Saw the new '07 Sebring Thursday

DeserTBoB wrote:
>
> Baron who has 245K on the original everything. Blistered clear coat
> on the paint was his only real gripe, and after a repaint, it is
> resplendant as new.


"Resplendant"??????!! You're letting us all down, Bob! We thought you
were a resplendent beacon of proper grammar and spelling in a sea of
ignorance and stupidity! You'll have to be more fastidious if you want
to maintain your image.

Dori A Schmetterling wrote:

> From what I have read in NGs and elsewhere there seems an important
> difference between US and RoW airbags.


Definitely true of EARLY (circa 1993) US airbombs. The later ones are
closer to ROW, but the regulations over here are not quite sane on many
safety devices.

> For them to be
> fully effective seat belts must be worn.

That's 100% true of ALL airbombs- because they don't really do much at
all, the seatbelt is the real safety device.
>
> When were inertial-reel seat belts introduced in the US?

1974. Up to 1973, shoulder belts were fixed length and had to be cinched
down just like lap belts did. When used correctly, a fixed belt is safer
than inertia-reel type belts, but most people left them loose and floppy
so they could reach the radio controls easily :-p

1974 was also the year of the disastrous seatbelt-starter interlock
fiasco. Both front-seat passengers HAD to be buckled for the car to
start. The system was so trouble-prone and cars would refuse to start
that the law was amended and the systems were allowed to be bypassed
within the first half of the model year! There was an override button
under the hood that gave you 30 seconds to get back in and start the
car, but consumers were NOT pleased with having to use it all the time.

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:00:58 -0500, Steve > wrote:

>Hachiroku wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 02:18:54 +0000, Dave wrote:
>>
>>
wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 18:16:40 GMT, Some O > graced this
>>>>newsgroup with:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>In article >,
wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:09:02 GMT, Some O > graced this
>>>>>>newsgroup with:
>>>>>>and this has to do with Nissans because.....?
>>>>>
>>>>>The new Sebring doesn't quite meet my requirements;
>>>>>obvious from my two negatives.
>>>>>Of those other cars I mentioned (Altima is a Nissan isn't it?) a few do
>>>>>appear meet my requirements and I'll look closer at them.
>>>>>Since I keep a car for up to 10 years, I evaluate them closely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>well..why you would even think of a domestic car if you're looking at
>>>>something to last 10 years is beyond me.
>>>
>>>
>>>Well my mom's 1987 Chrysler 5th avenue is going on 20 years and has
>>>135,000 miles. Really not alot of miles in the past few years but get
>>>this, it even has the original exhaust.
>>
>>
>>
>> Every once in a while they screw up and make one RIGHT!
>
>True Believers in Japanese cars are harder to reprogram than
>Scientologists, and just as well-grounded in fact. :-/
>


TRUE,
long with my "new" 05 sebring convertable I still keep my 89 olds
ciera 210k miles for the weekday work trip, I junked the 86 aries in
05 and got the sebring in it's place

American Cars are the BEST

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:26:03 -0700, DeserTBoB >
wrote:

>On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:00:58 -0500, Steve > wrote:
>
>>True Believers in Japanese cars are harder to reprogram than
>>Scientologists, and just as well-grounded in fact. :-/ <snip>
>
>True. Jap cars are no better than US cars now in terms of
>reliability. I still have a '77 Honda as a "grocery getter" and they
>DID build better cars than, say, GM did in the '70s and '80s, but
>that's changed. Later Hondas in the '90s had a whole rash of bad
>automatic transaxles and engine problems, none of which Honda
>loyalists seem to admit to existing.


before I got my 89 olds Ciera (which I still use) I had a new 81
Accord, that was my only import and my only P O S. I had to junk it
in 89 due to dealer service could not get the carb to not screw up and
foul the plugs every month or so.

I've bought all my cars new and keep em till they're only suited for
the junk yard

Which of the big 3 do you work for?

"Mr.X" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:26:03 -0700, DeserTBoB >
> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:00:58 -0500, Steve > wrote:
>>
>>>True Believers in Japanese cars are harder to reprogram than
>>>Scientologists, and just as well-grounded in fact. :-/ <snip>
>>
>>True. Jap cars are no better than US cars now in terms of
>>reliability. I still have a '77 Honda as a "grocery getter" and they
>>DID build better cars than, say, GM did in the '70s and '80s, but
>>that's changed. Later Hondas in the '90s had a whole rash of bad
>>automatic transaxles and engine problems, none of which Honda
>>loyalists seem to admit to existing.
>
>
> before I got my 89 olds Ciera (which I still use) I had a new 81
> Accord, that was my only import and my only P O S. I had to junk it
> in 89 due to dealer service could not get the carb to not screw up and
> foul the plugs every month or so.
>
> I've bought all my cars new and keep em till they're only suited for
> the junk yard
>
>

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:33:35 GMT, "Roadrunner NG"
> wrote:

>Which of the big 3 do you work for?
>
>"Mr.X" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:26:03 -0700, DeserTBoB >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:00:58 -0500, Steve > wrote:
>>>
>>>>True Believers in Japanese cars are harder to reprogram than
>>>>Scientologists, and just as well-grounded in fact. :-/ <snip>
>>>
>>>True. Jap cars are no better than US cars now in terms of
>>>reliability. I still have a '77 Honda as a "grocery getter" and they
>>>DID build better cars than, say, GM did in the '70s and '80s, but
>>>that's changed. Later Hondas in the '90s had a whole rash of bad
>>>automatic transaxles and engine problems, none of which Honda
>>>loyalists seem to admit to existing.
>>
>>
>> before I got my 89 olds Ciera (which I still use) I had a new 81
>> Accord, that was my only import and my only P O S. I had to junk it
>> in 89 due to dealer service could not get the carb to not screw up and
>> foul the plugs every month or so.
>>
>> I've bought all my cars new and keep em till they're only suited for
>> the junk yard
>>
>>
>


It's not cuz I work for them, I don't work for any of them, I do many
repairs myself, so I keep them in shape and maintenance costs low. The
honda was turned over to the deaaler for repair after following the
"fuel enrichment" service procedure many times, they could do no
better, after 3 times at the dealer and the bills to prove it, the
honda did not last as long as any USA made car I had.

I am an electronic tech type so the computer sensors and such
controls I could deal with for the 89 olds. In reading over the shop
manuals for the 05 Sebring I may be at my limit if I need a new
computer, I'll need a DRB III

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:30:15 GMT, Mr.X > graced this newsgroup
with:


>
>TRUE,
>long with my "new" 05 sebring convertable I still keep my 89 olds
>ciera 210k miles for the weekday work trip, I junked the 86 aries in
>05 and got the sebring in it's place
>
>American Cars are the BEST


uh..yeah..sure. That's why the Motor Trend Car of the Year was...you
guess it...a Japanese car yet again... (Toyota Camry).

Now...back AWAY from the crack pipe. Trust me, people function
just fine without drugs....really.

Reality CAN be your friend. Give it a try.

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:34:14 -0500, wrote:

>On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:30:15 GMT, Mr.X > graced this newsgroup
>with:
>
>
>>
>>TRUE,
>>long with my "new" 05 sebring convertable I still keep my 89 olds
>>ciera 210k miles for the weekday work trip, I junked the 86 aries in
>>05 and got the sebring in it's place
>>
>>American Cars are the BEST
>
>
>uh..yeah..sure. That's why the Motor Trend Car of the Year was...you
>guess it...a Japanese car yet again... (Toyota Camry).
>
>Now...back AWAY from the crack pipe. Trust me, people function
>just fine without drugs....really.
>
>Reality CAN be your friend. Give it a try.
>
>
>


Hey if Chevy paid Motor trend off the Vega would still be car of the
year

On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:39:18 GMT, Mr.X > graced this newsgroup
with:

>On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:34:14 -0500, wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:30:15 GMT, Mr.X > graced this newsgroup
>>with:
>>
>>
>>>
>>>TRUE,
>>>long with my "new" 05 sebring convertable I still keep my 89 olds
>>>ciera 210k miles for the weekday work trip, I junked the 86 aries in
>>>05 and got the sebring in it's place
>>>
>>>American Cars are the BEST
>>
>>
>>uh..yeah..sure. That's why the Motor Trend Car of the Year was...you
>>guess it...a Japanese car yet again... (Toyota Camry).
>>
>>Now...back AWAY from the crack pipe. Trust me, people function
>>just fine without drugs....really.
>>
>>Reality CAN be your friend. Give it a try.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>Hey if Chevy paid Motor trend off the Vega would still be car of the
>year


don't *even* get me started on the American cars I've owned (all new
btw, and, if you knew me, would know that I'm religious about
maintenance and washing and waxing).

For example, my brand new 79 Berlinetta Camaro.

The pin stripe running down the middle of the hood was off center by
over THREE INCHES! What the heck was the factory tech doing? Was
he/she drunk?

THEN they painted clear coat over the pin stripe!

Also, the car arrived *out of the factory* with a dead battery.

Then the starter caught fire.

Then the alternator froze up and snapped the belt.

Then the front end had to be realigned SIX TIMES the first year
because it kept eating tires.

The a/c died 2 years later. Compressor prematurely died.

3 years into ownership and the automatic transmission failed.

The paint faded less than 18 months after purchase. The entire rear
spoiler went from gloss black to almost white.

It had a 350 V8 that drank gas like flushing a toilet but had less hp
than my old Fairlady 280Z.

The drivers side window jumped the track and smashed into a million
pieces then burned out the window control switch.

The armrest on the drivers side door broke off in my hand.

The center console was warped.

The t-top leaked like crazy when it rained.

The trunk lid was warped. Not just unaligned. *Warped*. The sheet
metal was all crooked.

The **** poor design of the spark plug wiring melted the plug wires
against the exhaust manifold, shorting out the plug wires and killing
the car, of course, out in the middle of nowhere.

Lemon? Nope..I had two friends that had Camaros...one had a
RallySport (79) and one had a Z28 (80) and they too had a long list of
nightmarish problems with their cars.

Quality control? We don't need no steenkin' quality control!

So I sold it three years after I bought it with a whopping 16,000
miles on the odometer. I just couldn't take the pain anymore.

Then in 2000, I bought a Dodge Durango.

Three months into owning the truck, there was a downpour.

Hey downpour = turn on the wipers right?

Uh..wrong...turning on the wipers OPENED ALL THE WINDOWS INCLUDING
THE SUNROOF!

The ONLY way I could get the windows back up was to pull over and
turn the truck off and back on..THEN the windows came back up and
the wipers turned on. Dealer could never find anything wrong..how
come THAT didn't surprise me?

Then the paint started to chip..and chip and chip and chip. What did
they paint the truck with? Watercolor?

The rear a/c was about as worthless as...well you get the idea.

Oh, and did I tell you that it got 9mpg?

And then the ABS light went off..ended up being an ABS CAB module.
$900 to replace. 100 MILES OUT OF WARRANTY. Dodge dealer didn't want
to pay for it..recommended I call corporate. So I did. Ok, it's out
of warranty, I'm not going to make a big production out of it but I
thought it was worth asking if they were willing to work with me.

Conversation went like this:

"Sir, did you buy an extended warranty?"

"Well, no I didn't but..."

"Well SIR, I guess you will NEXT time won't you?"

<click>

"Hello? Hello?"

The bitch hung up on me!!!

So..we bought a couple of brand spanky new Saturns....

and the nightmare continued. Wind noise, faulty transmission,
windshield leaks, a $600 thermostat repair because some moron
designed the engine that placed the t-stat *inside* the engine block
so the entire top of the engine had to be removed to replace a $12
t-stat.

Unbelievable.


After that, we lost complete and utter faith in any American (big
three) cars and went to Japanese cars. We have three Lexuses and
a Sentra. ALL of them have been absolutely bulletproof and drive and
look like new. The GS300 has 225,000 miles on it, the ES300 has
85,000 miles and the LS430 has 60,000. The Sentra just clicked over
100,000 miles and the ONLY things we've had to do to any of the cars
was routine maintenance and tires. Fit and finish are like brand new
and none of them squeak or rattle.

IMHO, for every American car you say had been driven and "look like
new" at 200,000 miles, I can show you a dozen more of the same model
in the junkyard destined to be remade into soup cans.

American build quality is better than it was in the past but quite
honestly, they still have a VERY long ways to go before they match the
fit, finish and quality of foreign automobiles.

In article >, Mr.X >
wrote:

> Hey if Chevy paid Motor trend off the Vega would still be car of the
> year

Won't bother me.
The Car of the years are always something I'm not interested in.