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Modern economy cars suck. They're less fuel efficient than they used to be, they have less power, they're not as stable and they're in need of constant repairs.
by lj3 10y ago
Modern economy cars suck. They're less fuel efficient than they used to be, they have less power, they're not as stable and they're in need of constant repairs. They're also more expensive than they were 20 years ago. I could forgive a lot about a 10 year old Toyota Corolla when it was only $700. I'm not as forgiving now that a 10 year old Toyota Corolla is $5k.
If the cost wasn't enough, modern cars just aren't fun to drive. Compare the Honda Civic to my father's generation's idea of an economy car: The Ford Mustang. I'm told that car was a blast to drive and my father could afford one as a high school student.
- rwmj 10y agoVarious sources in this article says you're wrong: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/diagnosing-car-problems/mechanical/cars-less-problematic.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/diagnosing-car-... Plus also my anecdata. Cars were horrendously unreliable back in the 1970s. It's only because of selection bias that the few reliable cars survived while all the recalled/broken down/junked cars from that era have gone.
- lj3 10y agoI'm wrong about what, exactly? My argument about reliability was about a 1986 Toyota Corolla driven in 1996 vs a 1999 Toyota Corolla driven in 2009. My argument about fun to drive was the Mustang, which came from my father. I wasn't alive in the 70's, nor did I assert 70's cars were more reliable.
- dragonwriter 10y agoThe Mustang was never any generation's idea of an economy car; it was a muscle car, which is pretty much the polar opposite of an economy car.
- lj3 10y ago> The new Mustang was viewed as a "fun-to-drive economy" car, but "in reality it shared its underpinnings with the ... Pinto."[0] The Mustang enthusiasts don't like to dwell on its economy period in the 70's. If my father hadn't owned one, I never would have known. [0]: https://books.google.com/books?id=7NIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=Introduction+date+of+the+1974+Mustang#v=onepage&q=Introduction%20date%20of%20the%201974%20Mustang&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=7NIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66&lpg=P...
- briHass 10y agoThe situation is almost entirely the opposite of what you stated. Modern cars make more power while using less fuel [1][2], are way safer [3], more reliable [4], and are cheaper, relatively, than ever [5]. "Fun to drive" is subjective, but I don't think it's fair to compare a Civic to a Mustang. Personally, I think modern, performance cars handle better, feel "crisper", and accelerate better than the old muscle cars. [1] http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_04_23.html http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/pub... [2] http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/11/every-car-is-now-a-performance-car/ http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/11/every-car-is-now-a-perfor... [3] http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/1/1 http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/1/1 [4] http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/02/cars_have_improved_quality_rel.html http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/02/cars_have_imp... [5] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DLIvw6mZGBU/SRDPkT-yq7I/AAAAAAAAAP0/OcJTOJF61lU/s1600/comerica.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DLIvw6mZGBU/SRDPkT-yq7I/AAAAAAAAAP...