black, low-slung shape on my right. I turn to look, thinking that it's probably a Lotus Evora. No. It's a black Ferrari 458 Italia, and it wasn't on fire!

A few miles after that, another V8 soundtrack on my left. This one is a burgundy Chevy TrailBlazer SS, with a 395hp 6.0 litre LS2. God, it sounded sweet. I am sorely tempted to go looking for one when I get my severance pay. That, or a Dodge Magnum R/T or SRT-8, to fulfill both my "haul a bunch of crap" and "fun to drive" sensibilities.
 
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So much for European build quality there... your Astra was built in Belgium with all the other Astras, and it's already worn out at 80K and less than four years?

The Astra never was a particularly good car, no matter what market you're in. Opel/GM just knew how to talk to fleetowners. I'd say 90% of Astras (99% Astra wagons) are fleet-owned.
 
:lol: if only that were the case :p

Edit: guess who has to buy a cheap used tire tomorrow because "you know you won't be able to coordinate a replacement car immediately with you working and we can't take you places and you really think your driving on a spare? Forget it!"?

Thanks "voice of reason/Debbie downer" stepmom...ah well, a small chink in my plans but what's another week or two with the failturn going to hurt?

/le sighs

Just get rid of the Saturn and buy a new car without telling them.
 
So much for European build quality there... your Astra was built in Belgium with all the other Astras, and it's already worn out at 80K and less than four years?
Ours is 5 years old, admittedly it has done only 55000 miles, but it still looks just like it left the factory. Nothing has fallen off, and everything still works. Interior has no signs of wear at all, and we're not particularly gentle on it.

But yeah, ours is an ex-fleet car which we bought because it was cheap. Otherwise we'd probably have a Focus.

This Mazda is rather a tempting and interesting option:

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/2467292427.html
Sorry, but the US Mazda6 looks fat and badly proportioned compared to the one we get here. Doesn't help with the sedan body style. The hatch we get here is sleek and actually quite sporty looking. The front especially of the US one looks weird, like it's swollen with some sort of eye infection.
 
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So much for European build quality there... your Astra was built in Belgium with all the other Astras, and it's already worn out at 80K and less than four years?

I just love these kind of random "Wohoo! I can quote the owner and tell how shit the European build quality is!" posts. They're so full of useful information. Thank you!
 
I just love these kind of random "Wohoo! I can quote the owner and tell how shit the European build quality is!" posts. They're so full of useful information. Thank you!

Actually, at one point GM specifically advertised the Astra in the US as having "European build quality" as part of marketing it as a 'premium subcompact car.'

It didn't work. Almost nobody bought one. Possibly because the last time they'd said something like that was when they gave us the Cadillac Catera (aka Opel Omega with a Caddy badge and a price hike). Which didn't work at all well.

While I do enjoy bashing Europe from time to time, this time was more along the lines of being ironic at GM's expense. They were soooo proud of finally bringing over some GM Europe product... Shame it wasn't the Opel we were actually hoping for.

800px-OpelSpeedster_Scorpions.JPG
 
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Like Adunaphel said, they're not praised for quality here either, but probably every single example goes easily beyond 200k miles with some service.

If this one was more bashing GM, then say it. It takes all your creditability away when you bash every single European car manufacturer by saying "Astra...there you see, european build quality!". And by the way, the OP never actually said why the car is in need of a replacement ? it might be technically totally okay!
 
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