Will Today's Wagons Ever Be Classics?

That Mazda3 is another one of those cars I wouldnt put my family in. Anything with the back seat less then 3 feet from the bumper is nothing I wanna have my kids strapped into. Whats with all the car companies these days. If you want anutthing that seats more then 5, you need to buy a Mini or fullsized Van. I dont like 3 people in the fron steat unless I have no choice., so even 4door pickups are only 5 passenger comfortable. Bucketseats are over rated, but every damn car has them anymore. Thats why I held onto my 98 Monte Carlo all these years, its one of the very few rare ones witha split bench seat and seats 6. Everyother one I have seen has that stupid center console that belongs in Vettes and Camaros, not in a family car. Floor shifters should be saved for standard tranny cars, not autos, its wasting space on the floor and makes me feel like Im trapped in a box.

Yes I know Im highly opinionated, but its damn near impossible to find a car woth buying for a family anymore and Vans are not my thing and I dont do pickups either.

 

My wife and I have noticed,here in LA,that Trendies in newer cars have a tendency to either live at home or share apartments with many others...Some of those buying the houses they live in,are tooling around in older cars.The new house and new cars being on different levels of priority for them...They sound like the smart people to me...

 

I see that alot here also. At work to. youger guys brand new truck living at home because they can't afford rent because of the truck payments.

I like my daughter new man, 25 and just morgaged his first house. Bout one with a bacement suit and will live there because he can rent the upper for more to help pay for the house. He drives an older Honda. I hope they last!

 

well i go to ft lauterdale every chance i get... i always rented a board when i lived down there or borrowed my roomates. its $400+ for a longboard, im too big for a short. so the money went toward school. i do bodyboard too though. ( i like that better) most people in my area vacation in ocean city MD and the outerbanks NC. (good surf at either) but to answer your comment more directly.... this is in lake erie at presque isle state park in Pa. which is about 1 and 1/2 hrs from me

 

Heck new cars won't be worth nothing because they're made of plastic, watch antiques roadshow,they don't care about plastic unless it's Bakelite!

 

No Chit? I live 20 minutes from Presque Isle and take the wife and kids up there alot during the summer.

 

My sister informed me recently,that in newer cars,the steel itself has plastic infused into it.For that bounce back at the parking lot quality...And,"they",don't always use the highest quality plastic,for car parts,either.I can't tell you how many taillights I see,faded to pink,here in the LA desert sun.On cars with Japanes brand names on them...Which brings up the observation;what happens to plastic toys,when they've been left out in the sun too long? Clue;there isn't going to be much bouncing back,when it gets that brittle...

 

Steel bodies are totally on the way out. Cars in the future will have plastic bodies. JMHO

 

Or canvas.

 

Way cool !

 

Beginning when we start to school, we are brainwashed into believing new is better. It didn't take me, as well as a lot of others, it seems to believe otherwise. I went to a new car dealership the other day, just browsing. When I see a fully dressed new truck with a $50,000 window sticker and plastic door handles, I can't help but chuckle. If I bought one of these with a payment book as thick as a NYC telephone directory, I wouldn't even be able to sleep. I have always bought older cars that have bottomed out value-wise. Drive them a few years and sell them for as much or more than I paid for them. I bought a '75 Dodge Tradesman van for $1250 when it was 20 years old. I drove it for 11 years and put 100,000+ miles on it. When I sold it, I got $1200. I rode for 11 years for $50. Never had any problems except for a starter, AC compressor and a couple alternators. I really wish then US automakers would start building some basic, full sized vehicles with a lot fewer bells and whistles, as well as electronics. I don't guess it will happen, as they don't want us working on our own cars.

 

give me a ford truck, with a straight six, a 5 speed manual with OD, vynil floor and seats , single cd player, steel wheels and as little plastic as possible.

 

Hey, I got one of those! Except mine is a 3 speed with OD. About as bare bones as you can get. Nothing much to go wrong.

 

like my cousins...84 f150 xl dark blue 2x4 300ci 3 speed w/granny gear and 200k miles, and has never given him so much as a hiccup.

 

Mine is an '81 with 84,000 original miles. Don't have the granny gear, but the OD instead. Guess you could get both in a 5 speed. It gets about 18 MPG town/hwy. driving. Guy I bought it from had 2 beds, the short wide one and the stepside. I told him to keep the wide one. It came without PB and PS, but both have been added. No AC, though!