"Rich" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:45:48 -0500, "Peter A. Stavrakoglou"
wrote:
"Rich" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:14:21 +0100, (Philip
Homburg) wrote:
In article , Rich dfs
wrote:
Euro cars score third of three in reliability tests. But it's nice to
know you can sit in luxury while you wait for the tow truck.
Are you saying that just the cars that don't work get exported from
Europe
to the US?
No, I'm saying European cars on average (the world over) score lower
than Japanese, American and perhaps even Korean cars in terms of
number of breakdowns and defects.
-Rich
Over the life span of a vehicle, I believe that the American cars now are
the equal of the Japanese cars in TCO. The Korean cars are getting there
too - I own a Kia Sedona I bought three years ago and my son drives the
Hyundai Elantra we bought four years ago. Both have been extremely
reliable. My 1 1/2 year-old Chrysler 300C has been extremely reliable
also,
this car is the fruit of Chrysler's merger with Daimler. It's solid,
quiet,
fast, and reliable. If only it didn't cost so much.
The 300 is an interesting car. However, from what I've heard, the
Hemi, even with it's mechanism to cut down on the number of cylinders
(works much better than the horrific GM 8-6-4 option of the 1980s)
it averages pretty bad fuel economy. Even a Vette is supposed to be
superior.
I remeber that 8-6-4, what a disaster. My 300C gets just the MPG that it is
rated for, 17 city and 25 highway. I don't consider that too bad for a two
ton car with the oomph that this baby has. The ratings for the Vette are
very close, 17 city and 27 highway for the 365. The Vette is almost 900
pounds lighter.
Even though I don't own one presently, I am a bigger fan of European cars
than any other make. Having spent three weeks in Greece this summer and
doing the same eight years ago, I got to see and drive in quite a few cars
that I'll never have a chance to do here. The island I stayed on with
family has a heavy presence of French cars. They don't sell them here in
the US anymore, the quality years ago when they left the market here was
terrible. They certainly have turned that around from what I've seen in
Greece. The cars take quite a beating there and they just keep going.
The
Citroens, Renaults, Peugeots, and even the Fiats and Alfas. The SEATs
from
Spain and Skoda from the Czech Republic (owned by VW AG) are really nice
too. I wish they sold them here, I would certainly consider buying any of
them. They are quite stylish too.
European cars have styling, luxury (depending on the model) and speed
which in-part is due to the fact they don't have to meet U.S. crash
worthiness overseas or pollution control standards.
-Rich