Built like a Mercedes (?)

Tell this to the CEO's that you keep defending.

Complete Crap.

A STRONG smell of BS is filling the room!

Exactly what it is doing.

More complete crap that you can't possibly hope to support.

LOL, how many cars were getting better than 25 MPG in 72? It is not that
the engineers couldn't figure it out, they were never given the time to do
so by Chrysler, Ford, and GM. GM would lead the battle cry that it simply
couldn't be done and the others would follow forcing the EPA to back down.
That is until new makers to the US such as Honda said they could and did do
it and the EPA finally held its ground. This caused the big three to
scramble to come up with something and the junk they came up with in the
70's and early 80's was the result. If they had looked at the requirements
as a challenge rather than just an expense we would be much farther ahead
today.

Get over it Budd, that is ancient history and the cars of today would toast
your Valiant.

Mini-vans are no stronger than the other cars you seem to hate but you are
correct, the heavier vehicles such as SUV's and P/U's are larger hammers in
a collision which actually makes them the problem.

Simply reducing price costs way to much.

 

LOL, the Democrats!

 

Why is it that Toyota is building more factories in the U.S. and making tons
of money at it's U.S. factories. The Toyota plant here in Indiana had to add
on before it 1st year was up and is still is running at 100% capacity. I
think it's the UAW that is costing Americans jobs. UAW needs to roll over
and take from GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

 

Why the hell not??? It is godd for everybody eles but not Budd

Now it is union rip offs. You really are a sick guy.

I'm not really sure Budd but I should check. I collect Railroad Retirement
not SS. It is a different thing totally.

Are you so screwed up that you actually believe that?

Really Budd ya need to get out more. You can't see what is heading down the
road. These HMO's are really cool aren't they? They are just the start.

No Budd you brought railroad into it. Fyi There are over 13 different
union's representing rairoad workers.

Tell me.

"colas" Short for "cost of living adjustments" Something else that the
unions got ya

No ira, no roth?

I think the word your looking for is "wildcat strike" How did the company
get it back.

No, of course not

When was the last time you worked??

Everybody has problems Budd. Some worse than others. Most continue on and
don't mention them.

Roy

 

you're kidding -- the average assembly line worker is making that??
people in GM in oshawa,on were working one week on, one weeks off, and
having a hard time financially
is it because the unions are stronger there?

rach

 

That 220 mile jouney equates to £88 by that measure.

As I suspected, not exactly as inexpensive as some were thinking.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

Well said.

Roy

 

The US military can't even cope with Iraq.

That depends directly on who is doing the reporting.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

The New Beetle has been a pos with a ton of problems mainly electrical.

 

Yes, they are much stronger here. We see news reports all the time
where workers are complaining of low pay (less than 50,000US). Heck,
an old landlord of mine was making 29 bucks an hour installing wheels
on the cars!!! He got the raises due to seniority only, not skill or
competency. He laughed about it, it was "a great gig while it lasted".

 

You do not automatically plonk them. You respond them. This thread is
proof.

 

And yet, we managed to prevent all of Europe from speaking German, LOL!

Excellent point. I'm always fascinated by the way people from outside the
U.S. criticize our actions. Frankly, half of us disagree with any given
military action. Fortunately, when most of the U.S. was opposed to going to
war in 1940, we decided to enter the European theatre regardless. This saved
England from invasion, and lead to the liberation of France.

Yet they seem to know better than we how our military works.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

That is simply not true. In fact, even Hollywood would be shamefaced to
drift that far from reality.

 

no suprise at all -- i am not defending the bug, and having an old vanagon
never designed for canadian winters, they are fun to drive (esp. the high
clearance, great suspension, strong trans., well positioned driver's seat
and rack-and-pinion steering, but other than that i am not impressed with
volkswagens at all, and the steering column had wiring problems (has a push
button ignition now)
-- i never thought i would be impressed with it, but it did have a decent
1.6L and the old western vw vans do tend to hold their value. i spent $1600
cdn to use it as transportation and a cheap hotel for a all of July in
calgary so it paid for itself and was cheap on gas to drive across the
country back to quebec

rach

 

Perhaps you think that is a real pounding, but reality tells me that

Yes, you find it funny, I find it sad. In general, an Asian designed vehicle
will last maybe five years without major needs. Used to be that inside of
three years, an Asian made vehicle would rust badly, which is to say, holes
through the metal. Perhaps now that they are built here, that is solved.
European vehicles fare a bit better, but by seven years, can become
cantankerous if not costly to maintain due to nickel and dime stuff that
costs ten times as much because its Euro design.

Well, then you must be fairly ignorant on load capacity of vehicles.

No, long distances are not easier. Quite the opposite, they create another
type of hazard to longevity, that of heat and wear. Thus our larger engines
tend to do better than the smaller engines from elsewhere. Your freeways are
driven at like speeds to ours. This is not to say that our vehicles are
better or worse than any other, simply that design follows use. Thus, cars
designed in the country where the designer uses them, will fare better in
that country.

Have you seen where we drive here? I guarantee imports won't survive the
same type of road here in the states. I know, because we've done our share
of driving "other" stuff, and it just doesn't do as well as american iron
when it comes to rough roads. I see far more 1980's Chrysler 2.2 powered
stuff than I do any other maker's 1980's vintage stuff. A rough second place
would be Chevy Cavaliers. The only other that would place would be the
Toyota 22R engine, mostly in Celicas. However, lately those are rare too.
Too bad, I actually liked those.

You cast aside how many vehicles it takes to go that distance, let alone
which ones actually make it that far.

I don't think there are many pickups sold in Europe, but feel free to cite
proven statistics. In the States, a pickup isn't built above the one ton
level. I'll bet its the same in Europe.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

You actually only entered the war when it became obvious that the USA would
have to deal with a power greater than itself if Britain fell. The penny
didn't drop in the Pacific until most of the fleet had been sunk at Pearl
Harbour.

It is hard to imagine that the average American has the slightest more idea
of how their military work than anyone anywhere but others could take a step
back dispassionately and see what was happening in Vietnam. It is also
fairly obvious what is happening now in Iraq and the gung-ho talk of
whooping Chinese asses by some here is a reasoning that is a fair way
removed from reality. One has to see beyond the militarist rhetoric.
Face it, your military power is not capable even if the government chose to
do so. And why should it be capable? Military action should be a last resort
in defence not as an invading force on a power that was no doubt sympathetic
to Bin Laden, but was no real threat to the USA. There are now a hell of a
lot more enemies of the West than ever before and with no end in sight for
your stretched military or for peace in Iraq.
Hammas, a terrorist organisation, has just won free and fair election in
Palestine. This would not have happened without a greatly increased
animosity towards the West.

Huw

 

Even in the Range Rover they would cost only £440 or £110 each which is

You are confusing personal cost with energy efficiency. Until you figure out
the difference, you won't see the error of your thinking. Further, you seem
to be more interested in insulting others, rather than thinking about facts.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

I am entertained by the idea that driving conditions in the USA are tougher

Perhaps YOU should get out more if you feel that the U.S. is all one set of
driving conditions. Maybe next time you arrive on our shores, you should go
farther than the local taxi takes you, which is to say, leave the city
behind and forget about the pubs.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

Tell that to the families of the thousands of American military personal
killed and maimed there so far. Tell it to the tens of thousands of brave
soldiers who risk committed bombers who blow themselves up to rid their
country of the foreign invaders on a daily basis and who are there for
months at a time on several repeated tours of duty because there is not the
manpower to relieve them.

Huw

 

And there were we readers of these forums being misled into thinking US

As Thom suggested, it varies by owner.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)