vodka

I had a POS 1986 Ford Escort with over 250k on it. It was still going strong when I sold it. The new owner totalled it within a week! Fun car, whimpy engine.

I had a 1986 Mercury Lynx (same car, actually) along those lines. Sold it because the wife wanted something more reliable. We bought a 2000 Ford Focus thinking "Hey we've done well be Fords".

Suffice to say we both have resolved to never buy an American Car again. The damn thing barely outlived the payments.

I drive a Subaru now. My only complaint so far is that it is too reliable. We got a ticket because we forgot to update it's registration. Aside from scheduled maintenance our Subaru was never in the shop! We had completely lost track of time.

LOL

puntloos

How do they check if you don't manually forward the mile counter?

From what I understand most odometers have seals that make tampering evident. Usually to prevent rolling back the odometer, but it's equally applicable to rolling forward.

There are also some forensics that you can perform on the car's mechanics to demonstrate that there is no way in hell it even approached a million miles.

skylabdown

My '84 Plymouth Voyager made it to 87,000 before the engine assploded.

GO (1980's) CHRYSLER!

My '84 made it to something like 130K before the transmission went. (Not the worst failure mode, either; reverse and 1st still worked, but you couldn't go to 2nd or 3rd. At least I could limp home.) Of course, by that time I'd put in two carburetors, replaced the steering rack twice, replaced most of the A/C system at least once, new radiator, water pump, window cranks...

I drove Chrysler/Plymouth for 20 years. Yes, I'm a slow learner.

/Honda Accord since '99
//spent less on maintenance so far than I'd spend in one year on the damn Voyager

whoops...as pointed out by LiTeSp3eD, I indeed meant 222,222 - that's what I get for tapping away at the 2 key before my first cup of coffee.

I drive an '03 9-3 2.0t, and it is seriously a very fun car to drive. I'm at 50k and still with no problems. A rock hit my grill once, but the service dept. at the dealership replaced it, and i payed their cost for the new grill. Can't really complain about anything.

/Also drove an '01 nissan sentra. That was an amazing car as far as the lack of maintenance. Unbelievable. Just no trade value at all.

I think I'd insist on this one:

SAAB's new advertising slogan: We'll give you a new one after you drive it to the moon and back. Twice.


/Bet they won't offer this deal on any space shuttles they build.

I remember in the '80s when a guy turned over one million miles on his early-'60s VW Beetle. Volkswagen of America threw a gala at which they gave him the keys to a brand new VW Fox (a rebadged, poorly-made Audi). The old guy drove home in his Beetle.

When was the last time you saw a Fox on the road?

I think I might get 1m miles out of my SAAB, but that's only because it's actually a Subaru.

I have a 04 saab 93, love the car, but breaks down too much, I've had transmission problems four times already, they replaced it last time, but its not the same anymore. I've had lots of other weird problems as well. I either got a lemon, or the new SAABs suck when it comes to reliability.

Anybody know what how reliable the new Volvos are? I love the way Euro cars look inside/out, but I'm afraid that they're going to break down.

hts666
The new Volvo is now owned by FORD. I will let you make your own conclusions based on that.

For that sort of money I would humbly suggest a 3 series BMW, or a decked out Japanese car.

2006-12-20 07:17:05 AMichiban

I told Saturn that my 14 year old SL1 just hit 222,2222 and they sent me a travel mug and a CD wallet...it's not a new car but it's still real nice that they were thoughtful and responsive.

My 15 year old SW2 gave up the ghost at 300,000. Now driving a 5 year old SW2.

I HATE the new Saturns though. They took a great car and turned it into another piece of GM sludge I suspect my current SW2 will be my last Saturn.

Ant

Your profile says you're from Oregon...yet your license plate suggests you're from Ohio.

What gives?

I have hit a dear with my 2003 9-5 Arc and it suffered little damage. I lost a fog light. There have been few issues except speeding tickets(knock on wood grain dash). The only issue has been the logo on the front gets chipped easily, so I pay $40 to periodically have it replaced.

I heart its speed, power and grace. IMHO, It is the smoothest ride in its class, or in the class above. I test drove them all. I also love the Harmon Kardon sound system and the air conditioned seats. Can't beat it for comfort.

DrSticky: I have hit a dear with my 2003 9-5 Arc and it suffered little damage.

women can leave a dent...

/deer... deer...

Farker Lewis Can't Lose: Your profile says you're from Oregon...yet your license plate suggests you're from Ohio.

My profile says what? I'm in Seattle. That pic isn't of my car, but it looks exactly the same.

Discorporated... MOST cars need all of those things at 100k miles. I have a 1997 Geo (Chevrolet) Metro, and it has 150k miles on it. I have just recently had to have repairs like "oil pan gasket leaks" fixed. Even if they did cost $350-$550, rather than the actual price of $100, I would rather pay that price here and there, than $600 a month for a brand new car.

/it's been paid off since 2002, and it costs nothing to maintain.
//silly flashy bastards, I win.

Why is this news?

/Al Bundy wants a new Viper

Ok. So I can see how a trained eye could tell the difference between a 1989 car that has gone 90,000 and one that has gone 190,000.

But seriously, did the odomoter on his car go to 7 figures? Who can actually tell the difference between a car that's gone 700,000 or 800,000 miles? How can you really prove this? Anyone?

carmody

Yeah, the Fox was kind of a POS, but it was in no way a rebadged Audi. Just a cheapie Brazilian-made VW with the tried'n'true 1.8 fuel-injected four cylinder. They were actually mechanically reliable (yeah, I had one), but the body and trim were a giant crapfest. Fun to drive for an econobox, though.

/Still has beautiful '79 VW Westfalia camper
//'01 Audi A6 Quattro wagon
/// VW/Audi (and slashie) devotee

YessMissLexie

My point was that I could take that $350/month in repair bills and buy a very good used car with outstanding reliability (The 2001 Tacoma-$250/month/48months) and have no extra repair costs. That is exactly what I did.

I do not begrudge the Saab it's fun, flair, and penache. In fact I do miss it from time to time. I (personally) just could not deal with the extra import costs on all the necessary maintenance parts. If you are willing to pay the extra maintenance costs for a European car, the Saab is a good choice. I'm just not willing to pay that for what it offered.

My 93 Camaro's at 140K miles right now. The wife's 98 GTP is at 180K.

Both are going to be business vehicles come next year. I'll be racking up a lot of miles for sure since Utah's mostly open road. Federal $.44 write-off per mile is a blessing. $13.50 per gallon written off at $2.50 per gallon and 25MPG.

I'd only switch to a 93-97 V8 if I could get the engine block cryotreated, balanced and blueprinted and that damn fault-prone optispark replaced with something that isn't shiat. I'd prefer an LS1, actually.

Philo_T_Farnsworth
He's going to probably have to pay a gift tax or luxury tax on it, probably to the tune of 40% or so...
That is, unless GM is being super-nice and kicking in the extra money to pay for the taxes on it.

Gift taxes are paid buy the gift giver, not the receiver.
The new car will be considered income to him and therefore he will have to pay income tax on it though... If GM kicks in extra money to cover the taxes then he will just have to pay income tax on that too. You can't have someone else pay your income tax.

My 93 camaro was a POS. Uncomfortable, horrible in the snow, AC wasn't worth a crap with the big windows, I had brake problems, engine problems, etc bleh.

Anyone else think that there's no way that Saab's turbo could possibly last one million miles? Forget the engine, just the turbo. Even being rebuilt, I'd imagine after 300k, you'd definitely need a new one.

Lamb Of God: /suck it,gm haters

The same thinog with GM and Ford, their large SUVs/Trucks (usually) are decent. Their cars a whole ther story.

DrSticky
I heart its speed, power and grace.

I've got a 2002 Arc and I love it too. I haven't driven an Aero in some time, so I don't remember the difference, but the V-6 is pretty awesome.

Saabs require a certain amount of attention--but generally they will warn you about things going wrong.

Then you go to a good saab forum (like saabnet.com) where people on there have figured out the cheapest and best way of fixing a problem.

Dealer parts prices are horrific--and differ greatly from dealer to dealer. Further, while the price increase at say, a Honda dealer, might be 100%, I feel like it's 300% at the Saab dealer.

The 9-5 heater bypass valve was $120 at my local Saab dealer in Columbus, but only $57 at a dealer Cleveland. My Saab indy charged me $45 to replace the part, but a dealer probably would have charged $200 for the labor.

Zenith251
Anyone else think that there's no way that Saab's turbo could possibly last one million miles?

Though I don't know much about the old old 900s, I believe the SPG has a fairly large and robust turbo. If he drove the car gingerly then he really wasn't stressing the turbo.

We have a foolproof method of putting all the miles you want on a car without wearing it out. Just put it in reverse at the end of the way to take the miles off. We've driven it for 1,000,000 miles and it only has 15,000 on the odometer. Is that cherry or what???

Amigajoe

-I almost bought a beautiful used red Saab 900 CSE from a guy in N.J. but when I mentioned it to my mechanic he (and his assistant) immediately yelled NO! he went on about how expensive they were to maintain (parts are insane), etc. So I called a couple of local Saab dealerships and spoke to the service manager. The male SM said they weren't that more expensive than any other import. The female one (a rarity) said it was a rich man's toy and don't get it unless I could afford to have it serviced regularly by a certified Saab mechanic ($$$$$). I bought a Jeep.

I got a 9000 CSE and i think it is a very cheap car to own, maybe a bit thirsty, but still.
But on the other hand i live in the same town as Saab's main office and factories, that might have something to do with it :)

/And spank my ass and call me Charlie, my first approved link submission.

Amigajoe
Do you do any of your own work? Parts are a little costlier simply because it's an import, but I've never worked on a car easier to repair than my '87 93. I'm no gear head, but I could do almost anything with that shiatbox. Retired it with 327k miles, after a shock went through the rusted wheel housing, into the cabin and I had nothing left to weld to.

Things built like a freakin tractor.

Arlo Pear unavailable for comment.

/The Pope's a crazy farker
//Row, Row, Row your boat
///Gently down the stream

Uncle Karl: The new Volvo is now owned by FORD. I will let you make your own conclusions based on that.

For that sort of money I would humbly suggest a 3 series BMW, or a decked out Japanese car.
-----------------------------
Unlike GM with Saab, Ford lets Volvo do their own thing. Volvos don't use any ford- designed parts. There's a few fords that use some Volvo stuff- that's what Ford has done with Volvo and Mazda- let them do their own thing and learn from them.

Saab still makes good cars. Yes, they CAN be expensive to maintain and repair- IF you don't know who to take them to. AVOID dealer service departments with European cars- they act like they're the only people in the world who can fix it, and charge accordingly. Instead, find an independent shop that specializes in European imports (not just ANY imports- european ones- and go there. They will likely know other suppliers for quality parts, they will know how to work on them, and will have any special tools needed for particular jobs.
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pluerick: Do you do any of your own work? Parts are a little costlier simply because it's an import, but I've never worked on a car easier to repair than my '87 93. I'm no gear head, but I could do almost anything with that shiatbox. Retired it with 327k miles, after a shock went through the rusted wheel housing, into the cabin and I had nothing left to weld to.
--------------------
Actually, parts are a bit more expensive because there's not that many of them on the road, so manufacturers have to increase prices to be competitive. Import cars' parts aren't necessarily more expensive. Hard to find American cars have expensive parts, as well- because there's no money to be made on them otherwise. Likewise, parts for popular imports like Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords are on par with parts for a Ford Taurus or Chevy Lumina, because there's millions of them out there, and parts are cheap to mass- produce as a result.
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The other thing about European imports: there's usually several large internet forums devoted to them, which means there's a huge amount of consumer- based knowledge to tap from, so it's easy to avoid getting ripped off on parts and service- IF you take a little time and look.

/in the process of starting my own European car repair shop
// my prices will be competitive, and honesty is my top policy.
/// VW/ Audi, and Volvo are my top specialties- Saab, BMW, and the likes are fine as well. I won't touch newer Mercedeses, though. Long story, but it has to do with M-B not wanting to offer specs to the aftermarket. It would cost me 30-40k in equipment to be able to properly work on them, where it costs about 100- 2,000 to get the same equipment for other European makes.

I love my Saab, 2003 9-5 aero. 163,000 on it and the only problem it's had is a broken serpentine belt. I don't care if they're made by GM since they're such great cars.

peopleinmenose, I have a 9-5 too (2001 SE wagon w/ the British V6 they used then for that model) and I love it too.

The 9-3's and 9-5's are still made in Sweden and -- at least back in 2001 -- don't have much of the GM stink on them. Drove a 2006 9-3 convertible (linear) as a loaner while I was getting my 45,000 service done and I have to say they feel more cheaply made now. Still nice but not as solid.

Love my 2002 9-5 Linear, leather, HK audio, loaded. Got it as a lease return at 30K. Now has 48K miles. Only routine maintenance so far. Tires and brake pads. Let's hope it stays that way.