My new toy :)

[impact]

Volvo... never. I don't want to be roasted alive in my own car just because the swedish (or wherever do those deathtraps come from) geniuses forgot to use a fuse in the circuit that powers the heated seats. Oh and when you come to them and ask for a new car or a refund because the wires in the seat short circuited and your car caugh fire and was destroyed, they have the nerve to ignore your claim (supported by the fire department inspector and his report), make up their own report and say that they are not at fault. That's BS and they need to be taught a lesson!

[Gurm]

Again, impact - you're speaking not only out your ass but from a non-American perspective.

Here in the good ol' US of A, if anything like that happened, your INSURANCE COMPANY would buy you a new car.

Why should the manufacturer buy you a new car? If they find that the malfunction wasn't due to a manufacturing defect (and it surely wasn't, since I've NEVER heard of a Volvo seat heater malfunctioning) why are they liable?

Besides, you can't judge an entire make by one incident. Well, you can - but then you wouldn't buy ANY car, since EVERY car company has one horror story incident like this. Many are much worse.

- Gurm

[impact]

Man you're talking like some Volvo rep.

And no I haven't heard this about any other car, sorry, only heard that about a Volvo and yes it's enough to make me not buy a Volvo.

[Kruzin]

So, in the past, Ford has made cars that explode in rear impacts (pinto in the 70s, crown victoria today).
So you won't own a Ford.
GM has made vehicles that explode on side impact (70s/80s full size pickups).
So you wont own a GM.
Chrysler,Jeep,Suzuki,Isuzu, Mazda has made vehicles that will roll over if you go around a corner too fast.
So you won't own one of those.
Renault had a real problem with heater cores exploding in the 80s.
So no Renault for you.

How about a Schwinn?
Oh wait...I fell off one once, and scraped my knee.
You better not get one of those.


Be realistic.
Every vehicle maker has had a bad model or 2 (or 20).
And there are freak accidents/situations that may or may not have anything to do with the car's design itself. You cannot discount an entire line of cars because you saw one picture of one car-b-cue. For all you know, that electrical short in the seat heater was caused by the owner shoving a wire hanger under the seat, which in turn shorted out the wiring.

While Volvo is not a car I would usually look at for myself (I've never been fond of their boxy styling), they have a very long standing record of being some of the safest vehicles on the road.

[Admiral]

Admiral - you DO know that the PT Cruiser is a Neon with a different body, right?

Nope, I didn't knew...

[Gurm]

Thanks, Kruzin. I was trying to say that, only a bit more succinctly.

And yeah, I am a walking talking Volvo rep, although the product line has suffered a bit due to Ford's influence (and the influence of the American "we must have FWD" car-buying public in general).

The damn things are SAFE. Period.

And the engines routinely last 500,000 miles or more. Many go a million miles.

The car will rust out and disintegrate before the engine dies.

Let me tell a story...

-----------------------

There was a woman who worked with my wife. She drove a Neon (aka PT Cruiser with less fiberglass). She got in a collision - she rear-ended someone at around 45mph. In this crash:

- The neon was totaled. Nothing left.
- She broke both arms, both wrists, several ribs, and sprained both legs. She also suffered a concussion, and multiple cuts and bruises.

Julie got into a similar accident on the same stretch of highway on a similar day. Hydroplaned into another car at around 60mph (the other car was moving, but not very fast - thus relative speed around 45mph). In this crash:

- Julie got a stiff neck.
- The volvo lost its front license plate.

That's IT. She drove away. The other car? Not so lucky. It had to be towed.

So what did the co-worker buy with the insurance settlement money? ANOTHER NEON! "It saved my life!" she said.

*sigh*

--------------------

Bimmer magazine recently ran an article about a woman who was 8 months pregnant, driving her BMW M3 (a sports coupe - no pretense at being practical). She spun out at 75mph, rolled the car down an embankment (4 complete rolls), and totaled it. She walked away from the accident, and had not so much as a hiccup from the fetus.

Go on - roll a Neon. Once. I dare ya.

----------------------

I'll vouch for the safety of a Volvo or BMW any day.

If that makes me a walking talking sales brochure, so be it.

- Gurm

[Novdid]

Well said!!!

I actually agree with you on almost everything you'veposted in this thread!

[Gurm]

*GASP* *SHOCK*

- Gurm

[Bohrn]

I've always kinda liked Focus SVT's. They seem to have it all, and the styling is not the same melted wax that the rest of todays cars have.

That Shamal is IT!! One of the nicest cars around. And I envy your old E Biturbo. I can't get one of those because I need to drive my car everyday.

Volvos are cool, but only the old ones. I had a 79 GT and I loved it, but the old owner was really old and he never washed it, so it had advanced rust.

Dr Mordrid, do you have a website with that Shelby on it? DodgeGarage or something? I was going to buy one of those, so I was doing research and it looks aweful familiar!

I have your Eclipses older brother, a 91 Talon Tsi AWD, 5spd, red, no pics.

Cars sure are cool!

[Dr Mordrid]

On the PT Cruisers linage;

The original Mustang was based on the Comet/Falcon; the Barricuda on the Valiant/Dart and the GTO on the Tempest/Le Mans. So what? LOTS of great cars have been based on humble platforms.

It makes no difference what the basic platform was if the rest is done well and the basic platform wasn't a Pinto or Vega

On my Daytona;

Close, but no cigar. It's got some Shelby Z trim for fun and an adapted Getrag shifter from a Shelby Z for improved function (shorter throws) but the rest, whale tail and all, is '85 Turbo Z....2 years before the Shelby Z's came out in '87.

My weekend car

Dr. Mordrid

[Wombat]

"If the rest is done well" is a big if. The problem with the PT is that it's carrying a lot more weight than a Neon was designed for, and they didn't add enough power to compensate for that. 3200 pounds, 150hp, and a magnet for wind. I can tell you from experience that getting that thing over 85mph took a lot of time.

[RichL]

If Ford over there have setup the suspension the same as Ford over here have done, you'll find it can actually go around corners too.

Do you guys actually have corners in America?

[Gurm]

The other problem is that the Neon is a flawed design. It's the single least safe car to be released in YEARS.

- Gurm