It Bit Me!

It Bit Me! (Full Version)

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TheHeretic -> It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 7:48:58 PM)
What the hell is wrong with the U.S. auto companies? How can they just be so damn stupid? I have to rant. Sorry. I was out running a few errands in town today, and decided to do a little car looking. I'm not sure what I want. Probably a hatchback, but not the Pepsi can model. Something sturdy enough it won't pick up a new squeak or creak every time I do a few miles on a dirt road. I'd like to get 25-30 mpg on the highway. Big enough to take a couple people, a couple big dogs, and some camping gear. Something that isn't going to break if I throw 4 or 5 bags of sack-crete in the back Two thirds of the options in such a class won't even accomodate my legs, knees and shoulders properly. I get in, I get right back out again, and tell the salesman, 'thanks.' Mostly it's that knee bashing, boxy central console somebody decided needed to be in every car. My left leg never even made it inside the Dodge Caliber. The Chrysler dealership had a Jeep I hadn't seen. Spur-of-the-monent, I decided to give the 'home team' industry one more shot at earning my business. They call this one Patriot (yeah... I know). The seat would go back far enough to take my legs. The console was tolerable. I could shift my shoulders without banging into anything. The interior wasn't bad, it even had a moon roof (I love those). It came in a color combination that works in my desert. I wasn't done. A little awkward to get out, but I have that now with my Subaru, and WHAT THE FUCK?!?! Something bit me on the way out. I looked down, and the track that had slid the seat back far enough to take my legs was sticking out four inches in front of the seat. Sharp edged metal, completely exposed. It had ripped right through my sock, and scuffed the skin on my ankle. It would certainly rip any pair of slacks that caught on it. Nobody noticed this little glitch? Nobody cared? Total deal ender. What else is wrong with it that doesn't bite you like a snake? We are supposed to rescue this crap?

MzMia -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 7:55:04 PM)
Great post Rich! You would make a wonderful consumer reporter! lol ...they need to create a serious business plan!

popeye1250 -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 8:51:59 PM)
Heretic, check out the Ford Edge. It has plenty of room for us big guys (I'm 6'1", 230 lbs) I was going to buy one until my eyes fixed on the new Lincoln MKS. They have 265 horse power in a v-6 engine that gets good milage. I always test out the back seats so I'll know my passengers are comfortable and have plenty of leg room and the Edge does. It's sharp looking too and it sits up high. I think they have all wheel or front wheel drive so you can go anywhere in them unlike my Lincoln.

BlackPhx -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 8:56:51 PM)
Rich..check out the Vibe by Pontiac. So far I get 31-33 mpg hwy around 30 city the new ones post a lower mileage but that is based on the new standards..they are still getting higher than that. Ample head room and leg room with adjustable steering wheel. The new 2009 switch from auto to manual with a button. with both back seats down I can put a 150 lb Akita and a 80 lb mixed Chow/Belgian in the back comfortable, with the hard shell on the back seat fur clean up is simple so are spills. With the back seats up we carry 4 passengers and the Akita without crowding. The front passenger seat folds down so we can get 8 ft boards in there easily, and so far ( we have a 2006) the only maintenance we have done is tire rotation and oil changes. AWD and stabilittrack make on and off road pretty easy, we have a couple of roads here that become swamps during rain ( dirt) and Freedom ( our car) laughs at them. It has good ground clearance, handled hitting a boar raccoon challenging her (us 55...coon 5) popping but not breaking her grill. The 2009 has heat/a/c vents for the back passenger seats, Onstar and XM radio as well as side and front airbags, moon roof optional. All for around 19K -21K fully loaded. OH...the 2006 handles the 10% ethanol mix and the 2009 does as well. poenkitten (Have fun car hunting...with the car companies so desperate it is a good time to buy)

Vendaval -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 9:20:34 PM)
Damn! That is not the way to go shopping, Rich. Afraid I do not have any recommendations for taller people buying cars who need more room as my problems are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

TheHeretic -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 9:22:55 PM)
Thanks, Popeye, but that is a model up from where I'm shopping, and easily $7K more than I plan to spend. I ended the day driving a Honda CRV. That might be the one. I expected them to be more expensive than they are.

Vendaval -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 9:30:53 PM)
Now this I can recommend. I drove a Honda Accord hatchback all over two counties while commuting for about 6 years. It went to the shop for regular servicing and a few repairs but overall was a reliable, gasoline efficient vehicle for me. I could load both dogs into the back seat and the beach gear in the hatch and away we would go. [sm=car.gif]

popeye1250 -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 9:42:50 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TheHeretic Thanks, Popeye, but that is a model up from where I'm shopping, and easily $7K more than I plan to spend. I ended the day driving a Honda CRV. That might be the one. I expected them to be more expensive than they are. Heretic, one of my neighbors bought a CRV and it's nice and all but she said it doesn't have any power! And she's a girl! I looked it up and sure enough it only has "177 H.P." That's not good if you're on the highway trying to pass at 65.

Termyn8or -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/23/2008 11:57:44 PM)
Heretic, you really should be as vocal as possible about this, especially right now. I mean on non-kink boards and such. Make it as public as possible. Make them do better. They must do better. T

Lockit -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 12:16:11 AM)
I had three honda's and loved each of them. I like to put my foot on the pedel and it goes and fast and my honda's could do that! I wouldn't mind having another.

mefisto69 -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 4:04:20 AM)
dig into your memories...... Chrysler has already been bailed out once....... then there was a period where these genius companies bought into many european franchises and ruined them......... they had the opportunity 30 years ago to come up with fuel efficient and reliable cars...... they didn't. instead we got junk cars, golden parachutes and outrageous union wages/benefits.

pahunkboy -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 5:01:10 AM)
nice post. but ....the bigger point, is the grid is broken. we are being asked to toil and sweat and break a disk in the lumbar spine for more of our TIME put into this mess. patriot? hahhahhaqhha for who? isnt it amazing that Rothschilds fortune is unscathes by the current mess? a co-incidence? if money is the root of all evil, then that would render his use of it- or in my case congress, it renders them the head of the serpent. there is nothing good, holy or pure about money. anyone who perpetuatates the mode for globalization, is part of the serpent. the evil gets off on negative energy. holy cow- NPR morning edition, said it is brought to you by everify and homeland security. did you know 1 billion of the GM bail out money has already went to Brasil??????? as to cars, what do you want for 22k

Dnomyar -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 5:50:28 AM)
I just brought a KIA. A step down from my Ford Explorer. It has tons of room inside. Im not Jeff Gordon so I don't expect it to do 200 miles an hour. I brought it for gas milage. I filled my Explorer up for $80 a week. This one cost me $30 a week. I have no complaints so far.

OrionTheWolf -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 6:34:34 AM)
~FR~ GM has a similar problem in the Saturn Vue of 2003. I like it quite a bit, other than the VTI transmission is quirky, but the slides bars for the seat are the same way. Have scars on my ankle from the few times I forget about it and rake my ankle across it. Hopefully KIA is better than it once was, as I had a 2002 Sportage that spent half the time in the service department with warranty repairs. The problems with my Vue's transmission, and the way GM is handling it, will cause me to go Honda, Nissan or Lexus for my next vehicle.

Lashra -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 6:49:20 AM)
quote: Rich..check out the Vibe by Pontiac. My ex has one of these and I have to say its a nice little car. Lots of room and its basically a Toyota Matrix so it should last a long time. He has 130K on it (Its a 2003)and not a single squeak nor problem with it as long as he has had it and thats saying something considering he doesn't take good care of his cars. ~Lashra

kdsub -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 7:15:18 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TheHeretic What the hell is wrong with the U.S. auto companies? How can they just be so damn stupid? I have to rant. Sorry. I was out running a few errands in town today, and decided to do a little car looking. I'm not sure what I want. Probably a hatchback, but not the Pepsi can model. Something sturdy enough it won't pick up a new squeak or creak every time I do a few miles on a dirt road. I'd like to get 25-30 mpg on the highway. Big enough to take a couple people, a couple big dogs, and some camping gear. Something that isn't going to break if I throw 4 or 5 bags of sack-crete in the back Two thirds of the options in such a class won't even accomodate my legs, knees and shoulders properly. I get in, I get right back out again, and tell the salesman, 'thanks.' Mostly it's that knee bashing, boxy central console somebody decided needed to be in every car. My left leg never even made it inside the Dodge Caliber. The Chrysler dealership had a Jeep I hadn't seen. Spur-of-the-monent, I decided to give the 'home team' industry one more shot at earning my business. They call this one Patriot (yeah... I know). The seat would go back far enough to take my legs. The console was tolerable. I could shift my shoulders without banging into anything. The interior wasn't bad, it even had a moon roof (I love those). It came in a color combination that works in my desert. I wasn't done. A little awkward to get out, but I have that now with my Subaru, and WHAT THE FUCK?!?! Something bit me on the way out. I looked down, and the track that had slid the seat back far enough to take my legs was sticking out four inches in front of the seat. Sharp edged metal, completely exposed. It had ripped right through my sock, and scuffed the skin on my ankle. It would certainly rip any pair of slacks that caught on it. Nobody noticed this little glitch? Nobody cared? Total deal ender. What else is wrong with it that doesn't bite you like a snake? We are supposed to rescue this crap? I had a jeep with a brushed metal overlay of the dash...Every time someone got out of the rider side they would slice their knees on the bottom edge of the overlay...terrible design. Then it had a hidden dash light that burned through the plastic part of the dashboard. I had only had it a year but when I took it in they said it was not on the guarantee and would cost $800 for a new dash. Other than that it was a great off road vehicle…but the nagging rough edges in design were irritating. I blame the designers not the autoworkers. For now I am sticking to pickups…my ford is great and it is easy to get in and out of…even if it does only get 22 mpg on the highway. Hard to mess up a pickup design. It is hard to understand why the big three have such a hard time refining their designs when many foreign makers have no problem at all. Butch

Termyn8or -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 7:54:00 AM)
Good point, it is not the auto workers causing the sloopy sales, it is the engineers, and management that approves bad designs. The workers on the line do what they are told. T

OrionTheWolf -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 8:06:14 AM)
Well if it is anything like the Software industry, then the marketing department is actually running the design department, leaving the engineers with saying "you want me to do what?". quote: ORIGINAL: Termyn8or Good point, it is not the auto workers causing the sloopy sales, it is the engineers, and management that approves bad designs. The workers on the line do what they are told. T

pahunkboy -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 8:51:25 AM)
If I buy a red corvette, then I can score a 21 year old busty blond babe, and we can drive fast and have fun. right?

kdsub -> RE: It Bit Me! (11/24/2008 8:53:14 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pahunkboy If I buy a red corvette, then I can score a 21 year old busty blond babe, and we can drive fast and have fun. right? Are you sure you want a 21 year old busty babe?

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