Posted on 06/17/2011 6:40:06 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
10) Olds Cutlass Ciera(GM A-Bodies)1984-1996
9)Geo Prizm 1989-2002 The what? Here’s the story, in short: It’s a Toyota Corolla with a different nameplate, and everyone knows Corollas last forever.
8)Subaru Wagons(All of Them) 1990-Present If all of these failed to start tomorrow, thousands of college professors in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest would have to walk to class.
7)Volvos (Rear-Wheel-Drive Ones)Dawn of Man-1996 To some extent, these are the Subaru wagons’ spiritual and actual predecessors. Volvo's secret? It basically built one car for 25 years under a variety of nameplates.
6)Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Marquis 1992 - 2011 If these can handle police pursuit and taxi duty, they can handle you.
5)Fiat 500 (in Europe) 1957 - 1975 basically, a lawnmower with a roof. Only a handful made it to the states since they top out around 50 mph.
4) Mercedes 300D/300TD 1975-1985
3)Honda Accord 1976 - Present
2) BMW 3-Series 1982 - 1990
1) Jeep Cherokee 1987 - 2001 We’re going to make an exception to our ‘no-trucks’ rule for the Jeep Cherokee. For one thing, it’s not really a truck — the first small crossover SUV, it did not have the traditional body-on-frame construction. But it did have plenty of the Jeep toughness (and a straight-6 engine) built in, and many of these are still roaming America’s secondary roads — and Europe as well, in a turbodiesel variant. Interestingly, even as Jeep came up with the upmarket Grand Cherokee (somewhat less reliable, natch), it kept cranking out the old model, basically due to consumer demand. Oh, one more truck exception? The original Toyota 4-Runner.
(Excerpt) Read more at kiplinger.com ...
Minor nitpick, it's called the HiLux there. Essentially the same truck, different name. I had a 2000 Tacoma 4wd with the Toyota Racing Development offroad package. Great truck, wish I'd never sold it. Running like new with 175K.
It was repaired so many times in the 1 year I owned it that Fiat had it more than I did.
One time while driving back home (from repair) it developed a strange noise.
I returned it and learned they forgot to put transmission fluid into the manual transmission.
>Ricers...blah.... destroyed my faith in you! Turn in your man card!... But you said you have an F truck so my faith is restored.
The AMG didn’t hurt either ;)
Normie,
80s dude<
Conservatives evolve, fellow Freeper. ;) Besides, my very first car was a “beaten” Chevy cavalier I bought from an Iranian which had a small hole in the roof that whenever it rained or snowed, it rained/snowed inside as well. (couldn’t get chicks with that car). It’s all I could afford after working in high school at McDonald’s. The life growing up in the Pacific Northwest.
I have never heard of the HiLux. I have heard the 2WD version called the Prerunner, but they are not to popular up here in New England. They are worthless in the snow.
Regulator , are you near Goldsboro/Kinston/Mt. Olive ?
Goldsboro Builders Supply
Kinston Builders Supply
Number One Builders Supply
Builders Bargain Outlet
Goldsboro Builders Supply is a good customer of mine.
Got a 2000 Geo Prizm about 5 years ago for $100 from a friend. That thing still runs like a champ - only has needed about $2-300 a year for tires, brakes, etc.
Runs about a week on a tank of gas.
(Knock wood)
My truck is a 2005 Avalanche with 275,000 miles and still runs great.
Why did I buy this truck?
I was one of the Engineers who developed it. I lived in Leon, Guanajuato Mexico for 2 years working on it.
I was there the first day at the Auburn Hills MI office that they rolled in a Suburban (GMT 800) removed the rear doors and added the new trim.
GM FINALLY got something right. Start with a proven product (the GMT 800 and the CK pickup programs) and made them into a new, better program.
Its a great truck, as they have eliminated all the problems in the 20+ years that they have produced essentialy the same product.
I highly recommend the Avalanche and Escalade EXT.
Trust Mikey on this one.
They’re well east and south of here, about three hours away.
The first model year or two of the Avalanche, the vehicle was extraordinarily ugly with those greyish plastic fenders. They’re not bad looking at all now that they’re all body color with chrome bumpers instead of more grey plastic, but I’d have difficulty calling a Suburban with the rear roof cut off an actual truck. It’s like an El Camino writ large with two more doors or something.
GM has come a long way with their reliability and build quality compared to even fifteen years ago. Still have problems with plastic pieces breaking and falling off, but it’s almost completely limited to the interiors anymore.
I had a 2008 GMC Acadia SLT2 for my company car, prior to my having to shut the co. down. Loved it, very well thought out, smooth, responsive, roomy. The only turnoff at all was too much hard plastic inside, despite being the top of the line model, and the six speed electronic transmission hunting or lagging. That wasn’t an issue unique to GM, though. Took about three reflashes to get it right, then never had any problem again.
The grey was switched to black but they used cheap thermoplastics that could not stand up to UV exposure.
Now they have gone to body color TPO like on the Escalade EXT. Looks great, runs great.
I’m not at all hostile to GM, I admired Lutz and his willingness to step on toes and get things turned around (some don’t but that’s the price you pay for relentlessness). He was also a car guy and it showed. They actually produce some pretty vehicles now, which was not the case outside the Corvette for decades. Clean lines and good proportions are the hallmark of GM practically across the board, almost like the good old days.
Now, if they could just get past the whole Government Motors thing and get the unions in check. Product is no longer the problem.
After the show Lutz said he wanted to mass produce the Solstice exactly like the prototype.
The usual morons took over and “designed for manufacturability”. What they produced looked like crap. It looked like a potato with wheels. Reminded me of the Corvair.
Lutz walked in to see the mock up they produced and said “I don't think you understood me. I want to make THAT (pointing at the prototype) in mass production! Get rid of this piece of crap you made.”
Several of us got up and shook his hand for returning the program to sanity.
Making a new program is always a series of trade-offs, and they really went cheap on the interior, but they never messed with the exterior again.
I just hate that they lost their way with Saturn, which should have been the natural home for the Volt. Politics aside, there is a market for well made, putatively “green” efficient vehicles, and Saturn’s original mission was to fill that niche. But, no, had to plop a big car-based SUV in there, whoever redesigned the basic Saturn coupe was legally blind ... pity.
The Australian Holden formerly known as the Pontiac G8, fantastic car that it is, being relegated to fleet for police pursuit vehicles was a crying shame, too. It’d make a fine Buick Grand National in a coupe variant with some minor trim adjustments. It’s always been Buick that has been the home for Euro GM product anyway, Opel, etcetera, so it sits well with history, too.
There are still vestiges of the old ham-handedness and bean-counting, but Lutz really jerked a knot in them about messing with the visual appeal of the product, and for that I thank him.
Thanks.
I found the most beautiful, perfect Avalanche last year in Georgia when I was at Fort Benning. Then I saw the $68,000 price tag. I wish.
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