Poor vehicle choice decisions....

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: qship1996
So how did you end up with a cavalier????


Oh, you want to hear THAT story? Okay, here goes....

As I mentioned, my first car was a 1985 Buick Skyhawk. I had it for about two years, and had NOTHING but problems with it constantly. My dad passed away while I had it, so when I went to replace it, figured I'd take my dad at his word, and replaced it with a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback.

Well, wouldn't you know, that car was a 1000x more reliable and dependable than the Skyhawk. THE OLD MAN WAS RIGHT!!! So after that Civic was wrecked, I replaced it with a 1991 Corolla SR-5, which was also flawless, and then replaced that with a 1994 Mazda 323, which wasn't as good as the Corolla, but still pretty darn good.

By the time I got rid of the 323, my girlfriend and I were engaged to be married. I was planning on replacing the 323 with another import, most likely a Corolla, as I'd gotten such good service from my earlier one.

However, when I started looking at cars, I began to realize that the price difference between domestic and import was still large, and you could get 'a lot more' domestic car for your money than an import. At the lot I bought the Cavalier from, they had a couple of Corollas on the lot. This was in 2005, and they had a 1998 and 1999 Corolla 4-doors on the lot for something like $6999 and $7999, with about 90k miles on them, and no air or options.

On the same lot, they had my Cavalier - 4-door, 2002 with 55k miles, air, CD and power locks, for the same $7999. The Cavalier was a slightly bigger car than the Corolla, so it just seemed like a decesion that made more sense. I still didn't expect the Cavalier to be very reliable, but I figurted I would give a domestic one more chance.

You wanna know what? I've gotten WAY better service out of the Cavalier than I thought I would. Yeah, it's had some 'funny' issues, and it is getting a bit ratty now, but it's been a ton more reliable than I ever though it would be. It's a great car, and has completely changed my mind on domestic vs. import. If I have the majority say in it, our next car will be another GM. They need all the help they can get, and I have no reason not to support them.

So that's why I drive a Cavalier.

 

[artificialist]

I regret buying my 2003 Saturn ION. I posted the reasons in several threads.

My dad regretted buying his G6, not because it was a bad car, but because 6 months later, his job changed and he no longer need much room to haul around 3 other people.

My mom bought a 2002 Toyota Solara after she flipped over an SUV. However, 6 months later, she got over her PTSD, and wanted to have an SUV again.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: addyguy


You wanna know what? I've gotten WAY better service out of the Cavalier than I thought I would. Yeah, it's had some 'funny' issues, and it is getting a bit ratty now, but it's been a ton more reliable than I ever though it would be. It's a great car, and has completely changed my mind on domestic vs. import. If I have the majority say in it, our next car will be another GM. They need all the help they can get, and I have no reason not to support them.


I've got a Cavalier story myself. My wife bought her very first car when she was in college, and it was a new 1984 Cavalier "Type 10." Whoo hoo! It was a 2.0/automatic 2-door, 2-tone blue with red/black trim- the streets used to be thick with them. By the time we got married, it was 6 years old and starting to have a few issues. We didn't help it by making it our commuter car (60 miles a day every day) for several years. It wasn't a great car, but really my biggest beef with it was that it was difficult to service- I always came away from the simplest job on that car with bloody knuckles. At the time I blamed it on just being front-drive, but then we replaced it with a 1993 Chrysler LH platform car (Eagle Vision TSi) which had to be one of the easiest cars to service I ever had. Although the early 80s Cavalier was not a great car by any stretch, it was perfectly serviceable and gave us around 130k miles of faithful service before we sold it. If I hadn't already had a generally bad opinion of imports, I might have been inclined to try one after the Cav, but on the other hand it sure didn't send me running away from American cars either.

 

[rjundi]

Back in 1995 I bought a brand new Honda Civic Coupe EX. The 2doors and low clearance were abysmal for my job (construction inspector) beyond the white color. No AC either that latter put in at cut rate ($800 for Del Sol kit by dealer).

I bought since everyone told me how great they were. The saleman tried talking me into a Honda Accord LX/DX coupe or sedan as it was a superior car for similar price. After 8 years/250k of ownership my friends who bought Accord's were driving decent cars not tinny rattle traps like my Civic. I probably would have clung onto it to this day if an Accord.

Said never buying a small car again and I did.

I purchased a 2004 WRX wagon just before getting married which I love to drive but its a raucous at best and ill suited for my family(2kids).

When I work a stable job we will sell WRX and buy Caravan or Sienna minivan. I will at least inherit a wonderful comfy grown up Subaru WRX, my wife's Legacy GT(turbo) wagon.

 

[TooManyWheels]

In 2003 we bought a new vehicle that, in retrospect, we really didn't need, as the purchase was based on assumptions that didn't pan out.

It was apparent that our parent's advancing ages were going to cause us to make lots of out of town trips, quite possibly of an emergency nature. Our existing daily drivers were not worn out, maybe 70-120K miles, but they weren't being as reliable as we wanted either. Plus, they were both extended cab pickups, and we wanted something with a real back seat for times when we had company.

So we bought an 03 Tacoma DoubleCab, and put 60K miles on it before trading it away, much of it on the parental out of town visits, but none of them emergencies, and our other vehicles remained relatively reliable over that period. I believe we carried passengers twice. I think our 5 year, 60K mile ownership cost us around $8,000. One reason for getting rid of it was a lack of comfort. We knew at purchase it was no luxury vehicle, but over time the harsh ride and firm seats just wore us down. In retrospect, we would have been much better off not buying that vehicle and spending a portion of that money to hire out the maintenance that I ended up doing, since we still kept our original vehicles.

Plus, since we don't put that much mileage on our vehicles anyway, our remaining vehicles grew older and lost value, without us getting corresponding use from them. It was an expensive venture all the way around.

 

[PF52]

A friend of mine went in to the dealer and leased a brand new Suzuki Grand Vitara after receiving a phone call at home the night before, from his dealer: "Hey Ed, I know you still have a year left on your current lease, but we just got in a shipment of new Grand Vitaras and wow are they ever sweet! I know you'll like them! Keep in mind that at the time Ed was unemployed and was having health issues related to his diabetes and had no health insurance (he suffered blackouts and had lost half of one leg). Faithfully Ed leased the new vehicle against the advice of everyone he knew (actually all the advice came after the fact since he bought it as a surprise). Sure enough, he couldn't afford it and couldn't afford to turn it in either; he had a couple of diabetic episodes and had hit a couple parked cars, trees, etc and the thing was covered in dents when the time came to turn it in. If I understand correctly, he took it to some really bad neighborhood in Chicago and abandoned it, coming home on the bus instead.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I used to lease Fords quite successfully and economically for a few years, and then we decided to switch to a Windstar minivan as we had a second baby coming. I turned in my leased Escort wagon and negotiated a reasonable deal on a new lease for the Windstar, but luckily I noticed they had secretly changed the deal as I quickly scanned the paperwork before signing. They had changed the deal without telling me! The salesman said take it or leave it, and I just sat there with my arms crossed in the showroom and told him I wasn't leaving until he changed it back. He went back and forth to the manager's office for a half an hour, and kept coming up with compromise deals while I just sat there drinking coffee and telling him I was going to walk out the door if he didn't go back the original deal, which I finally got. Meanwhile the car had actually been idling outside in below zero weather for the 1/2 hour this took and when I went to drive away it was like an ice box inside. I went back in and had to demand they take a look at it, which they did, discovering the car had no blower installed at all, hence no heat. They canibalized another van and finally I left. I should have just walked when the deal was changed, as they later killed me when I returned the van a couple of months early on the lease. I think I paid for every little ding on that thing.

 

[MCompact]

Two and one-half years ago I bought a brand new Mazdaspeed 3 because I thought it might be fun to try a car that was very different from my usual RWD Bavarian iron. That was the absolute worst automotive decision I've ever made. Here's what I've experienced since I purchased it.

Blown LF strut at 25,000 miles. That cost me a week of instructing at Watkins Glen.

Smoking turbo at 26,000 miles. The turbo was replaced, but now Mazda claims that the smoking is actually caused by an inadequate PCV system. Over six months ago Mazda promised that a revised PCV system would be available in 90 days. Now Mazda is saying the fix won't be ready until March at the earliest.

Variable Valve Timing Actuator became noisy at 46,000 miles. Replaced per TSB.

At 51,000 miles the car is now throwing a P0401 fault code(EGR flow insufficient) on a regular basis. This repair-$600-will be on my nickel as it seems that the EGR system is not covered by either the powertrain or the 49 state emissions warranty. Oh yeah, I also suspect that the remaining three shocks are also packing it in as I'm starting to hear some loud knocks from the rear suspension- and I'm also beginning to see stories about premature timing chain failures.

Carmax has offered me $13,000 for the cursed thing so as soon as the weather clears my "Zoom-Zoom" experience will be over forever.
Thank goodness.

 

[semaj281]

Originally Posted By: rudolphna
Too bad, he might be surprsied by domestic cars today.

+1

 

[JohnBrowning]

Never anything like that but I am at my limit with most vehicle. I have three kids and a wife. Few 4 door vechiles can hold more then 5 people due to limited seat belts. Non one makes a car or truck with a full size bench seat up front that will seat 3 or more full grown men. The 60/40 split seats seat 2 adults and one tiny kid for short jaunts! No one has side seats like some of the old Fords in back where youhad a bench seat and a fold down side seat on each side of the crew cab.

I am not the FWD minivan type! If I had another child I would be screwed. On the other hand 15 passenger rear wheel drive vans are not cheap unless purchased used and they get dreadful fuel economy. I dare say no domestic truck or van in the USA has long lasting breaks,rotor,calipers,starters,water pump,fuel pump etc......If you want a diesel you had better sell one of your children into slavery!!! So it is not like the domestic products are a pile of roses.....Nothing like a Crown Vic,Caprice CLassic, Buick Roadmaster or Estate Wagon around anymore is their!

In fact think how much better GM,CHrylser and Ford could be if they made a rear wheel drive wagon that got good fuel ecconomy and could seat say 7 people and maybe have all wheel drive as an option! Then they would just have to market it properly....Nothing lie undermarketing a good product to ensure it does not last. Look at the GTO can you say "Not Invented Hear" so lets not market it!!! The UK car enthusist loved it they culd buy 2-3 of them for the price of a competitive BMW or Daimler product! Sure it needed some mild retuning to make it what it could be but it was super popular....I know a lot of us herein Michigan could not get one even if we had cash in hand they simply did not make them avialble in enough numbers and marketed it so poorly.

If you want to sell cars for a living you have to make a product that will not only sell but will sell with out the need for constant incentive even in a good market.

On top of that you have to think globaly and outside NOrth AMerica wagons are great sellers especialy in Europe!!!

For better then 20 years I have been asking why GM for instance did not make and sell more diesel wagons not only in Europe but in North America! Sure GM screwed up with their dreadful gasoline V8 converted to diesel in the 1980's but that should not have made them give up on the idea. I mean look at the stupid stuff they stuck with like side post battery's???? A lot of domestics car companies just never got it! GM went from being rather innovative to always being the last guy to the party. You can not be great if you are afraid to take some risks. It has only been recently that they brought back both gasoline and diesel wagons to Europe in the Cadilac line up.

You can can not let bean counters and marketing people make key decisions with an automotive company. You have to have real car guys in the mix with real power when it comes to voting. Brand managment and badge engineering has proven to be a failure when over done.That does not mean that one can not share platforms it means you can not have one car rolling down the line and but 6 different names on it and expect it to sell just because you made them!That is how GM destroyed their divisions by not following what those divisions stood for originally and trying to push as much rebadged junk as they could. Cadaliac should not have SUV's, Pontiac should be the performance division other then the COrvette, GMC should never had front wheel drive minivans with their names on them etc..........

Unless I am mistaken which I often am Lexus for instance only has two rebadged vechiles alike with TOyota the LandCruiser is rebadged as the LX470 and the low level GS300 was a Camry dressed up for the Ball! Toyota has not taken a Yaris and put wood grain on it and leather seat init and called it a Lexus.......Remember when GM took the J body aka Cavalier and rebadged it as a Cadilac Cimmeron????

SO maybe when domestics start doing something besides monster box's on wheels and big gas guzzeling V8's we could all benifit. THeir is plenty of room for them to take the lead if they take some risk's! Like the Diesel GM has developed to use in any 1/2 ton truck or other application useing a curent gasoline V8.....It is a light weight turbo diesel. If they offered them at the same price as the gasoline versions they would be able to get rid of 5 different V8 and just offer two choices one in gas and one in diesel! Imagine a V8 diesel in a Camaro some how Audi found a way to win Lemans with a V10 Turbo Diesel that was also emissions legal in race trim!Currently Toyota not only is missing a 1 ton diesel in their truck line up but as far as I know they have no intention of offering a 1/2 ton turbo diesel!

They would be able to use this anyplace they use a V8.....In addition going from V8 to V6 is not a hard thing to do itis nothing at all like trying to go from V8 to V10 their isnot a big problem with harmonics going from a V8 to a V6 hence the reason GM did that with the 4.3 which was essential a small block 350V8 with two cylinders cut off! That would again allow this domesticly developed diesel to be used in compact trucks and even fwd cars that currently use a V6.........They could like wise turn around and sell it to boat manufactures. But all of this would mean a measure of risk! That GM has never been able to take in the last 20-30 years!

Ford on the other hand is thinking ahead in a big way with their Ecoboost series and I would bet dollars to donuts that they have a light duty 1/2 ton sized diesel either in the works or alread developed that just needs to be dusted off and polished up a bit fo todays emission laws!

I do not know how many people watch the news but internationsaly when you see a 4X4 it is almost always either a TOyota Hilux with a diesel, aToyota Land Crusier with Diesel or Nissian Patrol with a diesel.....You see them with 50BMG,Russian 12.7mm guns, and all manner of weapons on them loaded with all kids of stuff in the way of produce and such etc......Where is the competition for the VW TDI?

People say my Toyota Camry is boring to drive and I agree with them 100% but the wifes Buick is no fun factory on wheels my Camry seats as many people in greater comfort and handles like a COrvette compared to anything Buick ever made with 4 doors. My Ford Tempo was the bigest pile of junk I have ever owned it almost made me wish I owned a French or Italin made car and that is saying something!

People would idealy like a rear whel drive car with 2-4 doors that can seat at least 6 people and still have some performance and handling.THey do not want a vechile that feels like you are riding on a cloud that will not handle at least .82g or lateral acceleration. They are not asking for a hemi 426 because they want some fuel ecconomy. I think most are tired of car's over loaded with gadgets and gizmos many never even use but have to pay for one the less because something criical like a decent radio or cruise control is tied to some other package that is like 10K$$$.....THe trick is to put a diesel or gasoline V6 that has enough umph to accelerate the car but not so much extra that it is kill milage. If the engine has enough torq. and a strong bottom end you can use gearing to really drop the rpms down to 1800 or less and really get good millage. THis combined with good ground effects that actually work not just for looks!Ofer a coupe and a wagon.......Use direct injection turbo charged v6 in both gas and diesel.......Get rid of the cam shaft al together so you can have inffinately variable valve timing, eliminate engine drag buy going to a 42 volt battery system and running important things off electrical system instead of engine.People complain about electrical driven things when the engine shuts down or stalls but that is fine you can move the generator around and make it wheel driven if need be so as long as the wheels are spinning you have power. You could also design the transmission and strater generator system to lock the TC and act like a manual transmission and continue to rotate the starter/generator or alternator when the engine stalls etc....Many people do not know this but early automatics which where invented in Michigan by the now decrepit big 3 allowed you to push start the vehicle just like a manual.

By the way just so everyone knows all the things I mentioned above are things no one else especially the bigger imports like TOyota are doing. So it is a market that no one else in in which is perfect for exploitation. If you failed to compete in the market before how can you hope to do so after bankruptcy etc....Instead you have to re-invent the market to suite your strengths. Look what Chrysler did with the K-Car,Mini-Van and Abrahms battle tank!

I have often felt as in always that I had to choose between a domestic that did not fit me or an import that also did not fit me! The only time I ever really felt like someone had designed a product just for me was my 2001 Dodge Dakota but at the time I had myself, the wife and one son. So it was more then large enough. It had a modern,quite,smooth running smaller V8 and a solid transmission. Never mind that ever two months I had to take in for either warranty work or recall work!!! Other then that truck I never felt like anyone was paying attention to what I wanted.

Where are the Dart Swinger's,THe AMC AMX Javlins,and the like?Where are the rear wheel drive economy cars like he 1982 Toyota Starlet or the rear wheel drie affordable family cars. Surely I am not the only one that would love a $17,000 rear wheel drive care with a turbo V6 or diesel with monster bench seat's front and reat with a decent radio and rubber floor mats? So until such beasts are real all automotive purchase's for me are ripe with comprimises I hate to make!!!

 

[super20dan]

2002 subaru outback-3 head gaskets-2 radiators and 1 set of cyl heads -all under warranty. subaru still wont admit there was a prob with this engine desighn. the number of complaints on the web says otherwise

 

[Touring5]

1984 Pontiac Fiero

Had to order it and waited 6 months for delivery. Cool looking but still a lamb in wolves clothing. Never before or since have I owned a car that spent as much time at the dealership for repairs (some multiple times for the same issue). Despite being in mint condition, I had to sell at a discount because of the huge number of them for sale in the area (there was a large GM presence locally in that era).

That was the last domestic vehicle I purchased - perhaps ever.

To this day I swear that the one I test drove was faster than the one I paid for.

 

[Oldswagon]

Luckily, I hsven't made any poor vehicle choices (yet). My dad, has had a couple of bad choices. The '79 Fairmont he bought was a HUGE POS in terms of reliability, but the car was well suited for the family at the time.

He did buy a '79 Ford F-150 from my uncle though that was a poor choice. My dad wanted a truck, as a third veheicle, for pulling our little boat, and hauling things on occassion. He didn't need anything powerful or heavy duty. He started off looking for a '67-'72 GM truck (this was when they were still cheap) with a six cylinder and a three on the tree with a short box. He ended up buying my Uncle's truck because it was a deal to good to pass up. That Ford was powered by a 460 4-V engine with a C6 auto, dual exhaust with headers and cherry bomb mufflers. In '79, and F-150 was considered a heavy-half ton or a light duty 3/4 ton, so it had stiffer springs than a standard F-100.

Man was that truck a PIG and my dad curses it to this day. It got a best of 12 MPG (imperial) and that was with my old man feather footing it (50 - 55 MPH on the highway). The good thing was the mileage only ranged by about 2 MPG no matter what the load, or the speed, it got between 10-12 MPG on the highway. He also couldn't stand the droning from the loud exahust on the highway after a while, but even when he removed the headers and put standard mufflers on, that 460 was still pretty loud.

But, back then I thought it was the coolest truck ever. It was had the "Ford Free Wheeling" package, which was a cool silver and black paint job with red pin stripes, a blacked out grille, and wagon type spoked truck wheels. Even the seats were silver, with black and red stripes, and it had a three spoked steering wheel. Unfortunately my Dad sold that old truck years ago, and I have never seen one to this day like it. I wish I would have bought it when he had it for sale (he got peanuts for it because it was such a gas hog).

In any case that old Ford was not a bad vehicle in terms of reliability. It wasn't stellar either (she burned oil a bit by 120K miles, had some other issues), he just remember's it for being way overkill for what my dad needed in a truck. To me, it'll always be the coolest truck ever though.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Oldswagon
I thought it was the coolest truck ever. It was had the "Ford Free Wheeling" package, which was a cool silver and black paint job with red pin stripes, a blacked out grille, and wagon type spoked truck wheels. Even the seats were silver, with black and red stripes, and it had a three spoked steering wheel.


We need more of this awesomeness in 2010.

 

[Oldswagon]

Check out this old YouTube video for the "Ford Free Wheelin" packages:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaJvPkJaEXk

There is a silver 1/2 ton long box in the video, that was close to Dad's. His didn't have the orange graphics, rather that part was painted black with a red pinstrip around the outside. His had the same wheels, but they were white.

I forgot that the package included not only the blacked out grille, but a black front bumper, blacked out mirrors and painted rear bumper.

Here's a link to the brochure.

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41270

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41273

The interior shot (with silver and black seats and "red accents") was the exact interior of my dad's truck. The Silver truck is close to Dad's here too, but the lower orange sticker section was painted black. I know my uncle had repainted the truck before my dad bought it, so maybe it originally came with that sticker, but I don't ever remember it looking like that.

 

[andyd]

Never,ever, buy a Jaguar XJ 6, unless your other car is a tow truck

 

[ShiningArcanine]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Back in 1988, our family needed a new vehicle. Our 1978 Chevrolet Malibu wagon was wearing out, as can be expected on a daily-driven vehicle of that era.

My father had had a lot of problems with this Malibu wagon from the start. First few years had seen problems with the paint and transmission; and near the end, the engine ended up so carboned-up that it hardly ran at all.

My father was extremely bitter and angry that he had had all these problems with his GM, and felt that it was a general condition with domestic car manufacturers - they were staffed by lazy, ignorant, overpaid 'union joes' who didn't give a carp about doing a good job, and built garbage.

So he was determined he was buying an asian import, as they were just better-made and more reliable. My step-mom had gotten good, reliable service out of her 1977 Honda Civic, and he liked that car, so he was going with something like that.

So, in December of 1988, he drove home a brand-new 1989 Toyota Tercel 3-door hatchback. Money was tight, so it was a complete stripper - white, vinyl seats, no radio, and a 4-speed transmission(!). The ONLY option on it was a rear wiper(!).

The problem? We were a family of 6 at the time, and this was to be the family vehicle! Right away I pointed out this wasn't really going to work, but both my parents countered with the fact that we rarely all went out as a family, and for times we did, we would just make do. On a lot of trips, this involved my younger sisters sitting on our laps. After a while, I got fed up and went out with them less.

I knew that money was tight, and we couldn't get a big vehicle, but I thought that for about the same money, a Chevrolet Cavalier wagon made more sense. But that just got my dad off on a rant about how I didn't understand what garbage ALL domestic cars were, and it was thinking like that that saddled people with junk cars. He was on a crusade, one he never got over.

I have to admit, that Tercel was very reliable - it even survived being driven around all day after the drain plug fell out from a 'Toyota oil change' at the dealership. It ended up doing about 80k miles, until my step-mom wrecked it soon after my father passed away. She replaced it with a Toyota Previa van - the type of vehicle we should have bought years earlier. She never saw the irony.....

Anyone else have a story about a vehilce purchase/choice that didn't really 'fit'?


Your father was a very smart man. I am sorry to hear that he passed away.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

In high school I was wanting something fast and fun to drive. I'd looked at an El Camino with a built motor and transmission and wanted that pretty badly. Mom and Dad said no way. Too fast. So, within days my parents brought home a Geo Storm - yellow no less - and told me my car was in the driveway. I actually didn't mind that much since I thought they were buying it (since they picked it out). Nope. Turns out I was soon making the payments on it.

Truth be told it was a pretty decent car. Had a lot of fun pulling the e-brake and doing U-ies on wet/slick streets. And at one point, it had a CB radio in it. Growing up in the sticks of Iowa, we were just happy to have wheels.

Had it 2 years and got a rebuilt 3-year-old Camaro. Sold the Storm to a girl who thought it was a "cute" car. Everyone was happy.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: HawkeyeScott
Had a lot of fun pulling the e-brake and doing U-ies on wet/slick streets.


You should thank your parents.

You probably would have wrapped that El Camino around a tree.

 

[d00df00d]

Everyone leaps to that conclusion but I'm not so sure. When you have a car you like, there is a desire to care about it that can prevent you from driving recklessly, even if it's a much faster car.

I used to drive like a demon in my old Maxima; I drive much more civilly in my M3. Ditto with a friend of mine who went from a range of old and beat-up cars to a BMW 330i ZHP, and ditto a friend of my brother's who went from a Volvo S60 to a modified Mini Cooper S. I wouldn't say those cases are necessarily typical, but obviously it can happen.