Re: bashing Detroit

[rochow@pixelmagic.com]

> And what about their customer base?  Some people will hold to their 
>loyalties, prejudices, bigotrys, no matter how many facts are held before 
>them.  Those are the kind of people that will keep paying top dollar for 
>junk and call it patriotism. 

I don't know about patriotism or loyalty, but our '91 Caprice is an 
exceptionally reliable car - there are a few 'panel gaps' in the interior
that are a little on the ludicrous side, but other than that, only 'well made'
comes to mind. Besides regular oil changes, a-bit-less-than-needed wear
item replacement, some brake trouble early on (around 50k; it's at 165k now,
and I can't remember exactly what was wrong), a new waterpump at about
120k and a new transmission gasket at about 150k, this car has needed
nothing, and it's what used to be the typical US car: huge, inexpensive,
spacious, and reasonably powerful/economic. While quality is supposed
to be even better now, there's now no GM car that fits that bill, and I'm not
buying a Ford. So, I guess I'll have to wait till I'm rich and buy an A8, or do
as
someone else on the list suggested, and drive a restored '96 Impala -
there are now a number of outfits that rebuild police cars (incl. new
drivetrain,
and then some) for all the PDs that suddenly had the new-Caprice-rug
pulled out from under them. In other words, I, as an example, would be
'loyal' only as far as the specific product is concerned, and really don't
know where to turn as far as a new car is concerned.
(and yes, the cupholders are useful, too, so shoot me  -  I commute 80 miles a 
day on a road where the only significant curves are going around slow people 
who won't get out of the way)

Audi content: would a 5k (my hopefully solid winter car) survive hitting a
_big_ cow, and it rolling over the hood/fender against/off the windshield?
(Not that this is a common occurence, but my other Caprice passed this test
rather well, and I'm trying to get a feel for the relative stability of the
cars)