A Tale of Two Truckasaurs

[varanus]

So those of you who know me in real life know that my 1995 Oldsmobile is finally ready to be put out to pasture. I love this car--I bought it off my mom in 1999 for 5000 dollars, and since then I've driven it across country, into snowdrifts, over sidewalks and muddy fields, and just about anywhere else you can imagine. It has 148,000 miles on it

Comments

[homo_impetus]

I currently own a Honda, but prior to that I only owned Nissans. I fully believe the only reason I am alive right now is because Nissans are well made cars. I have been in 5 car accidents - two of which I should not have been left walking or talking from.

[carolingienne]

Nissans can do no wrong in my eyes.

[varanus]

Look, I read the history of how the Smyrna drive went down, and I have to say that while Nissan lied and bullied the workers, the UAW did a terrible job on the drive--the international still has no idea how to work with the old "our benefits are actually better than theirs" trick. Obviously, it's actually always better to organize, but it takes different tactics for people to see that. Of course, that doesn't make me feel less guilty.

Go-o-o card-check! Maybe that will make it a little bit easier to get through.

[product_junkie]

buy a compact with better fuel economy and you will save more money on gas than you would make doing c/list moves!

[varanus]

Unfortunately, late-model compact cars here that are reasonably safe and will go 100,000 miles (so, you know, no Ford Focus) are more expensive than their light-truck counterparts here, especially if one wants a US-made car. For obvious reasons, more people want to buy a Prius than a behemoth, so Prii are still 23K while behemoths are 15. I've split the difference, since I have no desire to hog all of the world's resources but I also refuse to finance over 20K.

Trust me, I did the math.

[c3pomeara]

I thought Ford Focii were better than that!

Anyway, I'm interested in what you decide.

[varanus]

I wish they were, but I drove one to the union meeting in Sacramento, and it was just like driving a lawnmower--rough ride and no acceleration at all even for a 4-cylinder. I mean, I'm nobody's lead-foot, but I felt a little bit unsafe being unable to get above 65 with my foot to the floor.

I just don't understand why the Americans can't put together something that's both efficient and powerful. Even the Nissan is thriftier than comparable GM and Ford engines. Sigh. I wish I could buy American and buy Union without also buying Shoddy Crap (cars, that is. Everything else is pretty workable). That's another rant, though, I suppose.

[fiveinchviking]

i love my nissan pathfinder. i bought it to replace my toyota pickup truck that died the horrible death of most of its brethren (though mine was a year too soon to have reaped the benefits of the recent toyota buy-back), and while i was initially skeptical and didn't like it mainly on principle, the poor pathfinder has done me proud again and again, and i have grudgingly come to accept that it is better than the tacoma in every way. you can also get a whole lot more nissan for your money than toyota, and they resell well. i say get the frontier.