Lee on wed 12 jan 11
Mel,
=3DA0=3DA0 =3DA0 Garage talk depends a lot on where you live and who =
you
talk too. My father was a mechanic and a good one will make you feel
good about what you own
Taking that grain of salt, At the garage in Mashiko, we
have a saying: Hondas and Toyotas go forever (actually, Kamiya-san
prefered Toyotas.) Funny thing is, that my mechanic here in Mpls
said the same thing when I met him: "Civics never die. I have
two & one is a CRX. They are both older than yours and will go
forever."
The point of the Consumer Report study is that a car that
breaks down a lot or if repairs and=3DA0maintenance=3DA0is too high, the ca=
r
doesn't make it to 200,000 miles. =3DA0 The =3DA0 200,000 measure is simpl=
y a
gauge of reliability and cost to operate.
CNN money had an article titled:
Drive Your Car to Death, Save $31,000 It is based on buying a new
car and repairing it until something major happens. If you buy a
low mileage used car, you can save even more in initial cost and most
people will save on interest on their loan. Blue book on my 10 year
old 46,000 mile Civic was $1800 two years ago. A new one runs between
$15,000 and $20,000. The difference can pay for a lot of gas and
repairs.
=3DA0Fuel efficent Asian cars still dominate in reliability while=3DA0For=
d
is catching up and GM is improving. European cars are still at the
bottom related to reliability. Chrysler and Dodge are at the bottom:
:=3DA0=3DA0=3DA0 http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2010/10/26/503161.html
original study found here in PDF:
http://consumerreports.presslift.com/auto-reliability-survey-findings-2010
Also, the whole point of Shop Class as Soul Craft, is that it makes
more sense to repair things. You can rationalize owning a gas
guzzler, but even if it required less maintainable (which is not
supported by the evidence), petroleum is an nonrenewable resource that
is sucked out of our economy and goes to the Middle East. What you
pay a local craftsman for repairs, stays in your community.
Below, 2010 reliability, best to worst. Porsche does better than most
European cars:
Scion
Porsche
Acura
Honda
Infiniti
Toyota
Subaru
Volvo
Lexus
Ford
Hyundai
Mazda
Kia
Nissan
Lincoln
Volkswagen
Chevrolet
Buick
Cadillac
Jeep
GMC
Mercedes-Benz
BMW
Dodge
Mini
Audi
Chrysler
--
=3DA0Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/
=3DA0"Ta tIr na n-=3DF3g ar chul an tI=3D97tIr dlainn trina ch=3DE9ile"=3D9=
7that is, =3D
"The
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
Nancy Spinella on wed 12 jan 11
What you get out of a car also depends on what you put into it....I rely on
my car to get me everywhere (I live in the middle of nowhere and have to
travel for business), so I've been diligent with oil changes, tire
rotations, etc. So far, *knocks wood* it's never left me stranded. I bought
it new and it's well on its way to 200,000 miles. (2003 Honda Insight, by
the way, and I should have bought two!)
My last car - which left me stranded more times than I care to recall - was
bought used and its previous owner(s) didn't take care of it. I had to get
rid of it after ~4 years because fixing it was costing more than the car wa=
=3D
s
worth. I loved the car, hated the uncertainty of when it would decide to
conk out on me.
But as the old saying goes....your mileage may vary. ;)
--Nancy
On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 10:06 AM, Lee wrote:
> Mel,
> Garage talk depends a lot on where you live and who you
> talk too. My father was a mechanic and a good one will make you feel
> good about what you own
>
> Taking that grain of salt, At the garage in Mashiko, we
> have a saying: Hondas and Toyotas go forever (actually, Kamiya-san
> prefered Toyotas.) Funny thing is, that my mechanic here in Mpls
> said the same thing when I met him: "Civics never die. I have
> two & one is a CRX. They are both older than yours and will go
> forever."
>
> The point of the Consumer Report study is that a car that
> breaks down a lot or if repairs and maintenance is too high, the car
> doesn't make it to 200,000 miles. The 200,000 measure is simply a
> gauge of reliability and cost to operate.
>
> CNN money had an article titled:
>
> Drive Your Car to Death, Save $31,000 It is based on buying a new
> car and repairing it until something major happens. If you buy a
> low mileage used car, you can save even more in initial cost and most
> people will save on interest on their loan. Blue book on my 10 year
> old 46,000 mile Civic was $1800 two years ago. A new one runs between
> $15,000 and $20,000. The difference can pay for a lot of gas and
> repairs.
>
> Fuel efficent Asian cars still dominate in reliability while Ford
> is catching up and GM is improving. European cars are still at the
> bottom related to reliability. Chrysler and Dodge are at the bottom:
> : http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2010/10/26/503161.html
>
> original study found here in PDF:
> http://consumerreports.presslift.com/auto-reliability-survey-findings-201=
=3D
0
>
> Also, the whole point of Shop Class as Soul Craft, is that it makes
> more sense to repair things. You can rationalize owning a gas
> guzzler, but even if it required less maintainable (which is not
> supported by the evidence), petroleum is an nonrenewable resource that
> is sucked out of our economy and goes to the Middle East. What you
> pay a local craftsman for repairs, stays in your community.
>
> Below, 2010 reliability, best to worst. Porsche does better than most
> European cars:
>
> Scion
> Porsche
> Acura
> Honda
> Infiniti
> Toyota
> Subaru
> Volvo
> Lexus
> Ford
> Hyundai
> Mazda
> Kia
> Nissan
> Lincoln
> Volkswagen
> Chevrolet
> Buick
> Cadillac
> Jeep
> GMC
> Mercedes-Benz
> BMW
> Dodge
> Mini
> Audi
> Chrysler
>
>
> --
> Lee Love in Minneapolis
> http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/
>
> "Ta tIr na n-=3DF3g ar chul an tI=3D97tIr dlainn trina ch=3DE9ile"=3D97t=
hat is, =3D
"The
> land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
> within itself." -- John O'Donohue
>
--=3D20
www.twitter.com/nanspins
www.wix.com/nanspin/pottery
Lee on wed 12 jan 11
On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 12:17 PM, Nancy Spinella wrote=
=3D
:
> What you get out of a car also depends on what you put into it....I rely =
=3D
on
Upkeep is everything! That is why I think the European and Japanese
inspection system is so important. In Japan, a car cannot pass
inspection if it has rust. My mechanic would fix those things as a
part of the inspection (broken tail light cover, etc.)
> My last car - which left me stranded more times than I care to recall - w=
=3D
as
> bought used and its previous owner(s) didn't take care of it.
My current car was bought from a friend who worked at home. She
put less than 46,000 miles on it in 10 years. I'd like to find a
mini-van from a similar situation.
--
=3DA0Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/
=3DA0"Ta tIr na n-=3DF3g ar chul an tI=3D97tIr dlainn trina ch=3DE9ile"=3D9=
7that is, =3D
"The
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
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