A Horse With No Name

Germain Kaiser

The answer is...never. Sadly, I watched American muscle cars disappear into iron oxide and salvage yards...I am watching RX-7's, S2000's, and the like do the same. The good ole days for most Asian sports cars are over, my friends. the Cruze is one hell of a car. local Chevy dealer said that it would be a six to eight week wait to get one with the manual, the nicer interior, and one of the colors we wanted. Wife and I went in and looked at one...color me impressed! Does it come with V-tech?...that would almost be funny...veggies fly all over the ceiling when the v tech cuts in...

Grand Vitara is outclassed by a lot of other vehicles.

My neighbor had a truck just like that when I was a teenager...it was in pristine shape. LOVE that bodystyle truck. Around here, there is an old GMC like that that has been made into a really cool looking rat rod. usually not that into rat rods, but this one just looks right. I'll nab a pic if I see it at a car show.

Olds, I think you summed it up really well...I think the Malibu is a Very handsome car, I just enjoy the lighter feel of the Fusion. I like both better than the Accord, Camry, Altima, and Sonata, however. Olds, I think you summed it up really well...I think the Malibu is a Very handsome car, I just enjoy the lighter feel of the Fusion. I like both better than the Accord, Camry, Altima, and Sonata, however.

Reminds me of my seventy one...sweet advert. Agreed!

I saw a bunch of El Camino's sitting in someone's yard in a BAD part of town. A bunch of angry guys with various racial origins, a display of open weapons, and several dogs with the size and temperament of Arkus pretty much convinced me I didn't want to stop and get any photographs for Camino.

With the nifty GM factory wing...be still my heart...you didn't get a photo of this rare beast, did you? And don't tell me it was an autotrajic.... Wow...I need to get pics...we have a 63 split around here that has been sitting in a driveway since the 70's... We are a little clueless...or scared off by your Christmas/winter's coming thread, one of the two.

I still think that one is a mistake...Mercury had great cars in the 50's and sixties, and was a profit whore for Ford in the seventies and eighties. Ford should be ashamed of themselves for letting Mercury rot on the vine! Ford's autotrajic problem is going to hurt them also, as lots of dealers don't even sell many manuals anymore. And the trans issue is not helping either... Exactly.... Hate to say it, but every time I look at the Cruze I like it better as a product. Esp if you get an upgraded model with the fog lights and nicer interior...NICE car.... A few years ago we could have called that thing a baby Buick!

Here in Ohio I live in a community that borders urban and rural...the rural people need trucks for work, and the urban people are all hauling families around...and doing lots of business. In the last two weeks, we've blown a motor in a Ford truck, lost a Diff in a truck with 200 plus K on it, and had major motor issues with another truck. We need to buy more trucks, and we like to buy used. Used truck prices for clean used work trucks are just out of site and off the planet. As are parts...all the salvage yards here in Ohio want a couple grand for a low mile motor for a V 6 Econoline... Amazing...trucks owned by people in my sons scout troup...couldn't give the damn things away two years ago...now some of them are worth what people paid two and three years ago...

As our dear leader, you know us well!

Hate to say it but I think the Fusion is a better car. Both are great designs...the Camaro is edgier... Great car, but ready for an update.

I think the problem is that a lot of shops rush work that should not be rushed...but it's our whole culture. America is built to the lowest bidder, which is why it breaks regularly. Same is true of the autobody business...

Kizashi is decent, but too little too late. Bingo!

Caliber was out of date and poorly designed four years ago....it's major mega obsolete.

I do hope...I work outside a LOT!

That's because people who buy Suziki's are all strung out...

regular patron at a restaurant I eat at has a Focus that has trash literally spilling out of the windows as she drives...it's piled so high inside the car that it almost blocks the view out the rear window.... ocnblu, let me state on the flip side of the coin, not all body shops are great to work with either. Take my '96 Fleetwood, for example. The body shop I took it to for repairs told me up and down there would be no problem getting the car fixed in two days after it was hit when parked Dec 22, 2009 (right after an unexpected early Christmas heavy snowstorm). The first issue I had with them was they took an extra day (all parts were ordered in advance - so they said - and no surprises were found requiring additional parts location). Why an issue? They saw a cash cow due to the volume of accidents from the snowstorm and overbooked way too many repairs (my car was taken into the shop two weeks after the accident). Issue #2 was that they never gave the car any quality control, again due to the volume of cars they had to repair. The front chrome bumper was misaligned, the left front cornering light (brand new) was never checked to make sure it lit up, and the new headlight was aimed way too high. For a repair shop that had plenty of "awards and trophies" on display, I didn't feel I got the "friendly and professional" customer service they advertised! But on topic, I agree that people treat their vehciles like an extension of their garage (for those that do not use them to store their vehicles in) or their basement - in addition to a landfill. I always remark to my wife after sitting in someone's dirty/filthy car that these are the people that will complain about the trade-in value they're offered when trying to buy a new vehicle after ignoring their own cleanliness for years. I see lots of cars with really crappy repair work...LOTS....

Ready for winter...I make money fixing peoples heat also....

sweet...two more from me.... ...and yes I am into the union jack thing...

So dropped by my fav. body shop to check on a truck our company owns, that is getting some mechanical work done. They were doing a cleanup on a car a customer had brought in...a Cadillac with a very dirty interior. Everyone thought the interior of the car was black....owner of the shop actually found a few pieces from a car with a black interior in a local yard... They start cleaning...car has a saddle/Tan leather interior..car is a Cadillac...after three hours of running a shop vac, an industrial strength steam cleaner, and dumping aquarium levels of water on the carpets, they are still pulling stuff out that looks like a chocolate milk shake.... They have a whole crew cleaning the car for a whole day....and I was there when the woman picks up her car....she complains that it smells slightly of detergent, and says that she's not totally satisfied.... Seriously...they had to dye a few places darker brown to match the cruddy leather...whole interior is about the color of coffee with a little bit of cream in it... Car is only about 4 years old or so...how the heck they got the inside THAT dirty is a mystery to me....but...wow....

Does anyone have a rational idea of when car prices will start to fall?

Happy Birthday!

Come to Columbus, and we'll go to the pick and pull together...and then to a couple of other cool yards and places. I'll gladly buy lunch... It is a decent place for parts...but we have a couple of other yards that are much better.

yeah..it was nicer than the pics would indicate..wish I could have driven it out of there!