By golly, there WAS a 340 Dart.
Posted on 11/09/2006 1:20:48 PM PST by eraser2005
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Ford Fusion midsized car and its Mercury Milan sibling scored big in Consumer Reports' annual new car reliability survey, just beating out the industry's quality standard-bearers, the Honda Accord V6 and Toyota Camry V6.
But, overall, Japanese brands are still the ones to beat. Of the 47 vehicles with the highest predicted reliability, 39 are Japanese. Of those, all but seven are made by Toyota or Honda.
American cars are continuing to improve in reliability, however, according to Consumer Reports' surveys.
The "predicted reliability" rankings appear in the 2007 New Car Preview issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
A 340 Dart? Maybe. You're not thinking of the Road Runner, are you?
The guy on the radio also pointed out that Toyota owners should ignore all maintenance recommendations from Toyota and instead maintain their vehicles at "standard" intervals for various things. He made it sound like the owner's manual on a Camry recommends an oil change every 75,000 miles or so. LOL.
By golly, there WAS a 340 Dart.
It's also deceptive because the F-150 is a single model, while Chevrolet and GMC are listed as two separate models by General Motors.
The combined GM models kick @ss against Ford, I think. I just don't say that in public. LOL.
Actually, the manual for my XKR (not pictured) says that I should do 10,000 mile oil changes. I believe the Camry manual says the same, though I don't own one. Manufacturers have been going to more and more extended maintenance intervals - some because their tech is good for it, some because the car will probably be traded in before the damage caused will be evident. My friend's Ford Ranger's manual has a similarly bizzare maintenance interval listing.
Me? Oil change every 3K, transmission and diff every 30K, coolant every two years (despite the fact that I'm using 5/100 coolant now).
Profits to Japan.
My first car was a 1960 Valiant with the "big" slant 6. I paid $450 for it in 1966 with 50,000 miles. I drove it through college and sold it to my brother. When I got out of the Navy it had 255,000 miles on it with no major repairs. The dealer called me and wanted to buy it back; he wanted the engine. So I sold it to him for $400. As far as I know that slant six is still powering some irrigation pump out in South Dakota. I thought the car was really ugly at the time, now I wish I had it back!
The Mariner is based off the Euro-design chassis of the Mondeo. :-P
I think the combination of the frequent trans fluid changes and the heavy-duty cooling system (including a separate radiator for the trans fluid) has really extended the life of the powertrain. It's got 315,000 miles on it, and when I had a compression test done on it last year the mechanic told me he thought his equipment was malfunctioning because he was getting readings that were consistent with a vehicle that had 75,000 miles on it.
94 Lincoln Town Car. 248,000 miles. Just minor maintenance.
And 90-some percent of the price stays in the US and employs US workers, whereas if you buy a GM or Dodge, 90 percent of the price goes to MEXICO.
Which would you rather have? $26,000 staying here and employing lots of US workers, or $4,000 staying here and employing a couple of US workers?
I think that attitude is one of the problems of American cars. You mustn't make a Chevy as good of quality as a Cadillac. I was very worried that Honda, Toyota and Nissan would follow that model when they brought out the Accura, Lexus and Infiniti. Fortunately they haven't fallen into that trap.
I think that's one reason why American trucks don't seem to have this problem - they don't have quite the stratification of name plates within a company.
'96 Toyota Avalon- 252,000 miles. Excellent shape.
No. Profits to shareholders -- wherever they may be.
Toyota Motor Corp. trades on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol TM.
Actually, they do. Compare the Cadillac trucks to their Chevy/GM counterparts - or the Lincoln trucks to their Ford counterparts.
The higher scale trucks are screwed together better.
Sadly, the F-150 doesn't make the top ten, if reliability translates into residual values.
Top 10 Trucks and SUVs With the Best Residual Value
By Warren Clarke
Email
About to purchase a new truck or sport-utility vehicle? Your bank account will owe you a debt of gratitude if you select one that doesn't lose too much of its value to depreciation. With resale value in mind, we've compiled this list of the 10 pickups and SUVs likely to depreciate the least during ownership. Included is the percentage of its original value that each vehicle is likely to retain after five years with an annual mileage of 15,000. Our residual value percentages are based on each vehicle's national True Market Value (TMV®) price, plus typical options and destination charge. Rankings and figures are updated monthly.
1. 2006 Toyota 4Runner — 49.3%
2. 2006 Honda CR-V — 49.0%
3. 2006 Toyota Sequoia — 48.9%
Lexus GX 470 — 48.9%
5. 2006 Toyota RAV4 — 48.8%
6. 2006 Jeep Wrangler — 48.6%
7. 2006 Toyota Tundra — 48.4%
8. 2006 Toyota Tacoma — 48.0%
9. 2006 Ford F-350 Super Duty — 47.2%
10. 2006 Acura MDX — 47.0%
They made the enginge block from half a Pontiac 389 casting.
68 HEMI Dart, nasty, just freaking nasty!!!!!
Thta's a hell of a trick selling your brothers car for $400.
Yeah, they were decent motors. Nothing sexy, but got the job done.
Btw, they were fugly. You're right.
Ferd Fusion = Mazda 6....
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.