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From: chris@leadsv.UUCP (Christopher Salander)
Newsgroups: net.auto,net.consumers
Subject: Re: New car shopping
Message-ID: <363@leadsv.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Jan-85 19:36:04 EST
Article-I.D.: leadsv.363
Posted: Wed Jan 30 19:36:04 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Feb-85 11:29:25 EST
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Organization: LMSC-LEADS, Sunnyvale, Ca.
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Xref: watmath net.auto:5596 net.consumers:1760

> 
> Comments?    --J. Abeles.
> 

   Yes!!  I went through the same process you described!

   I am 6'4" and cannot tolerate driving is a seat that is
   tilted too much.  As a result, I found that I cannot fit
   in:

   1) ALL Japanese cars ( the Mazda 626 came close, though).
   2) ALL French and Italian cars.
   3) ALL British cars except the Jaguars.
   4) ALL German cars except the largest Mercedes.
   5) ALL American cars that are "compact", "subcompact", or
      "sporty".

   The April issue of Consumer Reports is an excellent reference
  for buying a car.  I found all its numbers to be close to what
  I discovered for myself.  Use their size table to figure out
  if you can fit in a car.  It saves visiting all those car lots.

  Also, I will not fit in a Volvo if it has a a sun roof.

  My father has either fixed cars, sold cars, or registered
  cars for about 40 years now.  He says, given any amount of
  money, he would buy the 12 cylinder Jaguar as "the best car
  made today".  Given an engineer's income, he recommends a
  Volvo.  (Everyone I know who has a Volvo has had no problems,
  but this is California).

  Since I presently have the same car the police use (an V8
  Plymouth), I also want POWER.  Since I cannot afford a Jag.,
  and the Volvo is under-powered, I have decided that my preference
  would be for a Ford Thunderbird.

  The Thunderbird -
  1. It has the room
  2. It has the power (V6 or V8)
  3. Good mileage (not great)
  4. Very reliable, compared to other U.S. cars
    
   The Cougar is suppose to be even more reliable, but it has
 a lot of fancy extras that I don't want to pay for, and the
 designer is uglier.

   Why not Chrysler?  -  Almost all their cars have no power,
                         except the ones that are too small for
                         me.  The one V8 model left gets 12 MPG,
                         and is very unreliable.

   Why not GM? -  Most of the cars are too plain, and are more
                  unreliable than other U.S. cars.  A Buick might
                  be a possibility, but think of all the 
                  cruisin' music that you can play that's been
                  written about T-birds!!