James Burnette
One of my daily stops, and possibly the prettiest black man in the blogosphere, makes a comment in this post about a guy delivering pizzas in a Lexus SUV.
When I worked in the mills, there were hundreds of expensive luxury cars in the parking lots.
No, not NEW expensive luxury cars.
Everytime I see someone spending 53,000 bucks on an Audi, I think, you know, in ten years, some millrat is going to be driving that to Inland. The power windows won’t work and they’ll be too expensive to fix. The transmission will have problems and he’ll go broke trying to fix it. A tuneup will cost him more than a nice dinner for four at a very expensive restaurant. He’ll get a cheap set of steel wheels and Wal-Mart wheel covers because they’ll cost less than the P-Metric radials the car came with. The driver’s seat will be torn up and nasty, and he’ll use an old rag rug to cover it up. He’ll have a rubberband to hold the key in place because it will fall out otherwise. The radio, long since stolen, will be replaced with an Audiovox special. bare wires twisted together will be visible under the dash. The carpet will be matted with years of crap. The trunk will long since have failed to be openable, so there will be a spare tire and a jack in the backseat.
Mercedes is looked on in Europe as Dodge is looked on here. Crappy cheap cars. They have a reputation here because of marketing- nothing else. Fact is, people spent more money on benzes and they last longer becuase they’re taken care of better. Any car you maintain will last a long time. My truck has a quarter of a million miles plus, and everything still works. People that own big SUV’s and don’t ever take them offroad are just goofy. You should see the shit Dick does with his bigass truck- THAT is what an SUV was meant to do.
Yeah, drive that Lexus around. It’ll be toting pizzas in a few years. Meanwhile try not to spill anything on the seat.
11 comments Og | Uncategorized
I love my Intrepid. It’s my second. The first was used, a ’98, obviously a corporate lease, that I ran up to about 94K without any serious problems. I traded it five years ago on a new ’02 that now has 65K miles.
Sally’s 1997 Caravan has 170K on the clock, and has needed only a rebuilt transmission so far. We’re hoping it lasts another year till we can afford to replace it with a new one.
If you take care of them, they last.
Don’t care. I love my little Audi A4 and I could give a hoot about who will be driving this type of car in 10 years. Hell I hope I can still be driving this car in 10 years! It’s fun to drive and I enjoy it and I have the money to own it – without having to eat Ramen noodles to survive.
For years I drove vehicles I hated because we needed a “family” car and I was the one toting the kids. The vehicles themselves worked very well. I had no issue with my Taurus wagon or my Dodge Caravan. We still have the Caravan and plan on keeping it.
So now I get to drive a car I enjoy driving – not because of its status. If that makes me stupid… well so be it.
To me, stupidity is buying a car you can’t afford, just because you want it. It’s buying a car that doesn’t fit your circumstances just because it’s a status symbol. Then again what do I know… I drive an Audi. Heh.
hey, an audi is a nice car. To buy it to show your status is asinine. To buy it because you like to drive? a whole nother thing. Audis do drive nice.
No kidding on the Benzes. Cabbies here drive Crown Vics (whatever happened to Checker, BTW?), cabbies in Germany drive midlevel Benz sedans. ‘Nuff said.
My Ram 1500 just turned over 145k and except for that horrid intake manifold design which just about guarantees an R&R every summer to fix a leaky belly pan gasket, I think I’d keep it another 10 years. I’m too cheap to splurge on the hipo manifold that would fix the problem once and for all.
Here. they can see what I do to trucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kD_tImlK4
yep. A great vehicle being used the way the manufacturer intended.
I love my truck and I use it for re-enacting…which means much off road fun, but mainly for hauling all of my gear around. My last truck I owned for 9 years before trading in, and it was in near perfect condition. The only reason I traded in was because I needed something more family orientated.
Yes and no, Og.
Mercedes quality is nothing special now, but by God they built a hell of a car in Days Past.
Those In The Know say it started to really go downhill in the early 90s or late 80s.
I know my ’76 is built like a tank, structurally. (Of course, the upholstery is shot, and all the rubber was worn out before I got it replaced [as we speak, in fact, it’s in the shop getting the suspension rebuilt], but that’s simple age.)
A 10 or 15 year old Lexus is a great deal, though. Toyota quality, Mercedes styling, and very inexpensive compared to new.
Structurally, the 70’s benzes werent’ made to deal with midwest winters. I never saw one that didnt’ hsve the floorpans rusted through. only reason they never collapsed under their own weight was the subframe, and that usually followed the floorpan. These were only good cars in the south, in those years. Made a helluva diesel, though.
Well, really I’m all about driving cars that are fun to drive.
We had a VW Golf for about 10 years (my husband is tall and it was one of the few cars he could easily sit in). We loved that car. The only reason he didn’t get another one when that one bit the dust was that the VW dealership near us – sucked wet socks and we couldn’t afford Audis back then.
My first car was a 69 Cougar that my dad rebuilt. It was gorgeous. Then some idiot woman ran a stop sign and totalled it… and that was the last great car I had for YEARS. My other cars have been Pinto Wagon (with hideous woody sides – but it did have a stick which made it bearable – that sucker went through anything!), Ford Fairmont, Taurus Wagon, Dodge Caravan. (I don’t have the least desire for a truck or SUV)
Then I drove my son’s Firebird during the semester he was in college (no car allowed). That was a really fun car to drive… except he had put in the honkin’ huge speakers that I hated. I found out how to disconnect them and I was very happy. *grin*
My Audi handles beautifully (bought it used – it’s 4 years old) is a quattro so I can drive in on the hills here without a problem in the snow. (I never ever had problems in Chicago with front WD in the snow – it’s so darned flat there – it wasn’t an issue at all – it’s different here in the hills) It’s a stick which makes it more fun. The only sucky bit is their heater/ac controls. I hate them… damned German engineers!
Og, you’re gonna make me all blushy. Seriously, when it comes to cars I couldn’t wish for more than a ’72 Caddy convertible for fun and a 50 Ford pick-up for work.