retrosurfer1959 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 We spend quite a bit of time discussing the quality issues of guitars, I think I'm satisfied with guitars because I can pick what I like and if it looks good, sounds good then I'm good to go. Sadly many things in our lives are not that easy to select on quality take cars for example they have become so complicated you can't do much yourself so your at the mercy of the builder and it's reputation. My wife owns a 1 year old Mercedes sports utility in that year of ownership it has been towed 3 times and has now spent 8 weeks of it's first year at the dealership waiting for parts and what's truly sad the dealer seems to think that's not only acceptable but it's normal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Shoulda bought a FORD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 When my dad got home from Vietnam he took his combat pay and bought a brand new Mercedes diesel off the showroom floor. It's the only new car he has ever owned. 2 years ago he had to park it because the floors fell out at just about 500,000 miles. Total junk. I wouldn't have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I hear VW has issues with dependability as well, but you'll hear good and bad from nearly every car company. Honda is the one auto maker I've not heard complaints about ever. The people at that dealership are nuts if they are acting like it is normal to have it screw up like that. I got a used Kia rio and it lasted me 60k before I had to take it to the shop (it had 90k all together by then). The small repair cost under $300. When a used and frugal Kia rio is more dependable than a ritzy new Mercedes something is very wrong. Them dealership folks need a reality check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree Honda seem to be one of the best mfgs for quality control...their cars and motorbikes have a solid reputation Not forgetting the millions of lawnmower, chainsaw, boat engines etc across the planet... Old Mercedes' were solid and lasted forever Modern Mercedes are different...full of petty electronic gadgets to amuse the jaded fashionista...trading on a historic name And basically laughing at their customers foolish enough to buy their product...I had one from new a few years ago and will never have another Bad panel fit, dodgy electronic gearbox, poor steering tracking (as a result, tyres wore out quickly) IMX Skoda are one of the best, honest car builders around today...in general they seem even better than their parent VW...and give much better value for money V...In Key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I own two Honda's. An 06 Pilot and a 2011 Accord I can honestly say I will never buy from a different manufacturer...ever The Pilot drives like the day I bought it new and it has 111,200 miles on it regular maintenance change the oil that's it. My daughter drives an 05 Nissan Altima not a bad car,but its not a Honda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 That is unacceptable - and expensive. Mercedes part's are not cheap either. Our driveway has has had nothing but Nissans or Hondas in it for the last 15 years. Couldn't be happier. Our 2003 Element has been to most of the 50 states without a single problem - oh wait, one power window regulator. Not bad for nearly 100,000 miles. Our 2011 Pilot only has 6000k on it, but drives like a dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowdiddley Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 My wife has a E-350 for a little over a year and its in the shop now.... an idiot in a tractor-trailer hit her from behind. Other than that we haven't had any issues with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vourot Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I have had a subcription to Consumer Reports online for years. An indispensible tool for buying anything. Here is a great example. Did you know that , on average a new RangeRover will cost you over two thousand dollars a year for repairs and maintenace? And yet people STILL buy them. Crazy. Mercedes seem to have had their problems ( mostly electrical ). BMW 3 series have been consistently good. Volkswagen has cleaned up their act in the last few years ( I love my Rabbit ). Lots of good unbiased advice from these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I drive a 1996 Dodge Stratus. That car has been running solid for almost 15 years with very few trips to the shop. It's got 108,000 miles on it. My parents have a 2004 Honda Pilot that drives well. We've made several cross country trips in it. And my dad's 2011 Ford Mustang is a fantastic car. Call me bias, but I'm never buying a car thats not American made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 For years my thing was Toyota trucks and GM cars. Old's 88's from the 90's are cheep to buy. They break all the time but are cheep to get parts for at the junk yard and not too hard to work on. My last 88 floated away in the floods last year. Just to get me by till I found a good car I bought a 97 Accord 4 door with 220,000 miles on it for $900 that drives like new. I was so impressed that I went out and bought a 96 Accord Wagon V-tech. So now I have 2 Accords and a Toyota truck. I'm betting it stays that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidl Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 My last 5 vehicles have all been Fords. 3 Explorers, one van and a Mustang. The only stupid problem I had was with the Mustang. Water came in near the windshield and poured into the fusebox. Warranty refused because it was water damage. There was also a repair bulletin issued for this problem but never a recall. Cost me $1600 with rental vehicle included. I take the Mustang problem as an exception to the rule. I have been very satisfied otherwise. My father has driven nothing but Acura and Honda for the last 20 years and swears by them. He was always a big fan of the big 3 before that. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoRedFoot Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree Honda seem to be one of the best mfgs for quality control...their cars and motorbikes have a solid reputation Not forgetting the millions of lawnmower, chainsaw, boat engines etc across the planet... Not my car but identical. Got it in August 2003 and it now has 152k miles and never had anything out of the ordinary happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I drive a 2007 Toyota Corolla, never had any issues with it. I will probably keep buying Toyotas, great cars and gas mileage to boot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 My 92 Toyota pickup has 270,000 miles, gets 27 MPG and was made in America. Unlike my brothers Chevy S-10 that was made in Mexico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 My 92 Toyota pickup has 270,000 miles, gets 27 MPG and was made in America. Unlike my brothers Chevy S-10 that was made in Mexico. That's the thing a lot of people don't understand... a lot of these "foreign cars" are actually made more in the US then "american made" just wait til Neo shows up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomedfuzz Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I have a what is now fairly new Chrysler Town & Country mini van, a 2008 model. My wife has one as well - and let me tell you, the things are hunks of junk in several ways - electrical issues with doors, the multimedia/nav system, windows, and worst of all the front and rear brakes. Some of the things have been recalled (minor things) but others have not. We've owned at least 4 Chrysler and Plymouth mini vans and they were all good vehicles until this last round. I had a Pacifica before this and it was great, should have never gotten rid of that car. Before that though, I had a PT Cruiser that had 3 starters and an electrical harness replaced under warranty within 2 years of it being new. Moral of the story, buying American isn't worth the headache. The Toyota truck and Lexus ES300s I've owned in the past I never had in the shop for anything other than routine maintenance. I also had a 1978 Mercedes 300CD, at 350,000 miles the transmission stopped going into reverse. Fixing it cost more than the car was worth. That vehicle was one beast, best car I ever owned. And case in point about buying American, the Gibson SG 60s Tribute I bought had just horrible finish issues. I have pix posted in other threads on the board you can see for yourself. We ***** and moan that we are shipping manufacturing jobs overseas, well WE SHOULD - American factory workers, unions, and the owners of manufacturing companies don't give shiznit about the product or the customer. Gibson included. My opinion is most Americans have become fat and lazy, there is little fire in the belly anymore. For the same price, I could have picked up one the ESP LTP Viper 1000 guitars that would have been 100% perfect in every way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I only drive Hondas now because I've been lucky so far and haven't had any problems yet...but every car manufacturer can and does produce lemons; just as every guitar manufacture can and does let poor QC guitars out the door. I know of one local case where a Honda Accord had a cracked engine block at 5,000. Rare but it does happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbabig Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I drive a 1996 Dodge Stratus. That car has been running solid for almost 15 years So, you've been driving ever since you were two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 So, you've been driving ever since you were two? Haha no. But the car has been in my family since 96'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think it's funny how most of the people here have the cars they have because of gas mileage. When I look at a car, I look at how many horses its got under the hood, not how far it goes before I have to stop for gas. I care far more about performance than gas mileage. Therefore, I don't even bother with pathetic compact cars. Right now my goal is to get Dodge Challenger as the first car that I buy with my own money. The 2011 Challenger SRT8 is one bad@ss machine. It's got a 470HP 6.4L Hemi 392 V8 that can get it to a top speed of 180-185mph: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcZaVH_x3E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think it's funny how most of the people here have the cars they have because of gas mileage. When I look at a car, I look at how many horses its got under the hood, not how far it goes before I have to stop for gas. I care far more about performance than gas mileage. Therefore, I don't even bother with pathetic compact cars. Right now my goal is to get Dodge Challenger as the first car that I buy with my own money. The 2011 Challenger SRT8 is one bad@ss machine. It's got a 470HP Hemi 392 V8 that can get it to a top speed of 180-185mph: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcZaVH_x3E Let me guess... you don't pay for your own gas smaller cars aren't pathetic, and also, the driver matters more than the car. I can beat most cars off the line in my Corolla that has 108 hp. Why? Because I know how it runs and I know how lights change Don't call it pathetic when I get 33 mpg in the city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Let me guess... you don't pay for your own gas smaller cars aren't pathetic, and also, the driver matters more than the car. I can beat most cars off the line in my Corolla that has 108 hp. Why? Because I know how it runs and I know how lights change Don't call it pathetic when I get 33 mpg in the city Yeah but what happens after you get off the line? And I'll say it again, I couldn't care less about miles per gallon. Here's an example. The Bugatti Veyron only gets 3 mpg at top speed (1.4 gallons per minute). Do I care? No Why? Because its top speed is 267mph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 In the UK we pay large taxes on auto fuels So MPG is a general obsession And is not unlinked to the connection with greenhouse gas emissions In general we find it weird that there are still millions of American motorists Who have no interest in tempering their consumption of dwindling oil reserves Rock On !! V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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