Re: Relative values

[John Larson <jdlarson@ix.netcom.com>]

Geeez, Bill, an 8 O'clock rant! Cool. Thanks for the thanks. Your
sitting home for 6 weeks should be interesting. Your comments echo my
thinking exactly. Old Hondas present far greater challenges in the
driveability area than nearly ANY German car. Ever opened the engine
compartment on a mid 70s through mid 80s Honda? That's not squid ink
pasta in there folks, those are vacuum hoses. Seemingly thousands of
little same size, same color vacuum hoses. Looks like the snake scene in
"Raiders of the Lost Ark". And the carburetor from hell. And they get
old, rotten, and broken. At least VAG confronted the problem head on and
went to FI rather than trying to weasel around it (and avoid paying the
royalties to Bosch) like Honda and Toyota. The Japanese manufacturers
have produced some of the most convoluted and complicated answers to
automotive problems I've ever encountered in the 26 years I've been in
the business. The changes come so rapidly you need to know not only the
VIN but the date of manufacture and the name of the crew chief that
built the car to get the right parts for it. Wait til the counter man
asks whether it was built in the early, middle, or late shift, and what
color socks the tranny builder was wearing!
I seriously contemplated a license plate frame reading "Because anybody
can drive a Honda". Let'em! Lord knows, they deserve it if they don't
know any better. Thank your lucky stars they don't! 
Hooya! John
John

Bill Donley wrote:
> 
>  Enough of the Honda/Audi! It's an irrellevant arguement. As a whole, those
> of us on the list are car guys, who want to drive a fast,hi-tech,
> comfortable, different car. Any semi-hi performance vehicle's needs should
> be more carefully met, just because of the manner they're driven. If cost
> was the primary concern, I'd drive a Colt, or some other appliance. You're
> getting Porsche caliber driving, and it's still less then 911 type
> maintainence. My '73 Bus is cheaper to run, by a reasonable margin. Guess
> which one goes on trips? Yes,they should be basically reliable, but alot of
> these are high mileage cars that were bought that way, and will have
> whatever catchup is needed. Parts are high. So were my Volvo's. Kragen
> parts are cheaper. Yes.....You should see the guys on the Ducati list. Risk
> the motor, trying to save $5.00 on a generic timing belt, then drop the wad
> on carbon fiber.
>  I paid about what I'd paid for a similar mileage GTI, and less then a
> similar Accura [yes,I considered one!] for my 137,00 mile '87 5kcstq. It's
> clean,well taken care of,etc. I've put around $2000 back into it. I've paid
> to have most of it done. I asked to do things right.Thanks out to John
> Larson. Couldn't touch a 911, or nice BMW for the same amt. The Accura was
> that much to begin with. I'm not unhappy with it.
> BTW, my 914 broke more doorhandles, @ $75 a pop for used ones.
>       Bill D.
> 
> "red hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme" R.Thompson