What kind of car do you drive?

Ford........yeh

I use to have a 1996 f150 reg cab till I crashed it into a lake(the brakes went out), now all thats left is the body,engine block, frame, rims the rest wasnt worth it.

It was a good truck though I beat it to death. Cant blame it for breaking

I loved my Corolla. Corollas and the Passat turbo I drive now are the most fun cars to drive.

I've heard from several reliable sources that Fords start having big reliability issues around the 100,000 mile mark with mechanical stuff.

Honda and Toyota seem to generally work well up to about 200,000 or more.

usually tie-rods

Ahh thats hard it all depends.....

I have 14 diesels an 3 gas vehicles then all the atvs, tractors dirtbikes etc(that will change weekly lol) that run. I havent counted the parts/prject cars I have in the back. My point is ive had alot of trucks in my life and nothing runs better overall then a ford.

Ive saw ford trucks do a million plus miles. Ive also saw them die in the first 10k miles due to use.

I have a truck, I work it hard and abuse it. I agree. Ime not one to baby any of my trucks. However I regualry change the oil myself, and all other maintmence and repairs. I have a snowplow and salt spreader on it. It beats the crap out of it with snow plowing.

The biggest problems I have is the transmissions arent tough enough. Then again snowplowing tends to that to any truck.

Every car has its strong and week points.




When the hondas an toyotas go ive ntoiced everything goes real quik, with fords its one or two things here and there usally.

So really most cars have mechanical problems at the 100,000 mile mark. Things are designed to wear out, brakes, u-joints, tie rods, alternators and the like. To build them better would raise the price significantly. It is the motor,trans and differential that makes or brakes a brand.

OK some background here first. I have been turning wrenches for the better part of 30yrs. I worked with my dad at the mechanic shop and have worked on almost every car/truck brand out there, even some heavy equipment. I also have had Fords for all my driving life.

That said, here is my take. In the mid 70's or so the big three (Ford, GM and Chrysler) realized that they could not make a "throw away" car, the cars from over seas were lasting two or three times longer. They have come a long way in this area, but still are not there yet.

In the old days I would tell someone Ford trucks, Chevy cars and Dodge if you wanted a diesel. This was based on how many of each that I worked on at the shop.

Today I work on Dodge trucks the most and it is almost always electrical. Chevy and Ford are tied for second.

Lets go over seas now. They just build better cars. Hate to say it but it is true. My dad was a "Buy American" guy until he bought a 92 Toyota Corolla. He put over 300,000 miles on it and all I had to do was change the oil/filters and one clutch. Since then he has had five Toyota pick ups (all over 300,000) and his new one it a Ceaena. (sp?) His last truck had over 700,000 miles on it. WOW huh. All of his cars/trucks get regular maintenance. In case you are wondering he is a courier and puts on 2-300 miles a day. The stories from Honda and Acura are all the same.

So ya the American cars maybe will not last as long, but really you never know.
I have the 95 Exploder and it has 135,000 miles on it and no major repairs yet.(knock on wood).

For this post, I will recommend to find what will work for your situation. The Expedition is nice and has good interior room, But it is a gas HOG. My F150 is roomy and and I get about 18-20 MPG. That's with the 5.4, Air Raid intake and flow master exhaust. All the GMC/Chevy and Dodge trucks are really nice to.

If you want some thing that will last till those kid are born and grow up by a Toyota or Honda. I do not think that they are big enough for you situation.

I agree. There are also numerous web sites and magazines that do short and long term testing of every vehicle out there. In this day of the world wide web there is no reason to by a car just because someone says so. We just have to do some home work.

Totally.

I hope your husband gets well soon. Sending .

PS. I do not have a car, just being jealous of the Barbie car.

The only problems with those magizines and web sites

most dont test the trucks life everyday work

Yeh, a car maker can give a fully loaded car to a journalist and they can make afew turns, maybe with the trucks tow a few test strailers go offorad in a little mud put etc. But the real test is down the road.

Can it
-haul trailers through the mountins
-can it start in cold weather but can it still work well in hot weather
-can it go offroad
-can it witstand the abuse of plowing
-can it hold up to the weight it halls
-can it be used day in day out and throughthe night

lets face it....most people use there cares or trucks for more then there meant.

Very true, The only one I found that really tests trucks is Peterson Off Road. Even with them they only test something that has something significantly new to the line. This is were the home work comes in, make a list of every thing you find on each of your interests then you can compare.

Your right most people beat the crap out of there car/truck. I think that if they HAD to work on it them they would take better care. Unfortunately not all people can work on them like you and I. One of the big reasons I will push my truck and other vehicles is cuz I know that I can fix it for half the cost of the shop down the street.

This might sound kinda strange but if I was going to get a truck based on your "can it" list it would be a mid to late dodge 3500. We had two at the erection company that the Foreman used to haul a 10,000 pound "gang box" that was mounted on a trailer, I pulled that trailer up Eisenhower pass (Colorado) with no problem. But for plowing I would say any solid axle 3/4 or 1 ton. The mounts attach farther back and better absorb the pounding that plowing can cause.