As to cars I wouldn’t own:
-rustbuckets
-probably will not own something without ABS or side airbags. Tempting to avoid those new-fangled systems, but hard to resist the allure of “safety”
-No a/c? it had better been free
-motorcycles and three wheeled contraptions
-something with only 2 doors. Sorry, four is just more useful. I’ll get a two door when the kids are gone and I need something to deal with my mid-life crisis
-anything with a timing belt. People here are saying timing chains can now go 500k if not forever, so why get a belt?
-diesel setup. I’ve loved mine, but the emissions controls are getting too expensive on the new stuff
-direct injection. Too new and unproven. See all the complaints about fuel dilution and intake valve deposits. While they probably have it fixed on new cars—I’m not new car shopping. So I’d rather have old fashioned port injection
-anything by Scion
-Nissan Cube. Probably anything by Nissan, they never seemed to be as good as other imports. Maybe back in the day they were, but today?
-Mazda, between rust and styling and “zoom” nonsense it’s a no-go. I suspect they’ve fixed a few things but still, not high on my list
-VW? Bit of a reliability issue there
-Subaru, don’t think the reliability is there either. They seem to have fixed the mpg’s though.
-Been curious about Kia/Hyundai, but not sure about them either. I may well try someday, but right now… I have an irrational dislike
-Ford, Mercury, Lincoln (long time dislike for anything Ford); Cadillac too
-Honda’s are usually dinged for road noise, and their engines spin backwards (that’s a joke, in case anyone read this far)
-New Toyota’s, don’t like the styling
-just about anything new actually… Don’t like the current styling trends, and I don’t want to deal with the dealer’s “free” 2yr service
-and just about anything over 10 years old. Stuff gets too old. Too many opportunities for stuff to break. Although I guess if it was free and rust-free, I could go afford to completely redo it. But I don’t like having to stop my life to get a tow truck, much less break down miles from home.
Personally I’m ambivalent on my truck’s styling (Tundra gen 2), and my Camry (gen 6) almost ranks as ugly. Inoffensive for both, but nothing good. Too many rounded surfaces IMO. Function over form is why I bought them. So it’s probably no shock that I still like the dated styling of my Jetta. Mostly straight lines. But I don’t like the angled styling that Toyota is heading towards, somehow my Jetta is both more rounded and less angular. And a nice low key interior. And leather seats that IMO have held up just fine for an econobox.
But the older I get the more I dislike driving. A vehicle is just something you pour money into. Increasingly I wish I had made different decisions after college and lived with bicycle distance of work. Then I could whine about bike manufacturers that I wouldn’t own.
-rustbuckets
-probably will not own something without ABS or side airbags. Tempting to avoid those new-fangled systems, but hard to resist the allure of “safety”
-No a/c? it had better been free
-motorcycles and three wheeled contraptions
-something with only 2 doors. Sorry, four is just more useful. I’ll get a two door when the kids are gone and I need something to deal with my mid-life crisis
-anything with a timing belt. People here are saying timing chains can now go 500k if not forever, so why get a belt?
-diesel setup. I’ve loved mine, but the emissions controls are getting too expensive on the new stuff
-direct injection. Too new and unproven. See all the complaints about fuel dilution and intake valve deposits. While they probably have it fixed on new cars—I’m not new car shopping. So I’d rather have old fashioned port injection
-anything by Scion
-Nissan Cube. Probably anything by Nissan, they never seemed to be as good as other imports. Maybe back in the day they were, but today?
-Mazda, between rust and styling and “zoom” nonsense it’s a no-go. I suspect they’ve fixed a few things but still, not high on my list
-VW? Bit of a reliability issue there
-Subaru, don’t think the reliability is there either. They seem to have fixed the mpg’s though.
-Been curious about Kia/Hyundai, but not sure about them either. I may well try someday, but right now… I have an irrational dislike
-Ford, Mercury, Lincoln (long time dislike for anything Ford); Cadillac too
-Honda’s are usually dinged for road noise, and their engines spin backwards (that’s a joke, in case anyone read this far)
-New Toyota’s, don’t like the styling
-just about anything new actually… Don’t like the current styling trends, and I don’t want to deal with the dealer’s “free” 2yr service
-and just about anything over 10 years old. Stuff gets too old. Too many opportunities for stuff to break. Although I guess if it was free and rust-free, I could go afford to completely redo it. But I don’t like having to stop my life to get a tow truck, much less break down miles from home.
Personally I’m ambivalent on my truck’s styling (Tundra gen 2), and my Camry (gen 6) almost ranks as ugly. Inoffensive for both, but nothing good. Too many rounded surfaces IMO. Function over form is why I bought them. So it’s probably no shock that I still like the dated styling of my Jetta. Mostly straight lines. But I don’t like the angled styling that Toyota is heading towards, somehow my Jetta is both more rounded and less angular. And a nice low key interior. And leather seats that IMO have held up just fine for an econobox.
But the older I get the more I dislike driving. A vehicle is just something you pour money into. Increasingly I wish I had made different decisions after college and lived with bicycle distance of work. Then I could whine about bike manufacturers that I wouldn’t own.
