Already Made Them Mad

[MR_Loyale]

The main reason I bought my Subaru (new) was because it was a great value. I bought it in 94 as a previous year new model (93). I paid $11K for it. Compared to what others have paid for new cars, I thought I got a good deal. The car has always started up and never left me stranded on the road.

 

I do have lots of little annoyances but compared to Chevy, I am doing fine. On brand new Chevy vehicles, my brother father and cousin all got dogs that ended up requiring $4-16k worth of "rework" - on a NEW VEHICLE!! And on my brand new Dodge Ram 1500, it came from the factory with defective steering that took the dealer over a week to fix.

 

Besides, I enjoy the enthusiasm and knowledge of USMB.

[Bucky92]

I have both good and bad with my Subarus...my Loyale...most dependable vehicle I ever owned..and is still dependable for his new owner...and some of the worst vehicles I owned were Subarus..Example ..my XT6..spend more time broke down then running..and I wont ever have another..My coupe is also one that drives me insane. My 93 Impreza..just didnt like anything about it. Yet I love my 08 Imp and havent had a single issue in the 32K miles..

My Plymouth Acclaim was awesome..took till 289K to blow a head gasket...86 VW Golf..tree falling on it took that out..83 Honda Accord..520+ K miles on everything original..and my 82 Honda Prelude..350+K..rust took them out.

There is good and bad in everything... some people dont believe we had a Ford Van with 460K on it...( Trusty Rusty the Miracle Van) ... So I think its all from experiece.

[bheinen74]

i have the idea that Chrysler, GM, and Ford all make their vehicles to just "survive" up to the warranty expiration. They don't make them with longevity/miles in mind, other than make it work til warranty miles. After it reaches that, well, thats all it was designed for. Owner will sell at that point to buy another new car.

 

This is why the junkyards are overfilled with Ford, GM and Chryslers, with not that many miles on them. They fail after warranty, and parts to repair after warrranty, warrant a scrap.

 

bh

[bratman18]

i have the idea that Chrysler, GM, and Ford all make their vehicles to just "survive" up to the warranty expiration. They don't make them with longevity/miles in mind, other than make it work til warranty miles. After it reaches that, well, thats all it was designed for. Owner will sell at that point to buy another new car.

 

This is why the junkyards are overfilled with Ford, GM and Chryslers, with not that many miles on them. They fail after warranty, and parts to repair after warrranty, warrant a scrap.

 

bh

 

I agree with this. There was a time when most American vehicles were built half way decent, and they would last a long time, they were reliable, and they took a beating, but I'd say somewhere in the mid eighties, they started going down hill. I do agree that all makes have their issues but as a rule you either have to have older American(if it's still in ok shape) or a foreign car, which for me means Japanese!

[bheinen74]

most car makers have a era of like 4 years of really good stuff.

Subaru in my opinion had 81-85 the ea81

and the 91-94 ej22, and maybe 2005+

 

Honda, the 89-91 era were really good quality, went cheap in 92-96 and then strong again now

 

Mazda had an era of good in the early 90's and now

 

Toyota, all are pretty good.

 

Chrysler, has an era back to the sixties, of crap

 

Ford, mostly crap, but now they have bluetooth and crap

 

Chevy, has a good truck.

etc etc

[nipper]

Now no offence but this guy told me he bought a brand new minivan when he was 17. Thats all im going to say.

 

Well at least we will know he will never reproduce....

 

 

[The Dude Abides]

I have seen some very very cool full size vans. I wouldnt mind so much if someone was telling me something about that. But my wifes van is just for the family. We both know its not cool.

[nipper]

I have seen some very very cool full size vans. I wouldnt mind so much if someone was telling me something about that. But my wifes van is just for the family. We both know its not cool.

 

 

Full size vans with 4WD are awsome. Full size vans can look great... but ya know, mini van just says "hi i am neuterd"

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

...Toyota, all are pretty good. ...

 

I Do Not Agree... Specially After Seeing Too Many Tercels with Worn Engines that trend to Fail prematurely with very Low Mileage / Years Old; also Seeing Many Recent models of Corona & Carina with easy bursting Plastic Radiators, and Too Many Tacomas with Easy Broken Steering Parts... Those are very Common Problems for Toyota, or at least here...

 

...Ford, mostly crap, but now they have bluetooth and crap...

 

Ha Ha! ... Blue Oval featurin` Bluetooth!

But they have some Great Cars, like the Ranger, F150 or the WRC Focus.

 

... mini van just says "hi i am neuterd"

 

Excuse me, Please: Could I Ask What is the Meanin` of that Word ?

[nipper]

I Do Not Agree... Specially After Seeing Too Many Tercels with Worn Engines that trend to Fail prematurely with very Low Mileage / Years Old; also Seeing Many Recent models of Corona & Carina with easy bursting Plastic Radiators, and Too Many Tacomas with Easy Broken Steering Parts... Those are very Common Problems for Toyota, or at least here...

 

 

 

Ha Ha! ... Blue Oval featurin` Bluetooth!

But they have some Great Cars, like the Ranger, F150 or the WRC Focus.

 

 

 

Excuse me, Please: Could I Ask What is the Meanin` of that Word ?

 

 

Its what they do to male animals so they cant have offspring. Or male 12yo tenors.

 

nipper

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Thank you for the Fast Answer!

[DaveT]

The newest car I ever owned was 2 years old (90 Loyale). The last 2 I bought were over 10 years old. (EA82s)

 

I've looked under the hoods of other guy's new cars. Have yet to see one that looks easier to work on than an EA82. Maybe partly to my familiarity with them. The only easier would be old stuff, pre emmisions systems vintage.

 

 

My wife "came with" a Toyota Corolla. We traded it for an 86 GL 4X4 wagon. The Toyota was a PITA to work on. The best thing I got from the experience was the vacuume solenoids I use for my EGR fix, and to make the vent / recirculate a user selectable option on the HVAC system.

[subyfreak]

Check the resale on most Dodge products. Most are designed to be disposable vehicles. And when the people on a car forum website know they have a inferior product they tend to get a little defensive when another brand gets brought up. I get a lot of crap from friends and family that are die hard big 3 people for owing Subarus. Most have never driven or owned one.

[presslab]

I used to work for a TV repair shop, and would deliver TVs in a Dodge Caravan. That thing was a heap! It had only 150k miles and the tranny was junk. To get up some hills we had to turn the van around and go up in reverse. Not to mention the thing burned oil like a banshee. I remember the smoke screens we would make in the drive-through when we stopped at McDonalds for lunch.

[zyewdall]

 

I've looked under the hoods of other guy's new cars. Have yet to see one that looks easier to work on than an EA82. Maybe partly to my familiarity with them. The only easier would be old stuff, pre emmisions systems vintage.

 

I have to disagree.... the EA81's are easier than the EA82's But, you are right...compared to most new cars, and even alot of other cars from the 80's, the EA series are a joy to work on. I'll only work on subarus, or 70's and older trucks sometimes. I tell my friends that... you can buy whatever you want.... but if it's not a subaru, I'll just sit back and watch in amusement when something goes wrong. If it's a subaru though... I might even have a spare engine I could give you for it

[Twitch de la Brat]

most car makers have a era of like 4 years of really good stuff.

Subaru in my opinion had 81-85 the ea81

and the 91-94 ej22, and maybe 2005+

 

Honda, the 89-91 era were really good quality, went cheap in 92-96 and then strong again now

 

Mazda had an era of good in the early 90's and now

 

Toyota, all are pretty good.

 

Chrysler, has an era back to the sixties, of crap

 

Ford, mostly crap, but now they have bluetooth and crap

 

Chevy, has a good truck.

etc etc

 

Heh, you took the words right out of my mouth.

But you forgot one thing with the ford, it now has Microsoft crap in it.

Oh, and those aerostars, I wouldn't call those minivans just because some

of them actually had a real 4x4 system in them.

A friend of mine has a lift kit and a custom bumper on his.

I'll post a pic asap.

 

And I think that all manufacturers have their own version of crap.

Chrystler has, well, everything.

Chevy's cars are their version other than the Vette and new Camaro.

Ford has overall crap and now has extra crap added.

Toyota has started a downhill slide into it with their 4x4 systems

(read consumer reports if you disagree)

Nissan has their small cars as their version of crap, and their titan truck,

Honda, well, good cars but I always think of them as plastic toys, cuz the interiors, (YUK!!!)

Mazda is Ford, nuff said.

Subaru, I believe has hit a new low with their framed windows, (bleah!)

and the non-subaru look with their new models. >p

I want my old suby look back!

Sorry, rant over.

 

Twitch(ing)

[Bucky92]

Subaru, I believe has hit a new low with their framed windows, (bleah!)

and the non-subaru look with their new models. >p

 

I love my framed windows of my 08...no more water leaks..wind noise..I dont have to open the door to get the window to seal properly ( I had to on every other Subaru I own.. so basically 8 outta 9 ) No rattling. But thats just me ..it wasnt a top priority on my reason to buy or not buy a car...

But then again .. out of the 45+ cars of every make and model I have owned...I have to still say ..I have seen good and bad in everything..I sware I owned the only bad Toyota truck..2 months of ownership..5 times in the garage for stalling ..and one trip to the JY with a broken crank ( truck has 126K miles on it too)

It all comes down to brand loyalty it seems..At the Import Car show last year..the Audi guys came over...looked under the hood of my 83 coupe and said " I dont know how you can like these things..they are so hard to work on":rolleyes:

[G1988L]

Easy on the Ford,Chevy, American made hating, I had an 86 Ranger that was a great truck, body didnt rust like my Soob, nor did it ever break down on me once (soob only has once). Im not saying Ford is better than subaru or vice versa I love my Subaru, but with any of these older cars its normally the neglect of previous owners that cause the problems. All brands of cars break down..period I never have understood how people get so caught up in a brand they think its invincible, none of them are. I know most opinions come from personal (usually bad) experience but most people dont remember that there are other people who have had good experiences as well. Just saying the brand vs brand saying the other is all crap is kinda dumb....dont hate I thought id throw in my opinion

[zyewdall]

Mazda is Ford, nuff said.

Didn't used to be. I kind of like my old 70's Mazda's (even though they do say Ford on them

[lostinthe202]

Cars are like opinions. You usually like your own more then the other guy's...(hehe)

[bheinen74]

my most trouble free cars have been Hondas,but since going to AWD via Subaru, i would rather have maintenance and safety/traction over no maintenance

[Scoobywagon]

Just because I'm curious....what forum was this?

 

And for what its worth...It is my firmly held belief that if you want a truck (and I don't mean Brat or Baja), you want a Ford truck. No finer work vehicles on the planet, IMHO.

[DaveT]

I have to disagree.... the EA81's are easier than the EA82's

 

I didn't intend to exclude the older EAs from the "good" category, I was only refering to the typical same age and newer cars I've seen.

 

My dad had a minivan, I think it was a Dodge. Bought new. All maintanance properly, went through 2 transmissions in less miles than any car in my fleet at the time. He bought a Tribeca. My mom has the other Subaru SUV the biggish one with traction control & all that. One of my sisters has one of them also.

 

A number of years ago, a guy at work bought a new minivan. Typical all excited. I looked under the hood, was not impressed by all the nickle & dime cheapouts they put into the thing.

[bratman18]

Just because I'm curious....what forum was this?

 

And for what its worth...It is my firmly held belief that if you want a truck (and I don't mean Brat or Baja), you want a Ford truck. No finer work vehicles on the planet, IMHO.

 

Ha now see, I'm a GM truck guy! There again, everyone has there own opinion! I've had and seen more trouble with Fords than I have Gm's. But Gm's definitely have there problems, never deny that! I like old Fords, Pre 1980

[hatchsub]

From my experience of owning only subarus and GM products (two camaros and one firebird) i can say that subarus are built better by far. Both of my subarus have been EA81s. The first sat for 3 years and i had to do a few things to get it roadworthy again but i managed. Then i got a camaro instead. Big mistake. That thing was in the shop all the time. So i finally got rid of the problems with the camaro (more previous owners beatings than anything else) and got a 83 EA81 sedan for a daily. Then came a trans am after my mom totalled my camaro. That car lasted with me for 2 weeks in which time i decided it was a hunk of crap and i didnt want to deal with it. Also about that time i had found another camaro that i wanted more.

 

Out of both my cars (the camaro and my subaru are all i have now) the subaru is by far easier to work on and doesnt give me as many headaches as the camaro. It also does not rattle nearly as much as the camaro. Does that change the way i feel about the camaro? Of course not. Its still my fun car. I love it for what its...fast and fun. It handles great. I just know that owning it im going to have to work on it periodically. The subaru seems to be happy with oil changes as of lately. And thats about it.