[Tricks]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Sorry, sport, you're the one that began dictating what was irrelevant.

Purchasing gas in a virtually monopolized market has nothing to do with technology purchases. But thanks for coming out.

[Gunnair]

Tricks Tricks:

Gunnair Gunnair:

Sorry, sport, you're the one that began dictating what was irrelevant.

Purchasing gas in a virtually monopolized market has nothing to do with technology purchases. But thanks for coming out.

Jeeze, I thought you were done here.

No, you are correct, it has nothing to do with technology, but it was in response to this.

Tricks Tricks:

Also, I hate apple for its lying, its dirty tactics, and its awful human rights record. Lots of other companies are just as bad in one or two areas, but Apple has the trifecta going on.

Sounds like you have a sudden social conscience when it comes to your purchases - well, at least with Apple. Does it not go beyond this one company?

Hence my question about which socially responsible company you buy your gas from - since social responsibility seems important to you.

[Jonny_C]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Still on my first. 2007 that just crossed 40,000 kms. Think I just broke it in.

I had my 2005 for 4 yrs/90,000 km. Zero problems. (Does a flat count?)

My 2010 has almost 60 K on it, had to have a brake repair which I wasn't happy about. Otherwise fine.

(Not interested in back-and-forthing on the secondary comments.)

[Gunnair]

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

Gunnair Gunnair:

Still on my first. 2007 that just crossed 40,000 kms. Think I just broke it in.

I had my 2005 for 4 yrs/90,000 km. Zero problems. (Does a flat count?)

My 2010 has almost 60 K on it, had to have a brake repair which I wasn't happy about. Otherwise fine.

I don't know about you, but I wasn't so keen on the design change in what... 2009 or so? The look changed from my 2007 and I wasn't too keen on it.

You? Which from a style choice did you like better?

[Jonny_C]

Gunnair Gunnair:

I don't know about you, but I wasn't so keen on the design change in what... 2009 or so? The look changed from my 2007 and I wasn't too keen on it.

You? Which from a style choice did you like better?

I like the new style MUCH more.

Comparison picture when I traded in... my 2010 on the left, my 2005 on the right...

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[CDN_PATRIOT]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Ford is slipping though. Toyota, Mazda and Nissan are on top.

I want some of the kool-aid your so fond of. Ford is slipping? They STILL have the nation's best selling truck (F-150), fastest selling car (Focus), and have been making steady gains all while being one of the only auto manufacturers to not take a bailout.
Toyota has had nearly 10 million recalls worldwide in the last two or three years, have had numerous lawsuits launched over dangerous, shoddy vehicles, and are overpriced for what you get.

Mazda never really wavered, Nissan are redesigning several vehicles for the worse (there was nothing wrong with the Sentra) and have come out with a couple bombs (Juke, Cube).
I have a plethora of dealerships up the street from me, and the Ford dealership (where I bought my car) is by far the busiest, way ahead of the others. The Kia and Honda dealerships are a distant second, with a bunch in the middle, and Toyota and GM fighting for the bottom.

My dad has been in the auto industry for decades and is a manager for Chrysler at the moment. He has lots of friends working for other car companies, and even he has told me some of his Toyota buddies saw the writing on the wall and bolted for either Mazda, Ford, or Kia. The only company sinking faster than Toyota is GM.

-J.

[Lemmy]

This is completely off the thread topic, but Toyota isn't slipping at all. They just added another shift at the plant here and their products are still the highest rated vehicles on the road for quality, safety and resale value.

Fords are cheap, disposable cars. Nothing wrong with that, but that's what they are.

[Tricks]

Hyundai.

[CDN_PATRIOT]

Lemmy Lemmy:

This is completely off the thread topic, but Toyota isn't slipping at all. They just added another shift at the plant here and their products are still the highest rated vehicles on the road for quality, safety and resale value.

Fords are cheap, disposable cars. Nothing wrong with that, but that's what they are.

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Where is your Prius NOW! (hint: crying in fear and leaking oil)




-J.

[Lemmy]

I don't drive a Prius and, Dude, my Grand National would eat that Rustang alive. 11.410 @ 118mph in the quarter.

Okay, I’m going to try and remember all the vehicles I’ve owned in my lifetime. Currently I have my ’87 Grand National and ’08 Tundra. My wife has an ’06 Sienna.

My first car was a ’76 Grand Prix. Big 400ci V-8 gas guzzling boat. But I was 16 and it was powerful enough to spin the wheels, so it was cool. I blew a driveshaft on it and then the engine a short while later. Sure, I drove it pretty hard, but it was always in need of repairs. I spent many times what I paid for the car in fixing it up during highschool, but I lost my virginity in the back seat, so I could never hate it (or Bruce Springsteen’s “The River”, which was playing on the tape deck at the time).

My next car was a ’78 Dodge Omni. I figured a smaller, more fuel efficient economy car would be a good choice when I went away to university. That car blew a tranny, burned more oil than gas and had door handles that froze in the winter so I had to literally hold the door closed with one hand while I drove on cold days. One day the rear defrost shorted out and my rear window exploded while I was driving down the road. Easily the biggest lemon I’ve ever owned.

When the Omni died, I bought an ’86 Ford Escort. It burned out computers all the time. And when those things go, you’re fucking stranded wherever the breakdown happens. I had a lot of long walks home while I owned that shitbox.

Then I got an ’86 Ford Bronco II. The touch-drive electronic 4-wheel drive system went on that truck after I’d had it about a month. The repair bill was going to be, like, $5000, so I sold it to the wreckers for $100.

Then I got my sister’s hand-me-down...another Escort, this time an ’87. The computer problems of the previous model year were fixed, but this one burned out fuel pumps and left me stranded just as often as the ’86 had. So now, after 3 shitbox Ford lemons, you’d think I’d finally learned my lesson: no more Fords. But wait...

I had a girlfriend whose father sold Fords, so I bought a 1987 Mercury Topaz. It burned out fuel pumps just like the Escort and rusted right the fuck out in a year. I got t-boned in that thing and it was like winning the lottery. FINALLY, I'd had my last Ford.

I used the insurance money from the Topaz wreck to go out and get my first Buick: a 1987 Regal with a 307 Oldsmobile V-8. I liked it a lot and took care of it. I was in grad school at Western by then and it was too nice a car to drive in the winter. I was getting sick of riding the train back and forth and public transit around London, so I bought a 1986 Toyota Camry as a winter-beater to get me around while the Buick was stored. I’ve always been a two-car man since then. The Regal never caused me any trouble, but it wasn’t powerful enough, so, when I graduated I sold it and upgraded to the Grand National.

Then I decided to carry on with my studies and I kept the Camry through three years living in Boston, driving it back and forth to Ontario regularly. I moved back to Canada and continued to drive the Camry until June of 2002. The Camry had 490,000kms on it when the speedometer went out on it the previous September. So it must have had 550,000kms when I traded it in on a brand new Jeep TJ the following spring. In all the years I had the Camry, it never broke down on me and the only money I ever put into it was for brakes, a gas tank and a timing belt.

Mrs. Lemmy was in the picture by then and we moved out into the country, so I depended on the Jeep’s 4x4 to get me to and from work in the winter. The Jeep blew a rad and stranded me one time, but it was pretty reliable. Then it was stolen from the Guelph Legion one night and I have no idea what became of it.

Mrs. Lemmy had a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder, so I pretty much appropriated that car from her. It was extremely reliable, but when kids came and the family got bigger, she wanted a van to shuttle the kids about.

So we bought an ’06 Sienna. We’ve had it since then and it’s never had anything go wrong with it. The only money we’ve had to spend on it has been regularly scheduled maintenance.

In ’08, I decided the Pathfinder wasn’t really as practical as a pickup would be, so I swapped it for the Tundra. The Tundra’s, likewise, never had to have a nickel put into it.

So what have I learned over nearly 30 years of automobile ownership? Japanese good, North American shit. I don’t even care if the North American products have improved. The several I owned were WAY shitty enough that I’d be a complete fool to ever give any domestic manufacturer my business again. They’ve lost me as a customer forever. On the other hand, of all the cars I’ve owned, the 3 Toyotas have been far and away the most reliable and most economical to operate. Now, the Buick is my toy and I love it and will never sell it. But it’s cost me a lot of dollars to keep it on the road over the years, so I’m a bit of love-blind fool when it comes to that ride. Objectively, it’s been a money-pit too.

Also, Toyota feeds a lot families where I live, so I’m likely to continue to support that company as long as their products continue to satisfy my needs. I have no reason to be bitter about my experience in owning Toyotas. The same isn’t true of any North American automaker.

So enjoy your Ford grocery-getter. But fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, er, a dozen times, shame on me.

[Gunnair]

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Gunnair Gunnair:

Ford is slipping though. Toyota, Mazda and Nissan are on top.

I want some of the kool-aid your so fond of. Ford is slipping? They STILL have the nation's best selling truck (F-150), fastest selling car (Focus), and have been making steady gains all while being one of the only auto manufacturers to not take a bailout.
Toyota has had nearly 10 million recalls worldwide in the last two or three years, have had numerous lawsuits launched over dangerous, shoddy vehicles, and are overpriced for what you get.

Mazda never really wavered, Nissan are redesigning several vehicles for the worse (there was nothing wrong with the Sentra) and have come out with a couple bombs (Juke, Cube).
I have a plethora of dealerships up the street from me, and the Ford dealership (where I bought my car) is by far the busiest, way ahead of the others. The Kia and Honda dealerships are a distant second, with a bunch in the middle, and Toyota and GM fighting for the bottom.

My dad has been in the auto industry for decades and is a manager for Chrysler at the moment. He has lots of friends working for other car companies, and even he has told me some of his Toyota buddies saw the writing on the wall and bolted for either Mazda, Ford, or Kia. The only company sinking faster than Toyota is GM.

-J.

I guess you're another one the reviewers forgot to interview.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/06/top-10-most-reliable-family-cars.html/10

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/14-most-dependable-cars-on-the-road#1

2 out of 14 - and no trucks.

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/autos/2012/10/29/consumer-reports-most-reliable-cars/index.html

Sorry, sport, I'm not seeing anything to support your claim.

Back to that buying domestic thing of yours - where did you Ford Focus stack up against my Tundra in percentage of domestic parts?

Was the 50% for Ford and 80% for Toyota?

[Gunnair]

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Lemmy Lemmy:

This is completely off the thread topic, but Toyota isn't slipping at all. They just added another shift at the plant here and their products are still the highest rated vehicles on the road for quality, safety and resale value.

Fords are cheap, disposable cars. Nothing wrong with that, but that's what they are.

0:

SHELBYFORD.jpg

Where is your Prius NOW! (hint: crying in fear and leaking oil)




-J.

Buddy, you drive this, not the Rustang.

Your Rustang pic is like you posting a picture of John Holmes' unit when you're in a dick size comparison bitchfest.

.....like when you throw up a picture of the Rustang.

[bootlegga]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Just an observation, but why is it that the most rabid, business-first conservatives hate Apple so much? I thought you guys were wet for successful corporations?

Well, I'm not a conservative, but the reason I don't care for Apple products is based on my experience with both Apple and PC products.

Apple products generally aren't upgradeable, repairable (outside of an authorized Apple Dealer anyways), and cost too much compared to similar products in the PC world.

When I Mac laptop died, I had to basically throw it away. When my PC crapped out, I went to Memory Express and got a new power supply and bingo-bango it worked fine. Same with the CD burner - when it died in my Compaq, I just bought a new one, opened the box and plugged it in and it worked immediately.

iPods look pretty cool and I agree that they work better than most MP3 players, but until recently (a couple years ago), you had to use the iTunes store to put music on them, you couldn't use your own MP3s. The idea of having to buy my entire music library again (instead of ripping them off my CD collection) was too much for me to consider - especially given that I hardly use an MP3 player anyways. Nevermind the ability to use downloaded songs...

iPhones have lots of games and apps, but I don't want or need a phone that needs either. I want something I can make a call with, maybe post occasionally to Twitter and/or Facebook and use Google Maps if I get lost. If you don't invest a lot of time and money into apps for your iPhone, it's not much better than the feature phone I currently have. I had a BB a few years back at a job and it worked just fine for my needs - if I get a smartphone next year, it'll either be a BB (if BB10 is any good), or an Android phone (my Android tablet is way better than an iPad IMHO).

[herbie]

And in spite of detractors, this morning's papers report Apple has sold over 3 million of them since the launch.
That's over a billion dollars worth.

[Jonny_C]

bootlegga bootlegga:

iPods look pretty cool and I agree that they work better than most MP3 players, but until recently (a couple years ago), you had to use the iTunes store to put music on them, you couldn't use your own MP3s. The idea of having to buy my entire music library again (instead of ripping them off my CD collection) was too much for me to consider - especially given that I hardly use an MP3 player anyways. Nevermind the ability to use downloaded songs...

I must have gotten my iPod (4th gen, 32 GB) after that. I put about 1500 songs on it using iTunes, bought, ripped, downloaded, didn't matter. As long as they were in MP3 format. I also used iTunes to load the same library of songs onto my Playbook. No problems there either.