Made It In One Piece
Got to the hotel in one piece, but I have to say I am a little pissed at some of you readers. How come never told me there is an all Dead channel on XM radio? Listened to an awesome show from Piscataway in 1981 which had a great Franklins/Estimate/Eyes. Nice way to spend the afternoon on the highway.
Another thing- really not sure why people rag on American cars so much- two weeks ago we had a Ford Focus, which was a little small for the two of us as we are both over 6’0” and 200 lbs (an argument could be made we were two people away from a clown car), but it rode very well. This time, they did not have the kind of car we ordered from the rental place so we ended up with 2010 Buick Lucerne with 400 miles on it. The car was a great highway car- seemed to just eat up the highway, wasn’t boat, seats were comfortable, no road noise, great sound system, AC went all the way down to 60. And the mileage seemed pretty good. One of the nice rides I have had in a while.
I’m just not getting this whole “American cars suck” thing.
September 25, 2009 4:01 pm
Posted in: Open Thread
187 Comments
187 Responses
fish - September 25, 2009 | 4:05 pm · Link
I’m just not getting this whole “American cars suck” thing.
Own it for 6 months.
shoutingattherain - September 25, 2009 | 4:07 pm · Link
My 1986 Honda Civic (all of 62 mighty horsepowers) with 175,000 miles and 42 miles/gallon has caused me exactly NO problems in 23+ years. None.
Let me know how well that Buick is doing after 23 years. They run nice, but do they last?
Fergus - September 25, 2009 | 4:08 pm · Link
I’ve driven exclusively Japanese for years now, but the 2009 Dodge Challenger (reincarnated) is tempting me.
geg6 - September 25, 2009 | 4:08 pm · Link
And so you have given me one more reason to never get satellite radio. Thank you, Mr. Cole.
That said, I’m with you on American cars. I’ll go even further and say that I have owned two Chrysler/Dodge models (I currently have an Intrepid) that I have loved. Never an ounce of mechanical problems (knock on wood). Good gas mileage. My Intrepid lets in absolutely no road noise and has almost no squeaks or rattles or any of the other noises many cars make. The AC/heat works like a charm and the seats are insanely comfortable. And I have leg room for miles (with a height of 5’5” but an inseam of 36”, that is saying something). I have nothing but nice things to say about my Intrepid. My old Stratus wasn’t quite as wonderful, but it wasn’t as horrible as the KIA I had for a few months and got rid of as fast as I could.
Fergus - September 25, 2009 | 4:10 pm · Link
Moderation? What did I do?
Persia - September 25, 2009 | 4:10 pm · Link
I had an American car called the Geo Metro. I liked it a lot. When it came time to get a 4-door, nothing as cheap existed—the Focus was as gas efficient but close to $10K more, IIRC. I got a Korean car instead.
gwangung - September 25, 2009 | 4:14 pm · Link
Takes 10 times as much money to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. And a 100 times as much to woo back a former customer that you lost.
one two seven - September 25, 2009 | 4:14 pm · Link
I have had two long term experiences with American cars. My first car, a 1988 Mercury conked out at around 120,000 miles and only 8 years old. It was also rusty and had a broken door handle and windshield wipers (we replaced the wiper motor twice to no avail).
My wife had a 1999 Chevy that was useless around 107,000 miles and 7 years. Over its life it had all sorts of just stupid nagging problems and was also very heavy and lumbering (and it was a small car at that).
My Toyotas and Hondas have all lasted 150,000 miles and more. I have a Nissan now and I’m kind of underwhelmed.
eyepaddle - September 25, 2009 | 4:15 pm · Link
Check around the Dead channel—there’s a lot of good stuff in that neighborhood. They re-arrange the channels from time to time unless you pay close attnetion they add stuff and you can easily miss it.
I still miss MusicLab though….:Cry:
I had great luck with a Ford Fusion about year ago. And good luck with an Impala the year before that. Rental cars seem to be a good way to test drive!
El Tiburon - September 25, 2009 | 4:16 pm · Link
See how they handle and stay together when you put some miles on it.
Currently I drive an Infiniti. Got it brand new back in ‘03 and it has over 100,000 miles on it. It still handles nearly like it did 7 years ago. The steering is still tight and other than replacing the radiator I’ve never had an issue with it. I keep hoping it will start falling apart so I can have a good reason to get a new car.
I never got close to owning my prior 3 vehicles that long without them falling apart – 2 Ford Explorers and a GM Jimmy S-10.
Plus, you can’t get laid in a Buick.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 4:16 pm · Link
Heaven is having an English home, a German car, Chinese food, an American salary, and a Latin lover.
Hell is having an English lover, a Chinese house, German food, an American car, and a Latin salary.
catclub - September 25, 2009 | 4:16 pm · Link
Who knew that the conventional wisdom could be wrong?
Or hopelessly out of date?
Next thing you know you’ll tell me you found out we are not a right
of center country.
Roger Moore - September 25, 2009 | 4:19 pm · Link
@Persia:
Except that Geos weren’t really American cars at all. They were Japanese cars with American labels put on them. The “Geo Metro” was a rebadged Suzuki Swift.
Zam - September 25, 2009 | 4:20 pm · Link
Haha, my mother loves that dead channel. I’ve got a Ford Escort with about 100k on it, it’s working great for me. It’s a little small for me but as a college student I really can’t complain.
Napoleon - September 25, 2009 | 4:21 pm · Link
@Persia:
That car was a rebadged Suzuki (I think the Swift).
The Saff - September 25, 2009 | 4:22 pm · Link
XM58 (I think) is E Street Radio. Unfortunately, my husband is a parrothead and prefers we listen to XM55 Radio Margaritaville most of the time (the only good song Jimmy Buffett has ever done is “Pencil Thin Mustache”).
I’m from a GM family (dad was a 33 year employee) so I only drive GM vehicles. The new 2009 Cobalt did an excellent job on our recent road trip to the east coast (34.1 MPG) and handled nicely.
CS Lewis Jr - September 25, 2009 | 4:22 pm · Link
Are you sure you don’t mean this?
05-15-81 Rutgers Athletic Center, Piscataway, N.J. (Fri)
1: Half Step> Franklin’s> Minglewood, Dire Wolf> Cassidy, Candyman> Rooster, Jack A Roe, El Paso, Ramble On, L. L. Rain> Don’t Ease
2: Scarlet> Fire> Estimated> Eyes> Drumz> NFA> Black Peter> Sugar Magnolia E: U. S. Blues
Piper - September 25, 2009 | 4:23 pm · Link
I’m sorry I didn’t let you in on the Dead channel FYI earlier, John. I must say I was thrilled to discover it while renting a car about a year ago, and now look forward to borrowing my old man’s car when I visit Chicago solely because he has Xm radio on it. “In another time’s forgotten space…”
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:24 pm · Link
For a brief time, there were satellite radio channels devoted to the Rolling Stones and the Who.
Are you familar with http://www.wolfgangsvault.com
Franklins/Estimate/Eyes really hits the spot.
Fergus - September 25, 2009 | 4:24 pm · Link
@Bill E
I thought in hell it was English food and a German lover? (and bureacracy administered by the Italians)
Jager - September 25, 2009 | 4:25 pm · Link
I bought an American car last year, the first in 35 years. I’ve had a car lot full of Porsches, Mercedes, BMWs, a Range Rover and a couple of Toyotas. My Z-51 Corvette Coupe is as good as any of them. It’s tight, fast, efficient and much cheaper to operate. The only negative is that the interior isn’t up to German standards, but it was cheaper than my wife’s MB! BTW, I spoke with a fellow Corvette owner at the gas station the other day, he was driving a ‘64 convertible with 437,000 miles on it, owned it since new, all he has repaired is one clutch, a valve job, a new alternator and did regular maintenence. He also said he drove the shit out it when he was younger! It looked good, well used and well loved, he said his son was patiently waiting to “take it away from me when the state takes away my driver’s liscence’!
Meyer - September 25, 2009 | 4:27 pm · Link
Get a Squeezebox and you can tune in any Dead show…probably…ever. In many cases multiple versions (soundboard, audience, etc…). Whenever you want.
All in the Live Music Archive.
Andrew J. Lazarus - September 25, 2009 | 4:28 pm · Link
I believe the Focus was originally from Ford Europe.
jibeaux - September 25, 2009 | 4:28 pm · Link
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Fightin’ words, I could have beer and brats 2 meals a day if the waistline would let me.
Also, too, have a Ford Freestyle that is teh awsum, not a problem after 4 years and 60k miles, and I had a Volvo that I’d just as soon roll over with one of those monster trucks as look at it. It was bank account cancer.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 4:28 pm · Link
American cars don’t all suck, just some of them. The Focus isn’t bad, but it pales in comparison to the European version of the same car (thankfully we’re getting that next year as a 2011 model). The Chevy Malibu (and really all their cars on the Epsilon Platform) is really good. Pretty much all the Fords are good (the Focus being the worst). GM is a little lacking in the small car range though. The Saturn Astra was their best small car, and you can’t get it anymore. Chrysler is the only one that doesn’t really have anything good. They have a few good engines, but their chassis and interiors are awful.
I wouldn’t call the Buick Lucerne a good car though. It rides on the H Platform, which was rolled out in 1986. GM has too many cars like this that ride on ancient platforms and just simply aren’t very good. They’ll cruise the highway fine, but try to push them just a little bit and they show how bad they are. Ford has all new really good platforms, and GM is following, we just don’t have them yet. Soon though the Epsilon II and Delta II cars will roll out, and they’ll be competitive pretty much everywhere.
Cat - September 25, 2009 | 4:29 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
I should have been obvious it wasn’t an American car because it had good gas mileage, was cheap, and could take a beating and still not break down. I gave mine to the junk yard after about 8 years and 160k miles never replacing the clutch and only one timing belt replacement. In fairness, the tailpipe had rusted off and did need replacing and it had lost around 15mpg off its top speed, but I treated it like dirt.
Dave Weeden - September 25, 2009 | 4:30 pm · Link
Oh, I think there are a lot of issues here. First: imported cars had an import duty – ergo they were more expensive, and their advertising had to address/compensate for that. Second, most people in the US had US made cars: what most people have is by definition not cool. So you’ve got a sort of setup for thinking that foreign cars are cool (more expensive, different, if you weren’t paying attention).
Also, there’s a really good sketch show on the radio in UK (which you won’t get, and I’m only telling you about because it’ll make you feel inferior) called ‘That Mitchell and Webb Sound’ (they do ‘Peep Show’ which you may get on PBS at 3am) which did a really good skit on coffee shops to the effect that slagging off (= ragging on) Starbucks is much easier than getting an MA but makes you seem equally as wise.
Andy K - September 25, 2009 | 4:30 pm · Link
@geg6:
Damn the baby, out with the bathwater!
@Cole
Other than the two older Subarus (when they built them so you could shift to 4wd on the fly) I drove when I worked delivery, all of my cars have been American made. The only one I had problems with was a late ‘80’s Ford…Escort?...that had a bad tranny. I love the ‘06 Malibu I’ve got now.
My best buddy has been driving hi-lo for 25 years now at GM. I don’t necessarily stick with their brands, but I do like to show a little solidarity by buying UAW.
stickler - September 25, 2009 | 4:30 pm · Link
This has been true for a while, now. Pick up the last Consumer Reports issue on cars. They said the same thing: American cars don’t “suck” anymore. (Well, most of them; Chrysler’s been so starved by its owners that things are getting slightly worse again.)
Ford’s quality is more or less the same as Toyota’s now. There are still issues of aesthetics and design that some folks don’t like, and fuel mileage could be better (especially at Ford), but I don’t see any compelling reason to buy Japanese nowadays.
Of course, what with the American cars being built in Canada or Mexico (Ford Flex and Fusion), while the Japanese cars are being built in Kentucky (Camry), what’s the difference anyway.
BombIranForChrist - September 25, 2009 | 4:31 pm · Link
American Cars used to have horrible quality, especially in the 1970’s-1980’s, but since then, the quality has increased.
Unfortunately, it will probably take generations for them to overcome their bad reputation. If they’re smart, they can use this recent crisis as a moment to declare a Do Over and try to restart their reputation from scratch, focusing relentlessly on using quality parts that don’t have planned obsolescence.
Calouste - September 25, 2009 | 4:31 pm · Link
Mr. Cole, you are aware that the Ford Focus is a European car, designed and developed by Ford Europe, and that Ford Focusses sold in the United States are assembled in Mexico? There is not much American about it except the badge.
The Moar You Know - September 25, 2009 | 4:31 pm · Link
I regret to announce my impending suicide on learning that someone has decided to waste our nation’s precious broadcast bandwidth on a “Grateful Dead” channel. Whatever.
This:
They don’t until they do. My Ford Explorer is a great car, but at only 55,000 miles, I expect that everything will work. The creature comforts are incredible, and it is roomy.
My last Ford died at 99,000 miles, 19 years ago.
My Nissan pickup, while somewhat smaller, is still going strong at 170,000 miles, and ZERO major repairs. Not one oil leak, even.
I’ve never owned an American car that made it to 100,000 miles, and although I am confident that the Explorer will, given how well its brethren have held up at that milage I don’t expect it to last much longer than that.
However, I’ve never had a Japanese marque car that lasted under 150,000 miles, and the last time I was at the mechanic’s, I noted a Nissan like mine up on the rack with 300,000 miles on it – still dry as a bone underneath, and again, no major repairs.
My Nissan will still be driving the day I take the Explorer to the junkyard. Of this I am confident. So, American cars may no longer suck, but they sure don’t last like their competitors.
El Cruzado - September 25, 2009 | 4:31 pm · Link
American cars have gotten better, but they probably haven’t got better enough to recover much of the mindshare that they lost, and as said upthread it takes a lot more to recover a customer than to lose one.
As an avowed Euro-Commie, I’ll stick to German cars, mostly because there’s no French ones being sold around here.
GReynoldsCT00 - September 25, 2009 | 4:32 pm · Link
I never thought it would happen (the end result of a SAAB story and a dealer friend), but I have a Chrysler – a 2005 Sebring Touring Convertible. I’ve had it three years and it has given me no grief. Plus, it’s nice looking, the top goes down and I can get the seat/steering wheel distance just right, and as a petite person, that isn’t always possible in some cars. I’ve gotten compliments on how it rides on the highway. How it corners, well, it’s no SAAB, but the SAAB didn’t like to, um, start.
steve s - September 25, 2009 | 4:34 pm · Link
Ideas that have spread through the culture can persist long after their truth status changes. I still have people tell me to leave on flourescent lights when I’m gone, because starting them uses a huge amount of electricity—an idea which hasn’t been true for at least 40 years.
American cars had problems with low quality in the eighties, and the culture hasn’t caught up with the fact that Fords are now the same quality as japanese cars.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 4:34 pm · Link
@Fergus: Oh that’s a different one:
In heaven the English are the police, The Italians are the cooks, the Germans are the mechanics, the French are the lovers, and the Swiss organize it all.
In Hell, The English are the cooks, the Germans are the police, the French are the mechanics, the Swiss are the lovers and the Italians organize it all.
I always thought the French being bad mechanics was the most unfair, considering the Concorde, space and aviation in general, nuclear power, etc.
Of course, they’re all ridiculous. Stereotypes R us.
Except the Italians organizing everything. Now that’s a nightmare.
GReynoldsCT00 - September 25, 2009 | 4:34 pm · Link
oh, and the E-Street channel? Thank you God! Brruuuuuce!
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 4:34 pm · Link
Tunch sized humans?
akaoni - September 25, 2009 | 4:37 pm · Link
This post encapsulates the problem of human consciousness and thought. We are programmed to make snap judgments many of which are based on tribal associations and limited information. While this is may be a good trait for surviving in the wild it is poorly suited for coming to sound judgments about modern society, politics, etc, like:
“Gee, it’s been a very mild summer, obviously Global Warming is a myth.”
“The president is a black man with a funny name; he’s obviously a [foreigner, Muslim plant, Antichrist]”
Etc.
The funny thing about this is that we make hundreds of snap judgments like this every day and never realize it. If anything, later on we make up a story to justify the decision we already made at an instinctive gut level. This gives us the illusion of rationality but we really we’re just making shit up to justify how we feel.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 4:37 pm · Link
Calouste,
The Ford Focus is only sort of European. The North American focus rides on a modified version of the C170 platform. The C170 platform is what the first generation Focus in Europe and North American were based off of. Since 2004 though, Europe has had the Focus based on the superior C1 platform. It’s a great platform (and thank fully we’re getting it soon). Other cars on the C1 platform are the Mazad 3 and 5; and the Volvo S40, S50, C70, and C30.
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 4:38 pm · Link
@JK:
And led zep and Beatles, I think. I just signed back up a week ago, but Cole, did you know XM has a Dead channel?
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:38 pm · Link
Another source for Grateful Dead music on the radio
http://deadahead.us/md/index.shtml
steve s - September 25, 2009 | 4:38 pm · Link
Gotta agree with stickler. If you want to know about car quality, pick up consumer reports, JD Power, etc. Don’t imagine that the 4 cars you and your wife have owned can be used to reliably generalize about the industry.
Fergus - September 25, 2009 | 4:39 pm · Link
@Bill E Pilgrim
Stereotypes indeed. Even English food doesn’t suck as much (nowadays) as legend would dictate. Gordon Ramsay can eat sand, but many of his peers (incl. my namesake) are rivaling some of the best stuff on the continent.
Unfortuately the Italian one still holds, as anyone who has been in Rome traffic can attest.
Calouste - September 25, 2009 | 4:39 pm · Link
@stickler:
When I was shopping around for a car recently I got the impression that if Ford is now as good as Toyota, it is because Toyota has been standing still more than Ford having worked really hard to catch up. Toyota is well behind in design compared to the other Asian brands these days.
Third Eye Open - September 25, 2009 | 4:40 pm · Link
Can we get some of our resident physical/cultural anthropologists to comment on this Anglo-Saxon gold find? I am sad to say that my knowledge of Northern European history prior to the 17th century is slim.
Mr Cole: 6’0 and 230lb, but when I dance, its like i’m on glass, smooooooth
Lettuce - September 25, 2009 | 4:40 pm · Link
I’ve a Ford Focus, which replaced a Ford Taurus, which replaced a Ford Escort (which I still have), which replaced another Ford Escort… I don’t get the “American cars suck” thing either.
This Focus gets 30 MPG, and gets 40+ and the highway. It has a six CD player, an AM/FM and an XM. The air conditioning works, I’ve put three sets of tires on it (will be four soon) and it feels like new.
I’ve had it far more than six months, as well.
I am thinking of suing Ford, but not far what they did building the car, for what they did last month and over the several previous months (about the time they told me I wasn’t eligable to have my DOORS foxed because my serial number was too high… Which sounds good, except that three of the doors stopped opening, including the drivers door.
So I paid… But, come on.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 4:40 pm · Link
John,
One of the biggest problems with American cars is the fact that you rented one. The rental companies buy huge numbers of domestic cars, and then basically flood the market with 2-3 year old vehicles when they sell them. This suppresses the value of anyone who bought a new version of the same car and is why Honda keeps a better resale value.
GM is trying to get around this by developing fleet only versions of cars, so that the cars you rent will be different than what you buy.
Comrade Dread - September 25, 2009 | 4:41 pm · Link
English food isn’t that bad anymore. You just have to mainly stick to the Indian restaurants.
Punchy - September 25, 2009 | 4:41 pm · Link
What you need to listen to on XM is the Boneyard, nothing but old-school heavy metal. There’s also another channel (name escapes me) that plays nothing but 80’s rock. Great White, Tesla, Poison, etc. The station is just tits.
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:41 pm · Link
@General Winfield Stuck:
I’ve never had satellite radio, but I remember reading about the Rolling Stones and Who channels when they debuted.
tim - September 25, 2009 | 4:42 pm · Link
“Half Step> Franklin’s> Minglewood…” Interesting. I’m going to have to find me that show.
Fergus - September 25, 2009 | 4:46 pm · Link
@Comrade Dread
Try Roast or St. John in London. Especially Roast (in Borough Market).
We have an “English” joint in my town called Feast, but they have to call it “rustic European” since nobody would eat at an English joint. Best restaurant in the city.
Just Some Fuckhead - September 25, 2009 | 4:48 pm · Link
What a great idea for your time away. A car thread where we can all find out what car everyone ever owned, drove, liked or disliked since the last car thread where we found out what car everyone ever owned, drove, liked or disliked.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 4:48 pm · Link
@Fergus:
I spent six months driving in it, daily, in 2006.
I still shake a lot.
More seriously though it had one effect: ever since then, I notice that other cities that used to seem crazy and fast, New York City, Paris, you name it, all now feel to me like driving in a retirement community. Kind of amazing.
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 4:49 pm · Link
@JK:
They contract with big name groups for limited runs on exclusive channels. Led zep ran two winters in a row for about 6 months at a time. I haven’t really checked what single group channels they have now. I mostly get XM for the offbeat channels like Coffeehouse and The Loft for alternative stuff from new groups, which is the type of music I’m into these days.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 4:49 pm · Link
@Comrade Dread: Mmmmm, I could murder a curry.
Citizen_X - September 25, 2009 | 4:49 pm · Link
I rented a Dodge Caliber recently, and I was pretty impressed. Good power and handling, nice looks, nice interior & amenities. How they hold up after 100K is to be seen.
(FWIW, I own a 4WD Nissan Frontier, anyway, because I need to work offroad sometimes. I don’t think it’s going to die anytime soon.)
And another version of the joke:
Heaven on Earth is an English home, a Chinese cook, an American salary, and a Japanese wife.
Hell on Earth is an Japanese home, an English cook, a Chinese salary, and…(looks around, prepares to flee)...an American wife.
Throwin Stones - September 25, 2009 | 4:51 pm · Link
Didn’t know about the XM GD channel. They must have added it after I dropped XM.
Are you aware of sugar megs? http://www.sugarmegs.org/
It contains thousands of live shows, with hundreds of GD, plus many, many others.
I go in, click on the Audio banner/link, then the Old School ASX listing link, which leads to:
http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/
Everyone should be able to find something of interest.
Cheers!
JerseyJeffersonian - September 25, 2009 | 4:51 pm · Link
I love our Chevrolet Impala SS. Comfortable, capacious for both passengers and cargo, good ride, quiet, plenty of zip for those merging or passing situations. Its power plant is a V8 with a computer that determines the number of cylinders to be employed at any given time – four, six, or eight (hold on to your hat, ace) – depending upon the demands you are placing upon it at the time. It’s my wife’s car, but I get to drive it weekly to the rehearsal of an orchestra in which I play, and I actually look forward to an hour of mixed city/highway driving because I am at the helm of that car.
I’m sure that there are plenty of fine foreign cars. I am glad that this one was made by union labor here. I will look first to American designed and manufactured cars when the time comes to replace my old beater Ford Contour. If you, like me, want to encourage the continuance of American engineering and manufacturing, as well as to contribute to the preservation of well paying careers for people in this country, I would commend these considerations to all of you when pondering your buying decisions for durable goods.
Third Eye Open - September 25, 2009 | 4:52 pm · Link
@Fergus:
In Denver, near the mint,they have this great English restaurant called Pint’s Pub. They make some of the best damn fish and chips I have had on this side of the pond, and cask some amazing beers they brew in-house. I would recommend them for lunch if you live in Denver, or are planning a trip there soon.
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:52 pm · Link
http://www.radioluxembourg.co.uk/cms/index.php
http://www.absoluteclassicrock.co.uk
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 4:52 pm · Link
Hell on Earth is an Japanese home, an English cook, a Chinese salary, and…(looks around, prepares to flee)...an American wife.
What if you are woman?
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 4:53 pm · Link
Citizen_X,
If you were impressed by the Dodge Caliber, you should basically try anything else and expect to be blown away. It’s commonly accepted that the Caliber is the worst car you can buy in the United States. Only the Chrysler Sebring and Chevy Aveo could give it a run for the money.
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:53 pm · Link
http://www.radioluxembourg.co.uk/cms/index.php
http://www.absoluteclassicrock.co.uk
mai naem - September 25, 2009 | 4:56 pm · Link
I drive a Nissan which I don’t really like. Had 3 Mitsu Montero Sports before which I loved. I would have gotten another except they stopped making them, Had a GMC Jimmy before which was a lemon. Everything went wrong with this car. The transmission, electrical, A/C, minor interior cosmetic stuff, tires, brakes replaced at 10-12K miles(I am no great driver but I’m not that bad.) Also too, when I traded it in, the salesman tried to tell me that the 4 wheel drive that I had used one single time was broken. I’ve had 3 GMC trucks with no problems. My dad had a bunch of Buicks which he never had problems with. Am seriously thinking of getting a GM for my next car.
Since you have XM on your rental, check out POTUS on 130. New Wave with bad 80s music is on 44 and some other new wave plus is on 45.
GReynoldsCT00 - September 25, 2009 | 4:57 pm · Link
oh, and the E-Street channel? Thank you God! Brruuuuuce!@Just Some Fuckhead:
You’d rather another coffee thread?
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 4:57 pm · Link
JerseyJeffersonian,
The Impala is not a bad car, and pretty bulletproof. I was amazed when they got the V8 into that front wheel drive platform. The power train in that car is pretty good (GM has always had pretty good power trains though). But the W platform it rides on is a little outdated. That thing has been in production since 1988. It was a cost saving move to keep it around instead of modernizing it. It makes parts and maintenance cheap, but it really needs to be updated to compare with something like the new Taurus.
Stooleo - September 25, 2009 | 4:58 pm · Link
The way I heard the joke.
Canada could have had it all; English culture, French food and American technology, but they ended up with American culture, French technology and English food.
GReynoldsCT00 - September 25, 2009 | 4:58 pm · Link
How did my reply to JSF get mushed in with a previous comment? I don’t get an “edit” is everyone else?
JK - September 25, 2009 | 4:58 pm · Link
@General Winfield Stuck:
I like to listen to Radio Luxembourg.
Absoluteclassicrockdotcodotuk looks interesting, I haven’t listened to it.
BJ wouldn’t post my comment with the links for these sites.
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 4:59 pm · Link
Well, It’s official, Special Ed’s train has done gone round the bend. Hold on to your drinks ladies and germs, I give you Cardboard CutoutGate.
Somebody just shoot me already.
Comrade Darkness - September 25, 2009 | 4:59 pm · Link
I’m just not getting this whole “American cars suck” thing.
Last year got caught in an accident inspired traffic jam outside of Detroit and pulled over to help a nicely dressed woman in a huge pickup truck who had stopped on the side of the expressway. What’s the problem? Fan won’t run, so it overheats. She’s waiting for the traffic to clear so she drive home. (It will be hours for that to happen.) I start checking fuses and I get this long and loud rant about how her husband works for the company, but the damn fan on the truck has never worked and seven trips to the dealer cannot fix it. Somehow it’s a problem with the ECU (which would be a startlingly complicated way to rig a cooling fan, if true). And she repeats every other sentence how she is never ever buying another one.
It only takes one bad experience to put people off a brand forever. There are only three brands (well, four if you are generous with Saturn). If you add up experiences with parents’ cars and friends and your own experiences, you run out of brands pretty quickly.
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 5:00 pm · Link
@ Dave Weeden, #27
Actually, most all of BBC Radio (not a couple of music shows, opera, or most sports) is available in the US, inc. Mitchell & Webb, via Iplayer
Skepticat - September 25, 2009 | 5:00 pm · Link
I don’t remember you asking.
Once they stopped making (and I outgrew) MGBs, I turned to German cars. My current Audi isn’t as trouble-free as the former chariots, but meets all my mileage/size/capacity needs.
wrb - September 25, 2009 | 5:01 pm · Link
81… gotta get that show. Saw the JGB a lot that year & Jerry was peak.
Didn’t catch many Dead shows in 81 though.
Michael D. - September 25, 2009 | 5:01 pm · Link
I have an A4 Quattro. Best car I’ve driven yet. A little thirsty though, but I don’t have to drive it as often as my old car.
JK - September 25, 2009 | 5:02 pm · Link
@Throwin Stones:
That’s a great link. Thanks for posting it.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:02 pm · Link
My best American car story was the Buick LeSabre I bought. Northern California coast, some guy up the road had it, my Volvo had just died, and he was moving across the country and just wanted to get rid of it. I just gave him what I had in my wallet: $15. He said fine.
It must have been 12 years old, the trunk was sort of bashed in, a real boat. But I figured if it ran for a week I was happy.
I think I drove it for a year and a half. And then a wheel fell off in the parking lot of the DMV.
handy - September 25, 2009 | 5:04 pm · Link
The XM channel “Fred” was pretty good if 80s alternative/college rock/new wave is your thing. After the Merger with Sirius it became “First Wave” which is really just a “Best Of” (i.e.: boring, unadventurous) take on the format.
Still waiting for internet radio receivers to become more prevalent, that is when radio in the car will kick a$$.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 5:04 pm · Link
Michael D,
I love my A4, but that thing just decided it wanted to drive me insane when it got to about 70,000 miles. Clutch, timing belt, water pump, oil pump all decided to break one after the other. I finally had to just dump it rather than fix the oil pump.
freelancer - September 25, 2009 | 5:04 pm · Link
@General Winfield Stuck:
Why the fuck did I click on that link?! What was I going to learn?
Need a brainscrape.
cleek - September 25, 2009 | 5:04 pm · Link
i was impressed by the new Malibu when we got one as a rental a couple of months ago. the interior was nearly as well-done as my Solara, and it drove like a champ.
not sure i’d ever buy one (my heart is set on a BMW 3 convertible for the next car – dare to dream!), but i certainly recommend that other people check it out, if they’re in that market.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:07 pm · Link
@Stooleo: God that’s actually really funny. Never heard that one.
DanF - September 25, 2009 | 5:07 pm · Link
I have a good friend that’s 6’8” and has a hard time buying cars for that reason. About a year ago he bought a used Ford Taurus as it was really the only sedan that he comfortably fit in. He wanted a Japanese car, but the several he tried just wouldn’t accommodate his knees. Long story short – he’s very happy with the Taurus.
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 5:09 pm · Link
(Attn DougJ)
I can’t link easily (phone), but Ezra Klein has a great post skewering his fellow Kaplan scribe Gerson, whose new column bemoans what blog commenters do to our discourse but ignores Fox.
Comrade Darkness - September 25, 2009 | 5:10 pm · Link
@Citizen_X: I’ve visited GB many times, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out what English home could possibly be referred to here. The kitchens are the size of my pantry (no exaggeration), the prices are outrageous, the pipes always make a racket and a half, they are drafty and damp on a sunny day until they are not, at which point they switch to sweltering, the television has a tax on it, and they’ve never discovered the utter simplicity of the window screen.
Maybe mixing with the bottom 98% only is the trouble on this point.
Citizen_X - September 25, 2009 | 5:12 pm · Link
@Andrew:
Um, actually, no, I looked very quickly over some reviews, and most of them may have been underwhelmed, but that’s because they said there were a lot of other competitive cars in its class. (Also, it appears I had the model with the more powerful engine.) So, not outstanding, but not “the worst you can buy” by any means.
What, are you a Ford dealer or something?
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 5:13 pm · Link
Oh, and apropos of a thread last night, my last comment could rephrased as:
Ezra Klein notes that a concerned Michael Gerson is calling for a Blogger Ethics Panel.
Also, too.
kay - September 25, 2009 | 5:13 pm · Link
@DanF:
I’m ridiculously attached to the Taurus. I’m not tall, so it’s not that. It’s the right size, it always starts, and it’s completely unremarkable. There are zillions of them. I don’t know why that appeals to me, but it does.
It’s like I found a suitable car, and then was done with looking for “a car”, forever, which was a relief.
There are several colors, if I need a change.
MikeJ - September 25, 2009 | 5:13 pm · Link
Is that the Opel Vectra?
EnderWiggin - September 25, 2009 | 5:13 pm · Link
John, You owe it to you loyal readers not to lie so obviously. Tunch is not even close to 6’0” and clearly weighs over 200 lbs.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:14 pm · Link
@Comrade Darkness: I think (and again, these are all utterly silly stereotypes that shouldn’t be taken seriously of course) that the stereotype is more about some rambling English country home or castle.
An apartment in London is sort of the opposite, especially at prices these days.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 5:15 pm · Link
MikeJ,
Yep, it’s the Opel Vectra. Most of the good American cars are the ones that ride on international platforms.
wrb - September 25, 2009 | 5:15 pm · Link
Maybe half my driving is genuinely off-road, which gives me an odd perspective, but several years ago I decided to “upgrade” my bombproof Dodge Ram 4×4 PU and its super-bombproof Cummins for a Mercedes SUV .
The thing is junk. The dealer says they spent over $50,000 on it during the warrantee period (tranny, engine, hydraulic control unit, steering pump,wheel bearings, 4 window switch panels…) Then I maxed out the extended warrantee.
I had this kinda received faith that foreign cars, especially German ones were superior. It sure hasn’t been my experience.
binzinerator - September 25, 2009 | 5:16 pm · Link
@Persia:
No you had a rebadged Japense Suzuki.
Origuy - September 25, 2009 | 5:17 pm · Link
@Third Eye Open: I’m only an archeology buff, but early Britain is one of my favorite areas. The BBC has a great article with pictures and video.
They are comparing it to Sutton Hoo, which itself was compared to Tutankhamen’s tomb. The preliminary date is 7th century, which isn’t well known. The Roman legions left in 410, and the Anglo-Saxons started coming over a few decades later, invited by the Romano-British to fight the Scots and Picts. Big mistake; they kept coming over. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were formed in the 6th and 7th century, with Christianization starting around 600. The horde was found in what was the kingdom of Mercia, which dominated England in the eighth century. The Vikings started coming over in 793, which is one reason why there aren’t many records from the period.
The BBC Anglo-Saxon history site.
binzinerator - September 25, 2009 | 5:18 pm · Link
@binzinerator:
I see Roger Moore beat me to it a while ago: “The “Geo Metro” was a rebadged Suzuki Swift.”
Citizen_X - September 25, 2009 | 5:18 pm · Link
@Comrade Darkness: I’m probably reporting (and only reporting!) outdated stereotypes. Is “an American salary” all that competitive these days, if you’re not a CEO?
But that whole “the television has a tax on it” thing, now there’s an intriguing idea.
Andrew - September 25, 2009 | 5:19 pm · Link
Citizen_X,
You had the SRT4? That’s a fun little pocket rocket, but not a great car by any means. I’m not a Ford Dealer, but Ford right now has the most appealing lineup of cars to me. I drive a Honda though, because the Ford Fiesta was not available last time I was shopping.
I’m not the only one who hates the Caliber or claims it’s the worst car in America.
Svensker - September 25, 2009 | 5:21 pm · Link
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Believe me, driving in a retirement community is no walk in the park. I worked in Miami Beach in the late 80s and in order to survive driving among the assorted 90-year-old pedestrians and drivers, one had to enter a zen state and “feel” what the other humans were going to do. Because there was no way logic or traffic rules had any connection to what they were doing. Oy! It was great practice for driving in NY, tho, since almost every driver/pedestrian in Miami Beach was a retired New Yorker—only now only 5 feet tall, nearly blind and either driving a Cadillac or crossing the street against the light on a walker.
Origuy - September 25, 2009 | 5:23 pm · Link
Just found this: the Staffordshire Hoard Website.
The Flickr site.
I misspelled “hoard” as “horde” earlier. Would have caught it in preview!
John S. - September 25, 2009 | 5:24 pm · Link
Same here.
We’re all Tunch-sized humans now?
cleek - September 25, 2009 | 5:25 pm · Link
@MikeJ:
yeah, looks basically the same on the outside.
Svensker - September 25, 2009 | 5:27 pm · Link
@kay:
I’m very fond of ours. It’s got 120K miles on it and still no work other than routine maintenance.
JK - September 25, 2009 | 5:27 pm · Link
OT
Glenn Beck must be throwing a major hissy fit now because Fox News is airing Obama’s speech instead of his delusional rants
Comrade Darkness - September 25, 2009 | 5:27 pm · Link
@wrb: German reliability has stood still for decades while the entire rest of the world improved around them, so now they are mediocre at it. And, better yet, they are in total denial about it. About five years ago, this discussion came up on a visit to Germany (my half of the discussion was based on consumer reports, which was hammering all of their nameplates on every category of problems) and I was thinking, man VW is in trouble in that case. Can’t fix a problem you can’t even acknowledge.
I used to subscribe to Car and Driver when I was seriously car shopping and I remember the VW New Beetle was their second most expensive long term test drive ever (behind a 700 series beemer that they’d fender bended) Like you said: everything needed replacing on that VW.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:29 pm · Link
@Svensker:
Interesting. Good point, it sounds like some nightmarish slow-motion version of Rome.
Talking about it got me thinking back to one thing I loved: The center of Rome has a “zone” that’s off limits to cars without a permit most daytimes, and they enforce it with cameras that snap your license plate as you drive into the zone. Driving out, no problem, since you’re leaving, so the camera doesn’t bother getting triggered.
So locals in Rome learned to drive up to close to the zone, turn the car around… and back into it.
No camera, no ticket, drive around all day, then just drive out.
Great place.
DarrenG - September 25, 2009 | 5:29 pm · Link
Late to the party, but one thing about American cars I haven’t seen covered yet is their dealer networks.
Quality of the product aside, the experience of buying and maintaining an American car is still much, much worse than dealing with dealer networks for Japanese or German brands (with the possible exception of Saturn, but given their recent acquisition by Penske, who knows there, either).
And anyone who uses Consumer Reports as a source for car info on anything other than inexpensive family sedans or minivans deserves what they get.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:30 pm · Link
Or come to think of it I guess it did trigger the camera, but it snapped a still frame of your car “leaving”.
That was it.
EdTheRed - September 25, 2009 | 5:31 pm · Link
If you don’t have XM, but do have a computer:
Use this site and the indispensable Dead Listening Blog (great podcasts, btw) to guide you through the Archive.
“More than this I will not ask.”
freelancer - September 25, 2009 | 5:31 pm · Link
Y’know,
Lurking here on and off at least the last 3 years, and posting for the last 2 or so, I’d never heard the phrase “C-plus Augustus” for Bush.
Now I’m laughing my ass off.
This lexicon is gold.
Comrade Darkness - September 25, 2009 | 5:37 pm · Link
@Citizen_X: We rented an apartment in 95 and the landlady was insisting that we had to pay the television tax if we were going to turn it on. Because, get this, the government had a truck they drove around with a detector and they would know if you were using the television without paying. I’m thinking, okay, that might work in suburbia, but not in the urban density of London. But the way she said it still makes me laugh. It was enculturated bad british sci fi, government big brother, and that polite about doing what you’re supposed to schtick, all rolled into one.
I always wondered, did the government have one hokey truck that looked convincing or were rumors of the truck sufficient?
wrb - September 25, 2009 | 5:41 pm · Link
@Comrade Darkness:
Funny you should mention it…
Our other car is a new beetle and it hasn’t been much better. None of the switches ever work and it has had all kinds of other problems.
Some, to be fair, are due to our not choosing appropriately.
We wanted a green car for when we didn’t need a hulking 4×4 but failed to remember that the last 1/2 mile of our driveway is rock & potholes. And this turbo new beetle has the low-profile tires and an aluminum oil pan which cruises about 2” above the ground. So it is now four gutted oil pans and two engines later.
Some, but not all.
Third Eye Open - September 25, 2009 | 5:41 pm · Link
@Origuy: Wow, thanks for the links, I saw the flickr page this morning, but I really need to get my head wrapped around who was where, when, and who did they eventually become. My dad’s family has a lot of Welsh, and I would like to know how they all fit into the picture at that time.
@John S.: Yeah, if Tunch were human, he would be the size of a bear. Its his world, we just clean his litter-box
Ked - September 25, 2009 | 5:42 pm · Link
American cars – well, Ford for certain, and a good deal of GM cars – just aren’t proverbial “clunkers”, any more… but that doesn’t mean they’ve caught up.
I bought a 2003 (2004? never can remember) Focus a few years ago rather than spending another 5k-7k for the car I really wanted, a Civic of the same vintage. I have a work vehicle that gets me to and from the shop and customer sites and makes pitstops for groceries along the way, so the Focus, which was (probably) a fleet vehicle with 50k on it already barely gets 3000 miles a year on it and it simply would not have been worth the extra dollars for the Honda.
And it drives… well. Mileage isn’t the 40 highway that someone higher in the comments noted for their Focus, but it’s an automatic and yet I rarely see overall mileage below 29. It’s comfortable. It has plenty of trunk space. It doesn’t annoy me in dozens of little ways, which most of the 80s and 90s US-made cars did.
...but the interior is cheap. Cheap plastic, pieces falling off if you bump them from the wrong angle, seat cloth that can’t decide if it’s furry or scratchy. Buttons that work, but don’t feel like they work. An anti-theft radio that does a good job of preventing me from using it. Windshield wipers that are somehow designed to eat blades after just a few months. And there’s something funky about the windshield clarity that I can’t quite define.
When the Top Gear guys reviewed American pickup trucks a while back, they raved about all the crazy gratuitous-overkill things they loved about the design and the engine and the lunacy of driving it around narrow English country roads… and then declared the interior “utter rubbish” and promised never to actually buy one. I knew just what they meant.
I don’t regret buying a Focus. I probably would seriously look at one if I were buying a new car now. I would recommend a Ford to a friend. If you’re looking at overall quality, I don’t think US cars have caught up quite yet, but at least they aren’t embarrassing any more.
Bill E Pilgrim - September 25, 2009 | 5:42 pm · Link
@Comrade Darkness:
Same all over Europe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence
On the other hand, I can turn on the TV and watch entire movies and whatever else and it won’t be interrupted by commercials once.
Nada. Between shows there will be some. Sometimes.
But a movie, hour and a half, sans interruption, just like watching it in a theater.
Well worth it if you ask me, but that’s MHO.
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 5:44 pm · Link
@Freelancer, #110
“C+ Augustus” is mostly used by the great Charlie Pierce, in his weekly politics letter to Alterman’s mini-Blog, usually Fridays.
kay - September 25, 2009 | 5:48 pm · Link
@Svensker:
Aren’t they great? I work in three rural counties, so I drive a lot, on poorly maintained two lane roads. Plus, it snows. A lot. I can just drive the Taurus to death and then get another one.
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 5:54 pm · Link
@Warren Terra:
I guess I’m going to have to start reading other blogs to learn the Balloon Juice Lexicon.
Throwin Stones - September 25, 2009 | 5:54 pm · Link
@JK:
Anytime. I try to add to the conversation when I can (my snark-fu is pretty weak).
Origuy - September 25, 2009 | 5:54 pm · Link
@Third Eye Open: One of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings was Offa of Mercia, who reigned a little before the time they’re assigning to the hoard. He built a 150 mile long earthwork called Offa’s Dyke, along the Mercian border with Wales. That should give you some idea what the Welsh were up to at the time!
gnomedad - September 25, 2009 | 5:57 pm · Link
Any tall people out there have a Prius? The drivers seating strikes me as exceptionally comfortable, but I am not quite 5’10”.
freelancer - September 25, 2009 | 5:58 pm · Link
@Warren Terra:
Alterman’s at the Nation now? He was one of the first bloggers I started reading on a regular basis when Altercation was over at msnbc.com.
Throwin Stones - September 25, 2009 | 5:58 pm · Link
We just traded in the 98 Cherokee for some Obama money and test drove several vehicles.
I tried to get Mrs. Stones hooked on the Impala or Malibu, but she ended up with a new Jetta.
We’ve had many cars, all American except for 3 Jettas. I currently drive a Silverado.
However, I’m with cleek and am holding out for a 5 series BMW. A man can dream.
You Don't Say - September 25, 2009 | 6:03 pm · Link
Anyone watch the Obama press conference? Can I just say again I despise Chip Reid?
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 6:05 pm · Link
What did he do?
Laura W - September 25, 2009 | 6:06 pm · Link
@Just Some Fuckhead: Have I told you lately that I heart you?
Thank you for always saying the shitty, mean things that I am thinking.
Tsulagi - September 25, 2009 | 6:07 pm · Link
It’s not so much that they suck ass, they’re just blah after you’ve driven a car for a while that performs the way one should. They’re sloppily engineered and like driving Velvetta cheese.
I love my Jeep Cherokee. It does what it’s designed to do. It has its minor aggravations, but it was relatively cheap and it’s been reliable. But driving my M5 on winding mountain roads when reasonably sure, or hoping, no state troopers are around is almost as good as sex. You see a curve marked 30mph, you take it at 60 while the car stays flat feeling like it’s on rails almost begging you for more gas to power out of the turn hard. It’s like the car pleads with you to push it harder.
The seats with lumbar support fit like a glove are extremely comfortable for long drives. I’m over 6’ and have plenty of leg and headroom. Germans know engineering.
shoutingattherain - September 25, 2009 | 6:08 pm · Link
@General Winfield Stuck:
Oh brother. Just another Red Letter Day in the Clownosphere.
binzinerator - September 25, 2009 | 6:10 pm · Link
@Svensker:
LMAO. But it makes total sense.
You Don't Say - September 25, 2009 | 6:12 pm · Link
@schrodinger’s cat: He asked Obama if he thought this was a victory and why didn’t he tell the public earlier (ie Iran’s secret nuclear site). You had to hear the disdain in his voice to get the full import of his meaning. Anyway, Obama was great. Said this is not a football game and he’s not interested in victory.
Reminded me of David Gregory when Obama said all it takes to get on the news is to be loud and rude and Gregory interrupted him to say that Obama isn’t rude and yet he’s on TV all the time. Obama said well, I am the president.
I don’t know how he can stand to answer such stupid questions/comments.
Laura W - September 25, 2009 | 6:13 pm · Link
@GReynoldsCT00:
Cilantro or Condiments are my favorite.
I’ve had an epiphany! The suckiest threads here start with “C”:
Coffee, Cars, Clowns, Classic 80s music, College Football, Cooking, Cleaning, Country Music, Cameras.
I’ve cracked the code. I need a(nother) drink.
BethanyAnne - September 25, 2009 | 6:15 pm · Link
@Just Some Fuckhead: I know! Idle chitchat and friendliness: how awful, amirite?
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 6:16 pm · Link
@Laura W:
I like Clowns. They skeer me, but I like them.
BethanyAnne - September 25, 2009 | 6:17 pm · Link
As for me, I should never have touched German machinery. Mid 80’s BMW bikes especially. It’s an expensive one to catch, but at least I’m not afflicted with Ducati… yet.
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 6:19 pm · Link
@ Freelancer #122
After MSNBC turned off the cash spout, Alterman moved his blog to Media Matters, then the Nation. His blog was invaluable ~2003; he barely blogs now, but Pierce’s letters are great.
ericblair - September 25, 2009 | 6:26 pm · Link
@Comrade Darkness: I always wondered, did the government have one hokey truck that looked convincing or were rumors of the truck sufficient?
If you’re asking whether it’s technically possible for the TV detector truck to work, yes it is. TVs and most other devices with radio receivers generate an intermediate frequency signal which will leak somewhat out of the device. Whether you could reliably pinpoint it in an urban environment, I dunno.
Roger Moore - September 25, 2009 | 6:59 pm · Link
@Origuy:
Just so long as you didn’t spell it “whored” or “hoared”.
Warren Terra - September 25, 2009 | 7:01 pm · Link
@ericblair, #136
TV detector vans can work, but in the UK many were apparently fakes, in a strategy to scare people into paying up. BBC Radio 4’s Steve Punt had a great program on this ~3 months ago.
Kevin - September 25, 2009 | 7:01 pm · Link
@Punchy:
It’s called Hair Nation, and it blows. I find I usually listen to Liquid Metal, the NHL Home Ice (or whatever it’s called), and the BBC World Service on XM.
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 7:08 pm · Link
@GReynoldsCT00:
Word, as a petite person it is hard to find a car that fits right, I mean not all of us are Tunch sized.
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 7:10 pm · Link
BTW what has he been up to? Tunch I mean. I haven’t seen him
in a long time. Miss my weekly dose of the Tunchinator.
MikeJ - September 25, 2009 | 7:14 pm · Link
Ahh, thank gopod. That’s on free radio here in the Emerald City all the time.
I do still listen to home service (and News Quiz/I Guess that’s why they call it the news/etc) over the interwebs.
Jager - September 25, 2009 | 7:17 pm · Link
I just finished teaching my class at “Clown” school, grabbed a cup of “Coffee” with my cousin who is a “Country” musician, someone from his band snapped our picture with his digital “Camera”. Now, I’m headed to the store to get something to “Cook” in my “Car” a classic Mercury Cougar. I’m debating with myself, to either listen to the “College Football” preview on sports radio or to punch up my CD of “Classic 80’s music”, I’m driving slowly listening to the music knowing full well when I get home I’ll have to “Clean”!
Did I miss anything on the “C” list? Oh yeah, when I get home I’ll have to feed the “Cat”!
MikeJ - September 25, 2009 | 7:18 pm · Link
He was in the background of a picture on Tuesday. I’m afraid Cole will soon resort to soviet style airbrushing him out of photos.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=27172#comments
Jackass - September 25, 2009 | 7:20 pm · Link
There is a website called archive.org that has every GD show available for streaming any time for free.
Maybe if you weren’t a fucking retard that thinks the first George Bush was honorable, you could actually learn how to use google.
God damn you are worthless.
Brachiator - September 25, 2009 | 7:21 pm · Link
@Origuy:
Yeah, great stuff. And a nice bit of coincidence that news of the find is happening around a date when Britain began its change from Anglo-Saxon/Viking rule to the invasion of William of Normandy.
On this day, September 25
h/t Wiki
MikeJ - September 25, 2009 | 7:28 pm · Link
Hooray for the French!
LoveMonkey - September 25, 2009 | 7:41 pm · Link
That’s because they don’t, mostly, and haven’t for a long time.
It’s bullshit, pulled out of the asses of people who have no idea what they are talking about.
For example, quite a few of your commenters.
John Cole - September 25, 2009 | 7:43 pm · Link
@Jackass: I don’t have internet in my car, jackass.
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 7:45 pm · Link
@Jackass:
Correct handle dude.
LoveMonkey - September 25, 2009 | 7:51 pm · Link
@John Cole:
I do, it’s an AirCard, or 3G wireless modem (actually, a specialized celphone that plugs into your USB port).
And now, you can get, from Verizon and Sprint, a wireless, cordless portable WiFi hotspot, that works fine in a car and lets several laptop users surf in the car off the same connection with no hassle.
Fifty bucks a month or so, and you can take it home and use it as your home broadband connection too.
LoveMonkey - September 25, 2009 | 7:52 pm · Link
@Jackass:
Hey, I was doing your act here almost five years ago.
And better.
freelancer - September 25, 2009 | 7:53 pm · Link
@Jackass:
You will not make this putt!
schrodinger's cat - September 25, 2009 | 7:59 pm · Link
@MikeJ:
Poor poor Tunch, from the king of the castle to a mere backdrop, how the mighty have fallen.
Midnight Marauder - September 25, 2009 | 8:00 pm · Link
@Laura W:
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…whoa. Not cool.
Midnight Marauder +3 (at work, no less…bitches)
RedKitten - September 25, 2009 | 8:25 pm · Link
Chalk up another Taurus owner. We’ve only ever bought them used, and our ‘98 has just recently bit the big green wiener. Mine is an ‘03 and the husband owns an ‘00, and they’re both in great shape, needing nothing other than routine maintenance (and for some reason, I tend to need replacement brake parts relatively frequently—I don’t think I’m hard on the brakes, but I guess I must be.) And our climate is hard on cars—all that road salt in winter does not do a vehicle good. (Plus, I work in the same town as an actual salt mine, so the stuff is all throughout the air all year long.)
Of course, when either his car or mine goes to the boneyard, we’ll look for something with a bit more cargo room, to fit strollers and playpens and all that shit. No minivan, though—I hate them. I’m thinking either a Focus wagon, or maybe an Escape.
LoveMonkey - September 25, 2009 | 8:53 pm · Link
@RedKitten:
The Escape is a great vehicle, had one for several years.
zengolf - September 25, 2009 | 9:11 pm · Link
We have a Focus with over 250k.We had a recall for an oil pump in the first year but since then we have no issues but tires and oil. German cars stink for reliability and Toyota is slipping. Honda and Ford are the way to go. Buy a 2 year old model and save a mint
Digital Amish - September 25, 2009 | 9:51 pm · Link
I’ve had quite a few cars in my driving career. In my younger years there were a some sportier European models (nothing high-end) among them. For the last 30+ years they’ve been more utilitarian. The worst were the Japanese followed closely by 80’s vintage American. The best utilitarian piece of automotive engineering for my money: Ford F-150.
Comrade Darkness - September 25, 2009 | 9:53 pm · Link
@ericblair: Oh, I realize that it’s technically feasible. It’s even possible to recreate the signal the person is looking at on a CRT (see spy agencies). I was asking the question more along the lines of government psychological warfare against television stealing. How many television detector trucks do you actually need to put the fear of trucks into a populace that is willing to suffer through 753 episodes of Doctor Who?
Obsessive fear of television detector trucks, for me, symbolizes the British people. That and a delusion that just because the food in London has improved above boiled cabbage and soggy fish and chips that I can top at home sleep deprived, drugged and drunk, it is suddenly world class.
I’m only +4 and on top of squash soup, which I suspect soaked half of it up.
JenJen - September 25, 2009 | 9:55 pm · Link
John, I honestly never knew you were interested in XM Radio, so I never thought to mention it. I’ve been a Sirius aficionado since it came into existence, and I think most of our channels are the same. In addition to the always awesome Dead channel, there’s a great channel called Jam On that is a wide variety of jam bands.
There is also a Bruce Springsteen channel. And of course, on Sirius, every NFL game live. I love me some satellite radio!
General Winfield Stuck - September 25, 2009 | 9:57 pm · Link
@JenJen:
I think he just has it in the car he’s renting for the trip./ But since the Dead channel discovery, that may well change.
Deborah - September 25, 2009 | 10:05 pm · Link
@gnomedad:
My husband is 6’3” (I am 5’3”), most of our height difference being leg length. We both love our Prius, and it’s easy to adjust between us. The acceleration and braking are a little different than our other cars, but you get used to that within a day.
My mother-in-law, about 5’9”, has one of the earliest Prius models and it fits her and visitors from 5’3” (me and a grandchild) to 6’3” (sons and another grandchild).
eco2geek - September 25, 2009 | 10:05 pm · Link
I’m just not getting this whole “American cars suck” thing.
My wife and I bought a slightly used (14K miles) Ford Taurus in the early ‘90s. It required a major repair approximately every six months.
Once we took it in to the shop and the mechanic, Sam, said, “I saw you driving down the road the other day.” My wife said, “Oh? How did you know it was us?” He said, “I remembered your license plate number.” It was pretty obvious that car had been in for service too many times if the mechanic knew our frakking license plate number!
Damn thing blew a head gasket right after we had the transmission replaced before it reached 100,000 miles. That was the end. We only kept it as long as we did because my wife loved it.
I know intellectually that it was just one lemon of a Taurus out of a gazillion that Ford made. However, I’m never going to buy another Ford again as long as I live.
Arlene - September 25, 2009 | 10:22 pm · Link
Another great XM channel is Deep Tracks which plays classic rock album tracks. It’s a great listen since the songs are not the same 40 songs that Clear Channel plays on their FM stations all the time.
I have a 2003 Mercury Sable, a bargain at the time, and still running great until recently when it set me back about $1,800 – ouch. My husband has the cool car an Acura TL. My next car is going to have heated seats and satellite radio. Unfortunately, that won’t be for awhile. I have to put a kid through college.
jl - September 25, 2009 | 10:37 pm · Link
Oh man. This blog. What can you do? We’re always in trouble over something. Mr. Cole is angry at his readers because they did not tell him about a Dead channel, and they are too down on American cars.
OK, look. I did not know about the Dead channel either, OK. Let me off the hook.
I have been driving a furren car for about five years now. I looked at American cars, and there were a few models that met my needs. But the reviews for the American models sucked, and my friends and family who had driven those models agreed wholeheartedly with the reviews.
I’ll bring a note from my doctor that says so.
Pennypacker - September 25, 2009 | 11:24 pm · Link
Without reading other comments on this thread, I just want to ask how anyone can appreciate the Dead without being stoned? The music is boring in any right state of mind. Why would you want a whole channel of THAT (without a lot of chemical alterations to your brain)?
We own a 95 Cherokee that’s coming up on 200K miles. We just came back from wandering around the Eastern Sierras. We love our old ‘mule’...
Fulcanelli - September 25, 2009 | 11:54 pm · Link
@Pennypacker: The Dead stuff you’ve heard on the radio or elsewhere was really a clever audio decoy put out to annoy and turn off certain kinds of people because tickets were such a bitch to get. What you would hear and experience once you got into the show was nothing like that stuff at all.
Once we got inside a Dead show we would all take off the hippie wigs and tie dyes, bathe and put on our black turtlenecks, black jeans and black nikes and wait for the comet.
You never knew how long the ride would last or where it would take you, but it never failed to come by and pick us up.
silky - September 26, 2009 | 12:03 am · Link
I work in automotive and the American companies have gotten much better about genuinely valuing quality over the last ten years. I still, however, buy mostly foreign because I usually buy used and know I can count on them to last. Have a 2005 Mazda 3 hatchback right now and absolutely love to drive it, now quality issues so far at 70000 miles. I expect Ford, at least, to be as reliable as Honda at this point, though the long term data isn’t there yet
eco2geek - September 26, 2009 | 12:13 am · Link
@Pennypacker: LOL. The last time I listened to the Dead (back in college), I was stoned, and I still got bored.
(Which may be why it was the last time I listened to the Dead. Except for Truckin’, that is. What a long, strange trip it’s been.)
Pennypacker - September 26, 2009 | 1:06 am · Link
@Fulcanelli: Sorry, I actually went to a Dead show back in the day, with Jerry still alive and semi-kicking. I was STILL bored to death. It’s crap blues music for people who think they’re really ‘breaking out’ because they’re surrounded by dorks with weird hats and funky t-shirts. And yeah, I’ve taken hallucinogenics in the past. It doesn’t improve the music—well sure, if you take enough of anything, ANY music will be exciting. But that’s no endorsement of the music. Yeah?
stickler - September 26, 2009 | 1:42 am · Link
Ugh. You people.
The car thing is complicated but it frustrates me to no end how people just won’t accept that their anecdotal information and 20-year-old stories of blown head gaskets aren’t representative of reality.
Way, way up thread, somebody claimed that the Focus was the same as in Europe (sort of true in 2000 but not after 2005), and made in Mexico (no, since 2006, it’s been made in Michigan). The Internet is a wonderful thing, and with a few blows to the keyboard, you can find out all sorts of stuff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....America%29
I have no idea why, but most Wikipedia entries contain data about production sites, production numbers, and sales figures for car models. Stuff you’ll never find on the manufacturer’s sales sites.
So edumacate yerselfs the Intertrons way. Other suggestions:
www . kbb . com
www . edmunds . com
et. al.
(stickler +3)
stickler - September 26, 2009 | 1:42 am · Link
Oh. And the Greatful Dead do, indeed, suck.
baldheadeddork - September 26, 2009 | 1:47 am · Link
Big car geek here. (Yeah, that means Tunch-sized, too…)
John – Request a Ford with the Sync system the next time you have to rent a car. It is, hands down, the best nav/phone/voice recognition system you can get. Seriously, it is to the rest of the field what the first Macintosh was to DOS.
@Calouste (#31): You’re wrong about everything in that post. The current Focus sold in the US was designed for this market, is developed off a platform made for the North American, and it is assembled in Wayne, Michigan.
Someone remarked earlier about the power of snap judgments. I guess that’s the polite way to put it, because a lot of the criticism against American cars is nothing more than lazy, uninformed prejudice.
One of the first posts quipped to own an American car for six months. The JD Power vehicle dependability study measures satisfaction over three years of ownership. Buick was the top-rated brand in 2009. In the compact car segment, the Focus finished ahead of the Civic, Elantra, Sentra and the Corolla.
Someone else talked about the problem buying an American car is the buying experience at the dealership. The people who answered the Power survey on sales satisfaction must have been confused, because they ranked all of the mainstream Japanese brands in the bottom third. Chevrolet ranked ten places higher than Honda. Ford was eight positions better.
About the Taurus that popped a head gasket at 100K – any car can lose a head gasket at that point and the most common cause (by far) is failure to correctly maintain the cooling system. Cars with aluminum heads are sensitive to any overheating. You don’t have to see steam like in the old, old days. If it runs for a half hour with the temperature gauge a little above its normal point that can be enough to warp the head enough to cause an eventual gasket failure. If the service schedule calls for a water pump inspection or a coolant replacement at 60,000-75,000 miles and you don’t do it, you will be flirting with a head gasket failure at around 100K.
If you want anecdotal evidence, last month I saw a Toyota Corolla on the lift with a cracked engine block at just over 100,000 miles. Doesn’t mean the Corolla is a bad car, but if you make a couple hundred thousand of anything as complex as a car, and put it through the incredible strains and heat cycles that are involved in driving, a handful of them are going to have major problems after several years of daily use. Same goes for US cars, too.
Pennypacker - September 26, 2009 | 3:50 am · Link
Soy simpático.
Seriously, John, stop being a prematurely old dork and drop any pretense that this music, or anything about that lifestyle, is cool.
Kilkee - September 26, 2009 | 8:29 am · Link
@Fergus: Much to my amazement, in recent years I’ve discovered that even the Irish have learned to cook. Some of the best meals I’ve had anywhere I’ve had in Ireland. Still not much to talk about outside the pretty high-end places, but at least they have figured it out.
tinat - September 26, 2009 | 11:12 am · Link
I don’t have XM radio…pay for radio? but my Dish network package comes with XM and the first day I found the dead channel and it’s become a regular in the rotation, especially since watching the news has become so darned painful, LOL. Between the all Dead station and Dish earth channel I’m a happy camper!
Steaming Pile - September 26, 2009 | 4:20 pm · Link
I think Detroit has got the breaking down one the way home from the dealership thing beat by now. You can be reasonably assured of getting something that will outlast your payment book, which you couldn’t take for granted 20 or 30 years ago.
The real quality test comes at about the 100,000 mark. Most cars will still be running at that point, but (1) how well? Most Toyotas and Hondas will still run fairly smooth, but I have driven American cars that sound like they’re on their last legs at that point. (2) How’s the ride? Again, the better Japanese makes will still be rolling fairly smoothly on the road, and not bounce around a lot on bumps and potholes. I would put the “we need a new car” point on Hondas at about 150,000 miles or so. We only recently switched to Toyota, so see me in about seven or eight years.
My son’s 2000 Ford Focus (101,000 miles), on the other hand, rattles and squeaks and rides more like a small boat on a rough sea. Moral – cheaply built cars (Focus was made in Mexico) wear out sooner.
Steaming Pile - September 26, 2009 | 4:31 pm · Link
#176 – Everybody knows, or ought to, that JD Power surveys are bought and paid for by the U.S. auto industry. They’re biased and they’re useless.
Oh, and I have NEVER had a Japanese-make car blow a head gasket – EVER - and we run our cars a MINIMUM of 150,000 miles.
We do, however, have a Ford Focus that seems to just eat things like head gaskets. At 60,000 miles.
Steaming Pile - September 26, 2009 | 4:33 pm · Link
#179 – I just love the mellow rock they play on Dish Earth. It seems so appropriate while you’re literally watching the world go by.
Todd Dugdale - September 26, 2009 | 5:35 pm · Link
“stop being a prematurely old dork and drop any pretense that this music, or anything about that lifestyle, is cool.”
Wow.
I am reminded of a Simpson’s episode wherein Homer dismisses jazz by saying, “Jazz musicians- they just make it up as they go along.”
That sounds like Pennypacker to me.
Because “cool” music is done in the studio with multiple takes and over-dubs, rehearsed until it is robotic, by a group that breaks up after one or two albums, right? Or is it done on a computer sequencer by people that can’t even play a ‘real’ instrument?
The Dead are an improvisational group with stellar chemistry. The songs are more like a process or a thought. That is what makes it “cool”, since this is nearly a lost art. Also, the chemistry that comes from playing improv with the same people for decades is pretty rare.
Yeah, just turn on the radio and all you seem to hear are improvisational songs with odd metres about the mid-19th century. It was cool until everybody started doing it.
Maybe I could dismiss Springsteen fans as people trying to pretend that they are from New Jersey. Yeah, that would be stupid.
I mean, if you don’t like or don’t “get” what an artist is doing, you absolutely have to ascribe some kind of perverse motive to those that do like or “get” it, because that proves you are “cool”. And people naturally only listen to music that makes them seem “cool”, not music that intrigues them.
Obama Death Panel Chairman (formerly glocksman) - September 26, 2009 | 7:45 pm · Link
@Andrew:
GM engines haven’t given me any problems, but I’ve had no end of issues with their FWD automatic transmissions once they hit over 60k or so.
In fact, the transmission issues (and the remaining 3.5 years of factory bumper to bumper warranty) convinced me to purchase a 2008 Kia Spectra EX instead of the Chevy Cobalt/Pontiac G5/Saturn whatever models that were available for the same price.
Ecks - September 26, 2009 | 8:19 pm · Link
@LoveMonkey:
Seriously?
We’re paying well over 60 a month for broadband here (frickin’ backwaters), so getting it for $50 a month sounds pretty dreamy (hello a hunnert bux a year). Did a quick look, and the only things I could find along the lines you are describing are for very very light amounts of web traffic, and don’t seem to involve sprint (current phone provider).
I think you are teasing us!
EdTheRed - September 26, 2009 | 10:55 pm · Link
@Todd Dugdale:
Heh, indeed.
;-)
Paul’s Thing » American Cars - September 28, 2009 | 7:36 pm · Link
[...] the kids arrived for the weekend, I read John Cole’s blog entry about American cars. He rented a Buick and liked it; reader comments, however, were [...]