Bidding a fond goodbye to the American car

I've had both success & problems with all my cars, Domestic and Foreign.

I've had
Honda accord - rusted out front end dropped the motor out, separated the Axle, rear bumper rusted off was hanging as i was drivin down the road. Fuel pump clogged, Carb floats clogged, tranny went out.
2 Nissan maximas - $500 labor to get the rusted broken off manifold bolts out, speedometer went out, AbS went out, one had a Fuel tank filler rust recall that they just bought it from me instead of fixing it.

Toyota camry, MAF sensor went out ($540) Gas tank rusted to a leak, brake line broke, sunroof leaked.

I currently have a Honda odyssey and its tranny is goin out on me.

My 1st car was a Cutlass, reliable in the winter, but entire cooling system replaced in summer, carb rebuild, distributor, suspension, brakes, exhaust etc.
Ford LTD and only had a electrical problem with that.
Ford t-bird, great car, had dash lights go out on it, rotors warped constantly-cheap.
3 dodge caravans, 1 ply voyager - 2 had tranny issues, 1 engine issues, 1 just rust and leaked. 1 no a/c. 1 serpentine belt pulley was bent n kept tossing off the belt.

Jeep cherokee, got bad gas mileage but it ran good, drove from west coast to east on I80 with no issues, cept no A/C & pwr wind didnt work well. (20mpg the whole trip - even through sierra nevadas)

Chevy corsica - intake and head gaskets failed, replaced. coolant system replaced. bad door seals, paint flaking off. power locks act up sometimes.
Had an Olds silhouette for a month and it rusted apart while driving and almost killed us

Had a Ford taurus wagon and its only had some misc maintenance replacements except starter continually a problem. Still going - gave to my mom after i fixed everything and paid it off.
Had a 64 olds dynamic 88 its 2 speed auto tranny had problems and then the frame broke from corrosion so i sold it to a collector.

Ignatz...., Back in ancient times-American cars had 3 speed transmissions & the shift lever was attached to the steering column. That was called 3 on a tree as opposed to 4 on the floor. It was the same way for slush pumps, aka automatic transmissions. Some of the old boats had very large back seats which allowed you to get 8 in the back seat. Bucket seats & floor mounted shift levers are like chastity belts unless you are an acrobat.
Why do you think that drive-in movies were so popular?

Funny! So many other "great" cars come to mind. My dad's 5 Chevy Vegas, two kept as part cars for the other 3. An old boyfriend's Olds 88, with a truly massive front end, and a myriad of unfixable problems. The Ford Fiesta, one of the lamest attempts to compete with Japan ever.

I understand that an elected representative is supposed to represent his constituencies but I am amazed at the Southern Republican Senators. Their stance against the Auto Loan has me pissed off. They are willing to put their own people at risk of us entering a deeper recession. depression anyone? Another couple million layoffs will impact all of us. Even people who live in Alabama, Georgia etc... If they are actually representing their people I would like to see the meeting notes from the Town Hall meetings where the People said vote against it. I have a feeling that they have not had any meetings and that if they did even the people working at non-union auto plants would say give them the money. I don't get the feeling that they give a shit for the People, I think they represent the interests of Honda and Toyota, and that all they want to do is bust the Union. And I see a real contradiction in their values. They say, Republicans, that they like people to raise themselves up without the Government being involved. So a Union is just that. A way to better your life, without asking for anything from the Government. I found a web page which gives the pay rates for the Union and non-union workers which are the center of this fight. They are about the same. Actually what people are paid and the value of their benefits are within a buck of each other. The burden the Unions companies have is the cost of benefits promised to retired workers. Sorry, but those benefits were negotiated, they were earned, and they were required because we do NOT have health coverage. Our Government's inactivity on our need for health care has created this problem. I would someone to do an audit of the businesses which are owned by these Republications and find out what kind of benefits they offer. Health care? Matching 401? I dont think so. Holy shit. This is a Rant. Merry Christmas to us all. And God Bless the Unions and the United States.

I drive a Bronco - six brake jobs in 3 years - try stopping a two-ton tank on factory pads - but I wouldn't trade it for a thing. Well, maybe an 09 Passat.

C'mon ... no Chrysler Lebaron?

It's like they came with pre-soiled and torn rag tops, but were still considered chic among middle aged men with beer-soaked mustaches --- the kind of guy who'd let his daughter's pre-teen friends drive it if they agreed to sit on his lap.

Adios "carbage". I will not miss that junk.

Right on with the PT Cruiser (a.k.a. "The Wankermobile"), painstakingly designed to appeal to your inner loser.

Fuck those Assholes!
The trouble is all the aftermarket people and suppliers are going to lose when the Big 3 go under,and what really pisses Me off is the Ignorati Who are in overdrive blaming the Unions.
It costs less than $200 dollars in labor costs to build an American car from start to finish.
Ford and GM both made a $15,000 profit from every premium SUV they made
from 2000 through 2006 while the Yukon and Explorer made $10,000 per unit.
They pissed away their money and did not try to re-tool for more economical cars when the Oil industry started over speculating on the commodities market and exporting Diesel and Gasoline to Europe for extravagant profits.
These bastards pay less than 25% corporate tax since "W" took office so They are not even paying for the use of Our countries resources to
reap their record profits.
Instead of following Government mandates They chose to tie up the court systems instead of complying with the law.
Now They want Our money and have They offered any substantial collateral or mission statement showing a strategy to keep this from happening again?
Hell no,the plan is to lay-off 20,000 workers and reduce benefits the same strategy They have used for the past sixty years.
The projected Unemployment figures for the loss of GM and Chrysler number in the millions,why should the CEO's get to take home millions of dollars when They dont deserve a managerial position of a Kool-Aid stand?

So why didn't the big 3 just show Congress the movie "Transformers"? I just saw that shit last night, and it's like a fucking three hour commercial about how cars love us and want us to get laid by Megan Fox. Except wait, shit-- was Megatron a GM car? That MOTHERFUCKER! He killed that jive-talking opticon! Damn you, GM! DAMN YOU TO HELL!

Nothing beats the old Woody Wagon.. I hope those don't vanish.. it's always nice to see one of those boats driving down the highway, with the wood panels flapping.
http://www.vagabondstory.com

I am a retired master automobile technician. Economics aside, I'm tickled pink to see this asshole company drop dead. They unrepentently screwed me with a 1966 Malibu. What a piece of shit car. I always recommend that people avoid GM crap. They lost an enormous amount of money with GMAC. Couldn't do that right either. Fuck them! I drive Japanese cars that were made in America. They are so much better than the crap "the big three" make it's unreal.