Posted on 11/26/2008 7:02:07 AM PST by yankeedame
I agree on the Novas. I owned two of them, a 1971 6 cylinder and a 1973 350. They were both great cars but some fool ran into me in the 1971 and totaled it. I flat wore out the 1973! That 350 would make that little car fly and it was reliable. Had one of the fiber timing gears break on it but that was after about 90,000 miles on it. I would buy another nova in a minute if they made one.
Each year, Consumer Reports weighs in on the most reliable cars. By calculating an overall reliability score for each of the three newest model years - 2005, 2006, and 2007 - the organization comes up with the best bets for the current year. Here are some highpoints for 2008:
1. Family cars: Toyota Prius, Honda Accord (4-cylinder), Ford Fusion (V6)
2. Large cars: Buick Lucerne (V8), Toyota Avalon, Dodge Charger (V6)
3. Small cars: Toyota Yaris Hatchback, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris Sedan
4. Minivans: Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Town & Country
5. Small SUVS: Honda Element, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Forester (turbo)
6. Midsized SUVs: Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Toyota 4Runner
I had a very ugly green Cutlass 4 door when I was in college, with a 350 4 barrel. It would lay a literal cloud of tire smoke when punched from a stop, and could do nice power slides. Fun car.
> It would lay a literal cloud of tire smoke when punched from a stop, and could do nice power slides. Fun car.
That’s right! They were extremely lite in the tail. Brings back memories!
I had a 1978 Pontiac Phoenix that was a quart of oil per tank of gas. I kept a case of oil in the trunk and as I filled up at least once a week. I’d tell my brother that it was a Phoenix and you couldn’t have a phoenix rise without stoking the (oil)fire!
I agree on the Novas. I owned two of them, a 1971 6 cylinder and a 1973 350. They were both great cars but some fool ran into me in the 1971 and totaled it. I flat wore out the 1973! That 350 would make that little car fly and it was reliable. Had one of the fiber timing gears break on it but that was after about 90,000 miles on it. I would buy another nova in a minute if they made one.
Just as political parties feel entitled to our votes!
Is anyone blaming the consumer for not raving about GM, Ford, or Chrysler's junk? No!
Yet the voters get the blame when lame or mediocre candidates and campaigns lose elections.
ok ok.... /soapbox
You sold a three-year-old, ragged-out Chevette with 60K in 1982 for $3400? I’m impressed!
Drove my nephew's '93 Buick Century V-6 from PA to NY. A big mother, loaded with electric windows, all the bells and whistles. Got an astounding (to me) 30 mpg cruising at 65 mph in total comfort.
Topic Drift. The oil burning stories made me smile "nostalgically" for my first car - a '47 Willys 4-cylinder station wagon. Bought it just before I got out of the navy in '54. My shipmates went with me to a Miama, FL to make sure I wouldn't get screwed. After a close going-over, they OKd the vehicle. By time we got to Hollywood, FL (30 miles down the road) I noticed the oil pressure dropped by half. From then on she burned a quart of oil every 30 miles. "You always get screwed on your first car" those same shipmates counseled. I drove it home from Key West to NYC. I got 20 mpg on gas - and used 18 GALLONS of oil. It got so bad I was buying 50 weight tractor oil in 5-gallon mini-drums - all to no avail. Finally got a ring job but she always burned oil and I later got a '49 Chrysler that ran like a top and got 16 mpg.
Clearly, you don't drive vehicles which prove your manliness.
Oh goody,the daily bash America thread.
“Unsafe At Any Speed” ! I remember!
I even voted for Ralphie for prez a time or two!!!
The 1970’s Corollas were perfectly inoffensive (but certainly not exciting) stylistically, but they were extremely reliable. The early Honda Civic was definitely not a show-stopper either, but it only had to beat the Vega and the Pinto, which it did - both in build quality and in looks, IMO.
I bought a brand new 1976 Ford Granada whose transmission had to be replaced at 36,000 miles. That was only the start of my troubles with that piece of junk. I have never bought a Ford since. I figure a Honda lasts twice as long as a Big 3 car.
It’s amazing how horrendous some of those cars are, that list is the tip of the iceberg. Make a list of all the American car companies and it gets even worse.
Can we make a list of equally horrid cars from Toyota, Honda and Nissan?, not even close.
I’ve owned cars from America, Japan, and Germany. I would like to buy American, but I don’t see it happening, at least we can buy foreign cars built in American plants. American cars I would consider are the Corvette and the Cadillac (super comfortable).
Anyway, I have a '97 Saturn with 160k+ miles, and it's still going strong. Hoping to make 200k.
My dad had a diesel Chevette. Really. The thing shook like hell, but got 45 mpg combined. I liked it. Didn't like plugging in the heater during the winter, though.
A thermostat does not “run”. It is a fixed heat sensitive valve.
Thermostat doesn’t regulate air. It regulates water.
A thermostat is a spring loaded valve that is in-line from the radiator to the engine. When heat builds up the thermostat begins to open allowing cool water to flow to the engine. Engines (especially fuel injected) require a precise engine temperature to run efficiently. The thermostat regulates the amount of water that flows to the engine.
If a car is over-heating, yes, it could be the thermostat. But that means the thermostat is stuck closed and will not allow cool water to reach the engine.
They have already acknowledged that the older Malibu models were easy to overlook.
hope GM hangs in there long enough for me to get a z06 next spring!!
“The jap cars have throwaway engines”
My cars (not including my first vehicle, which was a 1966 Volkswagen Campmobile):
1979 Honda Accord - 170,000
1986 Honda Accord - 192,000
1993 Acura Integra - 300,000 (yes, you read that right, and it wasn’t even using oil when I sold it!)
All were bought new. None ever needed major engine repairs. And I was able to sell all of them privately (even got $400 for the Acura!)
My secret? Change the oil EVERY 5,000 miles without fail.
- John
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.