OT: Other than Toyota who makes a good car?

[motorworks]

What ever happen to The Lada
A friend had one back in the early 80's (car 4 dooor)
Just could not kill it and we tried.
If I remember correctly $4995 or less

[saltmine]

Good news! The Lada (a Russian built Fiat 124) is still in production in Russia.

They offered me the Southwestern distributorship of them...

[jmm360]

Originally Posted by A.K. Boomer

She's a little too heavy to be sitting on that beauty like that (plus she looks like she's got some really hard miles on her)

Spoken like someone who's never been to Williams Lake. Vancouver would be a whole 'nother story.

[Evan]

Spoken like someone who's never been to Williams Lake. Vancouver would be a whole 'nother story.

Spoken like someone that has been to Williams Lake. If she were here she would have plenty of business...

Vancouver, on the other hand, is a favorite recruiting town of Playboy Magazine. They are auditioning there right now.

[EVguru]

Originally Posted by saltmine

Good news! The Lada (a Russian built Fiat 124) is still in production in Russia.

They offered me the Southwestern distributorship of them...

I had a Lada Niva 1300cc Estate (station wagon) for a while. It is indeed a licenced version of a Fiat 124, but with some differences. The 124 ran disc brakes all round, whilst the Lada used 10" Aluminium drums with Iron liners at the back. These were a lot less trouble than the Fiat setup (handbrake often sticking). Less good news is the increased weight and poorer handling. The Fiat was made from 'high strength' steel and the Russian rolling mills couldn't produce the grade or gauge, so the Lada weighed quite a bit more. The handling was down to Russian road conditions, all the suspension mounting points were moved down to raise the body and increase ground clearance. They still handled better than most of the American cars I've driven and were the basis of many a budget rally car.

Lada didn't adopt the Fiat Twincam, but the engine was designed by the same Aurelio Lampredi, who also designed the big block Ferarri V12s. In any case 75bhp from 1300cc (85bhp for the 1500) is a pretty good figure and my Lada would happily cruise at 85mph all day. It was equipped with a light for the engine bay and one for the back, remote headlamp adjuster and a full tool kit including tyre pump. It was also one of the most comfortable cars I've owned. I only got rid of it because my Mother had trouble parking it. The steering geometry was set up for narrow crossply tyres and equipping it with 185 section Radials was not the best move on the part of the importers.

They were at one time the most stolen type of car in London. They were either exported to the Carribean, or back to Russia where spares were in short supply.

[Richard-TX]

Audi. I won't own anything but.

[madokie]

Generous Motors makes the best auto trans.even FLOORED is buying transaxles from them to put in their cars(since FORD quit making the 5.0 engine all their vehicles have to be floored to keep up with anything else on the road).if milage is a major consern,VW and Pugot or is it Audi, has diesels in their cars,small to large,very reliable from what ive heard,Dawoo cars,south korean, are very cheap used ,i have rented 2, good car,liked the way they handeled & drove,plenty of power f 4cly,good to high ratings f reliability.GEO Prizim is rebadged toyota corola, but they all have too many miles on them now.

[madman]

Well i still drive a 1984 Ford f 250 Pickup daily ,year round ,winters, salt and its still starting ,running not breaking down???I dont know whats wrong with it, now it has a big foot camper on it and im dragging that thing all over the country. Runs on propane and Gasoline. It gets good mileage cionsideruing a 460 lurks beneath the hood slightly modified. Just my 2 cents OH I bought a GM Yuch 70000kms on it and air conditioning repaired wheekl bearings replaced heater motor replaced, wipers have mind of there own once the power windeow went down but Up?nope finally it healed itself and went back up? Anyhow nuff said,

[EVguru]

Originally Posted by madokie

Dawoo cars,south korean, are very cheap used ,i have rented 2, good car,liked the way they handeled & drove,plenty of power f 4cly,good to high ratings f reliability.

Daewoo cars are no more, their parent company got into financial difficulties some time ago. They're now badged as Chevrolets in the UK. Most of their designs were (are?) pensioned off Vauxhalls (European GM). To me that's a BAD thing. Vauxhalls were always the worst for handling/ride compared to Ford or VW. They used to develop cars and then 'value engineer' them, removing spotwelds until the handling began to deteriorate. A Mk II Astra at 30,000 miles would often miss-align the tailgate if you parked with one wheel on the kerb. They brought in Lotus to work their handling magic across the range and I remember an ad campain claiming a 100% torsional stiffness increase for the Astra. By all accounts that made it average. They had some pretty good engines though. The 2litre 16v was if anything overbuilt (apart from forgetting to chamfer the big end bolt holes) and produced 150bhp stock. It didn't last too many years before being replaced by the EcoTec engine range.

Daewoo cut corners on suspension and generally weren't as good as the Vauxhalls on which they were based. I have to say I've been really impressed by my Ford Mondeos. I was looking for an ecenomical tow barge and the Turbo Diesel Mondeo had the highest towing weight rating without going to a Merc or Volvo that wouldn't achieve the 50mph (inperial) I get from the Ford. It's quiet, smooth, comfortable and even with 169,000 miles on the clock (low milleage for a TD Mondeo) feels tight as a drum on the handling front.

I have to say, when I was in the US each year in the late 90's prepping a race Porsce, I was deeply unimpressed by the US cars I drove (none of them new however). The one I really couldn't believe was the Chevy van. How could anything with a 5.7 litre engine and wasn't actually armour plated, be so slow? Come back Ford Transit 1600 enonomy, all is forgiven!

To see just how fast a Transit can be; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KiC03_wVjc

[Ries]

There is a world of difference between a new car, and a used car. Even if they are the same make, model, and year.

You can be pretty sure that if you buy virtually any modern car, NEW, especially something as well engineered as a Honda, and treat it right, change the oil and do preventative maintenance, it will last a long time. I have gotten 200k out of several Hondas, Nissans, and similar cars, with NOTHING going wrong beyond tires and brake pads and a battery.

But the exact same car, USED, could be a total dog. You have no way of knowing if it was driven for an hour at 50mph in second, or over a series of curbs, or in a crash and poorly repaired, or driven for 50k on one oil change.

The biggest sucker myth in the world is the "low mileage used car".

Lots of cars can be low mileage, and still totally worn out, or old enough that they need more money in repairs than they are worth. A nice 70's car with only 20,000 miles on it can be the biggest money hole ever. Rubber rots, aluminum and pot metal corrode, foam rubber disintegrates, gas tanks fill with rust, brake shoes rust solid to the drums- and the car still looks "brand new".

People also tend to get fixated on a particular model or type of car, because somebody told em it was good, and will spend way too much to get one, skipping over better, cheaper, lower mileage, newer cars, cause they arent the magic one with the best reputation.

I am old as dirt- and I remember when THE used car to buy was a 60's Dodge or Plymouth with a slant 6. Back in about 1970 or so, the classified ads in the newspaper every sunday (told you I was old) would have 3 or 4 of em, for $200 to $500. And, at that time, they WERE great cars. Cheap, they got good mileage, were tough, reliable, and less than ten years old. Parts were cheap and available.
Flash forward ten years, to 1980.
A lot of car buying nervous nellies were still being told- Dodge Dart, with a slant 6- you cant go wrong.

Except, they were a TERRIBLE used car in 1980. First, they were 20 years old, not 8. Second, because of that, there were a lot fewer of them on the road, almost none of em in the junkyards, and most of the previously common parts were a lot harder to find. And, due to the reputation, and the scarcity, the prices were up to $2000 to $5000. Compared to 60's cars, they got pretty good mileage. Compared to 70's japanese imports, they were gas hogs. And by then, many cities had smog inspections, and the slant sixes usually needed another few hundred bucks of work to pass em.

My rule of used cars is to buy the cheapest, newest, lowest mileage car you can find, and to purposely skip worrying about the way it looks, or the reputation.

In 1980, you could pick up a K car for $200, or a Dart for $3000. No contest. The K car was a piece of crap- but for $200, who cared? you drive em til they drop, or require more than $200 worth of work, scrap it for $50, buy another one.

In the early 80's, there were great deals on late 70's japanese cars like Mitsubishi Galants- ugly as sin, they looked like cartoon robots on steroids. Way too much gimmicky electronics. But a great cheap used car, that got good mileage- at the time.

At any given time, there are always unpopular, or ugly, used cars that are great deals. At various times, that might have been a Gremlin, or a Galant, a full sized Buick, or a diesel Isuzu pickup. It varies, from place to place, and time to time.

But if you go out to buy, with the preconceived notion that it MUST be a VW Vanagon, or an Audi, or a Toyota, you miss the really great deal on the Mitsubishi van, or the Ford 500, or the Pontiac Aztek.

If, on the other hand, you WANT, more than anything in this earth, a Corvette, or a Jeep CJ5, or 66 Toronado- well, just buy the damn thing, and enjoy it.

I personally like both- boring, reliable appliances, and fussy, hard to maintain high performance sporty cars with character and soul. Each has its place.