New Cars Suck - Part II

mad_machine said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to AngryCorvair :

I pretty much crossed the Ford off my list.  I had heard/ read about head gasket issues on the Focus.  That, coupled with Ford's eliminating it's non-Mustang car lineup after this year makes me question how well it'll be supported in, say, 7 years.  

You know ford only keeps parts around the federally mandated minimum? Good luck trying to find parts for an 11 year old ford product. Unless it crosses over to one built 10 years ago, the parts have been destroyed

Well, they might keep the parts around a little longer.  But they do ratchet up the price of parts the longer they are on the shelves, say 10% per year or so.  When they get to a point where nobody is buying them, they scrap the remaining inventory.

Was quoted $124 for a simple NPT fitting once, for a 20 year old Ford van.  To be honest, I'm kind of shocked that they even had it available.

The annoying thing is, Mazda seems to have inherited this tactic.

In reply to Knurled. :

I've had timing belts break and belt tensioners fail, but never had anything with a timing chain fail, skip or require any repair.

In reply to Suprf1y :

I put three timing chain failures back together this winter alone.  I also have an Avalon sitting out back waiting for me to get to it, because pulling the heads requires lifting the car off of the drivetrain, and I just don't have time for that right now.

Personally I think I would close my eyes and go VW hoping to get a good one. For some unexplainable reason I've become infatuated with the GLI.

I know Mazda gets lots of love and I'm sure they deserve it but I've never liked the driving experience of the any of the ones I've driven. 

Oh and give me a chain over a belt any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Honda Fit??

Funny, since I was researching engines on the cars I've been looking at, and was relieved to see that Mazda used a chain for the SkyActives, instead of a belt.  I figured modern chains were a "set it and forget it" thing, provided (as frenchy said) one keeps the oil at the proper level.  

The Sonic is neat, but I think a bit on the small side.  And if I'm going to buy a Korean car, I don't know that I'd do it the indignity of slapping a bow tie on its grille.  

Speaking of bow ties, I drove my '64 Corvair convertible to work today, 4 speed and carburetors and all.  I was probably in the wrong gear the whole time, but I loved it.  

In reply to Nick Comstock :

I keep seeing Golfs around where I work, and I do admire the styling.  Yesterday I saw a GTI street parked.  I gotta say, I love that tweed seat material.  

The early Fits were nice little cars; I test drove one back in '08 or so (helping a friend buy a new car, eventually they got a Matrix).  But the current gen has, like the Toyotas, been hit hard with the ugly stick.  

volvoclearinghouse said:

 

 if I'm going to buy a Korean car, I don't know that I'd do it the indignity of slapping a bow tie on its grille.  

 

People say the silliest things

The only timing chain issues I've ever had on anything were self-inflicted as a result of me being an idiot during an engine rebuild. 

Not too many larger wagons out there other than the euro cars.  So would a Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback be a more reliable VW?  It kinda looks GTI/Golf from certain angles.  I'm sure it wouldn't be quite as fun as a Gti but not a bad looking hatchback with some decent stats:

In reply to Fletch1 :

Some years have the problem of shavings left in the engine which causes engine failure....i want to say 2013 ish?

We looked at one before the fiancee bought a golf. The year i was looking at had some odd problems listed on carcomplaints.com(unintended acceleration being one) and i knew someone with the same year that had lots of problems.

*personal anecdote about why you are wrong*

Knurled. said:

In reply to Suprf1y :

I put three timing chain failures back together this winter alone.  I also have an Avalon sitting out back waiting for me to get to it, because pulling the heads requires lifting the car off of the drivetrain, and I just don't have time for that right now.

Now, now, it's not fair to make blanket statements.  Not all manufacturers have timing chain issues.  Off the top of my head, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Volvo, VW, Mercedes and BMW have well known timing chain issues, but that's not ALL manufacturers...

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

What Volvos had chains?

I have to chime in that my wife's Mazda6 suffered badly when the water pump went out with less than 70k miles. Granted, that was a Ford engine in a Mazda car, but the fact the water pump was timing chain driven caused the problem. "Your water pump failed, get a new engine." is not something you want to hear from a dealer.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

That tweed seat is really nice! I wonder if the GTI rear seats will fit into the Sportwagen...

In reply to Knurled. :

any with the I6 and V8s

Dont know of you ended up having the opportunity to test drive one but I figured I give you a data point on the Alltrack / Sportwagen.  

Just returned from an 1800 miles weekend trip from FL to VA and back.  On the interstate at 75-80 the car returned 32mpg with 3 people, luggage and 120lbs worth of dogs.  I would expect an empty 2wd model would be a little better. 

sobe_death said:

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

That tweed seat is really nice! I wonder if the GTI rear seats will fit into the Sportwagen...

They do.  Only issue is there is a rear release handle on the wagons the gti seats don't have.    They will still go down but you have to do it at the seat not from the handle in the trunk. 

I am casually shopping for a tartan / plaid gti interior for the wife's Alltrack.

My problem with VW is that they openly cheated then lied then covered up then lied some more.  They are a bunch of scum and their entire board should be in prison, along with half their engineering staff.  A billion dollar fine isn't enough, they should be pariahs in the marketplace for 10 years at least.  Or they should be forced to sell the GTI with a limited slip for $12K.  

pinchvalve said:

My problem with VW is that they openly cheated then lied then covered up then lied some more.  They are a bunch of scum and their entire board should be in prison, along with half their engineering staff.  A billion dollar fine isn't enough, they should be pariahs in the marketplace for 10 years at least.  Or they should be forced to sell the GTI with a limited slip for $12K.  

These facts are not lost on me, and where I send my dollars.  

Folks, sorry this has been such a slow play; I'm still rocking my Volvo 240 wagon and still debating whether I actually want to replace it...or not.  Then I got distracted by a 300HP V6 Challenger and thinking I could possibly fit kids seats in the back of one...then I started looking at Chargers.  

In summary, I'm still looking.  

I tend to agree on a personal level but the market place essentially has about a dozen wagons/hatches with manuals. 

If you want AWD and a turbo (which were on the wife's list) then you are down to the Alltrack/Sportwagen or maybe the Focus RS / Renegade if you consider a hatch a wagon. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

pinchvalve said:

My problem with VW is that they openly cheated then lied then covered up then lied some more.  They are a bunch of scum and their entire board should be in prison, along with half their engineering staff.  A billion dollar fine isn't enough, they should be pariahs in the marketplace for 10 years at least.  Or they should be forced to sell the GTI with a limited slip for $12K.  

These facts are not lost on me, and where I send my dollars.  

Folks, sorry this has been such a slow play; I'm still rocking my Volvo 240 wagon and still debating whether I actually want to replace it...or not.  Then I got distracted by a 300HP V6 Challenger and thinking I could possibly fit kids seats in the back of one...then I started looking at Chargers.  

In summary, I'm still looking.  

There are 5 electric cars coming on line.  200 mile range cars. Besides Tesla. There will be electric cars from Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW, VW and Volvo.  

Oil is getting more than twice as expensive as it was just a couple years ago.  Last I checked it was over $69 a barrel. 

With a a wind/ solar generating plant you can cover your commute fuel costs and have a quick payback.

I understand the attraction of rowing your own gears but isn’t that already covered with your Jaguar?  

In reply to mad_machine

Huh?  I am only aware of two I6 Volvos, the 6 cylinder VWAG Diesel engine in the ultrarare 240D, and the O.G. whiteblock engine from the 960, that transmigrated to various S80s over the years in both natural aspriation and twin turbo forms.  Both of these engines very definitely had timing belts.   Was there another six?

I worked on a V8 XC90 today.  The one with the Taurus SHO engine in it.  Technically it's a Volvo but that engine is all Yamaha's fault.  (I note with pleasure, because I think V8s suck, that even in casual driving, teh R feels way faster in gentle tip-in city driving than that thing did, even though teh R has turbo lag you can monitor on a calendar when things get serious)

I never played with the i6s.. that's just what I was told. I knew the I5 was belt driven... and in my opinion, a sweet engine