Recent Comments:
Geo Metros going for big money on high gas prices {Autoblog}
May 16th 2008 6:38PM A couple of years ago, when gas first approached $2.00 a gallon, I traded a V6 '99 Dodge Ram 1500 2wd 5 speed that got 22 mpg highway on a slightly used 3 banger '99 Metro with only 68,030 miles on it. From talking to the original owner- she traded it on a new Focus- approximately 50,000 of those 68,030 miles were from being towed behind a motor home.
People thought I was nuts for paying $3400 for that car (ended up being less after figuring the trade and payoff on my Dodge, but I don't recall the figures right now).
Smartest move I've ever made.
I drive this little Metro nearly 120 miles round trip to and from work every day, and it will turn 180,000 miles in about a week.
I've replaced the timing belt, brakes, battery and other maintenance-type stuff; I've put two sets of tires on it since I've had it (got about 50k out of each set, at $19.95 each!), and the ONLY time it wouldn't start for me was the time the original battery finally crapped out- in June of '05.
I've been hit in it twice, too- once, a woman merged into my passenger side from an on-ramp at 60 mph- put a slight wrinkle in the right hand door; broke off the mirror and bent the right front wheel rim. That's all the damage.
The other time I got hit was in stop-and-go traffic on I-10. There was a wreck well up ahead, and traffic was just inching along- 5 mph then stop, repeat, repeat, repeat. The guy in the Chevy Avalanche behind me wasn't paying attention- on his cell phone- and tapped me- obviously not hard, at that speed. I got out and looked- couple scuffs on the plastic rear bumper of the Metro. The Avalanche, however, had a totally crumpled front bumper, a smashed grille, and a broken headlamp assembly- his bumper pushed up into it. Needless to say, he was sputtering and cussing he was so PO'd. All I said was "sucks to be you, doesn't it?"
The AC is adequate, even for North Florida summers (I need to get it repaired soon; it's given up the ghost now); the heater will run you out of there within about 3 miles when the temperature is in the 20's; it will happily haul three dalmatians or an amazing amount of other stuff with the back seat folded down, and it STILL- at nearly 180,000 miles- gets between 44 and 47 mpg while running a steady 70 mph on the interstate.
Yeah, it takes it a while to get up to speed- and overpasses and tall bridges tend to slow it down. It's also pretty sensitive to buffeting from passing semis, or to crosswinds- rather like driving an old VW Beetle, actually. It has about the same horsepower- 55- as my old 71 Beetle did, and really does drive about the same- it takes a special technique, and you have to assume- like when you're on a motorcycle- that other drivers not only don't respect you, they likely don't even SEE you.
There are a few features it doesn't have that would be nice- trip odometer, delay wipers, rear defrost and a remote hatch release, to name a few- but I'd damn sure buy another one, exactly as my 99 sits, were it still on the market.
I love this car.
I'll probably be the first lunatic in the world to do a complete, ground-up restoration on a 3 banger Metro, when the time comes (though parts are hard to find and expensive when you do find them).
Does car color correlate with personal confidence? {Autoblog}
May 15th 2008 5:22AM Personally I like bright colors- the brighter the better, and it's a matter of personal preference, nothing more than that.
I absolutely LOATHE silver, champagne, gold, "moondust", gray, pale blue metallic and other "rental car/old woman" colors.
I just finished repainting my 82 Jeep J10. It was pale metallic blue originally- nasty shade of blue. It's now a combination of 2004 Jeep Wrangler Electric Lime Pearl, 2007 Dodge Plum Crazy, 1973 AMC Classic Black, and 2008 Hummer Fusion Orange. It's polarizing, which is what I was after. People either love it, or ask me how much Jim Beam I'd had to drink when I picked those colors.
Fine with me; I won't see 36 other vehicles the same color when I take it for a ride (seldom, at 6-7 mpg!).
My daily driver is boring white- and I hate it- but usually when you buy a used car, you buy the car and its condition, not the color.
Get 'em while they're not hot! Dodge Rams going for $13k below MSRP {Autoblog}
May 5th 2008 6:48PM One of the Ford dealers in Jacksonville FL has been advertising new (not lease turn-ins) F150s for $11,990, or about $10k off MSRP, give or take a bit. Granted, that's VERY plain- manual everything, vinyl seats and so forth- but it does include AC and a stereo/CD player. Which is about all you really need. Or is that a minimum want? LOL...
Where I live, having a truck- even if just as a spare vehicle- is pretty much a necessity for times when the road floods or turns into a mudbog after a thunderstorm, or when you need to take your garbage to the dump- who wants to do that in a car?- we have no city/county trash pick up service here, so everybody hauls their own to the dump.
For that purpose, I have an '82 Jeep J10 on 33" tires. And I love all 6 mpg of the thing. If my daily commute were, say, 30 miles (into the closest town), I'd drive it more. But since it's 115.8 miles round trip, I'll keep my 46 mpg 3 banger Chevy Metro, until someone comes out with something newer that can beat that, at an affordable price.
Apocalypse Preparation: Geiger Ford F650 {Autoblog}
May 2nd 2008 6:32PM Good God, Let me win the lottery tomorrow night- that thing'd be my first purchase! That's seriously badassed...
U.S. Postal Service to celebrate the tailfin starting in October {Autoblog}
Apr 26th 2008 12:51PM The Fury was a Plymouth, not a Dodge- and my favorite would be the one that inspired a generation of Japanese science fiction movies (credit Motor Trend many years ago for that remark), the 1961.
U.S. Postal Service to celebrate the tailfin starting in October {Autoblog}
Apr 25th 2008 9:10PM For one, I'm glad there's no '57 Chevy- they're everywhere in just about every form you can imagine- and some you probably can't- wouldn't surprise me if someone somewhere sells condoms with the things emblazoned on them!
It's nice to see something different for once!
Personally I think a '57 Nash Ambassador would've been a good choice, but I'm weird. LOL!
Volkswagen finishes up Jetta BlueTDI development, on sale this summer {Autoblog}
Apr 25th 2008 5:24AM But it doesn't get twice the gas mileage of my current daily driver- granted, it's much more car than I drive now-a '99 Metro 3 banger that even with 177k miles on it (120 miles a day round trip commute), still gets 46 mpg- nearly 100% highway. Not sure an extra 13 mpg would be worth an extra 80 cents per gallon...
Volkswagen finishes up Jetta BlueTDI development, on sale this summer {Autoblog}
Apr 24th 2008 7:32PM Absolutely- the Rabbit's much better looking than the Jetta, and much more usable besides.
My only issue is that gas is about 60-90 cents a gallon cheaper (87 regular unleaded) than diesel in my area...
VW announces Carefree Maintenance Program for 2009 models {Autoblog}
Apr 23rd 2008 6:23PM Big deal- my 1989 Peugeot 405 had free scheduled maintenance as well- to 50,000 miles as I recall.
More cars than ever require premium fuel {Autoblog}
Apr 17th 2008 10:10PM I've run Premium a couple times in my car to compare, back when I first got it. I saw no significant difference in either mileage or performance (with only 55 horsepower to start with, any improvement would be instantly noticeable, I'd think). 1999 3 cylinder Chevy Metro that'd probably run on kerosene if I asked it to.
