[Shotimes] who can help me?

[Dave Garber]

Well, IMHO, 'dependable' is a relative term. If I buy a brand new car, I demand that it be dependable in every sense of the word. When I pay the premium that comes with 'new'; high bank payments, higher insurance payments, I don't want to be spending a dime on repairs beyond normal wear items (brakes, tires, oil changes, etc).

Fact is, no matter what you own, you pay. Either in payments, or repairs. I've owned SHO's of varying mileage/condition for the last 7.5 years. None of them have left me stranded or caused me concern over their ability to get me from point a, to point b and back again. I drive my 191k 94 every day. It IS my daily driver as my fianci' is using the 99 as HER daily driver. Neither has left me or her stranded and I fully expect that to continue. Most all of the wear items have been replaced on the 94. About the only thing left that could leave me stranded is an engine/tranny failure. This is very unlikely, but even if BOTH engine and tranny blew sky-high, I could replace BOTH for well under 2k dollars. That's still cheaper than buying another one, and WAY cheaper than a new car.

I own the 94. No payments, cheap insurance. Right now, that works for me as a daily driver. A new car isn't on the priority list at this point and I don't see a need for one for 'dependability' purposes. The notion that you 'need' a new car for dependable daily driving is false. Folks may WANT a new car for this, but there is no NEED. Hell, my uncle drove a POS Dodge Omni that had close to 300k on it for years. That turd got him around dependably for years. His current car is little better. It also gets him around dependably. A lot of that is maintenance. Keep up with your car, and it'll be as dependable as it can be. That means fixing something BEFORE it breaks (most items give warning before going south. Sometimes people like to push it, and that's when they get stranded), and performing normal routine maintenance regularly.

Bottom line is, IMO, you don't have to have a 'new' car to get around daily with dependability. Some folks prefer it, hell most of us would prefer it for various reasons. But it's not necessary.


Dave Garber



-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Steve Tatro
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 9:13 AM
To: Ron Porter
Cc: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] who can help me?

You implied in a previous email that Gen 2's are not the dependable daily drivers that Gen 1's and Gen 3's are.  This was obviously based on your experiences, which only included worn-out Gen 2's and a brand new Gen 1 and Gen 3.  Silly comparison, IMO.

I'm not going to argue with you.  You've proven many times that you're always right, at least in your own mind.

I don't even think you believe half the crap you write.  I think you just get your jollies from ruffling feathers, especially on the V8 list.

I hope I'm not like that when I'm your age ;^)

Steve Tatro
Red/Black '93 with 181k miles
Monroe, Ohio