"C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3F7108FB.F2C51FD8@mindspring.com...
>
>
> Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> > I'd disagree with the last statement - IME European cars have a *longer*
> > life than American cars. Now Japanese cars, due to their weird laws, do
> > seem to start falling apart around the 10 year mark.
>
> Germans have the same sort of laws as the Japanese. There are very few 9
> year old cars in Germany. The average age of cars in Europe as a whole
> is only around 7 years, compared to something like 10 years in the US. I
> suspect this is the reason why VWs and Mercedes has such poor long term
> reliability. In this county people seem to be willing to spend
> incredible amounts of money to keep German cars running. It has always
> been a mystery to me why people do this. One of my old office mates had
> a really crappy 240D that he spent more on in repairs than I paid in new
> car payments. The car was uncomfortable, dead slow and ugly, but he
> seemed to think it was some sort of status symbol To me it was a second
> rate taxi.
>
> Ed

Average age of cars here in NZ last i heard was in the range of 19 years.

I drove an '82 Mitsi as my first car, followed by a '83 Nissan. now a '88
Bighorn

rhys

 

"C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3F7108FB.F2C51FD8@mindspring.com...
>
>
> Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> > I'd disagree with the last statement - IME European cars have a *longer*
> > life than American cars. Now Japanese cars, due to their weird laws, do
> > seem to start falling apart around the 10 year mark.
>
> Germans have the same sort of laws as the Japanese. There are very few 9
> year old cars in Germany. The average age of cars in Europe as a whole
> is only around 7 years, compared to something like 10 years in the US. I
> suspect this is the reason why VWs and Mercedes has such poor long term
> reliability. In this county people seem to be willing to spend
> incredible amounts of money to keep German cars running. It has always
> been a mystery to me why people do this. One of my old office mates had
> a really crappy 240D that he spent more on in repairs than I paid in new
> car payments. The car was uncomfortable, dead slow and ugly, but he
> seemed to think it was some sort of status symbol To me it was a second
> rate taxi.
>
> Ed

Average age of cars here in NZ last i heard was in the range of 19 years.

I drove an '82 Mitsi as my first car, followed by a '83 Nissan. now a '88
Bighorn

rhys

 

Dave C. wrote:
>>>You can't do it because there are none on your side. It's like someone
>>>claiming there are facts supporting creationism.
>>
>>Or spontaneous emergence from the primordial soup.
>>
>
>
> Well at least that doesn't stretch credibility beyond the breaking
> oint. -Dave
>
>

It does for me. Doesn't get much more incredible than saying we all
came from a random association of elements... How many ordered systems
do you know of that just spontaneously emerged from a pile of parts? I
wish we could build cars that way! Would be much cheaper...


Matt

 

Dave C. wrote:
>>>You can't do it because there are none on your side. It's like someone
>>>claiming there are facts supporting creationism.
>>
>>Or spontaneous emergence from the primordial soup.
>>
>
>
> Well at least that doesn't stretch credibility beyond the breaking
> oint. -Dave
>
>

It does for me. Doesn't get much more incredible than saying we all
came from a random association of elements... How many ordered systems
do you know of that just spontaneously emerged from a pile of parts? I
wish we could build cars that way! Would be much cheaper...


Matt

 

Dave C. wrote:
>>>You can't do it because there are none on your side. It's like someone
>>>claiming there are facts supporting creationism.
>>
>>Or spontaneous emergence from the primordial soup.
>>
>
>
> Well at least that doesn't stretch credibility beyond the breaking
> oint. -Dave
>
>

It does for me. Doesn't get much more incredible than saying we all
came from a random association of elements... How many ordered systems
do you know of that just spontaneously emerged from a pile of parts? I
wish we could build cars that way! Would be much cheaper...


Matt

 

All the passengers would be "average"... the "freaks of nature" are on their
own :-)

"RJ" <re_johnson@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1g3b6nv.86dppd1toltpmN%re_johnson@hotmail.com ...
> Joe <jo_ratner@NOSPAM.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Subaru cars are not "small". My Legacy Sedan hold 4 adult males (fat US
> > male (that's for you Leo Lee)) comfortably. Easily holds 5 females. My
> > Wagon holds 5 adults very comfortably.
>
> None of those 5 have long legs, if they are comfortable.

 

All the passengers would be "average"... the "freaks of nature" are on their
own :-)

"RJ" <re_johnson@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1g3b6nv.86dppd1toltpmN%re_johnson@hotmail.com ...
> Joe <jo_ratner@NOSPAM.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Subaru cars are not "small". My Legacy Sedan hold 4 adult males (fat US
> > male (that's for you Leo Lee)) comfortably. Easily holds 5 females. My
> > Wagon holds 5 adults very comfortably.
>
> None of those 5 have long legs, if they are comfortable.

 

All the passengers would be "average"... the "freaks of nature" are on their
own :-)

"RJ" <re_johnson@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1g3b6nv.86dppd1toltpmN%re_johnson@hotmail.com ...
> Joe <jo_ratner@NOSPAM.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Subaru cars are not "small". My Legacy Sedan hold 4 adult males (fat US
> > male (that's for you Leo Lee)) comfortably. Easily holds 5 females. My
> > Wagon holds 5 adults very comfortably.
>
> None of those 5 have long legs, if they are comfortable.

 

FDRanger92 wrote:
> "Bill Funk" <bfunk33@qwest.net> wrote in message
> news:kvh1svkqne0tqu50v0ce66easicm0hac71@4ax.com...
>> On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:28:42 -0400, "rickety"
>> <ricklugg@knickers.iname.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Kevin wrote:
>>>> RJ wrote:
>>>>> Nate Nagel <njnagel@hornytoad.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> RJ wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Nate Nagel <njnagel@hornytoad.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Remember the days when you could buy a wagon and expect to haul
>>>>>>>> plywood and tow a trailer with it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 1. No 4x4 (a factor wherever it snows)
>>>>>>> 2. Those old beasts delivered around 12 mpg.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you claim that point 2 is negated by modern technology,
>>>>>>> everything I've seen with seriously higher gas mileage is front
>>>>>>> wheel drive and is therefore worthless as a towing vehicle.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That's not the fault of "passenger cars" per se, it's the fault
>>>>>> of CAFE which has killed the full sized car as we once knew it.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The only true full size car left is the Crown Vic. Still rear
>>>>> wheel
>>>> dirve with steel frame. Big fan, and heavy enough to keep you
>>>> alive.
>>>
>>> istr that the story is when they are hit from the rear the fuel
>>> tank is prone to rupture and ignite the spillage. Kind of like a
>>> big Pinto.
>>
>> They need to be hit pretty hard.
>> Like at a closing speed of more that 40 mph, IIRC.
>>
>
> More like 50-70. The ones thar have exploded have been hit at very
> high speeds. Also when you hit cars that tend to have ammunition in
> the trunk you might just get a fire.

It's interesting, as your points are highly believable, but they don't come
up in the news programs. I would have thought that if ammunition was a
contributing factor then Ford would have been highlighting that in public
announcements.

--
Rickety

 

FDRanger92 wrote:
> "Bill Funk" <bfunk33@qwest.net> wrote in message
> news:kvh1svkqne0tqu50v0ce66easicm0hac71@4ax.com...
>> On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:28:42 -0400, "rickety"
>> <ricklugg@knickers.iname.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Kevin wrote:
>>>> RJ wrote:
>>>>> Nate Nagel <njnagel@hornytoad.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> RJ wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Nate Nagel <njnagel@hornytoad.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Remember the days when you could buy a wagon and expect to haul
>>>>>>>> plywood and tow a trailer with it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 1. No 4x4 (a factor wherever it snows)
>>>>>>> 2. Those old beasts delivered around 12 mpg.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you claim that point 2 is negated by modern technology,
>>>>>>> everything I've seen with seriously higher gas mileage is front
>>>>>>> wheel drive and is therefore worthless as a towing vehicle.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That's not the fault of "passenger cars" per se, it's the fault
>>>>>> of CAFE which has killed the full sized car as we once knew it.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The only true full size car left is the Crown Vic. Still rear
>>>>> wheel
>>>> dirve with steel frame. Big fan, and heavy enough to keep you
>>>> alive.
>>>
>>> istr that the story is when they are hit from the rear the fuel
>>> tank is prone to rupture and ignite the spillage. Kind of like a
>>> big Pinto.
>>
>> They need to be hit pretty hard.
>> Like at a closing speed of more that 40 mph, IIRC.
>>
>
> More like 50-70. The ones thar have exploded have been hit at very
> high speeds. Also when you hit cars that tend to have ammunition in
> the trunk you might just get a fire.

It's interesting, as your points are highly believable, but they don't come
up in the news programs. I would have thought that if ammunition was a
contributing factor then Ford would have been highlighting that in public
announcements.

--
Rickety