Mrleft8
Super Anarchist
The Renault 4 with the "trombone" shifter was the weirdest car I ever thought about buying....
Will Rednecks Buy the Ford Lightning?
- Thread starter Blue Crab
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mikewof
mikewof
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No. It is however rednecky to be a rabid hater of either Ford or Chevy. The Dodge guys find this amusing.
Older Fords, Chevy and Dodge are all pretty easy to fix, and they almost never get crushed, though they get brought down to Mexico a lot because Mexicans appreciate the older trucks. Pre-1998 or so, they're all pretty good. But for the newer trucks, Fords are a bit more reliable, but really difficult to repair outside of the service network. Dodges tend to bite off more than the average DIYer can chew, though Fiat has tried to bring some order to the space. The GMs' quality control sometimes lack, but they don't actively try to drive their DIYers to the limit of sanity the way Ford does.
mikewof
mikewof
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My dad bought a brand new Simca 1000 in 1965 or so, had it for a few years and couldn't repair it when the troubles started to mount, and they mounted fast. He liked the engineering of it, which was kind of advanced for its price, but yes, "weird little car", he used those words when he described it to me. But by far, his favorite car that he ever owned as far as being a piece of cake to fix, brilliantly engineered, economical and comfortable, was his Studebaker President. Every time I asked him about it, his memories faded off and he always ended his memories the same with the Studebaker; "I never should have sold that car."
I had hoped to find one to buy for him when he was 90 or so, but they were nearly all gone, crushed or exported to Argentina, where they are apparently revered.
Mrleft8
Super Anarchist
Dodge trucks have always had the reputation of being great drive train wise, but tended to rot out, especially the beds/rear chassis.
I know my Chevy is asleep right now, so I'll just say, Ford F150s 1991-93 were the best damn trucks ever built (IMHOP).
I know my Chevy is asleep right now, so I'll just say, Ford F150s 1991-93 were the best damn trucks ever built (IMHOP).
mikewof
mikewof
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That's the sweet spot for all big three trucks, and part of the reason they tend to disappear from American roads and end up in Mexico and Latin America. They have the electronic ignition and throttle body injection which does away with a lot of regular annoying maintenance, while still being a breeze to fix. On my 94 Chevy, I can pull all 8 plugs, replace the injectors, update the ignition, change the oil, change the manual gearbox and differential fluids, replace the brake pads and bleed the lines all in a longish afternoon. By comparison, when I changed the plugs on my daughter's Nissan, I had to remove the throttle body, air intake, intake manifold, the injector rail connections, coils, and the valve cover (!) just to access the plugs. It took a solid 6 hours of my ham-handed Tecate-buzzed work just for the plugs.
But to be fair, that Nissan engine is fucking beautiful once I got the plastic off of it. Miniaturized overhead cams, beautifully machined. I can't take anything away from Nissan's designers, they know their beans.
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I rented an rv (birthday present, not my idea). Gasoline powered the 5 speed automatic E-350 with a tumor. It got 9.6 mpg when I drove, 7.5 when my GF did. That sounds terrible, until I remember my first Buick got 13 mpg, 15 once with a tailwind. The rental did travel 550 miles in 10 hours including stops to let the dogs out and slowed for some weather. I don’t believe electric is capable of this task yet. It’s not just energy density, it’s the refueling time.
As a daily commuter, I’d take electric without hesitation, You can no longer upgrade the stereo as CD replaces cassette, to be replaced by auxiliary input and then Bluetooth, as I did with my precious boat hauler. All you can do is replace firmware to try to keep up with new phone versions, until you can’t. 15-20 year life expectancies seem irrelevant for modern demands.
As a daily commuter, I’d take electric without hesitation, You can no longer upgrade the stereo as CD replaces cassette, to be replaced by auxiliary input and then Bluetooth, as I did with my precious boat hauler. All you can do is replace firmware to try to keep up with new phone versions, until you can’t. 15-20 year life expectancies seem irrelevant for modern demands.
90% of the vehicles I see with peeling paint are Dodge/Chrystalmighty products. For the last 30 years. WTF is wrong with these people that 30 years in they haven't fixed a cosmetic problem?
mikewof
mikewof
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Can't really blame the EPA, but part of this is due to more sustainable blowing agents, epoxies and curing compounds to limit VOCs that are destructive to the atmosphere. But I've seen the same peeling paint problem on GMs and Nissans.
Still, I would take shit paint over Ford's soy-based electrical wiring insulators. Rodents tend to gnaw on the Ford soy wiring because they can smell the protein.
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