Comments on: Car trouble

By: esoterroriffik

esoterroriffik — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:55:11 +0000

One benefit of this whole Toyota fiasco is that if you hold off until next year, you can look forward to some deep discounts similar to what GM and Chrysler offered a couple years ago when they were hurting for sales. With all this negative press on Toyota, I’m sure next year’s model will not only be more meticulously put together, but offered at a lower price as a sort of deeper apology as well as a way to recoup loss revenue. Sure it’s a death trap, but the price.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:08:46 +0000

I don’t like minivans, but I was mostly kidding about never being caught dead driving one, since obviously I drive a complete crapmobile! Minivans are extremely useful, and they offer much better safety and fuel economy than SUVs of the same size (or smaller, in many cases.)

I’m not anti-minivan. Just anti-minivan so long as I don’t *need* one!

By: Penny

Penny — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:50:31 +0000

I heart mini-vans, too, Western Dave. And it’s a never-say-never situation–if you ever have a family member who uses a wheelchair, and who is lifted or wheeled into a vehicle, suddenly a mini-van is a very, very nice option for all concerned.

By: Adrienne in CA

Adrienne in CA — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:07:38 +0000

Just want to note that I’m suspicious of daily reporting that Toyota quality has suddenly gone from wonderful to crap overnight. Articles mention the number of complaints lodged with the NHTSA, but provide no comparisons across time periods or to similar complaints in other car makes or to percent of cars sold. In this tanking U.S. economy, there could be reasons besides consumer safety for attacking the number one foreign carmaker.

I’ll admit to being biased. Ours has been an all Toyota household for 25 years.

By: Digger

Digger — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:08:08 +0000

Car washing is important if you’re in an area with lots of salt; I had to ditch a vehicle after the bottom rotted out and things started falling off that couldn’t be replaced, because the parts they were attached to also fell off. Oy.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:03:56 +0000

Dr. Mister is concerned not so much that I’ll get stuck somewhere when the transmission drops out of the fartmobile, and more about having to buy another car in a hurry when we’re both busy and can’t really be bothered.

Vance & FrauTech–my sense is that smaller cars are safer, but at what price in terms of the carbon footprint? I’m considering the Honda Civic hybrid, which gets 40-45 mpg and has a 5-star crash rating. Fuel economy and safety are the most important things for me–but as you both noted, they’re rather at war with one another.

Maybe I should just get the car washed, change the oil, and buy a couple of new front tires. That will probably be a good investment in terms of both my safety and the car’s usefulness. (And maybe make it look and smell less farty?)

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:09:48 +0000

Thirteen-year-old car, one car between the two of us (thank goodness we can walk to work), now under a foot of snow and no real plan in sight to dig it out of the plow-by piled up on the side of our street. Rose is out with the snowshoes even as we speak.

The car is sounding its age more than showing it, but the Sirius satellite radio drowns most of the rattles out. But the carbon-debt of ore-smelting or steel-melting plus the decent gas mileage makes it hard to imagine buying a new car.

We’d be sorely tempted, though, if there were a hybrid or electric Mini.

By: Western Dave

Western Dave — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:05:45 +0000

Back when I was single and childless, I drove a minivan with the seats out. Great for prolonged research trips and hauling your life across country. I put the seats back in and hauled the whole graduate student gang to a conference in it. When I stopped being single, the s-o used it to carry her large scale installation art around in it. I heart mini-vans.

By: FrauTech

FrauTech — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:38:34 +0000

Vance-mileage got worse when safety standards were upped in the nineties, along with engines getting bigger. Safer cars are heavier cars, and so today’s cars have slightly more horsepower but like you said, not much in the way of improved mpg for those of us with older cars.

I say who cares if you don’t get your car washed all that often. That’s like arguing over wearing heels versus flats to me; all about what’s important/comfortable for you. And tires you can generally put off changing longer than they recommend. I can usually tell when mine need to be changed finally just by feel on a rainy day. Oil change is what you don’t want to put off too long. Ignore all the other services they’ll try to sell you, but oil change either every 3k or 6k miles is within the recommended range.

My car’s entering its second year in high school. Next year it will be old enough to get its own driver’s license. I agree with you Historiann, I’ve been looking at new cars and trying to think about what I might want to buy when I graduate, but haven’t been that impressed. The mileage is never that great, many of the cars are either too big or too boring. There’s some interesting new ones coming out right now (diesel alternatives from VW, Ford has a few new models that look promising). So maybe in the next couple years we’ll see something nice.

By: Vance Maverick

Vance Maverick — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:22:07 +0000

The gas mileage on new cars is weirdly poor. Like many here, I’m beginning to think about replacing the beater I drive, a ’93 Honda Civic that’s can no longer deny its age; but it still gets 35-40 mpg, and as far as I can see, only a few hybrids and the Smart do that well today. (I suppose they must be heavier and/or more powerful, but I wish that tradeoff hadn’t been made for me.)