Lamenting the decline of the car

[lio45]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

My first motorized vehicle was a moped - beat that!!!

I got my first car in med school in 1982 at the age of 25 - a 1979 Dodge Omni (used). What a fucking piece of crap. I can't tell you how many times it broke down, especially on highway trips to various clinical rotations around the Maritimes. But, I dearly loved that car anyway. For the first time in my life I had real, honest to God freedom of movement.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

goes to show you just how lousy the 1970s Detroit rolling stock was. A three year old Dodge Omni, causing you that many problems.

Just to set the record straight here, powertrain problems in a 1978-1980 Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon would be Volkswagen's fault, as these cars' engines were all built by VW in Germany and sent to the USA to be put in the Omnirizons' engine bays. (VW Rabbit / MK1 Golf engines.)

(If MonctonRad's car had the manual transmission then that was also a Volkswagen transmission paired with the Volkswagen engine ; the automatic was a Chrysler unit though.)

As soon as those cars got the slant six derived 2.2 liter four (this one being a Chrysler-engineered mill), they became pretty reliable. Which is one of the reasons they lasted so long. (Made until model year 1990!)

[theman23]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I'm just impressed that a $25k Jetta can go up to 800 kms on a tank of gas.

Most modern compact economy cars (Corollas, Civic, Jettas, Fortes, etc.) can achieve 800 km if driven on the highway. TBH you can probably go further if you're hypermiling.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

Just to set the record straight here, powertrain problems in a 1978-1980 Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon would be Volkswagen's fault, as these cars' engines were all built by VW in Germany and sent to the USA to be put in the Omnirizons' engine bays. (VW Rabbit / MK1 Golf engines.)

(If MonctonRad's car had the manual transmission then that was also a Volkswagen transmission paired with the Volkswagen engine ; the automatic was a Chrysler unit though.)

As soon as those cars got the slant six derived 2.2 liter four (this one being a Chrysler-engineered mill), they became pretty reliable. Which is one of the reasons they lasted so long. (Made until model year 1990!)

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Which EV do you own? How long have you had it and how much mileage?
Would you buy another one, and stick with same make model or try something different?

I have a Tesla 3, 2018, 101K kms on it.

The driving (including long distance), navigation, and charging experience with Tesla is still head and shoulders above the rest. Hard to leave that ecosystem TBH. The refreshed Model Y, whenever it comes out, would be my top pick, but we aren't looking to replace this vehicle any time soon.

I like the F150 Lightning, but realistically we're in a dense city and drive on narrow roads, etc. Parking would be a hassle. After that, maybe Rivian's R2.

[whatnext]

"Donald Trump is a raving loony and the biggest threat to democracy...Oh Elon, you're such a scamp (giggles and bats eyes demurely)".