my (destroyed)old ,and my new car

I had a monster Cadillac in the 80s, it was v. comfortable, but it sucked in fuel at an astronomical rate.

I remember a friend's remarks about his Sirocco "I have a fine german automobile, and the repair bills to prove it!"

Buy Toyota!

Hy Peter!had corvette and sold my 1976 cadillac seville last year.
In magasines is said,thatn the sts with northstar motor is the most gasolin economical car in its class,infront of all300 horsepowered BMW,and mercedes,the testers talk about 12 until 16 liters if youdrive not to fast.
the fact is:i drive not more than 7000 km a year,and not often in the city,and icannot remember that i had motor problems with my us car.also the electrical things seem to be simpler than in europe.
you are right,toyota or mazda are the highlights
concerning the´ It works always´ factor.
but after a volkswagen i have the wish to get an more individual and emotional car.
O.J.

quote:

Buy Toyota!

...and live with scares of the engine going belly up from damaged pre-cats

Regards

Stephen

How do damaged pre-cats cause the engine to go "belly up"?

Regards,

Ian

quote:

Originally posted by Jagster:
How do damaged pre-cats cause the engine to go "belly up"?

Regards,

Ian

They crumble and fall into the engine. There have been reports of this happening with various Toyota engines including the one in the MR-2. It's not common, but it's worrying.

Regards

Stephen

Spent two weeks driving a top spec Avensis last month in which I racked up 2000 miles. Absolutely dire, unrefined, dull to drive and uncomfortable. I thought that given the givens it was probably OK for the price as a basic method of transport - until I came across the price Toyota want for a new one. Insane. Even with a discount.

Another thing worth mentioning is that most "German" cars are not built in Germany. I've never been unlucky enough to suffer problems with a German built car, including one not sold by a German manufacturer. They've all been very well put together - not that this is any indication of the big picture, but in my head like many, perception is fact.

Someone down the street has just been quoted £550 to replace a mass air sensor on a Nissan Micra. That's twice the price of replacing one on a BMW M5. But for really huge bills drive Swedish. You'll never be flush again. These are dealer prices. So again, not the big picture but good enough for illustration.

Cheers

Dear Harry,

Whilst your assertion that driving Swedish is expensive may be true for today's models - I simply don't know - I have a 17 year old Gothenberg built Volvo 240 which in seven years has cost me for one petrol lift pump relay, and one exhaust system. That apart from two tyres and the ususal MOT tests and braking pads has meant it has been very cheap to run indeed.

No car, French, British, or German that I have owned has cost less over time or by the mile than the old Volvo! Even my Austim Meastro Van, which was far better than either my VW Golf or Rover 2000, was as cheap to run. A weakness with them was the need to change the front wheel bearings every sixty thousand miles, and the cost was then about £250 plus Vat, even at an independant garage.

It also is an interesting fact that the Volvo is marginally better on fuel than any of these cars except the Rover 2000 which struggled to beat 30 mpg, but then it was a 1969 car. The Volvo still turns in 40 mpg, though this does require a certain amount of care with the right foot!

Cars! Who would run them if we did not have to for work and so forth? I can see a point, shortly, where I shall give mine up, moth-ball it, and abandon the sport of motoring altogether, as I did television about five years ago now!

ATB from Fredrik

They're deep money pits for sure. My Sweedish comments are based on running two Volvos via main dealers - a company car requirement at the time. I never paid a bill but I saw plenty of them and my eyes watered. Of course, as you say Fred, something that runs like clockwork and spends nothing more than routine time on a ramp is the star prize.

We do the website for the local garage who in return keep my wife's car on the road for nothing. Sadly I haven't been able to sell a similar deal to the local dealer for my car. Ah well...

Cheers

for and against,who cares?
if somebody has the posibility to choose,(like i have at the moment)i should go for the car
that i like most.
there is indeed no brand without weakness.
japanese cars are maybe perfect,but their weakness is imo ,that i do not like their design.

the cadillac sts 1998 will come this friday
to its new owner (me)
O.J.(music- car- and design -freak)

I wish you all the best with it.

Cheers

not sure why all the comments on German car's. My last 3 have been german without many problems. My present seat toledo (not german, but owned by the VAG group) has covered just under 320000km in about 4.5yrs and I've not had any major problem. The biggest ££££££ problem was injector replacement at 160000.
The Seat I had before that covered 247000km in 3yrs with nothing (major or minor problems), not even a MAF.

Good luck with the cadi BTW.

quote:

Originally posted by prc:
not sure why all the comments on German car's. My last 3 have been german without many problems. My present seat toledo (not german, but owned by the VAG group) has covered just under 320000km in about 4.5yrs and I've not had any major problem. The biggest ££££££ problem was injector replacement at 160000.
The Seat I had before that covered 247000km in 3yrs with nothing (major or minor problems), not even a MAF.

Good luck with the cadi BTW.

Prc!maybe the kilometers are less problem then zhe age of the german cars.
they told me that my "belt"(zahnriemen) is now "old" after less than 30000 km .
seems as if the buid in german cars "extra aging components".
why do i need<a belt after 60000 km o r four
years.the circumstance that the belt (an essential part of motor) does not work longer than four years(even with zero kilometers) shows me two things:it is made out of lousy material.
and :it is the intention of germans to build it in exact that quality.

or is there anybody wo believes that german carbuilders are not able to bulid motors that
work as long as as an harley or gm motor from 1950??????
germans are theirselfs the first who pronunce
that they are a industial inovvative nation.

i wish them good luck.
.......and if they tell me a transrotor sounds better than a lp 12 i would say:go for it,
persaonally i prefere ativoli radio. ;
o.j.(always loving to make new mistakes,than to repeat old ones)

Hy there!got my caddy sts 1998 yesterday.
drove it 100km.
what can itell you??
W O W,what a car!!

exactly my taste,looking brand new inside and
outside,60000 km,and i would call it pricewise the bargain of the century.
.............. O.J.

quote:

Originally posted by Harry K:

But for really huge bills drive Swedish. You'll never be flush again.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:

Whilst your assertion that driving Swedish is expensive may be true for today's models - I simply don't know - I have a 17 year old Gothenberg built Volvo 240 which in seven years has cost me for one petrol lift pump relay, and one exhaust system. That apart from two tyres and the ususal MOT tests and braking pads has meant it has been very cheap to run indeed.

I get the impression that the newer Volvos aren't quite on the same level as old ones.

I have a 740 estate about the same age as Fredrik's 240. It has 220,000 *miles* on the clock and has cost about £250 a year for all maintenance inc tyres,test etc. And it only cost me £280 anyway (3 years ago)

Mark

We loved our G-reg 240 estate, and even five years on are sad to have had to sell it, because it was just that bit too small on back seat for rioting kids. But the best luggage space of all the Volvos we've used (240, 740, 940).

I have to say that ours wasn't as repair-free as Fredrik's. In the six years we had it, we too had a new petrol pump relay, but also two exhausts, a complete new set of suspension bushes, and brake discs, and the radiator had to be repaired.

But apart from that and the usual MOT stuff, it was fine...

The chap I bought it from worked for a Volvo dealer. The week before I got it, the garage had just had another 240-estate in for its 1/2-million mile service on the same engine.

James

The 240 was the last of the old style utility vehicles. I am sure that no new Volvo [now of course, a Ford in Swedish Wolf-clothing in any case], or anything else, will run so gracefully (disgracefully according to the Clarksons of this world), but like me it is now out of its time.

Good things, however functional, become outmoded with fashion changes, and are regarded as classics after their general demise, but only after their demise! Old fashionaed quality is dismissed with great ease, as it will not defend itself.

Fredrik