Import owners are to blame for the recession

I don't consider myself an expert, just an enthusiast... but it doesn't
seem that the Japanese ever really did anything else (although there are
moments of brilliance, like the Toyota straight six, their laws are set
up such that people just don't keep old cars over there.) Likewise with
American cars... again, spots of brilliance like some of the early 50's
V-8 engines (or my dad's old Cutlass for that matter,) but overall,
nobody really counts on a car lasting much longer than 10 years.

But read the recommended service and maintenance in the manual for a BMW
or Porsche (at least an older one) and it pretty much reads like a good
instructional guide for ANY car if you want it to run damn near forever.
No "lifetime" fluids in there, no sir.

nate

 

I think it's pretty much the same around here. I do see some going around
town promoting a business, or being used as a business vehicle (such as for
a mobile mechanic), but other then that I don't see too many of them. I do
admit though that you can't really find a much better off roading vehicle
then the H1.

 

Yeah. OK.

 

"80 Knight"...

The trouble with them off-road is that they do not fit on a lot of the off
road trails. They are just too big. That is what the Jeeps are for.
Tomes

 

Jeeps are very nice too, I will definitely agree with that.

 

That information is not available from the US Commerce Department Web
Site.

Ed

 

Ah yes, your usual response when people call you out for making stuff
up.

Ed

 

Actually this is not true. Even if you follow the practice of
including all SUVs and Crossovers in the light truck category, GM sold
more "cars" in the US than Toyota through November of this year:

Total US GM Car Sales: 1,118,208 (all divisions, including SAAB)
Total US Toyota Car Sales (all divisions, including Lexus): 1,108,123

If you include all vehicles, GM is way ahead in US sales (2,412,666 to
1,793,302)

This data is from the Automotive New.

Ed

 

I was told expected battery life was the limiting factor.

 

I was referring more to the general statement about other cars not being
expected to last very long.

 

Through Novemeber Ford sold 392,698 F Series Trucks (this includes all
F series, not just F150s) and Toyota sold 355,562 Camrys (includes all
models, US assembled and imported from Japan, including hybrids, and
Solara). I think it is possible, even likely that Toyota sold more
Camrys of all types than Ford sold "F150's."

 

Estimated at 119K miles AFAIR. Truly remarkable when you consider how
far batteries have come. Not that you'll find me buying a Prius.

 

The fact is so does just about every other vehicle on the market today,
foreign or domestic, that is provide the proper preventive maintenance.
Very few new car buyers ever keep a vehicle nearly long enough to accumulate
that much mileage

 

Electrical cars can last a very long time.
A lot less moveable parts.
Changing batteries and tires is just a natural replacement.
This will gradually change the world.

 

German cars will run forever! Because they're in the shop half their lives...

NEVER will I buy a VW again!

 

Actually, yup. The lifetime of the battery is about 120,000 miles. Then
you take it to the dealer and have another one installed.

 

Got any stats to back that up?

 

Yes, check the used car lots. And don't try to tell me that they are
all cars that have come off lease either.

Jack j

 

We're talking about hybrids, not electric cars. Hybrids have a much
more complicated power train than either convention internal
combustion powered or straight electric cars. More moving parts and
more complicated interfacing between the electrical and IC power
trains.

Jack j

 

Then this may interest you, especially if you plan to vacation in
China:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/top10-2008/index7.html
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Shanghai’s futuristic skyline—the city has more than 900 high-rises,
with hundreds more under construction—is one of the most potent
symbols of China’s economic rise. But the materials undergirding all
that growth might be shakier than anyone can imagine. In March, the
English-language Shanghai Daily reported that fully half of the steel
sold to construction companies in Shanghai’s wholesale markets failed
basic quality tests. Nearly a quarter of the tested samples failed
tension tests, meaning structures built with them would not be able to
withstand earthquakes and would be more likely to decay over time.

Of the 52 batches of steel tested by the Shanghai Industrial and
Commercial Administrative Bureau, 27 were too light to meet China’s
legal standards. Some batches were nearly five times lighter than the
legal standard, meaning that they were less than the weight of iron,
steel’s primary ingredient. “If your steel is less than the weight of
iron, that’s pretty incredible,” says Christopher Earls, professor of
civil engineering at Cornell University. “That means you’re replacing
the iron with something else, so what you have isn’t really steel at
all.”