What do you drive?

[mjs1973]

My truck wouldn't start for me on Wednesday moring, so the wife has been taking me to work. I thought the fuel pump went out of it, and since I needed to replace the gas tank again, I figured I would tackle the job myself. I got all the parts I needed for about $200. I changed the tank and fuel pump, but it still wont start. It's going to have to sit till Monday now, until a real mechanic can take a look at it.

I can't find any pics, so I will have to scan some old ones, and take some new ones for this thread.

[Loupey]

I currently drive an '05 Chevy Avalanche. The wife and I have gone through 10 vehicles in 16 years (short leases, business vehicles, etc.) and I can say that the Avalanche is the most versatile vehicle I've used. An SUV for the most part but converts to a pickup truck in short order. I bought it because I carry long items (fishing gear and lumber/steel material for work) and wanted a totally enclosed and lockable bed.

Cleans up nice (I got the version without all those cheap-looking plastic body panels), full version 4WD, full size rear doors and seats, and uses E-85 flex fuel. I still haven't put my Yakima roof rack system on it. Waiting until I buy a kayak.

MSRP is way overpriced. But I got $11k taken off the top which made it appropriately priced IMO.

[another view]

I still haven't put my Yakima roof rack system on it. Waiting until I buy a kayak.

Cool! :thumbsup:

Not sure if you have experience with this, so my apologies if you already know this but be careful around cold water - it's dangerous stuff. PM me and I can point you to some good intro stuff on the web. Or start here.

[walterick]

Mike I thought I saw a picture of your truck in one of the recent 24 hours threads? It's a looker ;)

[livin4lax09]

95 toyota corolla. Hopefully a BMW z4 coupe within the next year and a half.

[Ronnoco]

The wife and I drove past a dealership the other day, that had 2 Smart cars. They look like they would be fun to drive, and you should never have a problem finding a parking spot for them.

Insurance actuaries calculate that the average person will have one major accident every 20 years. I was rear-ended by a car doing 55 miles per hour as I was turning into a gas station. I just missed the pumps and would have been dead if I had been driving a smart car. More recent, my son was forced into the oncomming lane and a head-on collision at major highway speed. He would also have been dead, if he had been driving a smart car.

So, if you are doing short trips around a small town, then a smart car might be fine. Otherwise you are gambling with your life and the carelessness of other drivers.

Ronnoco

[mjs1973]

Mike I thought I saw a picture of your truck in one of the recent 24 hours threads? It's a looker ;)

I forgot all about that pic. Here it is. This photo was taken early in the moring, before the sun came up. The truck looks great in the dark. I will get some new pics that show her real character when I get her back on the road again.

[walterick]

Funny thing happened today. I hopped into the drivers seat and happened to look up at my sun visor and particularly, my CD holder and there in the little mesh pocket was the remote control for my stereo, placed there long ago and forgotten. Who needs a remote for their car stereo?! Well, I do, now that the volume button on my receiver is broken Glad I kept that little bugger! I can hear my music again!

I also snapped these pictures today of my truck with my cell phone after I bounced around in a soon-to-be housing development which right now is full of neat dirt roads and cool rock formations.

God, I love having a truck when I'm not at the gas station.

[Mr Yuck]

Funny thing happened today. I hopped into the drivers seat and happened to look up at my sun visor and particularly, my CD holder and there in the little mesh pocket was the remote control for my stereo, placed there long ago and forgotten. Who needs a remote for their car stereo?! Well, I do, now that the volume button on my receiver is broken Glad I kept that little bugger! I can hear my music again!

I also snapped these pictures today of my truck with my cell phone after I bounced around in a soon-to-be housing development which right now is full of neat dirt roads and cool rock formations.

God, I love having a truck when I'm not at the gas station.

haha, I use the remote for mine too, like when I'm chillin in the cargo area...stationwagons are so relaxing.

[SmartWombat]

I just missed the pumps and would have been dead if I had been driving a smart car. More recent, my son was forced into the oncomming lane and a head-on collision at major highway speed. He would also have been dead, if he had been driving a smart car.

If you missed the pumps you'd have missed them in a smart too.
Unlike most other cars, the seats are solid steel backed, not open framed with material covering. A design to cope better with rear impacts.
As usual on rear engined cars, the engine mounts allow the engine to slide forward and down making the whole rear of the car a crumple zone while absorbing some impact energy.
The bodyshell is lower, taking impact through the wheels/tyres into the shell, turning them into part of the absorbing structure.

Your son was blessed to survive a head on crash.
Highway speed covers a multitude of sins.
From 55mph upwards.
What car was he driving, and what did he hit, how fast?
Airbags and seatbelts will allow you to survive higher impact speeds in modern cars.
But still suffering quite heavy injury in high speed head-on crash despite that.

The worst impact is off-axis, the 1/2 frontal that puts the car into a spin and your head into the side widnow. Or the side impact that bounces your head off the side window, that can do serious brain damage. Our latest car has curtain airbags on the windows, to assist in those impacts.

But that's a scenario that even racing drivers don't cope off well in.
HANS and crumple zones work well in frontal crashes.
But the side impact seems to be causing major injury with bleeding into the brain.
Even in the well protected seats in DTM cars.

[Ronnoco]

Your son was blessed to survive a head on crash.
Highway speed covers a multitude of sins.
From 55mph upwards.
What car was he driving, and what did he hit, how fast?
Airbags and seatbelts will allow you to survive higher impact speeds in modern cars.
But still suffering quite heavy injury in high speed head-on crash despite that.

The worst impact is off-axis, the 1/2 frontal that puts the car into a spin and your head into the side widnow. Or the side impact that bounces your head off the side window, that can do serious brain damage. Our latest car has curtain airbags on the windows, to assist in those impacts.

But that's a scenario that even racing drivers don't cope off well in.
HANS and crumple zones work well in frontal crashes.
But the side impact seems to be causing major injury with bleeding into the brain.
Even in the well protected seats in DTM cars.

You certainly know your autos. However brain damage or shearing can happen from the brain bouncing around in the head without the head hitting anything.

Ronnoco

[another view]

Or the side impact that bounces your head off the side window, that can do serious brain damage. Our latest car has curtain airbags on the windows, to assist in those impacts.

I saw an accident yesterday near my house in a 30mph zone. There's a very good chance the cars may have been going closer to 40 and I didn't notice skid marks in the intersection (one car was obviously too old to have ABS, other probably had it). The newer car had blown air bags and a broken windshield on the passenger side. Airbags are great but can do more harm than good if a seatbelt isn't worn. Maybe I should save that for a "Darwinism" thread...

[Copy_Kot]

The truck looks great in the dark.

Me too!

[MJS]

I drive a 2000 Navigator, given to me by my deceased mother in law. The lease on my much loved and deeply missed 2001 Silverado expired and so did she, so I got a freebie.

[4XTaco]

I have a '96 Tacoma Extracab and still love it. Over 150,000 miles on it and it gets me through anything I need it to. I would buy another one if the funds allowed.



We also have an '00 Ford Excursion Diesel... we really love this vehicle also- we can haul all 3 kids and the dogs without a problem. But we haven't had it long enough for me to comment on reliability yet.

I know I will not buy another Chevy for a long time... we had a '98 Tahoe we just got rid of this year and the problems we had with it were a pain. We went through 4 fuel pumps in a matter of 2 years.

[WeirdPICS]

2006 Honda Ridgeline
2006 Volvo S60
1989 Mustang GT
2006 Honda Shadow Spirit 750
1997 F150 XLT

I drive all of these sometime during the week...

[another view]

There was a US version to be built by Dodge.
Exterior styling by cut-and-paste (AUDI front and Megane rear) and a hideous interior.
But I'd have bought it just for the tuning parts to go on mine

I saw one yesterday!!! Couldn't believe it, and almost drove off the road looking at it while I merged into traffic. It even said "smart" on the rear bumper - had a temporary license plate (as though someone just bought it) and it looked brand new. I hoped to catch up with it at the next light but I picked the slow lane (my usual luck)... That's the first one I've seen in the wild.

[JSPhoto]

I drive a few vehicles.

1: 92 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 4x4 - my daily driver
2: 97 Dodge Ram 2500 HD 360 - 10mpg on a good day and at present gas prices $90+ to fill it up... and it only has one tank.
3: 87 Jeep Wagoneer Limited 4.0 4x4 - my off road toy I just traded my 79 Dodge Ram Charger 4x4 for. It's street legal but I only drive it off road as it has been "altered" a bit for off use.
4: my 79 18' boat .....ok, I don't drive it on the road....but if keeps raining around here I may have to! It has a Chevy 350 which will be getting a rebuild after I get my garage built.

Yup, everything I drive on the road is a Chrysler product. The 97 Ram has 154,000 miles, three rearends have been put in it under warranty. Other than that I had to replace the front hubs and bearings three times each at $600+ each time. It has had the plugs changed once, but never even had a tuneup and still gets the same gas mileage it got new. And one water pump and clutch fan. 11 years three times I have been rearended and three times it's had new rear bumpers. It got hit in a parking lot once...well, twice because the blonde didn't think she hit anything so she hit it again to make sure She also got the bumper and quarter panel. And it got scorched when some clown parked his burning car in front of it and walked away. The first to hit the bumper was in a Ford Taurus, brand new and it went under the truck pushing the hood up to her windshield. I drove home while she had to wait for a ride.

The Jeeps are high mileage (187,000+) but run great. I still have an old 92 Voyager van in the driveway that I am parting out, 3,3L that runs great, the trans is sold, but I have lots of other parts.
I do all my own repairs so I save money that way, even rebuilding engines.

JS

[mjs1973]

I got my truck back from the shop on Monday!!! Today I was able to get some pics to show you the real charm of my truck.

[mjs1973]

I also go this on Monday. 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. I'm still driving the old truck, but I have to say, it's nice to climb into something that's quite, and everything works.

[JSPhoto]

I got my truck back from the shop on Monday!!! Today I was able to get some pics to show you the real charm of my truck.

Yup, definately a Ford I have to be honest though, all four of my vehicles combined don't have that much rust! and I never washed or waxed any of them and all but one is much older than yours. Hmmm, wonder what Ford was using for rust inhibitor.....

BTW, I actually flipped a 1966 Impala when the driveshaft came apart. That was back in 1977 in Shawnee Twp Ohio. The drive shaft ended up sticking through floor and then through the trunk lid. That doesn't scare me as much though as the day the the clutch and pressure plate exploded and shot through the roof. It just missed my arm and would have taken it off.

JS

[mjs1973]

Yup, the old Ford is getting pretty rusty. This truck didn't have a spot of rust on it, until AFTER I had the entire thing repaintedin 96 or 97. Within a week or two it started to bubble up around the rear wheel wells. A very common area for rust on the Fords. I took it back to the shop and they fixed it, but it came back right away again. They said the only thing they could do would be to cut out the metal, and replace it. Of course they weren't going to pay for that, and neither was I...

[another view]

I also go this on Monday. 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. I'm still driving the old truck, but I have to say, it's nice to climb into something that's quite, and everything works.

Did you get to keep the license plate?

[walterick]

Congrats, Mike! Definitely a step up!

[Mr Yuck]

.

BTW, I actually flipped a 1966 Impala when the driveshaft came apart. That was back in 1977 in Shawnee Twp Ohio. The drive shaft ended up sticking through floor and then through the trunk lid. That doesn't scare me as much though as the day the the clutch and pressure plate exploded and shot through the roof. It just missed my arm and would have taken it off.

JS

Holy cow....

Your clutch asplode!