Cars in ER

[Texas Proud]

Four out of five of our last car purchases have been Fords.   I've been really impressed by the quality, reliability, and design -- even compared to Japanese cars, which seem to be getting more cramped and more gadgety.   And you simply can't beat the prices on new Fords given all of the incentives.   I haven't been as impressed with Chevy or Chrysler (rental cars), though.   Ford seems to be doing someting right.

Sorry Wab... but I will never buy a Ford again in my life... I had an '85 Cougar that was breaking down ALL the time.. it would stall when it got to hot... paid many $$$s trying to get it fixed and then Ford was sued and they admitted they knew what the problem was but never told their mechanics since they did not want to recall them... My friend had the same problem with his Thunderbird...

Never buy FORD....

 

[kz]

"Never buy FORD"

Isn't it funny the experiences we all have with different car companies?? I've never had any major problems with the Fords I've owned. And I put alot of miles on those cars.
Hubby had a few Fords and then decided that he wanted to try a Chevy truck. After about 3 yrs and tons of trouble he's back to a Ford again with no problems.
And now we've added a Toyota to the family fleet and are anxious to see how it holds up.
Time will tell.

 

[brewer12345]

I've owned a ford, chevy, toyota, subaru and a honda. Never had any problems exect with the toyota and that was after it had been pretty badly abused by a prior owner. Don't know what to tell you. Luck of the draw, I guess.

 

[RE2Boys]

Generally buy one or two year old practical but out of favor cars. Last new car I've bought was in 1989.

Right now the fleet is a 01 Ford Windstar and an 05 Ford Freestar, both minivans. Before that was a 95 Windstar. All have been much more dependable than any previous cars.

Sure miss a pickup as a third vehicle though. Loved my very basic 86 Mitsu but it rotted away and all the plastic and rubber items were going, even though it only had 86K when I sold it for salvage value in 2003 for $350. Briefly had a 2000 Ranger, bought used off of lease with only 22K miles, and almost brought it with me when we moved from Alabama to PA. But one day it occurred to me that I'd be swearing at the Ranger by January, it was 2wd and I live in the Great Lakes snowbelt area!! It was a good decision to sell it as our annual fleet miles are way down since we moved. And being able to borrow a relatives trailer when I need to haul stuff is actually much more convenient (and way cheaper) than having a PU to care and feed.

BTW, as my handles implies, I retired early but have two grade school sons. For me, an SUV would be DOWNSIZING in terms of passenger room, cargo room, but cost me at least 5 mpg.

RE2Boys

 

[HFWR]

I've had mixed luck with "pre-owned" vehicles, but I've never bought a late-model one.

 

[AltaRed]

DW currently has a 1991 Dodge Caravan (had about 10 recalls of one sort or another) with about 105000 miles on it and an average amount of repairs I think for a Chrysler. I have a 2000 Infiniti I30 with 55000 miles on it which has been an absolute dream. Have just changed oil and recently put a set of tires on it.

Will retire in Spring 06 back in Canada. Will sell both of these vehicles here before we go since they are not fitted to be Canadian vehicales. DW plans on getting a Honda CRV AWD as her retirement gift and I plan on an Infiniti M35 AWD as my retirement gift. Want the reliability and believe they will last us 15 years or more thereby justifying the high initial prices.

 

[wildcat]

Hmm maybe a dumb question but do some vehicles run better than others in the cold weather?  Not talking about driving in the snow...talking about ability to handle cold cold temps.  Anybody know? Besides diesel (sorry for the last minute detail Wab)...

 

[wabmester]

Hmm may be a dumb question but do some vehicles run better than others in the cold weather?  Not talking about driving in the snow...talking about ability to handle cold cold temps.  Anybody know?

Sure. Diesels are horrible in cold weather. In general cold weather makes any kind of ignition harder, that's why some cars have block heaters in the north. I'm sure different block sizes and materials affect this too.

 

[Martha]

Sure. Diesels are horrible in cold weather. In general cold weather makes any kind of ignition harder, that's why some cars have block heaters in the north. I'm sure different block sizes and materials affect this too.

Used to be the case but not so much anymore. You will need to add an additive to the fuel so it doesn't jell. Our diesel does fine in the cold. Started right up at 30 below zero last winter.

The important thing in to have block heaters in the north.

 

[wildcat]

Block heaters? Talking to a non-car person. I just know when we lived in Northern IL. people used to do things to keep the engine warm throughout the night.

 

[JPatrick]

Block heaters?  Talking to a non-car person.  I just know when we lived in Northern IL. people used to do things to keep the engine warm throughout the night.

Small heating element permanently installed in motor block.  You plug it in to your house/motel and it keeps the block warm allowing a summer like (well almost) start in the AM. 
There also are (or once was) heated dip sticks and tank heaters which all attempted to do the say thing.  Then there's the blanket over the engine trick and yes, many people have actually built a small fire under their engine to warm it up. Not good 
Like anything "plugged in" there comes a time to unplug.  In the case of these heaters, the time is BEFORE you drive away  :

 

[SteveR]

Small heating element permanently installed in motor block.  You plug it in to your house/motel and it keeps the block warm allowing a summer like (well almost) start in the AM. 

Agree with the block heaters use.

I live in N. IL for several years and there were many times during the winter when it was so cold your door locks would not work. Had to leave the car unlocked and even then it was hard to open the door. We did not have have heater plug ins for the parking lot at work so you just had to make sure your battery was in good shape. The security group at work had several trucks that were on call to jump off the cars with weak batteries.

I don't miss that at all. I like the snow; just hate the cold that is why I am here instead of there.

 

[Texas Proud]

"Never buy FORD"

Isn't it funny the experiences we all have with different car companies?? I've never had any major problems with the Fords I've owned. And I put alot of miles on those cars.
Hubby had a few Fords and then decided that he wanted to try a Chevy truck. After about 3 yrs and tons of trouble he's back to a Ford again with no problems.
And now we've added a Toyota to the family fleet and are anxious to see how it holds up.
Time will tell.

KZ, I had previous Fords and liked them... I even liked the Cougar, but Ford not telling why it was having a problems was too much for me... and it cost me a LOT of money... if they had been open and gotten them fixed I would not have a problem...

I just heard that Ford trucks and SUVs from a few years ago have a problem with their doors opening in crashes... seems the springs that hold the door handles were too weak... after they found out about it they threw them away and started to use another spring.. BUT, they did not tell anyone and still say the springs 'meet federal regulations' even though doors are swinging open in minor crashes if they are hit right...

So, yes, I will continue to say do not buy a Ford as I think they are the most dishonest car company right now....

 

[wildcat]

OK block heater crowd...What happens if you don't have a plug ready for the block heater? Leave the car running all night : or just hope the things starts the next morning? Makes me wonder how long vehicles last with winters like that.

 

[SteveR]

OK block heater crowd...What happens if you don't have a plug ready for the block heater?  Leave the car running all night  : or just hope the things starts the next morning?  Makes me wonder how long vehicles last with winters like that. 

Just make sure you:
1. Don't lock your car.
2. Have your battery fully charged.
3. Have a thinner oil grade in the engine.
4. Have the correct anti-freeze water mix for the expected temp. -15 more degrees for safety.
5. Don't keep CDs or anything else in your car you don't want frozen and damaged.

You can make it without the heater plugs unless you live in the far North and western areas like N or S Dakota, Minn. Montana, WN, N. Maine etc. When the temp. falls to -30 or so (not counting windchill) the car will start but it takes a while. Much colder than that, and many will not start if kept outside too long without a blockheater. The oil turns to jello and the battery just cannot put out enough energy to get the engine moving fast enough to start it.

 

[Glo]

I have a 1992 Lincoln Town Car with 162K miles on it as well as a special edition Miata 2001 with almost 20K on it. Never had a problem with either car.

DH just got a 2004 Toyta tundra (I think its a tundra) and its a real "cowboy cadilac". He loves it and he'll be keeping it for a number of years.

 

[uncledrz]

ok ok so long as we're talking about starting you car in extreme cold, I lived in Northern Minnesota, had no engine heater (most used the heated oil dipstick) and so I brought the car battery inside each night to keep it warm and thus had plenty of cranking power to start up in the morning.
only thing was, had to sit on the rock hard, ice cold, frozen solid seat until the engine warmed up.
all that, and I still loved the far north country.
uncledrz

 

[Mr._johngalt]

ok ok so long as we're talking about starting you car in extreme cold, I lived in Northern Minnesota, had no engine heater (most used the heated oil dipstick) and so I brought the car battery inside each night to keep it warm and thus had plenty of cranking power to start up in the morning.
only thing was, had to sit on the rock hard, ice cold, frozen solid seat until the engine warmed up.
all that, and I still loved the far north country. 
uncledrz

You sir are a masochist.

JG

 

[Cut-Throat]

ok ok so long as we're talking about starting you car in extreme cold, I lived in Northern Minnesota, had no engine heater (most used the heated oil dipstick) and so I brought the car battery inside each night to keep it warm and thus had plenty of cranking power to start up in the morning.
only thing was, had to sit on the rock hard, ice cold, frozen solid seat until the engine warmed up.
all that, and I still loved the far north country. 
uncledrz

I was actually a 'Professional' at this. Yes, during College in Minnesota, I worked at a service station, and used to go out on those cold winter mornings and start cars, that had their batteries ground down to zero, were flooded etc. etc.

So, I knew most all the tricks of the trade. We used to spray ether in the carburetor and got the car to run just on this highly volatile fluid for about 30 seconds. This would warm it enough to get it running on gas. Hooking up jumper cables in 30 degree below weather is not a lot of fun! You can also push them down the highway with the ignition switch on! (even Automatic Transmissions - you had to get them up to about 35-40 mph before they would kick over.

We had one old Ford Wagon, that would not start until we brought it down to the garage and let it warm up for about 3-4 hours though!

 

[73ss454]

CT,

No wonder you took a cruise to Alaska!

 

[bow-tie]

...I brought the car battery inside each night to keep it warm and thus had plenty of cranking power to start up in the morning. only thing was, had to sit on the rock hard, ice cold, frozen solid seat until the engine warmed up...

Have done that before on some of the cold Iowa nights.  Works pretty well.  But those cold leather and / or vinyl seats are a serious bummer when they're so cold they don't give any when you sit on them.... FREEZIN CHEEKS!

 

[HFWR]

From my experience, not much of anything wants to work at, say, -25F, the lowest temperature I've had the joy to endure...

<insert shivering modicom here>

 

[SteveR]

That is why they invented seat heaters.
Start the car; turn on the defrosters (front and rear); turn on the seat heaters and mirror defrosters.

Wait 10 minutes and the car is almost toasty.

 

[AltaRed]

Try -40 to -45 on the wind blown tundra of the Arctic. Now that is really cold! Have to keep diesels running 24/7 or they'd not start until April.

 

[sgeeeee]

ok ok so long as we're talking about starting you car in extreme cold, I lived in Northern Minnesota, had no engine heater (most used the heated oil dipstick) and so I brought the car battery inside each night to keep it warm and thus had plenty of cranking power to start up in the morning.
only thing was, had to sit on the rock hard, ice cold, frozen solid seat until the engine warmed up.
all that, and I still loved the far north country. 
uncledrz

Another trick I learned in Iowa. Run a drop cord out to the car and keep a small wattage light bulb on the battery all night. The light would put out enough heat to keep the battery warm. This kept me from having to stand out in the cold in the morning hooking up the battery that I had taken into the house.