Yeah... that recall is scary.

The reason why Japanese autos are so well made is that they are rarely changed. The civic has pretty much been the same car for a long time. It looks different, but they haven't changed much of the internal design. It is not because the Japanese have better labor, as many Japanese cars are made in the U.S.

One thing I have learned is to never buy a first model year car. I bought a Saturn Ion when they first came out. What a mistake! Piece of crap. They basically leveraged the Chevy Cavalier, and slapped some Saturn branding on it... I previously owned an SC-2, which lasted a long time and never gave me a problem.

This is the problem with corporate america. The higher-ups always need to tamper with business processes to make things more efficient, cheaper, and more profitable. So they "leveraged synergies" -- instead of sticking to what worked, they decided to re-brand the new Cavalier.

The biggest problem is the wiring. Electrical stuff stops working. After 4 years, they have not fixed this. Consumer reports still gives them a poor rating on wiring. This is not rocket science. Pathetic.

The next car I will buy will be a Japanese car. But I am not going to be a tester for hybrid technology. I think the idea is very silly, and they really don't get the milage you would expect.

The Prius is pretty much an auto-rickshaw. It gets great milage primarily because it is small and light. My friend bought a hybrid Camry, and that only gets 32 mpg. Not sensational... So the hybrid technology is really bunk. Well, not for the auto makers. They have more parts to sell to you when things break.

SO my girlfriend and I just drove back from SF in my parents' Prius. It's been averaging 40 mpg city, 50-70 highway (depending on hills), and we drove from San Francisco to LA without even thinking about refueling. I'm OK with this.

Aren't the batteries in these crazy expensive to replace? I'd wait another couple of years before getting one. Seems like the kind of thing that'll be great for 4 years or so and then things start going up shit creek and cost a ton to fix.

My wife owns a Honda Insight, and it's a damn cool little car. It's about three years old and gets 64 mpg -- the new models do even better. The pickup is good, it's real quiet and it's fun to drive. It's only a two-seater, so it's not so great if you have to carpool or haul a lot of stuff around (which is where my station wagon comes into the picture), but if you're only looking to get yourself to work and back or around town, check it out.

If you buy a Prius, then I hope that you get one of the models that Toyota plans to build in China. After all, the Chinese government cuts no corners when it comes to environmentalism.

I wonder if the new Prius plant was built at the television "storage site".

Ed Begley, Jr. owns a Prius, so I guess that's all you need to know to save the world.

Always a pro at pointing out corporate hypocrisy, BRW, but hybrid cars have nothing to do with electronics disposal! Well, that is, until it comes time to junk the obsolete ones.

Hm. Maybe you have a point.

Well, I always thought their main benefit was oil conservation, which in my opinion is more of a economic (and in the long run, perhaps political) benefit than an environmental one. Environmentally, sure, fuel efficiency preserves a natural resource on the consumer end, but it's not like resources won't still be exploited in their manufacture.

And some of them even designed to be pretty conservative on the consumer efficiency front. 32 mpg? There are non-hybrid cars that get this kind of mileage.

I recall a Geo Metro model from the 90s that boasted 50 mpg. It flopped like a wet sock.

But it was a Geo, after all.

gio wrote: I recall a Geo Metro model from the 90s that boasted 50 mpg. It flopped like a wet sock.

But it was a Geo, after all.

I had one of these, a 94. I bought it with 50K miles on it and gave it away with 165K on it. The whole time I got at least 50mpg. So nice! In a tiny car shaped like an egg, so scary!

Sock OR Muffin? wrote:

gio wrote: I recall a Geo Metro model from the 90s that boasted 50 mpg. It flopped like a wet sock.

But it was a Geo, after all.

I had one of these, a 94. I bought it with 50K miles on it and gave it away with 165K on it. The whole time I got at least 50mpg. So nice! In a tiny car shaped like an egg, so scary!

You are among the few who got to appreciate this ecomical car. My mom had a friend who drove one for awhile.

It just wasn't fashionable to be fuel-efficient in the mid-90s... especially when we vanquished Iraq in the first Gulf War and gas prices dipped below $1.00 per gallon. What can I say? The market couldn't sustain such a sensible vehicle.

gio wrote:a sensible vehicle

Does such a thing truly exist?

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:

gio wrote:a sensible vehicle

Does such a thing truly exist?

The market supports these, though.

Fortunately.

But they can't carry large guitar amps.

Unfortunately.