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18875. Neato - 3/14/2006 1:10:10 PM I love my citroen xsara - three years old. Only had it a month. 18876. Macnas - 3/14/2006 1:46:52 PM Good car, maybe the best of the French makes. 18877. PelleNilsson - 3/14/2006 2:17:43 PM This is the most exciting car we ever had - a BMW 2800.
We bought it from another Swede in Beirut 1975 and drove it home through Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Arriving in Austria was like entering Paradise.
The next year we drove it to Algeria. It suffered there because the car mechanics' experience was with French cars. Two years later it made it home, though, but only just. We crossed the Pyrenées with a leaky main brake cylinder - an interesting experience. We sold it for a pittance and bought a Peugot 405 from a guy who had been with us in Algeria and was packing his bags for a stint in Malaysia. It served us well. We had it for several years and never had any trouble.
18878. Macnas - 3/14/2006 2:38:58 PM The main problem with French cars is the electrics, especially Renault.
That and trying to get parts. One model could go through several different design chains in it's market-span, meaning you had to know the year and month it was made, and then you would wait. 18879. thoughtful - 3/14/2006 2:55:42 PM I had an opel for my first car...thing was a wreck but ran like a top and managed to get me where i needed to go.
We had a datsun too. Thing also ran like a top but the body disintegrated...we used to call it the rotson.
We tried a renault one time and tried getting it up a hill in the area...the thing was so weak on power that it decelerated all the way to the top. I wasn't sure it was ever going to get me to the crest of the hill.
Wonks, I've heard rumors that gm has improved quality but I a) don't believe it and b) don't care. They've lost me as a customer forever. And I certainly don't want to buy a car from a company that's going through mass layoffs. Even if their mfg design and processes are improved, there's always p/o'd workers and sabotage. No thanks.
And don't go by the jd power survey for judging car quality. It's a very short-term look and doesn't pick up on quality problems that emerge down the road, like the tranny in my acura. Those are easiest to see when you look at the consumer reports on used cars....no other car maker is so in the red (good) like toyota. 18880. Macnas - 3/14/2006 3:11:07 PM The early Nissans, or Datsuns, rotted in front of your eyes.
I remember the first Datsun Sunny, and another model called the Cherry (who the hell makes up these model names, Barney the dinosaur?). They were alright to look at but after a few months in Irish weather, it was like driving a colander. 18881. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 3/14/2006 3:13:40 PM I'm with thoughtful. GM has produced crap for decades and they're undeserving of any loyalty. My first car was a '53 Chevy, then a '63 Chevy and a '68 Pontiac Tempest--all great cars. How sad it was to see GM products turn into junk over the years. I know you're a Detroit boy Wonk, but GM died long ago, IMO. 18882. arkymalarky - 3/14/2006 4:45:28 PM I had a Datsun for my second car, which I bought my first year of teaching. Last I kept up, Bob's nephew had it, and it had to have well over 300,000 miles on it, though the odometer had broken years ago. It had the same problem you all describe. By the time we got rid of it you could see the road through the floorboard. 18883. thoughtful - 3/14/2006 4:51:51 PM Hahahah! Ah yes. With our datsun, anyone in the passenger seat rode with an umbrella.
No, not overhead but upside down in the floor area to keep the splashing to a minimum when the car went through a puddle.
It also had this broken speedometer. The needle would spin as you drove along...the faster you drove, the faster it would spin. When you stopped, it would stop somewhere on the dial at random. Kind of a hoot to be at a stoplight and the speedometer reading 60! 18884. Jenerator - 3/14/2006 5:34:54 PM Thoughtful,
I had an Opel GT! 18885. Jenerator - 3/14/2006 5:35:22 PM I think the French drive the world's smallest cars. 18886. Macnas - 3/14/2006 5:48:24 PM Well, the Smart car is pretty small. 18887. thoughtful - 3/14/2006 6:11:03 PM opel gt's were cute.
the mini cooper is about as small as we have them here now, but i remember the very early honda civics that were really wee...one I saw had stenciled in the back window "Tonka"
but for size, you couldn't get much smaller than the mg midget:
 18888. PelleNilsson - 3/14/2006 6:42:13 PM 
The Mini was our second car. What I remember most about it was the long, angled gearstick like in a truck and the imprecise gear positions.
This was our first car (my car actually, we weren't married then).
Colin Powell has a fine collection of them. Ours was memorable for the amount of engine oil it consumed while approching its unglorious end.
18889. Jenerator - 3/14/2006 10:58:25 PM Macnas,
I didn't realize your red car is an Opel?
Remember LeCars?
I saw three wheeled cars last time I was in Paris. 18890. Jenerator - 3/14/2006 10:59:19 PM Wish I still had my Opel GT
Mine was white. 18891. wonkers2 - 3/14/2006 11:46:23 PM GM's improved quality isn't a rumor. I'ts been a fact for several years And the durability is good also as measured by warranty costs, thanks to robust engineering. Sabotage is so rare as to be non-existent. You have a closed mind on the subject and you are paying an unnecessary premium over GM or Ford cars as a result. 18892. anomie - 3/14/2006 11:56:12 PM Jen, there were still a lot of three-wheeled Robin Reliants in England when you were there. Remember seeing any? 18893. anomie - 3/15/2006 12:01:46 AM Wonks, I've rented some GM cars over the past 10 years or so, and they weren't too bad. But I remember when American car manufacturers were cruising on poor quality at the expense of safety and reliability - the 70's - and I've lost any loyalty I may have had to American cars. I grew up thnking front end joints had to be replaced every two years and thinking 80K miles on the odometer was about it. First time I drove a 78 Toyota I was hooked. Even a cheap car like that was a revelation od what a car should be compared with GM. Takes a long time to forget stuff like that. 18894. Jenerator - 3/15/2006 12:02:54 AM I was in Paris a year ago October.
I don't remembers eeing any three-wheeled cars in England.
hmmm.
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