When you absolutely positively have to get there quickly

[Allen]

At 300+ mph I no longer have what it takes to keep it sunny side up....if in fact I ever actually did. Used to think I did at speeds between 140 to 180. I was young and dumb and full of....*ahem*....adrenaline back then.

A sign of the times. We used to have only 2 lane roads and had NO traffic problems. Once, my grandmothers sister came to visit us. She had a brand new '64 T-bird with the 390. The speedometer was like a thermometer reading sideways to 120 (no needle). She took my brother and I bowling one night, the lanes being about 15 miles away. For most of the trip she (for our amusement) pegged the speedometer for most of the trip and this was my grandmothers sister. You could feel the car accelerate beyond what was showing. Not only did we not see any cops, we didn't meet a single car. My mother use to roller skate on the state highways here w/o seeing any cars. Kids at high school would brag about how many cars they could pass at a time on 2 lane highways. One guy claimed 19.

In 1971 Alabama purchased AMX Javelins (401 engine) for the state troopers. All of them were impressed with the performance, some would let people who had hot cars race with them (w/o being ticketed).

My first car was a 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado with 385hp.
Our family cars included a '65 T-bird and '68 Olds 88 with the 455.
My brother had a '67 Olds 442 and a '65 Buick Super Wildcat with a 445ci engine with 2 factory equipped 4bbl carbs.

All the above were considered luxury performance cars. They were all heavy clunky cars but they sure did ride nice. All are missed too.

I guess we all could tell tales of driving or at least being in a car being driven 120-160mph in our younger days.

Now it takes several minutes to just access a highway, then you will be driving bumper to bumper for the entire trip. IF you can make it to the speed limit you consider yourself fortunate.

[JB White]

Ahh..the AMX. Fellow in the neighborhood did some impressive things with the pair he owned. I turned wrenches and drove sometimes on a Chevelle belonging to another friend. I could turn ET's in the mid 12's. A few tenths quicker than he was doing. I was more aggressive and went the extra r's on the tach, but I had him convinced it was because I weighed less than he did.
I drove mostly Fords as every day cars. But I was able to tweak (not build) a fully loaded 67 New Yorker into the low 14's in the quarter just for grins. That was a fun Saturday night sleeper for a few years.
Someone at the time had a couple of 'show off photos' I wish I now had. In the neighborhood launching off a brake torque. Front wheels barely touching the ground and smoke pouring out of the fender skirts....we used to impress ourselves.

[Merc]

I don’t have any muscle car stories that I like to talk about. I lost three good buddies in a 409 Chevy in 1962 that hit a steel pole going 90 MPH.

My sister passed along a beautiful silver 2013 Audi S4 to me two years ago. It has a supercharged 333 HP V6 engine in a compact-like sized 3400 pound car body and it’s probably the fastest car I’ve ever driven. My daughter claimed it.

Let’s talk about what’s out there today.

I bought a technically interesting car last September. It’s a 2018 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV. The power train consists of one V6 gas engine and two electric motors, one on each axel, that produce a total of 309 HP. The electric motor on the rear axel makes it AWD. The transmission is a CVT (Constantly Variable Transmission) so there’s no gears to shift. It has two driving modes: Standard and Eco. Standard mode is fast and powerful but isn’t as economical as the Eco mode. Flip a switch on the dash from Standard to the Eco mode and the on-board computer cuts the horsepower and AC back a little which allows more MPG. I can run on pure battery power for miles on level roads if I stay below 45 MPH. Braking and coasting charges the traction batteries when driving around town. The gas engine charges them on the highway. The computer says I get an average of 28 MPG overall, 25 MPG around town and 31 out on the highway. I’d probably get more MPG if I lived in flat Kansas instead of hilly Pittsburgh. Still, not too bad for a 4900 pound SUV.

The safety features include things like collision avoidance, lane departure, cross traffic alarm, interactive cruise control and probably a few more things that I’m not aware of.

[shadycon]

Did you hear what one car said to the other after the accident?
Why didn't you stop when I stopped for the human in the crosswalk?
My sensors are dirty and my human won't clean them!

[dryheat]

Maybe they called it the AMX Javelin to dis associate them from AMC. American Motors built some of the ugliest junk ever to have four wheels. I owned a Pacer wagon once. Something broke weekly. Some things broke time after time. If you drove through a puddle of water the distributor cap got flooded. I got to where I could pull over, open the hood, pull the cap and wipe everything down and be back on the road in two minutes. Both rear springs rusted completely through and broke. There was rust in the gas tank. One day the entire muffler/tail pipe just broke off. That was the rust problems. Plenty of other problems. The bell housing shattered. The water pump disintegrated. One day the whole ignition lock work fell out with all these little copper parts everywhere. I ended up towing that thing to the junk yard. Very happy day.

[dryheat]

Maybe they called it the AMX Javelin to dis associate them from AMC. American Motors built some of the ugliest junk ever to have four wheels. I owned a Pacer wagon once. Something broke weekly. Some things broke time after time. If you drove through a puddle of water the distributor cap got flooded. I got to where I could pull over, open the hood, pull the cap and wipe everything down and be back on the road in two minutes. Both rear springs rusted completely through and broke. There was rust in the gas tank. One day the entire muffler/tail pipe just broke off. That was the rust problems. Plenty of other problems. The bell housing shattered. The water pump disintegrated. One day the whole ignition lock work fell out with all these little copper parts everywhere. I ended up towing that thing to the junk yard. Very happy day. Kind of like getting out of a really bad relationship. I've not had any bad relationships. Some were shorter than others.

[Merc]

After a long history of bad experiences with cars, I finally started paying attention to Consumer Reports and started buying cars based on CR’s reliability ratings. The first result was a 2011 Toyota Sienna that now has over 170,000 miles and has made 7 trips to Fort Myers, Florida from Pittsburgh. The most recent was in February. The only major repairs needed was a water pump at 70,000 miles and an upper motor mount (the “dog bone”) at 150,000 miles. The rest has been the wearable items like wiper blades, battery, tires, brakes, struts and shocks. The 2018 Highlander is also rated high in reliability. Both were made in the US.

I watched a video about a 2007 Toyota Tundra in Louisiana with over 1 million miles that Toyota bought back and tore down to see why it was able to accumulate so many miles on the body and drive train. The only major repairs were to the transmission (lost reverse), a water pump and a timing chain. The owner worked in the oil fields delivering tools and supplies and averaged 125,000 miles per year. Google “Toyota Tundra With 1 million miles” to hear and watch the story.

Edit: The only complaint the owner had was that the odometer stopped at 999,999 miles.

[Allen]

My Ford Crown Vic has 220K miles now with the original water pump and hoses.

The worse car I've ever owned (by far) was a Mercedes Benz.

[shadycon]

"96 Izusu trooper; speedo stopped about 4 yrs ago at 189k. Everyone wanted around $130 for the VSS [sensor] . I finally found one from Rock Auto for $7.44 shipped.Now I can put GPS away. I have only changed the usual, water pump, timing belt [2] , starter, belts, muffler/tailpipe, shocks, brake pads/rotors. I had the auto trans serviced twice. Bought it 3 yrs old with 29k miles on it for $15k. Still going to the store!!!

[Merc]

The worse car I've ever owned (by far) was a Mercedes Benz.

My all time worst - 95 Buick Roadmaster, 70s Plymouth wagon and a 98 Chevy Venture. Runner up was a Ford Flex. It ran ok but was the most uncomfortable car I’ve ever sat in. The trip to Florida was pure agony. Came home and traded it in on the Sienna.

[dryheat]

I've owned two Toyotas. I only go rid of them because I was a little bored with them and the mileage was apporaching 150K and I thought that was pushing it(experience with other cars). I own a Ford SUV now and in four yrs it's been in the shop four times. Right now the drivers side door "clicks" upon opening and closing. You know the sound. I'm taking it in to get it fixed. TG I got the very high end warranty. Next car will be a Toyota.
My buddy gave his daughter his Toyota. She had 300K on it when she got a good job and bought a new one. He used to own a Toyota Tundra. We took that thing everywhere. But I had to ride in the back one time for about twenty miles. That experience is etched in my mind. Back seats are for kids.

[dryheat]

My all time worst - 95 Buick Roadmaster, 70s Plymouth wagon and a 98 Chevy Venture. Runner up was a Ford Flex. It ran ok but was the most uncomfortable car I’ve ever sat in. The trip to Florida was pure agony. Came home and traded it in on the Sienna.

My all time favorite vehicle was my Chevy Silverado crew cab. But either Chevy makes the seats deep or some big farmer owned it before me. I'm tall and thin and I just fell into those seats. There's nothing I can't fix so I taught myself upholstery one morning and built the front seats up to fit me. Man I loved that truck. In ten years nothing went wrong except both rear windows stopped working. A
few minutes on Utube and I knew how to fix that. Cost: $35 ea. Sadly, it finally developed an oil leak so I just sold it a week ago.

[Merc]

My all time favorite vehicle was my Chevy Silverado crew cab. But either Chevy makes the seats deep or some big farmer owned it before me. I'm tall and thin and I just fell into those seats. There's nothing I can't fix so I taught myself upholstery one morning and built the front seats up to fit me. Man I loved that truck. In ten years nothing went wrong except both rear windows stopped working. A few minutes on Utube and I knew how to fix that. Cost: $35 ea. Sadly, it finally developed an oil leak so I just sold it a week ago.

It’s the “Dry Heat” that dries and shrinks the gaskets. HA!

My sister (lived in Cave Creek, AZ) owned a smooth riding 2000 GMC Sierra with about 55,000 miles that she mainly used to trailer the horse. I sold the truck to her neighbor. That was a really comfortable riding truck. It was clean and in perfect shape except for the nasty habit she had of driving it without releasing the parking brake. I had to have the shoes and drums replaced twice.

We’ll be flying out tomorrow to wrap up some of my sister’s tax and trust stuff with lawyers and accountants and will be staying at a condo in Scottsdale for a week. I still own and board her horse and I gave her golden retriever to a great couple from N. Scottsdale.

[dryheat]

It's the perfect time to visit. The Dry Heat will do a number on paint out here too. See my earlier post of my truck. I just got a Ram 1500 and I'm looking for someone to build me a carport.

[Merc]

I've owned two Toyotas. I only go rid of them because I was a little bored with them and the mileage was apporaching 150K and I thought that was pushing it(experience with other cars). I own a Ford SUV now and in four yrs it's been in the shop four times. Right now the drivers side door "clicks" upon opening and closing. You know the sound. I'm taking it in to get it fixed. TG I got the very high end warranty. Next car will be a Toyota.
My buddy gave his daughter his Toyota. She had 300K on it when she got a good job and bought a new one. He used to own a Toyota Tundra. We took that thing everywhere. But I had to ride in the back one time for about twenty miles. That experience is etched in my mind. Back seats are for kids.

Both Toyota and Honda specify 0W20 synthetic oil in their cars and changing it every 10,000 miles. I don’t know when that started but I’m sure the type and weight of the oil has something to do with engine longevity we’re hearing about.

I swore off ever owning a car that isn’t a 5 on a scale of 1-5 on Consumer Reports reliability scale. I’ll keep the Sienna as long as the body doesn’t rust away.